This industry report shows clearly how the traditional  ways of selling homes have become increasingly less and less effective in today’s market.  The fact of the matter is three quarters of home sellers don't get what they want for their homes and  become disillusioned and - worse - financially disadvantaged when they put their homes on the market.

The good news is that each and every one of these mistakes is entirely preventable. 

See our home selling tips here!

This Bay & San Francisco View Home has undergone fabulous upgrades as well as been meticulously maintained by the owners. Private & spacious it features a huge master bedroom suite with Bay views. The home also has a wonderful lower entertainment/rumpus room with bathroom and wetbar.  Multiple decks grace this home as does a fabulous mature private garden and yard in the back. A great opportunity and a true must see!

Click here for a flyer

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in December, increased 1.0 percent to 96.6 from 95.6 in November, and remains 10.9 percent above December 2008 when it was 87.1. In November, the monthly index had fallen by 16.4 percent from surging activity in preceding months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said it’s important to recognize how the tax credit is skewing market data. “There are easily understood swings in contract activity as buyers respond to a tax credit that was expiring and was then extended and expanded,” he said. “These swings are masking the underlying trend, which is a broad improvement over year-ago levels. December activity was the fifth highest monthly tally in two years.

Make sure to get all your questions answered about the Tax Credits today. Time is running out to take advantage of this great offer!

The name has also come to refer to the formerly industrial neighborhood surrounding Jack London Square proper now known as the Jack London District, which has undergone significant rehabilitation in the last decade, including loft conversions and new construction.

Jack London Square is located at the south end of Broadway, across the Oakland Estuary from Alameda.

We are currently offering an Exclusive Listing in Jack London Square by appointment only, with our team of professionals. Contact us today (888-627-4399) for a no obligation preview of this rare property.

Get a free Zillow Zestimate and see more great color pictures and descriptions for properties just like this at www.mlsEastBay.com

Hiring a real estate agent is just like any hiring process - with you on the boss’s side of the desk. It's critical that you make the right decision about who will handle what is probably the single largest financial investment you will ever make.

We are glad to answer any specific questions you may have to ensure that you get the best representation for your needs. Before you hire any real estate agent, call and get the answers for the Top 5 Questions you need to ask:

 How Long Have You Been in the Business?

 What is Your Best Marketing Plan or Strategy for My Needs?

What Are the Top Three Things That Separate You From Your Competition?

How Much Do You Charge?

What Kind of Guarantee Do You Offer?

Regards,

Dave and Carla

Dave Higgins - Keller Williams - 4341 Piedmont Ave., Oakland CA - 94611

Located just off Lake Merritt, steps to the new Lake Chalet Restaurant and minutes from Whole Foods. This space offers a fabulous floor plan, updated kitchen with wine cooler, custom hall and master bathrooms and designer paint colors.  Low home owner association dues, pet friendly building environment, and more.  Just blocks from several BART locations and close to Hwy access to the 880 or 580 for commuters. See this property on www.mlsEastBay.com.

Sophisticated Work Live Loft of grand proportion.  True conversion space featuring concrete floors, elevated ceilings, open kitchen, large spa like bathroom with whirlpool tub, in-unit laundry and amazing city and water views from the common rooftop garden and BBQ area.

Just blocks from the Jack London Square Ferry Building, Farmers Market, Yoshi's and all the great area amenities! Quick access to Hwy 880.  This is an exclusive Dave and Carla listing and is not on the MLS.  By appointment only with our team of professionals - great opportunity, please contact us today for a no obligation preview of this rare property.

Get a free Zillow Zestimate and see more great color pictures and descriptions for properties just like this at www.mlsEastBay.com

 *Yahoo published an article stating that the sale of previously occupied homes rose in 2009, while the average home sale price declined. Apparently home prices have declined as far as 12 % in some areas.

 *Realty Times stated that "Fixed mortgage rates followed bond yields lower for the third consecutive week, pushing 30-year mortgages below 5 percent once more."

 * And finally, the FHA is tightening it's lending requirements to help stabilize the FHA products moving forward and avoid the need for bailouts in the future.

While all of this can seem confusing, the bottom line is there are indicators the industry is coming back, there has been more than average activity for the beginning of the year with the tax credits and opportunities are still available on both sides of the real estate transaction!

As always, we are glad to answer any questions you may have!

Dave and Carla

Whether you're looking to buy your first home, or trading up to a larger one, there are many costs - on top of the purchase price - that you must figure into your calculation of affordability. These extra fees, such as taxes and other additional costs, could surprise you with an unwanted financial nightmare on closing day if you're not informed and prepared.

Some of these costs are one-time fixed payments, while others represent an ongoing monthly or yearly commitment. While not all of these costs will apply in every situation, it's better to know about them ahead of time so you can budget properly. Remember, buying a home is a major milestone, and whether it's your first, second or tenth, there are many small but important details, not to mention stress and excitement, to deal with during the process. The last thing you need are unbudgeted financial obligations in the hours before you take possession of your new home. We are always prepared to help homebuyers understand what these extra costs are. Simply call the office at any time (888-627-4399) and we will be happy to discuss your situation.  

Regards, Dave and Carla

Open living room with cathedral ceilings, spacious kitchen that opens to family room with wonderful gas fireplace.  Private patio with fenced in level grassy backyard.  Attached two car garage with direct access into the home.  Conveniently located just minutes from great hwy access as well as shopping and restaurants. Great park just around the corner! 

Get a free Zillow Zestimate and see more great color pictures and descriptions for this property at www.mlsEastBay.com

Click here for Flyer

Wonderful Emeryville condominium with custom designer colors centered amongst the best of Emeryville.  High-end finishes in the kitchen and bathroom including granite counters, distinctive black appliances and birch finished cabinets. Blocks from great retail, restaurants and Hwy Access.  Smart, spacious floor-plan, private balcony, one deeded parking space and much more. Like new building (built in 2005). 

If you are looking for a great condominium in one of the best locations in the East Bay, this is it!

Get a free Zillow Zestimate and see more great color pictures and descriptions for this property at http://www.mlseastbay.com/

Click here for a flyer

Historically low rates mean you have tremendous buying Power. At a rate of 5.5% with 10% down, your monthly Mortgage Payment on a $500,000 home is approximately $2,555. If the rates go up by just 1% that same $2,555 payment will only get you a home worth $449,250. The end of the Federal Stimulus Funds in March predicts a rise in mortgage rates.

A Rate Increase of only 1% You Lose  $50,750  in Purchase Power!

“Contract activity for pending home sales fell after a surge of activity in preceding months to beat the original deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit but remains comfortably above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a drop was expected. “It will be at least early spring before we see notable gains in sales activity as home buyers respond to the recently extended and expanded tax credit,” he said. “The fact that pending home sales are comfortably above year-ago levels shows the market has gained sufficient momentum on its own. We expect another surge in the spring as more home buyers take advantage of affordable housing conditions before the tax credit expires.”

So what does the mean for you? Whether you are a buyer or a seller the market is continuing to pick up. Despite the news there are opportunities presenting themselves every day. This past weekend we put a new house on the market in the Montclair Hills and had 63 phone calls into our office and 22 showing in the first full day it was available.  By day five, we were able to generate nine offers on the home with the top offer being close to 20% over asking. This just shows that sellers are continuing to sell and buyers are continuing to buy.

If you are on the fence or simply testing the waters before participating, the time is now. Let us help you take advantage of the buyer tax credits and short sale opportunities available.

Call today for free Comparative Market Analysis and a no obligation discussion of how our proprietary home sale system can work for you.

Regards,

Dave and Carla

All of these wonderful features and not far from 4th Street shops!

View FULL DETAILS and additional PHOTOS here:
http://www.mlseastbay.com/results.aspx?listingid=5601327&propType=SF&area=1227&minPrice=350000&maxPrice=550000&minBeds=2

Superior search engine for MLS. Search by city, year built, square footage or any other detail. You will see multiple photos, satellite image, full MLS descriptions and Zillow pricing estimates. See how easy this is. Search in Berkeley and all surrounding areas.

Dave Higgins - Keller Williams - 4341 Piedmont Ave., Oakland CA - 94611

Click Here for a flyer of this property

Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal has an interesting argument he pulled together using the latest Case-Shiller data, and double checked against Census data.  In short, now is a good time to buy a home.  Real estate has now fallen 30% from its 2005 peak, at the same time as mortgage rates have also plummeted. In 2006 you had to pay an average of about 6.4% on a 30-year fixed loan, according to the Federal Reserve. Right now you can get deals for about 5%.  On average, buying a home now is as cheap as it was in the mid-1990s, when houses were an absolute steal. But what about waves of mortgage resets coming in the next two years? What about all the unemployment? And the foreclosures?

Arends says these are all valid arguments for refusing to buy homes when they are expensive, or even averagely priced. But the whole point about markets is that they adjust. Prices are now cheap. They reflect this bad news, and more. If you have a stable income, and you can get a 30-year mortgage at 5% or so, and you are willing to drive a hard bargain on a home in this market, this is your time.   Arends continues:  "Over and over again, history suggests that the best investments are the ones no one wants–gold when it was $260 an ounce, Amazon.com when it fell below $10 in 2002, Hong Kong shares during the SARS "crisis" in 2003, and so on. If an investment feels comfortable, it's should make you nervous. If it makes you really nervous, that's probably good."

GM to get more moolah?

According to the Wall Street Journal, GMAC Financial Services is close to receiving a third round of bailout funds from the U.S. Treasury Department.  The paper says the announcement is expected within days, and that the auto and mortgage lender will collect $3.5 billion of additional aid on top of the $13.5 billion already received since December 2008.  Supposedly, the new money is intended to return Detroit-based GMAC to profitability in the first quarter of 2010 and allow GMAC to avoid placing its home lending unit, Residential Capital, into bankruptcy.

"As we have previously stated, GMAC has been conducting a strategic review of its business and evaluating options to address the challenges at ResCap and the mortgage operations," said GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia.  "Critical objectives in the process would be to take actions that position GMAC for improved financial performance and to repay the U.S. government."  If GMAC receives the additional taxpayer money through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, it will be the first big injection to a single company in several months, and will increase government stake and control of GMAC.  At present, the government owns a 35.4% stake in the company.

More foreclosures in 2010

Experts agree that more foreclosures are likely in 2010 because the employment market is weak and prime-market homeowners have adjustable-rate mortgages with rates set to skyrocket nest year.  "The turnaround in home prices seen in the spring and summer has faded, with only seven of the 20 cities seeing month-to-month gains," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's in New York.  In the latest Case-Shiller report, home prices in the Chicago market tied with Atlanta in showing a 1 percent decline. The largest month-over-month decline of 1.6 percent was in the Tampa, Fla., market.

Chicago previously had seen five straight months of home-price increases, including a 1.2 percent rise in September from August.  Markets with the biggest price gains were Phoenix, up 1.3 percent, and San Francisco, up 1.2 percent.  "Some of the cities have been volatile. I wouldn't put a lot of weight in a single month's numbers," Blitzer said, noting that one month doesn't make a trend.  Genie Birch, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and a broker associate at Koenig & Strey GMAC, said Chicago hasn't seen the boom-and-bust cycles of Las Vegas and Phoenix, but she conceded that people fear losing their jobs and that adjustable-rate mortgage time bombs still exist.

Less tax nationwide

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, state and local governments reported another drop in overall tax revenue yesterday.  General sales tax, individual income tax and corporate income tax were all down in the third quarter of 2009, resulting in an overall 6.7% drop in total tax revenue, compared to the same quarter in 2008, and the fourth consecutive quarter in which tax revenue collection has fallen. Total taxes collected in the third quarter were $266.5 billion compared to $285.6 billion during the same quarter in 2008.  29 states enacted revenue hikes for fiscal 2010, which began on July 1 in nearly all states. Personal income tax hikes accounted for the largest portion, some $10.7 billion. Corporate levies declined by $202.2 million.  But wait!  You mean raising taxes DOESN'T help corporations pay more taxes?  Who woulda thunk it?  Just wait for cap and trade.

TARP had a negative effect according to most banks

A bank survey completed by the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) found that while larger financial institutions completed full repayment of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), as is the case with the $45bn repaid last week by Citi and Wells Fargo, only 12% of respondents feel the program positively impacted their operations. The BAI & Finacle Bank Executive Index tracked the opinion of banking executives from the top 100 financial institutions in the United States.

The executives, who staff commercial and savings banks, as well as credit unions, filled out an online survey regarding questions on the overall health of the economy as well as factors that improve customer satisfaction.  While respondents feel negative towards TARP, 87% of those surveyed said the government’s action to raise FDIC insurance to $250,000 helped drive confidence in consumer bank deposits.  Additionally, new regulations are increasingly offsetting any gains being made through expanding the retail side of the business. However, only a quarter said their firm is creating clear strategies for near-term innovations. And only 11% felt they better understood client’s needs and wants when compared to six months ago.

****************
Axioms Aren't Always True

Some things are repeated frequently enough they become accepted as common wisdom but closer inspection (not to mention recent history) often portrays a completely different understanding. Savvy short sale investors would do well to take a look at these axioms that aren't always true.

Axiom #1 - Housing prices always rise. Just a few years ago this headline seemed to be stealing the show as fevered buyers stood in line to snap up condo's and bidding wars drove home prices well above the initial asking price. Of course, those days are now long gone and with it the age old wisdom that housing prices always rise. But before tossing the entire idea out, take time to fully understand the basis for the original axiom; historically housing prices have risen and fallen but they do eventually reach higher and higher nominal values as a whole. In part, due to inflationary pressures. Since real estate is a tangible asset, it tends to retain value during inflationary periods of time. Because capitalistic economies count on a regular rate of inflation (roughly 3 percent), hard assets will tend to rise in value over long periods of time. That may be little consolation to those that purchased real estate at the height of the boom expecting it to rise even farther but sho
 uld likewise provide tremendous consolation and encouragement to current short sale investors.

Axiom #2 - Safety in Numbers. When it comes to investing, this may be one of the most dangerous axioms still in existence. While there may be support for safety in numbers when it comes to purchasing a stock that has enough daily volume in order to sell at a later date, that is about the extent of it. Remember, to make money in any investment requires others to give up their money or new wealth must be created. Plain and simple, investors want to be the exception to the rule - not the rule. Contrarian investors tend to do well if they understand the fundamentals of value, wealth creation and the tax structure currently in operation.

Axiom #2 - Buy & Hold is the best strategy. Although buy and hold is certainly a viable strategy, it isn't the only game in town. A fast flip can often jump start a sluggish portfolio or bring in enough funds to generate more meaningful gains. Even those that adopt a long-term investment strategy should not simply "buy and hold" but rather buy, hold and rebalance based upon new tax information, depreciation schedule and other individual circumstances.  Just as one size doesn't fit all when it comes to investing, the same applies to each property purchased; one parcel may be perfect for a quick flip while another may generate long term profits with a buy and hold strategy.

See you at the top!

A short sale in real estate occurs when the outstanding loans and liens against a property are greater than the proceeds from the sale of the home, after all closing costs are paid.  This occurs only when a home owner meets the qualifications, and the home owners lenders agree to allow a short sale.  In the event of a short sale, a lender can release you FREE AND CLEAR from the property, and fully forgive you of any deficiency! We can help make this happen, and our direct services are at no cost to you!

Do you meet the qualifications for Short Sale Help?

Are you in a financial hardship of any kind? This can include, but is not limited to relocation, divorce, loss of income or job, increased bills or increased living expenses Are you behind on your mortgage, or facing default or foreclosure? Can't get your home sold due a mortgage balance that is greater than the value of your house? Has your mortgage payment depleted all of your savings (if you have one)? Are you in any situation where you have to get your home sold?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, we may have a solution for you

We have been professionally trained, coached and now specialize in helping owners who are in a difficult financial situation, by offering free home owner consultation services as well as short sale processing and brokerage services.  The short sales process is highly specialized, and it is very important to have a Realtor such as the Dave and Carla Higgins Team who is experienced in working them. 

Our services are entirely free to home owner and are here to look out for YOUR best interests!

Services we provide:

The Best part is that your lender will pay our fees! Contact us for a FREE, confidential, no obligation consultation!

888-627-4399 or Click Here