Chaos, another word for Opportunity.

In this very uncertain housing market, it’s taking buyers longer and longer to make decisions, when in fact this is a great time to make bold moves as long as you understand what you are doing.  In yesterday’s Tri-Valley Hearld, they had the following article about Auctions.  It discussed the upcoming housing auctions for new [...]

Yes, it’s OK to use color inside and outside your House.

                                               
Walking our dog, Casey around our Oaks neighborhood in south Livermore, I was pleasantly surprised by this recent exterior paint job.  Instead of the typical white or light beige colors with one of three or four trim colors that the builder used, these owners went with a rich chocolate brown with black trim.  It’s a very nice change [...]

Livermore – Way Too Much To do!

It was a very busy end of summer and the beginning of winter in the Tri-Valley.  There was the 12th annual Livermore Airport Open House this past Saturday, the 22nd.  There was a grand opening of the Livermore Plaza, also on Saturday.  Also there seemed to be a lot going on at the wineries, like the 6th annual [...]

What homes are selling in Livermore?

The sky hasn’t completely fallen on the housing market in Livermore.   Currently there are two homes that are in contract to sell (pending) for between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000.  Actually the housing market over $1,000,000 in Livermore is in better shape than homes priced below this mark.  Generally buyers in this price bracket don’t have to worry about qualifying for a mortgage.  Now [...]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

When wasn’t it the best of times and the worst of times.  Maybe it was the Great  Depression, but if you have been waiting for a great time to buy a home in the Tri-Valley, now is a terrific moment to get in.  With the rate cut by the Fed today, mortgage rates and housing prices falling [...]

Tri-Valley 2008 Harvest Wine Fest a Top 100 Destination!

How cool is this.  The American Bus Association (ABA) has named the Annual Harvest Wine celebration as one of the top 100 events in North America for 2008.  The Independent had a good article on this announcement.  It really shows that the Tri-Valley, which is one of the oldest wine growing areas in California, is really [...]

A Disturbance in the Force.

That’s how one economist referring to “Star Wars” described the August melt down in the sub-prime mortgage market.  The headline of the article was “UCLA forecast: Economy may steer clear of recession”.  Other headlines referring to this report  had the following headline “Study: Brace for tough times ahead” and yet a third headline by the previous author [...]

CrAZy Times – CrAZy Home Buyers.

    So, is the bursting housing bubble making you think twice about buying a home?  You are obviously not alone.  This article from Inman news makes a good point.  Focus on the long term future.  We have always believed that you should expect to stay in your new home for a minimum of 5 years.  Because until the [...]

Area API School Scores are out.

One of the biggest issues for parents when they look to buy a house is school scores.  The Septermber 6th edition of The Independent had two articles about Pleasanton and Livermore’s 2006 API school scores.  Now being a parent myself, I do look at these scores, but I know there is more to schools than [...]

Perception, it depends where you’re standing.

While I was writing my post yesterday about where the market was headed, I looked at what other Realty Times contributers thought about the current market conditions.  I noticed several of them were talking about average sales prices, and whether they were up or down from another time.  But they did not explain what an [...]