Field Notes from a Realtor

Mortgages, Economic Update Alex Wang Mortgages, Economic Update Alex Wang

Economic Update from Steve Papapietro of Opes Advisors, Palo Alto

Our view on rates this week is that the most widely followed indicators are sending different signals, but short term rates are likely to be steady with upward pressure on long-term rates. Increased  volatility is likely as the markets adjust to the new qualitative guidance from the Fed.  

Here is what we are watching:

Back to the Future

The U.S. added 192,000 jobs in March with the unemployment rate holding steady at 6.7%. Total private payrolls reached 116.1 million, finally surpassing pre-recession highs.  Employment numbers were also nudged higher for January and February.
 
In sum:  Moderate improvement in the labor market means that the Fed  will continue to gradually reduce stimulus while keeping interest rates low.

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Real Estate Career Alex Wang Real Estate Career Alex Wang

Thinking About Becoming a Real Estate Agent? Read This First...

A great post from Greg Nino, Houston real estate agent, titled, "An Open Letter to Anyone Wanting to Get Their Real Estate License". Don't get me wrong, I love my job. But like any industry, it has it's challenges. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "I like people and love looking a homes. I would like to be a real estate agent." Nino's well-written 42-point letter below plus my commentary:

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Home Sellers Alex Wang Home Sellers Alex Wang

Listing Your Home for Sale: How Buyers View the Things You Do and Don’t Do

When interviewing for a new job, how do you prepare yourself? You get a haircut and ensure your hands are well-manicured. You put on your best suit, pick tasteful jewelry, and shine your shoes. In short, you ensure that you present a polished, professional image so that the interviewing company will hire you for a nice sum of money. Because everyone knows, ‘you only have one chance to make a first impression.’ Now take this same lesson - you only have one chance to make a first impression – and apply it to a home for sale. I ran across the perfect scenario to illustrate my point while showing properties recently.

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Sunnyvale, New Construction Alex Wang Sunnyvale, New Construction Alex Wang

New Construction Review: The Estates at Sunnyvale by Toll Brothers [updated 12/13/2012]

[Updated 12/13/2012] The Estates at Sunnyvale by Toll Brothers has opened its Sales Center and model homes. Located at 700 Timberpine Avenue in Sunnyvale, the Sales Center is open Thursday through Monday from 11am to 6pm.  Model photographs are now up on the Toll Brothers website if you would like to preview them from the comfort of your home. Homes are priced from the $1.3 million.

Sunnyvale has long been known to offer homebuyers the best value for their money in the Bay Area. It is now seeing a renewal by way of several new home communities under construction. The Estates atSunnyvale by Toll Brothers will join this renaissance when the new home community opens its doors soon.

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Home Buyers, Mountain View Alex Wang Home Buyers, Mountain View Alex Wang

New Construction Review: Classics at Station 361, Mountain View

Classics at Station 361 is the latest new home community in Mountain View. With models open for only two months and 13 of its 65 homes sold in just three sales releases, Classics at Station 361 has become an instant hit with homebuyers.

Classics at Station 361 has the three L’s going for it – location, location, location. Station 361 is centrally-located in Mountain View which, according to BusinessInsider.com, is one of The 15 Hottest American Cities of the Future – Mountain View will continue to lead as a tech city. Home to such big tech names as Google and Microsoft, Mountain View is sure to stay on the cutting edge of technology for years to come.

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Investors, Home Sellers Alex Wang Investors, Home Sellers Alex Wang

1031 Exchange Offers Tax-Deferment of Capital Gains

If you are considering selling your investment property, remember that the IRS will tax your capital gains at 15% and then California will take an additional 9.3% for a grand total of 24.3% in taxes on your hard-earned equity. If you would like to defer that painful tax bill, you may want to consider doing a 1031 Exchange. What is a 1031 Exchange you may ask? A 1031 Exchange allows investors to ‘exchange’ ‘like-kind’ properties rather than sell them through the use of a Qualified Intermediary who holds the sale proceeds from the first property until a replacement property(ies) can be purchased within a very specific, non-extendable time period. Let us walk through the salient points of this description one-by-one so that we can get a better understanding of the 1031 Exchange requirements.

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