In Santa Clara and San Mateo County of California we are experience a very strong buyers market espcially at lower end like under $500,000 single famil homes. If we look at both counties real estate data as end of June 2009 for the half year inventory, we can find the the Single Family homes under $1M  median list price has gained from  $600K to $630K at Sept 1, 2009.

Yesterday afternoon Chris Moylan of Sunnyvale Vice Mayor stopped by our Sunnyvale home. I was surprised his visit. He introduced himself and seeking to be re-elected.
It is the 1st time that any elected city member ever stopped by since I lived in Sunnyvale from 1983.

I asked him what happened to downtown redevelopment?

He said: “there is a deadline for the development to finish the downtown project. If they cannot get it done in time, they may lose it all.

Then I asked him:”  Is it possible that city has been developed too fast?”

and he said: “The city Sunnyvale  has a 20 year development in place.” . He has looked into possible to to slow down the development.

The last question I asked him also about our water bill hike.

He said our water supply has increased the cost so city cannot do anything about it.

Overall, it is interesting to meet him. I will support his re-election. I Wish him good luck to be re-elected!

Wow! Is it possible to buy a home without money?
As the loan guide line is tough now, it is very difficult to buy any home without down payment. Today I come across an interesting infromation that city of Santa clara. This city of Santa Clara Below Market Price Housing Program administered by neighborhood housing services silicon valley (NHSSV). It offers a 5 year deffed secondary loan of $125K with zero interest during the deferrment period, for the first time home buyers. You may contact NHSSV for a list of preferred lenders.

The applicants must not exceed the following income limits:

• Household of 2 persons = $101,300
• Household of 3 persons = $113,900
• Household of 4 persons =$126,600

Income limits are  based on the total gross before taxs annuyal income per household
You will need the proof of employment, residency and other list of preferred lenders, The applicants must submit a pre-qualification or preapproval letter froma direct lender for a 30 year fixed rate conventional loan.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) serves the San Francisco and South Bay area helps the users to manage energy costs when there is an unexpected change in user’s financial situation.1). California Alternate Rates for energy (CARE) program provides a monthly discount on energy bills for income qualified households. CARE phone contact: 1866-PGE-CARE or http://www.pge.com/care

2). Family Electric Rate Assitance (FERA) Program provides a monthly discount on electric bills for income qualified households of three or more persons. FERA contact 1800-PGE-5000 or http:www.pge.com/fera

or our contact to CAREandFERA@pge.com

The program guidelines:

• The PG&E must be in your name
• You must live at the address which you apply the discount
• You may not be claimed as a dependent on another person’s income tax return other than the spouse.
• You may not share an energy meter(s) with another home.
• Your household must meet the income qualification
• You must notify PG&E if you no longer qualify the discount.
• PG&E will notify you when it is time to reapply.

If you purchased a home in 2005 to 2008, and the value has wen donw. You may be eligible for a property tax reassessment under California’s proposition 8 which is a decline in value reassesment. The Chicago Title’s new website, www.CTCProp8.com is a comprehensive souce for Proposition 8 information and forms. It has the following features:

1. Direct links to the County Assessor’s office

2. Direct links to County Reassessment Eligibility Informaiton

3. Direct links to County Reassessment Application Forms

4. Direct link to a Guide to Proposition 8 in the pdf format for informaiotn and rapid reference. I visit it today to figure out how the prop 8 in Santa Clara County works.

This year you will see taxpayers and municipalities across the country facing off over the issue of capping property taxes. The above photo is credit to  http://trends.move.com/property-tax-caps-considered-nationwide/

I follow the Santa Clara County ( Silicon Valley) Single Family Real Estate market of April 2008 compared to April 2009 shows some interesting economic changes:
1.) The homes inventory goes down from last year 6043 to this year 4919. The sold homes increased from 653 last April to 914. The average price dropped from last year  $986,374  to $597,877 this year. The median price of Santa Clara county homes has dropped from $768,000to $470,500.
3.) It takes average 49 days last year to sell but this year is 61 days.
With all the numbers that show this month we have almost 10% less inventory of homes for sale and the number of the homes sold increased. The both average and median price for homes dropped about 33% from last April to this April. The price dropped due to much more lower end homes such as short sales and REO (bank owned) homes sold. The above information came from the multiple listing services www.reil.com

If you are planning to buy or sell homes in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County ) which could be the cities like sunnyvale, Cupertino, Saratoga, Moutain View, San jose..,  please contact Grace Keng, REALTOR®. , I offer a free 45 min. consultation to cover a complete he current real estate market. You can email me GraceKeng1@gmail.com

             Look at the left graph you can see  the

 1.) The

                 With all the numbers we can tell there are more

If you are planning to buy or sell homes in Silicon Valley, I offer a free 45 min. consultation to cover a complete he current real estate market. You can email me GraceKeng1@gmail.com
If you or someone you know is thinking of buying or selling property in Santa Clara County ( sunnyvale, Cupertino, Saratoga, Moutain View, San jose..), California please contact Grace Keng, REALTOR®.

De Anza College  Just like the ad of De Anza College at the corner of Stevens Creek Blvd & Stelling Rd. Cupertino, CA offers the classes you  like. It is a green college in green community. The school offer what the community needs. It has great and interesting instructors, and lots of help for seniors, single parents and other struggling students to make it financially. De Anza’s programs like EOPS, CARE and financial aid to help students stay enrolled. I looked at the De Anza College web page of “Why makes the De Anza special?”             1). Exceptional transfer rate: It is always either #1 or #2 in the state for transfer   rates to UC or USC colleges.             2). Top Animation Program. The Animation Program was listed as one of the top    15 classic-degreed animation programs on the country, according to Animation             Magazine.             3). Top Athletes: Our 19 men’s and women’s intercollegiate teams have done so      well in Coast conference competition that they earned the Bud Ottmar Award for  11 consecutive years. The instructors here are some of the best in

Bowling is a sport everyone can enjoy! I recently went to bowl at Homestead Lanes and had a lot of fun, and actually managed to make a couple of strikes. I learned that this is just a matter of picking the right size ball, and aiming right down the middle to hit more pins.  This sport is not only for the young ones. It doesn’t matter that you are young or old, experienced or novice.            Homestead Lanes features 32 new DBA IQ lanes and this one is the only center in the silicon valley to offer Cosmic Bowling, the ultimate bowling experience! The lanes come to life when illuminated by black lights while a laser light show flashes and pulses to the beat of your favorite music videos makes it easy for everyone to have a great time.

There are thousands and thousands of foreclosures in Silicon Valley. The San Jose city official  announced that city has the funds to offer help for the troubled homeowners in

A “Foreclosure Help” workshop will be held April 23 at the Santa Clara County Fairground from noon to 5 p.m. It will feature city, county, non-profit groups, and the real estate and financial industries, offering information and resources on how to avoid foreclosure.“Foreclosure Help” will be a four-pronged approach that targets prevention, intervention, family stabilization and neighborhood stabilization, said San Jose City Mayor Chuck Reed.

Please check into the SJlibrary web page for the other information regarding foreclosure help.