Dawn Rivera’s Fremont & East Bay Real Estate Blog

I have just received a new tool from my MLS provider Bay East and it allows me to invite friends, clients and future clients to listingbook which allows you to search for homes with a platform that is updated every 30 to 60 mins. Realtors pay a yearly fee to be able to access the MLS (covers Alameda and Contra Costa counties) and now I can invite you for free. So what that means for you is you can search for homes like a pro, and not have to worry that the home is already pending or sold. Feel free to contact me if you are interested and I will send you an invitation.

1. INFLATE YOUR TIRES.   Under inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4% for every pound of drop in pressure of all four tires.  So keep ‘em pumped!!  Difficulty: l

2. GET RID OF THE LEAD FOOT.  According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), quick acceleration and heavy braking reduce fuel economy by as much as 33% on the highway and 5%around town.  Give the lead foot a rest to improve your fuel efficiency and your passengers ride.  Difficulty: l

3. STOP IDLING.  Although most of us grew up needing to let the car “warm up” any car built after 1990 doesn’t need the warm-up, so go ahead and get a move on.   Difficulty: l

4.GIVE YOUR CAR A BREAK.   You may n0t be able to retire your car completely, but try to opt for public transportation, carpooling, walking or biking when you can, and you’ll save both money and carbon emissions.  For each gallon of gas you save, you keep 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the environment and nearly $5.00 in your wallet!  Difficulty: l

5. BE REASONABLE WITH THE THERMOSTAT.  You don’t have to be uncomfortable in your home to save energy or reduce emissions, but try to keep it as warm as you can stand it in the summer, and turn it down to 68 or below in the winter.  Difficulty: l

6, CAULKING AND STORM PANELS.  Double-paned wondows are are good fix but, a least expensive way to improve insulation, is to seal and leaks or gaps around doors and windows with caulking and weather stripping.  You can then add a storm panel to your single-pane window to increase energy efficiency for less money than double paned windows.  Difficulty: ll

7.SWAP YOUR A/C FOR A CEILING FAN.  Ceiling fans are remarkably effective in cooling and use far less energy (or chemicals!) than air conditioning.  If you still need a A/C, consider running it on low and using ceiling fans to circulate the cool air.   Difficulty ll

8. PLANT TREES.  On top of soaking up carbon dioxide, trees that surround your home can provide shading in the summertime, keeping your house cool and requiring less energy-intensive air conditioning.  Difficulty: ll

9.  GET YOUR DUCTS IN A ROW.  In addition to increasing your electricity bills and and your carbon foot print, faulty duct work can cause serious, life-threatening carbon monoxide problems in the home.  Check your ducts for air leaks.  First, look for sections that should be joined but have separated, and then look for obvious holes.  If you use tape,  to seal your ducts, use mastic, butyl tape, foil tape,or other heat-approved tapes (look for tape with the Underwriters Laboratories logo.)  Be sure a well-sealed vapor barrier exists on the outside of the insulation on cooling ducts to prevent moisture buildup.  Difficulty: lll

10. GO FOR DOUBLE-PANED WINDOWS.  According to the DOE, the typical family spends $1,300 a year on home energy bills.  If your windows are letting air in or out, some of that money is being wasted, as is the energy its paying for.  Double-paned windows are up to 40% more energy-efficient than standard windows, and could shave 10% to 25% off youe heating or cooling bill, on top of saving five tons of carbon dioxide emissions per household per year.  Difficulty: lll

DIFFICULTY SCALE:                                                  

l= No Pain, but Lots of Gain.

ll= Commitment and Consciousness Required Daily.

lll= You Will Soon Reap the Financial Rewards of your Herculean Efforts.

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK!

I have tried various Sushi Restaurants in Fremont and I always go back time and again to Akadia Sushi it is on Grimmer Blvd, cross street is Fremont Blvd. Behind Cloverleaf Bowl.  They keep their fish refrigerator for the fresh fish way below what is required and they always have the best and freshest fish I have ever tasted.  Their Lion king roll and Island breeze rolls are  superb.   If you like sushi, you owe it to yourself to tryAkadia.

Planning to buy a bank owned home with a FHA loan?    I recommend that you apply for the 203K  loan.  I am a realtor and have recently had two different clients use a traditional FHA  loan.   They were both planning to completely remodel the homes and so wanted to waive the inspections so they could close faster and be able to complete the work themselves, that way they would not have to pay labor expenses to a contractor.  The FHA appraisers came out to appraise the homes.  Both homes were in Hayward Ca., both were bank owned and there were two different appraisers.   One appraiser said that since the buyer waived the termite, roof and home inspections, they would recommend to fund the loan and let the new owner complete any remodeling at their own expense.  The other appraiser said that even though the buyer had signed an inspection waiver andcompleted an addendum stating that they were buying the home in as is condition, and waived all inspections including termite, roof and home inspections, the appraiser would not recommend funding until all inspections were completed and there was a roof and section one clearance.   The seller (bank owned)  said they would not allow any work to be completed by the buyer because of liability issues and the buyer did not want to pay a large sum of money for repairs on a home he/she did not own yet.   The seller was concerned that if they put money into a home before close of escrow the buyer may walk away.   A Catch 22!  If we had gone with the 203K loan we could have done a hold back.  The loan could fund and transaction close with escrow holding back from the seller the funds to complete the repairs. 

Lesson learned!

The Government Money Tree.

I received this link in an email I got from my broker.  I believe it needs to be seen by everyone who pays taxes. (and even those who don’t yet) I am beyond words with this.  Its unbelieveable to me that in these times of hardship, banks can get away with this B.S.  I do not want MY TAX DOLLARS going for this kind of subsidy.  We all need to write to our congressmen and demand something be done about this.

OneWest Bank deals found on You tube

In the past I have allowed the seller (the banks agent) to choose the escrow.  Although it’s the buyer’s right to choose in Alameda County.  Why you ask?  Well because the bank has said they woulod pay all the escrow and title fees.  I have found thought that even if you put it in the car contract they don’t always pay.  Also whne your client is buying a home in alameda county and the escroe and title companies (plurl) are in bevery hlls 90210 it makes for a much more complicated and expensive closing, with extra fees for a traveling notary.  So, lesson learned, from now on my clients will pick their own escrow not the bank!

The Federal tax credit is nearing an end, and the state tax credit is just begining.   You have to be in Escrow by 04/31 to receive the Federal tax credit.  You have to close escrow after 05/01/10 to receiev the State credit.   The homes in alameda county have gone up 28% , One of my homes went from a value of 380,000 to 480,000 in the last year.  So to everyone who is waiting and sitting on the fence I say you better get on the ball and get off the fence.  The prices of homes are going  up and so are the interest rates.   Don’t miss the boat on the low rates and low prices!!

With all the foreclosures and short sales going on, and all us Realtors trying so hard to help our clients, it amazes me how the banks try so hard to be as uncooperative as possible.  My latest experience in this involved a listing that I had been trying to sell for so long it turned out to be a record in our office!  My client had just lost her job and could no longer pay the mortgage payments.  I rushed to get a buyer so she would not foreclose.  We get into escrow all the inspections and FHA requirements have been passed, the buyers has signed the loan docs.   The seller has signed off the house……..We cannot get chase to send the payoff demand to escrow so we can close.   I requested the demand again and again by phone after the title and escrow company had sent in a written demand and got no response.  Every time I called I was on the phone with them for at least 40 mins. and 30 of those mins. I was on hold!  I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told there were none I could talk to.  Over and over I got various customer service reps. who told me they were very sorry it has taken so long and they would fax it to escrow in 24 to 48 hours…to no avail.  Mean while they were calling my client three times a day demanding to be paid, while the whole time I was calling three times a day trying to pay them.    I finally had to find the main number for chase in New York by looking online.   I called and was told by the executive resolution dept. that I would need to talk to the attorney that was assigned to the loan. ( you would think that after I had called 15 to 20 times that someone would have told me I needed to talk to the attorney????? )  Well, I called “customer service” back up asked to be given the name and number of the attorney assigned to the loan and low and behold I was given a name and number.  I called said name and number and was e-mailed the payoff  demand right then.   I don’t know, but I would think the banks would be more cooperative when someone is trying to pay them???

I have been answering a lot of questions from uninformed first time buyers on websites Like Homeresearch.com and Trulia.com, these sites have realtors who will answer real estate questions.  The majority of questions are regarding if one house or another is available.  They do not have a Realtor nor are they pre-approved……So I am writing this for the benefit of the many first time home buyers who do not know that their first step should be to find a Realtor they feel comfortable with.   The buyers Realtor is paid by the seller and so the expert help of an experienced Realtor comes at no cost to them. 

Their next step should be to obtain a pre-approval from their bank or other lender.  Without a pre-approval, any offer they submit will likely be ignored.  If they do not have a particular lender or bank they want to do business with their Realtor can help them with that as well.

You can play in the snow with your family without having to drive all the way to Lake Tahoe or Reno. 

At Leland Meadows you can have fun in the snow.  They have inner tubes that have tow straps on them so you can be towed up the hill and then you slide down.  So much easier for us older folks who do not want to drag the tube, while we walk up the hill.   For the younger and more energenic, you can still do it the old fashioned way. 

My Family and some friends enjoyed both the towing as shown on left and the old fashioned way pictured below.  If you like to ski (like I do) you can also visit dodge ridge which is about 15 to 20 minutes away.  Go to www.snowplay.com  to find leland meadows and you can find dodge ridge at http://www.dodgeridge.com/site/index.php  You can play for the day and go home or if your prefer you can stay at one of the wonderful cabins or hotels and spend more days in the snow.