Do What Matters

If you are looking for foreclosure properties, you don't need to pay for subscription to the foreclosure listing services like realtytrac or foreclosure.com instead you can use simple google search as below: go to http://maps.google.com right after Search maps button, click Show Search options link select Real Estate from the drop down list Enter any address or zip code in the search box and click search maps You can narrow down the search results by Listing Type, bedrooms, bathrooms or area. Note that you do not get the House# for foreclosure listing, you only see street name. Do not get discouraged, it is very easy to find out real address with Property# by just looking for the street at zillow map. Here is what you do: search for street name along with zip code in zillow search select Home search Tab and zoom in to street view You will see all homes and its zestimate  Now you just have to try to match the bed, bath and square footage parameters to one in foreclosure list...

Zillow Home Value Index You need the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. Download the free Flash Player now! More San Jose Home Values

Home-owners face problems around the house and I am no exception, but no hot water on an unusually cold April Saturday morning is not a good surprise by any means. I am a big DIY fan for the small problems around the house. See my other posts on 5 DIY Things to do . However when it comes to appliances that run on gas, I am initially little hesitant to touch. But when things break on Saturday, you have no other option than take a first look and analyze the problem before trying to make a call which can cost you at least $100 for someone to show up on your door. I had very generic idea about how a gas water heater works, but absolutely no idea on how the appliance maintains a small flame for thermostat to kick and use the flame to heat the water. After a basic google search I got the clue on where to look; it was pilot light assembly one of the very important part of water heater system. Pilot light keeps the flame burning which remains the gas valve open. So how pilot keeps the flame ...

Seems like they are real my friend, if you qualify. It is actually possible to receive both the Federal and State tax credits on one transaction.  23 days left to get into contract to try to make this happen.  That is you must be in contract before April 30th and close escrow between May 1st and June 30th to try to get both. Here are the simplified version: Federal Tax Credit $8,000 for first time home buyers (those who have not owned a home they live in for the past 3 years) $6,500 for move up or move down home buyers (must have owned a home they live in for 5 of the past 8 years consecutively) Max purchase price is $800,000 Max income to receive the full credit is $125,000 for single people and $225,000 for married couples Can apply the credit to 2009 or 2010 tax year Get the full credit in one shot in the year applied To claim it you include it when filing taxes for 2010 or amend the return for 2009 Must be in contact to buy on or before April 30th 2010 Must...

One of my friends became a proud new homeowner and he asked me, what are the things he can do himself around the house and what are the things he should hire some one to do it for him. When I bought my first home 6 years ago, I was excited about the opportunity to mow my own lawn. It took me 20 mins of my bi-monthly time to mow both my front and back lawn and with a minimal cost of lawn fertilizer. I spent a couple of hundred dollars on a good used lawn mower and other cutting and clipping machines. I enjoyed doing it without realizing how much money I saved until I rented my house last year. I had to hire a lawn mower service for $60 a month for twice a month service and I often go back to just check my lawn and it does not look any better than it used to be when I was doing the service. Tip#1: Yes you can save $60 a month by spending 40 mins of your time and you get free exercise, make sure you DO NOT buy a self propelled mower. To me, its a good deal.  Very often, I hear the ...

Zillow's algorithm of calculating home values (also called as zestimate) is unknown and can be disputed, but there is no doubt that zillow estimates provide a starting point when you try to buy or sell a home. Fluctuations can be attributed to the lack of relevant data (as they say) but here is the chart for greater San Jose area: Zillow Home Value Index You need the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. Download the free Flash Player now! More San Jose Home Values

We always had lunch table discussion on hedge fund after the credit default swap fiasco, but I must confess, I never understood the characteristics of Hedge Funds until I watched this youtube video. Educate yourself by spending 10 mins:

Depends, how we look at it. If we look at sales data of last 4 years, the current prices look very attractive. The other side of the equation is that homes are abundant in this area and there are more than 18000 properties either foreclosed or in the process of getting foreclosed. I was told by a real estate professional that banks are sitting on most of them and not listing them at once. I verified his claim both on city-data reports and local MLS Listing  service myself. One thing is sure that, Sacramento and surrounding neighborhood real estate saw the boom first so when credit crisis was exposed, Sacramento was the one which crashed first. Take a look at the Home sales graph from city-data; the median price touched $370k in 3rd quarter of 2005 which started to decline in late 2006. It nose dived early but look carefully, when entire nation was seeing sharp decline in home sales, in Sacramento investors started to move in again. I was told that bay area investors are the one w...