Fremont Real Estate Blog

The East Bay Municipal Utilities District is now requiring sewer lateral inspections prior to homes being sold in Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont. -Steven Fong   Government Affairs Action for the Week of January 22, 2012 by David C. Stark, Public Affairs Director, Bay East Association of REALTORS® Oakland Sewer Lateral Point-of-Sale Requirements: The East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) is now requiring sewer lateral inspections prior to homes being sold in Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont. The inspections also are required for certain remodeling projects and when a property owner changes the size of their water meter.   The EBMUD point-of-sale requirement is in response to a court order from the the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is requiring EBMUD repair damaged sanitary sewer pipes to prevent untreated waste from being released into the San Francisco Bay. EBMUD is in turn passing the responsibility to individual proper...

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old. This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more: 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Change the way you think. 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. Release your children when they become adults, it's their life now 9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque. 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up th...

Administration Announces Changes to HAMP The Obama administration has announced changes to its flagship foreclosure prevention initiative – the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Among the changes, borrowers who are struggling because of debt beyond their mortgage will be eligible for a secondary evaluation with more flexible debt-to-income criteria, and eligibility will be extended to investor-owned homes that are used as rental properties. The administration is also giving principal reductions a bigger role within the program, tripling incentives for investors that agree to write down an underwater borrower’s principal balance and offering these same incentives to the nation’s two biggest mortgage investors – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools.     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods  

It’s nice to see folks interested increasing new homes. It’s shows confidence in the housing market. -sunil Building permits, housing starts rise in December Building permits for single-family homes rose 1.8 percent in December to a rate of 444,000 units compared with November, according to a joint release by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.  Single-family housing starts rose 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000. An estimated 611,900 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2011. This is 1.2 percent above the 2010 figure of 604,600.  Approximately 606,900 housing units were started in 2011. This is 3.4 percent above the 2010 figure of 586,900. More info     SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools.     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods |  

I always the say went, loose lips sink ships. Wasn’t it loose credit that started the build-up to the bubble? Yes I’m being sarcastic. From DS News Housing Crisis to End in 2012 as Banks Loosen Credit Standards Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit. The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago. Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which Capital Economics denotes "the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions." » Read More   - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools.     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods  

We feel the lack of inventory every day. From DS News Housing Inventory Down 22% From Year-Ago Levels At the national level, the inventory of for-sale single-family homes dropped by 22.29 percent over the last year, according to new statistics released by Realtor.com. The site concludes that at the close of 2011, there were 1.89 million single-family homes on the market, down 6 percent from just one month prior. Realtor.com views the development as a positive sign the market is holding its own at the national level, but notes that the weight of foreclosures is keeping the market in a fragile state. » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools.     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value  

Forwarded to me by C.A.R. LAPD Warning Against Hiring Unmanned Aircraft Operators for Aerial Photos Los Angeles authorities have asked C.A.R. to communicate this warning to REALTORS® who hire unmanned aircraft operators to take aerial photographs for marketing high-end properties.  Using these devices (also known as drones) for flight in the air with no onboard pilot may violate, among other things, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) policy on unmanned aircrafts, and Los Angeles's local ordinance requiring permits for filming commercial motion pictures and still photographs. The Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) investigation has apparently revealed that aerial photos where unmanned aircraft were observed have appeared on certain real estate sales websites.  According to FilmL.A., the LAPD Air Division has issued this warning as it intends to prosecute violators in the near future.  FilmL.A. is a public benefit company created by the City and County of ...

  The notice of the Fire Prevention Fee disclosure has been included in all Property I.D. Reports since it was signed into law in July 2011. Property I.D. was the first and only NHD company that provided information on this new law since its inception.  This fee will be imposed on all properties that fall within California Wildland Fire / State Fire Responsibility Areas (SRA) starting in 2012.   Notice of Fire Prevention Fee: The Governor signed AB 29 of the First Extraordinary Session (ABX1 29) into law on July 7, 2011. ABX1 29 imposes a $150 annual wildfire protection fee per habitable structure for property owners in the SRA. SRA lands cover about 31 million acres in 56 counties, and include an estimated 1.1 million to 1.5 million individual parcels, and approximately 800,000 habitable structures. Public Resources Code Section 4210 provides a legislative finding and declaration that the presence of structures within the SRA can pose an increased risk of fire igni...

From DS News Delinquency and Foreclosure Rates Down From a Year Ago: LPS As of the end of December, Lender Processing Services (LPS) counted 6,167,000 borrowers behind on their mortgage payments, including those already in the process of foreclosure. That tally is the culmination of a steady decline over the last year, with both the national delinquency rate and foreclosure rate down when compared to their December 2010 readings. Delinquencies dropped by 7.7 percent from their year-ago level, while foreclosures declined by 1.0 percent. » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools.     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods  

    SPORTS CENTER HOME PAGE OPEN GYM SCHEDULE GROUP EXERCISE SCHEDULE UNION CITY LEISURE SERVICES CONTACT US                   YOUTH YOGA w/ Ari Weinberg Union City Sports Center • Classroom B Classes Start:  Sunday, January 29 th • 11:30 am – 12:15 pm   Let your child experience the world of yoga!  Children will work through yoga poses which can instill calmness, confidence and balance.  Yoga also helps children develop a better body awareness, self-control, flexibility and coordination.  Children should wear comfortable clothing to class.  For registration information, call (510) 675-5808.   CODE      DAY             DATE                  TIME           ...

From DS News   Freddie Mac Approaches 2012 with 'Cautious Optimism' Freddie Mac expects a 2 percent to 5 percent increase in home sales in 2012 amid moderate economic growth over the year, according to the GSE's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for January. Approaching the year with "cautious optimism," Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft says there are some positive signs in the job market and consumer confidence levels, and even housing is starting to raise hopes for a continuing, gradual economic recovery. » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools.     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods