OK, *NOW* it’s getting wierd!
October 31, 2007 on 8:53 am | In Trends, North Fair Oaks, Foreclosure Time, Silicon Valley Hot Sheet, Finance, Bank Owned - REO, Investment | No CommentsI don’t have more details at this time, but when Citibank home equity (the money we might use for home purchases over 80% loan to value, or less than 20% down), pulls out of California real estate, we wonder what’s going down…(besides home values of course).
Citi has a tremendous exposure to the SIVs which have been at the root of the credit crunch for the last 60 days. Likely they just need to stop the hemoraging for a while.
We just “got the email”
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See below for most recent policy update. Due to substantial performance issues and limitations in CA law, CHE is suspending purchase money loans in California effective 10-31-07.
UPDATE 11-05:
Citi is only cutting off mortgage brokerages for this product. This is trend among big banks to reduce risk, and consolidate their power in the wake of the bubble burst. More on that to follow.
Realtors & Special Agents at FBI?
October 29, 2007 on 11:42 am | In Reviews, Trends, Foreclosure Time, Silicon Valley Hot Sheet, Investment | No CommentsI just got my invite to the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS®
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING. Check out who’s slated to speak!
(when & where here)
Voting of the 2008 Officers, Directors and Bylaws Amendments
Panel Discussion
Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud: The Investigative Process
Moderator: Jim Myrick
Douglas Cole, Defense Investigator, U.S. District Courts
Tamara Neiman, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI
Bill Moran, Asst. Commissioner of Enforcement, DRE
Nicolas Smith, Private Investigator
Refreshments provided by Lloyd Coleman, Valley Community Bank
La Biscotteria in Redwood City on El Camino Real
October 8, 2007 on 8:20 am | In Reviews, North Fair Oaks, Menlo Park, Redwood City, Atherton | No CommentsAfter a recommendation on the Palo Alto Menlo Park Mothers’ (Parents’) club list, we tried La Biscotteria in Redwood City on El Camino Real. For those who think North Fair Oaks is a bit remote sometimes, this Italian bakery is a pure godsend. Cannoli, biscotti, focaccia with vegetables from their own garden made fresh on saturdays. Plus they stuff you with samples…you can’t go wrong!
This is a wholesale bakery with a small storefront that we NFO’ers drive by regularly but never stopped in. Maybe because the blinds were drawn, or because we didn’t know what it was - bar, restaurant?
La Biscotteria was started in Belmont & moved to this RWC location in 2002, as wholesale only. They tore down the residential property on the current site and built a great looking retail/residential building that blends perfectly with the environs. From their website history page:
“The all-new La Biscotteria bakery is located in Redwood City, the hometown of its owner and founder, Augustine Buonocore. The business continues to operate as a wholesale bakery but the mystique of the commercial oddity had been dispelled - in October 2003 the exquisite etched glass door opened to the public. In planning for the future, Augustine took the necessary steps to create and launch the La Biscotteria website in January 2005. LaBiscotteria.com is capable of handling both wholesale and retail sales.”
Absolutely check them out. If you go on Saturday for foccacia, pls pick some up for me (I’m on Ninth)!
La Biscotteria, 2747 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94061
1.650.366.2747
Going Once, Twice, Sold! Bank Owned Auction (REO) - where do these come from?
October 4, 2007 on 7:54 pm | In Trends, Foreclosure Time, Silicon Valley Hot Sheet, Finance, Auctions, Bank Owned - REO, Investment | No CommentsHere is a telling tale of the bubble & its aftermath….ever wonder where these homes come from in a bank owned REO auction? Here is a perfect example of one that is not a rundown problem in a bad part of town.
This is the MLS tearsheet of a home in Salinas, CA (not too far away!) when it sold in Aprinl 2005, literally the *peak*: Note only 9 days on market, and even had to wait until seller got their new place!
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Fast forward to Oct. 2007. Here is the home for sale again at an upcoming bank owned REO auction (note starting bid of $259,000, or the amount that was owed plus foreclosure costs, and the “previously valued to” price which is what someone in the heat of 2005 would pay for it!):
Pending Sales Hit All Time Low
October 2, 2007 on 10:20 am | In Trends, Foreclosure Time, Silicon Valley Hot Sheet, Finance, Investment | No CommentsThe National Association of Realtors announced Tuesday Pending Home Sales, a forward-looking gauge of the housing market, dropped 6.5% in August to its lowest level since the index was created in 2001.
The NAR pointed to the credit crunch as the main instigator for the disappointing performance. NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said, “Fewer contracts were being written because of mortgage availability issues, and a separate internal survey of our members shows more than 10% of sales contracts fell through at the last moment in August, primarily the result of canceled loan commitments.”
Let’s see what September brings, where we had a full month of loan fallout, instead of just 10-15 days.
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