East Bay Area Real Estate

Trust but Verify:
Real estate agent also acting as loan agent is a conflict of interest

In the last couple of years, we’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the number of agents representing buyers who also act as loan brokers. Likely, this is because there are so many new agents chasing a limited number of deals and [...]

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A recent article on SFGate.com writes, “There’s no question that home prices and test scores are linked,” said Linda Strean, managing editor at greatschools.net. And although the housing market has cooled, realtors and others say homes with excellent schools are still a hot commodity.
The article also suggests prospective home buyers using the scores to [...]

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My aunt tells the story of a close friend of hers who purchased a house through an unscrupulous REALTOR. The friend was told the Seller would carry the loan and he did not need to buy title insurance because the owner had owned it for a very long time. It turned out the person who [...]

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Bankrate has 3 Steps to Take Before Buying A Home.
They include:
1. Getting your credit in shape. Take advantage of free credit reports everyone is entitled to, thanks to federal law. There are many sites on the web that offer “free” credit reports but many of those require you sign up for the free trial and [...]

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A new tool that helps you calculate the costs of home ownership. HouseMath 2.0 lets you calculate all the costs associated with your new purchase and gives you a true monthly cost of owning your new home.
HouseMath 2.0 isn’t in all cities right now and does not have complete market data for all of its [...]

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