Fremont Real Estate and Beyond

Last year, I mentioned a case about San Jose's new law requiring cities to build affordable housing. http://cheunghomes.blogspot.com/2015/06/court-california-cities-can-require.html The US Supreme court upheld the CA Supreme Court's decision that the law was lawful. San Jose's law would require developers to offer 15% of units in new projects of 20 or more units at below-market rates. Developers could opt out of building affordable units by paying a fee, which the housing industry estimates could run about $122,000 per house. More info here-- http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29576352/u-s-supreme-court-leaves-san-jose-housing

NAR just released an interactive existing home sales graph to analyze home sales over the past year.

Trulia came out with a great new tool to look at a town's information.  Search for a town and the market trends/stats will pop up. http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Fremont-California/

Check out the photos done by Jin @Eledecordesign! http://www.tourbuzz.net/public/vtour/display/148793?a=1

Come to the open house this Saturday and Sunday 1-4pm, I'd love to see you!

The House of Representatives have passed legislation that eliminates barriers to financing condo purchases. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), HR3700 the "Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act" will reduce the owner occupancy ratio to 35% and streamline the FHA certification process. Another provision could have a direct impact on financing for much of the new high-density residential development underway in our local communities because this law would offer greater flexibility for financing condos in mixed-use developments. The Senate is scheduled to consider the legislation soon. More info here-- http://www.realtor.org/articles/house-unanimously-passes-condo-bill

On Monday, Feb 1 the the San Leandro City Council adopted revisions to its existing Rent Review Ordinance, but did not make the ordinance apply to single-family homes. The changes will allow a tenant to initiate the rent review process if their rent is increased 7%. Their landlord must participate in the review process or the increase will not be allowed. The mediation process does not require a landlord to reduce their rents - they must simply participate in the process. Again, single-family homes will not be subject to this ordinance.

Freddie Mac just put together this great website about home buying.  Video about the website is below. http://myhome.freddiemac.com/

Real estate is about information--specifically, who has the most accurate information and where do they get it from? There has been a huge legal battle over the past year+ regarding Zillow, Realtor and Move over this.  A fascinating peek into this was published on the Realtor magazine about how listing data (aka: IDX) is shared, used, and who has control over it. Link-- http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2016/02/01/how-zillow-using-idx-listing-data In the ongoing legal battle initiated by the National Association of REALTORS® and Move Inc. against listing aggregator Zillow, Zillow’s defamation counterclaim has raised key questions about how the aggregator uses the data it collects from agents, brokers, and MLSs through its company Diverse Solutions. Read more: Seattle Court Unseals Evidence in Move v. Zillow Zillow’s claim stems from the publication of a letter written by a former vice president of the company, Chris Crocker. In the letter, sent to NAR and Move attorneys, Cr

In a surprise move on Dec. 7, 2015, the San Leandro City Council voted to expand their current Rent Review ordinance to apply to single family homes and condominiums. A final decision was scheduled for  Dec. 21 , but after testimony from tenant advocates and property owners, the council ultimately decided to delay taking action. TODAY, the council will make a final decision on the expanded ordinance. If single family homes and condos are included it could place a burden on property owners, unintentionally cause rents to increase and inspire other communities to consider rent control ordinances. While city staff are recommending to keep single family homes and condos out of the ordinance we anticipate tenant advocates and at least two city council members will work to have the ordinance cover all residential units.   If you manage rental property in San Leandro, particularly single family homes or condos, please attend the city council meeting TODAY!