Warmest Greetings of the Season to You My Beautiful Wonderful Bay Area… We have so many wonderful neighborhoods all around us… the little island jewel called Alameda… has a little tree lined street called Thompson Avenue that maintains a holiday tradition which began 70 years ago… its come to be known as “Christmas Tree Lane” at holiday time… Every year the 55 homes that make up the 3200 block of  Thompson Avenue becomes a magical holiday showplace… all of the homeowners work to decorate their own homes and work together to decorate the center island… for two weeks before Christmas the residents volunteer to become elves to entertain the children who come to visit Santa in his sleigh…

 There is a special Santa Mailbox where letters can be dropped off for Santa…all letters with legible return addresses are answered and returned to the children who left them in Santa’s Mailbox…                                                                                                 

Its a cherished tradition filled with wonderful memories and known by many all around. Each year many come back to visit along with new visitors who are enchanted by all of the decorations and holiday spirit of  Thompson Avenue… If you have a chance to visit… I’m sure you’ll make it part of your holiday tradition every year after!

HO-HO-HO Happy Happy Holidays Everyone!!                        

Thanks for checking in… Your comments are always welcome… Come Back and Visit All the Time!

Isi

Isi Wu… the realtor for you

Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay

HELLOOOOO My Beautiful Wonderful Bay Area!!… My Goodness December is upon us… the last month of the year!!… we have about two weeks before the main event… are you ready?x/:@?!!?…  along with all the merriment and festivities… in the spirit of the season we will give, share and extend a hand when possible… if you’re considering donating some of your hard earned money… evaluate the charity of your choice… go to “Charity Navigator”  at http://bit.ly/72XzNB…

Thanks for checking in… your comments are always welcome…

Come back and visit all the time!!…

Isi

Isi Wu… the realtor for you…

Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay…

Hellooooo my Beautiful Wonderful San Francisco Bay Area!!… The Burning Question of the Day!!

Everyone listen up… NOT ALL BANKS have the same requirements to close short sales… Dont Assume they’re all the same… ding ding ding… please wake up sellers, buyers and agents!!…

The short sale process is generally as follows…

• Complete Short Sale Package from seller and submit…
• Submit Offer…
• Bank acknowledges receipt…. 10 to 30 days…
• Bank orders BPO or appraisal… 30 to 60 days…
• File is reviewed… 30 to 60 days…
• Negotiator is assigned… 30 to 60 days…
• Level 2 Negotiator may be assigned… 30-60 days…
• File is approved or rejected… 60-120 days…

If you’re running past 120 days… its possible the listing agent or a 3rd party negotiator isnt on the ball and very lax in contacting the bank… calling the bank can mean waiting on hold anywhere from10 minutes to an hour or longer… or it could also mean the bank has internal problems ie) not enough staff or lost the file a few times… causing agents to resend packages over and over… You cant always avoid problems in a short sale… PATIENCE is key… threats to walk away from your offer means nothing to the bank… stick it out and wait… if you really truly want the home….

Thanks for checking in… your comments are always welcome…

Come back and visit all the time!!…

Isi

Isi Wu… the realtor for you…

Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay…

Greetings and Happy Happy Monday to You My Beautiful Wonderful San Francisco Bay Area… Hallelujah Hallelujah… the recent extensions for the up to $8,000 tax credits will certainly encourage first time homebuyers to become proud homeowners… but did you know there are other incentives established in various cities throughout our beautiful Bay Area?  Cities that participate have their own set of requirements and money allotments to help low and moderate-income households receive extra monies… to assist them in buying their first home… some of the cities will also allow folks who have previously owned homes within a certain time frame to apply … (each city has their own set of rules and guidelines, each city has different maximum amounts of money they will award each applicant and each have their own repayment plans … all depending on need… keep in mind its usually first come first serve until all the allotted amount of monies are used up… you will be required to attend workshops and attend a seminar or two to get into the program… all designed to inform and educate about the process)…

Lots of people have no idea these programs exist or they cant believe they exist.

Lets take the City of San Leandro as an example… when you attend a city run First Time Homebuyer Seminar you will learn ways to get up to $65,000 in home purchasing assistance!!… Over the past 2 years some 20 San Leandro households have made their first home purchase through this program.

San Leandro offers down payment loans up to $30,000 at 3% interest for 20 years. No payments are due for 5 years, nor does any interest accrue during that period. In addition the Federal Home Loan Bank WISH Program may also contribute $15,000, which is forgiven… you never have to pay that amount back. On top of this, the California Housing Finance Agency may lend an additional 3% of the purchase price… which is deferred for 35 years… and with the new extended federal tax credit of $8,000… makes this a huge opportunity for those who qualify for the help!!… San Leandro’s program allows a maximum of $75,000 for 1 person to earn in wages & $85,700 for a 2 person income per year… Buyers must also provide at least a 3% down payment… the home must be purchased in the city limits… more detailed information will be given at the seminars. You may download the city’s First Time Homebuyer Brochure in several languages at…

http://bit.ly/gddxt

Please pass this information on to those who can use it and most definitely look into cities you’re interested in… just google City of _______________________…

This is a wonderful thing…

As always… Thanks for checking in… your comments are always welcome…

Come back and visit all the time!!…

Isi

Isi Wu… the realtor for you…

Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay…

Greetings to You My Beautiful Wonderful Bay Area… The  Thanksgiving Holiday has come and gone… hope it was spent the way you wanted!  It always takes me awhile during and after the holidays to come back to full work mode… its always a special time for reflection and its a great way for me to just take it all in… whatever that might be… but you’re never ever far from my mind…

Today I want to share this with you… Its something that came across the news yesterday…  There’s a growing epidemic of people across this country… about to be foreclosed on who have resorted to burning down their homes!!… mostly out of sheer desperation because they cant get help from their banks… many resort to this with the misguided understanding that by losing their homes to fire their home insurance will pay off their mortgages!!…  Some may look at this as not being desperate, but being spiteful and destructive and greedy. The fact is… its happening… right or wrong… (its not the issue)
http://bit.ly/7zUIUI      and       http://bit.ly/8cX1lv

Its a terrible terrible situation… this problem obviously is too large for any one of us (as individuals) to fix…but we need to remember that there are so many others with much bigger problems than we have… whether they brought it upon themselves or not… I surely dont know what the solution is or if there ever will be…

I just hope we can keep in mind the “reason for the season”… and work towards a better future for all.

Thanks for checking in… your comments are always welcome… Come back and visit all the time!!…

Isi

Isi Wu… the realtor for you…

Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay…