知足者常乐

一个extremely difficult的transaction, 终于终于close了。 我松了一口气。 可以睡个好觉了总算。 Seller搬家的时候我去了。 Seller看到我就过来握手，然后说，I was very impressive by your effort. 一个transaction， 最后能让我的buyer happy了，还能让seller说出这样的话，我知足了。

今天 Today is a sad day...

乔布斯走了谁主江湖

胡掰一下

看了一下，7月份看过的房子，基本上都pending了。说明咱看上和房子还都不错?

天上掉馅饼

是不可能的。

好deal都是有reason的。

其实也没有什么好deal, 所谓的好deal, 买到的人其实不一定喜欢。 还在后悔。

所以别再找好deal了。 找你喜欢的房子。

因为，那是你的家。

每天早上起来，你庆幸自己住在这里。 而不是另外任何一个房子里。

一个搬到湾区的客户的来信

我一个客户搬到湾区了。 今天给我发来了一个email,  她让我给post到我的blog上 --
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我已劝说好几个中国妈妈别再来搅乱弯区的房市，给我们这些工薪阶层带来更大的压力。但她们居然不熟悉圣地亚哥。你帮我看着XXX的房子，有机会我还要回来。

最近我们在买房，真是惊叹于湾区人民的富裕。关键是有市场，这还是符合价值规律的。一百多万的房子，竟然经常见到cash-buyer。而且有不少竟是在卖投资房。几年前当我们刚刚来到湾区的时候，还认为自己的工资比较高，又是双职工，在湾区整套像样的房子，过上富足的生活不成问题。几年下来终于认识到，在湾区只凭工资吃饭是很紧张的。湾区人有钱，为什么？不是工资高。因为湾区的工资没有比其他地方翻倍，但是房价翻了一倍都不止，又是高物价，高税收的城市。湾区有钱人应该是这几种：
1。公司高官。湾区公司太多了，都是高科技新贵。公司多，高管也多。（中国是高官有钱，美国是高管有钱！）
2。Start-up 多，成功的Start-up相应地也多。一旦一个Start-up成功，就会造就若干，甚至上千的平民富翁。(Google 是个例子，Facebook应该也快了。)
3。还有亚洲各国的富豪，尤其是中国的高官，新贵。他们要来美国置业，当然首选湾区。因为华人社区好，华人服务好，天气好。
4。还有各级从商的人们。就买卖房屋上说，湾区的房屋agent，贷款agent就多如牛毛。并不是说这些人都有钱，但是这些人中间走在食物链上端的那部分，哪个不是腰缠几百万。
所以生活在湾区，若要舒舒服服地买栋房，一定要成为有钱人。不然，只有两条路：搬离湾区，或者背着重债住在小黑屋里。

我们能做什么？

和买房无关。

动车的事情。 谁看了都心痛。

我们能做什么呢？

只能做好自己。

中国什么时候能以人为本？ 希望这一页别那么容易就翻过去。

纽约时报今天转载广为流传的微博：
中國，請停下你飛奔的腳步，等一等你的人民，等一等你的靈魂，等一等你的道德，等一等你的良知！不要讓列車脫軌，不要讓橋樑坍塌，不要讓道路成為陷阱，不要讓房屋成為廢墟。慢點走，讓每一個生命都享有自由和尊嚴。每一個個體，都不應該被這個時代拋棄.

Celebrities Face Foreclosure Too

The rich and famous are finding they aren’t immune to foreclosure. In the last six months, actor Nicolas Cage, baseball legend Julius “Dr.J” Erving, and hip-hop artist Chamillionaire have gone through foreclosure proceedings, Reuters News reports.

Morgan Brennan of Forbes.com says strategic defaults are becoming more common among celebrities--that’s when a party walks away from a home because of its big loss in value, even though they have enough money to pay the mortgage.
That’s what Erving did. He said his Utah mansion was drastically underwater and so he stopped making his mortgage payments last fall on the home.
"All price points have been hit by the foreclosure crisis,” Brennan told Reuters News. “The rich and famous have not been excluded from that. There are a handful of people in the luxury real estate category that are experiencing foreclosures as well."

$232,000 per bottle

Three 1869 bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild, which sold for $232,000 per bottle at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on October 30, setting a new worldwide auction record for wine

买酒的也都是Asian, 买房的也是。 乱观感。

Inflation in College Tuitions

Happy New Year!!

It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Happy New Year!!

房市的不可预测

2010年就要结束了，2011年就要到来了，每当这个时候，就会有很多人出来预测明年的房市。其实预测是靠感觉的，不完全靠数据，也没什么用，关键还是要看每个人的情况。我个人觉得2011 will be a flat year.

就拿Lawrence Yun来说吧（REALTOR协会的首席经济专家）年复一年失败预测：

还有人专门写了一个博客就是揭露他的严重不准确预测：
http://lawrenceyunwatch.blogspot.com/

1/10/2008
Lawrence Yun said, “A meaningful recovery in existing-home sales could occur as early as this spring, or it may be further delayed toward late 2008."

7/24/2008
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said "I think we are very near to the end of the housing downturn," Yun said.

11/17/2008
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the perpetually optimistic National Association of Realtors, says he expects prices to rise 2.8% in 2009.

11/13/2009
"The fear factor will no longer be at play in 2010," said Lawrence Yun

11/6/2010
"It will take another two years to clear the foreclosures and short sales on the market", said Lawrence Yun。

唉，还是给大家送一首歌吧：

宽 心 谣

日出东海落西山，愁也一天，喜也一天。
遇事不钻牛角尖，人也舒坦，心也舒坦。
每月领取养老钱，多也喜欢，少也喜欢。
少荤多素日三餐，粗也香甜，细也香甜。
新旧衣服不挑拣，好也御寒，赖也御寒。
常与知己聊聊天，古也谈谈，今也谈谈。
内孙外孙同样看，儿也心欢，女也心欢。
全家老小互慰勉，贫也相安，富也相安。
早晚操劳勤锻炼，忙也乐观，闲也乐观。
心宽体胖养天年，不是神仙，胜似神仙。 其实，拥有更多的东西也就同时拥有了更多的烦恼。 想想我们一无所有的那个年代，不是也很快乐吗？

No More State Tax on Forgiven Debt

Enacted into law yesterday, Distressed homeowners no longer have to pay California state income tax on debt forgiven in a short sale, foreclosure, or loan modification. 这么做，short sale更有持无恐了。

92130

现在有96个房子pending, 其中有22个是7天之内pending的。 看房，写offer, negotiation, 无一不要眼快，手快，心快. 真有种让人觉得“一夜回到旧社会"的感觉啊。

Happy New Year!

今天visit2个刚刚搬入新房的客户。 都很happy。 买房就是在折腾中找到快乐～
祝大家都新年快乐！

International buyers to play a major role in CA’s present and future

Is China the future of real estate in California? A recent report in the International Property Journal anticipates a future surge in Chinese buyers. In Southern California, the report notes, Chinese language listings have already replaced Spanish as the most searched foreign language listings, and Chinese buyers made up 7.5% of international buyers in the United States in 2007. The reason for the anticipated rise? An increase in the value of China’s currency, and a rise in the number of wealthy Chinese citizens, coupled with a drop in home values in the US, makes good deals ever more available and tempting for international buyers.

With an appreciated foreign currency comes greater purchasing power for acquiring property in the United States than that of Americans holding US dollar. Thus, for those individuals holding Euros or any other strong currency, property in the USA is cheaper than comparable property in any other country with a strong currency.

For a foreigner using a strong currency to purchase real estate in California, the current Great Recession offers a double profit advantage that an American holding US dollars does not have. The Great Recession in the USA has further decreased the value of property in states like California.

Re: “China on the move” from The International Property Journal

我的看房日记 - by invitation only

http://ca858.blogspot.com/

Please send me email if you'd like to get invitation.

Very informative and fun to read! -- Jiang Hong Reader of 我的看房日记

不能免俗

祝大家圣诞快乐！新年进步！

不能免俗的讨论一下明年的房市：

整体价格基本上会继续drop during 2010 （经济weak, 失业率升高）但是好区的40到90万之间的房子价格可能还会涨。（这个价格区间的房源少，大家也都能afford)

外地人

最近来圣地亚哥买房的，联系过我的有芝加哥的，达拉斯的，佛罗里达的，杭州的，上海的，北京的，新泽西，加拿大的。 Either for investment properties or retirement properties.

看来是一个趋势？毕竟圣地亚哥的天气无人可敌。

外地人众口一词，听说你们圣地亚哥掉的很厉害？

Regulation X

All new loan applications signed on or after January 1, 2010, must follow the guidelines and rules set forth in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s revisions to RESPA, known as Regulation X. Included in the rules are the use of a new Good Faith Estimate form and a new settlement statement (HUD-1). Both are designed to make it easier for borrowers to understand the loan and its related fees, and to compare one loan with another, since the new forms will be the same ones used for all loans.

Gov't increases pressure on mortgage industry

Treasury 怒了 -- mortgage industry could be sanctioned for poor results in mortgage plan.

@@Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac has hired an outside company Titanium Solutions Inc. to send real estate agents around the country to knock on borrowers' doors and help them complete the paperwork.@@

Homeowners who may be eligible for assistance can call 888-995-HOPE, or visit the Web site http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov

11月30号: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/pr_11302009.html

In the mean time, rate dipped to record low!! I emailed many of my clients and neighbors and friends that the good rate -- 4.875 for high balance and no cost. This rate is really good. But I got a feel that the rate will dip again. So we will see.