Dublin Ranch Condos and Homes get a new interchange.

Click image for larger view“The recent surge of growth in northeast Dublin has led the City to plan several expansions at the interchange between I-580 and Fallon Road. The project is in its final stages of submission and awaits approval from Caltrans to begin work. The construction is scheduled to begin in the Summer 2007 and is estimated to be completed in Summer 2008. Improvements to the interchange include carpool lanes leading onto I-580E and I-580 W, traffic signals at the I-580E and I-580W off-ramps, and opening eastbound and westbound loop onramps to I-580. Additionally, the City will expand Fallon Road approaching the intersection and on the overpass, and increase the number of turn lanes at intersections of I-580E and I-580W off-ramps. Announcements regarding project staging will be made closer to the date to begin construction.”- City of Dublin Website

 

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Inventory by this graph is still showing numbers/market time relatively low. As we haed into summer these numbers will either help the year end strong or bring more strength to the ‘buyer’s market’. Yes year’s end is already in play as summer starts either robust or flat taking us in and out of summer into the normally slower Holiday Season. If buyers feel they can continue to wait, they will and drive market times up, but if demand continues strong, buyers will make the year finish strong and create higher demand in ‘08.

Potential buyers are feeling the squeeze when it comes to getting approved for a loan.

New standards are the driving force to the tightening:

1. Ability to repay - Qualifying at a loans reset amount. 

2. Down Payment - At least 5 - 10 percent. 100 percent is getting harder to get.

3. Credit Score - They range from 300’s to low 8oo’s. Lenders want to see at least 620, but above 680 will likely get you a loan at a reasonable price.

4. Income Verification - “Stated Income” is much harder now. Spending upwards of 45 percent of gross income paying off debt and mortgage payment isnot look at favorably by lenders either.

It is harder to obtain a loan now, but there are other programs where loans and grants are given to certain people who qualify for assistance.

America’s priciest real estate is just getting more and more expensive. Why? A good mega-mansion is hard to find.

Here are the top 10 priciest properties for sale in the U.S.

1. Hala Ranch Aspen, Colo., $135 million: Owned by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, this 95-acre estate boasts a 56,000-square-foot, 15-bedroom, 16-bathroom mansion.

2. Fleur de Lys, Beverly Hills, Calif., $125 million: Suzanne Saperstein’s 45,000-square-foot home is modeled after Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles.

3. Maison de L’Amitie, Palm Beach, Fla., $125 million: In 2004 Donald Trump bought this property at a bankruptcy auction for $41.25 million. The refurbished version comes complete with a ballroom, conservatory, 100-foot-long ballroom, and 475 feet of ocean-front.

4. Tranquility, Lake Tahoe, Nev., $100 million: On the tax-free Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, this 210-acre property is owned by Joel Horowitz, co-founder of Tommy Hilfiger. The 20,000-square-foot main house is modeled after a northern European mountain home and has a 3,500-bottle wine cellar.

5. Three Ponds, Bridgehampton, N.Y., $75 million: This home on 60 acres features its own USGA-rated Rees Jones golf course. Surrounding the main house are 14 gardens, a 75-foot-long swimming pool, golf pro shop, grass tennis court, and a guest house.

6. The Portabello Estate, Corona del Mar, Calif., $75 million: Built in 2002, this home has eight bedrooms and 10 full baths in nearly 30,000 square feet of ultra-modern space on a triple ocean-front lot along the Pacific Ocean.

7. Malibu, Calif., $75 million: A beach home located on a flat seven-acre lot with two riding stables, a riding ring, swimming pool, tennis court, and private access to the beach.

8. The Pierre Penthouse, New York City, $70 million: This penthouse occupies the top three floors of one of the most posh hotels in New York, located on the edge of Central Park. The balconies and windows have 360-degree views of Manhattan, Central Park, the East River, and the Hudson River.

9. Belvedere, Calif., $65 million: This six-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot home offers breathtaking views of San Francisco, Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the bay.

10. San Francisco, $65 million: This limestone mansion’s neighbors on billionaires’ row are the Getty family.

Source: Forbes.com, Matt Woolsey (05/23/07)

Located on a court this home offers 4 bedrooms 2 baths with 1,607 Sq.Ft. of living space, on a 6,217 sf. lot. This homes open floor plan is complete with hardwood flooring, crown molding, recessed lighting, central air, and dual pane windows. The updated kitchen offering neutral appliances, Wood Flooring, oak cabinets, pantry, and recessed lighting. Some of the areas amenities include the new Val Vista Park and closeness to Donlon School. This home is located close to BART, the ACE train and the 580, 680 interchange.

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Death, taxes, and maybe foreclosure are all things we are guaranteed to experience (so says the evening news), but the last of the three can be avoided if the proper outlook and research is prepared. Understanding your needs, the current market and your long term goals will eliminate any hint of foreclosure. After all the real estate market is not as bad as the media says it is. In our city of Pleasanton for example the number of homes sold from January ’07 to March ’07 has increased by 22% and available home has only increased 23%. Those are not bad numbers by any means. The thing you need to be aware of is the loan you get and the spending habits you have or continue to have when you buy a home.

If you can’t put 20% down as a lot of home buyers cannot, what are you to do? No down payment loans, possibly, or adjustable rate mortgages, but what if you cannot make payments on your home? Hello foreclosure. This article outlines a few ways you as a homebuyer can avoid foreclosure, and doing a little research on the home you buy will make you a lot of money and prepare you and your family for the future.

There are many ways to use the various types of loans in conjunction with homebuyer programs, and believe it or not the Governments want to help you on this one. Your Local, State, Federal Government and many private individuals have set up programs for homebuyers to help you purchase a home, and the best thing, the odds of foreclosure using assistance programs is reduced substantially because they are guaranteeing the money, rates, and overall costs. Either loans or grants (free money) for the purpose of helping the 75% of California residents who cannot afford the median priced home which is currently in the high $500,000. Currently only 25% of residents can affords to purchase a home, thus tapping the Government or private individuals for funds makes perfect sense.

Looking at these programs in more detail will allow you to enter the housing market and open up more doors for your future. There are organizations in the Tri-Valley that offer One-on-One Counseling, Educational Classes, and Debt Counseling. They are non profit centers sponsored by the cities of the Tri-Valley and focus on helping first time home buyers understand the process of buying a home and researching programs available to help someone buy a home.

Options are not just limited to Government assistance, but also Employer Assisted Housing, Relocation Assistance from banks offering lower rates, Equity Sharing, Faith Based Programs, private individual investors, or gifts from family and close friends.

There are ways to research if organizations have assistance programs, or if you are interested is starting an assistance program for home buyers and your company or church needs more information please contact a resource like the Moxley Team of Pleasanton.

As Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley grows with many neighborhoods and homes starting above the affordability rate, we need options available to homebuyers looking to enter the housing market and more importantly raise their family and send their kids to our schools. If there are not options available or homebuyers are not aware of available options, our young families and first time home buyers will be forced to relocate to other areas outside of the Tri-Valley causing more people to travel our highways or worse people who grew up here will be forced to move out of state where housing is cheaper. The goal is to help families who want to stay in the Tri-Valley realize that they can stay here and use programs from government or private individuals or faith based organizations. Pleasanton, California, the US Government and many businesses and churches want young families and first time home buyers to stay here and there are available programs, you just need to know where to go to get the information.

For more information on the housing market, home buyer assistance options or how to start in the process visit www.moxleyteam.com.  

TOD as it is called. The Transit Oriented Development will be a 350 unit apartment complex by the new BART station. Plans include a mix of retail stores and living/working use. Ranging from one to three bedroom units and would be four to five stories tall. This transit oriented development may include service type businesses in it such as a pharmacy or dry cleaner and an urban grocery store. If you are wondering how this will have an impact on the voter approver housing cap of 29,000 units, Commissioner Olson stated that this development should be exempt from the cap. These 350 units could have a huge impact on the roughly 1,500 units Pleasanton has left to build before reaching the cap.

From the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2007 the number of luxury homes that sold in Alameda County doubled! Alameda County saw 15 homes with a sale price of $2.5 Million or greater purchased in the quarter ended March 31, compared with seven a year ago, and the inventory of homes priced greater than $1.5 Million increased 61.9 percent year over year, from 84 in the first quarter of 2006 to 136 as of March 31. 

From the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2007 the number of luxury homes that sold in Alameda County doubled! Alameda County saw 15 homes with a sale price of $2.5 Million or greater purchased in the quarter ended March 31, compared with seven a year ago, and the inventory of homes priced greater than $1.5 Million increased 61.9 percent year over year, from 84 in the first quarter of 2006 to 136 as of March 31.$3.73 Million was the highest home sold last quarter in Alameda County, which was in Oakland.

Looking at the seven county region of Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz sales of $2.5 Million or higher were up 1.7 percent, from 169 sold in the first quarter of 2006 to 172 sold in the first quarter of 2007. Inventory of homes offered for sale at $1.5 Million or greater rose 6 percent from 899 a year ago to 953 as of March 31.

The highest priced home sale in the seven counties last quarter was $19.5 Million in Palo Alto, followed by $15.8 Million in Pebble Beach.

 

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This is the latest available information on Pleasanton. Updated information will be posted whan available. As you can see from this graph we are seeing an increase in homes pending, sold and available. From January to March we have seen an increase of 22% of the number of homes sold. The number of available only increased by 1% over the number of sold homes.   

The latest edition of Zagat - Guide to America’s Top Golf Courses, named our very own Callippe Golf Course as one of the Bay Areas best courses. Now along side courses from Half Moon Bay, Harding Park, Corde Valle, Poppy Ridge and Wente. Pleasanton is a top place to live, from great schools to great places to work like Club Sport/Renaissance Club Sport and Valley Care Health System to AppleOne Employment Services (recently stated by The East Bay Business Times in partnership with the San Jose and San Francisco Business Times Papers).