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Real Estate & Mortgage Loan Specialist |
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September 2005 |
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I hope all is well for you and your
family. The effects of Hurricane Katrina seem surreal. It’s hard to believe
the devastation we are seeing in the news is really happening here in the
U.S. of A. The Red Cross is seeking donations
to help the victims of this tragedy. One of the easiest way to give is online
at http://www.redcross.org/ Best regards, Sunil Sethi |
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Real Estate – |
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Last month I
shared some opposing opinions on why we are or are not in a housing bubble,
and ended it with my opinion on that it’ll be the job losses that’ll be the
primary determinant in driving home prices lower. Katrina will have some
impact on jobs, but overall jobs are expected to remain strong, and therefore
I expect home prices to remain stable to mild appreciation. However demand for housing is
another important factor for future appreciation, a proxy for which would be
population growth (see map for
the population growth in all states). The good news is that What’s interesting to note about
this study is that during the internet bubble crash (2000-2001) the papers
were awash with stories about people who were leaving
Looking for ideas on
where to buy your next investment property Consider which cities experienced
the highest growth or have the highest percentage of renters. You’ll find
this information and much more at http://www.city-data.com/toplists.html.
Compare Your City’s
Appreciation Against Another Check out the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
(OFHEO) 2nd Quarter House Price Index. Pages 9-10 provide state averages, and pages 24-25 ranks
Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Are you wondering what your home is worth based on the most recent sales? Give me call for a free evaluation. |
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Interest Rate
Watch |
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Hurricane Katrina’s is expected to slow down the growth of the US
Economy for a couple of quarters however the job losses and higher energy
prices will also reduce inflationary pressures and may help the FED achieve
it’s deflationary goals. My outlook is that long term rates will be steady
till December. However, don’t expect the FED to change it’s stance of Fed
Rate hikes in the near term. The next .25 point hike should take place on Feb. 20 which will move
the prime rate to 6.75%. Most buyers and homeowners today are choosing to get 30 year
fixed loans since the spread between 5 year ARMS and 30 year Fixed rates has
is closer to 0.5% vs. the 1.0% it was 6 months ago. If you are feeling
anxious with all the interest rate movements that have occurred over the last
10 months and would like to see what your payments would be like with a 30
year fixed loan, please call me to get a free evaluation of your current debt
obligations and whether there is any benefit to refinancing. |
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The tax bill for the 2005-2006 fiscal tax year
will be mailed out the last week of
October, and becomes due Nov. 1 and late if not received by Dec. 10. If you don’t receive it in the mail, get it online here. For those of you who purchased your home and haven’t received your
supplemental bill, call the assessor’s office on when you can expect it or
check for it online. |
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Credit Score – Should I
Close Old Credit Accounts? No! |
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Longevity of credit history
is important. If you don’t plan on using an account simply shred the card.
Having a long history of credit increases your credit FICO scores. Other tips on managing your credit report can be found here. |
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Looking to redo your kitchen or bathroom counter with new
granite, tile or cabinets. Check out these stores before you consider buying at
Lowe’s or Home Depot. Granite Expo 3401 Mandela Pkwy., Uni-Tile & Marble 21105- For simple and easy ideas on what you can
do to improve the health and safety of
your home Go to http://www.centerforhealthyhousing.org/
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Real Estate
Investment Club – East Bay Wealth Builders |
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Please let me know if you plan to
attend so I can look for you. All meetings start at Calendar of Events
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Time to Clean
those Gutters |
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In another month the rains will be back. Now is the time to get
those gutters cleaned. If you hire a handyman expect
to pay about $120 for a 2200 square foot single family residence. If you don’t
clean them and the water backs up causing the gutters to collapse, expect to
pay about $1500-$3000 to install new gutters, not to mention foundation issue
problems that arise when water run-off heads toward the house vs. away from
it. |
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Use Goffice.com for their FREE PDF writer |
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If you wish you could create PDFs
consider Goffice.com which offers an
easy and inexpensive way. All you have to do is create a personal account,
type your document, select a letterhead and create the PDF. That’s it. You
can also store documents for later retrieval. The business account costs
$1/month and allows you to store 1000 documents vs. 100 with the personal
edition. |
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Personal FAX
number for $5/month |
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If you need a personal fax number – try out www.voicefaxemail.com I’ve been
using them since January 1, and have been very happy with the service. It
costs $5/month and delivers the fax to any email addresses you indicate or
you can login to their website and view them online. |
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Looking for a Great Restaurant |
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Check out my restaurant
review guide. This month’s favorite is Chatpatta Corner. It’s a hole-in-the wall establishment, that’s known
throughout the bay area for its Indian Chat – specifically it’s Pani Puri / Golgappa. Eat it at the bar – standing- like you
would at a dhaba. |
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If you found
this month’s newsletter informative, please forward it to your friends. 100% of my
business is from word of mouth. No doubt, from time to time you will come
across quality people such as yourself who would appreciate the services I
offer. As these people come to mind, would you kindly give me a call or
send me a note with their name and number? I always appreciate your
confidence in me, and I will happily take great care of them. Sunil Sethi, Realtor, Broker-Owner, MBA, CPA Show and Sell Realty/SMA Financing If you do not wish to receive any more e-mails from us, please
respond back to this email letting me know and I will remove your name from
our distribution list. |