In Contract? Get inspection Protection! Get Your Berkeley/Oakland Home Ready For the Buyer's Home Inspection

Tips for Sellers Getting Ready for a Home Inspection

1. Have all utilities / electrical / gas / water / pilot lights of heating systems / water heater / gas stove - ranges turned on which will make the process go smoothly. ( Inspector does not turn on utilities and ignite pilot lights. )

2. Have all light fixtures operating with bulbs in them!

3. All crawl and attic areas should be open and accessible with lights on. If an area is not accessible, please advise the Inspector at the beginning of the inspection!

4. Have HVAC systems cleaned and serviced prior to inspection. Install new filters or clean the washable types.

5. Have full access to HVAC sytems in garage or attic and access to water heaters.(Inspector does not move personal property)
6. Any slow drainage in plumbing fixtures should be cleaned or corrected prior to inspection! (In most cases drain cleaner will resolve the problem.)

7. All systems and appliances should be operable by using designated controls. All utilities like water, pilot lights of gas stoves and water heaters should be operational. "GFCI Outlets", etc... should be corrected prior to inspection.

8. Unlock all doorways and have garage door operator available. Remember security systems ARE NOT part of the inspection and should be deactivated during the inspection.
9. Have any obvious things like, "the gutters filled with leaves" cleaned prior to the inspection.

10. All pets, etc., should be restrained so the Inspector can freely move around the house.

Oakland, Berkeley FHA Loans

I got my “Primer” on the new FHA loans that are available. This is a really interesting loan offering so listen up!

Previously FHA was not a good product for our area due to price restrictions on the purchase price of homes. It has been difficult to find homes that meet the profile. But this is the “New and Improved FHA.”

There are still regulatory hurdles that make it a more cumbersome loan product but lots of things have been changed to make it more facile for our marketplace, including raising the home price limit to $729,750.

FHA is for owner occupied only
There is no minimum FICO
It is a full document loan
Allows for 97% financing
Allows for closing costs to be covered
There are no income limits.

To qualify for this loan product, you must have 3% to put down on the property. You have to allow extra time for closing, up to 45 days. Pre-approval takes 4-5 days. It’s not an instant approval but once approved, it is a real approval and solid.

Smart Planning Encouraged in Oakland

Flower vendors on the street encourage interaction and connectivity.

Two years ago there was a large neighborhood planning conference for the future of the MacArthur corridor in Oakland held at Mills College.

This is an area that people drive through on their way TO somewhere. But actually there are great shops and restaurants on MacArthur between 35th and High. During the height of the real estate boom, this area of The Laurel had a renaissance with a beautification project and advertising.

What was brought up by planners who attended our workshop was that beauty and advertising isn't enough. What makes people get out of their cars and walk including push their baby strollers, are safe neighborhoods with wide sidewalks.

City Planners from as far away as Vancouver recommended widening the sidewalks by 2-3 feet on each side of MacArthur and putting in a median that was planted out with large trees. By reducing the scope of traffic that the street can hold, studies bear out, more people walk, traffic slows and streets and neighborhoods become safer. Let’s ask for this in all our neighborhoods. Let’s get out of our cars and walk!

Look into East Bay, Oakland and Berkeley Bank Owned Properties

Recently I've been talking about some of the reasons that I think it is a good time to buy. Most people people are still waiting, trying to “time the market.” This is due in part to scary news about the economy coming out every day.

One thing I do know about real estate is that if you would like to be a homeowner, plan to stay in your home for 5-7 years and can afford to make a down payment, it is almost always a good time to buy in the East Bay.

Our local market doesn’t deteriorate in the way other over-saturated markets across the country do. Within this longer time frame real estate remains a good investment.

A colleague of mine just got her clients into a bank-owned property in a decent neighborhood for under $300,000. The home needs some love, but is about $175,000 under the current neighborhood value for that type of home.


If her clients put in $75,000 right away, they are still $100,000 ahead of the game. These are the kind of opportunities that are out there for motivated buyers who want to live in their homes.

Finally!!! California's Jumbo Loan Rates Approved

Fannie Mae announced today that California would be approved for the increased jumbo loan limit of up to $729,750. This is a one-year fix for a problem that is potentially multi-year in scope, but it is a good start and we welcome the changes in FHA backed loans.

If you haven't financed a home recently, or ever you may not understand the ramifications of this increase. Please call or email me if you have questions, but the bottom line is, people needed to make much larger down payments to hold their loan limit to under $417,000 with their down payment.

This means that the earnest money deposit, plus, the down payment, plus $417,000 was what many people could afford for a home. The rates on loans above $417,000 were significantly higher. To keep the rate down, people had to put more money down or lower their expectations on home size and/or location. Despite what some folks in congress had to say, "greed" had nothing to do with it. First time home buyers were just trying to avoid living in hovels!

I work with several excellent lenders. If you need information please call or email me!