Today there are 14 single family homes for lease on the Contra Costa multiple listing service.
482 Central Avenue in Pittsburg just listed for lease at $1,100 per month. Beautiful hardwood floors throughout, freshly painted. Large kitchen with breakfast nook, separate dinning area, fireplace in the living room, large bedrooms, 2 car garage.
Please call Jill Cruey at 925-207-8992 if you are interested.
Connie Lewis is the Bank of America mortgage loan rep in our Keller Williams Walnut Creek office. She sent me a link to a website that offers a free credit check. The site claims checking your own credit will not lower your score. For more information on check your credit for free click here.
Here are some other tips:
Keep Your Credit Score High Forever.
Know before you Go! Buy or Refinance.
1. Pay all bills on time each month. 30-day late payment can affect your credit score up to 107 points.
2. Do not quit your Job while in a Real Estate transaction.
3. Do not open or close any accounts, Do not purchase an Automobile (while in a real estate transaction and or credit repair) Call me so I can share with you the best creditors.
4. If you pay off a credit cards or an equity line of credit, do not close the account.
5. Try to keep your credit card balances below 30% of the High Credit Limit for that card at all times. (Example: if my Visa has a Limit of $1000, than I would try not to exceed $300 owed on that Visa) This will help in keeping your score high.
6. Keep your credit cards active. If you carry No balances each month and if you hardly ever use your credit cards, At least spend 5-20 dollars every 4-5 months.
7. Do not have multiple inquires into your credit.
8. Avoid large money transfers from one account to another or large
deposits/withdraws before and during your Purchase/Refinance.
9. Avoid at all cost using a Consumer Credit Counseling Companies.
(CCC ).
10. Do not carry your Social Security Card on you; Keep in a safe location at home or safe deposit Box.
11. Share this information with your friends and family.
12. Call Jill Cruey 925-207-8992 to get started on the right path.
Quite a few realtors from Keller Williams Realty in Walnut Creek joined forces with fellow realtors from all over the country and Canada in New Orleans this past week for Family Reunion 2010. This amazing event started on Friday, 2/19/10, with a inspirational 2 hour presentation from Gary Keller and a variety of artists and guests. Rhett Butler played an amazing guitar solo in which he played 2 guitars at the same time. Last night we had a “Red Bash” where Gary and other realtors throughout the company played some rockin’ tunes. I finally got my New Orleans wish and played fiddle with some great cajun musicians: Jonno Frishberg, John Dowden, Dave Stover and Matt Swiler at Mulates on Julia Street. Yet, another inspirational side is the Keller Williams culture and all the great things that we as a company have accomplished through our non-profit sector, KW Cares.
This is a fun trip, but it’s also providing a wealth of knowledge from break out sessions facilitated by top realtors and has been ongoing for the past four days. Two days left and then back to California. Photo by Ronni Colmer.
A good reason for buying a home in today’s market is the affordability index which was at a record low of 15% in year 2009. This along with the US Mortgage rates averaging 5.04% nationwide in 2009, another all-time low, are just two of many reasons to buy a home today.
Don’t forget the $8,000 tax credit which will expire April 30, 2010.Check out “Deciding How Much House I Can Afford“
I had the pleasure of closing two short sale transactions last week, 108 Mt. Whitney Way in Clayton and 4805 Clayton Road #9, Concord. I represented the sellers in both of these transactions which took over 6 months once the purchase offer was received by the short sale lien holder. Each property had one loan and each of them had three different buyers before we closed.
The work of a realtor is challanging these days. We are hoping for faster responses from the banks in the future due to the new government regulations that were released 12/1/09. Read more about it here: New Gov’t Regulations to Speed Up Short Sale Transactions.
Today there are 547 short sale (single family residences, SFR) for sale on the Contra Costa MLS. For those of you who don’t know, a short sale is a pre-foreclosure in which the seller is trying to sell their property for less than what is owed.
Pending short sales are currently at 1,693 (SFR) on the Contra Costa MLS.
There are 429 closed short sales (SFR) after 11/1/09 on the Contra Costa MLS.
The list below shows all of the REOs (bank owned properties) on the Contra Costa MLS. This current list includes average list price and average square footage of single family homes for sale.
3 - ALAMO BANK OWNED HOMES - $2,055,000 - 4,964 square feet
60 - ANTIOCH BANK OWNED HOMES - $164,273 - 1,543 square feet
19 - BAY POINT BANK OWNED HOMES - $160,479 - 1,245 square feet
3 - BETHAL ISLAND BANK OWNED HOMES - $77,567 - 825 square feet
21 - BRENTWOOD BANK OWNED HOMES - $310,596 - 2,233 square feet
4 - CLAYTON BANK OWNED HOMES - $798,763 - 3,452 square feet
30 - CONCORD BANK OWNED HOMES - R301,010 - 1,564 square feet
3 - DANVILLE BANK OWNED HOMES - $822,977 - 2,810 square feet
14 - DISCOVERY BAY BANK OWNED HOMES - $310,071 - 2,259 square feet
4 - DUBLIN BANK OWNED HOMES - $487,733 - 1,891 - $258 square feet
1 - EL SOBRANTE BANK OWNED HOMES - $300,000 - 1,297 square feet
1 - KNIGHTSEN BANK OWNED HOMES - $1,200,000 - 5,152 square feet
2 - LAFAYETTE BANK OWNED HOMES - $874,700 - 2,598 square feet
22 - MARTINEZ BANK OWNED HOMES - $319,693 - 1,803 square feet
2 - MORAGA BANK OWNED HOMES - $802,725 - 2,231 square feet
31 - OAKLEY BANK OWNED HOMES - $233,042 - 2,016 square feet
2 - ORINDA BANK OWNED HOMES - $1,102,850 - 3,534 square feet
1 - PACHECO BANK OWNED HOMES - $286,000 - 1,224 square feet
38 - PITTSBURG BANK OWNED HOMES -$200,955 - 1,810 square feet
3 - PLEASANT HILL BANK OWNED HOMES - $324,600 - 1,292 square feet
61 - RICHMOND BANK OWNED HOMES - $169,831 - 1,395 square feet
2 - SAN RAMON BANK OWNED HOMES - $426,950 - 1,563 square feet
6 - WALNUT CREEK BANK OWNED HOMES - $710,008 - 2,356 square feet
January 5th was the first weekly meeting of the year for Contra Costa Realtors in Motion (CCRIM). Returning as the tour captain again this year, I was pleased with the large turn out for the meeting at our new location, the Elks Lodge in Walnut Creek. We had five properties featured on caravan tour: