The Bay Area real-estate market has become a challenging market for buyers due to several important developments.
First, we have a record low inventory of homes for sale in all of the Bay Area counties, caused by increased tax rates, lower unemployment, Proposition 13 and a lack of move-up sellers.
Second, we have much more stringent lending rules imposed on borrowers than in the past.
There are major socioeconomic forces at work in keeping the inventory of property in the Bay Area at historic lows and in many cases prices at historic highs. Understanding these forces will make you a more informed buyer or seller.
There is a natural inertia against change: It is a part of our nature, but when you add in powerful external forces it influences would-be sellers to delay selling in some cases until death and beyond.
Where does your right to privacy begin and end? In the real estate business those rights are getting eroded dramatically by modern technologies and the business of the Internet.
We had more than 10 years of a highly competitive “seller’s market” where the seller could dictate the terms of the contract of sale to a hapless buyer. The worm has turned in many local markets (with the exception of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Los Altos) and buyers have more clout in negotiations. The Pest Control section of contracts once routinely crossed out by most agents is now showing up in more contracts than it has for years.
We had been hunting for a property for almost a year and have failed to buy because whatever we want to purchase always has multiple offers. Do you have any advice for making this process easier?
Avoiding paying taxes is legal, if you follow the IRS Code. When it comes to real property, doing a 1031 tax-deferred exchange has become a standard tool in the real-estate investor’s toolbox. Long-term creation of wealth in real estate can be done without ever paying any capital gains taxes through utilizing tax-deferred exchange techniques.
