Cliff's Notes…on Real Estate

Foreclosures are down by over 2% for the month of June. This could be a good sign if it continues.

With these new developments now may be a great time to get off the fence and buy your new home.

Once the banks see stabilization in the housing market you are going to see upward movement on interest rates.

Last week interest rates went up .25%. That may not seem like a lot but over a 30 year period it is a lot!

If you want to know; how to find bargain properties at rock bottom prices click this link.

If you already own a home and want to know; 7 ways to increase your homes value for under $100.00 click this link.

If you are facing a foreclosure and want to know; the 5 fastest ways to stop foreclosure in 48 hours or less click this link.

Enjoy the weekend and the heat. What a wonderful summer day.

Tags: banking, buy a home, Buyers Tips, Foreclosure, homes for sale, Real Estate Market Trends, Redwood City, san mateo county, US economy

Redwood City, CA: Redwood City’s deficit is currently at $3,600,000 and is expected to go up higher for the next few years.  The funds needed to pay this deficit are coming from an $18.7 million dollar City reserve fund.

 Are City workers overtime costs the culprit?  City payroll this year increased $1,500,000 or 2.7% compared to the Nation’s inflation rate of –0.4%.  To be fair to the City of Redwood City they have cut back on overtime costs from FY ‘08 to FY ’09 by just a tad over 1.5%

 It seem the big brew ha ha is over two City fire fighters, Patrick Cunningham (4^th highest paid City employee), and David Thielmann who both were paid over $100,000 in overtime pay above and beyond their average base pay of $106,646.  Fire captain Adrian Stuart Anderson earned over $60,000 in overtime pay above his base pay of $128,425.  No one is claiming fraud or being away at a “crap feast” like in San Francisco a couple of decades ago.  However, it appears these few fire fighters were on the job…ready to go.  IMHO, I hope they bought real estate with the extra money.

 Here are some other Redwood City employees’ salaries:

City Manager – Peter Ingram – $238,919

City Attorney – Stan Yamanmoto – $229,289

Police Chief – Louis Cobarruviaz – $213,874

Captains – $196,752 base

Sergeants – $153,837 base

Senior Building Inspector – Jerry Schell – $101,125

Senior Accountants:         Cecilia Lucas – $100,979

                                                   Rajesh Servak – $99,190

H.R. Representative – Ray Yvette Williams – $100,497

City Secretary – $64,013

City Custodian – $52,454

Maintenance worker – Steve Coleman – $68,388 base $32,809 OT – (he is the guy you see out there unclogging your sewer and fixing your water leaks.)

Landscapers – $62,804

Arborists -        Maria D’Agostino – $74,421

                              Jesus Angel – $95,796 base $21,635 OT

What do you think?   With our city working in a deficit, yet having enough funds in our reserve account to offset it, do we need to watch our nickels and dimes closer? Your comments are always encouraged.

Tags: Cliff Keith and Team, government, Redwood City, san mateo county, US economy

“What The Past Tell Us”.

Redwood City, CA:  Current history demonstrates how a “Super Power” like USA can fall.  You don’t have to look any further than 1985 when Mikail Gorbachev came to power of the USSR.  Gorbachev campaigned on the platform “reenergize of the socialist empire”.  You know what happen 7 years later…the wall came down and so did the USSR as we had know it.

Like the USSR, American needs to “remember, without a strong economy, a nation’s international standing, standard of living, national security, and even domestic tranquility will suffer over time. It would be a good thing to learn from the Russians on this one.

One great thing about Americans is we are resilient! If we return to the principals and the values that made us a great nation we will be fine. We need to become once again…strong, smart, and flexible enough to keep our predominance in the world.

Americans need to accept and subscribe to the two notions stated by Thomas Jefferson.  We need to support our government programs that really address our core aims as stated in the Preamble of our Constitution. These core aims help and are good for us. Secondly,  we need to get rid of government programs that are ineffectual and/or contrary to our national goals!  By doing so we will be allowed to allocate resources, (people, money, time), to targeted programs that will better serve all Americans.

Americans needs to be realist about how we spend our money. Can we afford this program or not?  Can we sustain it over a long period of time?  Some programs may be great in theory; however, if you can’t answer yes to the 2 aforementioned questions then the program should be shelved until which time a double yes can be answered.

Once again, as Thomas Jefferson said, “It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debt as it goes.”  It’s time now for Washington to start making touch choices and showing some tough love towards our economy!

There have been many countries throughout their history who have survived great obstacles and turmoil. Just look at Germany and Japan post WWII.  More recently look at China and how it has gotten past its “stagnation, foreign interference, and social experimentation to reclaim their place on the global stage today”.

“No republic in history has shown more resiliency and adaptability than the United States of America.” We have the know-how and the strength to maintain a great standing in the World. What it will take though is behavioral modification on the part of Washington and Americans.  We all need to wake up and smell the roses! Currently, our American rose stinks economically. And we need to all agree it stinks and we collectively need to do something about it.  We need to move in a direction to implement the necessary step to make our American rose’s aroma to once again be admired, respected and remembered by all.  Wouldn’t that smell nice?

Here is something you may want to look at and help yourself become part of the solution.  Federal Financial Irresponsibility Index:

Tags: Comeback America, David M. Walker, national debt, Redwood City, san mateo county, US economy

This week ended up with Mortgage Rate staying the same as they have been for the last 3 weeks. You can buy a conventional loan for under $5.0% now. Stability is good.

Did you know Townhomes are not considered the same as Condo’s by FHA? That means if you are trying to buy a home with FHA financing you may want to expand you search to include Townhomes.

Don’t forget Sunday is Valentine Day. If by chance you do forget…well you are dead meat. Good luck.

Tags: banking, Cliff Keith and Team, cliffnotesonrealestate, home for sale, homes, Redwood City, US economy

Click the link below and see how The Goldman Sachs Golden Boys have tricked the Amercian people once again with their new front company: OneWest Bank.