Real Estate Newspaper Articles | Real Estate Articles & Blog – Don Dunning

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Oakland market snapshot: January thru September 2010

By Don Dunning | October 16, 2010

This is the third, seriously down market in my more than 30 years in real estate and I notice buyers and sellers repeating some of the same mistakes. These include buyers paying well over asking on properties that do not appear to justify the high price and sellers listing too high for the market.

To get a clearer picture of the situation in Oakland, I researched a specific subset of properties. The results confirmed my observations.

Mortgage underwater? Do your homework

By Don Dunning | August 22, 2010

If you are making payments on a house that is worth substantially less than your loan, you may have thought about how to get out from under this burden. Financial, legal, tax and credit ramifications are all important in deciding which route to take.

The changing world of choosing an agent

By Don Dunning | July 20, 2010

According to an online real estate article, the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), with 23,000 members, recently “pulled the plug” on a web-based application that allowed consumers to view which agents had the greatest number of listings and/or transactions in a given neighborhood or Zip code. This happened shortly after it was introduced because HAR was overwhelmed by angry communications from its members.

Reading this, you may be thinking that the mediocre or weak agents were trying to prevent progress. Why else would there be such an outcry over a new system designed to provide useful information to the public?

After over 30 years in the business, I understand what is behind the uproar and it gives me an opportunity to revisit this topic.

New sales contract: protection or peril for you?

By Don Dunning | June 6, 2010

Would you read every word in the new, tightly printed, eight-page California Association of Realtor’s (C.A.R) residential contract? Probably not.

This contract, used by most real estate agents, has recently undergone its most extensive revision in the past eight years. Changes to this standard real estate purchase agreement can have a significant impact on the quality of your representation in a home sale transaction.

Some licensees have familiarized themselves with the additions and deletions; others may be clueless. To avoid potentially serious mistakes, make sure your real estate representative is in the know about these modifications.

Does your agent “stand in your shoes?”

By Don Dunning | May 14, 2010

In the overheated real estate market of 2004 to 2005, many buyers paid outrageously high prices for properties that were not special in quality or location. This included numerous ones that were decidedly underwhelming. Now, a plethora of purchasers are either victims of foreclosure, have sold for large losses or are paying mortgages on houses worth a lot less than their total loans.

Conversely, in today’s much weaker market, where prices have softened substantially, we see some homes listed at unrealistic amounts. These are the ones that sit unsold. In a number of situations, overpriced properties that did not sell were taken off the market and are now back on at equally improbable figures.

We can ask: “What advice, if any, did the agent give his or her buyer or seller?”

Living near a school: things to consider

By Don Dunning | April 5, 2010

Buying a home close to a school can be wonderful or a huge mistake. It depends on the exact proximity of the house to the school, the school’s size, and the administration’s policies regarding neighborhood relations. The agents listing or selling the home often are unaware of the actual or potential problems, which is all the more reason for you to personally investigate before committing.

Bank takes woman’s parrot in foreclosure mistake

By Don Dunning | March 12, 2010

After a long career in real estate, I can personally attest to how ineffective and feckless lenders can be in handling their business. But this one takes the cake! An article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal described how a contractor hired by Bank of America mistakenly entered the home of a woman who lived near […]

Too many buyers settle for frogs

By Don Dunning | February 21, 2010

Looking to buy a house is like trying to find a mate; you have to be willing to go through a lot of frogs before you find your prince or princess. Despite numerous changes in the business, one thing has remained constant – too many buyers in this area, either out of frustration or pressure to purchase, settle for much less house than they could have had, or buy a good house, but at too high a price.

Banking World Doesn’t Always Act Rationally

By Don Dunning | January 10, 2010

This is the tale of a young couple who was highly qualified to buy, yet was unreasonably turned down for their purchase by one of the banking giants. They have allowed me to tell their story in the hopes of informing other would-be buyers of the ridiculous hurdles some lenders are placing on today’s home purchasers.

Will You Lose Your Home’s Equity in an Earthquake?

By Don Dunning | November 15, 2009

It has been widely publicized that the Bay Area, and East Bay in particular, is due for a huge temblor within the next 30 years…[yet] most buyers in this area show little concern about what will happen to the house they own in an earthquake.

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