Karen List's (karenlist) Blog

Yay! A smooth transaction!!! A home I just sold in San Jose for $575,000  was a VERY smooth transaction. There were 5 offers and amazingly, we were NOT even the highest offer, but they went with us. The seller and agent told us that they liked our ‘package’ and felt most comfortable with us, even...

  Where do I start? This sale was interesting from Day 1. This home had been on the market for some time and it was over priced. My clients viewed the home, but at the time, were not interested due to the high price. After some time, the seller did a price reduction and it renewed the buyer’s int...

These buyers are an adorable young couple who I just adore for a home I just sold in San Jose.  This transaction was smooth in the beginning, but just crazy towards the end due to the endless paperwork that Wells Fargo required from them just picking their accounts to death.  Wells Fargo require...

  This one comes with quite the story. My clients originally saw this home when it was a short sale listing. They made a bid, competed with about 6 buyers, and got the acceptance. The listing agent told us it was already approved at the listing price and we would have an approval for the transact...

  This was another successful short sale closing. The roller coaster ride started in March! It took 5 months for the first and second lender to approve this short sale. While we were waiting for the second to approve the short sale, the deal almost went to the foreclosure department, and required...

If you crave frustration then maybe you should try buying a short sale. The absolute only reason to put yourself through a short sale transaction as a buyer is for the possiblity of getting a home for a good deal and/or to avoid more competition with other buyers who do not want to buy a short sa...

It sure feels as if we have hit the bottom of the market in the Bay Area, namely Santa Clara County for this particular blog. Inventory has not been this low since May of 2007, almost exactly 2 years ago! My buyers are running in to more and more multiple offer situations on a continuous basis. I...

There are some great programs for buying new homes in San Jose (and other areas as well) that are ending VERY soon. For many of the San Jose city programs, the buyer must have a ratified contract by 4/24/09. Yes, that is VERY soon. But, if you are interested in new construction in San Jose, it ma...

FHA financing is a great option for buyers that do not have at least 10% as a down payment and/or do not have FICO scores of at least 720. And, there are some important things to know about FHA financing so that when a FHA buyer goes through the process, the stress and frustration is at a minimum...

  I found some great information on the San Jose Chamber of Commerce website that I wanted to share that has some cool statistics that I thought was really interesting.  Did you know that the San Jose Metropolitan Area (Santa Clara County) ranks first in the nation in median household effective b...