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Lured by high paying and, dare I say, glamorous tech jobs, Millennials are flocking to California’s Central Coast (San Jose, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley) in droves. In many cases, for many young demographics, Silicon Valley is bigger, better and more glamorous than Hollywood could ever be. As we have discussed many times before, today’s mobile generation goes where the jobs are instead of waiting for the jobs to come to them. This is a good trend. People should not remain in what corner of the world just because they were placed there at birth.…

Mortgage Rates made the biggest one week jump this year and is now at the highest level in over 4 months. As part of Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), Freddie Mac reported that the 30 Year Fixed rate is now at the highest levels since May 1, 2014. Based on the survey, below are the average mortgage rates for last week: 30 Year Fixed rate mortgage FRM) averaged 4.23% with 0.5 points. One year ago the 30 Year FRM averaged 4.5%. 15 Year FRM averaged 3.37% with 0.5 points. A year ago at this…

The talking heads on TV seem to think an overvalued stock market is racing towards an imminent pullback. It’s a logical assessment. With equities appearing overbought, gold dropping in value and bonds yielding little to no return, you might be wondering just where the hell to stick your money. Should real estate be on the table? Investors seem to think so. When you look at the data a few things jump out: Clearly one sector is lagging the economic recovery - housing. Have American demographics shifted and we’re simply seeing the new “norm” for housing? Is the lag…

Public sentiment generally lags reality on almost everything, especially the housing market. 2009 - 2012 will likely be remembered as the Great Recession by historians. Many homebuyers will recall it more fondly; they will remember it as the time they ignored the media cynicism, seized the opportunity and bought a home - A home that was a steal of a deal and paired with once in a lifetime mortgage rates to boot. Most of the intrepid adventurers who braved the skeptics and bought real estate at the bottom stand to profit a pretty penny on the choice. Warren…

Home prices continue to move higher in 2014. More and more underwater homeowners - trapped in their negative equity, upside down position for years – have a new choice: they can sell their homes the traditional way. You list the home, you negotiate a deal with a potential buyer and you enter into a contract that closes escrow about 30 days later. You know, the way it worked in the good old days. Hundreds of thousands of sellers from 2006 – 2013 are envious. They had additional steps to their selling process. Their…

Schools play an important factor in home buying decision. Especially if you are planning to start a family or if you already have kids. If you want nothing but the best academic education for your kids, you may like to know about the top schools. Elementary schools fulfills the special needs of student’s life in the first few years of their schooling lives. Elementary schools usually begin at kindergarten and goes till fifth grade. Students are taught to think critically, to strive to attain high standards, to meet the challenges posed by technological advancements…