Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Tomb on the Hill


Dear Mr. Barringer,

I recently had occasion to access one of your "Tracy Real Estate Blogs" for May 2006. I had received a request from someone through the Find A Grave web site to locate and take photographs of the Brichetto Tomb in south Tracy. Using the Internet I was able to find your blog that contained several pictures of the tomb.

The person who made the request is looking for the resting place of G. Joseph Brichetto (Dec. 23, 1841 - May 22, 1916). Your photographs were a real treat to find online and inspired me to drive out to the area to get a closer look. I found, however, that the tomb cannot be reached from any public road.

I want to know if you have high resolution copies of these photographs that you would be willing to share. If so I would copy these to the Find A Grave web site for the requester, Brandon Wofford, and list you as the photographer.

Find A Grave is a family history web site devoted to displaying resting places of deceased persons. I have requested a photograph of the grave of my great-great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran, and was very excited to have someone respond with a picture and details about the location in Idaho. And I have taken photographs of three graves in the Tracy Cemetery and posted them for different requesters.

Can you let me know if you have the photographs and whether you are willing to share these pictures with others?


Kirk S.






What I attached is the only photos I have, I bet he or she will find all these photos interesting. I went out there one day because I just felt compelled to see what and who that tomb was for there on the hill. The Names on the tomb are clear in the first photo with G. Joseph Brichetto and others. That is pretty cool about your g-g-grandfather. Thanks and feel free to do what you wish with the photos.... Take care and keep up the good work.






Brian,

Thanks for your reply. I have posted two of the pictures you sent to me on the web site and attributed the pictures to you. I sent a separate email to the requester and included all of the pictures you sent, plus a couple of my own documents.

Thanks for sharing your photos with us. This is a really interesting bit of Tracy history!

Kirk












Brian Barringer









800.894.7282




Thursday, May 15, 2008

Nationwide media is catching on as Time Magazine Says "now is the time to buy!!!"

And the media is always 6 months late with the market trends......... Posted this week in Time...
Postcard: Elk Grove
Thursday, May. 01, 2008 By KRISTINA DELL:

Over the past six months, investors and first-time home buyers have moved in, snapping up homes now priced at less than $250,000......The last residence we see on our tour is a 2,067-sq.-ft. (192 sq m) A-frame with four bedrooms and three baths for $282,000, down from $510,000 in February 2006. By the time we get back to the agent's office, it has 12 offers.
Click here to Read the full article on http://www.time.com/


OPINIONS ON THE MARKET......
VS....
What is your opinion????????????

Friday, May 09, 2008

Train Station Comming soon.....

FUTURE TRAIN STATION HUB:















Quoted from the Tracypress.com:


The 6,800-square-foot hub is slated to open as early as summer 2009, according to the city, which has two more years and $12 million available in state grants and transportation tax money to build the terminal. Already, the city has spent several million dollars on consultants, soil tests, design and acquiring the actual land.


When built, the station would face Sixth Street, and a clock tower facing Central Avenue would serve as a main entrance. The buildings would include a bus lobby and conference rooms, according to city staff reports. More than 18,000 square feet of parking lots, bus loading zones and landscaping would surround the terminal.


Honestly I want to one day have my real estate office in one of those buildings on central or 10th street in downtown. Its going to be nice one day. We are always adding to the landscape which is Downtown....













Brian Barringer
brian@tracyhomes.com




Monday, May 05, 2008

The foreclosure clean-up. Interesting Insights.......

In The WORKS.....

$7,000 tax credit for those who purchase — and plan to live in — foreclosed homes.

$25 billion in tax relief over three years for banks and home builders.

$4 billion in grants for communities to buy and fix up abandoned homes.


from the wsj.com
The $7,000 tax credit is an incentive for the market to respond. It will inspire qualified buyers to get off the sidelines and enter the market. It will allow us to replace loan defaults with good mortgages, helping to stabilize housing prices for all homeowners. The tax credit for homebuyers worked in 1975 and it will work again today.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.)
Washington
The Senate, by a 82-12 vote last week, approved $15 billion Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 that recently passed the Senate. Once approved by Congress and the President you will be able to take a $7,000 tax credit with the purchase of EACH foreclosure property acquire.


Here is a link to a great Q&A format article regarding what the goverment is currently working on. AP Associated Press:

Questions, Answers About Housing Crisis

By TOM RAUM – Apr 12, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve are moving on separate tracks to calm troubled housing and financial markets and to help distressed borrowers. The three presidential candidates have weighed in, too.

Some questions and answers on the crisis, what has been done so far and the additional help that may be on the way.

Q: How did things get so bad?

A: Tumbling house prices have left many borrowers owing more on their homes than the homes are worth. With little or no home equity, these borrowers cannot refinance. That means higher payments for people with adjustable-rate mortgages. Among those who are facing foreclosure or who have lost their homes are many borrowers who had questionable credit histories and who obtained risky subprime loans.

Rising defaults have contributed to a credit squeeze that has spread throughout the financial system. That has made it harder on first-time home buyers and people seeking to refinance. It also has affected a range of financial transactions from business borrowing to student loans.

Q. What is the government doing to help? READ ON.......





Interesting Insights From NuWireInvestor.com.......
The $7,000 credit makes foreclosures more affordable as long as investors are willing to use the home as a principal residence for two years. Once those two years are up, investors could sell or rent the property for a profit. The other positive effect that this credit could potentially have is on the market itself. Foreclosures drag down the values of other homes in the vicinity, but with this incentive in place, it is likely that more buyers will purchase foreclosed properties. This, in turn, could raise the values of other homes in the area. Investors with existing real estate investments in areas devalued by foreclosures could stand to benefit as a result. READ THE FULL ARTICLE....



Brian Barringer
brian@tracyhomes.com


Friday, May 02, 2008

Tracy Real Estate Market Report for May 2ed 2008

The following info is from the local MLS database, as of May 2nd 2008 as compared to April 4th 2008. If you are interested in a little more market information feel free to give me a call, We are always happy to talk about the market. Just either give us an E-mail at tiger@bpbarringer.com or a call at 209-833-7777 or toll Free @ 1-800-894-7282 We look forward to being of service.


ACTIVE Status:

Total # of Residential properties for sale in the city of Tracy: 809
854

# of REO (foreclosures): 319
328

# of Short Sales: 332
346

Average # of days on market: 87
87

The Median price of all Homes for sale in Tracy: $305,000

The Average price of all Homes for sale in Tracy:
$348,734


Lowest priced home: 1bd/1.ba/502 sq.ft/$100,000
Highest priced home: 7bd/6ba/5000 sq.ft/$1,949,900



Pending Status

# of properties currently under agreement: 334
299

# of REO: 269
225

# of Short Sales: 46
45

Average pending price: $312,102
$322,227

Avr. pending home is 4bd, 3ba, 2089 sq.ft at a price $322,102 and 61 days on the market.


SOLD Status:

Residential property sold over previous 30 days:

112 homes or 35,913,463 in sales
69 homes or $23,666,252 in sales


REO's Sold in last month: 93
54

Average sale price: $320,178
$342,310

Median sale price: $327,444
$350,557

High: 629K (5/5bd 3782 sq.ft home).
Low: 140K (810 sq.ft home)


Summary:

We are now deep into our foreclosure market. The banks have caved on there prices and are now successfully moving there inventory. One trend we are seeing is the banks are giving concessions to buyers as much as 6% of the purchase price, 3% toward closing costs and 3% toward buyers down payment. That makes it possible for a first time buyer to buy a home with a 97% loan. Also one thing we always do for our buyers is negotiate the bank paying all title fees. This is because the banks want to choose there own overpriced title company in a different state. Now a days the banks are making it so that you can buy a foreclosure with no money out of your pocket.

Another change in the market is the amount of offers received on each property. This is because of the simple fact that the pool of buyers in Tracy has increased two fold. There seems to be 3+ offers on each Xtreme home and they are usually getting bid up, so we think the days of making and getting a low-ball offer excepted are over for now.

One reason is because most of the overpriced REO's are at that price because they are not willing to sell at market value price. They want to spend a few months fishing for that imaginary buyer that is willing to pay over appraisal, is that smart? Just like regular sellers there are some people who are wishing and hoping. In this case they are hoping to IMPRESS there BOSS at the fact that they can get a higher price than the market allows. Well just as in a regular market this will not happen. Buyers from the web have the entire market at there finger tips so there is no way of fooling them. MARKET VALUE IS MARKET VALUE!

We are seeing a lot of buyer activity due to the low prices. Personally our office has been bustling with business.

Our Sold inventory over the last month increased 2X, from 69 homes to 120. Our pending inventory is also been holding steady at around 300 homes per month. So whether you are Buying or selling get the pros on your side and contact the Barringer Team.


E-mail us tiger@bpbarringer.com or you can call us @ our toll Free # 1-800-894-7282