Real Estate Investors Spills the TRUTH About Buying In the Bay Area (Interview)

Every Tuesday, I go into detail a question I frequently get asked. Why are Bay Area home prices still increasing?I get asked this all the time as to why this is happening. For those that have hoped for a COVID discount, you can clearly see that once shelter in place happened, we have only gone up from there in most places outside of SF. Rental markets in more expensive areas have declined but home prices continue to increase and the amount that is pending a week have hit all time highs as well. You can see my latest market update video where I extract the data. So, what's going on?1) The Fed and banks have been very aggressive in ensuring that people keep their homes. They had announced unlimited quantitative easing and to keep buying mortgage backed securities pushing mortgage rates to record lows. As mortgage rates keep declining, the buyer power of individuals increases. People that pay exorbitant amounts in rent (over $3,000/month) are realizing that they can easily own a home in most places across the Bay Area with the same monthly payment.2) COVID has not affected people equally. COVID has negatively impacted younger people and the service industry far more than those that are mid-level in their technical careers. If you think and look around as to who is buying in the Bay Area, these are the people still actively buying and having confidence with their job security.3) EVERYONE needs more space than ever before. The longer people work from home, the more they realize that their current situation is unbearable. This is why rental figures for 1 BR has plummeted double digits, but 2BR and Single Family Homes have done significantly better, even within those same cities. With people being able to work from home longer, people are more comfortable in buying a larger home further away even more so than before.4) While inventory levels have improved and actually surpassed pre-shelter levels, we are still much lower than what is needed from a demand perspective. This is actually happening across the US but Bay Area is much more severe given the lack of space/construction in the core Bay Area. We don't have enough housing in the Bay Area and COVID made that imbalance much worse. Take a look at the stock prices of builders, they are all reporting record demand and can't build fast enough. As long as there is this problem, prices will likely continue to rise.5) Millennials are growing up! People think millennials are only in their 20s and all they do is waste money on experiences or high rent. Given they can’t spend that money on those things anymore, they are using all of that saved income that they have to just buy a home instead! Millennials are classified to include people to the age of 38. Many millennials are starting young families and want to settle down. Be on the lookout as this trend won’t stop. There are over 83 million millennials right now.Now what are my predictions? The next few months will continue to be intense and we will hit new record highs. I suspect the months after will slow down and not grow as fast. However, even as intense as it is right now, there are still plenty of opportunities as every home will have it’s own unique strategy. Do not psyche yourself out before you even begin the journey! Leverage the cheap money that banks are providing, get out of the rental market as that money is a waste, or find a bigger home so that you are comfortable in the new normal.--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

21 Jul 20205min

Every week, I go over news that can affect Bay Area Real Estate. I look into news and data that can affect the Silicon Valley Real Estate Market. Tune in weekly and ask me anything!Mortgage Rate below 3% for the first timehttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/average-u-s-mortgage-rate-falls-below-3-for-the-first-time/Mortgage applications increase by 5% https://www.housingwire.com/articles/mortgage-applications-increase-5-from-last-week/Share of mortgage loans in forbearance drops for 4th week in a row.https://www.housingwire.com/articles/share-of-mortgage-loans-in-forbearance-falls-for-the-fourth-week-in-a-row/#34% more homes sold within two weeks in June this yearhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/34-more-homes-sold-within-two-weeks-in-june-this-year/Been telling it for weeks. Forget kitchen upgrades, everyone wants a home office.https://www.housingwire.com/articles/forget-kitchen-upgrades-what-everyone-desperately-wants-is-a-home-office/Latest Market Datahttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

17 Jul 202023min

Every Wednesday at 12PM PST, I interview and introduce a top Realtor from all across the country to hear about how they got into the business, what they are seeing with real estate impacts with COVID, and the economic drivers of an area! Tune in LIVE at https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/video/ if you want to ask any questions!This week I am delighted to have Paul Sapertstein who does over 300 listings a year! Learn more about the local market and how he handles this amount a year!--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

15 Jul 202032min

Every Tuesday, I go into detail a question I frequently get asked. What do you need to know about Bay Area Home Lending?This is the first step that needs to be done before looking for a home! You want to understand what your loan ceiling is as this is what I call a hard ceiling. There isn’t a point of looking at properties above this amount unless you are able to get gift money or financial support from others. Nevertheless, there are alot of lenders and loan programs out there, so what do you do?Banks constantly change their guidelines and take turns being the most competitive but there are a few things to be aware of. I do what I can to constantly monitor and track the strengths/weaknesses of each bank so that my clients can get an advantage.There are two common types of loan programs. A 30 year fixed rate, or an Adjustable rate mortgage. Many people decide between the two based off of how they feel about interest rates changing in the future and their time horizon of owning the property. If you are certain that you will be using the home as a tradeup and plan to sell within 5-7 years, many people opt for the ARM rate and save money on their monthly payments. ARM rates are typically lower by 0.25% to 0.5% from a 30 year fixed rate.When it comes to home purchases that require at least a $250k+ down payment, Wells Fargo is currently very hard to beat. They still have a program called Assets Under Management which allows clients to buy down rates with money that they would’ve used for down payment anyways! Other private client programs require the money to stay in the account after the transaction takes place so this is a great benefit for those that know about it.Physician loans, especially tied with companies like Kaiser, has some of the best programs out there. Depending on what kind of offer you receive from a local Kaiser, many physicians at Kaiser have down payment assistance where Kaiser covers 10% of your down payment. Physicians, without support from their company have loan programs that can buy with 5% down, will have no mortgage insurance, and can buy up to $1.2M. Mortgage insurance is a extra monthly cost that you pay since you don’t have much skin in the game initially in the home. You may ask, wait if Kaiser can cover 10%, and a standard physician loan requires 5%, does this mean I don’t need to put any money down? Bingo! You can reach out to me to learn more about this as to how this process works but you can note for all of your physician friends, there isn’t much of an excuse to not be a homeowner! BBVA has the best programs for this.If you are a first time buyer, you don’t have to buy with 20%. That is a misconception. There are plenty of programs for as low as 3.5% down for everyone to take advantage of. There is a max of your purchase amount of up to $765,600 but there are plenty of properties all throughout the Bay Area to get in this category. People ask me, but there is mortgage insurance? It’s always better to get into the homeownership side of the table than as a renter where that is a guarantee sunk cost. As the value of your home rises over time, you also have the option to refinance the PMI out since the PMI is needed due to initially having very little equity/skin in the game. It also accelerates you and frees up that capital to do other things with your money. Mortgage brokers are great candidates for this and tend to be more flexible than banks.All of these are great options because you are leveraging record low interest rates and getting out of the rental space. I have great lending partners as very much like Realtors, there are a lot of loan officers out there and they are not all equal from a knowledge perspective, communication, and work ethic.. If you or anyone you know is considering to buy, sell, or invest in the Bay Area, let’s talk! I’m never too busy to be introduced and I have helped several clients from these videos itself! If you liked this video, be sure to share it with your friends, leave a comment with what you think, hit that like button and subscribe to my youtube channel! I look forward to seeing you at the next one.--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

14 Jul 20205min

Every week, I go over news that can affect Bay Area Real Estate. I look into news and data that can affect the Silicon Valley Real Estate Market. Tune in weekly and ask me anything!California scales down projections for Bay Area coronavirus spread https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/Bay-Area-coronavirus-spread-R0-estimates-projects-15396993.phpMortgage rates fall to all-time lowshttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/mortgage-rates-fall-to-all-time-lows/Forbearance rate continues to declinehttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/forbearance-rate-declines-after-junes-economic-improvements-but-will-it-hold/Purchase applications back uphttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/low-mortgage-rates-drive-purchase-applications-5-higher/Rent cheaper than everhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/more-proof-that-rent-is-getting-cheaper-across-the-u-s/Bay Area Rent Drops in most cities versus previous yearshttps://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Bay-Area-rents-plummeted-in-June-See-the-biggest-15383584.phpIs now a good time to buy a home?https://www.housingwire.com/articles/is-now-a-good-time-to-buy-a-home-over-60-of-surveyed-americans-say-yes/Latest Market Data https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P5T3T4doU9vutLotcKnZ0WCZahU0nvKn1khR-QQsrTI/edit?usp=sharing--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

10 Jul 202017min

Every Wednesday at 12PM PST, I interview and introduce a top Realtor from all across the country to hear about how they got into the business, what they are seeing with real estate impacts with COVID, and the economic drivers of an area! Tune in LIVE at https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/video/ if you want to ask any questions!This week I am delighted to have Kate Corrigan who moved from the UK to Belize 10 years ago! Learn more about the local market and get your own beachfront property!--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

8 Jul 202035min

Every Tuesday, I go into detail a question I frequently get asked. Moving from one location to another can be a lot of work, but check out these strategies to make your move as smooth as possible!1) Before packing, consider throwing away or donating things you don’t need. It’s a perfect opportunity for a fresh start2) Buy and find boxes that are of the same size. Most people get cardboard boxes but I would suggest you actually rent plastic boxes. These boxes will be much more sturdy, have handles with them, and will force you to unpack otherwise you will continue to pay rental fees. It’s a great motivator as I’ve seen some families months after they move, still have boxes laying around!3) Label boxes for which rooms they should be moved to. Since boxes are typically packed last one in, first one out, leave the boxes you want to take out first and most critical to the end.4) Pack a 72 hour emergency kit like medicine,pan for basic cooking, toilet paper, sleep essentials, and critical documents such as passports in a separate backpack or suitcase. Last thing you would want is for this to be lost in a box somewhere!5) When moving things, move the furniture first. Since they are generally an odder shape relative to the boxes, you want them to be in the back of the truck or pod.6) Tie down or strap down in different sections so that things don’t move around during transit.Now what options do you have for the move?A) You can just simply do it yourself by renting a Uhaul truck. The cost of these are per day and charged per mile. You can see some options and they also give you an idea as to how much space you would possibly need depending on what square feet of a home you are moving from.B) You can hire professional movers. Estimates would be at least $500 since you are paying for labor.C) Another option is for a pod setup. This is a great option as a pod can be delivered to you and you are under less time constraint to do everything in one day. You move what you need into a pod, then it can be shipped directly to the next location or into a storage facility. Here is a sample breakdown as to what to expect here in the Bay Area. I took a move from one city to another city that is about 15 miles away. You can see there will be a monthly cost for the pod rental itself, and other costs when it comes to dropping, moving the pod, and eventually picking up the pod when it’s done.--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

7 Jul 20205min

Every week, I go over news that can affect Bay Area Real Estate. I look into news and data that can affect the Silicon Valley Real Estate Market. Tune in weekly and ask me anything!Real Estate Industry sues over Coronavirus Eviction Banhttps://www.sfexaminer.com/news/real-estate-industry-sues-over-coronavirus-eviction-ban/Mortgage rates continue to fall to all time lowhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/mortgage-rates-fall-to-new-all-time-low-this-week/Mortgage applications slow by 1%https://www.housingwire.com/articles/mortgage-applications-continue-to-slow-despite-low-rate-environment/Forbearance drops slightly for 3rd week in a rowhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/gse-forbearance-rate-drops-for-third-week-mba-says/Housing market recovery indexhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/housing-market-recovery-things-are-looking-up/Multifamily properties offered extended new forbearancehttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/freddie-mac-multifamily-offers-new-forbearance-options-and-tenant-protections/US pending home sales surgedhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/u-s-pending-home-sales-surged-a-record-44-in-may/#No breaks anytime for those in real estate!https://www.housingwire.com/articles/with-record-low-mortgage-rates-originators-and-real-estate-agents-arent-taking-a-holiday-anytime-soon/2 Apartments and Commercial Real Estate Space bought in downtown SJ recentlyhttps://www.mercurynews.com/2020/07/01/boom-364-million-in-downtown-san-jose-property-deals-commercial-residential-real-estate-housing-tech-google/Latest Market Data https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P5T3T4doU9vutLotcKnZ0WCZahU0nvKn1khR-QQsrTI/edit?usp=sharing--If you’re interested in buying, selling, or investing in residential or commercial real estate in the 📍SF Bay Area, contact me today!📧Spencer@spencerhsu.com📞 (408) 547-4590⏰ Set up a time to chat: https://calendly.com/spencerhsure🌍 Find your dream Bay Area home https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/🎙️ Listen to my podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/bayarearealestate📸Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerhsure🧑‍💼 Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerhsu🛎 Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest real estate tips and updates: https://forms.gle/c5xkznHLTBh7Yzgi7🏠💲 Track the value of your home and see if it's beneficial to refinance! http://bit.ly/3aFdyMW--My Background: Born and raised in the Bay Area, I spent 11 years as Technology Sales Manager before becoming a Realtor. Having personally invested and done renovations through house flips in the Bay Area, I wanted to help busy professionals in the Bay Area tech industry find their dream home by leveraging tech, data and local insights. Our team specializes in creating trusted frameworks of buying, selling, and investing in the Bay Area. In 2022, we are thrilled to share that we have helped 80 clients in the Bay Area with their moves, which positions our team as the Top 1% groups in the country. Looking forward to helping you into your next home and save/earn you more money!Spencer Hsu, MBA, RealtorSpencer@SpencerHsu.com408-547-4590EXP Realty DRE #02077253https://www.homesbyspencerhsu.com/#BayAreaRealEstate

3 Jul 202020min