February 2025 Bay Area Home Prices are going to Explode! What’s Next for Buyers and Sellers?

In this week’s Proptech Thursday, I will be talking about RealtyMogul, an online marketplace for real estate investing, connecting borrowers and sponsors to capital from accredited and institutional investors. Crowdfunding for real estate has attracted more investors into the commercial space and introduced more buyers. Learn more about how this company has changed commercial real estate investing in my newest Youtube video.--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

20 Aug 20207min

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!Gusty Galas became a Realtor in 2006. Fast forward to today, he averages 4-500 homes a year where the average price point is $230,000. Learn how he has scaled and how he will get to 1,000 homes 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

19 Aug 202036min

Every Tuesday, I go into detail a question I frequently get asked. Question of the week! Which county am I most bullish in the Bay Area for the long term and why? While some counties are booming right now due to extended work from home policies, there are many things that people forget about the Bay Area 5 months ago.My thesis about strong long term appreciation while minimizing the downside risk comes down to location, location, location. However, what does this mean when people can work from home? Why are prices still rising in even some of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area? Shouldn’t Bay Area real estate prices tank? Not so fast... Now while many companies like Facebook and Google have allowed their employees to work from home until mid of next year, not every company has the luxury to do so. Even these companies are making large commercial real estate bets in this environment.My entire thesis and long term bet is about 1 thing. Commute lifestyle. I am still very bullish that Big Tech along with other companies will continue to be building in the same hubs. It’s a community and talent attraction play. Did you know that Uber owned the Sears building in Oakland years ago? Do you know why they sold it a year later? It’s because they couldn’t recruit the talent they wanted there. Why is San Mateo county the most expensive county in the Bay Area? It is because it is centrally located between the hubs of San Francisco and Palo Alto. Many cities there aren’t in good school districts but it provides the flexibility for couples work while providing some of the most tranquil lifestyles available.Now why else is it the most expensive? Supply and Demand. Take a look at the number of homes that sell each year. Also take a look on a map of the new construction that is available. There isn’t that many. It’s not because developers don’t like to build there, it’s because residents and city officials hate building there. There is a reason why there is so little construction in the Peninsula versus San Jose, Milpitas, Fremont and the East Bay which are building tens of thousands of condos/townhomes.Now my thesis may be ruined if people truly can work anywhere for good. But if that thesis is the case, then why live in the Bay Area? You should sell your home today and move to a low tax state. I personally am very long in the Bay Area real estate market still due to the magic of Tech and Biotech which is actually the top 2 largest hub in the country surpassing San Diego and being very close to Boston.--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

18 Aug 20204min

Well, this was unexpected. Surprise video for Monday! At least 5 people have sent me the incredible chart of how much inventory levels have increased in San Francisco by over 100% in 5 months. Let's look into it and see what this means.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 Aug 20209min

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!New fee of 0.5% on mortgage refinances https://www.housingwire.com/articles/new-fee-on-mortgage-refinances-could-cost-homeowners-1400/UWM announces 1.99% rate for 30 year fixed rate mortgagehttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/uwm-announces-1-99-rate-for-30-year-fixed-mortgage/ Average U.S. mortgage rates rise from record lowhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/average-u-s-mortgage-rates-rise-from-record-low/Mortgage applications up 6.8%https://www.housingwire.com/articles/mortgage-applications-are-up-6-8-with-refinance-activity-leading-the-way/When it comes to home sales, August is the new May, keeping agents busy into the fallhttps://www.housingwire.com/articles/for-home-sales-august-is-the-new-may-keeping-agents-busy-into-the-fall/Latest Market Data for all counties in the Bay Areahttps://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

14 Aug 202016min

I'm delighted to introduce a new series called Proptech Talk Thursday. Every Thursday, I will interview executives at a Proptech company or provide my candid reviews/thoughts. The Real Estate industry is one of the slowest to adopt technology as one of the reasons is it’s extremely fragmented. However, it doesn’t stop companies to try to figure out solutions for these really big problems. This week, let’s take a look at Homebound. Think of them as a tech-enabled general contractor.As of January 2020, Homebound has raised a $35M Series B round totaling $53M. They claim to have developed tools to track and manage 370 unique tasks when building a home. Anyone that has done renovations, knows there are all of the components involved. This is magnified when dealing with ground up construction where there are even more complexities. They currently cover Sonoma, Napa, and Contra Costa county, Los Angeles and Ventura counties.So what are my thoughts on this company? I think they are certainly onto several fronts. The industry is extremely fragmented as it’s hard enough to find good people that can be trusted time and time again. So the level of standard is very hard to come by and is even harder to scale. As they focus in certain areas, they can dominate those counties so as they go get permits/approvals, they may be able to bypass and streamline things with the city officials given the officials see them time and time again with the same processes. They may also leverage on supply discounts. Since they are basically a mini builder, they don’t have the downsides of the land costs, but have the potential volume of material whether it could be lumber, concrete, and standard appliances. The thing that makes this the most interesting is that if they can truly make it seem like the process of building is easy, it would democratize the construction industry itself allowing a lot more people to feel they have the confidence to build a home. This opens up a lot of interesting and creative in-fill opportunities all around.What are the challenges? Their current model is that they play as a General Contractor and they sub out the work. A big challenge of this industry is finding reliable sub contractors in the different cities they operate. There is a big shortage of these talented individuals so hopefully they can come out with some sort of training program especially given unemployment is so high these days to train these subcontractors. Another challenge is that they are not widely known yet. The industry itself is really about referrals and those referrals are very tight knit. Top contractors and subcontractors are extremely busy so many people that they try to recruit, may not be very good subcontractors as they have plenty of work already. Technology is also not the easiest for construction workers to use. Construction workers have operated in a certain way for a very long time so for them to be trained on new tools and systems, is just not that simple.I hope you enjoyed this new series.--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

13 Aug 202011min

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!--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

12 Aug 202024min

Every Tuesday, I go into detail a question I frequently get asked. Should you use a local bank vs online bank for bay area home loans. While interest rates are always very important, there is one piece you need to be most aware of.Online banks have gained significant market share over the years claiming to be very customer centric and streamlining the process. They even advertise some of the lowest rates you will see! Check this latest ad out from Quicken Mortgage. They are offering loans for under 2% for a 15 year fixed rate! And they are not the only ones. They are clearly doing very well as their parent company, Rocket Mortgage just IPOed last week making Dan Gilbert the 28th richest person in the world.But, should you use them for your home loans here in the Bay Area? It depends. Let’s talk about home purchases first. While these online banks are commonly used in a lot of markets across the country, they don’t do many purchases here in the Bay Area for several reasons. Because of how fast properties move, the time it takes to close is very important. They don’t have the same sense of urgency to be competitive with the banks that are local. Many banks even as busy as they are today can close as fast as 15-18 days. 2nd online banks don’t have local contacts that you can chase! The benefit with working with someone local is that reputation matters a lot. It means a lot to me as a top Realtor for future transactions, but also for them to do a good job so that they can get future business with you.. They have much more on the line with their credibility than someone that doesn’t have a focus of a particular area.. Last but not least, it is the ability to actually close the loan! When you are in contract, you would have 3% EMD or Earnest Money Down. This is your commitment amount that you need to fulfill the loan. No slight interest rate improvement is worth this risk! I’ve personally seen many of these loans claim that they have these amazing interest rates, only to fall out of contract weeks later jeopardizing the entire deal and the buyer’s EMD altogether.Now where is it a good option? Refinances are a great solution because you don’t have the time constraint and the monetary risk of breaking a contract. You are welcome to shop around and try to get those teaser rates. Worse comes to worse, the refinance doesn’t go through so while you lose time and have a headache, at least you aren’t losing tens of thousands of dollars. Just be wary of the fine print. A lot of banks can go very low if you pay points. Think of interest rates and your closing costs as a sliding scale. Anybody can go really low if they are willing to pay a higher closing cost for it. Let’s look at that same teaser rate, while the rate is at under 2%, the closing costs are at close to 1 point which is a lot of money here in the Bay Area.--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

11 Aug 20204min