All Forum Posts by: Jeff Keller

If you are looking at Zillow or similar website to learn the value, the estimate is likely to be wrong. 

If you are looking at property taxes, the local county assessors office is likely to be responding to multiple requests (not necessarily in a timely manner).

After the 2008 downturn, the local Santa Clara County Tax Assessor automatically reassessed many local properties. Many home owners were quick to see a new assessment as a way to save significant money. We were asked by several past clients to help provide them with documentation to support their request.

Look at the tax assessor's office website. They are likely to post a notification of what they are doing. The assessment should be tracking the estimated market value.

You might have problems installing a security camera which has a view of a shared conference room and possibly even the shared lobby.

Posting signs on your entrances saying that it is under 24 hour video surveillance and having cameras inside would probably achieve your goals. 

Many of the newer wireless internet devices will store a short amount of video for free. Some look like clock radios, lights, or even doorbell buttons. 

Many thefts are due to disgruntled former employees, friends of janitors, or other people who have had access to the inside of the business. If they know there are active security cameras, that can dramatically reduce the likelihood of a theft.

Some of the newer motion sensor exterior lighting is a spotlight that tracks the movement. I can't imagine a potential thief being comfortable with a light tracking him.

Because of liabilities, you want to be pretty diligent about taking care of any problems that surface.

A building that was built to the current code and has always had permits for repairs and remodeling probably won't be forced to make major changes to meet current codes. 

There is ample opportunity for issues to ripple through causing major changes. If you remodel a kitchen or bathroom you'll probably have to install GFI breakers. That could ripple through to a major rewiring.

Previous methods that have been found to be a safety risk may also trigger major corrections. Aluminum wire has been the cause of fires, and may require special steps to reduce the risk.

A local vendor producing plastic pipe years ago bought defective material that had been misrepresented. After 20 years the pipe became brittle, leading to homeowners having to replace all of their plumbing.

If you are planning on building substantial real estate investments, you might be better off talking to a financial planner who can get you set up with a good strategy for managing all of your different investments in a way to minimize taxes for both yourself and your eventual heirs.

 A fee for service planner, who is very knowledgeable about taxes would typically be much better than a financial planner who makes his income from recommending specific mutual funds or other group of investments.

Preparing your taxes using TTax then occasionally having your return reviewed by a tax expert could give you ideas that would save you money. Many tax consultants can import your TTax return into their own software.

Brokers are in the business of buying and selling homes for clients. If you buy or sell through them, you'll have very good relations. If you use their time and advice then turn around and don't give them an opportunity to make any money, they probably won't give you the time of day.

People don't want to be taken advantage of. People are glad to work to earn money.

It actually can have more impact than is obvious. If you establish a reputation of taking advantage of agents and people in general, you won't be considered a reliable buyer and when competing, will often lose out to a buyer offering a little less money. 

If you are a "repeat customer", the agent or broker will often reach out to you first.

Credibility is worth money.

The perception of an area having high crime can be devastating to local home values. It doesn't happen in a short period.

In Silicon Valley there is an extreme example of Palo Alto and East Palo Alto which are separate cites and are adjacent to each other (they are actually in different counties).

The avg cost per sq.ft. for a house in Palo Alto is about: $1,400

The avg cost per sq.ft. for a house in East Palo Alto is about: $600

You only have to walk a half mile or so to go from homes selling for perhaps $500,000 to homes selling for $3,000,000 (Silicon Valley home prices are very high compared to the U.S. as a whole)

Jobs and the economy drive home prices. However looking at these two cities, it is clear that neighborhood reputation can have a profound impact. 

For decades there have been investors thinking the economic pressure on East Palo Alto would force a dramatic change. A few years ago a speculator put together about $50M of financing to buy a huge number of multifamily residences. His plan ultimately failed leaving the lenders to foreclose on his properties. He was also accused of violating the rent control laws in an effort to boost the value of the properties he bought.

So is East Palo Alto really bad? Although I live and work in Palo Alto, I eat lunch more often in East Palo Alto than in Palo Alto. The city has problems but there are a lot of good hard working people there. It is a rather unique city in Silicon Valley.

Listing the units with a broker would get the most people seeing that they are for sale and thus generally results in a quicker sale. The MLS is quite effective.

If you want the remote convenience for yourself you should consider a "smart home" type control for the fan which lets you use your cell phone to control it. No lost controls, your phone is probably with you when you want to control the fan. The "smart home" electronics would often be shared with other remote control items and useful security measures such as turning lights on and off even when your aren't home or seeing who's at your front door.

Check to see if either loan has a prepayment fee/penalty. 

The car loan is probably for a short period of 5 years or less so you will have higher payments on it. If your income can handle the cash flow, the interest rate on that car loan is so low that you can probably invest that money and earn more than the interest you are paying. The higher payment however would show in your debt to income ratio if you apply for a loan, limiting how much you could borrow.

If you are wanting to get as much money as possible to put towards a new purchase, paying off the car loan first would probably accomplish that. Compare your payments and you could figure out the difference.

If they have created a drainage system which dumps water onto your property there is a good chance you could get them to change that. If it is simply run off from a parking lot which is sloped towards your (future) property, I think it would be hard to force them to do anything. A local attorney is probably the only person who could give you solid advice.