2022

The Golden State Most experts agree that our beautiful state of California has an abundance of natural and human resources. If measured separately from the rest of the U.S., our state would be the world's fifth-largest economy. After all, we nurtured the planet’s leading tech, entertainment, and defense industries. In addition, older economic sectors, such as agriculture, significantly contribute to...

Highest gas prices in America It is no surprise to us who drive that gas prices have climbed to unprecedented highs. In the Bay Area, the price per gallon has reached $5.00, and above, Californians pay the highest taxes for gasoline in the U.S., further increasing its cost.  No signs of improvement Relief is nowhere in sight for two reasons. First, the war in Ukraine has nearly closed Russian oil...

A difficult balance Relationships between tenants and landlords are usually complicated. Both parties have vital interests: to maximize their investment via a steady flow of rents for landlords. And for tenants to have the enjoyment of a safe, convenient home at the lowest possible monthly cost and for the longest time possible.  Government gets into it Federal, State, and Local governments do their...

Is a Spring collapse coming? As Russia's invasion into Ukraine continued, money flew into the US stock money just as our last month's blog post predicted. This inflow gave temporary support to the stock market. Looking at February 2022's market data, we can see that the % of sales dropped pretty much across all the Bay Area counties. Many youtube videos (here and there, for example) have concluded...

Almost every landlord is into the real estate business to earn more income. However, there is no guarantee that you will make more money once you own a rental property. The amount of income you can generate from your rental property depends on how you manage it. Although real estate is among the most lucrative businesses, several things can kill rental property profit and destroy your source of income....

A Trend-Setting Group The average life expectancy in America, now around 79 years, grew significantly during the 20th and 21st centuries. One consequence is the appearance of generations of Americans with very distinct views on life, including homeownership.  Millennials are the Americans born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, as per the most accepted definitions. We are talking about...

Impact Of The Ukraine Crisis Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, all eyes around the globe are on this country. Attention is also on how the US will respond to the crisis. Just as most predicted, the US will not have military confrontation with Russia. Instead, the US will only impose the toughest sanctions. As a reader of this post, you must wonder how this conflict is going to impact the US real...

  The December 2021 housing data may seem alarming at first glance. Month-on-month price and sales volumes changes are both negative, while year-to-year sales even recorded a 10% to 51% decrease in most counties. Are the Bay Area Real Estate Buyers withdrawing from the market? Fortunately, the answer is no. The decrease in sales volume is driven by a lack of inventory. In December 2020, there...

Working from home is here to stay.  Working from home was already a growing trend before the pandemic. And with it,  the growth of remote workers has been exponential. Fully remote and Hybrid (work-from-home and office) workers were estimated to be 60% of all American workers at some point in 2021. And with COVID contagions up, more people are still working from home…and some will never go...