Bernard’s Danville Real Estate Blog

Blackhawk Plaza has no shortage of restaurants and Laurus is the latest addition to the Blackhawk dining scene. The competition includes the excellent Blackhawk Grille. It will have to offer a pretty good dining experience if it is to be successful. Will it survive? Read on to get my take on it.
 Laurus is the brain-child of restaurateurs Matthew Silverman and Thomas Bensel and is their third venture in Blackhawk, joining their wine bar, Stomp, and their Mexican restaurant, Coa, all recently opened.
 All three locations are in keeping with Blackhawk Plaza but Laurus is undoubtedly the flag-ship. It opened for business in early December and Sylvia and I dined there for the first time with Michelle (her birthday dinner) for the first time shortly afterwards.
 This is a very stylish restaurant with somewhat minimalist décor and designer colors on the walls. The floor is polished concrete. There is an open display kitchen, an elegant, curved bar with plenty of seating and also an outdoor terrace seating surrounded by the Blackhawk water features with Koi carp and ducks etc.
 The service is impeccable and the food here is excellent. The three of us shared a generous portion of fried Calamari as an appetizer and none of us could fault it. This was  lightly breaded, served with haricots verts and accompanied by a light curry mayonnaise.
 For an entree, I had sea scallops that were served (very artistically I should add) on a bed of butternut squash risotto. The scallops were succulent and the risotto cooked to perfection, although the portion size (just three scallops) seemed a little on the meager side. Even so, I do appreciate the concept of quality rather than quantity and given the choice, quality wins every time.
 Sylvia had the Bistro Steak (a flat-iron steak served with sweet potato fries, an interesting twist on the usual steak frites) and pronounced it to be excellent, with a really good flavor and tender to the bite. Michelle’s choice was the Seafood Bouillabaise and it looked to be crammed full of quite a variety of fish and shellfish. She said it was yummy!
 Neither Sylvia nor Michelle appeared to appreciate my suggestions with regard to a pudding so we settled for finishing off our second bottle of Frogs Leap chardonnay by way of a final course. The wine list is quite extensive incidentally, and the wine was served at perfect temperature, but it would be nice to see some lower-priced wines on offer.
 Overall, we came away with a high opinion of Laurus. I won’t say we will be frequent visitors as it is a little above our normal dining budget but it would be great for a special occasion and should certainly be popular with many affluent locals. 

Latest Full Months Statistics for Danville Homes
(including Blackhawk and Diablo)

Previous months figures shown in parentheses	Detached Single Family Homes	Condomiums, Townhomes, others
New Listings	80(92)	22(19)
New Sales Agreed	38(32)	9(10)
Closed Sales	30(14)	8(7)
Median Price - Closed Sales	$791,250 ($961,250)	$504,337 ($515,000)
Average Days on Market - Closed Sales	117(90)	91(54)

At the beginning of April, 2009, there were 286 detached single family homes for sale in Danville (up from 271 in March, 2009) and 64 condos and townhomes etc. against 65 a month ago. So there is around 9 months supply of single family homes in Danville and 6 months supply of condos etc. The supply of condos is still being taken up faster than single family homes, but still, 9 months supply is a lot less than in many parts of Contra Costa County.
     What is of particular note is that the median price of closed sales has fallen significantly for the third straight month. Danville home prices are not as resilient as many thought. The increasing time on the market suggests that sellers may have been trying to sell their homes for unrealistic prices but they eventually given up waiting for higher offers and accepted the reality of the situation.
     So what happens now in Danville? Certainly there are plenty of buyers about but they will still be cautious when they see these figures. Home sellers will need to price their properties very aggressively if they really want to achieve a sale.
     I still think it is a good time to buy in Danville. Interest rates are low and there is a lot of choice. If I was thinking about buying here now, I would make a very careful assessment of real value and base any offers on that, rather than just on the asking price. And there are still bank owned foreclosures that offer particularly good opportunities in many cases.

The California Association of Realtors has launched the C.A.R. Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program, for first-time home buyers in California.

Through this Program, first-time home buyers who lose their jobs due to lay-offs could to receive $1,500 per month, for six months, to help make their mortgage payments. A qualified co-buyer can also participate in the program, and receive $750 per month for up to six months.  Program benefits also include coverage for accidental disability and a $10,000 death benefit. 

C.A.R.’s Housing Affordability Fund is dedicating $1 million toward its Mortgage Protection Program, and estimates that as many as 3,000 families will benefit from the program this year. To qualify for the Mortgage Protection Program, applicants must: ·          Be a first-time home buyer – someone who has not owned a home in three          or more years·          Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or before Dec. 31, 2009·          Use a California REALTOR® in the transaction·          Purchase the property in California·          Be a W-2 employee (cannot be self-employed) To apply for the program, home buyers must request an application for the H.A.F. Mortgage Protection Program from their REALTOR®.

As of November 1st, 2008, there were 281 detached single family homes for sale (just a few more than 1 month ago) and 59 condos and townhomes etc. (again, little change). This is becoming an established pattern now. Prices in Danville also appear to have stabilized and although the average time on market is higher than we have become accustomed to in recent years, it is really just a little higher than in a true “normal” market. Homes that are priced correctly should sell within four or five weeks. The indications are that we have now passed the bottom of the market in Danville although this is certainly not the case in all parts of the East Bay.

Can Danville support yet another new restaurant? Chow owner Tony Gulisano thinks so and to back up his confidence he has invested a ton of money in converting the old Blockbuster premises on Railroad Avenue into an extremely individual space.

This is the fourth restaurant in the Chow empire, two being located in San Francisco and the third in Lafayette. I know the Lafayette restaurant well and although there is a similarity in menus, the ambience seems very different.For a start, there is much more outside seating in Danville, with lots of outside gas heaters and some firepits. Inside, too there are many differences. Both have fireplaces but Chow Danville seems much bigger and lighter with a rather quirky style of décor. Tony Gulisano says it is in the style of an Amish barn. I think that is a bit of a stretch but it is certainly very appealing.Chow Danville opened a few weeks ago and it seems to have been pretty full from the get-go. Danvillians have embraced this style of smart-casual dining and Chow delivers in spades, being open from breakfast through dinner. There is also a full bar which seems to be just as popular as the rest of the restaurant.Sylvia and I visited on a Thursday evening around 6.30 for an early dinner and the restaurant was almost full both inside and out. We opted to eat inside with a table in the center of the dining area and we immediately noticed what a “buzz” there was. Like many people these days, we much prefer a lively atmosphere to a staid one and that is what you get at Chow. This is probably not the ideal place for a romantic dinner for two.Chow’s philosophy is based on the concept of providing good wholesome food at reasonable prices. They use organic produce and local suppliers where they can.Neither of us wanted an appetizer and the menu has a surprisingly good (and perhaps a little eclectic) selection of fish, pasta, meat and game for main courses. Sylvia chose the steak frites, one of her favorites, and as I am a game enthusiast I went for the squab, not a dish commonly seen on menus in these parts.The steak with the frites was hanger steak and having tasted it, I agreed with Sylvia’s comment that it was full of flavor and cooked to perfection. My squab was equally delicious - pan-roasted to a dark pink color and served with an imaginative selection of sides - braised cabbage, a mélange of diced vegetables, a slice of sweet potato and bruschetta. This was one of the best meals I have had in ages.Having declined an appetizer, we felt justified in sharing a dessert, and although the selection was fairly small it was definitely tantalizing. We decided on a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a bitter chocolate sauce. Although neither of us are great desert eaters, we had to agree that this, again, was superb. The chocolate cake was like a very light chocolate brownie and the chocolate sauce was phenomenal.I predict that Chow will soon become the most popular restaurant in Danville. The service, overseen by manager Tonino Drovandi (who, despite the name, is Scottish, believe it or not) was impeccable - attentive and unobtrusive, and it is really difficult to find anything to fault. We will be back. You can see more about Chow on their web site at www.chowfoodbar.com. 

If you are having problems meeting your current mortgage payments or if you know anybody in such a situation, this new legislation may offer a solution.

At the end of July, a $300 billion housing rescue bill was signed into law aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. Now, thousands of borrowers who are unable to meet their mortgage payments will be able to refinance their existing loans into new low-cost fixed-rate ones insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

It is estimated that 400,000 borrowers with $68 billion in loans could benefit from this program - but the bill allows for up to 2 million borrowers to participate.

Who will be eligible?

In order to qualify, you must be an owner-occupier and your loan must have been taken out between January 2005 and June 2007. You must also be able to show that you are spending at least 40% of your gross monthly income on all household debt.

You may be up to date on your existing mortgage or you may be in default, but either way you have to show that you can’t afford to keep paying your mortgage and that you are not intentionally defaulting just to get lower payments.

Before you can get an FHA-backed mortgage, you must first clear any other debts on the home, such as a home equity loan or a line of credit.
You will need approval from the FHA, and total debt cannot exceed 95% of the home’s appraised value at the time.

How do you apply?

You should initially contact your current mortgage servicer or alternatively, you can go directly to an FHA-approved lender for help. There is a list of lenders on the Department of Housing and Urban Development web site (http://www.hud.gov/ll/code/llslcrit.cfm).

How does the refinancing process work?

Note that this is a voluntary program and the lender holding the original mortgage has to agree to rework a given loan before things can get started. They will have to agree to make substantial concessions, writing down the value of the loan to 90% of the home’s current value. In areas where prices have plummeted by as much as 20%, that will mean  the lender writing off a significant amount.

So it is likely that lenders won’t sign off on such a workout unless they think that they’ll lose less money that way, than they would by foreclosing.

Each loan will be underwritten by an FHA lender on a case-by-case basis, so the banks will have a new appraisal to determine the home’s current value, as well as verifying up to date income statements, bank accounts etc. in the same way as a normal mortgage application.
The new lender then buys the old loan and takes over the reworked mortgage.

The old lender has to write off any fees and penalties on the original mortgage, and accept the proceeds from the new loan on a paid-in-full basis. It also pays the FHA an up-front premium equal to 3% of the mortgage principal.

Your new FHA loan will have an interest rate that is fixed for the life of the loan, as opposed to an adjustable-rate mortgage that can be have rates that are totally unpredictable.

What does it cost you?

There should be little up-front cost for you. Loan origination fees, for example, could probably be paid back over the life of the loan. There are some other costs to take into consideration though. This is not a simple bail-out deal.

You will not be allowed to take out another home equity loan for at least five years, unless it’s to pay for needed repairs or maintenance on the home.

You will also have to pay an insurance premium to the FHA which is equal to 1.5% of the principal, every year. This is a mortgage guarantee policy.

Shared Equity Increases

The FHA also gets to share in any profits you make.  The way that works is that when you resell your home, or refinance it, you pay back 3% of the mortgage principal to the FHA.

And that’s not all! In the event that you sell or refinance within a year, you have to pay the FHA 100% of any profits you make as a result of an increased home price. Of course if the home does not increase in value, that won’t be an issue.

After a year though, you still have to share any profits with the FHA but the amount reduces on a sliding scale - 90% in year two, 80% in year 3 etc. until it reaches 50% where it will remain until whenever you sell or refinance.

Will it work for you?

It really depends on your individual circumstances and you are strongly advised to consult with your CPA or other financial advisor. For many, savings will be substantial, although you do need to remember that the FHA will be sharing any profit you make on the home down the line. Nevertheless, this is a much better scenario than losing your home through foreclosure.

If you are having financial difficulty in meeting your loan payments but you don’t feel that this will work for you, if you have no, or little, equity in your home, you may want to consider a short sale. In this case, the lender forgives the outstanding loan and you get to walk away from your home without any further financial liability to them. In this case, you need to list your home for sale before a foreclosure becomes inevitable and here, I may be able to help you. For more information, please contact me, Bernard Gibbons, at any time, on (925) 997-1585.

2007 and 2008 have been stressful years for many homeowners, particularly those who bought their homes within the last couple of years. The vast majority of these are doing fine, even though they have seen the equity in their homes decreasing but the people who bought homes with little or no down payment and those who borrowed money on the basis of “stated income” just because they could not otherwise qualify are those that got into trouble.

Many of these people have been forced into “short sales” and others have been foreclosed on. The reaction of lenders, who many believe are largely responsible for this mess any way, was to suddenly decide that they didn’t really want to lend to anybody with less than 30% down so loans became hard to get.

The Good News

Now there are signs that things are getting better. From June 1st, Fanny Mae scrapped its “Declining Markets” policy which effectively meant that the largest available loans to most people was 90%. Now with 95% loans available again, first-time buyers can qualify for a loan, thus stimulating the market from the bottom.

The increase in conforming loan limits in March is also just starting to have an effect. $417,000 was the previous limit for lower cost conforming loans but now, with the limit at $729,750, buyers can get a first loan up to that figure at a low interest rate, topping it up with a second loan for the balance of financing needed, rather than take out a large, expensive, jumbo loan.

Higher limits for FHA loans are also starting to have an impact. With just 3% down a home buyer, even with less than stellar credit, can qualify to buy with a loan up to $729,750.

The Market Will Recover

All of this is helping to move the real estate market towards recovery. And it will recover. Fully. A new study from the Joint Center For Housing Studies of Harvard University finds the country poised to see an increase in housing demand over the next decade. The reason? Our population is growing.

From 2010 to 2020 the population will grow by an average of more than 1.4 million people per year. That is a lot of growth.

And note that this is a nationwide study. If you look at Danville or San Ramon for example, you will see that we almost always have a buoyant housing market.

Our Market Is Resilient

Even now, with all the talk of doom and gloom, there is less than a 6 month supply of homes for sale based on the latest figures. 3-6 months supply is generally considered a neutral market. Less than 3 months is a sellers’ market and over 6 months is a buyers’ market. You can find a buyers market in Brentwood or Pittsburg or Antioch or even Concord but you won’t find it here. That’s why our prices have stopped plummeting. Sure there are some low priced homes to be found but they are mostly bank owned foreclosures, many of which are in pretty bad shape. An increasing number of the rest are selling above list price and with multiple offers.
All of the above has to be good news for the real estate market and home owners as a whole.

Soon, things will get back to normal with moderate 2-4% annual increases in value backed by sensible lending policies.

JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Received on 2/29/08

Parties Jointly Announce Settlement of SROG’s Lawsuit Against the City of San Ramon, Challenging the City’s Approval of the San Ramon City Center Project

The City of San Ramon, Sunset Development Company, and San Ramon for Open Government (“SROG”) jointly announced the settlement of SROG’s lawsuit against the City, challenging its approval of the San Ramon City Center Project and the accompanying Environmental Impact Report.  The City Center Project, which was unanimously approved by the City Council in December, will feature a new City Hall, library, transit center and police headquarters, along with residential living, office space, retail, and entertainment components.  The settlement agreement will also result in SROG dropping two referendum petitions it has been circulating to challenge development agreement amendments for the Project. 

SROG had sued the City alleging that the approval violated the California Environmental Quality Act and the City’s 2020 General Plan.  The settlement calls for Sunset and the City to make a number of changes to the project, including: reducing the heights of the project’s tallest buildings to no more than ninety feet (resulting in reducing the office buildings from seven to six stories), reducing the condominium buildings adjoining the Iron Horse Trail to a maximum of seven stories, and taking several steps to reduce the project’s traffic and air quality impacts. 

The project changes also include reducing the project’s total office space and associated parking by almost fifteen percent, expanding the three-year trial free shuttle program to cover both the City Center and the rest of Bishop Ranch, scheduling express shuttle buses to and from BART for both AM and PM commute hours.  In addition, the City and Sunset will support a pedestrian/bicycle-accessible flyover crossing busy Bollinger Canyon Road at the Iron Horse Trail.

The settlement also requires all City Center buildings to be “LEED – Silver” certified – a high level “green building” standard that promotes sustainability and will reduce the project’s environmental footprint.

Along with the project changes, the settlement commits the City to moving forward with enacting a local ordinance requiring that any future buildings outside of City Center in excess of five stories go on the ballot for voter approval.

SROG spokesperson Jim Gibbon stated, “We were concerned that this project, while desirable in some respects, was going to overload city streets, block out regional views, and set a bad precedent for the future.  While the changes that Sunset and the City have agreed to do not fully address all the issues that prompted the lawsuit and the referendum petitions, we think that the changes do make it a much better project.”

Sunset’s President, Alex Mehran, is pleased that the project will move forward on schedule.  “We have always felt we have proposed a project that the citizens of San Ramon want to see happen.  We’re pleased that this settlement will allow the project to move forward on schedule and San Ramon will realize its longstanding goal of having a downtown.”

San Ramon Mayor H. Abram Wilson echoed the City’s satisfaction with the settlement.  “We think this settlement is a win for everyone concerned, especially the people of San Ramon, who will get the City Center they have wanted for so long.”