Sand Creek Plaza

At some point, your plans to start a new business may lead you on a search to find a suitable location. If you pick the right location, you’ll be made in the shade. Pick the wrong one, and your business could be over before you know it.

Selecting an office space can be a rather difficult endeavor. To try to make the process a little easier, we’re listing some things your should consider about any prospective rental property.

The square footage of the property is important. But, don’t just think about the rentable square footage, which is the figure the landlord will give you. Instead consider the usable square footage of the office space, the amount of the property which you will actually be able to use. To get this figure, measure the interior of the office space where you will actually be working. Make sure the usable square footage is enough for your business.

Next, find out about utilities. For some properties, the utilities are included in the lease. But, for others, whoever rents the office space is responsible for paying for the heat, electric, and water bills. If you are responsible for these bills, it can obviously make a big difference in the amount you are paying each month for your office space.

If you depend on foot traffic for retail sales make sure your office space is visible from the street and that there is adequate parking. Don’t rent an office space that is secluded unless your business does not rely on customers or clients coming in. If you do have customers during the day, be sure the location has adequate parking. You do not want customers or clients choosing not to stop at your business because the parking lot is full.

Find out about outside signage ordinances for the area. In some cases the landlord is responsible for providing signage, which saves the tenant money. In some cases the city or township may have certain laws about what types of signs an office space is allowed to have. For example, you may not be allowed to put up a neon business sign or a billboard that is taller than six feet. It is important to check the ordinances so that you do not get fined and so that you do not have to take down any expensive signage.

Lastly, ask about the onsite management services and get to know who’s managing the building. An onsite management team is indispensable. Should an issue arise, an onsite team can act immediately, responsively and effectively. Look around, is the place clean? Attentive onsite management teams routinely take care of the details that keep the building running smoothly.

Finally, be diligent. Get as much information as possible, and work to understand issues before you make your selection. By sticking to these principles, you decision will always be the wise choice. Never overpay, but if the numbers are right, don’t be afraid to pay a little extra for that perfect location. In the end, the building should contribute to your company’s bottom line.

You’re paying your bills on time, but your landlord isn’t. Now you are the one holding the eviction notice. So what next?

This scenario is becoming all-too-familiar for thousands of renters nationwide. Unintended victims of foreclosures are dealing with problems first hand due to the failing economy. Banks are booting good tenants into the streets with little to no notice. Some banks are even seizing property from a delinquent owners, ignoring tenant leases. In some cases, families are forced into shelters for temporary housing because they have little or no savings to cover moving costs such as a first month’s rent, and a security deposit. Some landlords are not even coughing up the security deposit left by the tenants. If you, or someone you know is faced with a similar situation, there is a solution.

Thankfully Fannie Mae has pledged to change that with its new renter policy starting this month. The plan will allow renters living in foreclosed properties to sign new leases with Fannie while the property is up for sale, or give the tenants money to move. Fannie has yet to establish the length of the leases, and the amount of move-out assistance will vary by state and property.

Freddie Mac has also jumped on board and said it would unveil a similar program in the next few weeks. But how does a renter know if his landlord has a mortgage held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?

Fannie Mae plans to reach out to tenants, spokesman Brian Faith said.

Since most tenants don’t normally know the details of their landlord’s mortgage arrangements, Fannie Mae will be contacting the tenants in foreclosed properties they own to make them aware of the option to stay in their home through a lease with Fannie Mae.

Fannie estimates about 4,000 tenants live in the company’s foreclosed properties and would be eligible for the plan.

Unfortunately, that’s just a fraction of renters facing the consequences of a landlord’s foreclosure. About 40% of all renters, live in single-family homes, many of which are owned by mom-and-pop investor landlords. This is where the risk lies.

What should you do if you receive a foreclosure or eviction notice?

1. Call the sheriff’s department first. Find out how long the foreclosure process takes. Is it 60 days or 90 days? Knowing your timeline to work with will help you prepare for the worst-case scenario.

2. Find out the rental laws in your state. Some states, including California, have recently passed legislation giving renters a grace period, ranging from 30 days and up, to stay in a property after it has been sold in foreclosure. Other states are considering similar legislation.

3. The lender’s name or its lawyer will be on the eviction notice. Contact either one to let them know you are in the property. Find out what your options are. Will the lender let you sign a new lease? Or is the bank offering some cash assistance for moving out? Don’t let the lender bully you into moving out sooner than stated by law.

4. If you are nervous about negotiating with the lender on your own, contact a local nonprofit housing counseling agency for help. HUD’s website lists agencies by state, or you can call (800) 569-4287.

5. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development outlines tenant rights by state on its website at www.hud.gov

At Sand Creek Plaza there is a true feeling of community spirit here. To help facilitate more business for our tenants we like to inform the community about local activities and events that are planned throughout the year with our community newsletter we call The Brentwood Insider. The Brentwood Insider keeps the tenants and the entire San Francisco East Bay involved in our community and the surrounding areas. The newsletter also provides coupons to local shops, and useful information about tenants and other opportunities are available at affiliate properties.

The Brentwood Insider was established in 2006 to provide a medium between the community and our tenants. Keeping the community informed on these events and matters directly impact charitable causes. Published at the beginning of every month, our newsletter is sent out via email in the form of an eBlast and also available online at www.thebrentwoodinsider.com. The eBlast has been very effective in directing traffic to the website and to the events. Thanks to your support the Brentwood Insider has been a success and will continue to set the city of Brentwood apart from the rest.

To be apart of our community newsletter and begin receiving monthly eBlasts with all the local events, email us at offer@brentwoodbusinesscenter.com.

Targeting a new audience through the use of craigslist ads an prove to be an excellent avenue for real estate promotion. Whether you have one suite available, to an entire office building, Craigslist can help increase phone calls and popularity of your available location. Reaching your target audience by running a marketing campaign that is visually appealing will effectively grasp their attention luring them to call for an appointment.

Marketing effectively on Craigslist is not very different from marketing in other forms of print media. One of the most important elements of an effective marketing campaign on Craigslist is professionally written copy coupled with an immaculate design. With a professional design including clear pictures of the property, the specific action you request of your readers will be effective. The specific action may include visiting a website, requesting additional information, making a purchase, or visiting a traditional store or place of business.

Besides being free for most postings, Craigslist offers additional benefits. The most significant benefit is their large audience. Each month craigslist receives over 4 billion page views. With such a large audience your advertisement is bound to be seen by hundreds, if not thousands of people. One thing to take note of is that care should be taken when placing your craigslist ads. Be sure to categorize the advertisement in the correct State and City, and double check you’re publishing it in the correct category. Ensuring your advertising is reaching its target audience is key to posting on Craigslist. To show off one of the recent ads we currently have running take a look below. Thanks to JVF Consulting, this professional ad has been extremely effective!

Mortgage rates dropped for a third straight week, reflecting the impact the weakening economy is having on financial markets.

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent last week, down from 6.14 percent the previous week. It marked a sharp decline since rates hit a recent high of 6.46 percent during the week of Oct. 16.

Concerns about the economy and worries over the fate of Detroit’s three automakers have caused Wall Street’s major stock indexes to hit levels not seen since 2003, sending investors swiftly into government debt.

Rates on other types of mortgages also fell last week. For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, rates dropped to 5.73 percent from 5.81 while rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 5.87 percent from 5.98 percent and rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages edged down to 5.29 percent from 5.33 percent.

The mortgage rates do not include points. The nationwide fee for 30-year and 15-year mortgages averaged 0.7 of a point last week. The fee on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 0.6 of a point while the fee on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 0.5 of a point.

A year ago the nationwide average rate on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.2 percent while 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.81 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.88 percent, and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages stood at 5.42 percent.

The numbers are in, and they’re exactly what we expected. With banks unloading a record number of foreclosures, bay area home sales soared, while the median price plummeted. This is according to a real estate report released Thursday 11-20-08.

Most of the action, and the big bargains, were in areas where bank repossessions have become a fact of life. Almost half of all existing homes sold were foreclosures. Their bargain-basement prices sent the median price tumbling 45 percent during the past year to $375,000. This is all according to research firm MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

Despite an economic crisis and a stock market plunge, the fire-sale prices pulled more buyers into the market. A total of 5,624 resale homes changed hands in the nine-county Bay Area in October, up 66.2 percent from a year ago.

The Bay Area median price hasn’t been this low since October 2001, when it was $370,000. However, the median’s tumble reflects more the swing to lower-priced homes in lower-priced areas where foreclosures are commonplace, rather than an across-the-board depreciation. This doesn’t mean every Bay Area house has gone back to 2001 levels, but it does tell an interesting story about where people are buying, and where they are not.

During the boom years, prices in lower-cost areas appreciated as subprime buyers rushed in. With the bay area in a buying frenzy it’s time for you to secure a cost effective location that will outlast these economic hard times. Sand Creek Plaza specializes in finding you great deals in this crazy real estate market. Our knowledgeable staff is a phone call away.

The HOPE for Homeowners program will refinance mortgages for borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments, but can afford a new loan insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The program begins October 1, 2008 and ends September 30, 2011.

The housing rescue legislation that was signed into law recently is called the Hope for Homeowners Act of 2008. Sound hopeful? Maybe! Oversimplified, the act offers government guarantees to lenders who are willing to work with you to keep you out of foreclosure. But, you have to be “qualified” for the program.

Here are some key points about the program and its qualifications:
* The program goes into effect October 1, 2008. Until then, look for other options.
* Your lender has to be willing to write down your loan to 90% of your home’s value. In other words, your existing mortgage lender has to be willing to reduce the balance of the mortgage so that there’s a 10% equity cushion in the property.
* Your existing mortgage must have originated before January 1, 2008.
* The program is available for your primary residence only.
* You must be devoting more than 31% of your income to your mortgage payments.
* Income must be verified to qualify for the new loan, and you have to be able to afford the payments on the new loan.
* If you sell your home in the five years following this refinancing, you have to share the profit with the government.  The government’s share is calculated on a sliding scale for the first five years; after that, you’ll split the profit 50/50.

Every report I’ve read about this legislation says that the bill will save 400,000 homes from foreclosure. It is estimated that the funding limits for those federal loan guarantees will make it possible to help that many families. Lenders take the write down, but avoid the expense and risk of foreclosure, and benefit from rebounding property values if foreclosures slow and excess housing inventory is eliminated. And, if they don’t take advantage of this program, there is a good chance that an irate Congress will increase regulation of the mortgage industry.

It remains to be seen whether the Hope for Homeowners Act of 2008 offers real hope, or becomes another infamous bail out that helps only the wealthy. It appears to me that the program will offer the most benefit to those who are struggling, but are current enough on their payments to look like a good risk. If you’re looking for more articles about HOPE act you can read the press release here.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr08-150.cfm

Zillow.com the website now best known for delivering bad news to delusional home owners announced today homes values have slide for the 7th consecutive quarter down 9.7 percent in the third quarter of this year relative to their levels one year ago. This marks the seventh consecutive quarter of negative year-over-year declines, each quarter turning in a greater negative annual change than the prior quarter. For comparison, the revised second quarter annualized change in the Zillow Home Value Index was 8.6%. For the first time this quarter, the depth and duration of the housing downturn in some markets has translated into flat or negative five-year annualized appreciation rates. Twenty-seven of the 163 markets covered experienced negative five-year annualized value changes and another twelve markets had basically no change over that period of time. For example, Stockton real estate has dropped 3.8% on an annualized basis since 2003 and Boston home values have dropped about one percent annualized over the past five years. Some markets are now teetering on the edge of seeing no appreciation over the past decade such as Detroit where real estate values have increased less than one percent on an annualized basis over the last ten years.

It is essential that the supply of homes accumulated during this downturn is sold off fast. Sales volumes must pick up to a pace that exceeds the normal rate of sales to bring back this market. If we think of the inventory of unsold homes as a bucket of water, and the bucket already has a historically high level of water in it, if we keep pouring more water into it, the bucket is bound to spill over.

At Sand Creek Plaza we take pride in the business architecture that defines our structure inside and out. When your customers visit your business location first impressions are a necessity.

Our business architecture is directly based on our business strategy. With our tenants being the foundation for various aspects into the design, we are proud to hand you the key to your new office location, knowing it fits all of your needs. We understand that our tenant’s real estate needs are ongoing and evolving that is why we’re pleased to tell you about some of our property details & amenities such as the highly traveled Sand Creek Road at a signalized high visibility corner. Occupancy is always immediate, we offer 30 foot store fronts with covered outdoor patio seating area for food use. Suites are divisible and there is another 140,000 square feet of planned additional office south of Brentwood Self Storage. In addition, our clients can join our marketing efforts through our electronic newsletter ” The Brentwood Insider”.

At the Sand Creek Plaza our tenants objectives are at the forefront of everything we do, resulting in a rewarding long term relationship. We look forward to your visit at Sand Creek Plaza. We are sure you will be impressed with our professional business architecture design and environment, a place where your business will thrive.

While sales of new homes recorded an unexpected increase in October as median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years, the sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Economists had expected sales would drop from the September level. But what exactly does this mean for you? Well, if you’re a small business paying high rent or lease, and your landlord is not willing to negotiate, then it’s time to move on! At the SCP we have heard all kinds of horror stories due to the recent foreclosures. It’s time to break the chain and secure a location that will stand the test of time. The Sand Creek Plaza is centrally located in the city of Brentwood, CA and is here to work with you to better fit your budget.

Analysts are not convinced that the sales increases are signaling a bottom for the housing market. They note that the September gains came before the latest upheavals in financial markets which have raised new worries about the overall state of the economy. Many analysts believe the country has already entered a recession. The forecast is significant increases in job losses, which will make it even harder to secure locations. Builders have been sharply cutting back on production, trying to get inventories more in line with sales. The inventory of unsold existing homes is also remaining near historic highs as that market is being increased by a record wave of home foreclosures.

I always like to look at the Los Angeles housing market to see how the other half of California is surviving… According to the LA Times, homes sales are booming, but prices are down 33 percent from a year ago. From what I read it sounds like people are buying, which is a good indication money is changing hands. Agents I’ve spoken to here in the Bay Area tell me the only thing really selling these days is foreclosures, short sales and all cash deals. The rest of us will benefit from cheap rental or leases popping up across the board.