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Inside this issue:
Hot Summer Nights
1
Updated API Scores(5/21/08)
2
The Silver Lining
2
My New Website -realtornickfrench.com
2
(cont) The Silver Lining
3
Client Testimonial—John Ying & Junjing Yan
3
Updated NeighborhoodStatistics
4
Nick’s Updates
4
Share The Newsletter 
4
Money Saving Tip—ROBLOX.COM
3
June 1, 2008Volume 3, Issue 2
Quarterly Review
Nicholas French, Broker Associate, CRS
With summer just around the corner it is time to consider the activities, camps and events that will fill thedays and weekends. I’m sure these months will include summer camps for the kids, sport activities andpossibly some weekend trips to Disneyland, the Zoo, and the beach. But do you take advantage of thefantastic events in the community?There is an event for almost every individual and family: from the Los Altos outdoor movie nights, to theSantana Row Flavors of Jazz and Saratoga Shakespeare in the Park. You can fill practically every summerevening with a free outdoor community event; just bring your lawn chair, some picnic snacks and a light jacket – and of course bring your good conversation and smiles. There are even some weekend concertsand festivals such as the Los Gatos Concert Series on Sunday afternoon. I can usually be found at Music inthe Park, Los Altos Movie Night and Shakespeare in the Park and I highly suggest all of them! It’s is a greatway to get out and meet your neighbors, enjoy some good entertainment and take advantage of ouramazing summer weather.I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of these activities, so I have put links to many of the commu-nities on my website for your convenience. If you click the “Community Info” fromwww.realtornickfrench.com, you will see the button for “Summer Events”. Below are some of the high-lighted events:
Hot Summer Nights
Nicholas French
Broker Associate, CRS
4906 El Camino Real #2Los Altos, CA 94022650 773 8000 (cell)650 961 2338 (office)650 961 5238 (fax)nfrench@cattonproperties.comwww.realtornickfrench.com
Location Event Day Time Dates
Campbell, Downtown Summer Concerts Thursday 6:30-8pm June 19 - Aug 14Cupertino, Memorial ParkSummer ConcertSeries Thursday 6:30-8pm June 5 - July 10Los Altos, Main StreetFriday NightMovie Nights Friday 8:30pm June 20 - Aug 29Los Gatos, Downtown Music in the Park Sunday 5-7pm June 22 - Aug 31Menlo Park, Fremont ParkSummer ConcertSeries Wednesday 6:30-7:30pm June 25 - Aug 13Mountain View, CuestaPark, Dwntn, Civic PlazaSummer ConcertSeries Thursday 6:30-8pm July 17 - Sept 4Palo Alto, Various ParksTwilight ConcertSeries Tuesday 6:30-7:30pm June 17 - Aug 5San Jose Dwntwn, CesarChavez Plaza Music in the Park Thursday 5:30-9pm July 10 - Sep 4Santana Row Flavors of Jazz Tuesday 6:30-7:30pm July 1 - Aug 26Saratoga, Sanborn ParkShady Shake-speare Fri-Sun 7pm Aug 7 - Sep 14Sunnyvale, Dwntwn Mur-phy AveSummer MusicSeries Wednesday 5-8pm June 25 - Aug 27Willow Glen, DowntownDancin on theAvenue Saturday 5-10pm June 14
 
I would bet that in the past thirty days you been engaged in a conversation about the “dismal” real estatemarket; encouraged by those with the dark cloud forever above them preaching real estate doomsdayand somehow surprised that property values do not continue through the clouds without correcting –what a surprise. When loans were given out like Halloween candy and true home payment amounts ex-ceeding one hundred percent of one’s income, you can bet there were some rough roads ahead. The oldsaying that when your garbage man is giving you stock tips and gardener speculative real estate advice it istime to get out! “I subscribe to the law of contrary public opinion... If everyone thinks one thing, then Isay, bet the other way...” (
Ricky Roma, Glengarry Glen Ross
). Fortunately for many of us we did not suc-cumb to the speculative purchases of the Inland Empire, or Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida, the list goes on.There are definitely those that made a small fortune taking their chances on these sprawling communities;if they took the gains and ran to the bank they most definitely have a permanent smile. If they chose tolet it ride you can bet they are singing the real estate blues about now. According to the latest statisticsthe areas with the sharpest depreciation are Merced, Modesto and Stockton (OFHEO, May 22, 08), allCalifornia and the Inland Empire. By now we know the cause and effect; hindsight tells the picture, butwhat is the next step and where are the opportunities?Fortunately we live in an area with an amazingly robust market. As I wrote in the March 2007 edition,compared to other markets our corrections are typically shorter-lived with less declining. I describe thisfunction by indicating our upswing starts first, has the longest swing and comes down last. So congratula-tions on your choice of community! Even the top areas right now are experiencing what I see as a stag-nant market. Los Altos, Saratoga, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park – the properties that come to market areselling quickly if a few parameters are met: good location, condition, and price. Price is key and don’t kidyourself to think that a house is selling under priced just because of the market. If it is priced low it gener-ally gets multiple offers and sells at a reasonable range. Surprising to many some houses are even sellingsignificantly lower than their purchase less than twelve months ago in these top locations. I have seenclosing prices 7-15% less than their purchase price and this is even before closing expenses and carryingcosts. Is this a sign of how much the market dropped or just some crazy purchases? I argue that thesebuyers purchased too much when they bought the properties. I remember each of these transactions andthinking how they spent too much when they bought it. In this same period others are selling for theiroriginal purchase price – stagnant market. This just supports the fact that in any market there are goodand bad deals. There is no replacement for doing the homework, having strong representation and pre-senting a powerful offer!The over-priced and less desirable properties are sitting on the market waiting for a reasonable seller andbuyer. You may find a handful of emotional deals, but for the most part the irrational exuberance hasdeflated – the real question if for how long? I am seeing a build-up of inventory in our top areas because(continued page 3)
The Silver Lining
Page 2
Quarterly Review
Updated APIScores (5/21/08)
The highly anticipatedrelease of theAcademicPerformance Indexratings have beenpublished (5/21/08).No earth-shatteringresults, but alwaysinteresting to see theinevitable ups anddowns in rankings.You can find theratings on mywebsite,realtornickfrench.comor at the followinglink:
http://api.cde.ca.gov/reports/page2.asp?subject=API&level=County&submit1=submit 
I enjoy the livelydiscussion thattypically follows theseratings— The covetedlottery schooladjustments, schooltrends or lower thanexpected ratings.Feel free to contactme anytime todiscuss.
 
I am happy to announce the launch of my new website, www.realtornickfrench.com. I have been workingto add useful tools and resources for clients whether currently looking to buy or sell or already in a home.My goal is that my site can be shared with family, friends and colleagues and have something for every-one, whether looking for investment tips, current properties, neighborhood information or any othervalue-add items. I am open to suggestions, so next time you are surfing the web stop by my site and en- joy! I have all of my previous quarterly newsletters posted as a resource and for sharing as well as adhocand automatic property search tools. The Utility Contact List is most helpful to new homeowners and thecommunity section should be informative for just about everyone. I look forward to your feedback and asalways appreciate your support!
My New Website— realtornickfrench.com
 
the sellers are not being realistic. The greatest is when a seller had the property listed twelve months agofor a price and couldn’t sell it, then relists now for the same price or higher. I am seeing those too and ittypically paints the picture for the situation. This is very different from other areas as close as South SanJose. You may have a great list price, condition and good location, but the buyers just aren’t there. Is thisan opportunity? I think the signs are still pointing towards additional inventory and slowing in some areas.Foreclosures and bank-owned properties are up and if you surf through the MLS there is an alarmingamount of short sale properties on the market; these short sales will most likely turn into foreclosures andbank-owned properties in the near future. Generally the banks will then list the properties to sell withaggressive reductions if they don’t move. With these variables still playing out in the marketplace as wellas the volume of inventory, I do not see a silver lining in the foreseeable future.Is it time to take advantage of these opportunities and purchase a rental property? Rents are up andprices are down; music to the ears of an investor. It then turns into an investment question and at whatpoint do you make the move. With the price earnings ratio improving it is more a determination of theincome verses cost of owning. Previously people were buying out of the area because of the cash flowand the decision of cash to growth. With higher rents and lower base costs to own I am starting to see aswing into rental purchasing. But don’t go out tomorrow and buy a rental property – there is substantialresearch that is needed, economic factors calculated and finding what will hopefully be the best bang forthe dollar. I am considering hedging my rental purchases since the bottom of the market is unknown. If you spread out the purchases and make careful decisions you should lower your risk and increase yoursmiles. There should be some great opportunities while others won’t touch real estate. History tells usthat once we hit the bottom in these areas it is not a jolt the other direction; the process is slow giving usgood time to consider whether we are ready to become landlords. I am here to support you with yourquestions, analysis and purchases. Feel free to contact me anytime and we will see if it is a good time foryou or if we should continue the waiting game.It is a true pleasure getting to know Nick and have his professional help in buying our second home. Hehas been helping us look for homes for three years... Yes, 3 years, what a home search! Really hard toimagine...yet we made it with Nick!He has the instinct, which is rare among most, to understand clients' taste, value system, and finance con-dition from just a couple of house touring’s. He magically blends all these elements along with the hous-ing/finance market condition and makes the most suitable suggestions. He does not push with showinghomes or making offers, points out the drawbacks of each property from his professional view and pro-tects us from making bad offers. He frequently shares his value and his understanding of the market andwe find this very helpful.I think helping his clients find the most suitable and comfortable home is what he really enjoys!Picky and tough clients like us – we are really lucky and blessed to have Nick finding us a perfect home inLos Altos and continue to enjoy his professional help whenever possible.Nick's easygoing and super patient personality, great, great people skills, and a level of outstanding pro-fessionalism distinguish him from others. From him, I get to know what a full service real estate agentreally is.... Finally I'd like to share a quote I use so often among my circle of friends: "You will never gowrong with Nick when buying a home in Los Altos"
Client Testimonial—John Ying & Junjing Yan
Page 3
Volume 3, Issue 2
The Silver Lining
(cont. Page 2)
 
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Send me yourmoney saving tipsfor upcomingnewsletters
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