The Waiting Game

I just realized that it's been a really long time since my last post.  I haven't exactly been neglecting the blog, there just hasn't been anything significant to report.  I do want to check in with some quick status information for posterity's sake.

All of the SMCU stuff got squared away after some initial confusion.  I'm now officially a member, and the letter is totally good.  Just for a few more days, though.  I will almost certainly renew, but might wait until October or later to do so.

I've started collecting real estate recommendations from family, friends, and co-workers.  So far I haven't found the perfect recommendation yet - I'd love to find someone who has actually bought in San Mateo County in the past year or so and been extremely happy with their agent.  However, I do have a good number of second-hand recommendations, friend-of-a-friend style.

Right now I'm kind of sitting on it.  Under my original timeline, I wouldn't be making an offer until November or later, so I'm not exactly in a huge rush to start looking at properties right now.  It is getting closer, though, and the last thing I want is to feel rushed into making a decision.  I'll likely continue the passive referral collection thing for another month or so, then interview the most promising to find a good match.

On the local front, it sounds like the market is beginning to firm up again.  We're finally seeing month-over-month increases, and the San Mateo County Times reported today that foreclosure activity in the Bay Area is down.  That said, year-over-year values are still significantly down, and I'm a little skeptical that we've seen the bottom of the market.  Interest rates have nowhere to go but up, and unemployment will continue to rise for at least another year.  I get the impression that the worst has passed for the subprime mortgage market, which around here was mainly based in Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.  The trouble will continue as prime interest-only ARMs reset, and those were extremely popular in San Francisco and San Mateo, where I'm focusing.

So, we'll see.  Anybody who claims to know the future is lying, and I don't want to hold out forever in the hopes that I'll be able to buy a great condo for $100k.  When it makes sense to buy, I will; until then, I'm content to wait.