News Archive Oakland Grown - Eat, Shop, Do Locally-owned and independent...read more here... OAR Cares About You - View the Video! This video may save your life! Tire manufacturers are NOT transparent when disclosing production dates... OAR IS ON FACEBOOK! Click on the Facebook Button directly above and become a fan now! Look for the "f" 2010 OAR INAUGURAL PHOTOS by Jack Check it out! Foreclosure Radar FREE TRIAL! Click here for a 7-day FREE trial and 10% off a monthly subscription...no obligation! OAR IS CO-MARKETING WITH ALAMEDA AND BERKELEY FOR REALTOR EDUCATION CLASSES & EVENTS! Collaborating to better serve our members...questions? Call us at 510 836-3000 EBRDI MOBILE RESOURCES NOW AVAILABLE! Click here using your mobile device... Get MORE from OAR OAR Members have access to the Multiple Organization Reciprocal Exchange, giving you direct access to Metrolist MLS, MLSListings ,Bay Area Real Estate Services, Inc (BAREIS), and the San Francisco MLS FREE! Read more here! READING THIS CAN SAVE A LIFE! Blood clots and stroke warnings... FEELING LUCKY?? Here's our May Raffle A $5 contribution to the Oral Lee Brown Foundation gives you a chance to win one of four restaurant $25 gift certificates to Oakland's own Bakesale Betty...click here! Homeowners with short sales face big tax bills Read more here... Is California Real Estate Turning a Corner? David Kerr, a ZipRealty agent in the Oakland, Calif., area, says he’s seen a shift from last year as well. “In my case, I’m already two-thirds above of where I was this time last year in terms of number of clients in contract,” Kerr says. New RPA Forms Tutor®, an online service that explains the standard forms clause-by-clause, with audio and text instructions... Rent or Buy? Hear the Podcast! It's regional...click here... Bay Area has 6 Hot ZIP Codes! Six out of the top 10 ZIP codes in the United States where homes sold above the asking price in the first quarter of 2010 were in the Bay Area... Oakland's Restaurant Boom Diablo Magazine's Insider's guide to the best of Oakland's great new restaurants... NEW RPA-CA FORMS TUTOR Get to know the New RPA-CA here... PAPERLESS BILLING is Coming to OAR!! Please make sure we have your current email address - 2010 billing for OAR and keys/lockboxes will go out by email only. Help us Go Green and help to save the environment... Bay Area's Hottest Zipcode is in Emeryville - 94608 Read more here! WINNERS of the 2nd Oral Lee Brown Foundation Raffle! Congratulations to Donna Costella, Melinda Hayes and Jimmy Wong - much thanks to Bakesale Betty for their Gift Certificates! Best ZipCodes for Buyers & Sellers Oakland ZipCodes are featured here... FREE Shuttle to Link Oakland Uptown and Waterfront The Broadway Shuttle will offer four 30-foot AC Transit buses that will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday... Join Us For Legislative Day in Sacramento! Here's all you need to know for Ledge Day - Wednesday, June 9th... San Francisco is a Renter's City Read more here... Reality Check for Freaked Out Buyers Read more here... Mortagage Relief Turns to Disbelief Read more here... Does Your Agent Stand in Your Shoes? Read more here... Oakland Land Buys Give Glimpse into the Future Read more here... 3 FREE Mortgage Relief Workshops Set for This Week 2 are in Downtown Oakland...read more here... Bank-Owned Properties Affect Neighborhoods Read more here... 6 Hurdles for Home Financing Read more here...agree? Fixed Loan Rates Fall Mortgage rates are inching closer to a record low... Low Rates Spark ReFi Boom Read more here... Jobs Outlook Still Dismal "Loan demand is quite strong this year," said John Holmgren, OAR member and head of Oakland-based realty finance firm Holmgren & Associates. "Mortgage agents are busier, but there's been no hiring." Smart Info in Smart Money OAR Past-President, David Kerr, “now we’re seeing multiple offers, but more along the lines of four or five offers on a house.” Read more here... Loan Legislation Seeks to Prevent Foreclosures "Despite their best efforts, servicers continue to have capacity problems where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing." Online Reputation - Protect it! Increasingly, your online reputation is becoming a deciding factor in whether you get that job, or get approved for that car loan... Foreclosures Shifting to Affluent ZipCodes "Banks take the time on the high end to short-sale properties because they get a higher return and better valuation," said Pat Lashinsky, CEO of Emeryville's ZipRealty... Tax Credits Fuel Rise in Pending April Home Sales Read more here... New iPhone Review by Larry Magid Hear the podcast here... Neldam's, Merritt Bakery & Your Black Muslim Bakery What's the connection? Agree or disagree? State Bill Targets Foreclosures While Homeowner Seeks Loan Mod "Mistakes are being made, and there's no consequence to servicers for the mistakes." Notices of Mortgage Defaults Fall Read more here... Oakland's Ellington Achieves Vacancy Milestone Industry watchers say the ongoing sales and incoming residents will bolster efforts to create more retail, dining and night life in downtown Oakland and Jack London Square... Katherine Grubb, Piedmont real estate agent, dies at 88 Desktops Giving Way to The Clouds Cloud computing will replace desktop applications... Why Are Mortgage Rates So Low? Hear the Podcast Here! International woes make U.S. mortgages a safer haven... THERE IS NO MONDAY MORNING MARKETING MEETING ON MONDAY, JULY 5th - OAR WILL BE CLOSED Have a safe, sane and fun holiday weekend! Tips for Single Women Buying a Home Read more here... FREE WiFi at Starbucks Starting July 1st, 2010...this is the beginning of a huge trend... Best Smartphone - For the Moment Sprint's HTC EVO 4G is better than Apple's iPhone 3G... Flipping Houses; Better than Buy and Hold? Read more here... Homebuilders Less Confident in Housing Market Another problem for thebuilding industry is that lenders are reluctant to make construction loans to developers... JUNE STATISTICS POSTED! Click on the "Statistics" button in the middle panel of our home page or click here... A Home Repair Loan & Mortgage All in One Read more here... 2 Prominent Office Buildings Fall Into Default The future owners of foreclosed buildings could wind up with some bargains... FREE WiFi at SFO - Starbucks on July 1st Too! Free WiFi is the trend and a gamechanger... Drop Outs Exceed Those Being Helped Read more here... Oaklavia - Closes Oakland Downtown Streets to Cars on Sunday Read more here... May Home Sales Fall as Housing Market Struggles Read more here... Mossberg's WSJ iPhone 4 Review ...the best device in its class...nuff said... New Home Sales Fall in May Expiration of the federal tax credit blamed... Birth of the Oakland Restaurant Association We are changing the perception that people have about Oakland... Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan dropped to 4.69 percent... 1111 Broadway's Vacancy Problem Goes Away "People want to be in downtown Oakland," said Aileen Dolby, a broker with Colliers International, a commercial realty firm. "They want to be near BART. They like the quality of the office products there. There is a lot of dining downtown." Economists Split on Housing Forecast Read more here... THANK YOU to all who attended our Farewell to Colleen Party! View the Lauren Show video at the bottom of the left panel of our home page... Mortgage rates at lowest point since mid-1950s The desire is there, it's the ability that is lacking. Hmmmmm... Oaklavia - A Good Time in Downtown Oakland Oakland shuts down streets for day of enjoyment... Oakland's Jack London Square Reborn! National acclaim as we hit the big time with this New York Times restaurant article. Read more here... OAR IS CLOSED! OAR Members - we regret the inconvenience. For your safety and ours, the OAR office is closed - please check for an OAR email or right here on our home page before visiting our office. 5 Downtown Oakland Properties Purchased Total purchase price of $360 million... Oakland Buyers - Their Story Couple beat 3 other bids to grab 'move-in ready' Oakland home... Mortgage Rates Fall to 50 Year Low Read more here... Default debt lingers for refinanced mortgages Prominent local real estate attorney and OAR Auditorium headliner Shannon Jones, contributes to this SFGate column... Some Buyers Get Tax Extension Read more here... Finding Gold in Foreclosures "It's capitalism at its finest — or at its worst," Personal Bankruptcy an Answer? Read more here... Scammers Sentenced "The record clearly shows that the defendants are fools, but that is not the same as being incompetent..." Mortgage Applications Rise 7% Read more here... Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages are the Rich Read more here... Property Values Fall Across Contra Costa County ...according to the figures released by Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer... The Grand Lake Theatre Lives On More than one Pixar filmmaker has declared it the best 3-D in the Bay Area... Probe: Alameda official secretly aided builder Read more here... 80 Cops Laid Off in Oakland Read more here... Phone App Allows Check Deposits Read more here... East Bay Foreclosures Decline California may be a little ahead (in) getting toward a recovery... In Oakland, 911 for Violence Only Amid cutbacks, police want less-urgent crime reported over the Internet... Home Sales Slow, Prices Higher See the charts here... Grocery Retailer to Open 2 Stores in East Oakland Win-Win for Krogers and Oakland... Devil's Lettuce or Wonder Drug? Backlash from small-time growers in Oakland... eBook Sales Explosion! ...astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months." Oakland Approves Wholesale Pot Read more here... Gamechanging iPad Application Flipboard - it turns your Twitter and Facebook into something that looks like a magazine... Tenants Can Get Stung in Foreclosures The property company eventually agreed to pay them $4,000... 4 Alternatives to a Traditional Mortgage Read more here... Someone's Trash is Someone Else's Treasure Read more here about the Bay Area's micro markets... Home Prices Increase in May from April Read more here... Home Vacancies Rise as Ownership Falls Demand for homes has slumped since the April expiration of a government tax credit for buyers...