Maitri Ratanasene, Realtor

There's some relief for those who may have difficulty paying their mortgage.

I'm so excited for my wonderful clients on their purchase, at the asking price, of this unique, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, multi-level, downtown condominium with city views, parking and a roof deck! 989 Sutter St #3 - $1,949,000

Despite the jokes about trailers, trailer parks are the ultimate land lease: imagine being a landlord and all you had to do was maintain driveways/roads but not homes? One of the best investments in the past decade has been trailer parks! The average sales price for a single-width mobile home last year was around $53,000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. (Wall Street Journal)

DID YOU KNOW? For the federal government’s fiscal year 2019 (the 12-month period ending on 9/30/19), total receipts were $3.462 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.....up by $130 billion, or 3.9%, compared to the fiscal year 2018. Taxpayers in states that were impacted most by the limitation of the SALT deductions are also mostly the states who send more tax revenues to the federal government than the government spends on their states. The Fed siphons off a percentage of this tax revenue - between 5-15% - to re-distribute to other 'poorer' states. Wages have risen, mostly fueled by state-mandated rises in minimum wages. (Marketwatch)

Those of us in the real estate world have known this anecdotally but a study actually shows iBuyers and sellers leave money on the table as the price for speed and convenience. I've certainly received offers where the buyer is over paying because their agent didn't do their homework and doesn't have the relationships to help their client not waste their money.

My response to the Chronicle's Sound Off real estate question:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans are government backed loan programs that were created to help make homeownership attainable for more people, so this is good news, since the cost of housing has continued to increase. Of course, these loans don't help most of us in the Bay Area because of our price point, but it's a step in the right direction.

If you're not working with Compass, you're not seeing the market. As a buyer, knowing about listings before they hit the market is an invaluable advantage and as a seller, putting your property in front of the most productive agents in the region is the best way to get the most exposure and highest possible price.

The Haven Group 2020 Business Planning Day. Thanks to our wonderful clients and lots of hard work, we had a very successful year, and we're planning on making 2020 even more productive! #havengroupsf #itstartswithadream #sfrealestate

Listening to Joseph Sirosh, our CTO, explain some of the innovative ways AI is and will be used on our Compass platform. #havengroupsf #itstartswithadream

I'm so happy to help our wonderful client buy 71 Beaver St, his first home, at LIST price! Delivering the keys to our first time buyers is the best part of being a realtor.

This year's Compass Retreat in Miami was fun! Meeting our colleagues from other cities was fun and it was exciting learning about all of the new initiatives and services our company provides to the agents and our clients. I'm so proud and grateful to be a part of the Compass family. #havengroupsf #sfrealtor