Born and raised in Livermore, Eric Haggin now lives in Dublin with his wife and two kids. He is a Realtor covering all of the East Bay Area and sometimes a bit beyond. He is also a very active real estate investor and an amateur sculptor. Eric can be reached by phone at (925) 388-6462.
Email: Eric Haggin
Website: http://www.ericthesculptor.com
April 10, 2011 | 
3 Comments | Topics: Opinions
The horrific events in Japan recently should serve as a reminder to us in and around Dublin, CA that the Bay Area is due for another major earthquake. I have used the Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami as a reminder to prepare for the impending disaster. I took the following seven steps to help my family get ready.
October 19, 2010 | 3 Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Opinions
Most readers around Dublin have probably already heard that banks have stopped foreclosures across the nation due to questions about their procedures. The issue is actually not so simple. Bank of America has made it clear that the much publicized freeze is not a moratorium, just a temporary pause. “We will continue the foreclosure process on delinquent borrowers, but will not proceed to judgment or with a foreclosure sale at this time,” announced Bank of America. In fact, Bank of America announced on Monday, October 18th that it would resume foreclosures in 23 states by next week where court approval is needed to go ahead. For California and 26 other states, Bank of America will continue to continue to review the legality of the foreclosure documents.
Very few foreclosures in California go to the courts for a judgment. Nearly all are foreclosed under the terms of a deed of trust. If you buy a home with a loan, you get title to the property, sign a note, and give the lender a deed of trust as a guarantee for the loan. If you default, the lender can tell the trustee to foreclose and eventually sell it “on the court house steps.” The foreclosure is done in the county court system, but no court judgment is needed.
September 10, 2010 | 38 Comments | Topics: Opinions · Sustainability
The unthinkable has happened again. Someone has littered my neighborhood with useless heaps of paper in the form of a phone book. In this case it was the Valley Yellow Pages, but there have been others. Most families today never requested to have yellow pages like Valley Yellow Pages delivered, yet these relics from another time have been dumped continually on every local driveway.
After a little informal polling, I found that no one I asked in my very limited sampling pool has cracked open a phone book in the past year. I have not used one for at least four years. In this day and age, all the time, money, and trees that go into the physical publication of the phone books seem to serve no purpose other than to add to our recycling bins.
The publisher of the Valley Yellow Pages prints 7.7 million directories every year. The copy I received has 222 pages. Assuming that number is the average for all of the areas that publisher serves, the total number of pages used is 1,709,400,000 per year.
July 24, 2010 | 1 Comment | Topics: Opinions
I own some investment properties that have done very well. In January one property had a pipe break in and sustained significant water damage; in March another part of that same property was completely destroyed by arson. Fortunately no one was hurt. Had I not been properly insured, I would have been financially devastated.
From these two incidents, I have learned a great deal about filing insurance claims and seeing the recovery process through to completion. The first, and probably the most important, thing you need to do right away is making sure your home and investment properties are properly insured. You must have the “endorsements” or “riders” appropriate for your needs. A generic policy may be an acceptable start, but pay special attention to what makes your circumstances and properties different:
May 27, 2010 | 1 Comment | Topics: Opinions
Those of us who have lived in the Tri-Valley for a long time have seen many changes. As a Realtor I find that many home buyers jump into the home buying process without fully considering all of the opportunities and challenges here in the Tri-Valley.
Which areas will best meet the needs for your family 5 years from now? Where will you work? Buying a home close to your current job may seem like a good idea. The shorter commute and more time with family make a lot of sense. The problem is that the job market is very unpredictable, and people frequently get moved around by their employers. When I was a kid, scientists, engineers, and computer experts moved from all over the country to Livermore for a career at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (back then we called it the “Rad Lab“). A career at the Lab was a safe choice, because many people like my father worked there for 30+ years until retirement. Those days are over.
One of my recent clients has a good job at Safeway corporate headquarters in Pleasanton. Over the years, Safeway moved him from Pleasanton to Concord and then back to Pleasanton. To choose the perfect location for his family, we reviewed traffic patterns along 580 and 680. We also looked at other Bay Area companies in his current field. We ultimately focused on a location that optimized the various factors under consideration and that gives him the most flexibility going forward.
March 13, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions
What does OPPORTUNITY sound like? Will you know it when it presents it’s self? In the current phase of the Tri-Valley real estate market the sound of opportunity is an annoying “Chirp…Chirp…Chirp…”
Walk the streets, drive slow, and listen for the annoying sound of chirping smoke detectors. Bank owned homes are sitting vacant, lawns are sprouting weeds, and smoke detector batteries are running low.
Notices posted on doors are a sign of the times.
For Buyers, this has been a time to become a neighborhood expert. If you really know values, it’s becoming possible to catch some really good deals. Be careful not to fall for the idea of “it last sold for $700,000 so $500,000 must be a good deal.” Work with your Realtor to establish the proper current price but also be realistic about the future.
February 24, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions
Short sales in real estate are becoming more common here in Dublin, CA, and the entire East Bay. Of the 255 Dublin homes listed as active or pending as of February 8, 2010, 133 are short sales. Basically, if you bought a home between the years 2003 and 2008, you very likely owe more on your loans than the home is currently worth. Being “upside down” on the loan alone will not have a substantive impact on you credit rating, if you continue to live in the home and keep paying your mortgage.
The situation can get a little sticky, if you want to sell. When the current market value of your home is less than the total of your loan balance and the expenses incurred during a sale, you can avoid damage to your credit rating by paying off the difference yourself. In reality most sellers do not have a large pile of cash just sitting around for such an occasion. If you have to sell, you may need to do a short sale.
Before we continue, let’s go back to when you first tried to buy the home you are now attempting to sell. Your lender loaned you the money to buy the home, and you promised the lender to pay the loan back. If you stop paying your mortgage for any reason, your lender has the right to take your home by initiating the foreclosure process. Four to five a months later, the foreclosed home will be put up for sale at a courthouse auction. If no one buys the home at the auction, the title of the home goes to the lender and the property becomes an REO, or Real Estate Owned by the bank. The REO home will be listed on the MLS by a Realtor working for the bank and sold to a new buyer. A foreclosure is devastating to your credit rating and does not always relieve you of the obligation to pay the lender back.
January 15, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions · Public Works
Traffic engineers and planners like those who work for the City of Dublin, CA, call it “traffic calming,” but most of us call them speed bumps. Actually there are differences amongst the bumps, lumps, humps, and dips we see on city streets everyday.
January 5, 2010 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions
This home in a nice, older area of Tulsa, Oklahoma suddenly increased in value when the tree accidentally crashed into it.
Not due to excessive insurance, but something much more interesting. Can you think of why?
