San Francisco Bay Area

Real Estate
Webinars

Cal DRE #02010731 · Centermac Realty

Free real estate webinars for Bay Area buyers and sellers. Lily walks through the topics that come up most: buying your first home, how down payment assistance like California Dream for All actually works, financing when interest rates are high, and the home buying process step by step. Investor and immigrant sessions cover the 1031 exchange and what to plan for when you buy on a visa. The recorded sessions below are on YouTube, and you can subscribe to be invited to future live webinars on Zoom.

These are real working sessions, not sales pitches. Most run with a mortgage broker, an attorney, or another specialist alongside Lily, and most take live questions from the audience. The library covers several years, so some market numbers reflect when a session was recorded, but the process and the programs still hold. Watch any session free on YouTube.

2022 · Recorded session · In English

California Forgivable Equity Builder Loan

This session explains the CalHFA Forgivable Equity Builder Loan. A mortgage lender approved with CalHFA (the California Housing Finance Agency) presents the program and takes questions. It lent first-time buyers 10% of the purchase price toward the down payment, closing costs, or buying out private mortgage insurance (PMI); paired with a buyer's own 10%, that meant 20% down and no PMI. Eligibility at recording: a 640 minimum credit score, no primary residence in the prior 3 years (owning a rental was fine), and household income under 80% of the area's median income, $106,880 in most Bay Area counties and about $118,000 in Santa Clara County. Buyers who stayed five years had the full 10% forgiven; those who sold or refinanced sooner repaid on a tiered schedule, with 20% forgiven per year of occupancy. Q&A covers what a $105,000 earner could buy, the $66 million in funding, and the 5.25% rate at the time.

CalHFA Forgivable Equity Builder Loan · first-time homebuyer down payment assistance California · 10% forgivable loan · CalHFA income limits · Bay Area first-time buyer programs

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2021 · Recorded session · In English

Landlord and Tenant Relationships During the Pandemic

An attorney practicing since 1987 explains California's pandemic eviction rules as they stood then; it is informational, not legal advice. He traces the rules from the March 2020 state of emergency through AB 3088 (the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act) and SB 91, extending protections through June 30, 2021. He covers the 25% / 75% rule: a tenant who returned a declaration of financial hardship (a one-page sworn statement) and paid 25% of rent due by June 30, 2021 was protected from eviction, the remaining 75% becoming debt collectible only in small claims court. Also: the 15-day notice to pay rent or quit, why Alameda County's own ordinance controlled there while state law governed Santa Clara County, and rental assistance letting landlords recover up to 80% of unpaid rent by forgiving 20%. Q&A covers the Ellis Act (taking a property off the rental market), remodel evictions, and selling a rented home.

California eviction moratorium 2021 · SB 91 tenant protections · AB 3088 COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act · landlord rights during COVID · Alameda County eviction rules · rental assistance for landlords

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2020 · Recorded session · In English

Bay Area Real Estate During COVID-19 Reopening: What to Expect

As the Bay Area reopened from the first shelter-in-place orders, Lily and a mortgage lender review that moment's market and lending rules. Lily reports competition returning: seven offers each on a San Ramon and a Livermore house, showings by appointment only. The lender explains why 2020 was not 2008: strict underwriting had replaced the no-verification loans of 2006-2008, and roughly 35-40% of Bay Area purchases were all-cash. They cover the backdrop (40 million US unemployment claims in ten weeks, about 8% of government-backed mortgages in forbearance, a paused-payment arrangement) and the lending squeeze: cash-out refinances largely suspended, 20% down on most jumbo loans (loans above the $765,600 cap on standard mortgages), sub-660 credit scores effectively shut out. Rates ran about 3% on a 30-year fixed; PMI (private mortgage insurance) on an $850,000 purchase with 10% down was about $127 per month. Part two covers pre-qualification vs pre-approval, screening listings, and negotiation for first-time buyers.

Bay Area real estate COVID-19 reopening · 2020 housing market vs 2008 · mortgage rates May 2020 · jumbo loan down payment · PMI cost example · first-time homebuyer process

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2020 · Recorded session · In English

San Jose and Bay Area Real Estate Market Update, July 2020

In this interview, Lily joins a Bay Area real-estate broadcast as a guest, answering a host's questions about the San Jose market mid-pandemic. Median listing prices were flattening as more homes came on the market, yet houses were still selling in one to two weeks, some in under a week. In Livermore, Lily cites seven to eleven offers per house, strongest near good schools. She explains what kept demand high: buyers leaving San Francisco apartments for single-family homes with backyards, record-low rates, and rents that were not falling. The practical core is her negotiation approach. Buyers had grown pickier, she was submitting offers below list, and her acceptance strategy was to ask the listing agent what the seller actually wanted, a rent-back (letting the seller stay after closing) or a buyer-paid home warranty, and concede that instead of price. She closes with advice to buy when you are financially ready and rent stops making sense.

San Jose real estate market July 2020 · multiple offers strategy · Livermore homes · rent-back negotiation · Bay Area housing demand COVID · buying vs renting

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2017 · Recorded session · In English

Trump Tax Plan Implications for Real Estate Investors

This seminar segment analyzes the Trump administration's tax proposal as first announced, before any law passed: a record, not current tax guidance. The presenter, a tax specialist who teaches seminars on the 1031 exchange (a like-kind swap of investment property that defers capital gains tax), reads it from a property investor's angle. The plan preserved the mortgage interest deduction, including on second homes and rentals, while eliminating state and local income tax deductions for California residents. He explains why the proposed estate tax repeal mattered to serial 1031 exchangers, who defer tax until death (estates could then pass $5.45 million per person free of estate tax, about $10.9 million per couple), and why 1031 rules were expected to stay untouched. Also covered: repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), a parallel tax on high earners that also hit the middle class; a near-doubled $24,000 standard deduction for married couples; a 15% corporate rate; and ending the 3.8% investment income tax.

Trump tax plan 2017 real estate · 1031 exchange · estate tax repeal proposal · AMT repeal · mortgage interest deduction · real estate investor taxes

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Future webinars on Zoom

Lily runs new live webinars on Zoom through the year, on current market conditions, down payment assistance rounds like California Dream for All, and the buying and selling process. Subscribe and you will get the invitation and the Zoom link before each one, plus the recording afterward if you cannot make it live.

Webinars in Russian

Lily hosts most of her webinars in Russian. If you prefer Russian, the full Russian webinar library is here:

Russian webinars →

Thinking about buying or selling in the Bay Area? Lily advises in English and Russian, with 104 documented closings and $115M+ in career volume behind the guidance. Reach out any time.

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