忍不住了，上来骂人了。关于Sacramento 和Fremont - 北美华人e网|海外华人网上家园 - Powered by Discuz!NT Archiver

忍不住了，上来骂人了。关于Sacramento 和Fremont - 北美华人e网|海外华人网上家园 - Powered by Discuz!NT Archiver

以前三块馒头学区最好的是戴维斯。现在也是很好的，但是10/10/10的学区有rocklin, granite bay,folsom 这几年也上的很快。其他的好区eldorado hills 都是医生律师等在住。elk grove 随着华人越来越多学区也在慢慢变好，但还是稍微差了点，所以房子也更便宜。但elk grove 生活是非常方便的，那里还有苹果分部，比较小就是了，有一些BI 的工作。其实最好的就是搬来三块馒头，老婆照发政府工，老公WFH或去东面一些high tech 找找工作，家庭收入20万小日子的确可以很爽

Read full article from 忍不住了，上来骂人了。关于Sacramento 和Fremont - 北美华人e网|海外华人网上家园 - Powered by Discuz!NT Archiver

What are the best mortgage lenders in the Bay Area? - Quora

What are the best mortgage lenders in the Bay Area? - Quora

• Wells Fargo - According to dollar amount and number of mortgages closed, they do 1 out of every 5 mortgages in the Bay Area which is the most of any lender. They have a team of over 300 underwriters in their portfolio team (most loans in the Bay Area will fall into this bucket due to higher loan sizes) and they are competitive with pricing.

• First Republic - Highest level of service you will receive due to their focus on affluent clients.  They can do loans that don't fit the box and don't follow traditional underwriting guidelines since they focus on the entire relationship.

• Citibank - Very competitive with pricing; especially with their Jumbo product (>$625.5k loan amount).

• Union Bank - Flexible with underwriting; especially their ARM products. This is the destination of choice for mortgage brokers since they are one of the few lenders out there that will approve loans with less than 7 years out of bankruptcy/foreclosure/short sale.

• Bank of America - Very competitive with pricing. Customer service and image has been hurt by slower underwriting turn-times and employee turn-over but don't count them out.  Many top producers are still there who can still deliver a timely loan closing and great customer service.

Read full article from What are the best mortgage lenders in the Bay Area? - Quora

About GreatSchools' ratings system and methodology

About GreatSchools' ratings system and methodology

The Student Progress Rating (also known as "growth") measures whether students at a school are making academic progress over time. Specifically, the Student Progress Rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on reading and math assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. This data is less common for high schools, which in many states do not take state standardized tests in more than one grade. It is also important to note that it is possible for schools with already-high-performing students to receive a high Student Progress Rating, or for schools with high test scores to receive a low Student Progress Rating. The key advantage of growth is that it's less correlated with socioeconomic background than proficiency. The goal of the Student Progress Rating is to provide transparency into schools that are improving student outcomes regardless of the student's starting point in terms of academic achievement.

Read full article from About GreatSchools' ratings system and methodology

The murky middle: What an average school rating means | Parenting

The murky middle: What an average school rating means | Parenting

While state test scores are far from perfect, the results of very high-rated or low-rated schools do tell you something about the baseline academic performance of most of the students in that school. "When a school's rating is a 2, you know that students at this school are scoring lower on state standardized tests on average," explains Sam Brown Olivieri, who heads the GreatSchools data team. "Across all grades and subjects, students are scoring lower than most other students in the state."

Read full article from The murky middle: What an average school rating means | Parenting

Home Buying: What is HOA? Why we pay HOA fees? What are the benefits? How to avoid HOA? - Trulia Voices

Home Buying: What is HOA? Why we pay HOA fees? What are the benefits? How to avoid HOA? - Trulia Voices

If you don't want to pay these fees, it's simple don't buy in a development where there are fees. Before buying anything you should definitely find out if there are fees, if so how much, and what they cover. These neighborhoods often have all sorts of rules and regulations and their not necessarily bad but you need to know before you buy.

Read full article from Home Buying: What is HOA? Why we pay HOA fees? What are the benefits? How to avoid HOA? - Trulia Voices

What are credit inquiries and how do they affect my FICO Credit Score?

What are credit inquiries and how do they affect my FICO Credit Score?

Soft inquiries are all credit inquiries where your credit is NOT being reviewed by a prospective lender. These include inquiries where you're checking your own credit (such as checking your score in myFICO), credit checks made by businesses to offer you goods or services (such as promotional offers by credit card companies), or inquiries made by businesses with whom you already have a credit account.

Hard inquiries are credit inquiries where a potential lender is reviewing your credit because you've applied for credit with them. These include credit checks when you've applied for an auto loan, mortgage or credit card. Each of these types of credit checks count as a single credit inquiry. One exception occurs when you are "rate shopping". That's a smart thing to do, and your FICO score considers all inquiries within a 45-day period for a mortgage, an auto loan or a student loan as a single credit inquiry. This same guideline also applies to a search for a rental property such as an apartment. These inquiries are usually recorded by the credit bureau as a type of real estate-related inquiry, so the FICO Score will treat them the same way. You can avoid lowering your FICO Score by doing your apartment hunting within a short period.

Read full article from What are credit inquiries and how do they affect my FICO Credit Score?

House

https://zaq.us/buy-house/

美国买房 | 在美国看房买房贷款全攻略
https://zaq.us/buy-house/

https://bettermoneyhabits.bankofamerica.com/en/home-ownership/buying-mortgage-points-lower-rate

Mortgage points, also known as discount points, are fees paid directly to the lender at closing in exchange for a reduced interest rate. This is also called “buying down the rate,” which can lower your monthly mortgage payments.

• The interest rate reduction you receive for buying points is not set and depends on the lender and the marketplace.
• Buying points may give you a tax benefit. Contact a tax professional to see whether doing so might affect your tax situation.
• Points for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) typically provide a discount on the loan’s interest rate only during the initial fixed-rate period. Run the numbers to ensure that your break-even point occurs well before the fixed-rate period expires. For Bank of America customers, however, if rates go up during the adjustable period, your rate will be lower based on the points you initially purchased.
• If you need to decide between making a 20 percent down payment and buying points, make sure you run the numbers. If you make a lower down payment, you may be required to carry private mortgage insurance (PMI). Check to see if this additional cost would cancel out the benefit you’d get from buying points and lowering your interest rate. The Affordable Loan Solution® mortgage from Bank of America can help eligible low- and moderate-income borrowers secure a home loan with a down payment as low as 3 percent and no PMI required.

https://www.fool.com/mortgages/2017/02/28/30-year-vs-51-arm-mortgage-which-should-i-pick.aspx

For most borrowers, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is a better option

As of January 2017, only 5.4% of borrowers are choosing adjustable-rate loans, and for good reason. Simply put, with interest rates still just above record lows, the probability that rates will be lower once the initial teaser rate expires is not good.

At the current average of just 4.17%, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are cheap enough that it's simply not worth taking the risk of a big increase in the mortgage payment a few years down the road.

To illustrate this point, consider that although the overall percentage of buyers who currently choose ARMs is still low, it has gone up considerably in recent months, in response to rising interest rates. In January 2017, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 4.31%, and 5.4% of buyers chose an ARM. Just two months prior, in November 2016, the 30-year mortgage rate averaged 3.81%, so just 3.9% of buyers found an ARM appealing enough to use.

As I mentioned, the 5/1 ARM mortgage comes with a lower interest rate, but its cost is certain only for the first five years. For this reason, it could be the best choice for a buyer who knowsthat he or she will own the home just for a few years and wants to keep expenses as low as possible.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_9ce16ddd0102w52l.html
北湾(North Bay)

主要区域： Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County, Solano County

在金门大桥 (Golden Gate Bridge)北方的旧金山湾区通常被称做北湾(North Bay)。除了一小部份地区外，北湾是一个极为富有的地方：马林县经常被列为全国最富有的行政区，这里有着最好的眺望旧金山市的豪宅。北湾是美国著名的酒 乡和美食之都，据全美称90%的葡萄酒都产于此，阳光，温暖，葡萄酒，吸引了很多富人选择在北湾养老，湾区的米其林三星级餐馆，大多都藏匿在这个酒乡里， 最大名鼎鼎的要算美国著名厨师Thomas Keller的法国餐馆French Laundry了。北湾也是湾区里唯一没有通勤铁路服务的地区；较小的人口密度与跟湾区其他地区无陆地直接相连是北湾缺乏公共交通工具的主要原因，金门大 桥是此区往旧金山唯一的道路。

旧金山市区(The City of San Francisco)

旧金山或称“圣 弗朗西斯科”、“三藩市”。 重要海军基地和著名的贸易港。工商业发达，也是美国西部最大的金融中心。 位于美国西海岸圣弗朗西斯科半岛，面积47平方英里，三面环水，环境优美，是一座山城。气候冬暖夏凉，阳光充足，年平均气温在20℃左右，被誉为“最受美 国人欢迎的城市”。随着越来越多的高科技公司驻进旧金山，如今（2013年）城市里许多大型项目都在如火如荼的建设中，最让人期待的要属跨湾客运站工程 Transbay Terminal，有时间我会详细介绍旧金山市区的发展动向及主要开发项目。

东湾(East Bay)

主要房产热点城市： Fremont, Berkeley, Newark, Union City, Emeryville, Albany, San Ramon Valleys. Dublin and Pleasanton

东湾的华人社区 传统上以Oakland华埠为中心，但近年来在其他小城市也发展了华人购物中心，尤其以Fremont最为吸引华裔。这里有湾区最好的学区之一 Mission San Jose，也有湾区最受欢迎的爬山之地Mission Peak，Pleasanton Hill山上布满了远离城市喧嚣的豪宅，随着消费群体的增长，去年感恩节Livermore新开了一家高品质的outlets购物中心。

相较于湾区其他地方，东湾的房价比较便宜，但是气候却是最宜人的；没有旧金山的冷，也没有南湾的热。

半岛(The Peninsula)

包含城 市：Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco and Woodside. 这里是湾区房产最热门的区域。

介于旧金山和南 湾的地区是旧金山半岛，当地常简称为“半岛”(The Peninsula)。这地区由圣马刁县的数个中小型城市和近郊社区和圣塔克拉拉县西北部份所组成，也包含数个太平洋岸边的城镇。2013年全美房价十大 右邮编，仅半岛就占3席，且高居榜首前两位，分别是邮编为94027的Atherton和邮编为94022的Los Altos Hills，两地房价中位数高达670万美元和540万美元。另外邮编为94028的Portola Valley排名第9，这是Palo Alto的后山。虽然有许多富有家庭居住在此，半岛居民的组成是相当多样化的。这里许多城镇在二次世界大战后时期前仅是乡村生活的中心，战后，许多中产和 富有家庭迁移至此，也带动当地发展。自1980年代起，中产和富有家庭的数量因硅谷高科技产业的繁荣而急速成长。来自外国的许多当地家庭，也是居民组成多 样化的原因之一。

南湾 (South Bay，San Jose and Silicon Valley)

包含城市：核心城市San Jose, 郊区:Santa Clara, Milpitas, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Saratoga, Campbell, Los Gatos 远郊：Morgan Hill and Gilroy

Nutrition guidelines for young children (ages 2 to 4) | BabyCenter

Nutrition guidelines for young children (ages 2 to 4) | BabyCenter

The USDA recommends getting at least half of your grains from whole grains.

How much preschoolers need daily:

Children 2 to 3 years old: 3 ounces.

Children 4 years old: 5 ounces.

How much is in an ounce of grains: An ounce of grains equals one slice of bread, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked pasta or cooked cereal.

Read full article from Nutrition guidelines for young children (ages 2 to 4) | BabyCenter