Rents Drop Nationwide as Vacancies increase. Newsweek magazine checked 27 large cities and compared the rents. to read the whole story click here.

San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.

Rank: 17
Rent drop: -2.3%
Q4 2008 rent change: -3.0%
Q4 2007 rent change: -0.7%
Effective rent: $1,994

The San Francisco area, known for it’s beautiful bay view, the Golden Gate Bridge, liberal attitudes and scenic views has high rents. My son who rents in Nobhill neighborhood  used to say that there was no parking space. Now he can find parking every night. Rents have begun to soften with the sagging economy. The unemployment rate climbed to 5.7% in November 2008 compared to 4% in November 2007. The apartment vacancy rate jumped to 4.6% in the fourth quarter last year from 3.6% in the same period in 2007. Landlords on average are giving 0.6 weeks of rent

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.

Rank: 7
Rent drop: -3.0%
Q4 2008 rent change: -3.0%
Q4 2007 rent change: 0.0%
Effective rent: $1,788

Silicon Valley, the nation’s technology capital, is suffering from layoffs and dimming economic prospects as the recession deepens. The unemployment rate in the San Jose metro area climbed to 7.2% in November 2008 compared to 4.9% in November 2007. The apartment vacancy rate jumped to 4.2% in the fourth quarter last year from 3.5% in the same period in 2007. Landlords on average are giving rent concessions of one week. More for rent signs and renters are becoming more selective. I took a family who was relocated from Boston, to see some homes, they actually had a selection and found a nice place in Cupertino for under $3000.

Santa Clara County Assessor

Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, on the county’s assessment rolls:

1. Beware of scams, especially solicitations from firms offering to provide homeowners property assessment information for a fee.

“There’s no reason to pay for something that they will get from us for free,” Stone said.

2. Don’t panic if you don’t receive your notification cards in May.

Stone is one of 10 county assessors in the state who sends out assessment notification cards to home owners early in the year. He explained this year, due to his office’s heavy workload; homeowners will not be receiving their notification cards until the last week in June, giving them less time to request a second review before the deadline of Aug. 15. Homeowners have between July 2 and September 15 to formally file an appeal.

3. The assessment process begins January 1 of each year.

Stone said homeowners should be aware that the market value of a property has to drop below the assessed value before they can seek a property assessment reduction, and the time to take note of comps begins from the lien or valuation date, which is January 1.

4. The assessor is not the tax collector. Even if you expect an adjustment in your property taxes, you need to pay your taxes on time, or you will be subject to a penalty if you don’t.

In line with Proposition 8, Stone said his office last year proactively reduced the assessed value of a total of 46,000 properties in the county, and as a result, the total reduction in assessed value took $5.3 billion off the county’s assessment rolls.

Proposition 8 requires the assessor to take into account any factor causing a decline in value of a property, and consequently reduce a property’s value. When and if the market value of the previously reduced assessment increases above its Proposition 13 factored base year value, the assessor will once again enroll its Proposition 13 factored base year value. Stone said he doesn’t expect this to happen in 2009. In fact, he expects more reductions this year.

“I expect we’ll double the number of properties in Prop. 8 status to about 80,000, which could take between $8 to $10 billion dollars off the rolls,” he said.

The county assessor said until recently, the county’s high-end markets of Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Saratoga and South Sunnyvale have held up in value because these are more established areas with excellent school districts, fewer condominiums, less new construction and fewer first-time home buyers.

“These higher end areas with excellent demand have reasonably weathered well until lately,” Stone said.

On the other hand, the housing markets in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, East San Jose, and Central San Jose continue to be “upside down.”  Last year, almost 25 percent of condos and townhomes in the county, many located in these neighborhoods, were assessed below the purchase price. Stone expects that number to increase this year.

Despite the reduction in valuations, Stone said he believes Santa Clara County will still be among the top 10 in the state in assessment roll growth, which he projects will be at just 1-2 percent.

“Our assessment roll will not go negative, but we are going to see public services all over, in the county and cities, go down,” Stone said.

The Jewish people are celebrating Sukkot this week. To commemorate the 40 years that they wondered through the Sinai dessert after being liberated from slavery in Egypt for many generations. Sukkah =temporary shelter, must have at least two and a half walls covered with a material that will not blow away in the wind, built of wood, metal, or plastic frame and covered with Palm branches. You can see the stars through the leaves. The orthodox believers stay in the sukkah for 7 days and eat and sleep in it.

Arba Minim: The Four Species

We hold them together and bless

Etrog, which has both a pleasing taste and a pleasing scent, represents Jews who have achieved both knowledge of Torah and performance of mitzvot. The palm branch, which produces tasty fruit, but has no scent, represents Jews who have knowledge of Torah but are lacking in mitzvot. The myrtle leaf, which has a strong scent but no taste, represents Jews who perform mitzvot but have little knowledge of Torah. The willow, which has neither taste nor scent, represents Jews who have no knowledge of Torah and do not perform the mitzvot

Mt. Gilboa town of Nurit is set to be the first planned, eco-friendly community in Israel, with infrastructure and services designed not just to encourage, but to actually enforce environmentally responsible behavior. If you’re planning on living in Nurit, says Danny Atar, chairman of the Gilboa Regional Council, you’re by definition willing to go out of your way to save water, avoid excess waste, and in general reduce your carbon footprint. “Otherwise, Nurit is not for you,” he says.

“Together with turbines to generate electricity from wind, we expect that the electricity we generate will be enough to light most of the schools, offices, streetlights, and park lights in Nurit - as well as save homeowners money on their energy bill, since they can get credits for the power their roof PV systems generate that they don’t use, selling it back to the IEC.” Atar says.