First-time buyer's notebook

Here's some Web food for real estate bargain hunters:

ZipRealty just announced on their blog that they've added a button on their Web site that enables consumers to search for "short sales". Users can create searches that enable them to either include, exclude or only search for short-sale property listings.

Side note: I haven't seen a lot of short sales in the areas where I've been searching for homes (entry-level San Francisco 'hoods), but what I have seen is a lot of price reductions on ZipRealty. About 8 in 10 listings within my search criteria carry this label. This is in step with what many of the experts have been saying, that the entry-level markets have slowed the most due to a dry up of available credit to first-time buyers who are normally strapped for cash.

At the same time, though, I have one friend who's been repeatedly outbid on homes in San Francisco over the last couple of months. Not only is real estate local, it's entirely unique and subjective.

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