Wood beats composite in the rankings while costing a quarter less, and the maintenance question has a trick answer: let it weather gray and maintain nothing. The real choice is about your Sundays, not your resale.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 26, 2026
The cheapest project of the twenty proves the rule everyone gets wrong: cheap does not guarantee return. It also carries the course's best history lesson, because a decade ago this exact project topped 100 percent.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 24, 2026
A 3 bed, 3 bath townhome-style condo in Milpitas Parc Metro, 1,243 sq ft with a rare first-floor bedroom and full bath plus two upstairs primary suites, listed at $1,068,000.
Milpitas · July 23, 2026
Fire and forget decking costs a quarter to a third more than wood and returns slightly less. The honest downside list includes one nobody mentions: composite gets hot. Plus the deck safety option the course invented a category for.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 22, 2026
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on July 11, 2026, widely described as the most significant housing legislation in over three decades. Here is the plain-English version, and the honest part about what it does and does not change for the Bay Area.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 21, 2026
The median Milpitas single-family home sold for $1,800,000 in June 2026, closed at 104.1% of list in a median of 12 days, and inventory tightened to 1.31 months. Firmly a seller market, and unlike its neighbors, supply here got scarcer.
Market Reports · July 20, 2026
A fiberglass door with sidelights transforms a facade for about $10,000. The course's own alternative recommendation costs $400, and knowing when each is right is the actual skill.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 20, 2026
Nobody wants to buy a house that leaks. The asphalt roof introduces the third reason to spend money on a house, sellability, and in California a fourth: insurability. The curling shingle checklist inside.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 18, 2026
The median Newark single-family home sold for $1,388,500 in June 2026 at 102.3% of list in a median of 14 days, but inventory rose to 2.48 months, its highest level in roughly five years.
Market Reports · July 16, 2026
The cheapest bathroom project returns the most, and the entire gap to the universal design bath is one decision: keeping the tub means keeping a simple floor. Plus the wet room truth every seller needs to hear about disclosure.
Real Estate Wisdom · July 16, 2026