All about Life & Real Estate in Silicon Valley – Broker Michael Koo's Blog.

From ( Jan – June ) 2011, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, Stomp and Mamma Mia coming to San Jose. www.broadwaysanjose.com  Call (408) 792-4111 for tickets

Grease – Time Magazine #1 pick of the Musical in 2007. It’s the one that you want.

Fiddler on the Roof – Tony Award’s Winning Musical for all ages and is a timeless classic. 

Stomp
Back with new surprises. It is explosive, provocative, sophisticated, sexy, utterly unique appeals to all ages.

Mamma Mia
It is feel good show and audiences come back again and again to relieve the thrill.

This 14-acre outdoor museum – with paved streets, running trolleys, and 27 original and replica homes, business and landmarks – is the largest and most evocative landscape of times-gone-by.

Pick up a map of the grounds at the museum store in the Pacific Hotel; tours are also available. There is a replica of lively barn Dashaway Stables, with carriages and buggies. A trolley barn holds antique vehicles, a horse-drawn streetcar and trolley cars.

In downtown San Jose, Peralta Adobe ( 175 W St. John Street, 408-287-2291) is San Jose’s oldest address. Visitors can view two rooms furnished with period pieces. An adjacent structure is the exquisite Fallon House, a Victorian mansion built in 1855, showcasing 15 rooms typical of the Victorian period. To schedule tours, call (408) 918-1047.

San Jose History Park , South End of Kelly Park www.historysanjose.org

Tom Bloom

Brace yourself for another rough year in housing: The number of foreclosures is expected by many to increase in 2011 as more troubled mortgages work their way through the pipeline. Next year could very well be a peak year for foreclosures, says Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. The market is expected to tally about 1.2 million bank repossessions in 2010, up from 900,000 in 2009, he says. “We expect we will top both of those numbers in 2011.”That’s partially due to issues the industry has faced with foreclosure processing that began in the fall and delayed a portion of foreclosures from being completed this year, he says. In the so-called robosigning controversy, some lenders halted foreclosures after learning procedures for signing off on foreclosure documents might not be in accordance with the law.Continued high unemployment also is expected to exacerbate the foreclosure problem in the year ahead, as will upcoming interest-rate resets on adjustable-rate mortgages that will increase monthly payments for some homeowners, Mr. Sharga says. In the meantime, data on the volume of loan modifications from the Treasury Department indicate that fewer borrowers were being approved for permanent modifications in recent months, says Greg Hebner, chief executive of MOS Group, a loss-mitigation service provider to mortgage lenders and servicers.What’s more, there’s a growing feeling that modifying mortgages doesn’t get to the heart of the housing crisis: “There is the perception that the answer to this involves trying to get job growth,” which will help homeowners pay their loans and enable others to buy homes, said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, during a recent conference call with reporters.For the longer term, however, the outlook for the foreclosure market is better since fewer homeowners are becoming delinquent on their mortgage payments. Thirty-day delinquencies are down 11% since the height of the recession in the first part of 2009, according to Mr. Brinkmann. And loans 60 or more days past due are expected to fall nearly 20% by the end of 2011, to about 5% of all mortgages from an expected 6.2% at the end of 2010, according to a forecast released Tuesday from credit-reporting company TransUnion. Delinquency numbers are expected to continue to improve as unemployment slowly declines. (For its numbers, TransUnion uses a random sample of 27 million records from its database.) “It’s good progress, but we are by no means out of the woods yet,” says Steve Chaouki, group vice president in TransUnion’s financial-services business unit. In a more normal market, 60-day delinquencies would be in the 1.5% to 2% range, he says. So how does all this bode for housing prices? High housing inventory, along with high unemployment, will likely add up to continued depressed home prices in the year ahead in many markets, says Nichole Jordan, banking and securities industry practice leader for Grant Thornton, an accounting and business advisory firm. “It’s going to take several years to work through the excess inventory,” she says. Ms. Jordan and others are looking to 2012 for anything resembling a recovery in housing. Even then, it’s going to be a long journey to stabilization; it historically takes five to seven years for prices to stabilize after a deep correction, Ms. Jordan says. “Realistically, you’re not going to see home prices appreciate next year,” says Jason Kopcak, head of whole loans at financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. In fact, many in the industry are expecting prices to fall another 10% next year on a national basis, he says. RealtyTrac’s Mr. Sharga says the national decline could be around 5%. Other economists are expecting prices to remain flat. Next year “is going to be a wash, in terms of any meaningful recovery, and we’re looking toward 2012,” said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, during a conference call with reporters. And that’s assuming there are no other major problems or delays to contend with, he says.

Write to Amy Hoak at amy.hoak@dowjones.com —Read more at marketwatch.com.

1.Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. Wall Street has hypnotized American brains to think short-term, about the next quarter, year-end bonuses, the next election cycle. Start thinking about the next generation.

2.Forget the critics. Trust yourself; you know what’s right. Less than a third of Americans are building a retirement Ark. Most will ignore the warnings of a flood coming and laugh at ark-builders. Don’t listen; do what’s right.

3. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by pros. The Pros: Wall Street, Corporate America, Washington, cable television anchors, White House, Congress, SEC, the Fed. Don’t sink with them.

4.Two heads are better than one. Remember: “They boarded in twos.” You’re not alone. Your spouse. Best buddy. Think long-term, to a new career or being self-employed. Plan. Build your own “Great Ark.”

5. Build your future on high ground. Goals — your goals. Research at a major university proved that a group of graduates with specific goals had made more money than their fellow graduates 20 years later.

6. Don’t “miss the boat” — the ark will keep you from sinking. Remember, stocks aren’t your only option. Hard assets? Real estate? Getting more education? Cycles happen. We’ve had 25 bull/bear cycles over the past century. Recoveries happen too.

7. Don’t forget: We’re all in the same boat.  America is the great land of opportunity, even today. And while you’re getting yours, remember to help someone who missed the boat; throw them a lifeline.

8. Speed isn’t always an advantage; turtles boarded the Ark with cheetahs.  Let’s hear it one more time: In the race to build your financial ark, the tortoise beats the hare. Trust. You’ve got a lifetime. Just do it. Believe you’re a winner.

9. Woodpeckers inside are a larger threat than the storm outside.  Remember, attitude’s the key to success, it’s an inside job, all in your head. Successful living really does begin with that good old positive mental attitude.

10. When you’re stressed out, float awhile. Listen to the still small voice. Ask and receive. Pray. Exercise. Take a break. Call an old friend. Help someone worse off. Answers come. This too will pass.

11. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, “someone” might ask you to do something really big, like build an “ark” and “save your world.” That someone will be you. Maybe it’s a new calling. Follow your dreams and fulfill the reason you chose to come to earth at this moment in history.

12. Overwhelmed? Your Higher Power’s with you; a rainbow’s ahead. I’m very visual. I love symbols, icons — reminders that a Higher Power is working in my life. It’s easy to forget our blessings. Everywhere in our house and outside we have them: Noahs, Santas, Buddhas, Angels. They are protecting us, encouraging us to follow these ‘survival tips.’