Archive for April, 2008
San Diego and the Summer Pops
April 28th, 2008 categories: San Diego Real Estate
We are so lucky here in San Diego to have an orchestra that is so superb and attending the many productions of Summer pops will be something you will appreciate long after the performance is over.
The Pops will be performing at the beautiful Embarcadero Marina Park South, and San Diego Symphony will be playing for every concert. This years performances will include Frank Sinatra Jr., Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Marvin Hamlisch, Davy Jones, Eileen Ivers ,Dionne Warwich and Kool and the Gang for the Opening night celebration and Burt Bacharach, and so many others. This might be the greatest of all the Summer Pops seasons ever!
Don’t miss this single greatest treasure of San Diego and I will look to see you there.
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Why I recommend An Exclusive Buyer Brokerage Agreement For Buyers Purchasing San Diego Real Estate
April 28th, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate
The California Association of REALTORS standard forms agreement provides for exclusive representation when working with a buyer. It clearly identifies the areas of responsibility for the agent. When a buyer is looking to secure property in California, they should always opt for an exclusive arrangement with their chosen REALTOR professional.
While I would always recommend a Buyer to seek out the best representation possible when buying property in San Diego, it should naturally precede the search for property. One of the responsibilities of a REALTOR licensee who might be representing a seller, is to confirm that the buyer prospect is not under contract with any other agent in an exclusive agreement.
The qualities of the best Buyers agent would include knowing the market that the Buyer is interested purchasing in, being skilled at contract writing to benefit the Buyer and most especially in negotiating the purchase agreement for the Buyer.
Some of the specific Benefits of Buyer’s Brokerage .
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The Scarlett Letters of ” Declining Market”, Redlining ??
April 27th, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Mortgage Banks and Loans Info, San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate News, Selling San Diego Real Estate
We have all heard the conversations surrounding Declining Market and we have heard it here in the San Diego Housing Market as well. But until now many have not realized that the term declining market is having far more reaching implications as a new threat to the housing market recovery. The term declining market is now manifesting itself to have a most deleterious effect across the whole country.
What is taking place is that lenders and mortgage investment firms are using the status declining market to charge higher interest rates, higher loan fees and higher requirements for down payments in these markets. In some cases refusing loans for marginal buyers all together. Even the appraisers are factoring in an adjustment to value based solely on the designation of declining market.
These declining markets are not just a few around the US as there are between 800 and 1200 whole zip codes tagged with this designation.
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*Red Alert* New “Point of Sale” Bill Pending in Assembly Could Affect San Diego HomeOwners!
April 21st, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, Legislative, San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate News, Selling San Diego Real Estate
The State Assembly here in California is busy trying to do all the right things for the citizens that live here when it comes to using energy. In their quest to be sure that we begin conserving energy, our legislators here in California have this new idea that we should all have an Energy Audit and to take it one step further , even to make it mandatory that we all do it just in time to sell our homes to another Buyer that doesn’t yet have an understanding of what energy conservation is. AB 2678 (Núñez) which among other things, requires that ALL homes and commercial property in California have an energy audit at point-of-sale and that mandatory energy efficiency investments be made.
As well intended as this might be, such mandates will even further erode and weaken the housing market. If enacted, AB 2678 could also add potentially thousands of dollars to the cost of selling or purchasing a home, including hundreds of dollars just to have a home audited. Now , what we all need is to waste a lot more paper, time and energy with yet another disclosure and report. Not to mention whatever the energy efficiency investments would be. Perhaps a new cottage industry the legislators are encouraging. Maybe this is what is meant by encouraging new business here in California?
Now, I don’t know about you but there must be a better way to encourage energy conversation than these onerous point of sale mandates. Well intended but just plain wrong.
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This Site was Maliciously Attacked
April 21st, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate News, San Diego Relocation, Selling San Diego Real Estate
The Hosting Company for this site, The Real Estate Tomato, reports that its servers were maliciously hacked into. We are working with them to restore the full site and all the posts that went down when the servers were broken into. Please check back in a few days as we expect that the site and the posts will be fully restored. It has been noticed that even after attempts to fully restore, so of the posts have been damaged and have characters and letters that make them look strange. I am also at this time to trying to repair those posts and return the requisite photos and graphics that were also deleted permanently. In the Interim, if you are looking for property, the Search for Homes in San Diego and other features of the site are now working fine.
Most Sincerely,
William Johnson GRI CRS e-PRO
RE/MAX Associates
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Florida Alligator Enjoys All the Comforts of Home,Regretfully It Was My Clients Home
April 14th, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate
From the Voice of San Diego Real Estate, this just in. I had a call yesterday from a client whose is buying a 2nd home here in San Diego. Yesterday morning as she was going to her car, parked in the garage, she heard a loud stirring and it turned out to be a Florida native that lost its way. Not a 2 legged type mind you one but 4 foot long one with 4 legs and a very strong swishing tail.
Her new visitor had been spending the night nestled in her warm and comfortable garage. Upon seeing what had made such a racket, it only took her seconds to become an Olympic style runner and she quickly sought refuge safely back into the house. Her house guest saved the day by using the long pole used for cleaning the swimming pool and the other house guest ( the uninvited one) decided it might as well make for other parts because breakfast was over and he obviously wasn’t getting anything.
The house guest (the invited one) safely pulled the car out of the garage and had the good wits about him to bring a camera and take a portrait of the visitor. Being the good Samaritan, he at first thought it might be a swell idea to post the gators picture around the neighborhood on a Lost and Found Flyer so the parents could find their lost young one. Thinking that might not be such a good idea, the baby gator’s photo was passed on to me instead to share with all of you.
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Good News! Easing of the Lending Reserves Could Fuel a Surge in Our Housing Markets
April 4th, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate News, Selling San Diego Real Estate
With the easing of lending reserves, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may absorb more problem home loans that were responsible for slamming on the brakes of the housing market. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight announced it was lowering the amount of required reserves for Fannie and Freddie from 30% to 20%. With less funds needed in reserve, an estimated $200 billion more is available to buy up the problem loans and bundle them to be sold to investors as mortgage bonds.
It is believed that this along with recent actions to increase the FHA conforming loan limits( although these new limits expire at years end) will go a long way in helping states with high cost housing absorb more of the jumbo loans that were previously too high priced to be in the portfolios and make more loans available on more favorable terms to qualified consumers.
These recent actions may actually help to put a floor under home prices and yield to a new surge in home sales. For those of us on the West Coast in the pricier end of the housing market, this is certainly welcome news.
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A Free Mortgage Calculator for Your Home Buying Needs
April 3rd, 2008 categories: San Diego Real Estate
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Making your Home the BIC of the neighborhood.
April 2nd, 2008 categories: Buying San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate, Selling San Diego Real Estate
With the coming of the Spring Housing market, if you are planning to bring your home on the market this year, you may want to give some serious consideration to making your home a real stand out. With an increasing supply and a still depressed demand from qualified Buyers there is something you can do that will increase your odds of selling this Spring. Make your home a BIC .
Whats a BIC? A BIC is a property that is Best in Class. Simply put, to be the best value that is priced correctly and with the proper enhancements that will make your home stand out and be the one that Buyers will want to make their home. I will go over in tomorrows post some helpful ideas to make your home a real BIC home.
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