The Salk Institute in La Jolla

On this first day of the new year, I visited the Hotel Del Coronado to bring you a most unusual experience. Ice Skating on the shore of the Coronado Beach. It was 70 degrees in the shade and the activity was enjoyed continuously through the day and evening. As you can see, the warm weather created a wet but glassy image on the ice , reflecting the Grand Dame of Hotels, Hotel Del Coronado on the shore of one of San Diego’s finest, deepest and cleanest beaches.

So How’s Your Market?

There is good news and bad news , which would you like first?

Here is the Good News.

* During the month of August, there are 263 Active Listings in RB ( Rancho Bernardo). The Average Price is $899,718 and the Median Price is $668,880.  There were 53 Listings Pending Close of Escrow and 46 Sold Listings during the month. The Average Sold Listing was $694,993 and the median sold was $564,450.

A Recap of the Year to Date Sales shows we had 246 sold homes so far with the high selling price of $4,000000 and the low of $324,900. As you can see, we have a wide variety of single family homes ranging in size from 1200 sq ft to over 9,000.

On the Attached Home side of the housing market we have the following activity that took place in August. There are 58 Active Attached Listings through the end of August. The Average List price was $272,370 and the Median List Price was $278,000. There were 10 Listing Pending Close of Escrow ranging in price from $132,500 to $383,000. The 4 Attached Properties that Sold ranged from $145,000 to  $499,876.

A Recap of the Year to Date Sales shows we had 138 Attached Homes Sales with a High Selling Price of $689,000 and a Low Selling Price of $125,000 for 540 sq ft. The Average Selling price was 261,249 for 1,163 sq ft and the Median Sales Price year to date was 234,950 for 1092 sq ft.

That was the Good News! Ready for the Bad News? Home prices are tending up and there is strong evidence that interest rates will likely be going up as well. Sitting and waiting for a better deal in Rancho Bernardo is not likely to happen so if you are considering a new Home or Condo, now is time to get in the market.

*Data obtained from Sandicor MLS and believed to be correct but not gauranteed.

READ ALL ABOUT IT! When Passion Meets Opportunity | San Diego Real Estate|William Johnson!

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]]> http://therealestatetextbook.com/2011/02/16/365-things-to-do-in-san-diego-day-33/feed/ 0 http://therealestatetextbook.com/2011/01/27/your-path-to-home-ownership-part-3-of-3/ http://therealestatetextbook.com/2011/01/27/your-path-to-home-ownership-part-3-of-3/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:21:33 +0000 William Johnson http://therealestatetextbook.com/2011/01/27/your-path-to-home-ownership-part-3-of-3/ Your Path to Home Ownership Part 3 of 3

Part 1, Steps 1 through 7 are linked here.

Part 2 Steps 8 through 14 are linked here

You are now in the home stretch and you and I would have gone over any of the outstanding parts of the contract, such the ordering the home warranty, having you order on the utilities for the closing date, and doing our final walk through of your new home.

Step 15. ( Loan Officer-Underwriter – Loan Officer)

In the previous step, all the conditions for processing the loan have been discussed with you. You have gathered all the documents, made all the calls and now the Loan officer will be submitting all the completed conditions to underwriting and if the package is complete, the loan documents will be drawn.

Step 16 ( Loan Officer and Escrow officer )

The conditions by now have  been received by underwriting and once they sign off on the conditions “Prior to Docs”, they will order the loan documents and when ready will be sent over to escrow.

Step 17 (Loan Officer – Escrow Officer)

The loan documents arrive at escrow and the either the escrow officer or one of her assistants will arrange the signing appointment for you to

come into escrow. Escrow will work up the loan documents  adding in their information such any pay offs, taxes, the prepaid interest  along with final figures on your side of the transaction. Once the have these docs ready, they will set your appointment to come in and complete the signing process. They will advise the remaining funds you will need to either bring in the form of a certified check or wiring instructions to wire the funds.

Step 18  ( You and the Notary)

When you come into escrow, they will have seated in a conference room and you will signing your documents with a Notary signing agent. He or she specializes in the process of securing and notarizing signatures on real estate documents, in this case the loan documents. They will walk through the process of signing your life away, at least that is the humorous comment that many buyers make as they wade through the pile of pages. It has all the where fors and where to initial each page and then sign on the proverbial dotted line ( which incidentally is not dotted at all.). Once this is complete, we the go to step 19.

Step 19 ( Lender and Funding Dept)

All the documents that you signed have to be carefully reviewed again to make sure everything was signed correctly and the Funding Dept. will verify once again that all the condition Prior to Funding)  are signed off.  Once this has been completed , the funder will order the wiring of the loan funds to be sent to escrow. This happens anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after everything is reviewed and signed off. Some lenders do table funding, meaning that they can fund the loan immediately after review of the signed loan documents.  It is important to note that all this happens and is completed at least one day before the closing of escrow. At 8:00 in the morning  after the funds are received, the title company has it’s representative in line  for recording down to the Recorders office.

Step 20 ( Escrow , You and I)

The title office will call escrow and confirm that the transaction has been recorded and escrow is authorized to disperse the funds to the parties. The Sellers are paid their monies, and the listing and Selling brokerages, the Home Warranty company, any other bills that accumulated for services. Once the monies are dispersed and the everything reconciled, the escrow is closed.

Once we are given confirmation of recording though, that is when you get the keys. It is an exciting time as you and  meet and I hand you the keys to your new homes. Time to celebrate! Wait, this is step 20 and there are 21 steps to your path to home ownership.  What follows.

Step 21 (You and the Movers)

This step is about moving into your new home. You had made all the arrangements and the has come for the move in. There are some things to need to remember to do  and I list here  just a few of them. Hopefully you have been making the list as we discussed things through the whole process but as a reminder here a couple things that are priority.

• Change of address with the post office.
• Verification that your utilities are on, power, gas, telephone, etc.
• Order the cable installation
• Notify a change of address with the Department of Motor Vehicles

The San Diego Lighthouse is Located at the extreme southwest end of the Point Loma peninsula just past the Cabrillo National Monument and National Cemetary. This point of land used to be called Pelican Point prior to the erection of the lighthouse. The new Lighthouse along with the old Point Loma Lighthouse which is now a historical monument has quite a history and an interesting story of how and why the new Point Loma Lighthouse came to be.

These is web site link here that tells some of that story about these two important and significant landmarks in the life and history of San Diego. Below is a photo of one of the displays that explains how the old style of lighthouses functioned. It as well is interesting in that the lighted lens relied on the application of clock works to turn the enormous weight of the lens.

The illustration above shows how the the old lighthouses used work. Today the lenses are no longer rotated by clock works but now use electric motors to turn the lighted beacon lens.

Alongside the main building of the old Point Loma lighthouse pictured below is a great little museum set up with the history of both the old and new Lighthouses along with the replaced and restored lens of the new Point Loma Lighthouse.

The Photo below is of the replaced lens from the new Lighthouse that has been restored and has been on display since 2004.

If you are just tuning in to this series, this is Part 2 or 3 on your Path to Home Ownership. It would be useful if you read Part 1 first and here is the link. Your Path To Home Ownership   Part 1 of 3

Part 2 picks up with Step #8 through 14 of the 21 steps you will take with me guiding your way on the Path to Home Ownership.

 Step 8. ( Loan Officer and Home Insurance Agent)

As part of your request for your loan, your loan officer will need  you to select your home insurance carrier and have proof  of a binder guaranteeing that you have ample perils insurance to protect your investment. You might first call the company that insures your car.  Generally there is a discount if you insure both with the same carrier. As part of you purchase , we would have requested the mandated California Zone Report on the property. One of the optional reports that can come with that Zone Report which we requested is a Clue Report.  By ordering the C.L.U.E. Home Seller’s Disclosure Report, you will have a greater comfort level  on a property for which the loss history is known. This will be useful information at the time you are getting a binder on the property. If there is a loss history within the last five years, it can in some cases also impact on an insurers coverage.

Step 9.  ( Loan Officer )

Now that you have selected  the loan program that you will use  to finance your home purchase, the loan officer is required to present you with a GFE ( Good Faith Estimate). You may have already received this  and may receive them each time there is any change that affects the loan rate or costs associated with the loan. The GFE is supposed to given to you within 3 days of applying for a loan.

Step 10. ( Loan Officer)

While you and your loan officer have been in constant communication, one of the options your loan officer will advise you about is that it may be time to lock in the loan rate.  If this rate has changed ( higher  or lower)  than what was used as the rate on your Good Faith Estimate, along with the lock to secure the interest rate on your loan, you will be given another GFE, to sign off on.

Step 11. ( Loan Officer and Appraiser)

As part of loan qualifying process, the property you are purchasing also has  to qualify and that is determined by a licensed appraiser.  It used to be that appraisers were on call to the lenders, often employed by them or as independent contractors. When the housing market collapsed,, new rules were established  governing how the appraisal process  comes into play. The new rules require the appraiser and the loan officer or lender have an arms length relationship to prevent the possible influence  of the appraisers opinion of value . When the loan officer places the order for an appraisal, it will be to an appraisal management company and they will assign the appraisal in according to next available. In most cases you will pay for the appraisal fee prior to the appraisal being done. Your loan officer will discuss this with you.

Step 12 ( Loan Officer and Underwriting)

Once appraisal has been released and confirmed the Loan to Value ratio is adequate, the Loan Officer will prepare all the documents  in the loan folder  to be sent over to the underwriting department  who verifies  all the terms and conditions  of the loan are known and disclosed and that you and the property are fully qualified  for the loan or that conditions  are  required  for your final loan approval.

Step 13. Loan Approval , (Loan Office and Underwriting )

Once the loan has been under written, you and I will receive notice of final loan approval. The approval approval will confirm the interest rate, the term of the loan ( how many years until the loan is paid off- typically shown as 30 years or 360 months) )

The loan approval while called final is often actually conditional approval. The underwriting department may state conditions they need met for drawing the loan docs and funding the loan.

Step 14. Conditions ( Loan officer )

You will likely receive a call form the loan officer and he will present you with a list of conditions usually by e-mail for you to complete. These conditions  can be anything from documents  that were incomplete, to missing documents or needed explanations by underwriting. It can a request for a letter of explanation about overtime income, missing or incomplete tax returns, missing pay stubs, undocumented income or a myriad of other items that are needed.

The conditions will generally fall under two categories. Those items needed “Prior to Loan Documents ” or “Prior to Funding“.  Most of the examples above are prior to Loan Documents issues. While all the conditions have to be met, the items are critical and the other conditions are generally easier to complete.

You are now in the home stretch in you path to home ownership. But there are still some steps to go, so stay with me here.

Steps 15 through 21 will be in Part 3 – The steps in this last part  discuss the loan docs themselves, signing loan docs and the balance of down payment, funding the loan, removal of remaining contingencies, close of escrow and finally  getting the keys to the property and moving in. Becoming your REALTOR® for life. You are almost Home now.