Archive for July, 2009
Outstanding Vista investment opportunity
July 30th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
VISTA- Here is an opportunity to start building your real estate portfolio with this Vista investment opportunity.
This 3 bedroom 2.5 bath twinhome listed at $207,800 by Keller Williams, is approximately 1426 square feet and was built in 1989. It features a two car garage is in great condition for a bank owned home in the and has a premium location backing to the community park. Additionally it features very low HO fees of only $175 a month and is in the small California Villas community of 60 homes.
In 2006 these homes were selling in the mid $400’s so there is plenty of future upside and as an investment you can expect rent in $1550 to $1650 range. The last two homes sold in this community closed at $215K and $225K and they were both only 1185 square feet. One of these closed in April and the other in May.
If interested in this Vista investment opportunity contact me at 760.415.3329.
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Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon Raffle winner(s)
July 30th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News
CAMP PENDLETON- Well there were actually two winners. Anna Weltman was the first number drawn but is unable to the race, so she kicked it back in to the pot. Gerry Forman was the second name drawn and is already doing the race so has donated it to a club member.
So congrats to all three of you!!! See you at the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon.
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Rancho Santa Fe: Buyer’s market for the rich
July 27th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News
RANCHO SANTA FE- Looking for that bargain? Ready to find a seller willing to negotiate? I’ve found your place. 92067 aka Rancho Santa Fe is the buyer’s market for the rich!!
With over 311 active listings, in the SANDICOR MLS, the current Rancho Santa Fe market inventory stands at close to 16 months. This is almost 14x the San Diego County market inventory average on the county’s averaged priced home . Additionally, I believe the number of homes listed for sale is unprecedented for this area.
If you have been looking to make a move to this enclave of the rich, home of some great bike riding and the AMAZING Rancho Santa Fe running trails, now is the time to seek out your bargain!!! You have choices ranging from this $900,000 short sale fixer on Via Del Bravo to this Rancho Santa Fe estate on Los Arboles priced at $35mil. What do you get for $35mill? 20,000 square feet of luxurious living, 6 bedroom, 13 bath and an 11 car garage all sitting on 9 
acres of prime southern California land.
Now I know you can never be too rich to appreciate a deal, so, from now until the end of the 2009, any one who purchases a home with me in the 92067 zip code, will be rebated 25% of my net commission as well as a 25% donation to the charity of their choice in our names. The transaction must close by 12/31/2009.
You can contact me anytime at 760.415.3329.
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Solana Beach Triathlon and TCSD Cares Dave Martin award
July 27th, 2009 Categories: Aquathlon and Duathlon Race Reports, Real Estate News, San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports, What to do in San Diego
SOLANA BEACH- Yesterday was the first Triathlon Club of San Diego sponsored Solana Beach 
Sprint Triathlon. It to was the first time the Dave Martin award was presented by TCSD Cares, which is the newly formed charitable arm of the Triathlon Club of San Diego.
For those not familiar with Dave Martin’s story, he was the Solana Beach veterinarian and TCSD club member that passed after being involved with a great white during a club ocean swim. There was a fund raising effort done within the triathlon community for his family. Fortunately they were in a healthy financially position, so they decided to give the money back to the triathlon community. It was decided to make sure the money was used to help a worthy candidate with their education expenses and TCSD Cares would be charged with caring for the funds raised and granting this annual award.
The first recipient of the Dave Martin award, chosen blindly by the grant committee of TCSD Cares, is Jaclyn Trosper. I think most active TCSD members know Jackie and her mom Bobbie Solomon. Jackie is a mother of two and her husband is a 3rd class Petty Officer in the US Navy. She has been working towards her RN license, which she recently tested for and passed, and is now taking specialized classes hoping to become involved in organ donation. Jackie and her mom have been very involved in TCSD as volunteers and I am sure Dave would be very happy with her selection. I know that the Martin kids are as they participated in the selection process. 
Congratulations JACKIE!!! You are a fantastic member of TCSD and very worthy of this award.
One last note on the Martin Family, Dave’s grandson Tanner Martin has became involved in triathlon immediately after his grandpa passed, as did Jeff his father. Yesterday Tanner CRUSHED the course and finished first in his age group, 12 and under. I am currently in negotiations with Tanner to work as his agent as I think the kids gotta future!!
The triathlon was blessed with PERFECT conditions, if you like your swim entry and exit with plenty of surf. A big swell started rolling in to the San Diego area starting Thursday with surf up to 10 feet in some areas of the county. By Sunday the surf had subsided somewhat but for the beginning of the Solana Beach triathlon it was still in the 3-4 foot range with occasional 5 foot sets rolling through.
Having grown up in the water, I forsaked racing and decided I could better support and represent TCSD as a swim buddy. As always it was a blast. I LOVE the surf and it’s always a good day when you can help someone get through conditions that would otherwise end their triathlon. 
My first swim was with Shellby Madden, who too is a recipient of TCSD Cares. Next was with TCSD member, Helen Barker, who came out of the water in 7th position in her wave. By helping keep up her confidence during the surf entry and exit, she did very well. My favorite victim, I mean athlete was Sophie. I truly believe that she would have not completed the event had I not been there to pretty much demand that we keep going. That whole tough love thing.
I knew she was having a tough time when I saw her surface from a wave and do what most inexperienced swimmers do and that’s take a quick gulping breath. In this situation, and it proved true this time, you take in a mouthful of water as the undercurrent is still active and usually pulls you back down a bit. The look on he face at that point was one of panic as is often the case when the O2 you were hoping for is actually H2O. I grabbed a hold of her, made sure she stayed above the water, could feel my presence hopefully giving her some security and refused to hear her pleas of turning around. I knew she was OK and it became my mission to build her confidence. Two waves later we were passed the surf zone and she was on her way to finishing and I received this promise from her;
I know you have heard this a thousand time but thank you thank you for this morning. Without you I don’t think I would have made it out. I hope one day I will be the person that helps other but I think for now I will learn how to get better at those surf entry and
exit!
Thanks it meant a lot to me and I was able to go through the swim without going on full blown panique(panic) mode and thus have a "strong" second part of the race!
Yes my goal is to spend a lot of time in the waves that I have been avoiding until now and learn how to go under them deep. Until I decided to go do triathlon I was very happy to stay on the beach and watch the waves…. Now I have decided to do something that forces me to learn how to master surf entry/exit!
So that was my Solana Beach Triathlon. Hope to see you out there next year and a HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS!!!
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Camp Pendleton Sprint triathlon raffle winner
July 17th, 2009 Categories: Aquathlon and Duathlon Race Reports, Client Testimonials, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SAN DIEGO- Claudia Flynn subscriber #53 is the winner of the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon entry.
If you have not done the Camp Pendleton Sprint triathlon it is a very fun and unique race. Here is my race report for the sprint triathlon from last year’s event.
Also Congrats to TCSD member and CAF supporter who won the San Diego International Triathlon entry. We caught up with her picking up her packet at the race expo.
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San Diego home prices for first half 2008 vs. 2009
July 16th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO- Today’s Union Tribune, which I am subscriber to, trumpeted the continued rise in San 
Diego county median home prices. This is the third month in a row that the median home price in San Diego county has increased. We are looking at an increase of approximately 12% from our January low of $280,000. The current median home price for San Diego county is now $314,250.
Now of late I have found myself a bit bitter to alot of the current financial news and negativity is not my nature. So while I wish I could be a cheerleader regarding this positive news, I still have to be honest with you and myself and my belief is this is still a market under the influence of the moratoriums and that continues to be skeleton in the closet.
However, on the positive side, the real good news is that this is still a great time for renters to stop buying real estate for their landlord and instead invest in themselves. With FHA 
requirements at only 3.5% down, the continuation of low interest rates and the tax credits, these combined with the affordable housing prices are the perfect storm.
Using the mortgage calculator from bankrate.com, we see that a $250,000 mortgage at 5.25% including property tax would set you back approximately $1630.00 a month. This also provides you with a $19,500 write off on your income tax which lessen the true value of your monthly obligation. Purchasing the median San Diego home would set you back just under $2000.00 a month. You would need approximately $16,000 to purchase the median San Diego home using FHA of which you would see $8,000.00 come back to you as a first time buyer. Stop renting!!!
A deeper look at the data released, comparing the first half of 20009 with 2008, shows us only one area of San Diego is actually in positive territory and that is San Carlos at 1.4% while the worst performing area is Logan Heights at 47.7%. However, I said I was going to try to turn my 
frown upside down, and the positive spin for Logan Heights home sales is that they have tripled from 56 homes in the first half of 2008 to 170 for 2009!!! Not bad at all.
The data also showed that our market, as illustrated by this chart and the one below, is being driven by the lower priced market and this is not just because, duh, home prices are lower. There definitely a relationship between median home price and increase in home sales.
Sean O’Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar.com, said there now is a shortage of entry-level housing. There also is a growing perception among buyers that the slumping housing market has reached bottom and that prices won’t get lower, he added.
“That is having a positive impact on prices,” he said. “Pretty much everything that comes up at the bottom end sells immediately.” -www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/15
East county, which had the lowest median price at $245,000 had the second highest increase in number of home sold with a 43% increase. On the other end, North San Diego County coastal, which had the highest median price at $380,000 remained flat in home sales with only a 3% 
increase.
My take on the market at this point is the market will remain flat from this point. In order to maintain this stability, knowing there is a boat load of distressed properties not yet on the market, will be the continuation of these historically low interest rates as well as incentives such as the tax credit. There is a continuing strong appetite for San Diego properties at these price points and it is high demand that is propping up our market.
If we lose the incentives for buyers that currently exist in our market we could easily see a pricing decline approaching or surpassing that $280,000 median price we saw in January. As I wrote in this post, there are some artificial elements influencing our current market. If we lose the incentives, then the banks fight back on the moratoriums and they decide they need to clear these distressed properties, we could see this perfect storm working in the reverse.
But the improving market could be dealt a setback if the many homes now in the foreclosure pipeline end up being taken back by lenders. A voluntary moratorium by banks has temporarily slowed the foreclosure rate, but many borrowers remain behind on their mortgage payments.
“The banks could pull the plug at any time,” said Dave McDonald, government affairs chairman for the San Diego County chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.
“We know we are still in a deep recession,” LePage said. “We don’t know when we are pulling out of it. We know more foreclosures are coming.”-www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/16
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This is SOOO wrong
July 10th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO- Earlier this week there was an article in the San Diego Union Tribune, of which I am a subscriber, that spoke about fines the city of Chula Vista is imposing on banks and finance 
companies who are becoming ‘homeowners’. The city passed the ordinance to help prevent blighted neighborhoods. Under the program, lenders need to verify occupancy of the home they hold the mortgage on and if it has been abandoned by the homeowner, the lender must register the home as vacated and then secure and maintain the home. Simple.
While the city instituted this policy, which has been copied by other cities, to help maintain the quality of its neighborhoods, it seems as though some groups feel they need to protect the banks and mortgage companies from the big bad city.
- The group (Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors) has come to believe that banks eventually may avoid doing business in Chula Vista because of the ordinance, Russiano said. With credit tight and many lending institutions struggling to maintain solvency, real estate agents say they don’t want lenders to have another reason not to approve home loans.
“They are already scared to death,” Russiano said. “Why give them one more thing to worry about?”
- “They were giving us violations for anything, whether it was a propped-open window, saying it was unsecured, to having dead grass,” Pulickal said
- Jay Norris, an account representative for First American Title, said he recalled a case in which an agreement to sell a foreclosed home fell apart because of a dispute between the city and the bank over a large fine. If banks perceive they are being hurt, they could think twice about how they do loans in Chula Vista, he said.*
I myself fall in the camp with these two gentlemen.
Robert Klein, who chairs the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Vacant Property Registration Committee, said he supports measures like the one in Chula Vista. He said it is in everyone’s best interest to deal with abandoned properties early on, before they become blighted.
All lenders need to do to avoid fines is secure and maintain vacant homes until they are sold, said Klein, who heads Safeguard Properties, a property-management firm that represents lenders nationwide.
Alan Mallach, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, said the ability to levy high fines has enabled Chula Vista to protect its neighborhoods.
“That was really the important step on the part of Chula Vista,” Mallach said. “A lot of people saw that and followed their lead. It was, as far as I know, the first city in the U.S. that really took hold of this matter and said, ‘Lenders, you have to take responsibility for these properties.’ ” *
But it was an article I saw today on MSN that got the wheels turning to write this post. See these institutions are the last businesses that need our sympathy or protection. When it comes to initiating financially beneficial or punitive steps these institutions continue to write the book.
In her article on MSN Money titled When Banks Turn Evil , Liz Pulliam Weston writes;
Banks have to make money to stay in business. I was an economics major, so I get that.
What I don’t get is why so many consumers do nothing as banks get bolder and bolder about picking their pockets. It’s no longer nickel-and-diming — we’re losing $10, $20 and $30 a pop as banks come up with ever-more-creative ways to "fee" us to death.
The banking industry collects more than $50 billion a year in various service charges, more than twice the total of a decade ago. It’s time we pushed back.
In another article by the same author, she charts data from CARDWEB.com showing that credit card late fees have risen from 12.55% in 1995 to over 34% in 2005. Additionally, the banks are not forthcoming for what their fees actually are or for.
One consumer advocate, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), found the process of uncovering bank fees to be so difficult that it hasn’t conducted its once-regular fee survey since 2001.
"It got to be too labor intensive," said US PIRG program director Ed Mierzwinski. "We had to send people to the individual bank branches" to collect information.
All these fees, hidden or not, have helped many banks turn in record profits in recent years. Credit card fees alone jumped 18% last year, to $24 billion. Overall, bank fees are on track to top $55 billion this year, said Robert Hammer of investment banking firm R.K. Hammer.
But the ^%$# that really irks me is when banks make changes that are punitive to there A clients. I just can’t get my head around the fact that they can do things such as this example and inspiration for this post.
When James received a great credit card offer two years ago – a 4.99 percent interest on balance transfers for the life of the card – he jumped at it. He used the cheap money to remodel the kitchen of his Los Angeles-area home.
He never expected the new kitchen would turn him into a pawn in a chess match playing out among Congress, bank regulators and credit card firms.
The offer, from JP Morgan Chase had only one obvious stipulation: No late payments. Because the rate was far lower than a home equity loan at the time, James used the credit card for the construction project, borrowing around $20,000. His monthly payments were very affordable - just under $300. Paying the minimum 2 percent each month, he’d pay off the loan in about 8 years.
James, who requested anonymity because he’s uncomfortable discussing his personal finances in public –made sure to pay on time each month, jealously guarding the terms of his cut-rate loan. Little did he realize that Chase could find a way to make his life miserable without raising his interest rate.
But Chase recently threw James– and perhaps hundreds of thousands of other consumers – a huge credit card curveball. The firm sent letters to customers
beginning in late June indicating that minimum payments would be raised from 2 percent to 5 percent. In August, his monthly payment will spike to $750.
"What they’re doing is pushing decent people into such tough situations," he said. "I’m between a rock and a hard place."
Around the Web, Chase customers are screaming about the change.
"I’m stuck with a combined monthly payment going from $525 to $1,445," wrote one consumer on a blog devoted to the change in Chase terms. "I explained that this could possibly force me into default for which Chase would not receive any payment. (The customer service agent’s) response? ‘Chase obviously factored that possibility into the decision for changing these terms.’” - redtape.msnbc.com/2009/07**
What’s amazing is the reason Chase is implementing this conduct. They are the victims of the success of their own marketing campaign and somewhere in those couple pages of 2 pt font type, the consumer agreed to this term when they accepted the conditions of the card. While this can not technically be called a bait and switch, it stinks. They must’ve known this was a possibility to include the language allowing this to happen. So instead of setting a time limit on repayment at the low rate openly, they buried the condition in the terms.
Jacobson, the firm’s spokeswoman, essentially conceded that strategy in an e-mail to msnbc.com.
"Tens of millions of Chase customers have taken advantage of our promotional low rate financing over the last five years,” she said. “Most of these loans have been paid back in less than 24 months. However, there have been a small percentage of customers that have not made as much progress in paying down these loans. Our desire is to have these balances paid back in a reasonable period of time."**
They do have a solution if making these new increased payments is a financial hardship.
Chase told msnbc.com that it would work with consumers who are unable to make their new payments, but James said that’s merely an invitation into a lion’s den. The only offer he received was a severe change in terms to his account with a much higher, variable interest rate.**
Heads I win, tails you lose!!!
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The idiocy of the short sale
July 9th, 2009 Categories: San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO- Here is just a quick example of why short sales are such a pain in the neck for everyone.
I have a negotiator for WAMU/Chase on a short sale I have listed that is being stubborn and hiding behind the ‘guidelines’ yet will not produce a written copy of the guideline supporting his position. Today we decided to take it to his supervisor which in itself took patience and consistency.
I called the supervisors number and reached her voicemail which stated she was out of the office and instructed me to call a new number of person B. When I called that number I was given two options. Press 1 for mortgages and 2 for equity lines. When I pressed 1 a new announcement came on stating that the number was no longer a valid number and that WAMU was now part of Chase and to call a different number. I thought that was a bit odd, so I called again deciding to hit option 2. I got through to a phone system and punched in the extension of the referred supervisor.
Her voicemail indicated she would be out of the office 6/20 to 6/29, today is July 9th, and to call a third person at the same number but a different extension. I called this third person only to get their voicemail that they were out of the office.
And that’s a day spent on a short sale.
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Low inventory levels causing buyer frustration
July 6th, 2009 Categories: Blogrolll, Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO-
My last post here spoke of the need for buyers to exercise patience in the current real estate market climate and most importantly to not get discouraged. Here is chart I received in our Prudential newsletter that demonstrates how low our market inventory is unless you are in the $900K+ market. These numbers represent in months how long it would take to deplete inventory based on the current sales rate.
Six months is considered a balance market, so in any other economic climate, these numbers would represent a seller’s market and drive the market pricing up. Unfortunately, foreclosure moratoriums and slow bank processing are creating this fictitious market and instead of feeding buyer’s demand, they are only creating frustration and in some cases returning buyers to the rental market.
Additionally attached home inventory is low also, but consistent with market dynamics not as low as detached. The reason for this would be, that as detached homes become more affordable there is less demand for attached.
If you are currently in the market to purchase and have lost out to multiple offers and are failing to see a continuing selection of properties, focus on the positives. Those are the low interest rates, the affordability of housing and the tax credits available to some.
If you are considering a sale, while pricing remains depressed you can expect quite a bit of attention on a home priced appropriately.
Call me, 760.415.3329, if you have any questions or if you need help with your real estate goals.
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