Archive for the 'Client Testimonials' Category
Will January deliver YOUR new home?
January 3rd, 2010 Categories: Client Testimonials, Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News, San Diego homes for sale
SAN DIEGO- Well another year is behind us and hopefully we continue to move closer to our economic recovery. While there is much to write about over the past couple years, I continue to look forward and concern myself with the present and presently, inventory is getting low in affordable/ median housing.
As the tax credits associated with economic stimulus package approach their end date, I doubt there will be a second extension, I have quite a few buyers that are trying hard to get into their new homes. Unfortunately, there has been a sense that not too many new listings coming on the market and the data supports that intuition.
Now this could be construed as a positive sign that the number of homes or homeowners in “distress” is slowing down or it could just be the banks just are not foreclosing on distressed properties. Some believe the banks are hoarding homes they have already foreclosed on anticipating listing them at some future date when the market is more favorable.Whatever the case the net effect is the reduction in new listings.
When looking at the past two years of the areas I primarily work in, the steady decline is quite evident with the exception of the “central” area consisting of University City, Clairemont, Linda Vista, etc, which has held up pretty well. North County coastal, essentially Oceanside to Carmel Valley, has really experienced a great impact on new listings. In 2008, with the exception of February because of the shorten month, January through July saw a least 1050 new listings a month. In 2009, the highest month was January with 949 new listings, which represents about a 20% reduction when compared to 2008. The lowest month was December with only 517 new listings.
If you are considering taking advantage of the tax credits being offered you have a little less than 4 months. With the clock running out, I strongly urge you to stay away from short sales, UNLESS they already have bank approval. If you do want to write an offer on a short sale you need to make certain you have the right to cancel that offer at any time in order to maintain your ability to write an offer should a better opportunity present itself.
In 2009 I closed numerous homes with first time buyers and would appreciate the opportunity to help you with your first home purchase!!
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San Diego’s real estate inventory at less than one month?
September 29th, 2009 Categories: Client Testimonials, Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO- I received an email from a client this morning in which they expressed concern that my home search notification was not working as they had not received any updates since last Saturday. Knowing that ‘things happen’ I checked out their profile and delivery information which was all accurate and the expiration date of the search was still current.
The area search parameters for this particular client are pretty large in scope. We are using a map overlay from the 15 down the Sorrento Valley traffic corridor to the coast up to Carlsbad. While on the coast it does only run about 5 miles inland, but this is still a fairly large slice of real estate.
For the home itself, we have detached and attached with a garage, one or two car attached or detached, at least 2 bedrooms and 2 baths and no less than 1100 square feet in size up to $450,000. Now that is not asking alot! Consider the average home price in San Diego for August 2009 ranges from $255,000 in the South Bay area to $450,000 in the North County coast region.
So the culprit was not the system, it was the simple fact that there have not been any new listings for the system to deliver. Currently in their search there are only 40 active listings, yes only 40, and that represents less one month of inventory which is currently running at 49 sold homes a month. According to Housingtracker.net, the number of active listings in August 2008 were 11,774 versus 20,748 in August of 2007. This is definitely a seller’s market and may be a great window of opportunity if you are looking to sell.
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San Diego’s housing affordability continues to climb
August 15th, 2009 Categories: Client Testimonials, Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO- In December of 2008 I wrote a post stating that the San Diego housing affordability 
rate had gone up in excess of 800% climbing from a low of 3.7% in 2005 to over 31% in 2008. Fortunately for buyers and investors that trend has continued and it was reported today by the San Diego Union Tribune that our local affordability rate is approximately 59%. Stop renting!!
According to the California Association of Realtors the average monthly cost of a first time buyer’s home in San Diego county would be approximately $1750 a month. Add to this the fact that with this comes the ability to write off close to $18,000 a year and there are very few reasons to continue to rent.
“The realty group(California Association of Realtors) defines a first-time home as one priced at 85 percent of the median for all single-family resale houses. The affordability level is based on what percentage of households, earning the qualifying median income, can afford those houses.
For San Diego, the latest figures showed a median price of $295,000, qualifying income of $52,550 and monthly housing payment of $1,750, including principal, interest, taxes and insurance. Nearly 60 percent of local households have the income necessary to buy such a house”- San Diego Union Tribune 8/15/2009**
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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 real estate news stays positive for the summer home buying season
June 29th, 2009 Categories: Client Testimonials, San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO-
“With affordability for first-time buyers at a record high, sales of existing, single- family homes continued to remain above the 500,000 level for the ninth consecutive month,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “Buyers are beginning to realize that the combination of favorable home prices, historically low mortgage rates, and first-time home buyer tax credits, may not align again for many years.
“The sales gains over last year have diminished in recent months,” he added. “This trend is expected to continue through the end of the year, as limited inventory at the moderate and low end of the market constrains sales activity,” he said.- www.car.org/newsstand *
We ended last week with continuing positive real estate news and market conditions and confirmation of our interpretation of what is happening in the field.
The market variables, as quoted above, continue to present a great opportunity for buyers with the exception of inventory index which statewide has dropped by over half from 8.7 months to 4.2.
C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 4.2 month
s in May, compared with 8.7 months in May 2008.*
But turning our attention back to the positive, if you have been sitting on the fence and are renting, consider this;
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southern California buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,052 last month, up from $1,038 the previous month, and down from $1,782 a year ago(my edit). Adjusted for inflation, current payments
are 52.1 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 60.7 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.- DQNews.com**
For the home seller in the $500,000+ market, you are seeing some of your first good news as this market has been stagnate for some time due to the cost of the “jumbo” loans. Additionally, this is typically a move up market, where in the buyer in selling or has sold real estate in order to move up. With market conditions so heavily favoring buyers there are not too many people selling in order to buy.
Conversely, sales $500,000 and above rose from 15.2 percent of sales in April to 17 percent in May. The last time the $500,000-plus market made up more than 17 percent of all sales was last October, when they were 19.9 percent of sales.**
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The fast and the furious: Bank owned homes
June 26th, 2009 Categories: Client Testimonials, Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO- There are two consistencies in the real estate market right now. First, short sales can be a time consuming pain in the neck for both buyers and sellers. Second is that bank owned 
homes or homes in which the owners have plenty of equity and are realistic in their expectations can expect a quick market time.
I am currently working with several potential buyers in the Oceanside area. This is a great north county coastal city with a solid market for single family detached
homes under $300,000. For the active lifestyle Oceanside has several miles of coastline, a harbor, a seven plus mile bike path along the San Luis Rey River as well as proximity to what is left of San Diego’s back country for some great cycling on open and challenging roads. It is also the host city for the only Ironman branded event in southern California which is the Ironman California 70.3.
With the affordability rate so high for homes, interest rates remaining historically low and the tax credit given by the fed, this is a prime market for first time buyers. If we look at 3 bedroom single family that have sold in the last six months we can see the contrast in the transaction time of short sales versus others.
There were 190 homes sold in the city of Oceanside and of those, 49 needed court or lender approval which is a primary sign of short sales. Of those 49 homes, the average was a 3 bedroom 2 bath approximately 1280 square feet and the average sold price was $229,946. The big factor here is there is an average market time of 129 days. The longest marketing period was over a year at 369 days. These numbers do not include the actual escrow period.
The remaining 141 homes which are primarily bank owned homes tell a bit different story. While physically they were very similar at 3 
bedrooms, 2 baths and 1285 square feet, it may surprise some to know that these homes sold for LESS than the short sale homes at an average of $224,334. Additionally, and this is the HUGE factor, the average market time was only 38 days, with 39 of these homes going into escrow in 7 days or less.
Another significant difference was over half of these homes, 86, sold for over the asking price.
For buyers in this type of market the lessons here is that good homes can go fast and you need to take a realistic look at comparable homes. If when looking at those comparables properties they suggest a market value over the asking price, don’t hesitate to do what is necessary if you do really want the home.
Take advantage of this market and work with a realtor you trust. It’s so heartening to see citizens that thought they would never be able to buy a home in southern California have this amazing opportunity. Get after it.
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Million dollar views for the first time buyers
April 15th, 2009 Categories: Aquathlon and Duathlon Race Reports, Client Testimonials, San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, San Diego county Real Estate News, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports, What to do in San Diego
SAN DIEGO– Lately I have been working with quite a few first time buyers. With the interest rates hovering at or under 5%, home pricing back to levels creating a near record high affordability rate and the $8,000 tax credit, it’s no wonder these buyers are entering the market.
For the first time buyer with the active lifestyle looking to buy in a central location with a huge upside potential, I have the perfect home in the north Bay Park area. How do I know this home is ideal for you? I have in the sold two homes within this pocket in the last two months and here is what those clients have said.
“This is one of those rare finds in San Diego. It’s centrally located, easy freeway access, quiet, safe, and it has an amazing sweeping view of Mission Bay and the ocean. It also has a unique charm found only in older San Diego neighborhoods. With these amenities, this is easily a
million-dollar plus neighborhood. And most of the neighborhood is filled with expensive houses to prove it. There are only a small handful of original houses available, tucked away in between these higher priced, remodeled homes. If you are lucky enough to catch one of these original homes up for sale, you can live in a million-dollar oceanview neighborhood for a fraction of what such properties usually go for.”– closed escrow 2/11/2009
and
“After searching for 2 years, I found this house in Bay Park with an awesome view, in a great neighborhood that is centrally located. I saw a lot of fixer uppers in okay neighborhoods, or better houses in questionable neighborhoods, but this house and location had the best potential. I have been enjoying my bay/ocean view out on the deck every night!” -closed escrow 3/23/2009
This 2 bedroom 2 bath home at 3635 Princeton Avenue provides you with amazing southern views from downtown over the bay and to the west facing the ocean overlooking Pacific Beach. From the deck you can see the transition area for the Triathlon Club of San Diego races on Fiesta Island on race day and on the 4th of July you will have front row seats to the Seaworld fireworks show.
It is a downhill coast to Mission Bay for your Fiesta Island workouts and it doesn’t get much more convenient for getting those extra minutes of sleep before heading down on race day for your triathlon or 10K.
Additionally all the events, including those Friday night swims at La Jolla cove, and dining opportunities of downtown and La Jolla are within 15 minutes of your new home.
If you are in the market for a detached home under $400,000 in a neighborhood of million dollar homes, call me at 760.415.3329 for your private showing.
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San Diego homeowners are seeing lower property taxes
July 3rd, 2008 Categories: Client Testimonials, Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News
SAN DIEGO– Earlier this year I wrote about proposition 8 and the prospect of lowering your property taxes through reassessment. I extended my service, for free, to 
past clients, my friends of the triathlon club of San Diego, their friends and family and readers of my blog. I had only about 20 people take me up on my offer and while some were in the enviable position of not seeing a change, some, like San Elijo Hills, really were taking a beating.
Well, I received a phone call today, my first on this topic, and one of my past clients heard from the assessor’s office and his their taxes are being lowered saving them about $40/ month.
They purchased their 3 bedroom 2.5 home on a bluff top in La Costa in June of 2006 for $635,000. It is a great location with northern views to the San Bernardino mountains and ocean views to the west. We submitted the 
paperwork with MLS printouts of the comparable properties and their home was reassessed at $590,000.
Now, while declining property values is nothing to get excited about, we were successful in taking advantage of an opportunity to save them money. With gas at over $4.50/gallon any little bit helps!!!
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San Diego sees largest jump in March to April home sales
May 19th, 2008 Categories: Client Testimonials, Real Estate News, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO– DataQuick reported today that the number of homes sold in San Diego jumped over 33% from March to April. This is the largest month to month jump in the 20 years that DataQuick has been keeping records.
Additionally, April’s median home price for the county was up to $400,000 from $395,000 in March.
In working with my clients on purchases we felt these changes first hand. With different clients, we were in multiple offer situations in Clairemont, North Park and Encinitas*. It was quite the surprise to these buyers, and to me initialy, when the real estate market news is always so negative. 
So what does this mean? Well it doesn’t so much signify the ‘bottom’ of the market, but we are certainly getting closer to that point. As long as interest rates stay at these very low rates, I think this summer could see a lot of activity.
If you are considering buying, I would start really thinking about becoming more serious. If you are considering selling your home, I would certainly get it on the market while there is this competition.
*These searches do not represent all the homes available
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