Archive for the 'Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports' Category
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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Carlsbad bike lane closure
May 31st, 2009 Categories: San Diego County Bike Rides, San Diego County Community News, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports, What to do in San Diego
Carlsbad– Saw this on my ride and thought I would send it out. There is not a sign in the north bound lanes so I think they are just FINALLY fixing the bike lane from Poinsettia to
Ponto Beach.
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San Diego International Triathlon entry winner
May 23rd, 2009 Categories: Aquathlon and Duathlon Race Reports, San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SAN DIEGO– The winning email for subscriber number 122 is ejgowie@aol.com. I have sent an email to the winner and they have until Monday to get back to me.
Next drawing will be for an entry to the Carlsbad Triathlon.
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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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Wells Fargo: Stock tip and real estate update
April 9th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego county Real Estate News, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SAN DIEGO– I remember back in the boom days of the real estate market, the mention of Wells Fargo as a buyer’s lender brought sighs of trouble 
ahead. They were one of the few banks that was still being very thorough about their lending practices and this made for a long approval process. The flip side was probably WAMU where they could not get you the approval fast enough. Remember the WAMU ads mocking “traditional bankers”? Well it looks as though those traditional bankers have won the war.
Today in the blog Seekingalpha.com, there was a piece entitled, “Wells Fargo: Housing a strength again”. It seems being one of the last banks standing is paying off handsomely for “Wells”. By close of trading today, Wells Fargo stock shot up over 31% on news that they were forecasting earnings of $0.55 a share. This is double the consensus estimates and it’s the good news is that it is real estate driving those numbers.
Mortgage application rose 41%, and dollar value of those applications were up 64%. The month of March saw a record number of application for Wells Fargo. No doubt the mortgage business is getting a major boost by low interest rate, which benefits from the government’s huge asset purchases of mortgage backed securities. Furthermore, many of the smaller competitors in the mortgage origination field have fallen off, which has allowed Wells Fargo to pick up the slack and gain market share.
Wells Fargo, which is up more than 25% in morning trading, is spurring a rally in the financial sector and the market as a whole. Clearly, these results are much better than anyone expected, and the mortgage business is again looking like a strength rather than a weakness.-seekingalpha.com,4/9/2009
I am often asked how business is going and quite honestly this has been a great first quarter for me also. Just this week, I have closed two escrows while opening another and I have two more scheduled to close in the next couple weeks. Additionally, I have two short sale offers out that should hopefully be decided soon and 5 active buyers with several other watching the market.
I can not believe that market conditions can get too much better for buyers. The average 30 year fixed rate for the week ending today 4/9 as reported by the California Association of Realtors was 4.87 percent. Additionally you have the Federal first time buyers program offering a tax credit of up to $8,000 AND if you purchase new home, the state is offering a tax credit of up to $10,000.
Call me at 760.415.3329 if I can help you in anyway.
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Will mortgage deduction changes effect San Diego homeownership
March 13th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego county Real Estate News, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SAN DIEGO– As a member of the California Association of Realtors I receive various newsletters and announcements. Yesterday I received an enewsletter titled Market Matters.
Normally I scan these very quickly, but this time the headline “Obama’s plan to limit write-offs provokes push-back”. It seems that my association is opposing a plan by the Obama administration to limit tax deduction related to real estate.
The Obama administration’s first budget proposal included a provision to reduce the mortgage interest and local property tax deductions for those earning more than $250,000.
The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) are strongly opposed to this provision and are working to convince lawmakers to oppose it as well.
Although the government predicts it could save billions of dollars by reducing the deductions, it also will negatively impact the California housing market; further erode opportunities for homeownership in the state; and will contribute to further price declines and diminished equity for homeowners.
First I know that no one likes to pay more than their fair share of taxes, while some don’t even like to do that, and this is not a political statement, but one statement really jumped out at me and prompted this repsonse; further erode opportunities for homeownership in the state. Are you kidding me? This is the association who strives to promote itself as the gateway to the American dream and they are missing the target. Remember this would effect those that earn in excess of $250,000 not all those with mortgages.
In San Diego county, one of the priciest housing markets in the nation, we are finally approaching an affordability rate of 50% with a median income of $72,100 which is a considerably long ways off of $250,000.
A silver lining to San Diego County’s falling home prices emerged yesterday as an index showed housing affordability approaching the 50 percent mark for the first time in 15 years.
A report from the National Association of Home Builders showed that 44.6 percent of homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2008 were affordable to households earning the county’s median income of $72,100.– Roger Showley,San Diego Union Tribune
February 20, 2009
According to the 2006 census approximately 3.4% of US households make over $200,000 a year. Looking specifically at San Diego, our wealthiest zip code is that of Rancho Santa Fe and according to Mongabay.com’s wealth report the average salary was $242,282.
I am curious who CAR is really looking out for as this proposal in no way would hamper home ownership? Are we really to beleive that those that earn over $250,000 a year would stop buying real estate? PAH-leeze.
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CROCs warehouse sale starts Thursday
March 12th, 2009 Categories: San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SAN DIEGO– Here’s the perfect opportunity to save some money. The manufacturer of the shoe people love to hate is having their warehouse sale this weekend at their San Marcos location. The inspiration behind the website I Hate Crocs and the phrase “Crocs; Second Hand Smoke For The Eyes” are probably the comfiest kicks going!! Click on the image for all the info.
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Solana Beach townhome perfect for triathlete
February 12th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Bike Rides, San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, San Diego County run routes, San Diego county Real Estate News, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SOLANA BEACH– If you have are looking for the perfect first home west of I-5 and have the active triathlon lifestyle, you MUST consider this Solana Beach townhome.
For those that are familiar with city of Solana Beach, you already now everything there is for living the California active lifestyle. For those that are not familiar, read on. It’s worth it!!
Solana Beach, located between Cardiff and Del Mar, is primarily lived west of I-5.
First you have plenty of beach for surfing, sunning and fishing anchored by Fletcher Cove. This also happens to be where the Friday morning Triathlon Club of San Diego swim starts. Staying with the swim theme, just up the hill on Lomas Santa Fe from the beach, you have the San Dieguito Boys and Girls club which has a great masters program.
For cycling, BnL Bike is located on the coast highway at just over a mile from this townhome. Time to ride? You have the ability to roll out your door and do a coastal ride or head inland for a Del Dios’ Lake Wohlford route, Del 
Sur or ?.
For the runner in us all, you can easily hit the coast running right from your new home or head up over the hill on Valley and connect with the running trails of the San Elijo lagoon.
Now for general fitness, there is the Boys and Girls club as well as Frog’s Fitness Center. Again all within a mile and a half.
Friends coming over? Head to Cedros Design District for some shopping, dining or live music at the Belly Up. You can also hit the Plaza on the coast 
highway for more dining choices.
Summertime? The Del Mar Fairgrounds is an easy walk. Invite friends over for a walk to the fair in June and then see the ponies run in July or checkout the 4 o’clock Friday’s live concerts there also.
What about the groceries? At the top of Stevens you have Henry’s, Bev and More, Dixieline plus many other shop, while across the freeway is Vons and more.
Heading downtown for a Padre or Charger Game? Want to do a ride from LA back to Solana? The Coaster and Amtrak train station is just around the corner.
Also Del Mar’s dog beach is an easy walk and a great playground that your best friend will love!!!
Again, ALL of this lies within a mile and half of your door, with the exception of the Vons.
There are a few things I especially like about the house itself.
Firstly, it is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath with an attached garage that accesses the house through the common bath which is the perfect place to shed those sweaty clothes. Secondly, the three bedrooms are all upstairs and 
provide an opportunity for a guest bedroom AND an office. Thirdly, this homes sits on top of the hill on a cul de sac and has a huge greenbelt area just off your private patio which is a perfect spot for friends and a BBQ. Lastly, the owner has updated the home, it has a nice Provencal style kitchen, and added windows to bring in plenty of natural light. About the only thing I would do is add a couple skylights in the living room to enhance the openness of the cathedral ceilings.
If you are considering a coastal purchase, you really need to consider this Solana Beach townhome.
You can contact me here.
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Hey San Diego, STOP renting!!!
January 19th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, San Diego County run routes, San Diego county Real Estate News, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports
SAN DIEGO– You heard it here first. San Diego’s real estate market should find its bottom this summer and that sound you’ll be hearing is the market hitting the bottom. Now I know, you are reading this with some skepticism but don’t take my word for it.
First, let’s take a look at the big economic picture and see what two Stanford economists had to say on January 12th, 2009 in their piece titled, “The recession will be over sooner than you think”.
“A key source of the today’s economic weakness is uncertainty that led firms to postpone investment and hiring decisions. This column, by the authors whose model forecast the recession as far back as June 2008, report that the key measures of uncertainty have dropped so rapidly that they believe growth will resume by mid-2009.”
Then turning our attention locally, there was an article in the San Diego Union subtitled, “First-time buyers take advantage of foreclosure sales”. The headline of the article,”Home prices tumble 24% from 2007”, captures the attention of the reader better then the essence of the piece in my opinion.
Economist Christopher Thornberg, who predicted the bursting of the housing bubble long before many other analysts, was confident that this is the year housing prices finally hit bottom(emphasis mine). But he cautioned that it could be at least a couple of years before housing values begin rising again.
“It’s pretty clear that from the numbers we’re seeing, price declines are falling at a slower pace than a year ago, and this is good news, because you need to see a slowing decline before prices stop falling,” said Thornberg, of Beacon Economics.
In this article they made a few key points I have been speaking about for 
quite sometime. Mainly, I had always regarded the rent/buy relationship as the precursor to a recovery. Once home prices reached the point where the cost of ownership was near or equal to what it would cost rent, the decision becomes very easy and in many areas we are at that point.
Clairemont and Encinitas rent versus buy
Looking at two areas that seem to fit the first time buyer/triathlete lifestyle I choose Encinitas and Clairemont.
First I looked at 3 bedroom townhomes in Encinitas. Encinitas has the coastal community feel with the Rancho Santa Fe running trails nearby, easy 
access to the coast for riding and surfing and two great pools nearby at the Magdalene Ecke YMCA and the San Dieguito Boys and Girls club.
Next I looked at 3 and 4 bedroom single family homes around the canyons in Clairemont and the northern portion of Bay Park. While some of these homes can have amazing views, you also have access to Rose and Tecolote Canyons as well as Mission Bay for your workouts.
Using craigslist.com for my rental survey, the cost to rent a 3 bedroom condo in the Encinitas area is just under $2200 a month. Looking on the Sandicor MLS at homes for sale the average sales price in the Village Park area was $414,000 starting in the mid 300’s.
I then went to bankrate.com to use their mortgage calculator. I figured 3.5% down as required by FHA and calculated a the cost of a $400,000, 30 year fixed mortgage at 5%. The payment on this mortgage would be $2147.29. Now I would be remiss not to talk about HOA fees and property tax which would add approximately $600 a month, but on the flip side is the positive impact of being able to write of approximately $30,000 off your taxes!! Additionally, you are building equity on $400,000+ that only cost you roughly $14,000 to start with.
Now applying the same to single family homes in Clairemont, we find the 
average rental as described above to be $2415. Taking this figure and applying it towards a mortgage payment would qualify as a $450,000 mortgage. Applying the 3.5% for FHA as a down payment there currently are 16 homes listed on the MLS for sale and a few on some amazing lots.
As you can see we are at that point where buying, even with a small down payment, can be as much, or even less than renting.
Mortgage interest rates are more good news
Now in the above scenarios I used 5% as the interest rate as I am a strong believer in painting a realistic picture. The reality in some cases however are that rates have been as low 4.65%.
According to a CNNMoney.com post titled on 1/15/2009 titled, “MORTGAGES: Benchmark 30-Year Mortgage Falls Below 5% For First Time”, 
the AVERAGE, not the lowest, 30 year mortgage rate fell to 4.96%.
The national average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 4.96% in the week ending Jan. 15, down from 5.01% a week ago. That is the lowest on record. Freddie Mac began its rate survey in 1971. A year ago the loan averaged 5.69%.
If you are waiting for that elusive bottom to make your decision, you may not be waiting to much longer. Realize, the only way to truly know where the bottom lies is to be looking back while on the upswing.
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