My San Diego Coastal

Click here to see the rest of the renovation, and to read the details of the finished house

Chula Vista Rehab Project – THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

idx — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:16:51 +0000

66 East Prospect Street – Chula Vista – We are finished & on the market after 6 weeks of fast work.

Listed at $319,000

If you’ve been following our project on 66 Prospect St., Chula Vista and read our previous post, then you’ll be excited to see what the finished house looks like!

Check out the latest Video:

The Follow-Up:

The house was upgraded throughout. Kitchen has new maple cabinets, granite counter tops, recessed lighting, sit down bar & stainless steel appliances. Bathrooms feature new vanities with granite counters, new toilets and shower/tub enclosures. New flooring (wood, tile and carpet in bedrooms). Painted inside and out. Newer windows & doors. Cleaned up the pool and the rest of the back yard is completely re-landscaped. The backyard entertainment deck was also redone and gives a great entertainment area raised and elevated from the pool. Fans and mirror closet doors in bedrooms. Spacious bonus room can be office, media room or extra bedroom. New tankless energy efficient water heater, stack laundry closet in hallway. The front has been completely cleaned up giving it prestigious curb appeal and allowing the neighborhood to appreciate the house’s remodel.

To read more download the Full PDF

SAN DIEGO COUNTY MARKET TRENDS, December 11th

idx — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:31:11 +0000

Pending Sales Up Sharply in October

Pending sales were up 10.4% in October compared to September, and up 9.2% year-over-year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said improved contract activity is a hopeful sign. “Home sales have been plodding along at a sub-par level while interest rates are hovering at record lows and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years. We hope this is indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions,” he said.

“Many consumers are recognizing that home buyers in the past two years have had one of the lowest default rates in history. Moreover, continued inventory declines are another healthy sign for the housing market,” Yun added.

“Although contract signings are up, not all contracts lead to closings. Many potential home buyers inadvertently hurt their credit scores and chances of getting a mortgage through easily averted actions, such as cancelling an old credit line while taking on a new one,” Yun said. “Such actions could unwittingly prevent buyers from obtaining a mortgage if their credit score is close the margins of qualifying, or they might get a loan but with less favorable
terms.”

NAR encourages consumers to be aware of their credit score and actions which could hurt or enhance it. Http://houselogic.com, the association’s consumer website devoted to all aspects of homeownership, offers tips for improving credit scores at http://tinyurl.com/27czzgb.

MARKET STATISTICS

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes were up 16.2% year-over-year in November. This is the fifth month in a row home sales have been higher than the year before. Year-to-date, home sales are down 1.7%.

Condo sales were off 9.8% year-over-year. Yearto-date, condo sales are down 9.3%.

The median price for homes was down 0.6% from October, and down 9.2% year-over-year.

The median price for condos was flat compared to October, and was down 4.9% year-over-year.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak. Home inventory was down 12.3% compared to last November.

Condo inventory was down 16.6% year-over-year.

Pending home sales grew by 8.9% year-over-year. That’s twelve months in a row pending sales have been higher than the year before.

Pending condo sales were up 4% compared to last November.

Please remember, while statistics are nice, they will not determine the price you pay or get for a property. That will come down to you and the buyer or seller.

Market Update for November/December, 2011

idx — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:20:18 +0000

Some Underwater Mortgage Holders Get Help

The Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, is being revamped.

It was originally aimed at a housing market that had an estimated 5 million struggling homeowners. Unfortunately, HARP’s original terms and limits were so restrictive that the program, to date, has reached fewer than 900,000 mortgage holders. The major restriction eliminated any homeowner whose existing mortgage represented more than 125% of the loan-to-value of their home.

The revamping of HARP will let borrowers whose mortgages are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance those underwater mortgages, presumably no matter how far their home’s value has fallen. In fact, current loan-to-value ratio on the existing mortgage must be greater than 80 percent.

And, mortgage holders can’t double-dip; that is, if they already have an earlier HARP loan, they can’t get another at the even better rate of 4%. The new terms also eliminate the need for yet another property appraisal in calculating LTV, and the program’s end date has been extended.

The plan, announced last week still has certain eligibility limits. For example, your mortgage has to be a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac instrument, owned or guaranteed by one agency or the other, and you must not have missed any payments in the last six months (since April 24, at present), or have more than one missed payment over the last year.

The FHFA, or Federal Housing Finance Agency, which currently controls Fannie, Freddie, and 12 other Federal Home Loan Banks – located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Des Moines, Indianapolis, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle and Topeka – is expected to announce the final program parameters by November 15.

This is a much needed expansion of the program. Unfortunately, there are over ten million homeowners underwater and this new HARP will only be available to 10% of them.

MARKET STATISTICS

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes were up 5.5% year-over-year. This is the fourth month in a row home sales have been higher than the year before. Year-to-date, home sales are down 3.1%.

Condo sales were up 0.5% year-over-year. Yearto-date, condo sales are down 10.3%.

The median price for homes was down 0.9% from September, and down 7.3% year-over-year.

The median price for condos fell 1% compared to September, and was down 4.7% year-over-year.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak. Home inventory was down 11.2% compared to last October.

Condo inventory was down 19.8% year-over-year.

Please remember, while statistics are nice, they will not determine the price you pay or get for a property. That will come down to you and the buyer or seller.

(etc. . . To Read More Please Download the PDF)

New Townhome Listed in Pacific Beach!

idx — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:33:50 +0000

Newest Listing in PB: 1944 Diamond # 3, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath for $409,000-449,000

Click here for full listing details and pictures. Great new listing in Pacific Beach…or as the locals say “PB”. This property is one of the best priced 3 bedroom townhouses in all of Pacific Beach. It is a versatile home that could be great for primary residence, second home or rental property. About a mile from the beach it is close to everything! Only two blocks from dozens of restaurants, shops, gym, grocery stores a more.

Walk into your own private patio and then continue into the spacious open floorplan of this two story condo. The kitchen opens up to a large living room with a fireplace. The large skylight makes this home feel clean, bright, warm, and ready for someone to move in! Enjoy your own Washer/Dryer and no neighbors above and below. The vaulted ceilings in the master bedroom is complemented by the spacious double vanity master bathroom and tropical fan. This spacious condo is in a quiet part of Pacific Beach close to shopping and the freeway. Enjoy a quick downhill bike ride to the bay or beach! This condo is located on the same street as the Pacific Beach Recreation Center, and is in close proximity to the Admiral Hartman Recreation Center as well. Traditional sale, NO shortsale or REO hassle quick response!

This condo just received a facelift with new carpet and paint throughout and new floor to ceiling mirrored closet doors. This unit comes with two underground secured parking spots (side by side) and storage room. There are also additional garaged parking spots that can be rented from the HOA for reasonable cost.

Thanks for reading! If you would like to see more pictures you can view the video below. You can also use our new comprehensive website to search all San Diego homes at San Diego’s Best Home Search.

Chula Vista Rehab Project – Follow our progress!

idx — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:55:25 +0000

Before:

The cliché “A diamond in the rough” is exemplified by our current project on 66 Prospect St., Chula Vista. The property is a 4 bedroom 2 bath with a converted garage and an entertainers back yard with a pool and covered elevated patio. The reason the property needed renovation is because it was a short sale that had been on the market a long time. This project will be a great example of a before and after and what we can do in 5 weeks!

To put it nicely, the place was trashed.

The house might have looked like a trash can, but was there a little gold inside of it? Ryan Mathys explains, “What we look for in a flip is the core of the house. How is the floorplan? How is the lot? Is the foundation and roof solid?” This house is a prime example of what has potential. The lot was huge, with a front yard, back yard, patio, and a pool. The roofing and windows are relatively new. The foundation is solid and the floorplan flows nicely. With a little, or a lot, of tender love and care, this house could easily go through renovations and become the flagship of the block.

During:

The process began October 19th and will be done December 15th. This will be a complete makeover of interior and exterior finishes

The overgrown yard was scaled down to a manageable situation. The interior was gutted as well. The backyard’s patio is currently being redone and the project consists of the covered patio being torn off and the floor and steps getting redone with new concrete, sod and landscaping. The water heater and washer/dryer were outside (code violation) and we have moved the W/D into the hallway and putting in a new energy efficient tankless water heater.

The place has transformed from an out of control into a manageable project.

After: To be continued….

We expect to have this completed by December 15th. The entire neighborhood will benefit from this project, as house prices and quality will increase. The house that was previously out of code will now be a respectable home ranking as one of the nicest in the neighborhood.

The curb appeal was changed within a week of purchase, as the landscaping was cleaned up, the trash was removed and the demo work completed.

The kitchen will have new cabinets, granite counters, stainless appliance, tile floor and backsplash. We will also do hardwood floors throughout (not laminant). The converted garage whose purpose was once in question is being transformed into a fifth bedroom because the area values the quantity of bedrooms. The master bedroom and bath are also being redone, and the washer and dryer are being placed inside for convenience.

Mortgage Rates and Foreclosures DOWN! – Sales UP!

idx — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:43:08 +0000

Mortgage Rates Reach Record Lows

Thirty year fixed mortgage rates are down in the low, very low, 4% area.

Which is great for those who have the down payment, minimum 3.5% for FHA-backed loans and 5% for bank loans, and can qualify. Those few, those lucky few. (With all credit to Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s day speech.)

Then there are the people who would love to refinance, but are underwater. No joy.

Record low interest rates are having NO affect on the market.

In other news, foreclosure starts surged in August,with Bank of America leading the way by nearly doubling their initial notices of foreclosure, as report by http://foreclosureradar.com.

In San Diego County, according to http://foreclosureradar.com, the number of bankowned properties, called REOs, was 6,277 in August.

In the MLS, there are 925 properties listed for sale as REO. We are only counting active listings, not pending-continue to show, which the MLS counts as active.

There are 933 REO properties in escrow.

That totals 1,858 REO properties either for sale or in escrow. That’s 29.6% of all bank-owned properties in play.

MARKET STATISTICS

The sale of single-family, re-sale homes were up 7% year-over-year. This is the third month in a row home sales have been higher than the year before. Year-to-date, home sales are down 3.9%.

Condo sales were off 13.1% from August and up 1% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are down 10.7%.

The median price for homes was down 2% from August, and down 6.7% year-over-year.

The median price for condos gained 0.7% compared to August, but was down 3.3% year-overyear.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak. Home inventory was down 13.2% compared to last September: 9,760 homes actively listed. Please note, only active listings are included in this figure. Numbers from the local associations include properties that are also in a pending status, meaning they have an accepted offer, but haven’t been taken off the market.

Condo inventory was down 18.8% year-over-year.

Please remember, while statistics are nice, they will not determine the price you pay or get for a property. That will come down to you and the buyer or
seller.

. . . To read more download the PDF Market Report. . .

Investment Properties Analysis

idx — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:46:17 +0000

How good is the investment property market right now? Well, for the first time in literally decades, properties positively cash flow with 20% down. The drastic decline in interest rates coupled with the property price declines in recent years have made entry level investment property ownership one of the more exciting investment opportunities anywhere.

We will need to set some paramaters. Since I’m an active realtor in San Diego, California let’s use a piece of Pacific Beach real estate for our example. Why Pacific Beach? It is a quality rental market with a wide variety of homes for sale, and saw a typical San Diego rate of price decline in the recent market correction. Second, this example will be a snapshot in time of a real property on the market today, and not a fictional scenario. I just pulled a random (not a listing of mine) townhome from the San Diego MLS and plugged it in to my residential income property calculator.

Ok, let’s get started. The example subject property is a 3 bed 3 bath 1,430 square feet Pacific Beach condo with no ocean view that should sell for around $375,000. Finishes are average for the area with tile counters, stainless appliances, average wear and tear, and $200 per month HOA dues. No functional obsolence or negatively influencing outside forces noted. Basically, this is your typical condo in 92109. Vacancy rate for long term rentals in Pacific Beach are around 4%, and local rental agencies charge 6% for professional property management. Estimated monthly rent is $2,400. We also will assume a 20% down payment.

Plug all this information in to the calculator and you will first see a gross rent multiplier of 13.5, which is typical for this area. After property taxes, property management fees, vacancy contingency, and insurance, you have a net operating annual income of $16,655. Principle and interest debt service at a 4.375% rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage is $17,974. This leaves a negative cash flow for the year of $1,319.

Now, as this is a single unit, self managing is not really difficult, so if you choose this option your yearly net cash flow would be positive $340 bucks. Nothing much to speak of, but let’s take that a little further.

The interest portion of the payment is tax deductible, plus you are making principle payments, and you may depreciate the property according to the IRS schedule. All affect your bottome line and should be considered toward your total return each year.

Because not everyone is in the same tax bracket nor will treat each investment property the same when completing their annual tax returns, it is impossible to predict exactly how deductions and depreciation will affect total return. However, over the course of the first 5 years, the owner of this property will enjoy approximately $62,821 of mortgage interest deduction and a depreciation advantage of $42,067. Over that same time period, the owner will have paid nearly $27,000 toward mortgage principle. Best of all, you will be getting all of these bonuses via rent paid for use of the property.

The rest of this scenario could only be a projection as no one owns a crystal ball as to where rents or pricing will go. Most economists I’ve read about the local market anticipate over the next 5 years pricing will be stable to increasing and rents are forcasted to continue to increase as well. If so, your $75,000 down payment will be working even harder for you. If not, you still have a passive investment producing positive benefits for your bottom line for as long as you own it.

Though I won’t bore you with another number crunch, I reached in to the past and did the same analysis on the same property as if it were purchased in 1995. Trust me that today’s numbers were significantly better, even though 1995 pricing was 42.6% lower!

If you are a buyer on the sidelines, get connected with a quality real estate buyer agent who can walk you through the investment property 411. If you are an agent, well, you had better be learning about investment properties as they are not the next best thing, they are the now thing!

Cited from http://www.wannanetwork.com/2011/09/13/pacific-beach-investment-property-opportunity-best-in-decades/

Oh Where Oh Where Did The Foreclosures Go

idx — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:19:00 +0000

With all the pundits talking about phantom inventory and the huge surplus of foreclosures, one would expect a massive number of bank-owned properties to be on the market.

They are not. Enquiring minds want to know why not.

First, let’s look at some numbers. According to http://foreclosureradar.com, the number of bankowned properties, called REOs, in San Diego County has averaged about 6,500 a month for the past thirteen months.

Yet, in the MLS, only 957 properties for sale are listed as REO out of a total of 14,558 active listings. There are an additional 965 REO properties in escrow. Now, remember, banks are not in the real estate business so they won’t be selling these properties themselves. They will be listing them with real estate brokers.

Which begs the question, why aren’t the rest of the REOs on the market?

Well, it’s pretty simple. The banks don’t like to lose money. If they put all these properties on the market at once, prices would plummet.

The banks are being very judicious about selling their REO property.

For a more complete report on San Diego County foreclosures, see the article on page three.

MARKET STATISTICS

Home sales were steady in August. The sale of single-family, re-sale homes rose 1.2% from July and were up 1.1% year-over-year. Year-to-date, home sales are down 5.2%.

Condo sales were up 8.3% from July and up 12.8% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are down 11.6%.

The median price for homes was down 2.2% from July, and down 5.4% year-over-year.

The median price for condos rose 0.2% compared to July, but was down 2.1% year-over-year.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak. Home inventory was down 13.4% compared to last August: 10,102 homes actively listed. Please note, only active listings are included in this figure. Numbers from the local associations include properties that are also in a pending status, meaning they have an accepted offer, but haven’t been taken off the market.

Condo inventory was down 20% year-over-year.

Please remember, while statistics are nice, they will not determine the price you pay or get for a property. That will come down to you and the buyer or seller.

The Real Estate Report – Local Market Trends

idx — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:21:57 +0000

Is It Time To Buy A Home?

It’s funny, back in 2006 and 2007 almost no one was asking that question. Instead, they were asking, “How much home can I buy?”

Wrong question at the wrong time.

Fast forward to today and buyers should be asking “how much home can I buy” and not “is it time to buy a home.”

Yes, I know, a real estate agent will always say yes when asked if it’s a good time to buy a home.

But, today’s market offers an unprecedented opportunity. Let me explain.

First, take mortgage rates, back during the peak of the bubble in 2007 30-year mortgage rates were in the low to mid 6% range. Today? Rates are in the low to mid 4% range, a drop of 33%.

Next, the median price for single-family, re-sale homes in San Diego County peaked at $585,000 in November 2005. It bottomed out at $320,000 in March 2009.

The median price has averaged over $363,000 since the beginning of the year. Yes, you missed the bottom!

O.K., so you’re afraid to buy because you don’t know where home prices are going. Well, no one has a crystal ball, and, as Wall Street is fond of saying, the past is no predictor of future results. But, with the Fed saying it will keep interest rates low for the next two years, that should put upward pressure on prices.

As Baron Rothschild is credited with saying, “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.”

Now for the caveats, yes, there are caveats!

As always, the best homes, pristine move-in condition, in the best neighborhoods, i.e. schools, are selling first for the most money with multiple offers.

If the best neighborhood is your primary criterion, and the best homes are beyond your means, consider fixer homes or condos.

If a pristine home is your primary criterion, you will find less competition in other areas.

Also, inventory is down because the people who are underwater can’t sell.

Lastly, you will need to qualify for a loan. That should be your first order of business.

You will absolutely, positively need an in-depth neighborhood market analysis to buy or sell in this market.

DO NOT DEPEND UPON ZILLOW FOR THIS!!!

If I could get what Zillow says my home is worth, I’d sell it in a minute. According to my calculations, Zillow has over-valued my home by 36%, and that’s before selling costs!

P.S. The conforming loan limits are dropping from $697,500 to $546,250 for closing after September 30th. Some lenders have already stopped processing loans up to the $662,500 limit, and all lenders will likely stop on or around September 1 for new applications.

If you were planning on using an FHA loan to purchase a home with only 3.5% down and are looking at homes priced over $500,000, you have to purchase a home NOW. Otherwise, save up a little more and get a conventional loan in the future.