A Real Estate Chuckle
July 26th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate Juice, Real Estate News
San Diego real estate isn’t always presented in the best light–especially when homes are listed with bad photography, misspelled descriptions and grammar that would make a fifth grade teacher snarl.
Sitting at lunch yesterday in San Francisco where we had attended Inman Connect, real estate blogger, broker and wit extraordinaire Kevin Boer (at the urging of fellow diners and friends) announced his candidacy for president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors.
Annoyed at association fines and scoldings for nicely writing about other agent’s listings, this San Francisco real estate broker would rather take real estate agents to task for describing and portraying their own listings appropriately.
But let me not steal Kevin’s thunder:
| Currently Comments
New FHA Loan Limits for San Diego County
March 6th, 2008 Categories: Mortgage News, Real Estate Juice, Real Estate News, San Diego Market Trends, San Diego Real Estate
California is privileged to have HUD release their new FHA loan limits just ahead of the rest of the country, who will get their own announcements tomorrow.
These new temporary limits were government-derived by calculating 125 percent of each California countys median home price.
In San Diego, for example, the median home price at time of calculation
(from the San Diego MLS) was $558,000. Hence, the new FHA loan limit in San Diego County will now be $697,500.
Many distressed San Diego homeowners and potential home buyers will rejoice at the new loan limits that may provide financing or refinancing for their homes. And these long-awaited increases may help to contribute to the recovery of the San Diego real estate market.
San Diego real estate, though, is apparently still more affordable than that in 14 other California Counties, where FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits were hiked to $729,750. Many of those counties are located in the San Francisco and Bay area, along with Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties. San Bernardino and Riverside Counties cap out at $500,000.
We havent done an FHA loan in our real estate practice in years, but I think its time we quickly went back to school!
| Currently Comments
Are You the High Bidder for Your San Diego Real Estate Listing?
February 16th, 2008 Categories: Carlsbad Real Estate, Encinitas, Market Trends, Real Estate Juice, Real Estate News
The San Diego real estate market is abuzz with talk about real estate auctions and the enormous turnouts they are generating. Inventory is being quickly absorbed by competing and hungry investors, who bid against one another hoping to buy a San Diego home below market value.
All of this leads us to wonder about overpriced listings and sellers who are unsuccessfully holding out for unrealistic prices.
I recall years ago when my sister was in escrow with a very generous offer on her home. She began to have second thoughts about selling, and worried endlessly that she had made a mistake in selling her home at such a price.
Would you buy that house today for the price your buyer is paying? I asked.
No, she replied.
Well, if you dont sell, you will have bought the home for that price.
When overpriced homes sit on the market and fail to attract a buyer, the seller has effectively become the high bidder for the listing.
By failing to price a property to the market, the seller creates another expired listing and has outbid all other potential buyers.
We work with North San Diego County expired listings, and encourage our savvy sellers to price their property so that we can create a bidding war. Hungry, deal-seeking buyers of San Diego real estate are flocking to aggressively-priced homes. The majority of our listings generate multiple offers and end up selling close to market value in a very short period of time.
Better to price a listing as a best buy and sell quickly than to languish and expire on the market.
Besides, its generally best not to be the most aggressive bidder for your own property.
If you are interested in knowing how to create a bidding war when you sell your home, please call Roberta or Scott Murphy at 877-818-8197 or directly at 760-402-9101 (Roberta) or 760-613-6190 (Scott).
| Currently Comments
San Diego Real Estate: Per Bob Dyson
February 12th, 2008 Categories: Market Trends, Real Estate Juice, Real Estate News
Bob Dyson has a voice worth hearing especially as it relates to Southern California real estate.
Dyson is owner-broker of Villa Sothebys International Realty in Del Mar, CA (which may be San Diegos fastest-growing real estate firm) as well as Dyson and Dyson Sothebys in the Palm Springs area.
Dysons regular As I See It columns are eagerly awaited by not only Sothebys savvy clients, but by countless real estate agents as well.
To share the wealth with all, we present his latest in its entirety:
Today Id like to take a deeper look at the state of real estate. Although its a brand new calendar year, I still see some negatives yet to come in ˜08.
INSURANCE COMPANY ISSUES
Insurance companies for years have been insuring the top end of residential real estate loans. Any loan over 80% Loan To Value (LTV) usually required the borrower to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). This insurance guarantees the lender that, if the borrower fails to pay mortgage payments and is foreclosed on, then the insurance company would pay the lender any losses they would incur.
With the foreclosure market escalating, losses in these categories of insurance are climbing at an alarming rate. Insurers are claiming these loans are fraudulent - which triggers a clause in most PMI agreements with lenders. Lenders, of course, are arguing that the loans are not fraudulent. Meanwhile, liability to both lender and insurance company are climbing daily.
As we get ready to experience more than $1 TRILLION (yes, with a T) of adjustable rate loans adjusting upwards, many are already preparing for the loss of their home. Some have even stopped making payments or have bought or rented elsewhere knowing their credit will be damaged.
THE LOCAL ECONOMY
With every residential property sale usually two families move - one moves out and another moves in. This one transaction usually triggers some 1,000 other transactions within a community - from the purchase of everything from new furniture to linens to opening up accounts with dry cleaners and drinking water delivery.
In an off market, every one who relies on these real estate transactions feels the ripple down effect that impact all sectors of the economy.
These two issues alone are resonating across the country and are creating the worst case of No Buyer Confidence that I have experienced in my 40 years in the real estate industry.
SLOW GOVERNMENT REPORTING
Government reporting is FINALLY catching up to reality and reports are reading that property values are hitting 5- to 20-year lows that have never been seen before in many US communities.
SOLUTIONS AHEAD AS I SEE IT IN 2008
AUCTIONS
As I mentioned in my last email, I have personally experienced some recent auctions in Southern California and Nevada and all of these auctions were well-run and well-attended. Attendees were qualified and ready to buy and, in general, these auctions sold out with many of the properties selling at MORE THAN retail value. Auctions have proven to me that property will return to home ownership and to investors much more swiftly than any downturn experienced in times past.
HEDGE FUNDS
Also this month, I have personally experienced what is happening in the hedge fund markets. I have met with hedge fund managers who, in many cases, are the same people who accumulated hedge funds from investors around the world for the loans now going into default. These fund managers are going to individual investors and are accumulating large pools of capital to be used by these funds to acquire defaulting properties in large bulk purchases. In some cases, hundreds of properties at a time.
Our company alone has written letters of intent on several large blocks of residential properties for clients that will be purchased at significant discounts from the banks. The hedge fund-owned properties are then put back up for sale to the general public through either auctions or real estate firms with the intent of significant profit and gain for their investors.
CONFORMING LOANS
Congress is about to pass an increase in conforming loan limits. Conforming loans are home loans guaranteed by the federal government. This practice and the formation of the FHA (Federal Housing Administration - now referred to as HUD) began just after WWII to stimulate and promote home ownership. This was the beginning of the middle class in American in the late 1940s, and has afforded many families great wealth and financial growth.
Higher conforming loan limits (as high as $730,000) are being proposed and will solve several major problems as we see them today:
* Home owners will refinance immediately and avoid adjustable loan rate increases
* Mortgage brokers will be back in the game everywhere
* Banks and savings and loan lenders will again return to lending practices under the governments guaranteed loan programs through FHA and other government sponsored lending programs
* Investor confidence will return¦home owner confidence will return¦inventory will reduce swiftly¦buyers will re-enter the home buying market and buyer confidence will return with a vengeance
GOOD MINDS AT WORK
The current real estate market conditions are affecting the world economy for reasons mentioned above. A lot of very wise people are working on many models and scenarios that are aimed at fixing the current pandemic, while establishing some new guidelines that might assure that this will not happen again.
The federal government and the Treasury are both really focused on this issue like never seen before. It takes this type of concentration by leadership to make change in a timely manner.
BUYER/INVESTOR CONFIDENCE
Despite the negative issues mentioned above, and assuming some of the solutions I have mentioned, I believe that we will see a V shaped rebound of our economy rather than a slow U shaped recovery all to begin by 2nd quarter of ˜08 and expand rapidly throughout the year.
* There is a lot of cash and good credit on the sidelines waiting for the bottom of this market.
* Great real estate inventory is on the market everywhere.
* Sellers more than ever have to sell.
* Main Street and Wall Street are both more than ready, willing and able to make this problem go away.
So, conditioned on the timeliness of the proposed governmental changes mentioned above, Im predicting - Investor and residential Buyer Confidence begins to return in second quarter of ˜08.
And thats How I See It.
Bob Dyson
| About the AuthorBob Dyson is the Broker of Dyson & Dyson Sothebys International Realty in Palm Desert/Palm Springs, and Garner Valley, Calif. and Villa Sothebys International Realty in Del Mar, Calif. With nearly 40 years experience in the Real Estate Industry, Bob has become an industry innovation leader. In addition to his many years in the brokerage industry, Bob is also involved in real estate mapping and development and currently has several thousand acres in various stages of mapping and development in Southern Nevada and Southern California. |
About the CompanyDyson & Dyson Sothebys International Realty and Villa Sothebys International Realty were founded in Southern California in 1988 under the name Dyson & Dyson Real Estate Associates. Offering a variety of unparalleled real estate services, the brokerage operates offices in the Palm Desert/Palm Springs area, and Garner Valley under the name Dyson & Dyson Sothebys International Realty and in the San Diego County area under the name Villa Sothebys International Realty. If you would like to view any of the properties we currently have available in these great destinations, please visit www.dysonanddyson.com or www.VillaSIR.com.
Each office is independently owned and operated.
| Currently Comments
Luxury Builder Claims 2007 is Worst in 40 Years
December 10th, 2007 Categories: Luxury Homes, Market Trends, New Homes, Real Estate Juice, San Diego
If San Diego real estate investors are looking for blood in the streets, they had better be wearing galoshes.
Even the fat books of venerable Toll Brothers, Americas largest builder of luxury tract homes, are in the red. For the first time in 21 years, the company is suffering its first quarterly loss (Oct. 31) in the amount of $81.8 million. Much of this loss can be attributed to $314.9 million in pretax writedowns for homes it could no longer sell at a profit. Even Robert Toll, the companys founder, concedes that 2007 has been the most challenging year in the companys 40 year history.
But every loss also registers a gain somewhere and somehow–especially with ther San Diego real estate market.
It has been evident that newer tract home subdivisions have been hit especially hard the past couple of years. Many San Diego homeowners needing to sell had bought during market highs and more than a few a have been forced to sell at a loss. Funds spent on landscaping, hardscaping, flooring/ surface upgrades, and window coverings (and perhaps even the down payment) have gone down the drain.
It is a tough time to be a San Diego home seller.
This has forced a number of builders with standing inventory to offer costly upgrades as an incentive for potential home buyers. Those buyers, who once had to budget for many of these improvements, are now getting them for free sometimes packaged with interest rate buydowns and other incentives. It is a spiral that has forced builders and their prior home buyers to compete.
Many shrewd Southern California real estate buyers have been renting and waiting for opportunities such as these and are coming out of hiding. Real estate investors who sold at or near the top of the market a couple of years ago are also back into buying mode. And so are foreign investors, who benefit not only from depressed real estate prices in the prime San Diego markets, but also the strength of their Euros and Canadian dollars against the US dollar.
This may explain the recent phenomenon in our beaten-down San Diego real estate market, where multiple offers are being made on properties that are priced under market. Its something we havent seen in a long time, and just may be the beginning of a market bottom.
If you have any questions (or need to borrow a pair of rubber boots), just give us a call at 877-818-8197 or 760-402-9101.
| Currently Comments
