Hotel Del Coronado
The Hotel del Coronado has been a family and ancestor-favorite for many years. It is a luxury hotel, it is an historical monument, it is an icon for both San Diego and Coronado. Rooms at the Hotel del Coronado are not inexpensive, but memories of your stay here will last a lifetime. It is a wonderful hotel to explore and offers magnificent view of both the Pacific ocean and the bay with its San Diego skyline view.
If you are interested in knowing more about the Hotel del Coronado or Coronado real estate and homes for sale, please call Roberta or Mike Murphy at 877-818-8197 or 760-402-9101/9102.
San Diego 4th of July Fireworks for 2008
June 30th, 2008 Categories: At Home in Del Mar, Carlsbad Real Estate, Coronado, La Costa, San Diego Activities
San Diego’s mortgage meltdown and budget constraints have forced Chula Vista to cancel its big annual fireworks display, and Valley Center has fire safety issues, but the 4th of July fireworks displays in the rest of San Diego County will light the skies this Friday night.
San Diego’s real estate market notwithstanding, you shouldn’t have to drive far from your San Diego home to find a good spot to picnic and watch the fireworks:
2007 Fireworks Schedule in San Diego County
SAN DIEGO
Coronado: Glorietta Bay and Silver Strand
July 4, 9 p.m. Day-long festivities with a parade at 10 a.m.
(619) 437-8788.
La Jolla Cove
July 4, 9 p.m.
(858) 454-1444
Mira Mesa Recreation Center
July 4, 9 p.m. Food, rides, games and entertainment in Mira Mesa Community Park during the day.
(858) 538-8122.
Mission Bay Yacht Club
July 4, 9 p.m.
(858) 488-0501.
Ocean Beach Pier
July 4, 9 p.m.
(619) 226-8613.
Mission Bay: Paradise Point Resort
Thursday, July 3 at 9 p.m. with BBQ at 6 pm
(858) 274-4630.
Downtown: Petco Park
Saturday July 12, Fireworks follow the Padres game
(619) 795-5005.
San Diego Big Bay
July 4, 9 p.m.
(858) 751-5755.
Mission Bay: Sea World
July 4, 9:30 p.m.
(800) 25-SHAMU.
EAST COUNTY
Santee: Town Center Community Park Ballfields
July 4, 9 p.m.
(619) 258-4100 x201.
Spring Valley Park
July 4, 9 p.m.
(619) 479-1832.
Campo: Golden Acorn Casino
Saturday, July 5, 9 p.m.
619-938-6000[
NORTH COUNTY
San Marcos: Bradley Park
July 4, 9 p.m. Food and music are part of the celebration happening earlier in the day.
(760) 744-9000.
Vista: Brengle Terrace Park
July 4, 9 p.m. Daylong festivities.
(760) 726-1340, ext. 1574.
Camp Pendleton: Del Mar Beach
July 4, 9 p.m. All day activities including music, food and games.
(760) 725-2313.
Escondido: Grape Day Park
July 4, 9 p.m. Afternoon festivities, including game and food booths, music and entertainment.
(760) 745-1159.
Carlsbad: Legoland
July 4, 8:30 p.m. included with admission
(760) 918-LEGO.
La Costa Resort and Spa
July 4, after dark
760-438-9111
Oceanside Pier
July 4, 9 p.m. Part of the O’Fest All-Day Carnival
(760) 967-2005.
Ramona: Olive Peirce Middle School
July 4, 9 p.m. Grounds open at 5 p.m. for town picnic including food booths and games.
(760) 789-1311.
Rancho Bernardo High School
July 4, 9 p.m. Daylong festivities kick off at 10 a.m. in Webb Park.
(619) 889-8505.
Del Mar Fairgrounds
July 4, 9 p.m. included with admission
(858) 755-1161.
Valley Center High School
Canceled this year. Back in blazing colors in 2009!
(760) 670-7062.
SOUTH BAY
Chula Vista: Bayside Park: Canceled
Wednesday, 9 p.m. Food, music, and entertainment will be featured beginning at noon.
(619) 420-6603.
National City: Kimball Park
Wednesday, 9 p.m. Carnival rides, games and food booths also.
(619) 336-4290.
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A San Diego Real Estate Market Report–
June 10th, 2008 Categories: At Home in Del Mar, Coronado, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe
–from San Diego’s premier luxury real estate broker, who also spends a lot of time in the trenches:
Bob Dyson, Broker-Owner of Villa Sotheby’s International Realty in San Diego and Dyson & Dyson Sotheby’s International Realty in the desert. Bob speaks with the voice of experience, and has never been one to mince words.
And Dyson’s most recent column, sent via email this morning, is no exception.
Insight from a Real Estate Insider
CURRENT REAL ESTATE MARKET CONDITIONS
by Bob Dyson
I have been asked again to render an opinion on current real estate market conditions as a lot has changed since our last forecast dated March 27th, 2008.
Over the past few months I have been in most of our Southern California offices on a weekly basis working with individual groups of agents, discussing the market from their perspective and experimenting with new and innovative ways to define and approach this “moving target market”.
In addition, I personally have been “in the trench” in the development business in San Diego and Riverside Counties and the San Diego real estate sales and listing market working directly with Sellers and Buyers and gathering my own opinion of the market.
AGENTS:
Our focus, as an industry, has (for the most part) been spent on satisfying our selling clients or finding the traditional buyers of real estate….
We have been advertising to satisfy sellers (in general) as well as attempting to promote ourselves as professional agents in our communities.
We have been placating many people who just do not understand that this market has changed dramatically and that property values are being affected on a daily basis by many external forces beyond our control.
This market cries out for innovation, a different focus and a clearly defined direction of effort.
SELLERS OF REAL ESTATE:
I divide these people in to six categories:
1. Sellers that are financially upside down as to the values of their property vs. their loan balances.
2. Those that are on the market with equity and do not have a strong desire to move.
3. Bulk Sale Sellers (Hedge Funds as they call themselves)
4. Clients that are on the market, have equity and a strong desire and need to move.
5. Those that are bank owned.
6. High End Sellers
How you invest your time, as an agent, in these 6 categories tells you who is making a living in today’s market.
Many of us have spent way too much time in categories one, two and three. As agents, all we have to sell is our time and wisdom of the market. To invest it incorrectly is not our highest and best use of time and energy, plus, it is very stressful.
People in these first 3 categories have another agenda, foreign from what we have been used to.
If they are threatened with losing their home or a changing lifestyle they react differently and often don’t disclose their real concerns and agendas.
Category three clients (Bulk Buyers) have wasted so much time of agents on the bet that the agent will be “Written in” their transactions and that there is a big commission ahead that will solve everything only to find out that the client had no intention of paying you a big “Traditional” fee for your services in a bulk sale. Most of them are not pulling the trigger anyway.
Conversely, I have spent a lot of time with smiling agents who are working the “Strong Desire Client” and focusing on where and why they are moving and assisting them in getting to that goal while understanding proper pricing of their current home to get to that goal.
Agents working the foreclosure listing markets and being very successful and consistent.
This market will be with us for years to come.
Most of these “Bank” Sellers lower their property prices weekly until the properties sell….best kind of seller with whom to have a relationship.
I am also working with many agents specializing in the high end…the least effected market. These agents are smart and are working the needs of their clients.
THE REAL ESTATE BUYING PUBLIC:
Where are the buyers????…Oh, they are out there….in droves…good credit…lots of cash and ready to take advantage of these market conditions.
For the past several months buyers and investors have been looking for the bottom. Although none of us can predict exactly when this market begins to shift to a demand market we can certainly agree that we are somewhere near the bottom in many real estate market places.
The lending market, in its own way, is making corrections and write-offs necessary to return to traditional lending with some assistance from the federal government.
WALL STREET:
One of our biggest problems is that Wall Streets continued denial that we are in a recession along with their amazing ability to mask huge financial issues on a daily basis.
Wall Street, as well as the Feds, continues to work off of 60 and 90 day old data as exampled by the most recent report of unemployment and a drop of some 400 points in the DOW the week of June 7th. Those were based on April numbers!!!!
In addition, the Fed continues to amend reports downward at a later date as if to diminish the one time sting of a negative announcement. On Wall Street, adjustments in reporting are never given the same impact as initial reports…. that’s why they “Estimate” and then tell us the truth later.
Because of these deceptive practices I predict one more big drop in the stock market…somewhere in the 2000-point range. This is necessary, in my opinion, to re focus investors on both the historic overall stability of real estate and the unbelievable opportunities in today’s market.
In a recent discussion with Roger Hedgecock (San Diego Talk Radio Host) and New York Mike (Talk Show Host and Business Owner of San Diego Harley Davidson) I am amazed at how excited they are about this market.
They believe that “Even if we are not at the bottom and if you intend to hold for at least two years, a property that you buy at great value today you will hit an absolute homerun.”
This type of excitement will “make a market” and before you know it ….many people will return to real estate with an entirely different mission and attitude.
THE RESULT OF ALL THIS:
1. Reduced agent and broker overhead will quickly lead to early profits and future investment capital.
2. Focused attention on who you spend your time with will reward you well.
3. Prepare for an onslaught of real estate investors followed by first time homebuyers and second homebuyers never before seen in the market.
I don’t think any of us can comprehend the pent up demand waiting for the return of measurable and stable real estate markets and lending practices. The best times are ahead for those that really focus in the right areas of our business.
And That’s How I See It
Bob Dyson
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San Deago and San Deigo Real Estate (I Jest)
February 28th, 2008 Categories: Coronado, Encinitas, Real Estate News, San Diego
This is just a late night musing and grumble.
For years, I have marveled at Google and Yahoos search engine ability to direct misspelled cities and other destinations to the right place and wondered why my GPS system is so unforgiving of the slightest typo.
Somehow Google, MSN, Yahoo, Ask.com and others know how to direct San Deigo Reel Estate, La Hoya Real Estate, Encintas Homes and Cornado realstate to San Diego Real Estate and its pages within.
And for that I am most grateful.
The grumble: I cant tell you the number of times I couldnt get the spelling of a street right, and the pesky GPS provided zilch.
The musing: Why doesnt Google, with all its maps and intuitive sense of placement, enter the GPS business for automobiles?
Just a suggestion from a frustrated San Diego Relator, you geaks.
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Hauntings at the Hotel del Coronado
December 6th, 2007 Categories: Coronado, Resorts
Reports of hauntings at the Hotel del Coronado have circulated for years. The most famous ghost is a young woman who reportedly committed suicide near the turn of the last century. I don’t recall exactly where she stayed that fateful night at the Hotel del Coronado, but I do recall a desk clerk giving me the room number during a stay there a few years ago.
Unable to resist the temptation, I went by that small interior room in the hotel (with windows that opened into the hallway), but could see nothing. The clerk said that many psychics and ghosthunters reserve the room–either out of curiosity, or the possible opportunity for a Coronado seance.
I am not aware of any threatening gestures made by the ghost or spirit that supposedly roams the halls and grounds of the Hotel del Coronado, but would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has encountered any ghosts or spirits at this legendary San Diego hotel–or who have their own Hotel del Coronado.
–Roberta Murphy (760) 402-9101
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San Diego Loan Fraud: Kickbacks and Consequences
December 6th, 2007 Categories: Carlsbad Real Estate, Coronado, La Jolla, Market Trends, Mortgage News, Real Estate News, San Diego, San Diego Communities, San Marcos
Opportunities for real estate fraud couldnt have been more ripe than in 2005 and 2006, when real estate prices started to quietly soften especially in fertile markets like San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami.
Home prices in these areas had rocketed to unsustainable levels, and some of the micro markets within these areas had already started to stall as early as 2005. By 2006, market time and days on market for San Diego real estate had begun to climb, to the discomfort of many sellers.
Many had listed their properties, hoping their homes could sell for at least as much as the recent neighborhood comparable sales or their own refinance appraisal and perhaps even more. Some of these sellers were more motivated than others, and reduced their listing prices substantially to attract more buyers.
The stars were perfectly aligned for the real estate crooks:
- The San Diego housing market was declining, and there was general confusion in pricing;
- Mortgage money was easy, especially with stated income loans.
- Many of these shady real estate agents also wore the hats of loan brokers and vice versa. This allowed better control of the transaction.
For example, we had an Imperial Beach home listed at close to $500,000, based on the owners 2005 refinance appraisal. Because the property needed so much work, the motivated absentee seller agreed to reduce the price to $399,000 and sell the home in as-is condition. Almost immediately, we had an offer for $500,000 (100 percent financing) with $120,000 to be credited back to the purchaser at close of escrow. The South Bay agent assured us the buyer was approved by their crooked in-house lending operation.
We presented the offer to the seller, and advised to him reject it outright. It was an obvious case of loan fraud.
A few months later, we had another fraudulent purchase attempt on a home we had listed in Carlsbad. It was a lovely listing in Rancho Carrillo that had also had a substantial reduction in price. We received a verbal offer from an out-of-area contractor who had never seen the property. His loan broker called from Northern California, and explained that their offer (100 percent financing again) required over $100,000 back because of all the work this contractor would have to do. They wanted me to write the offer, believing perhaps that if I double-ended the deal, I would be more cooperative.
No dice.
We shot back a quick rejection. This newer home, by the way, was already in pristine condition and was sold shortly thereafter to very qualified buyers.
This time, though, I called the San Diego office for the FBI, and reported all the information I had regarding this attempted fraudulent purchase. I provided names, telephone numbers and email addresses and never heard anything more.
Since then, we have seen countless cases where San Diego County homes were sold at highly inflated prices in 2005 or 2006 with 100 percent financing. That can be an immediate red flag for either buyer and borrower misrepresentation or possible loan fraud.
There is also the technique of hiding a kickback in inflated commission, because lenders arent privy to real estate commissions paid. Though not exactly illegal, it is a practice that should be examined. I am inclined to think commission kickbacks should be considered a lender disclosure issue.
The untallied costs of these real estate and lending crimes and schemes have contributed enormously to the current real estate crisis.
In the meantime, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has wasted huge amounts of time and resources the past few years pursuing the National Association of Realtors (NAR) over ownership of MLS data and other obscurities. Their time, I believe, would have been far better spent pursuing organized and fraudulent real estate practitioners. Had they, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies been more aggressive in this arena, the real estate market might be in a different position today.
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