San Diego Coastal Homes Blog

AND THIS IS WHY WE ALL WANT TO LIVE IN SAN DIEGO!   Before the boring real estate talk begins take a gander at the photo of Windansea Beach property!  Yes, it $5,995,000 but for those in that lucky price range and I know you are out there- this is the most amazing property ever!  La Jolla has lots of water but not much SAND and this is steps to the grainy paradise!  Plus you can walk to La Jolla Village or Birdrock– no matter if you hae a Rolls or a Porsche you NEVER have to GET IN THEM!  Just saying!

So many clients that come to San Diego – in all price ranges seriously think that THE ENTIRE city is by the ocean!  Sadly for $300,000 it would be a looooooong walk!  It can be done in some areas in a one bedroom condo- Imperial Beach – maybe Oceanside—even there it’s doubtful!  Well, they don’t call them “sunshine” dollars for nothing!

We’ve covered over and over again the need for any buyer to SEE a lender before they “get in the car” to view property.  There’s plenty of financing for first time buyers, third or fourth time buyers but you have to be able to SHOW that you qualify in terms of income, expenses, down payment, blood type etc.  Thos nifty easy qualifying loans (the beginning of this MESS) are no longer around!  It takes longer for pre approvals as underwriters want to verify income by actually seeing DOCUMENTATION!  Forget all those secret deductions for tax loss benefits…We no longer can have it BOTH WAYS! Sad- but true!  And that pesky credit rate – well you gotta be hitting over 720 to get a good rate.

Listen, life is fun – just go into the home buying process with answers ahead of time and nothing jumps out at you at the end.  The experience truly is a “once in a lifetime” adventure!!!!

Here is how it begins.  I finally learned how to post photos…wrote down directions and now praying it will all work… I talk about staging a lot because truthfully that’s the beginning of the entire process.  Check out the SECOND load in my Jeep–furniture was taken on first trip.  It’s interesting because the conception is that only “yukky” houses need staging…look at it this way – everyone has good points…all houses have good points…we just can’t be “chicken” as agents and NOT have the confidence and trust from our clients when we make suggestions!  I even bring in a “professional” stager who is a friend of mine to back me up in suggestions..!  This truckfull is not going into a YUKKY house — it’s going into a “drop dead gorgeous house next to Wind And Sea Beach…but it just needed some “extra touches” that when you live in a house you really don’t NEED… however when you are selling a multi million house—well let’s face it even with a gorgeous view it better look darn good…and yipeeeee it does!

It’s an interesting real estate climate out there and those of us that work realllly hard and go “out of the box” for our clients will survive the madness.  I offer the same services to all my sellers – no matter the price range…sometimes they even like my staging so much that they buy my “accessories” and they go live with them in their next house!  I’m fortunate as I know this is a “hidden” talent –since I am not a designer- but I think my years in advertising taught me how to “stage” a product—this just takes it a bit further!  Thought you’d like my FIRST photo…have a great week end!

The home looks better with the details moved in…

There is so much to say this week…San Diego is going through a “broken heart” over the senseless and “preventable” death of Poway’s Chelsea King.  This is not a political forum and is not the vehicle for venting but we the “people” need to ban together to assure legislation that this doesn’t happen over and over again!

Back to real estate I did an Open House in Point Loma which brought to mind how many properties there are available these days that correlate with the price range for FORECLOSURES AND BANK OWNED homes which in most cases are completely SCARY!  I have shown homes owned by BANKS that literally have DEAD rodents in plain view and landscaping (can’t really call it that)- so overgrown that goodness only knows what is under that!!!  This property listed under $450,000 was in Point Loma- almost 1500 square feet and in pristine condition!  Compare that to Bank Owned in the same area….yikes!  Even being under the flight path didn’t bother me.  Watch my segment on “Homes N Cooking” on U-tube and you can see the property!   Strange and Interesting Times in Real Estate land!!!    Also did a staging job this week in La Jolla…always challenging but something I LOVE doing…it’s a great “add on service” for clients