San Diego Coastal Homes Blog

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

In my constant search for interesting real estate “tidd bits” I scour the California Association of Realtor web site as they are a wealth of knowledge.  Some stuff we all know unless we have been living under the “bed” which in these times can be quiet a few of us.    It seems like you folks living in San Francisco are the luckiest “sellers” because your median resales in condo’s from November through January have stayed steady from last year.  Pretty much leading analysts and agents to conclude that in this area if CONDOS have settled HOUSES have really settled.  Buyers are a little sad…but it’s always been a really expensive city.  I have a good friend who lives in a condo across from Fisherman’s Wharf and literally keeps her winter clothes in the storage area of the garage in the summer and flips that in the winter.  But hey, it keeps a girl from buying stuff she doesn’t need.  Remember Sex and the City where Carrie keeps her SWEATERS in her oven:) Gotta do what you gotta do…

Because of all the vacant houses that are not selling throughout the state cities are starting ordinances that requires owners to REGISTER their homes with the city if they are vacant for more than 30 days.  Great more for the understaffed and overworked police to do!  In many areas there is “squatting” happening in many neighborhoods and you can imagine the neighbors are not so happy.  See, we should hide under the bed!

On the positive side when selling if you accurately price a home you have a really good chance of success.  We recommend that you add furniture to empty rooms, replace dark carpeting with BEIGE and NEUTRAL tones so rooms look larger and more appealing.  Obviously de-clutter.  CALL or e mail me- I’m really good at this part!

One more good piece of news.  Because of the instability of employment – California rate at 12.4% (which sounds low— I think if you work ONE day a week you are NOT in these stats) many buyers could find themselves unemployed at some point.  The CAR is offering a Mortgage Protection Program (MPP) to qualified first time buyers offered by CAR’s Housing Affordability Fund.  This provides up to $1,500 per month for up to 6 months to qualified buyers who lose their jobs.   If interested again I will give all readers the “scoop” as I always need to check what “qualified buyers” means TODAY!    At least that’s a good piece of news for First Time Buyers who I love to work with!!!      Have a great week….

Good morning – sometimes it’s not all about Real Estate news which frankly can be boring and dry.  Stats are interesting and useful but they aren’t exactly FUN news!  What sold where – blah blah… let’s face it when a buyer is ready to make one of the biggest purchases of their life THEN we can stat them to death- but when they see the right house it all comes together and the American Dream happens yet one more time.  It’s really the best day when that all  happens and I can get that house in escrow for an excited and happy family!!

As we dive into Spring and what the house selling market will bring I thought it would be helpful to talk about “making over” your kitchen.  Whether you are selling or just wanting to spiff up your house!  On the selling side the uncertain house market brings back an old trend-  going back to neutrals with white cabinets coming back to vague.  Not  my personal favorite- but they do show off a kitchen well especially when you add your own splash of color with dish towels and accessories.

Designers feel that with each New Year a new trend comes. (sure they want to keep their jobs).  One thought is to make the kitchen “stand out” amongst your other rooms.  Lets face it it’s where everyone spends the most time.   It seems like stainless appliances are still the first choice and options of shades of  gray, yellow, red, blue and even purple are delighting kitchen critics.  Grey along with stainless appliances gives your kitchen the “industrial” feel that will make it a showplace.  Colors of yellow, purple and blue are pleasing and make kitchens light and bright.  The important thing is to make it a “individual room” with interesting accents, towels, photographs from food shots to family photos, cook books etc.  Using bottles of Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and spices tend to make kitchens not only warm but add warmth as well as being useful.

When I stage a house I really concentrate on giving the kitchen the most personality,  It’s great these days with places like Home Goods and Marshalls offering amazing accessories for great prices.  Don’t be afraid to punch up your kitchen with vases from Italy, pots from Spain, bowls of fruit, and colorful canisters. It takes little money if you have good taste.

2010 trends in kitchen colors are sure to please everyone that wants to “keep up with the times”.  Let your painting sales associate help with ideas.  Let them know what you already have and pick a color around your appliances and accents.  Picking the right kitchen paint and color will take any kitchen from boring and drab to fabulous and fun!  What better way to start Spring than to make your kitchen an even “happier place”  Bon Appetite!

Good morning San Diego…Updated Tax Credit Info.  I’m always on the prowl for interesting real estate information.  Goodness knows its not the most exciting of professions when it comes to “colorful” stories.  Now, ask me about The Bachelor t.v. show and I can give comments that will curl your hair- alas that’s not why I’m here – at least not on this blog.

I’m always being asked about the Tax Credit guidelines and as it seems that they change every five minutes I will give you the latest info from California Real Estate Magazine.  If they don’t know we’re ALL in trouble!

Contract must be signed and agreed to by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.

The income limit for claiming the full tax credit is $125,000 for singles and $225,000 for married taxpayers filing joint return.

Homes purchased for up to $800,000 are eligible.  Yippee that means you can actually BUY a house in most of San Diego!!!

A first time buyer is defined as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three year period prior to the purchase.  If you are married this includes home ownership history of both spouses.

So that is the “up to the minute” status of the $8,000 tax credit which is good news as approximately 53% of all sales in 2009 were “first time buyers”.  Seriously, no matter what it is the “american dream” to own your own house.  It’s the ONLY way that you can feel comfortable tearing apart a kitchen or moving a wall.  Landlords tend to get cranky when you do those things!  Happy Wednesday the 10th of February!

The beginning of the year is always a good time for some basic market statistics.  We all hear them on the news and “glaze over” when we see the long boring articles.  Using current SANDICOR based information it shows that December 2009 had good energy with approximately 3000 homes selling.  The good news is that if you had a house for sale in the low $400,000 or less your house probably “flew off the market”.  I had a listing in Oceanside with multiple offers in one day that sold over list price.  It showed amazingly and yet we priced it lower than the owners paid for a few years ago.  Yup, there were price decreases even in that price range.   The good news is that the price reductions brought back an affordable market and the chance for first time buyers to purchase a home.  Hurray!  Thus creating a demand in that price range!  One thing that is evident is that the “best looking house wins” when you have choices.  Not nearly the buyers out there wanting “fixers” unless the house is “practically free”!

The first of the year brings a lack of inventory as the demand of buyers trying to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit is still there.  Very high end however is still moving slowwww.  Obviously the better the house, location and price, the better the chance of selling.  Take for instance La Jolla – if you want privacy and views there are “hill buyers” if for the money you want to “walk to the sand”- there are sand buyers.  Sellers just have to be patient and houses have to be “movie star quality”!
If interest rates start to increase it will slow down the demand.  However anything under $600,000 still seems to be “ruling” the San Diego market.  Just quickly checking Del Mar (high price zip) there are 14 houses in PENDING starting at $775,000 to $5,395,000 (not SOLD prices – still in escrow).  Four of these actually went into escrow since the beginning of the year.

So we are still lucky enough to be able to charge those “sun shine” dollars for living in one of the best weather cities in the US.  Even if we all freaked out by two weeks of rain.  Hey, it made the roofing industry happy!!

Newsflash – now that the weather is finally back to normal it’s time to start having “Open Houses” again.  I know it’s a pain to leave every Sunday but try it for an extended period of time just to get the house exposed.  The closer you are to the “water” the more “lookers”.

I had an interesting visit to a bank owned property in Solana Beach yesterday.  It was an original Countrywide loan and we have been trying to get more information on the home. without much luck  Check my U-tube Homes N Cooking for a look at how banks are letting properties deteriorate before they get around to “putting them on the market”.  I know that bank staffing has been cut but just on the interest rate that they ARE NOT paying on CD’s alone they should have enough funds for their real estate departments to keep these homes from literally “falling apart”!  If they would get the right real estate agents – put in even a couple of thousand dollars to do some repairs and clean up the yards it would keep the house AND the neighborhood happy!   Aaaaarg – can you feel my angst!  

On a funnier note I love the signs that are going to be installed around the beaches regarding the tsusamis warnings… “Walk Away From The Ocean”….  seriously?  I would think we’d all be GRABBING our surf boards!  Gotta love where our tax dollars go:)   Surfs Up!

It’s interesting to note that when I get clients from other areas they all think that San Diego is on the beach!  Wishful thiking on their part however the good news is that no matter where you live the “beach” is not that far away.  Even our neighbors in Fallbrook can jump on the 76 and zip to the ocean!   Don’t worry – no matter where you buy in San Diego all your relatives will visit from the east coast!

Many times its easy to add a room.  Do you have a den that is not being used?  Adding a door and closet and you have an extra room.  Are you lucky enough to have a “large” room that can be split in half.  If it leads out to the hallway it’s simply to cut and frame a door and increase your home room size thus increasing your home value.   Contractors are eager to work and its the perfect time for remodeling!  Wish we had basements – but hey instead we have great weather (well most of the time).

Hi Everyone…it’s been a while since  my last posting —I’ve been trying to get Ron over his back surgery—which has almost put ME in the hospital!   This nursing stuff is time consuming!

Interesting news from Realtor Magazine.  Short version of article is “concentrate on staging”.  Much more than in the past, staging can make the difference between your listing selling before the competition down the street.  With your agent go “room by room” in order to evaluate the house in the best light possible.  It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money – just paint the room and rearrange the furniture to make it less personal.  Add a new front door hardware, maybe stain the front door.    I have lots of other ideas up my sleeve- not to mention half a garage full of staging accessories so we”re ready on this end!  Sometimes just some blooming flowers in pots outside the front and back doors is all it takes to add life to the patios.  I’m great at re arranging furniture!  The best thing a seller can do is not take anything personal and let me “go for it”!  I had great success last year in selling three homes that not staged would have been much less appealing!  Happy Monday!

Well we’ve all made it through the first week of 2010 and it does have a nice sound to it!  The word on the street is that another wave of foreclosures are coming!  I sure wish I knew these asset managers because they need some lessons on how to “get houses ready for sale” as well as how to deal with buyers.  I have had the worst experiences trying to put in offers for clients on these foreclosure properties.   The agents working for the banks are as bad as the banks.    Comments are :”E MAIL OFFER” they don’t have the time, interest or courtesy to actually TALK to the agents who are representing  buyers who are making offers in good faith! 

WHEN did this cease to be a SERVICE business and not a bunch of” “money grubbing number crunchers?”  Do you hear my fraustration!  Well if you want to work with someone who actually WANTS to be a human and not a robot give a call!  O.K. enough screetching… it’s a beautiful day in San Diego! 

 Also a great tip…IF you are thinking of putting your home on the market and have the room in the back or front of your house to add a deck – for a few thousand dollars you can actually “expand” the size of your home at least visually!  You’ll get back the money spend two fold!   I love home tips—and have tons!  More to come!  Happy New Year again….