Palm Springs, CA

Yesterday, it was officially announced the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit of $8000 for first-home buyers has been extended past its expiration date of November 30, 2009.

Based on the information that is available, homebuyers have until April 30, 2010 to purchase a home and it must close escrow no later than June 30, 2010.

This is good news for the real estate community and for the many people who have been "sitting on the fence" and waiting for the perfect deal.

I have preaching to everyone since January 2009 that the time to buy real estate in Palm Springs is NOW.

Foreclosed homes have been driving the Palm Springs real estate market since the beginning of the year and the prices here "bottomed" out in August. Does this mean you have missed your chance on buying a home? No, it just means that the prices of homes has leveled out. Here is a look at the homes sales for the month of November in Palm Springs:

November 2009 Home Sales: 68 Foreclosures Sold= 34 Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosures)= 6

Avg. List Price: $381,814 Avg. Sold Price: $362,337 Avg. Price Per Sq. Foot: $171 DOM= 100

November 2009 Condo Sales: 50 Foreclosures Sold= 11 Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosures)= 2

Avg. List Price: $184,296 Avg. Sold Price: $171,215 Avg. Price Per Sq. Foot: $136 DOM= 82

As you can see, 50% of the homes purchased in the month of November were foreclosures and sold for 95% of the listing price.

Now is the time to take advantage of the extension of the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit and buy the home of your dreams in Palm Springs.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

About the Author:

Harold Watts of Scott Lyle Realtors has been a REALTOR in Palm Springs since 1999. Focusing on the 2nd & Vacation home market, Harold has been helping Real Estate Buyers and Sellers achieve their real estate goals. If you want to know what is happening with the Palm Springs Real Estate market, give Harold Watts a call at 760-218-8209 or email him at Harold.ScottLyleRealtors@gmail.com

As with every other area around the country, the Coachella Valley region saw a near-record number of sales over the past 27 months. While this is encouraging, it is discouraging considering the fact that many closed at incredibly low prices.

If you are a first-time buyer, there has never been a better time to buy. There has been an increase in first-time buyers by 47 percent compared to all home-buyers. And even if this is not your first time around the block, it is still a tremendous time to look into the real estate market.

It is believed that sales prices will continue to stay at the low mark they are at in 2010. While this is promising for home buyers, this means agents will have to close more deals then they did two to three years ago just to see the same business thresholds.

It is forecasted that sales will be sluggish in the mid- to upper-level home market. Coachella Valley and other parts of the country will face some troubling times as homes will see a significant decline in overall value and equity.

Homes that used to be around the $800,000 mark are now falling below the $500,000 mark. As you might expect, this is attracting many first-time buyers with the incredibly affordable home prices on remarkable homes. Not only is this appealing to first-time buyers, but it is also the perfect opportunity for people to move up into a larger home.

What some are taking advantage of is selling at a 5 percent hit and then buying a home for 10 to 15 percent off. People are wheeling and dealing any way they can to take advantage of the market.

One thing is for sure; the market is still healing as there are countless issues that remain relevant. Something that has become quite common today is cash buys due to the low prices. In addition, real estate agents are becoming familiar with multiple bids as many buyers will place a bid on several homes hoping to get one.

In 2006, 40 percent of all homes sold below the asking price. Today, that number is at a staggering average of 80 percent creating a long-run average of 69 percent. These kinds of numbers make it incredibly difficult to predict where the market will be in five years.

Anyone can throw a book of statistics out there and hope for the best. However, it is the plan of action and what really happens that is going to matter. Right now statistics show incredibly low prices on homes for sale resulting in a tremendous surge in home buyers.

Add onto the equation the tax credit that is good until at least November 30 and you have first-time buyers jumping at every home they can. It is even a promising market for people looking to move from one home into a larger home due to the fact that once high-priced homes are selling for average prices.

While all is good for home buyers, there really is no say where the real estate market will be down the road do to the inconsistent and constantly changing industry today.

The fun and festivities of Halloween have come to a close in the city of Palm Springs. Last night, Downtown was packed with many people celebrating the one night they can be who they want to be & forget about the problems in their life and the world. I saw people dressed as pirates, drag queens, the Colorado "Balloon Boy", and a multitude of Hollywood celebrities.

Now that the revelry has died down and people still trying to tak off their makeup, it is the time to start going through my recipes and start planning the annual Diebley-Watts Thanksgiving bash.

We usually will have 12-16people come over and enjoy good food, good conversation, and being grateful for all the good things in our lives.

Life in Palm Springs is not all about dinners and parties during the holidays, it is about getting out and participating in all the activities that this town has to offer.

Here is just a sample of what's happening in Palm Springs during the month of November 2009:

Nov 2^nd- Palm Springs Follies- The 19^th season of the Follies opens with “Let The Good Times Roll”

For performance schedule & tickets, go to psfollies.com

Nov 3rd- Palm Springs Local Elections- Go and cast your vote at the many polling

stations throughout the city. For locations of the different polling stations, go

to the Registrar of Voters website and search by zip code & street name.

Nov 5th- Palm Springs VillageFest- Every Thursday night 6-10pm in Downtown Palm

Springs. For more information, go to the website at palmspringsvillagefest.com

Nov 6-7th- Palm Springs Gay Pride Festival- The annual Palm Springs Gay Pride

Festival is being held at the Sunrise Park Stadium. For more information,

go to the Pride Festival website at pspride.org

Nov 7th- Palm Springs Gay Pride Parade- The parade starts at 10am. The route starts at

Alejo Rd., and ends at Ramon Rd. For more information, go to the Pride Parade

website at pspride.org

Nov 11^th – Annenburg Theatre- Rita Moreno, Academy Award winning actress, per-

forms her one-woman show at the Annenburg Theatre starting at 6pm. For tickets

and information, go to the website at psmuseum.org

Nov 11-14th- Palm Springs Air Museum- Veterans Celebration & 13th Anniversary. Join the Palm Springs Air

Musuem as they honor America's veterans. In addition to the T-34 air shows, they will be having

demonstrations of their P-63 and T-33 throughout the weekend, along with reenactments, activities for the

kids, and plenty of food vendors. For more information, go to the website at

palmspringsairmuseum.com

Nov 11^th- Veteran’s Day Parade- Palm Springs celebrates Veteran’s Day with a parade.

The parade starts at 3:30pm, on Palm Canyon Dr. in Downtown Palm Springs.

Nov 20th-22nd- McCormick’s Classic Car Auction- Drool over you favorite cars from the

50’s, 60’s, & 70’s. The auction is being held at the Spa Resort Hotel. For

more information, go to the website at classic-carauction.com

Nov 26th- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Nov 27th-29th- Desert Arts Festival- See over 100 artists exhibit their work at Frances Stevens

Park. The park is located at the corner of Alejo Rd. & N. Palm Canyon Dr.

The hours of the festival are 10am-4pm.

About the Author:

Harold Watts of Scott Lyle Realtors has been a REALTOR in Palm Springs since 1999. Focusing on the 2nd & Vacation home market, Harold has been helping Real Estate Buyers and Sellers achieve their real estate goals. If you want to know what is happening with the Palm Springs Real Estate market, give Harold Watts a call at 760-218-8209 or email him at Harold.ScottLyleRealtors@gmail.com

To get into the spirit of the Halloween Weekend that is upon us, I wanted to re-tell my own "haunted house" story that I wrote about a 1 1/2 years ago here on ActiveRain. It's not exactly "The Amityville Horror" scary, but it is an experience I will never forget. Let me set up the story for you. I was reading a featured article written by Shirley Byrd-Solem of Roseburg, OR, and the title was "And Someone Was Murdered in my Garage"

Her story was about a home she had sold to her buyers and the call she gets 1 year later. The buyers inform Shirley that the neighbors told them that there was a murder committed in the home.

Nothing was in the original disclosures, Shirley calls the listing agent, who contacts the previous owners, and they don't know anything about a murder. The police are called, and they tell Shirley that there was not a crime committed at that address. The buyers are informed, and everything is fine.

A few months later, Shirley gets another call from her buyers. They inform her that they have been "hearing things at night", sleep disturbances occurring, and the family has been sick. Another call is made to the police department about the house, and it turns out that there was a murder in the home 5 years prior to them moving in.

This story got me thinking about one of my first listings that I procured nearly 10 years ago. It was a golf course condo in Palm Springs, and the estate was being handled by the attorney. The owner of the home was named Betty, and she recently passed away from lung cancer. Her husband had passed away several years before.

One of the first questions I asked, "Did either of the owners die in the home?" The attorney answered no, and I received the keys to the condo.

I opened the door and I understand why Betty died of lung cancer. The smell of stale cigarettes is overpowering.

I stepped into the condo and rush of cold air enveloped me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and a chill went down my spine. The next thought that pops into my head is "I have to clean the patio" I grab a broom and I start sweeping.

After leaving the condo, I'm walking to my car and I run into one of the neighbors. I introduce myself as the Realtor, and the neighbor starts talking about Betty.

She tells me how nice Betty and her husband were, how long they lived there, and that Betty was a neat freak. She also informed me that her favorite spot of her was the patio. She kept it immaculate. I just cleaned the patio.

Now I start hearing the Twilight Zone song playing in my head.

Normally, I don't believe in the paranormal but strange things started happening. When potential buyers would come into the home, they also felt "the cold". Doors would slam shut when there was not any wind. And on several occasions, people were nearly hit with golf balls while standing on Betty's patio.

The condo was not selling after 2 months, and I was in a quandary.

I was talking to a friend about what was happening at the condo, and he told me about a woman he knows, who is "in tune with the spirits". I agreed to meet with her at Betty's condo to give me a "spiritual evaluation"

She immediately felt Betty's presence upon entering the condo. The "medium" informed me that Betty didn't "like" any of the people who were looking at her home, and that she couldn't let go. A ritual smudging needed to be performed.

The ritual of smudging can be defined as "spiritual house cleaning." In theory, the smoke attaches itself to negative energy and as the smoke clears it takes the negative energy with it, releasing it into another space where it will be regenerated into positive energy.

We wrap together pieces of lavender and sage, light it with a match, and we go through every room to cleanse & purify the home. The ritual of smudging and chanting lasts for about 45 minutes.

2 days later, I show the home to a lovely couple from the East Coast. They immediately fall in love with the condo, especially the view from the patio. I silently "speak" to Betty and tell her that these people love & will take care of your home.

I told the couple about Betty, the smudging, everything. Later that day, a contract was signed & escrow was opened. Betty had chosen the owners of her home.

The moral of my ramblings: Whether you bury a St. Joseph's statue in the yard, perform a smudging or exorcism, we Realtors do what we have to do to get a home sold. Happy Halloween!!!

Pictures are compliments of Flickr

About the Author:

Harold Watts of Scott Lyle Realtors has been a REALTOR in Palm Springs since 1999. Focusing on the 2nd & Vacation home market, Harold has been helping Real Estate Buyers and Sellers achieve their real estate goals. If you want to know what is happening with the Palm Springs Real Estate market, give Harold Watts a call at 760-218-8209 or email him at Harold.ScottLyleRealtors@gmail.com

Escena Palm Springs is back in business! The home-sales office reopened in July, the panoramic golf course will reopen in November after reseeding and the brand-new clubhouse will debut in December. Good news all around.

The jazzy, retro-themed development debuted in mid-summer 2006 with lots of fanfare since it was Palm Springs’ first golf-course community in almost two decades. Together builders Lennar and Standard Pacific proffered 15 floorplans in five mini-communities—all united by a breezy, evocative-of-the-‘50s bubbles logo and sleek marketing. I still play the custom CD of eclectic music handed out by the sales staff.

Attention to detail was evinced in the commissioned sculptures adorning the gated club’s curving roads. The original blueprint of the master-planned community called for a total of 1,400 homes to be built on the 355-acre piece of land adjacent to the airport and bordered by Gene Autry and Ramon.

My husband and I were enamored of the public, 18-hole par 72 Jack Nicklaus –designed course with its wide fairways framed by formidable views of the San Jacinto Mountains. We felt that the city had a homerun on its hands with the artisically designed development.

Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t propitious since the debut occurred at the veritable height of the real estate frenzy. Initial home prices aggressively ranged from the low $600Ks to $1M. By October of 2007, both Lennar and the course had unceremoniously shut down, victim of market exigencies.

Here we are two years to the month later and it’s a different story. Miami-based developer Lennar Corp.is committed to building out two of its original four home collections—Circa and Motif. Irvine-based Standard Pacific is still selling Alcala, two-story Spanish-revival homes ranging from 3,500 to 3,900 sf. Another developer has purchased Avant and Skylar; I will keep you posted on that development.

During our visit today, the late-October sky blazed blue and the astounding mountain vistas warmed and welcomed. Teams of workmen were busy touching up the landscaping and clubhouse.

Circa and Mofit project the mid-century aesthetic that became synonomous with Palm Springs' style post World War II. Butterfly roofs, clerestory windows, courtyards, metal supports, and sleek geometric lines define these eminantly livable homes.

The collections offer one- and two-story models ranging from 1,961sf to 3,004sf. Circa’s homes are situated on the golf course and are now priced from $477K to $488K. Mofif, whose homes are located off the golf course, range in price from $372K to $427K. The new prices reflect a 25% reduction from the original pricetags.

Escena remains polished and compelling. As Kirk and I retoured the model homes and surveyed the breathtaking western vistas, he remarked that he could easily envision himself living there. I remember that he’d commented as much three years ago. Since a new home is not in the cards, we'll have to settle for once again tackling the verdant links.

If you'd like more information on this truly remarkable community, just let me know.