Gene Riemenschneider Home Sales

Are we all headed for Public Housing?

The Feds have announced Thursday under Fannie Mae that homes in default would be taken over and leased back to the defaulters or the current tenants. The stated claim is that they are trying to stabilize neighborhoods and provide a transitional arrangement.

The occupants will be given a one year lease then go month to month. On one level this sounds very nice and practical but it raises big concerns. With the governments taking over the banks will they soon just take over the entire housing supply?

The Obama Administration admits they want government control of vast portions of the economy. They have taken over two car companies, regulated wages in some companies, bailed out banks and or financial service industries to only make them subservient to the government programs.

The banks are holding on to a large amount of inventory. I do not think it far fetched for them to start this type of program. Will it soon be like what they want for health care where we go to a board to see what we are allowed to live in (rented to us) at the government housing bank? Will they be deciding where we live and how? Barney Frank has changed his tune from making sure everyone can own a home (pre-housing melt down) to everyone has a home.

Right now there are not enough homes on the market. The market should take care of itself. Put the homes out there and get people in them. By limiting the supply of homes the only people that are profiting is those with cash, not middle class buyers looking for a place to live.

The housing policies are further eroding the middle class. Home ownership is an important part of building a strong country and community. Public housing is a disaster and the dream of social planners.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Three of my boys are home schooled and Monterey Bay had the Home School Day on Monday November 2. So we packed up four of the boys (the other is in Public School) and headed down Sunday afternoon for a fun night at the Hotel first.

Public School day is FREE which put this right in out price range. The kids loved it especially the sea otters. The big hype is on the Sea Horse exhibit which I felt was so so. There is a large tank with sharks, big tunas, barracudas and a number of other fish.

Most of the fish are salt water, but they did have some nice looking trout; wish I had my rod and a fry pan; but they probably would have tossed me out.

What I did not know is there is a huge underwater canyon that goes 2 miles down right off the Monterey coast. The average depth of the world's oceans is 2.5 miles so what they have is an area with multiple habitats they can study close by.

First Time Buyers

There has been a lot of debate about the $8,000.00 Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers. Should we keep it? Does it create home sales? Are we borrowing against future sales? Is it causing price increases?

However, right now there is something that should motivate everyone to buy a home as soon as possible. In 2010 the Bush Tax Cuts Expire. Why should this be a big concern? Because it will effect every tax payer in the country and it will make it harder to save for a home.

But if you get into a home now the tax deduction for Mortgage Interest and Property Taxes may actually save you enough money to make ownership more affordable than renting. The other consideration is that interest rates are still low but will probably start to go up at some point soon.

So if you want to save money now is the time to buy that new home.

Novato Market Report November 2009

Set down grab a cup of coffee and some No Doze. You are about to get some numbers to make your head spin and sleepy, unless of course you are excited about the Novato Housing Market and trying to buy or sell a home in that area.

The Novato Housing Market offers some of the best buys on Luxury Homes in Marin County with Excellent Schools and a fantastic life style.

This Novato Housing Market report looks at single family home sales in Novato and compares September figures to October figures looking for sales trends; and examines at the current Active Novato Housing Market. As the Novato Housing Market covers a number of Luxury Homes I decided to also take separate looks at homes priced over $750,000.00.

In September there were only 36 homes sold in the Novato Housing Market. On Average those homes had 3 bedrooms, 2.61 bathrooms and were 2,159 SF. The Average List Price was $655,727.00 and the Average Sold Price was $651,767.00; with an Average Days on Market of 107. The Median Numbers are similar with 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and Median SF of 2,034. The Median List Price was $625,000.00 and the Median Sold Price was $635,000.00; with a Median Days on Market of 69. My Favorite Number is Price Per SF which is $302.00.

For homes over $750,000.00 in the Novato Housing Market in September the Average number of bedrooms was 4 and bathrooms 3.3 with 3,275 SF. The Average List Price was $992,655.00 and a Sold Price of $965,950.00; with an Average of 88 Days on Market. The Median Numbers are 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 3,023 SF. The Median List Price was $929,000.00 and the Sold Price was $897,500.00; with 58 Days on the Market. Average Price Per SF is $295.00.

In October there were 50 homes sold in the Novato Housing Market; and this number may go up with late reporting. On Average those homes had 3 bedrooms, 2.68 bathrooms and were 2,267 SF. The Average List Price was $679,303.00 and the Average Sold Price was $667,788.00; with an Average Days on Market of 96. The Median Numbers are similar with 4 Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and Median SF of 1,996. The Median List Price was $599,000.00 and the Median Sold Price was $597,500.00; with a Median Days on Market of 66. Again my Favorite Number is Price Per SF which is $299.00.

For homes over $750,000.00 in the Novato Housing Market in October the Average number of bedrooms was 4 and bathrooms 3.41 with 3,177 SF. The Average List Price was $1,017,795.00 and a Sold Price of $998,052.00; with an Average of 89 Days on Market. The Median Numbers are 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2,918 SF. The Median List Price was $850,000.00 and the Sold Price was $830,900.00; with 61 Days on the Market. Average Price Per SF is $314.00.

How does this compare to the Current Novato Real Estate Market? The Average Home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with 2,537 SF and an Average Asking Price of $826,071.00. The Average days on the Market is 103. The Median numbers are similar with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a list price of $709,000.00 and 72 Days on the Market. This is an Average Asking Price of $325.00 per SF.

For homes priced over $750,000.00 in the Novato Housing Market the Average numbers are 4 bedrooms, 3.64 bathrooms, 3,419 SF; with a List Price of $1,166,431.00 and 101 Days on Market. The Median Numbers are 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3,292 SF, and priced at $950,000.00; with 86 Days on Market. The Average asking Price Per SF is $341.16.

So what do all these numbers mean. Here are a few highlights I see:

• The Average Price is going down slightly, but on the high end homes the price is rising.
  
  
• The Market is picking up. Currently there is a 4 month supply of housing. This is a balanced Market.
  
  
• Homes that sell tend to sell fast. There are some homes weighing down the Average Days on Market numbers. The Median Days on Market better reflects a properly priced home.
  
  
• The Sold Prices are almost as high as the List Prices in some areas and those numbers are getting closer. People are not making extremely offers on over priced homes.
  

Click here to see our Premier Novato Listing for November. One of the Best Buys in town priced at $282.00 per SF - Horse Property - Pool - Wooded Estate with a flowing creek.

Don't Let this Happen to Your Photos - Why is there no Photo here?

I want to make a point about taking care of our photos. About a year ago my wife's computer began to have trouble. I told her to back up. She quickly began to upload all of her photos. But the computer went before she could finish.

She got another computer and I procrastinated on taking her old computer in. When I did they told me the hard drive was damaged. To even see if stuff can be recovered they need to send it out to a clean room and that starts at $1,500.00. She lost a year and a 1/2 of baby photos for one of my kids.

I have the hard drive still and maybe sometime I will have $1,500.00 to spend on this project. Maybe someday the recovery can be done cheaper.

Just a reminder - BACK UP. Put your photos on line at one of the many free sites you can do this at.