Jeff Ragan, Northern California Luxury Agent

I'm a little late getting these stats our, but the real estate market in Humboldt County, California is hanging in there during the month of November!

There are currently 568 homes on the market, which is just a hair higher than our "normal" 500- 550, and close to our recent low of 550. Fewer homes on the market, of course, supports prices and keeps them from falling. That's good.

The bad news is that we only sold 57 homes in November in Humboldt County, a recent record low for the month. Fewer homes sold puts downward pressure on prices. Perhaps these 2 figures balance each other out?

We'll have to wait and see, because there were 6 homes over $500,000 that sold in Humboldt County in November, one for $2.2 million! That really skewed our average sale price up to a 30 month high of $325,809!

And the median home sale price in Humboldt County jumped up to $250,000, which is right in line with the average median home sale price all year!

Overall, this report, like so many others this year, points to a bottoming out of the market. When is the market going to improve? Nobody knows, but there's only one direction to go from the bottom; up!

First time home buyers often ask about closing costs, and it can be very confusing, especially when they have limited funds to bring into escrow for closing, or when they are shopping multiple loan products with different costs structures. It's important for all home buyers to remember that there are 3 different types of closing costs.

Title and escrow fees, and county (or city) transfer taxes comprise the first general category of closing costs, often know simply as escrow fees. These are fees that must be paid to sell a home; and all three items are specifically addressed in the California Real Estate Purchase Agreement. While the responsibility of paying these fees is completely negotiable, in Humboldt County, California these fees are most often split 50/50, with both the buyer and the seller each paying half.

The second general class of closing costs is prorations or prepaids, most often taxes or insurance payments. If a home is sold on Nov. 30, but the seller has paid his taxes through the end of the year, then the buyer must pay the seller back for the December taxes he has already paid; these are paid back on a prorated basis. Similarly, lenders often require that a new home owners insurance policy be paid up a year in advance. This is prepaid at the closing of escrow. In Humboldt County, these are typically thought of as buyers expenses, as they go to service the home during the period after the buyer has taken ownership.

Similarly, the third class of closing costs is the buyers' loan fees. Each lender will charge a variety of up-front loan costs that range from small administrative fees up to much larger commissions or origination fees to pay the loan officer. These are fees a buyer pays for the privilege of getting a loan; a cash buyer would not pay any of these because he's not getting a loan. Therefore, in Humboldt County, they are most often seen as a buyers' expense.

Prorations and loan fees are not specifically addressed in the California Real Estate Purchase agreement, but they, as well as title and escrow fees, can be negotiated in the contract. The buyer can pay them all, or the seller can give a credit to pay them at the close of escrow, or they can be split in any way agreeable to both parties. It is important for a buyer to know what the different closing costs are and how much they will cost so that they can have confidence that they can meet all of the terms of the agreement.

If you're not sure whether you have enough money saved up to buy your dream home, give me a call at (707) 499-7111, or email me at Jeff@RealtorJeff.net, and we can discuss options. Our check out the additional resources on my website at www.RealtorJeff.net!

What do our October 2010 Humboldt County, California real estate statistics look like? We seem to have started a downward trend in prices again in Humboldt County, California. The number of active homes on the market, while not a huge number, is creeping up in relationship to previous years. We now have 677 homes active on the market; that's much closer to 2008 levels than 2009 levels. And more homes on the market will mean downward pressure on prices.

Especially when the number of homes sold is down as well. At 72 homes sold, we're just a hair below 2008 levels, but well below the 88 homes sold in 2009. While not by much, this is the lowest number of homes sold in the month of October in recent memory. This, too, will put downward pressure on prices.

The average home sales price for the month of October was $256,572; not the lowest of the year, but the lowest for any October in a long time. It also continues the downward trend started from the most recent peak in July.

And the median home sales price in Humboldt County was $236,375, which does represent a new low for the year and for recent history.

It seems that the large number of short sales and bank owned properties, or REO's, in the market is causing our downward trends. 26% of the homes sold in October were either short sales or bank-owned properties; that's up from 18% for all of 2009. And not only do short sales and bank-owned properties sell for less, they compete with regular sellers, thereby putting downward pressure on all real estate prices. While the rest of the country has been dealing with this level, and even higher levels, of bank controlled sales, this is a first for Humboldt County. Is there a bright spot in the clouds? Yes: it is a great time to BUY real estate!

What questions do you have about short sales or bank-owned properties? Give me a call at (707) 499-7111, or email me at Jeff@RealtorJeff.net.

Many of you will recall that Eureka, California made national news on January 10, 2010 when a 6.5 earthquake rocked the city. We counted our own blessings, and were promptly forgotten by the rest of the world, when 2 days later when a 7.0 earthquake destroyed the country of Haiti. We in Eureka were truly fortunate, as there were no injuries, and relatively little property damage. My family lives in a 1902 Queen Anne Victorian home in the Henderson Center neighborhood of Eureka, and we sustained some property damage as our home rolled with the ground - lots of broken glasses, some dumped bookshelves, and our spice rack got de-alphabetized. (tear, sniffle)

Like all Californians, though, I know the "big one" is coming, so I immediately vowed to put a concrete perimeter foundation under my Victorian as soon as I could afford it. When a friend asked me how we had fared during the earthquake, I mentioned my plans. He gravely told me that was a bad idea, as the rigidity of the concrete perimeter would transfer more of the force of the earthquake to my home, thereby causing more structural damage; but the original post and pier foundation would allow the home to roll with the ground wave, and minimize the structural damage. "Why in the world do so many other updated Victorian homes have concrete perimeter foundations?" I thought. Hmm. What to do?

A couple of months ago I was visiting with a local civil engineer, Neale Penfold Sr., about the home of a client, and it was evident to me that he was in the talking mood after a long day. I decided to make it productive talk, so I asked his opinion; "Which is the better foundation for a Victorian home to survive the next big Eureka quake, a post and pier foundation, or a concrete perimeter?" He said, "Neither." Mr. Penfold confirmed that post and piers allowed a home to flex, and that a concrete perimeter did indeed transfer more shock to the home.

He went on to explain a 3^rd way. He said that lots of folks in the Eureka area have had lots of luck with a reinforced, braced post and pier system, whereby the posts are set on structurally enhanced concrete footings much bigger than the originals. The house is then attached to the posts, and the posts to the piers. Finally, the piers are cross-braced pretty extensively to one another. He said that this combination had the flexibility of the post and pier foundation, and the strength of the concrete perimeter foundation, and with the added bonus of being cheaper to boot!

Any other California Victorian owners out there? What experiences have you had with your home and earthquakes? Send them to me at Jeff@RealtorJeff.net!

What is the state of the real estate market in Humboldt County, Califorina? Our "Active" homes, while starting out the year lower than last year, crossed over 2009 in August, and have been tracking slightly higher than last year since. While this certainly isn't bad news, it does neutralize one of the good pieces of news we had through the first half of the year. If real estate inventory is down, it would certainly seem to put upward pressure (or neutralize any downward pressure) on home prices. Moving from under to over 2009 just removes a little reason we have to be optimistic.

Similarly, our monthly "Sold Homes" numbers were running higher than last year until July. They dipped under 2009, and started tracking pretty closely with 2 of the 3 most recent years. Again, this isn't bad news in itself, but it does take away one of the main market factors for keeping home prices flat or rebounding. It seems to indicate that the same ooze south we've been seeing for the past 2 years is not finished.

Sure enough, while it's not a lot, the average home sales price insists on tracking just a bit below last year. Indeed, our real estate sales prices do seem to be going ever so gradually lower.

Our median home sales price is a little more decisively lower. It has been below our psychological $250,000 floor for over half of the months so far this year. It is pretty clearly indicating that Humboldt County home prices, while not falling dramatically by any means, are in a pattern of gradually lowering.

Does any of this worry me? No. One day in the future, you will be sitting around with your friends, and someone will say, "Dang, I wish I would've bought real estate in Humboldt County back in ____." And there will be a date in that blank. It could be September, '10. It could be October, '10. It could be January '11. It could be May of 2013. We don't know, but I am relatively sure that, with the elections coming up in a month, that both the Federal and California state governments will be making some changes that will improve our economic situation, and with that improvement will come a bottom and a turn up for the real estate market.