Our clients ask us what the state of affairs is in any given market, and my preference is to point to the data rather than give a thumb-in-the-air opinion. So, with that in mind, here's what I found today (2/13).
Rentals - The rental market is actually fairly strong, mainly because of low inventory. Here's what it looks like for long term rentals right now:
Now, in terms of bank-owned properties, we're still pretty clear of those. These can really pull the prices down because the banks would rather wholesale the properties and get rid of them.
The main issue that sort of appears worrisome if you look at the map is the number of homes for sale:
But, as you can see if you look at a historical chart, Encinitas and Carlsbad have no greater combined inventory than the past couple of years. I'm not saying that this is great news...I'd rather see less inventory than more inventory. But it's stable and has been that way. It's a much healthier state of affairs than, for example, San Marcos or Escondido.
Have questions or comments? Let me know. Our web sites are pretty rich with data too.
John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate
| Zipcode | Listed 1/08 | Pending 1/08 | Sold 1/08 | Exp/Canc 1/08 |
| 92078/Detached | 59 | 26 | 21 | 38 |
| 92069/Detached | 53 | 11 | 9 | 21 |
| 92078/Attached | 36 | 7 | 10 | 21 |
| 92069/Attached | 20 | 6 | 3 | 14 |
| Totals | 168 | 50 | 43 | 94 |
Data from Sandicor, Inc. on 2/11/2008.
Now, if I just present those numbers in the grid, you might think that San Marcos is OK as a micro-market. Well, if you were to conclude that, I think you would be making a MISTAKE!
Let's look at the home inventory graph for the past 3 years. Here's where we stand today (red line) versus the last couple of years:
As you know, supply and demand are what determine prices, and supply is UP (i.e., the red line is above the other lines). When supply is up, prices usually go down. But let's take a look at the other vector in San Marcos that is important - foreclosures. Here's a pic of our bank-owned properties in the MLS. As you can see, there is a generous dotting of the map. These homes put downward pressure on the sales market because the banks tend to wholesale the property (they don't manage real estate, they manage money).
So, don't just drink the Koolaid and think that all is well in the San Diego inland markets.
MY ASSESSMENT: Everything is relative. Compared to Escondido (which is in a nightmarish condition in my opinion), San Marcos is doing OK. Compared to the coast (which is stable, but prices are down), San Marcos is not doing as well.
John Hokkanen
Margaret was tied up last week with clients, so I had to go out and take a batch of photos for a listing that will come on later this week (I'll post the brochure). But this was the cover photo and I liked it a lot for a few reasons, which I'll explain in a moment. If you want to see the before photo, click here.
This is another of our new photo style of starting with a well-exposed interior shot using artificial flashes so that the room is properly exposed (and the walls and ceiling don't get too dark). Then we overlay the base photo with a high dynamic range photo to bring out some of the wood tones and other colors by using a super-saturated HDR image and blending it. Then we do touchup to the entire photo to finish it up for publication.
The main question in this photo is: WHERE'S THE CAMERA? WHERE AM I?
First, I was very careful about where I positioned the camera and tripod and what parts of the image in the mirror that it interfered with. USING CARE will save a lot of time. Then I used my long wired remote trigger and I literally was on the floor when I snapped the images that made up the HDR mirror reflection. (I had also removed all the flashes and extraneous gear out of the way of the mirror reflection.) I positioned the flash umbrella in the other room to illuminate it, and it gives the appearance that there is a halogen torch shooting light up to the ceiling. Actually, it was my remote flashes, but it could have been a halogen torch. Then, I was able to carefully use the clone brush and get rid of the tripod and the camera. The camera, which was the largest item was carefully reflecting in front of that wall, so it was pretty easy to clone brush it away. The only item that I elected not to try to remove was my RED CAMERA BAG that you can barely see it behind the bars of the chair that is reflecting in the mirror. Removing it would have been hard to do, and because it was barely visible, I decided to leave it. (The camera bag is suspended at the bottom of the tripod to weigh it down to keep it from moving.)
Oh, and I liked the richness of the table, and the fruit that the HDR image brought out. Before I overlaid the HDR image of the table, there was a huge hot spot from all the light bouncing off the ceiling. But that went away and it has a nice look.
What would I change about the image? Well, I wish the walls had not been tan. The room is looking a bit on the brown side. You gotta like earth tones to like the image. That's not anything I could have changed easily.
What are my favorite little things about the photo? I bought fresh fruit before I went, and the fruit bowl, the red bowl, and that little grass plant (whatever its called) are props from my house. :)
John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate
Not too long ago I had to go up in a helicopter to take some photos for one of our listings. We buzzed around Encinitas and I took pictures of the listings, and I also had the opportunity to take some other pictures too. Here are two of the images that I liked.
The first one is a pic of Moonlight Beach with its lone palm tree.
The other photo is a photo of the Leucadia Bluffs not far from Moonlight Beach.
The original images were much higher resolution than this. OK, just so I don't have to make phone calls.
These photographs are Copyrighted with all rights reserved. You can't use them without my permission. If you have a use for them, then email to ask (no guarantees on permission). Thanks.
John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate
Here's a snapshot of the current land and lots for sale in Encinitas. We've got a cool new map to place the land parcels on the map even if we don't have a valid address. The color of the pushpins is color-coded for price, and the numbers on the pushpins shows you the number of acres, rounded up/down.
As you can see, there are a few lots for sale, including one that's around 4 acres and another in Olivenhain that looks to be five acres or more. If you want to see the interactive map, click here for the Encinitas Land and Lot Real Estate Map.
Call me if you have any questions.
John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate
As the back-end person of the SurfTheTurf.com team, I am responsible for the group's marketing and technology. Visit our web sites and see the next era of home shopping - www.SurfTheTurf.com.
Our Team Has Many Skills - My professional work began as a software engineer. By the age of 17, I had begun working in the aerospace industry developing avionics software. However, a desire to expand my horizons eventually led me to get a study Political Theory and then go to the University of Virginia School of Law. While practicing as a litigator for the US Government, I began to explore how technology could help professional service providers (lawyers at that time) and redefine what kinds of services they provided to clients. After we moved to Encinitas and my wife began her real estate business, I left the legal field to use my technology and Internet skills to build her business and then our team of real estate agents. My focus is on marketing and technology, both of which play an important role in how we service both buyer and seller clients.
Home Sellers - Sell High & Sell Quickly - The home sales market rises and falls. In any market, selling a home for the highest possible price within a reasonable timeframe means finding the one buyer who loves the house. In addition, a listing agent must work with buyers' agents with professionalism and integrity to conclude transactions succssfully. Home sellers must know their agent has the personnel, experience and tools to minimize delays and get the job done on time.
Home Buyers - Locate the Ideal Purchase, Negotiate the Price, and Avoid Pitfalls - With so much money on the line, home buyers want and need to avoid any mistakes. They need to find the home that meets their specific needs so they are happy and do not have to move. They need to negotiate the right price to minimize loss if the market falls. They need to make sure that they know what they are buying and are well-represented so they are not surprised once they move in. Home buyers must know that their agent has the knowledge and experience to be their advisor and advocate.
Successful real estate teams proactively find ways to sell homes at higher prices for sellers and to locate and negotiate ideal purchases for buyers. Agents who passively watch the market without strengthening their internal resources fall behind. The key is a comprehensive approach that weaves skills, technologies, and resources to respond to an evolving sales market. As one of the strongest real estate teams in San Diego County, the Surf The Turf Team continually positions itself to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's home sellers and buyers. Our array of core competencies and breadth of professional services are among the most comprehensive in the United States.
A good example of how we provide exceptional value to our clients are our brochures. Typically, we print 5,000 brochures for every listing that we take. Some people ask, "What in the world do you do with 5,000 brochures?" The answer is simple: Get them into the community! Selling a home is about maximum exposure of the property to as many potential buyers as possible.
Click here to see some other samples.
Our Experts
We have built our team around area expertise, and that is why we do not let just any agent join our ranks. Just as law firms have partners who are experts in corporate, tax, or family law, we have experts who specialize by location and each of us represents both sellers and buyers. Thus, you work with an agent who knows your area of interest. Because we are a team, you get the expertise needed even when selling in one area and buying in another.
Standard Listing
Commission: 5%, shared 50/50 with buyer's agent
Marketing Package
Professional architectural photo shoot
Aerial photographs of front of home and community features (pools, greenspaces, etc.)
5,000 four-page, full-color brochures
1,000 home tour DVD videos
2,500 door hangers (for delivering brochures into
target areas and move-up neighborhoods)
Aggressive web site marketing - We spend
thousands of dollars on advertising
Virtual Tours (360° photo views)
Video streaming of entire guided home tour video
Prominent positioning at SurfTheTurf web sites
Craigslist and other web site postings
Property presented at broker caravan "pitch"
session and held open for agents to preview
Open houses as often as is practicable
Other marketing as determined
Enhanced Listing
Commission: (based on scope of enhancements)
Additional Marketing Options
Additional home tour DVDs
Custom mailing campaign
Custom print advertising campaign
Custom Internet advertising optimized for
specific search terms
Custom-labeled water bottles for events
Other agents charge 5%, 6%, or even 7%. Only our team offers these services, and we do so for a modest 5% commission....
Call us today--We will be happy to meet, answer your questions and evaluate your home’s value.
No Pressure - No Obligation
Example of one of our aerial photos:
Click here to see a sample DVD video
Our clients love our team-based approach because it means that someone is always available to see property, hold an open house, or answer questions. Plus, our clients get to draw upon the collective knowledge of the entire team. For example, when one of Chris’s clients wants to shop in Encinitas or Carlsbad, the client is welcome to speak directly with Margaret and draw upon her deep area knowledge. While most clients prefer to work with just one agent and draw upon another team members’ expertise, clients also have the option of working with different agents for different areas!
Our web sites have tools for buyers that are unrivaled by other sites. See my Carlsbad and Encinitas web site as an example. We understand that buyers want great tools for shopping on-line, and our web sites have the best tools anywhere. For example, our homes-by-school-boundary maps allows parents to compare schools and the homes within their boundaries at the same time! Here are some other tools that buyers like:
- Fixer Upper Lists - Motivated Seller Homes
- No HOA Fee Homes - Golf Course Properties
- 55+ Community Maps - Not-on-Internet Homes
- West-of-I-5 Homes - Value-Pick Listings
and our exclusive Crystal Ball Home Search
Here is a small example of one of our maps. The push-pins are color-coded by price. The number on the push pin tells you how many bedrooms. One need only click on a pushpin to get all the details.
People have asked about our DVDs and video technologies. We have been producing DVD home tours of our listings for years, and our innovation in this area has shown us that DVDs are instrumental in many ways:
More Previews
Since the DVD is placed on every brochure, each person who drives by may preview the home in the comfort of his or her living room.
Easier Access
Accessibility of the home is important, and DVD video makes a difference when a home is less accessible due to pets, sickness or other reasons.
Compelling Stories
Because the story told through the video is entirely under our control, we can present a home in the most compelling way. This can even involve the filming of local features, like parks and community pools, or interviewing of neighbors.
Involving Others
DVD video allows a potential buyer to share the home with others whose opinions matter (e.g., parents, friends, etc.) and allows the buyer to revisit the home again and again. This helps buyers share and maintain their excitement for a home.
John Hokkanen
Broker, SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.
A California Real Estate Brokerage
Returning to live in San Diego County after 15 yrs absence required some readjustment. We located EncinitasCarlsbad.com through the Web and found it an invaluable tool for optimizing our SD home search from the LA Area. We were able to select homes which fit our criteria, to explore the areas we were interested in, and to make best use our visits to San Diego. Margaret & Barbara provided great service in all aspects of the home search, negociations and purchase (not to mention recommendations on local restaurants & other amenities) and John provided excellent service as well as a more-than-competitive loan. I cannot imagine a more effective way for folks outside of the area to locate and purchase a San Diego home.
Gene
A long distance purchase from the other side of the globe? No problem for Margaret Hokkanen. We were originally drawn to Margaret through her comprehensive web site. She responded immediately to our emails, which was a good indicator of the responsive service we would subsequently experience from ten time zones away. We visited Encinitas during our home leave from US Government service posted to Egypt, where Margaret and her partner Barbara spent the day giving us a flavor of the area. Once back in Egypt, Margaret made good use of technology: responses to our emails were fast, lots of digital pictures arrived for houses of interest, and documents were exchanged as email attachments, pdf files and scans, and, when necessary, old fashioned FAX. Margaret quickly got a feel for what we wanted, and within a hour of hitting the MLS we had data sheets on houses of interest. Margaret provided comprehensive answers to our questions, carefully explaining the unique features of the California real estate market and her approach and negotiating strategy. She provided resource information about the 1031 exchange process and linked us with a 1031 facilitator. Margaret knows the neighborhoods well and could easily point out plusses and minuses of a property, including the tone of the neighborhood. She understood the challenges that a ten hour time difference introduced and ensured that the sellers also appreciated this.
Robert
John's note about Robert: Our web sites were able to provide Robert with the kind of information that he wanted and needed from half way around the world.
We shopped around for different agents, and I can say that until we met Margaret and heard about Margaret and heard about the kind of marketing that she does that we were generally quite disappointed [in agents]. So, when we heard what she did and we saw the marketing material, we decided that was a good approach...Everything from the preparation of the house to the preparation of the marketing, the open houses all worked out extremely well. Margaret made herself available at any time, she answers the phone, and we had open houses whenever we felt that it was appropriate. And so I would recommend her and her services and the services of her team members to anyone who wants to sell a house[.]"
Thomas
John's note about Thomas: I met Thomas outside our real estate office where he was looking at our brochures. I took the time to get one of our brochures with a DVD and handed it to him, suggesting that he take a look at it if he was considering the sale of his home. He called Margaret later that day.
The result of using [the SurfTheTurf team] was an infinite amount more of exposure on the market due to the DVD house tour that they made for us....The pictures on the brochure were superb. It was not just the one little picture to show what the house
looked like. It was a big splashy thing that made it look like one of the very expensive million and a half dollar houses being sold somewhere. Just the feedback and continual contact with them as a team. It was regular and we were never left wondering what was going on....What we realized as we went through [the selling] process was that the support that they gave us and the help they gave us they made things very easy for us....They let us know what to expect along the way and they delivered on all of that. For us, it was very easy. The best part for us is that they sold our house very quickly. Maybe we paid a little bit more over a discount broker but we got the result that we wanted. We're very happy.
Jo & Richard
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
