Roberta Murphy ~ Carlsbad Real Estate

This morning, I thought I would drop by the Grand Opening of Apple's new store at the Carlsbad Forum before heading out to show properties.

As I pulled into that large parking lot, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a line four-deep that stretched from one end of the Forum to (and around) the other. There were young and old and every age in between.

Black-coated security guards maintained crowd control, and Jimbo's Market from around the corner offered crisp organic apples to those waiting in line. Everyone seemed in good spirits, and I heard cheering in the distance coming from within the store, which had not yet opened. Orange-shirted Apple employees were lined up ready to greet excited customers, one group at a time.

When asked, one of the security guards volunteered that the queue had started before 4 a.m.--and I was astounded.

Why?

Because most people I know use PC's--if only because Windows-compatibility is require for our San Diego MLS and some other real estate programs--and I thought most everyone already had an i-Pod:-)

The long lines were a definite surprise, but then I recall hearing some background buzz on CNBC this past week about Apple overtaking Google.

Thoughts?

If this is the worst real estate market (for sellers) in recent history, then surely it creates some of the best buying opportunities in a lifetime as well.

We are seeing smart money aggressively buying in our San Diego real estate market, and hear reports of the same elsewhere.

The properties are being bought as primary homes, as fix-and-flippers --or are being held as longer term rentals.

We receive inquiries about these homes almost daily; but more recently, we are being consulted about strategies for buying real estate at bargain prices. These buyers may or may not have to sell their existing home to buy another--and may also be open to exchange possibilities.

Listed below are 7 strategies we use to help our home buyers (and others) get some of the best bargains on the market.

1. Study Market Time: Homes in general may take longer to sell these days because of pricing, percecived seller value and a more cautious pool of buyers. But that doesn’t mean sellers are any less motivated to move on with their lives. At one time, we thought little of homes sitting on the market for 90 days or more. These days, we seek buying opportunities if a home has been on the market over 60 days-- and are seeing some heavy price discounting from our buyers if days on market goes over 90 days.
2. Check Tax Records and other Sources: Is there more debt on the home than what it is worth? Has a Notice of Default been filed that would indicate a looming foreclosure? If so, and if this is a home of interest for our buyer, we submit an offer contingent upon the successful negotiation of a short sale (where the lender sells the property for less than what is owed). In this case, either we or professional negotiators deal with the lender(s) to reach the best possible price for our buyer.
3. Did Owners Pay Cash or Have They Owned Their Home for Longer than 10 Years? These sellers may be in a position to sell at a discount or may be motivated to do so due to life transitions or other investment opportunities. They may also be open to owner-financing for all or part of the home mortgage. Become knowledgeable about installment sales and other creative financing strategies.
   
4. Are You Open to Remodeling? Homes sold in as-is condition are more likely than others to sell at a substantial discount. Owners, especially when the home has been on the market for some time, are often overwhelmed with the thought of remodeling and updating–and fearful that their decor choices will not suit potential buyers. In many markets, older or outdated homes are sometimes sold at land value.
5. Foreclosure Sales: The f-word (foreclosure) is occurring even in the luxury home market. Highly leveraged homes purchased in the last few years are more frequently ending up on the courthouse steps. Foreclosure purchases, which require cash and carry no disclosures or guarantees, offer both great potential for profit–and big dangers for the uninformed. Bidding should be non-emotional and it is best to have a professional bidding for you–but only after thorough-as-possible research has been done regarding the home’s condition, its history and resale potential. Cracked slabs, structural defects and boundary line encroachments are unwelcome surprises.
6. Home Exchanges: This is a rather novel strategy for those trying to sell their luxury home in a bloody market. Life transitions encourage luxury homeowners to make moves. Empty-nesters may wish to relocate from their large estate to something equally posh but far less demanding in upkeep. Others may have expanding families that crave acreage, pools, tennis courts or equestrian facilities. In the Southern California market, Owner-Broker Bob Dyson and Villa Sotheby’s International Realty have set up a property exchange platform that allows homeowners to directly exchange properties and ownership. It is a tactic that helps to support neighborhood values and removes many of the pressures involved in having a home on the market for an extended period of time.
7. If the property you want is listed, have your agent check the other real estate agent’s listing history. If that agent tends to have listings on the market for a long time, you may wish to lower your offer. On the other hand, if the agent prices properties aggressively and has short “days on market,” you may consider coming in near to, at, or over list price. You will likely find those listings already priced at or below market to attract multiple offers.

A combination of patience, perseverance and the ability to move quickly will serve all astute buyers of real estate these days, but the greatest potential of all may lie with properties whose replacement value could far exceed the purchase price--or those with exquisite locations.

San Diego real estate offers ripe opportunities for discovery and information indigestion digestion.

We have seen San Diego real estate prices plummet in its suburban communities of Chula Vista, National City, Escondido, San Marcos, eastern Oceanside, Fallbrook and others.

After all, these communities (and other like them throughout the country) are full of newer subdivisions--many of which were financed with EZ loans and fictional incomes.

Established San Diego neighborhoods with lower turnover have been largely been immune from steep price declines or so I thought--until recently.

We recently had a showing of a vintage and lovely 1927 home on a large corner lot in Point Loma that was offered as a bank foreclosure--and at a price that fell below its 2002 sales price.

The details?

The last owner purchased the property a couple of years at $910,000 with 100 percent financing. Neighbors say he tried unsuccessfully to sell it for over $1 million a year or so ago. The sale prior to that occurred in 2002, when this San Diego home was sold for $749,000.

Today this vintage Spanish home with gleaming hardwood floors and manicured landscaping is priced at just $725,000.

Point Loma neighbors and this Realtor are a bit stunned--and still trying to adjust to this new pricing realty.

I have no doubt that this wonderful single level 3-bedroom home with almost 1600 square feet of living space will sell quickly (if it hasn't already), but it will certainly cripple neighborhood comparables for awhile.

But perhaps this abrupt grappling with San Diego real estate realities is what is needed to bring somedegree of normalcy back to our real estate market.

Is 2002 an approximate benchmark for San Diego real estate pricing?

It is a sobering thought.

It's about time that someone like Kevin Boer steps up to the podium (of sorts) and offers to commit his considerable energy, wit and intelligence to improving the on and offline presence and perceptions of Realtors.

Kevin at lunch yesterday (after close of Inman Connect) buckled under pressure--and agreed to run for President of the San Francisco Association of Realtors. There also appears to be a groundswell of support for his presence at a national level.

Under Kevin's presidency, we can expect to see improved literacy and photographic resiults in the real estate profession--and the welcome burial of trite adjectives like cute, gorgeous and charming.

Kevin Boer's classic speech?

Forecl-----.

It’s a word softly whispered when luxury homeowners in luxe communities like Palm Beach (33480), Beverly Hills (90210), Greenwich (06831) and Rancho Santa Fe (92067) discuss their local real estate markets.

Real estate prices have been declining in many of these markets throughout the country, and some of the heavily mortgage homes are ending up as foreclosure sales. The most prominent foreclosure victim of late is Ed McMahon, whose $5 million Beverly Hills mansion was recently lost to foreclosure.

This morning, CNNMoney reports that three of the richest US zip codes saw nasty declines in home prices for the three-month period ending April 30, when compared with the prior three months.

The three biggest losers?

Continue reading for some interesting surprises!

San Diego Real Estate

Luxury Home News

I’ve never really given much thought to San Diego County’s two nude beaches: Black’s Beach in La Jolla and San Onofre State Beach at the northern tip of San Diego County. Both are pretty remote-- and it appears the nudists are a pretty peaceable lot.

At least until this morning.

It was reported in this morning’s San Diego Union Tribune that San Onofre park rangers will start enforcing a ban on nudity September, 1, 2008. It seems there have been public complaints, and some park employees objected to working in a place where not everyone is clothed–which specifically targets the Trail 6 beach area at San Onofre.

And like other beach workers who object to picking up cigarette butts, used baby diapers and assosrted foul debris, maintenance workers at San Onofre State Beach object to occasionally having to pick up sex toys, condoms and other “paraphernalia.”

Guess it’s a long trek to carry those bags of debris up a remote and steep path that goes up a 60-foot cliff.

Can’t blame either group of park employees for their complaints–and many would personally campaign for users of all San Diego beaches to never leave any debris behind.

On the other side of this issue, nudists are proclaiming that their nudity is protected under First Amendment rights as “free speech” and the Naturist Society has issued an action alert, encouraging its members to email and send letters to politicians protesting the nudity ban.

It’s tempting to take my camera and authenticate this Active Rain blog article with photos, but I’ll pass on the assignment because I’m just not dressed for the terrain.

Search San Diego Real Estate

Trash cans at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, CA are emptier now that students, faculty and staff are switching to reusable water bottles.

And that is all because students with LCC's Social Justice Project came up with a plan that is succeeding beyond all expectations, according to students and Christopher Greenslate, the LCC Social Justice teacher who also teaches journalism and English at the school.

Students sent out emails and made posters on recyclable paper to educate fellow students on the hazards of plastic water bottles, which are disposed of at the rate of 60 billion per year-and is the leading source of plastic pollution in the United States. They also sold recyclable bottles, which student and faculty quickly bought.

When that supply sold out, reformed plastic bottle users found other off-campus sources. It is hoped that the ubiquitous plastic water bottle will be replaced with reusable ones that won't trash our planet so needlessly.

As a result of this successful effort, La Costa Canyon High School's video about their breakup with bottled water has been selected as a finalist in Quantum Shift's $50,000 contest for best environmental project.

Please, I beg you, visit this site and cast a vote for La Costa Canyon's Social Justice program.

Perhaps their efforts will spread to other area schools, colleges and workplaces. In addition to lessening environmental impact, there will be significant cost savings. Home filtered water put in glass bottles is not only healthier, but runs just 1/10 the cost of bottled water.

All of San Diego and the neighboring communities of Carlsbad, Encinitas, Olivenhain, Cardiff, and Rancho Santa Fe should be proud of La Costa Canyon High School and their very green project.

And perhaps it is a project that could be adopted by other schools as well!

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A Zillow questioner asks if he or she should wait to buy a home in San Diego--or until the market levels out.

It is a question that seemed to beg an answer from me, if only because we are personally struggling with that very issue as I write this post.

We have an opportunity to buy an Oceanside property that should yield a mildly positive cash flow with a 20 percent down payment. It is new construction, close to Oceanside beaches, and the only hurdle is finding financing that is reasonably acceptable for our circumstances.

(But that is another story.)

This Zillow questioner is asking about the advisability of buying San Diego real estate as his or her home in today’s market. So much depends on location and local market conditions.

My advice?

You may want to explore home financing options available today that might not have worked just a couple of years ago--primarily because San Diego home prices have become so much more affordable.

The ACORN loan (available through Bank of America and Chase) is great for buyers earning less than $92,000 per year and who own no other real estate. The down payment is low and there is no PMI (private mortgage insurance). Loans are available up to $500,000, and buyers must attend a one-day class on home ownership prior to receiving an eligibility certificate.

FHA loans in San Diego are also making a recent strong appearance, and we are using them with a number of our buyers (even with new homes). These loans offer 3 percent down payments on mortgages up to almost $700,000. There are additional fees involved with FHA loans, but motivated sellers may be willing to assist with these costs–and may also be willing to reduce the home price to meet FHA loan maximums.

The best strategy is to find a very well-priced home (compare to area comparables)–or perhaps even a San Diego foreclosure– and secure the best available mortgage financing.

Continue reading....

I called Pat Kitano a couple of weeks ago and left a message on his cell phone. Moments later, I received an email back stating he was in a meeting, but that I should go and check out Voice Cloud asap.

I went, I saw --and was conquered. (Can someone translate that to Latin?)

In fact, it has become my favorite new cell phone technology. Now when a voicemail come in, it is automatically converted to text and sent to my email.

From my Blackberry, I can respond via text or simply return the call.

Setup is easy. Just go to VoiceCloud and follow the simple instructions. I never bother to check voicemail again--and can see what's coming in when I'm with clients or in a meeting.

Oh yes: You will need to re-record your greeting via VoiceCloud.

The cost? FREE!

NOTE: Try "Cloud Today" as password and see if that will work

I use Site Meter and Get Clicky to track search terms people use to miraculously land on one of my sites. Search terms like San Diego Real Estate, or Carlsbad Real Estate or Luxury Homes on Google's revered Page One are logical and rewarding, but it's the odd stuff that snares fancy and fascination.

I mean, what are the chances of ending up up on Google's Page One for something as cool as golf ball stats--all because of a tongue-in-cheek blog on California's Errant Golf Ball Disclosure (written at the urging of Kevin Boer and Pat Kitano). Cheez...I wonder how much that would be worth to Callaway, Titleist or some other golf ball manufacturer?

(Now let's translate that placement into a $2 million golf course frontage buyer in La Costa. That would indeed be a long tail long shot).

And then there was a Google Page One placement a year or so ago for ways to shave pubic hair because of a Green and ecologically-sensitive blog written about the 6 Ways to Shave Your Carbon Footprint. Google couldn't help but reveal its sense of humor.

(A $6 million ocean front buyer from either Gillette or Hustler Magazine would be appreciated).

If we are proficient real estate bloggers, we'll (sometimes) hit our desired keyword placement in Google, without irritating our readers with too much repetitive blah-blah real estate, real estate in blah-blah, blah-blah condos and blah-blah homes. But that is a significant challenge and one that is probably best met by consistent blogging, targeted blogging and lots of commenting in the blogosphere.

Still, the long tail and long shots can sometimes be more fun (though not as profitable) as the short tail.

Have you checked your long shots lately?

Read also:

Drag a Long Tail and See What You Catch