San Diego Real Estate Voice authored by William Johnson

San Diego, otherwise known as America's Finest City, basks in what is considered to be our country's most idyllic climate.

San Diego is the second largest city in California and enjoys many miles of dazzling coastline with world class beaches amid cliffs and coves dotted with dramatic sea side mansions. With a population of over 1.3 million, the city of San Diego has a vibrant and historic downtown with world class restaurants, a huge bayside convention center, a new baseball stadium and a wealth of exciting urban living opportunities.

The world famous San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park with its museums and attractions, the highly acclaimed Old Globe Theater, the La Jolla Playhouse, the Opera and Symphony are just a few of the many reasons people love living here.

With a well diversified economic base, San Diego excels in the fields of Biotechnology, Science and Medicine, Communications and Government Military Installations. From the beaches to the inland mountains, San Diego offers a wealth of year round recreational activities  including golf, surfing, cycling, marathon racing, horse racing, Polo, and Para sailing.

If you can name it, San Diego most likely has it in abundance. 

Our current real estate market is beginning to show signs of stabilization despite what you might be reading in the local papers. Prices have certainly dropped but when you evaluate what San Diegans can expect living here, it won’t be long before the prices begin to move up again. There is a reason why things are a bit more expensive here, nearly everyone that comes here would like to move to Americas finest city. It’s the old paradigm of ‘Supply and Demand’.

When you really think about the many treasures and the near perfect year around weather,  I doubt that many who visit San Diego would not be impressed that there is something here for just about anyone. Perhaps that would be better said and that there is something here for everyone.

The quality of life itself, our schools, our 50 different communities within the city, our Agriculture, Biotechnology, in a county with a total of 18 wonderful cities, it’s Medical and Drug research, Marine Biology and Research,Communications Technology, Manufacturing, Tourism, Major League Sports,fine restaurants with world wide reputations, San Diego has it all. And just in case I forgot something, not to worry, it is probably here as well.

Over the last 20 months here on ActiveRain, I have written much about San Diego. I thought it might be nice to collect many of my photos and share them here with you as a collection of things to see and do In San Diego. I hope through these photos that you will want to know San Diego even better and hopefully be able to visit our amazing city one day. Photos can only capture the variety of things you can see here but what I can’t show in photos is that San Diego has a heart and it calls itself home to some of the nicest people on the planet.

Once this post is launched, I will come back periodically and keep adding in more of the hundreds of photos I collect on this wonderful city that I call home.

If ever you have a desire to move to San Diego, I suggest you consider it sooner rather than  later. If you wait, the housing costs will most assuredly be more than they are at todays amazing value. Come and get your own piece of one of the finest cities in America and then you as well can call San Diego, home. You will be glad you did.

BTW, If you need a good REALTOR, I just happen to know one of the best!

Kenneth Harney a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post wrote an article that appeared recently in our Union Tribune and condensed all the known information about mortgage money and loan availability for todays Buyers of residential real estate.

The essence of the article was about the lack of shortage of money and the credit available to buy homes. He makes a very strong point that it is because the government has backed these loans and that there is much less risk, at least for now. So these loans are available at good rates

Now, it is acknowledged that attaining credit today is certainly not as easy as it once was but if you have a good credit score and at least some money to put down, you stand a very good chance of getting your loan request approved.

Here are some of the Key Highlights of Kenneth Harney's article.

There is no shortage of money available for home mortgages, no freezing of credit to purchase or refinance a house. Why? Because the American mortgage market effectively has been federalized - at least for the time being.

Loan terms and credit underwriting standards have been toughened up, but you can still put down 3 percent (3.5 percent after Jan. 1) on an FHA-insured mortgage and 5 percent on certain Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan programs with private mortgage insurance.

Despite the global financial system's quakes, mortgage rates not only remain low by historical standards but have actually declined recently. Last week there was a bit of a pop up in rates but I expect them to be going up and down by small increments for at least through the end of the year. But they are still very low.

Maximum loan amounts - through FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in high-cost local markets on the West and East coasts ( San Diego is included in this category ) will continue to be $729,750 through December 2008. In January, the high-cost maximum is projected to dip to approximately $625,000.

Home prices - pushed by foreclosures and short sales - have rolled back to 2003 and 2004 levels or lower in many of the former boom market areas.

Buyers are seemingly liking the lower prices as many more are coming off the sidelines and making offers and deals are coming together. Our National Association of REALTORS reported that the Pending Home Sale index increased over 7% based on contracts signed in August. Regretfully you don't read much about the improving aspects of our markets by the media. They are caught up in the current election and have been preaching the same tunes for a few years now. Perhaps they see a connection there.

The conclusion is that there is plenty of money available as long as you can qualify for it. If you are in the market to purchase a home, besides the large lenders, there are numerous San Diego local banks and credit unions that are wanting to lend mortgage money from their own portfolios and are competitive on their terms and rates.

As a Buyer for San Diego real estate, get the facts. As you know the facts are usually the last thing you hear about when reading the journals around. Listen, they have to make money to survive. They have to sell the stories that get the attention and not necessarily the ones you want or need to know about. I am a real estate professional and if I don't know the answer to your questions, I surround my with the most skilled and knowledgeable people in the industry and we can help locate the right path to follow to fulfill your desire for either selling your property or buying a new one. You have seen the rest and what they can do. If you want the best guidance and professional service, give me a call and I think you will see that I am that professional that will tell you the truth and help you learn how to make your own "Best Decisions". I have a very long client list and their testimonials speak best about what you can expect from me. I make it a habit to under promise and over deliver.

An article in our local paper titled " Home Price Index still tumbling" Oct 29^th draws interesting reactions from editorials. I was taken with one in particular that feels that prices in general on housing should drop significantly more ( like at least 20% more) and that the government should develop a program to help those transitioning from home ownership to rental status for those that were in caught in the foreclosure quagmire.

The editorial states that from 2000 to 2005, according to the Case-Shiller Index, housing cost increased 250% and that housing prices have only fallen back 30%. That in order for homeowners to be able to spend more on consumption goods, housing prices need to drop significantly more.

This opinion most certainly is shared by many though I would expect that they are not current home owners. One of the numerous issues that was not accounted for in this opinion was that municipalities have benefited form all the additional tax revenue and have increased their budgets according to the new assessed valuations. California's budget also increased dramatically along with the way with much new spending that far and away exceeds even the increase in revenue.

Many homeowners are now suffering the loss of equities earned during this period which many had borrowed against for many things from consumers goods to investing in the stock market, borrowing for higher education costs, remodeling etc. As the values continue to drop, any remaining equity also drops.

With falling equities and many property values being reset to lower amounts and many even upside down, there can only one conclusion that our communities and state must factor in. There needs to be a curtailing of local and state spending. The increased need for current homeowners to pay larger portions of their incomes to satisfy the debt that is not easy now to refinance also must be realized. All this actually creates so more stress while it is argued that our housing values need to drop significantly more for greater affordability.

So while it may be argued that the prices will be more affordable with further decline in values, in fact the potential for more decline in value makes owning property less affordable for those that already own property it. Factor in the higher costs of carrying them and the more than likley demand for larger taxes that will be levied against the value and what is ahead of us is not going to be easy.

So while most buyers are sitting and waiting and the few that are in the market are still wanting to see values drop lower, overall the entire quantification of home ownership is going to be getting tighter and it will delay for a significant time, the natural level of appreciation for those that are already homeowners.

This person that write that editorial might want to consider that after property has been revalued upward as happened between 2002 and 2005 and people have taken advantage of that new valuation, when the values suddenly drop and then continue the decline, the damage created can in many cases can be devastating. There were NO cautionary notices sent out by anyone to homeowners with the new values and increased equity, that they should just pretend it didn't it isn't there. Or somehow was just numbers on paper. You can't un-ring that bell and it is too late to undo what many feel was the too dramatic increase in valuation. I equate that to the analogy that if your stock went up and you needed to sell it, you would be advised that you couldn't sell it for what it is currently worth but that you could only sell it for what you paid for it. How ridiculous.So it defies any possible logic and that notion just doesn't compute.

We homeowners are left with few alternatives however and with the market in decline, if you need to sell, you will have to bite the bullet and sell for the best you can get from the market. If you don't have to sell at this time, it is best to stay out of the market. Reducing the inventory can help in the short run and by reducing supply, the ratio of supply to demand might come into better balance.

As for the shared opinions out there that values need to drop more, I think they are just wrong headed and we can only hope that those opinions won't continue to prevail indefinitely.

I am continually fascinated with the idea that Buyers today feel it is only in their best interests to buy when properties values are in decline. At least they are constantly being told that by the talking heads and the prognosticators. I guess the idea now is to buy at the bottom of a market, having seen the outcome from buying at the top of the market. So where's the bottom?

What is often not factored in, is that as Buyers force the values further down and with the next level of buyers doing the same thing, then those new lower comparables become the market and in my view , Buyers ultimately shoot themselves in the foot. The reason? Because it encourages others to continue the same mindset, thus causing more general decline in value.

It would seem to me that any prudent buyer would obviously like to buy right but continually encouraging the market to decline in value, ultimately puts their own newly purchased property at risk of being worth less shortly after they purchase by the greatly encouraged bottom feeding.

If Buyers could somehow as a group recognize the potential for even a small appreciation and stop trying to force the market lower and lower, in the longer term, values would stabilize and a more normal gain in year over year appreciation could take place, naturally. Buyers as a group have this strange culture of having the goal of getting a better deal than the last lower comparable. Then the next lower level of comps and it continues. And the more interesting aspect of that culture is that it is driven not by the Buyers but the spokespersons that they listen to. The media and the market prognosticators that continue the drum beat of the falling market.

We have seen many Sellers refuse to budge on the Buyer demands and then just sit on the market as values continue to decline all around them. But once a again, it is those with the homes for sale ( short sales and REO's leading the way ) that have at least allowed the decline in values to continue. Reducing the excess inventory and as a macro group itself, property owners could be better participants by curtailing the number of lower comps by not rushing to market out of fear. A supply and demand principle. Is it then the Buyers that force the lower values or the Sellers that accommodate it? It might be the chicken and egg story again, but in my estimation Buyers as a macro group would still be better served on the value equation with stable to slightly increasing values.

Yet they persist to drive the market down as instructed by whatever voice or voices they listen to. As long as they are successful in doing so, I can almost guarantee that the next time they look, their property will have dropped a bit in value instead of remaining flat to even gaining at least a small appreciation.

The topsy turvy market can not right itself unless or at least until the buyers as a group have a strong belief that gradually, appreciation will happen. With the press and prognosticators reporting every day the drop that the Buyers reciprocal actions have forced, it perpetuates itself and adds to the declining general economy. They still loudly proclaim that there is not going to be an appreciable stabilization in the market values anytime soon. Does the whole trend reverse itself when a credible spokesperson or spokespersons begin saying we have now reached the bottom and we are changing to a market of expanding values.

Now that would be a pleasant happening but it also strikes me that so far, no one is suggesting that. Is it feasible in the current economic quagmire ? Yes, it is possible, were it not for Buyers believing otherwise. They mostly want the next great and the next deal has to be better than the last one until you begin to realize that it has become a "How low can we force this to go" type of mindset.

Government itself adds to the confusion by asserting that REO's and Short sales ( in the San Diego real estate market for instance ) feed that bargain mindset by stepping in and trying to influence the outcome. In my view it is just as much that bargain mindset that helps to continually create the supply of the new short and REO properties as the other way around. It's that chicken or the egg story again.

What is an interesting observation is that in general terms it was not the Sellers that caused the great surge in values. Buyers with easy credit believed in the trend of ever escalating values and kept forcing the prices higher and higher by over bidding. Sellers were of course all to happy to supply the homes for that run up in values and even adding to the mix as new move up Buyers to play in that over bidding game themselves.

This was all taking place of course at the macro level in the housing market. On an individual level, Buyers in practice did the over bidding with some reluctance. But feeling assured that that cycle would not eventually end, as a group, they certainly took things to extraordinary highs.

Now of course we have been going the other way. On that same macro level, Buyers as a group continue to force the values lower than the last comparable sales.

How interesting it would be if there was this giant voice of reason and logic that could reach everyone at the same time and suggest that their actions as a group are not benefiting them. One can dream of course, no such voice exits. But I suspect the media bored with the current story line might be ready for change. What the media want they seem to create. Guess we will have to wait to see if the news changes anytime soon. Is it audacious to hope for an end to the declining markets? I suppose it is until the media say otherwise.

With a number of aquariums already existing in Southern California, this is the first Sea Life aquarium in the United States and it is unlike the others in that it has some very unique features.

"What really sets this aquarium apart from any other is the fact that it's entirely geared towards children ages two to 12 and has more Lego elements throughout than any other aquarium in the world" says Legoland California resort president and general manager John Jakobson .

One of the very cool features of the aquarium are the pop-up bubbles right in the middle of the displays were children and parents can literally pop up in the middle of the tank for a look see around. The experience is not unlike what the species themselves encounter in their own environment. A bit like snorkeling in the ocean without the assist of needed air or even getting wet.

"Sea Life" is the newest addition to the Legoland in Carlsbad but there are 29 others in locations around the globe. Each one has its own special challenges of collecting specie specimens, making their own sea water and learning the special feeding needs, but the concept is unique and highly educational for children and parents alike. One of the highlights is the 35 foot long acrylic ocean tunnel featuring the Lost City of Atlantis.

Sea Life's debut in Carlsbad in August 2008 opened with about 3000 species on display but the aquarium's longer-term goal is for a display of consisting of approximately 5000 species. Sea Life, generally speaking does not collect rare or endangered species of marine life but more of the "garden variety" of marine life.

When we are trying to educate children and adults alike of the need to look after our precious marine resources and the many creatures that live in the oceans of the world, it is useful that they understand and relate with the sea animals that are familiar to them more than those that might be thought of as "exotic".

In my view, we can't have too many opportunities to appreciate see life in all of its forms in an age when care of our precious he resources is catching the imagination of the peoples of the world, it all begins with education and learning to respect these resources. The children of today, will be the world's leaders of tomorrow and the more they appreciate and learn about what can easily be destroyed, the better our world will be in all of our tomorrows.

Sea Life now joins SeaWorld and The Birch Aquarium at Scripps as the third aquarium in San Diego county.