This website is fantastic, and my new best friend! I just had to share it with the rest of the public! I was having a hard time locating a plot of land, but this site pops it right up. Very very convenient.
http://www3.tlma.co.riverside.ca.us/pa/rclis/index.html
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Real Estate News for Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
Real Estate’s Web Wake-up. Real estate shakeout could lead to web-driven industry shakeup—the death threats have already started. The Internet has transformed the music, retail, advertising, and software industries over the last decade, but real estate’s classic broker-buyer-seller triumvirate remains essentially in place. Buyers may look at photos of houses online, but they still normally hire brokers to show them lists of homes, while sellers hire brokers to list their homes on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and camp out at open houses on Sundays. Brokers usually charge the seller about 6 percent of the sales price for their services, then split this commission 50-50 with the buyer’s agent that brings the client to the deal. Source.
Home Prices Fall for 2nd Month. The median price of an Orange County home fell for a second straight month in August to $633,000 while the number of houses sold continued its sharp decline from a year ago. Many sellers are opting to pull their homes off the market. In August, there were 3,121 homes pulled off the market by disgruntled sellers, compared to 1,262 a year earlier, according to data from the Aliso Viejo-based office of ReMax Real Estate Services. Source.
Panel to Address Housing Bubble. The discussion, “Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble: Trends in California Real Estate,” will tackle the elusive subject of whether the runup in housing prices over the past few years constitutes a “bubble” and whether the real estate market is in for a hard or a soft landing now that home sales have slowed considerably. Also slated to speak are. Robert Edelstein, real estate development professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and Christopher Thornberg, principal at Beacon Economic. The event, hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter of Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, will take place Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Luxe Hotel in L.A. For more information, call (310) 999-3411 or visit acteva.com/go/haasla. Source.
Panic Setting In As Market Continues to Slump: Consumer Advocate Giving Mammoth Boost to Ethical Real Estate Agents & Loan Officers. The latest housing data is shattering confidence in the most seasoned industry professionals. Homebuilder Toll Brothers said the current slump in construction is the worst in 40 years. The National Association of Realtors forecast a drop in home sales of 8% in 2006, with a further decline in 2007. PMI Mortgage Insurance added to the gloom by predicting a 32.8% chance that home prices will fall in the next two years. Source.
Technology provides competitive edge. Part 3: Surviving a real estate downturn. As the housing market slows, budgets tighten, and some buyers and sellers may be clinging to unrealistic interpretations of local market conditions. Real estate agents will find themselves competing harder for clients, especially in a time when consumer Web sites are popping up everyday, giving consumers a sense of empowerment over what they do and do not know. In this four-part series, Inman News examines the effect of the housing slowdown on everyday real estate business. We've asked brokers and agents what they are doing differently with marketing now that listing times are longer, how they are keeping an edge, and how a slowdown may or may not be impacting commission rates. Source.
Zillow: Good Real Estate Idea is a Fixer. A Web site allows buyers and sellers to find value of homes without providing personal info, however data is often inaccurate and incomplete. Zillow isn't the only free, proprietary online real estate site. RealEstateABC.com offers comparable functionality with a few extra features, and similar sites are sure to emerge. Yahoo! Real Estate announced in late July that Zillow would be incorporated into its site as an added functionality tool, and at least one major real estate brokerage, Prudential California/Nevada Realty, announced the incorporation of Zillow within its own website. Source.
To believers, saint moves homes. Real estate cool-down prompts some sellers to buy into burial legend of St. Joseph. Judy Moore knew she was going to have trouble selling the home with the really steep driveway. For help, she turned not to an advertiser or a fellow real estate agent, but to someone she hadn't used since the last slowdown in the housing market: St. Joseph. She buried a figurine of the Roman Catholic saint upside down in the home's yard. And soon, sure enough, she had her sale. Source.
Real Estate Appraising: Chilled, But Not Frozen. It can be tricky to arrive at a valuation in a cooling market. Traditionally, appraisers inspect the property's physical condition, functionality and surrounding neighborhood. Then they compare that property to the comparable recent sales, making adjustments to price estimates for features that are superior or inferior. Some appraisers say the boom provided a temptation to cut corners and complete more appraisals in less time. Now, in cooling markets, the sales prices of the comparable properties may not account for the price drops some neighborhoods have seen. And those selling the homes may be throwing in incentives like cash-back rebates or electronic extras, meaning the effective sale price of the home could be considerably less than the recorded selling price. During the boom, housing was in such demand that buyers would bid each other up, past the seller's asking price. Once a highest bidder was determined, the lender for that bidder's mortgage would send an appraiser to complete a valuation on the property. The appraiser's job in that situation is to make sure the buyer isn't paying dramatically more than the home is worth, so that the lender can avoid lending more money than necessary. Klinge said he thinks the appraisers usually lined their estimates up with where the market was trending -- up. Source.
Home Price Appreciation Slackens. The Southland median rose 2.7% in August, the smallest year-over-year increase since 1999. Even the Inland Empire — one of the nation's fastest-growing economies — is no longer enjoying double-digit gains. The last time each of the six Southland counties posted single-digit increases: December 1999.
Southland home prices have been relatively flat on a month-to-month basis since March. The problem: There simply are more homes available for sale than people willing to buy them at current prices. Sales fell 25.3% to 25,628 in August, the ninth consecutive month of declines and the worst August since 1997. After six years of sizzling price appreciation that doubled Southland home values, potential buyers now appear to be collectively sitting on the sidelines. August was the first month since December 2002 that San Bernardino County, considered the most affordable local housing market, rose at a single-digit growth rate. The median price increased 6.1% to $365,000. Neighboring Riverside County's median rose 7% to $415,000. Sales in the Inland Empire fell more than 20%. Orange County remained the most expensive local region, with a median price of $633,000, a 2.6% gain from the year before. Ventura County's median rose 1% to $598,000. Sales fell 32% in Orange County and dropped 31.8% in Ventura County. Los Angeles County's median, as reported last week, rose 4.7% to $517,000. Source.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
Home Prices Fall for 2nd Month. The median price of an Orange County home fell for a second straight month in August to $633,000 while the number of houses sold continued its sharp decline from a year ago. Many sellers are opting to pull their homes off the market. In August, there were 3,121 homes pulled off the market by disgruntled sellers, compared to 1,262 a year earlier, according to data from the Aliso Viejo-based office of ReMax Real Estate Services. Source.
Panel to Address Housing Bubble. The discussion, “Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble: Trends in California Real Estate,” will tackle the elusive subject of whether the runup in housing prices over the past few years constitutes a “bubble” and whether the real estate market is in for a hard or a soft landing now that home sales have slowed considerably. Also slated to speak are. Robert Edelstein, real estate development professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and Christopher Thornberg, principal at Beacon Economic. The event, hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter of Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, will take place Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Luxe Hotel in L.A. For more information, call (310) 999-3411 or visit acteva.com/go/haasla. Source.
Panic Setting In As Market Continues to Slump: Consumer Advocate Giving Mammoth Boost to Ethical Real Estate Agents & Loan Officers. The latest housing data is shattering confidence in the most seasoned industry professionals. Homebuilder Toll Brothers said the current slump in construction is the worst in 40 years. The National Association of Realtors forecast a drop in home sales of 8% in 2006, with a further decline in 2007. PMI Mortgage Insurance added to the gloom by predicting a 32.8% chance that home prices will fall in the next two years. Source.
Technology provides competitive edge. Part 3: Surviving a real estate downturn. As the housing market slows, budgets tighten, and some buyers and sellers may be clinging to unrealistic interpretations of local market conditions. Real estate agents will find themselves competing harder for clients, especially in a time when consumer Web sites are popping up everyday, giving consumers a sense of empowerment over what they do and do not know. In this four-part series, Inman News examines the effect of the housing slowdown on everyday real estate business. We've asked brokers and agents what they are doing differently with marketing now that listing times are longer, how they are keeping an edge, and how a slowdown may or may not be impacting commission rates. Source.
Zillow: Good Real Estate Idea is a Fixer. A Web site allows buyers and sellers to find value of homes without providing personal info, however data is often inaccurate and incomplete. Zillow isn't the only free, proprietary online real estate site. RealEstateABC.com offers comparable functionality with a few extra features, and similar sites are sure to emerge. Yahoo! Real Estate announced in late July that Zillow would be incorporated into its site as an added functionality tool, and at least one major real estate brokerage, Prudential California/Nevada Realty, announced the incorporation of Zillow within its own website. Source.
To believers, saint moves homes. Real estate cool-down prompts some sellers to buy into burial legend of St. Joseph. Judy Moore knew she was going to have trouble selling the home with the really steep driveway. For help, she turned not to an advertiser or a fellow real estate agent, but to someone she hadn't used since the last slowdown in the housing market: St. Joseph. She buried a figurine of the Roman Catholic saint upside down in the home's yard. And soon, sure enough, she had her sale. Source.
Real Estate Appraising: Chilled, But Not Frozen. It can be tricky to arrive at a valuation in a cooling market. Traditionally, appraisers inspect the property's physical condition, functionality and surrounding neighborhood. Then they compare that property to the comparable recent sales, making adjustments to price estimates for features that are superior or inferior. Some appraisers say the boom provided a temptation to cut corners and complete more appraisals in less time. Now, in cooling markets, the sales prices of the comparable properties may not account for the price drops some neighborhoods have seen. And those selling the homes may be throwing in incentives like cash-back rebates or electronic extras, meaning the effective sale price of the home could be considerably less than the recorded selling price. During the boom, housing was in such demand that buyers would bid each other up, past the seller's asking price. Once a highest bidder was determined, the lender for that bidder's mortgage would send an appraiser to complete a valuation on the property. The appraiser's job in that situation is to make sure the buyer isn't paying dramatically more than the home is worth, so that the lender can avoid lending more money than necessary. Klinge said he thinks the appraisers usually lined their estimates up with where the market was trending -- up. Source.
Home Price Appreciation Slackens. The Southland median rose 2.7% in August, the smallest year-over-year increase since 1999. Even the Inland Empire — one of the nation's fastest-growing economies — is no longer enjoying double-digit gains. The last time each of the six Southland counties posted single-digit increases: December 1999.
Southland home prices have been relatively flat on a month-to-month basis since March. The problem: There simply are more homes available for sale than people willing to buy them at current prices. Sales fell 25.3% to 25,628 in August, the ninth consecutive month of declines and the worst August since 1997. After six years of sizzling price appreciation that doubled Southland home values, potential buyers now appear to be collectively sitting on the sidelines. August was the first month since December 2002 that San Bernardino County, considered the most affordable local housing market, rose at a single-digit growth rate. The median price increased 6.1% to $365,000. Neighboring Riverside County's median rose 7% to $415,000. Sales in the Inland Empire fell more than 20%. Orange County remained the most expensive local region, with a median price of $633,000, a 2.6% gain from the year before. Ventura County's median rose 1% to $598,000. Sales fell 32% in Orange County and dropped 31.8% in Ventura County. Los Angeles County's median, as reported last week, rose 4.7% to $517,000. Source. ~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
Friday, September 15, 2006
Real Estate News for Friday, September 15th, 2006
The single-family housing market is sinking. The single-family housing market is sinking in many parts of the country, and the stocks of publicly traded home-building companies have been falling to the basement in tandem. But if you are a real-estate investor, it's not total despair out there. In fact, for publicly traded companies whose primary business is multifamily housing, things are just peachy. Source.
Home buying will stay strong, real estate executive says. Analyze national and local real estate sales — and prices — from a 100-year perspective and recent trends are really very promising, Coldwell Banker leaders said Thursday. In Naples for a two-day company conference at The RitzCarlton Beach Resort, Coldwell Banker President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Gillespie said the real estate market may be a little "off" this year, but the numbers are still impressive. "Some of the (newspaper) headlines don’t really tell the story," Gillespie said. Real estate may be off 7.6 percent from the previous year, but it was coming off the industry’s best year in history, Gillespie said. Source.
Most Commercial Real Estate Sectors Continue to Improve. Most commercial real estate markets can expect tightening vacancy rates and rising rents, and large investors are pouring funds into commercial sectors, according to the latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook of the National Association of Realtors. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said most commercial market fundamentals are solid. "Commercial real estate markets move in response to changes in fundamental demand, which remains solid as a result of sustained job creation and economic growth," he said. "Except for some weakness in the retail sector, the commercial market is benefiting from lower vacancies and higher rents." Institutional investors have been very active in commercial real estate this year. "Large institutional investors such as pension funds and life insurance companies are considered to be cautious and risk adverse, so their shift of funds into commercial sectors is an affirmation of the wisdom of diversification in commercial real estate," Lereah said. Institutional investors and private equity funds accounted for half of all office buildings purchased during the first seven months of 2006, and also purchased one-third of industrial real estate. These institutions spent over $31.0 billion in all of the commercial sectors so far this year, which is seen to be a record for institutional investment in commercial grade properties. Source.
Del Webb tops rankings for customer satisfaction. J.D. Power and Associates has released its annual rankings for customer satisfaction with home builders and Del Webb has topped the list for the third consecutive year. Las Vegas ranked higher than Phoenix but below all of the California markets. Austin ranked No. 1 in the country with a score of 124. The Inland Empire had 116 and Los Angeles and Ventura counties had a 114. Ten factors drive the survey, starting with a builder's warranty and customer service. The remaining categories in order of importance are home readiness; builder's sales staff; construction manager; quality of workmanship and materials; price and value; physical design elements; builder's design center; recreational facilities; and location. Del Webb, a brand of Pulte Homes, scored 142 in the rankings, an improvement of four points over 2005. Pulte Homes' traditional home building operations tied for second at 138 with Centex Homes. That's quite a jump for Centex, which scored 115 in 2005. Beazer had the biggest decline, falling from 101 to 78, KB Home dropped from 130 in 2005 to 111 in this year's rankings. Pardee fell from 114 to 97. What weight, if any, these latest rankings will carry with consumers in this slow housing market, has yet to be seen. Paula Sonkin, executive director of real estate industries practice at J.D. Power, said the rankings will carry more importance with a soft market. Builders are offering incentives to get rid of inventory and struggling with labor issues and increasing building material costs, Sonkin said. "As builders fight for every sale they close in this down turned market, a reputation for customer satisfaction becomes more important than ever, as it helps builders differentiate themselves from the competition," she said. Source.
Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker. Read articles titled "Rising inventories weigh on home prices," "Housing Still Cooling," etc. Source.
The Home Buying Process: Step by Step. Buying a home can be a very intimidating process, especially if you've never done it before. So the first thing you should do before you start the home buying process is to figure out whether owning a home is right for you. It may or may not be and this decision depends on you and what your circumstances are. If you're in a region where housing is at a real premium or is very expensive (such as New York or California), it may be better for you to continue renting. Take into account that if you do buy a home, there are extra responsibilities and costs that go along with owning a home-such as lawn care, snow removal, home maintenance and repairs, etc. So, if you've decided that renting is no longer for you and you want to move into your own home, you may ask, Where do I begin?
Step 1: Check Your Credit Report and Score
Step 2: Figure Out How Much You Can Afford
Step 3: Find the Right Lender and Real Estate Agent
Step 4: Look for the Right Home
Step 5: Make an Offer for the Home
Step 6: Get the Right Mortgage for Your Situation
Step 7: Close On Your Home
Step 8: Move In!
Source.
Building or buying a new home? Think modular. It's a buyer's market for real estate. But a buyer's market doesn't make it any cheaper, easier or faster to build a home. As construction costs escalate and building codes become more complex, it's harder to keep up. And what about the strain on you and your family? You have to be project manager, design lead, financial coordinator, and people manager ... all harder if you're trying to do it remotely; all harder if you don't know much about building homes. Source.
Real Estate Recession Coming. The housing market now is increasingly a buyer's market. One of the major builders of luxury homes reported that both its third quarter and full year earnings "would fall short of its previous forecasts as a result of slower sales." The firm noted that "high cancellation rates on contracts in backlog that were projected to close this year, and more pronounced use of price concessions and incentives, particularly on the resale of those homes which have experienced contract cancellations." Some realtors and economists now argue that the decline in home prices will be modest and is nearly complete. Source.
What's Really Propping Up The Economy. Since 2001, the health-care industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None. But the very real problems with the health-care system mask a simple fact: Without it the nation's labor market would be in a deep coma. Since 2001, 1.7 million new jobs have been added in the health-care sector, which includes related industries such as pharmaceuticals and health insurance. Meanwhile, the number of private-sector jobs outside of health care is no higher than it was five years ago. Sure, housing has been a bonanza for homebuilders, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers. Together they have added more than 900,000 jobs since 2001. But the pressures of globalization and new technology have wreaked havoc on the rest of the labor market: Factories are still closing, retailers are shrinking, and the finance and insurance sector, outside of real estate lending and health insurers, has generated few additional jobs. Source.
Housing market in LA, San Diego counties keeps slowing. The once-high flying housing market kept slowing in August in two key Southern California counties, as sales eroded and prices lagged compared to a year ago, a real estate research firm said. Data released Wednesday for Los Angeles and San Diego counties suggested a price correction was under way in the markets that had attracted bidding wars in recent years, said Andrew LePage, an analyst with DataQuick Information Systems. "We're not sure at what point demand will respond and start to pick up again," he said. In Los Angeles County, home prices rose in August at the lowest annual rate in six years. In San Diego County, prices declined 2.2 percent compared to the year-ago figure, the data showed. Figures for other California counties were due next week. Last month, 9,193 homes were sold in Los Angeles County, a 21 percent drop from the same time last year and the fewest for the month of August since 1997. It was the county's ninth straight month of plunging year-over-year sales. Meanwhile, the median price in the county increased 4.7 percent in August to $517,000, the data showed. The situation was worse in San Diego County, where the median price of a home dropped to $482,000, the same level as April 2005. The county also saw a 32 percent decline in sales compared to a year ago. Analysts said the drop in sales could bottom out by the middle of next year and make a gradual recovery by late 2008. "It will take a year or two to work itself out," said Alan Gin, a University of San Diego professor and associate at its Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. Source.
National Foreclosures Increase 24 Percent in August According to RealtyTrac(TM) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosures Up Nearly 53 Percent From August 2005, 38 Percent Year-to-Date. "After spiking early in the year U.S. foreclosure activity has been relatively flat over the last few months. But foreclosures ramped up significantly in August, pushing the national foreclosure rate close to its highest level of the year so far," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "And with home price appreciation continuing to decelerate and billions of dollars in adjustable rate mortgages projected to reset in the next few months, this month's increase could be the beginning of an upward shift in the foreclosures market." The five states with the most new foreclosure filings -- Florida, Texas, California, Ohio and Illinois -- accounted for 50 percent of the nation's foreclosure activity in August. With 12,506 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, California foreclosures increased nearly 25 percent from the previous month, and the state's foreclosure rate -- one new foreclosure filing for every 977 households -- registered slightly above the national average for the third month in a row. Source.
Short sales expected to rise as housing slows. A "short sale" refers to a situation where the seller lacks sufficient equity to close the sale. When this occurs, the seller must contribute additional funds or ask the lender to reduce the loan amount in order to close the sale. As you might imagine, earning a full commission under these circumstances can be extraordinarily difficult. Short sales normally occur in flat or declining markets. It's also common when large numbers of buyers have purchased with no money down. In 2005, approximately 40 percent of all sales closed with nothing down. Virtually all of these loans are adjustable-rate mortgages. If the loan readjusts and the sellers cannot afford the increase in payments, the loan will become delinquent. Most sellers in this situation will attempt to sell their property. Assuming a 6 percent commission and 2 percent in additional costs, the sellers of a $200,000 property would have to come up with $16,000 in closing costs. If these people were unable to come up with a down payment, the odds are extremely high that they will be unable to come up with enough money to close the sale. Typically, when a seller is upside down (i.e. they owe more than the property is worth), one of the following scenarios results. First, the owner may try to sell the property without representation. In a depressed market where there is a large amount of inventory, chances are slight that the seller will be successful. The second approach is to allow the property to go into foreclosure. Depending on the state, the seller may pick up six to nine months of "free rent" by not paying his/her existing mortgage. Once the lender completes the foreclosure proceedings, it still may have to evict the delinquent seller from the property. This may take an additional 30 to 60 days. The third scenario involves going to the lender and asking the lender to lower the amount that it would have normally required to close the sale. It's extremely difficult to persuade lenders to reduce their loan balance to close the transaction or that they should be responsible for paying the closing costs. Their typical reaction is, "We'll just foreclose on the property." I had a blatant example of this when I had a short-sale escrow with a property in Malibu, Calif. The day after a large wildfire ravaged this ritzy seaside community, the lender turned down our request for a short sale. Their reasoning was that their comparable sales showed that the property was worth more. I persuaded them to take the short sale by sending them the pictures of the comparable sales; however, these homes had all burned down. Furthermore, the tenant, who moved out the day of the fire, took all the fixtures including the toilets. Clearly, the property was no longer worth what it was before the tenant trashed it, and 80 percent of the neighborhood burned to the ground. Persuading the lender to pay the commission is also a challenge. The best approach is to make the following argument: If you foreclose on the property, you will achieve the highest possible price in the shortest period of time by listing with a top agent. This means that you will pay the commission anyway. Given that sales are declining and that inventory is increasing, it may take a number of months to sell the property. This means that you will have the commission costs, several months of holding costs, and a possible loss in value because of the substantial amount of competing inventory. Selling now may actually net you more money than waiting. Would you prefer to lock in a sale today or would you prefer to wait and perhaps take even less for the property? Any time you speak with a lender, it's critical that you have hard statistical data to show them. Your data should include how much inventory is on the market, how much the inventory has increased or decreased in the last six months, as well as whether prices are increasing, decreasing or staying flat. With almost 9 million loans readjusting to a higher rate in 2007, there will be an increasing number of people who cannot afford to make higher loan payments. Foreclosure rates are continuing to climb. If you want a steady stream of business during a market downturn, learning how to negotiate short sales can be a lucrative source of business. Representing sellers who have little or no equity is not for the faint of heart, however. If you're ready to tap into a difficult but lucrative market, see next week's article to learn how. Source.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
Home buying will stay strong, real estate executive says. Analyze national and local real estate sales — and prices — from a 100-year perspective and recent trends are really very promising, Coldwell Banker leaders said Thursday. In Naples for a two-day company conference at The RitzCarlton Beach Resort, Coldwell Banker President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Gillespie said the real estate market may be a little "off" this year, but the numbers are still impressive. "Some of the (newspaper) headlines don’t really tell the story," Gillespie said. Real estate may be off 7.6 percent from the previous year, but it was coming off the industry’s best year in history, Gillespie said. Source.
Most Commercial Real Estate Sectors Continue to Improve. Most commercial real estate markets can expect tightening vacancy rates and rising rents, and large investors are pouring funds into commercial sectors, according to the latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook of the National Association of Realtors. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said most commercial market fundamentals are solid. "Commercial real estate markets move in response to changes in fundamental demand, which remains solid as a result of sustained job creation and economic growth," he said. "Except for some weakness in the retail sector, the commercial market is benefiting from lower vacancies and higher rents." Institutional investors have been very active in commercial real estate this year. "Large institutional investors such as pension funds and life insurance companies are considered to be cautious and risk adverse, so their shift of funds into commercial sectors is an affirmation of the wisdom of diversification in commercial real estate," Lereah said. Institutional investors and private equity funds accounted for half of all office buildings purchased during the first seven months of 2006, and also purchased one-third of industrial real estate. These institutions spent over $31.0 billion in all of the commercial sectors so far this year, which is seen to be a record for institutional investment in commercial grade properties. Source.
Del Webb tops rankings for customer satisfaction. J.D. Power and Associates has released its annual rankings for customer satisfaction with home builders and Del Webb has topped the list for the third consecutive year. Las Vegas ranked higher than Phoenix but below all of the California markets. Austin ranked No. 1 in the country with a score of 124. The Inland Empire had 116 and Los Angeles and Ventura counties had a 114. Ten factors drive the survey, starting with a builder's warranty and customer service. The remaining categories in order of importance are home readiness; builder's sales staff; construction manager; quality of workmanship and materials; price and value; physical design elements; builder's design center; recreational facilities; and location. Del Webb, a brand of Pulte Homes, scored 142 in the rankings, an improvement of four points over 2005. Pulte Homes' traditional home building operations tied for second at 138 with Centex Homes. That's quite a jump for Centex, which scored 115 in 2005. Beazer had the biggest decline, falling from 101 to 78, KB Home dropped from 130 in 2005 to 111 in this year's rankings. Pardee fell from 114 to 97. What weight, if any, these latest rankings will carry with consumers in this slow housing market, has yet to be seen. Paula Sonkin, executive director of real estate industries practice at J.D. Power, said the rankings will carry more importance with a soft market. Builders are offering incentives to get rid of inventory and struggling with labor issues and increasing building material costs, Sonkin said. "As builders fight for every sale they close in this down turned market, a reputation for customer satisfaction becomes more important than ever, as it helps builders differentiate themselves from the competition," she said. Source.
Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker. Read articles titled "Rising inventories weigh on home prices," "Housing Still Cooling," etc. Source.
The Home Buying Process: Step by Step. Buying a home can be a very intimidating process, especially if you've never done it before. So the first thing you should do before you start the home buying process is to figure out whether owning a home is right for you. It may or may not be and this decision depends on you and what your circumstances are. If you're in a region where housing is at a real premium or is very expensive (such as New York or California), it may be better for you to continue renting. Take into account that if you do buy a home, there are extra responsibilities and costs that go along with owning a home-such as lawn care, snow removal, home maintenance and repairs, etc. So, if you've decided that renting is no longer for you and you want to move into your own home, you may ask, Where do I begin?
Step 1: Check Your Credit Report and Score
Step 2: Figure Out How Much You Can Afford
Step 3: Find the Right Lender and Real Estate Agent
Step 4: Look for the Right Home
Step 5: Make an Offer for the Home
Step 6: Get the Right Mortgage for Your Situation
Step 7: Close On Your Home
Step 8: Move In!
Source.
Building or buying a new home? Think modular. It's a buyer's market for real estate. But a buyer's market doesn't make it any cheaper, easier or faster to build a home. As construction costs escalate and building codes become more complex, it's harder to keep up. And what about the strain on you and your family? You have to be project manager, design lead, financial coordinator, and people manager ... all harder if you're trying to do it remotely; all harder if you don't know much about building homes. Source.
Real Estate Recession Coming. The housing market now is increasingly a buyer's market. One of the major builders of luxury homes reported that both its third quarter and full year earnings "would fall short of its previous forecasts as a result of slower sales." The firm noted that "high cancellation rates on contracts in backlog that were projected to close this year, and more pronounced use of price concessions and incentives, particularly on the resale of those homes which have experienced contract cancellations." Some realtors and economists now argue that the decline in home prices will be modest and is nearly complete. Source.
What's Really Propping Up The Economy. Since 2001, the health-care industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None. But the very real problems with the health-care system mask a simple fact: Without it the nation's labor market would be in a deep coma. Since 2001, 1.7 million new jobs have been added in the health-care sector, which includes related industries such as pharmaceuticals and health insurance. Meanwhile, the number of private-sector jobs outside of health care is no higher than it was five years ago. Sure, housing has been a bonanza for homebuilders, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers. Together they have added more than 900,000 jobs since 2001. But the pressures of globalization and new technology have wreaked havoc on the rest of the labor market: Factories are still closing, retailers are shrinking, and the finance and insurance sector, outside of real estate lending and health insurers, has generated few additional jobs. Source.
Housing market in LA, San Diego counties keeps slowing. The once-high flying housing market kept slowing in August in two key Southern California counties, as sales eroded and prices lagged compared to a year ago, a real estate research firm said. Data released Wednesday for Los Angeles and San Diego counties suggested a price correction was under way in the markets that had attracted bidding wars in recent years, said Andrew LePage, an analyst with DataQuick Information Systems. "We're not sure at what point demand will respond and start to pick up again," he said. In Los Angeles County, home prices rose in August at the lowest annual rate in six years. In San Diego County, prices declined 2.2 percent compared to the year-ago figure, the data showed. Figures for other California counties were due next week. Last month, 9,193 homes were sold in Los Angeles County, a 21 percent drop from the same time last year and the fewest for the month of August since 1997. It was the county's ninth straight month of plunging year-over-year sales. Meanwhile, the median price in the county increased 4.7 percent in August to $517,000, the data showed. The situation was worse in San Diego County, where the median price of a home dropped to $482,000, the same level as April 2005. The county also saw a 32 percent decline in sales compared to a year ago. Analysts said the drop in sales could bottom out by the middle of next year and make a gradual recovery by late 2008. "It will take a year or two to work itself out," said Alan Gin, a University of San Diego professor and associate at its Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. Source.
National Foreclosures Increase 24 Percent in August According to RealtyTrac(TM) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosures Up Nearly 53 Percent From August 2005, 38 Percent Year-to-Date. "After spiking early in the year U.S. foreclosure activity has been relatively flat over the last few months. But foreclosures ramped up significantly in August, pushing the national foreclosure rate close to its highest level of the year so far," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "And with home price appreciation continuing to decelerate and billions of dollars in adjustable rate mortgages projected to reset in the next few months, this month's increase could be the beginning of an upward shift in the foreclosures market." The five states with the most new foreclosure filings -- Florida, Texas, California, Ohio and Illinois -- accounted for 50 percent of the nation's foreclosure activity in August. With 12,506 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, California foreclosures increased nearly 25 percent from the previous month, and the state's foreclosure rate -- one new foreclosure filing for every 977 households -- registered slightly above the national average for the third month in a row. Source.
Short sales expected to rise as housing slows. A "short sale" refers to a situation where the seller lacks sufficient equity to close the sale. When this occurs, the seller must contribute additional funds or ask the lender to reduce the loan amount in order to close the sale. As you might imagine, earning a full commission under these circumstances can be extraordinarily difficult. Short sales normally occur in flat or declining markets. It's also common when large numbers of buyers have purchased with no money down. In 2005, approximately 40 percent of all sales closed with nothing down. Virtually all of these loans are adjustable-rate mortgages. If the loan readjusts and the sellers cannot afford the increase in payments, the loan will become delinquent. Most sellers in this situation will attempt to sell their property. Assuming a 6 percent commission and 2 percent in additional costs, the sellers of a $200,000 property would have to come up with $16,000 in closing costs. If these people were unable to come up with a down payment, the odds are extremely high that they will be unable to come up with enough money to close the sale. Typically, when a seller is upside down (i.e. they owe more than the property is worth), one of the following scenarios results. First, the owner may try to sell the property without representation. In a depressed market where there is a large amount of inventory, chances are slight that the seller will be successful. The second approach is to allow the property to go into foreclosure. Depending on the state, the seller may pick up six to nine months of "free rent" by not paying his/her existing mortgage. Once the lender completes the foreclosure proceedings, it still may have to evict the delinquent seller from the property. This may take an additional 30 to 60 days. The third scenario involves going to the lender and asking the lender to lower the amount that it would have normally required to close the sale. It's extremely difficult to persuade lenders to reduce their loan balance to close the transaction or that they should be responsible for paying the closing costs. Their typical reaction is, "We'll just foreclose on the property." I had a blatant example of this when I had a short-sale escrow with a property in Malibu, Calif. The day after a large wildfire ravaged this ritzy seaside community, the lender turned down our request for a short sale. Their reasoning was that their comparable sales showed that the property was worth more. I persuaded them to take the short sale by sending them the pictures of the comparable sales; however, these homes had all burned down. Furthermore, the tenant, who moved out the day of the fire, took all the fixtures including the toilets. Clearly, the property was no longer worth what it was before the tenant trashed it, and 80 percent of the neighborhood burned to the ground. Persuading the lender to pay the commission is also a challenge. The best approach is to make the following argument: If you foreclose on the property, you will achieve the highest possible price in the shortest period of time by listing with a top agent. This means that you will pay the commission anyway. Given that sales are declining and that inventory is increasing, it may take a number of months to sell the property. This means that you will have the commission costs, several months of holding costs, and a possible loss in value because of the substantial amount of competing inventory. Selling now may actually net you more money than waiting. Would you prefer to lock in a sale today or would you prefer to wait and perhaps take even less for the property? Any time you speak with a lender, it's critical that you have hard statistical data to show them. Your data should include how much inventory is on the market, how much the inventory has increased or decreased in the last six months, as well as whether prices are increasing, decreasing or staying flat. With almost 9 million loans readjusting to a higher rate in 2007, there will be an increasing number of people who cannot afford to make higher loan payments. Foreclosure rates are continuing to climb. If you want a steady stream of business during a market downturn, learning how to negotiate short sales can be a lucrative source of business. Representing sellers who have little or no equity is not for the faint of heart, however. If you're ready to tap into a difficult but lucrative market, see next week's article to learn how. Source.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
Friday, September 08, 2006
What's in Store for Beaumont, California
For those of you who are thinking of buying or investing in Beaumont, Banning, Cherry Valley and surrounding areas, here is some great new information of the stores that will be coming in.
New Stores:
Best Buy, Staples, PetCo, Bed Bath and Beyond, Ross, Khol's, Wicke's, another Wells Fargo, Bank of America, another Rite Aid, Chevron gas, Applebee's (already open), Chili's, El Torito, Quizno's, Jamba Juice, another McDonalds, Rubio's, Weinershnitzels (sp?), Sonic Burger, more coffee shops, Holiday Inn Express.
This information is from the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and is reliable as of August 26, 2006 but subject to change.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
New Stores:
Best Buy, Staples, PetCo, Bed Bath and Beyond, Ross, Khol's, Wicke's, another Wells Fargo, Bank of America, another Rite Aid, Chevron gas, Applebee's (already open), Chili's, El Torito, Quizno's, Jamba Juice, another McDonalds, Rubio's, Weinershnitzels (sp?), Sonic Burger, more coffee shops, Holiday Inn Express.
This information is from the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and is reliable as of August 26, 2006 but subject to change.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Real Estate News for Sunday, September 3rd, 2006
Mortgage rates down for sixth week in a row. Average for 30-year, fixed rate drops to 6.44 percent, Freddie Mac says. Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a sixth consecutive week, providing home buyers with more relief from an earlier rise in rates. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.44 percent this week, down from 6.48 percent last week. That was the lowest level for 30-year mortgages since they averaged 6.43 percent the first week in April. Source.
Hot or not? Housing markets across America. Boom spreads to more Arizona cities as Rust Belt values languish. Want to know where the coolest markets are? Just click the source link. Source.
America's Housing Craze - City by City Data. Check out this interesting comparison of income level and average housing prices. Source.
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