Monday, December 17th, 2007

Hi Everyone, how have you been? I've just barely gotten over a bad flu. I am glad to be back in the office and doing work. There is sooo much that I want to get cracking on. I'm excited that the 2008 will be starting soon, that means I need to plan my year. Planning my year is probably my favorite thing to do. Actually doing what I plan is the hard part! My mentee and I will be working on our business plans together. We'll have different goals because we're different people with drastically different lives.

California Association of Realtors' most recent housing report issued in November showed home sales fell more than 40 percent in October in California from a year ago and the median price of an existing home fell almost 10 percent. The state's median home price fell below the $500,000 mark for the first time in more than a year to $497,110. While California's foreclosure activity fell nearly 2 percent from the prior month, the state's foreclosure rate of one filing for every 258 households ranked second in the nation, according to a report issued late last month by RealtyTrac. A total of 50,401 foreclosure filings were reported in the state for the month, more than triple the number reported in October 2006. Click here to read more.

~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, December 13th, 2007 - REO's

Hi Everyone! On April 17th, 2007, I posted a blog about REO's, click here to read it. Now I am absolutely certain that REO's are the best deals in this market. There has definitely been more activity lately and this is a blessing for us real estate agents. Now I am more determined than ever to keep my eyes are the best REO deals in the area. We have already had 3-4 REO sales this month, and it's only the 13th of the month!

And just so you know, I've been pretty darn sick the last two weeks. So I have alot of catching up to do. 2008 is fast approaching and I need to start setting my new goals for the new year. A real estate agent is nothing without goals!

~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

Real Estate News for Thursday, December 13th, 2007

Inland Empire Real Estate Forecast

Despite the current housing slump, the Inland Empire should remain the nation’s top industrial market as international trade and cheap, available land lure warehouse developers. Larger speculative facilities along Interstate 215 will take longer to lease as rising fuel prices add to the cost of travel from the LA/Long Beach ports. The area’s office market should remain competitive with surrounding counties due to affordable rents and newly completed space. The Ontario Airport submarket continues to be a hub of office activity. The Riverside submarket accounts for more than half of all office construction in the Inland Empire and vacancy rates will fluctuate as new buildings come online next year. Click here to read more of the USC Lusk Center Forecast.

Sub-prime fallout finally reaches Manhattan

Finally, almost belatedly, the few square miles of upmarket central New York real estate is beginning to suffer the impact of the credit crisis. Wall Street bankers are delaying the purchase of new apartments, keenly aware that the country sits on the brink of recession, and the boom in the Big Apple is showing signs of abating. The rest of the US was already feeling the chill of a cooling housing market, with property prices suffering their worst slowdown for 16 years. But Manhattan had remained resilient, buoyed by surging demand and limited supply. But according to Gregory Hymes, chief economist at property company Brown Harris Stevens and one of the leading experts on the Manhattan real estate market, although residential property prices hit a record high in the third quarter of the year, real estate agents are beginning to see a slowdown in activity as bankers guard their bonuses. Click here to read more.

~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

Southern California Fires

At least 14 fires, driven by dry, gale-force Santa Ana winds, have burned out of control across the drought-stricken southern half of California, charring an estimated 200,000 acres, killing at least two people and injuring a number of others, according to The Associated Press. The wildfires have reduced hundreds of Southern California homes to ashes and forced up to half of a million people to evacuate. NASA's Aqua satellite image shows the smoke billowing off the coast of California from the massive blazes, Monday afternoon, Oct. 22, 2007. Fire activity is outlined in red.

For those of you who are safe from the fire, please help out by donating sleeping bags, clothes, shoes, food, and water. There are 500,000 evacuees who have taken refuge in stadiums and shelters that need your help.

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

Hi everyone! I just got back from a delicious breakfast meeting at the Calimesa Country Club. All the agents from the five Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters offices were in attendance, as well as a few representatives from Coldwell Banker Corporate.

The breakfast was the usual spread, but I rarely turn down a free meal. Hehe. We started off with an agent's powerpoint listing presentation as the opener. To be completely honest, most powerpoint presentations put me to sleep... boring. I'm from the MTV generation, I need crazy music and flashing pictures. I respond well to a constant barrage of sensory overload.

Then there was a push by Fidelity National for a home valuation site called CyberHomes.com, I haven't had a chance to compare it to other valuation sites yet. But I'll let you know what I think about it soon enough.

Although most of the information from the meeting was not that new to me (it may have been new to everyone else though) I did get a few good ideas. For instance, adding a "Foreclosure" button to my website so that people can get that information more easily. They also emphasized e-newsletters and e-postcards and e-cards. Then I got a great idea for a wiki-style real estate map guide. Has anyone built one of those yet? I think that would be great for Google Maps.

Coldwell Banker Corporate reps talked about stats and numbers and figures. One thing I got from all that is that I should advertise on MSN and ASK in addition to the advertising I already do on Google and Zillow.

There are also many contests and giveaways sponsored by Coldwell Banker that I should let everyone know more about. I'll try to keep abreast of those on my blog as well. And I already have a membership with SecondLife, but I can't figure out how to play, so I should spend some more time and figure that stuff out.

Oh, Coldwell Banker has a great widget that you can download off ColdwellBanker.com that is primarily tailored towards buyers. This Retriever widget finds all the properties that match your requirements and displays new ones daily on your desktop. I think that's great. I'll try to get the link for the download for my blog soon.

I think I'll also add video components to my blog. Halloween is coming up, so I'll be sending out some Halloween e-cards to all my favorite people. I'll also start having special open house viewings for neighbors an hour before the public open house viewing. And the last bit of new information I got from the meeting is to give customers access to a hometracker where they can log their house repairs and do home comparisons.

That was the meeting in a nutshell. Not sure if everyone understood that jumble of info!

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

Located on the tax-free Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, this 210-acre property has a 20,000-square-foot main house, a 3,500-bottle wine cellar, an indoor swimming pool and atrium, and a 19-seat movie theater. Price tag: $100 million. This year, the country's priciest properties include William Randolph Hearst's $165 million Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion; a $135 million Aspen, Colo., ranch; and a $125 million Versailles-inspired estate in Beverly Hills, Calif. Why such price acceleration in the top-flight market? The simple answer: A good mega-mansion is hard to find. Click here to read more from USA Today.

According to a recent article from CNNMoney, for those in the real estate industry and for those looking to buy or sell a home, it could take until 2009 to catch a break. That's the forecast from Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), who will present his outlook to an auditorium full of real estate professionals on Wednesday morning. There's one group of home buyers, home sellers and loan originators who will have an easier time of it than everyone else: those dealing with "anything that's conventional and conforming," Duncan said. In other words, 30-year fixed rate mortgages for borrowers with good credit under the "jumbo" cutoff of $417,000. His forecast for long-term mortgage rates: an increase from 6.4 percent currently to 6.6 percent by early 2008.

Southern California home sales plummeted in September to the lowest level in two decades, with economists predicting Tuesday the market could stagger even more as skittish lenders balk at financing homes. A total of 12,455 new and resale houses and condos were sold in September in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, according to DataQuick Information Systems. It was the slowest month since the firm began keeping records in 1988, DataQuick said. The previous low was in February 1995 when 12,459 homes sold. Click here to read more from The San Jose Mercury News.

For those of you in the real estate industry, here is a reassuring article. Sometimes all you need is a little unbiased encouragement! There are also some fundamental ideas that hold true no matter what the market condition is like, click here to read more.

Looks like homebuilders are bummed out too. Homebuilders are getting gloomier about the slumping housing market, as a 22-year-old index that tracks their sentiment set a new record low Tuesday. The National Association of Home Builders said its housing market index, which tracks builders' perceptions of conditions and expectations for home sales over the next six months, fell two points to 18 in October, the lowest level since the index began in Jan. 1985. It was the eighth straight monthly decline. Seiders projected that sales will stabilize in the next six months and show "significant improvement" in the second half of next year. Tighter lending standards, rising defaults among borrowers with weak credit and falling prices for existing homes have meant fewer buyers for struggling homebuilders such as D.R. Horton Inc., Lennar Corp., Centex Corp. and Toll Brothers Inc. Click here to read more.

~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

Free Real Estate Expo Seminar!

Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters presents The Real Estate Expo!
Saturday, October 13th, 2007. 9:30am.
1655 E. 6th St., Beaumont, CA 92223
(951)845-5520
(We're right next to Applebee's.)

Come and learn the facts about today's changing Real Estate Market for:
Buyers, Sellers, and Investors!

Reliable Information On:
Auctions,
Foreclosures,
Short Sales,
Financing (FHA / VA / FHA Secure / Reverse Mortgage),
Credit Counseling,
New Homes Information,
1st Time Buyer Information,
Investments,
Selling Strategies!

~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

Real Estate News for Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

This is probably my favorite time of the year. The air is brisk and leaves start changing colors. In real estate though, this is when things typically start to slow down. The kids are already starting school and nobody likes moving right now. But that means the people who are calling the office and asking about real estate are usually pretty serious.

Did anyone read the CNNMoney.com article about builders launching campaigns to sell of their large backlog of houses? Well its definitely true. I'm always visiting the new homes and there are great incentives. Some are even having 3-day sales where they slash their prices by almost $100,000. Previous sales primarily offer non-cash incentives, like upgrades. I think we'll start seeing more steep price discounts. The builders have avoided lowering prices because of concern for buyers who had earlier purchased those homes at higher costs. What does this mean for resale sellers? It means those who are not priced competitively will not be able to sell their homes. The new homes have very pervasive marketing, sign twirlers, balloons and flags, and let's not forget gorgeous new model homes to wander through, complete with ice cold bottled water in their stainless steel fridges and freshly baked cookies in their matching double ovens. Can resale homes compete with that? Not to sound negative, but its highly unlikely.


Things can change drastically in just a decade's time. In the late 1990's median home prices were approximately 3 times the median household income. Now the median home price is 5 times the median household income. Yes, it IS more difficult to afford a home now. If you want to read more, click here to get the article from the NYTimes.com.

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

August foreclosures zoom. Sun Belt states catch up with Rust Belt states to lead mortgage delinquency rates, according to a monthly survey. Nevada led all the other states in the rate of August foreclosure filings: one for every 165 households for a total of 6,197. Other hard-hit, Sun Belt states were California (one in 224), Florida (one in 243), Georgia (one in 271), Arizona (one in 289), Colorado (one in 312) and Texas (one in 532). California placed six cities among the top 10 metro areas for the number of filings. Modesto led the way with one of every 79 households. Stockton, Merced, Vallejo-Fairfield, Riverside-San Bernardino and Sacramento also hit the top 10. California, by far the most populous state, also led the nation in the actual number of foreclosures. Some 57,975 households were in some stage of default during the month. Click here to read more.

~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

Real Estate News for Saturday, September 1st, 2007

It is amazing how time flies! Honestly, I don't know where my summer has gone. I didn't even get to go to the beach. Even though it's been 107 degrees Fahrenheit this week, with random torrential downpours, even hail at one point, I still can't believe it's September! My smart little brother will be attending UCLA as a freshman in 3 weeks. Between UCLA and UC Berkeley, I would definitely conclude that we are a University of California family!

But enough about me. Let's talk about the real estate activity and news. On a personal level, there seems to be more activity in the area. More seller price reductions as they become more realistic about the market, and not coincidentally, more buyer calls on those homes. There was a period of time a few months ago, where I wasn't sure if the office phones were even working because it was so quiet. It's not a hot market by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not dead either.

Yesterday President Bush announced a plan to help homeowners who can't afford their mortgages. The two key ideas were to:
1. give a bigger role to the Federal Housing Administration, which was created in 1934 during the Depression to make houses affordable to lower-income families but shrank in recent years as it was elbowed aside by aggressive private-sector subprime lenders
2. to temporarily suspend the income tax that families face on the portions of their mortgage debts that are forgiven by lenders.
The plan will allow people who borrowed from private-sector lenders to switch into lower-cost FHA-insured loans. Thus the lenders would get fully paid off, and the risk of default would be transferred to the FHA and to taxpayers. Well-to-do speculators could also benefit from the tax break for forgiven debt. The way the tax code works now, if you fall behind on a $300,000 loan, and your lender agrees to cut the amount you owe to $250,000, the $50,000 you saved is treated as income, and you have to pay tax on it. Bush wants to waive that tax liability temporarily. Dean Baker of the liberal Center for Economic & Policy Research says that this break will be of little value to low-income families that face relatively low tax rates, but of great value to affluent speculators. The big winner, if the plan is adopted, would be the FHA, a government agency that until recently seemed in danger of withering away because of restrictions on its ability to compete for business with freewheeling subprime lenders. The FHA provides mortgage insurance through a network of private lenders. Bush called on Congress to pass an FHA "modernization" bill that would enable the FHA to insure loans with lower down-payment requirements and higher loan limits. He also announced an FHASecure plan, which will allow families with strong credit histories who had been making timely mortgage payments before their loans reset—but are now in default—to qualify for refinancing. Until now, the FHA wasn't allowed to give refinancing loans to people in default because it was seen as too risky. And for the first time, starting Jan. 1, 2008, the FHA will charge higher rates for riskier borrowers instead of giving the same rate on all loans. Source: BusinessWeek.com.

Martin Feldstein, the President of the National Bureau of Economic Research gave a speech recently. According to Feldstein "the housing sector is now at the root of three distinct but related problems: First, a sharp decline in house prices and the related fall in home building that could lead to an economy-wide recession; Second, a subprime mortgage problem that has triggered a substantial widening of all credit spreads and the freezing of much of the credit markets; And, third, a decline in home equity loans and mortgage refinancing that could cause greater declines in consumer spending." Click here to read the full text from WSJ.com.

Foreclosures usually make us think of a family being kicked out of their home when they're unable to make their payments. But lately we're discovering that a good chunk of mortgage defaults are due to investors. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as many as 1 in 5 mortgages in default in California belongs to borrowers who are not living in the homes with the troubled loans. The numbers were worse in Nevada, Arizona and Florida, where one-quarter to one-third of defaults as of June 30 were tied to investor loans. Many of the vacant, foreclosed homes dotting neighborhoods these days were bought by speculators who intended to "flip" their real estate investments for a quick profit but couldn't once the housing market slowed, said Doug Duncan, the trade group's chief economist. Source: LA Times.

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

I don't know if this sends chills down anyone else's spine, but according to the Chicago Tribune, the number of Realtors decline for the first time in a decade. With that we have plummeting stock prices. Mortgage lenders are filing for bankruptcy or shutting down. There are layoffs at homebuilders and banks. Plus, soaring foreclosures and loan defaults. Now let's add real estate agents to the mix. The NAR ended 2006 with nearly 1.4 million members, almost double the roughly 716,000 it had in 1997, but expects 2007 to close with 1.3 million, a drop of more than 4 percent. On top of that, foreclosures are still on the rise. California and Florida are the leading states for that. In other news, it looks like activists are trying to get more stringent lending criteria for the mortgage industry. From what I can see, the biggest thing standing in the way of buyers and sellers closing deals with each other is the financing. Buyers are having a difficult time getting loans. We may have to go back to FHA insured and VA guaranteed loans. If you are a buyer, be sure to save yourself some time and grief by going to a lender before you look at homes. You don't want to fall in love with a home, only to find out that you can't get financing for it 20 days after your offer has been accepted by the seller. You could risk losing your deposit! It's a tough time in real estate, but I love my job. I meet the nicest people and it truly makes all the work worthwhile. Let's follow this up with a cheesy picture of me in my office, shall we?




~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

Real Estate News for Sunday, August 12th, 2007

Foreclosure notices hang on a county courthouse wall in Pontiac, Mich.

---

Home sales will hit a five-year low this year, as wary lenders cut back on loans for many borrowers, according to the National Association of Realtors. They predict homes sales to climb from 6.04 million in 2007 to 6.38 million in 2008. Meanwhile, foreclosures nationwide have risen 58%, according to RealtyTrac. California led the nation with the highest number of homes receiving foreclosure filings and the number of homes receiving notices. Lagging home sales and flat or decreasing home prices have made it more difficult for homeowners who fall behind on payments to sell their homes and clear the debt, spurring the rise in foreclosure activity.

Yes, the market has changed, but as a real estate agent I've adapted and changed with it. For other agents out there, here are two sentences of wisdom. Adjust your focus and get back to the basics of the business. Keep your tenacity and listen to the negative hype with a grain of salt. I've been meeting more new people and increased the number of people I contact regularly. There's more follow-up with each contact as well. Everyone is getting more service and attention from me than ever before. It's hard work, but it pays off in the end.

~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

Real Estate News for Monday, August 6th, 2007

I was reading through my daily real estate news articles and found some interesting tidbits for my blog. The New York Times had a fun article about internet house valuation called, What’s My House Worth? And Now? The author talks about her constant obsession with her home's fluctuating value from different websites such as, EAppraisal.com, RealEstateABC.com, HomeGain.com, CyberHomes.com, PropertyShark.com, Zillow.com. It's a comical view on the inaccuracy of those internet valuation sites. I'd say it's worth a quick look through.

In celebrity real estate news, Mel Gibson has just sold his Malibu home for $30 million. The home is 7,000 sqft with 155 feet of beachfront property, 6 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a gym, a library, an office, an elevator, a lagoon pool, a cabana, a bar and a wine cellar. The Malibu deal preceded Gibson's sale this month of his 28-room, Tudor-style mansion on 76 acres in Greenwich, Conn. The selling price of the 13-bedroom, 16,000-square-foot estate was reported by Bloomberg News as $39.5 million. And in May, Gibson bought a 400-plus-acre agricultural and cattle ranch in Costa Rica for $25.8 million, according to La Nación, a Costa Rican publication. Gibson appears to be quite the real estate money-maker.

So is anyone else interested in Bravo's new house flipping show? I haven't had a chance to take a look at it, but sources say that "Jeff Lewis is a very scary man, and he isn't scary solely because he treats his employees like dust mites or consults a psychic to assist him in the running of his business or sends his cat, Monkey, to an acupuncturist. No, Jeff Lewis, a Los Angeles real estate speculator who is a native of Orange County, evokes a chill because he is so leveraged, a man balancing multiple mortgages like bricks on a noodle." Now who could turn down such a disaster of a show?! It'll be like watching a train wreck, complete with shudders and cringes of pain.



Hiring in California was hit by a bad case of June gloom last month as the effects of the real estate slowdown seeped into the job market, according to data released yesterday by the California Employment Development Department. Economists pinned the blame for slow job growth on the local housing market. In the past year, home sales declined 24 percent, meaning less work for mortgage and real estate brokers. And applications for residential-construction permits have declined in nine of the past 10 months, meaning less work for builders.

There is a sunny side to real estate though. Delinquencies in California's commercial real estate market hit a 5-year low, in contrast to the residential market that is reeling with a record number of defaults. Just for your information, a loan is considered delinquent if the mortgagee is two or more payments late.

For new homebuyers, I read a great article with a checklist of things that would be helpful. The first thing to do is to talk to a good lender. It saves you time because you know what you can afford.
I can't stress how important it is to work with an agent and lender that you trust. There are so many scary people out there who aren't afraid to commit fraud. Check out the article by clicking the link at the beginning of this paragraph. There are alot of good basics to follow.


~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

Real Estate News for Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

Subprime woes will get worse, Bernanke says. The pain and suffering felt by homeowners and communities from foreclosures and delinquencies will "likely get worse before they get better," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday, but the problems in the subprime mortgage market haven't caused a systemwide credit crunch. Bernanke, under fire from lawmakers for the Fed's failure to step in earlier to prevent massive mortgage fraud and lending abuse that helped fuel the nation's housing bubble, said the Fed and other regulators will issue stronger rules soon to protect consumers. In testimony on Capitol Hill, Bernanke pinned much of the blame for the recent economic slowdown on the "ongoing adjustment in the housing sector." Home sales would likely remain sluggish for a time, he said, adding that the pace of construction would probably fall further as builders work down their stock of unsold homes. Residential construction would remain a drag on economic growth. "Conditions in the subprime mortgage sector have deteriorated significantly, reflecting mounting delinquency rates on adjustable-rate loans," he said. "In recent weeks, we have also seen increased concerns among investors about credit risk on some other types of financial instruments." Click here to read more.



Wi-Fi and GSM BlackBerry arrives! Sporting the same trackball first debuted on the BlackBerry Pearl, Research in Motion (RIM) have added yet another new feature to their ever popular line of handheld computers and email devices with the 8820. That new feature is Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g, letting users connect to high speed Wi-Fi Internet services in their homes, offices or when out and about, in addition to connecting via standard GSM/GPRS/EDGE cell phone networks. Wi-Fi can also be used to make and receive phone calls, and if your wireless carrier supports UMA, you can seamlessly switch voice calls between the GSM phone towers and Wi-Fi networks that your phone can connect to. Naturally, BlackBerry are quick to remind us that all the other BlackBerry features are there, including email, instant messaging, web browsing, PDA functions like the built-in organizer, GPS for mapping and other mobile data apps. In addition, the BlackBerry 8820’s Wi-Fi supports WEP, WPA and WPA2 security systems, as well as ‘Cisco Compatible Extensions’ and IPSec-based software for VPN access. Click here to read more.

First Time Home Buyer Tips.
Every homeowner has been a first-time buyer once in their life, so you're not alone. But buying a home is one of the largest purchases you'll make, so how do you know if you're ready to take that next big step? These 10 home-buying tips can help reduce the stress of buying your first home.
1. Renting vs. buying. If your job and family status are likely to be stable for the next few years, or you're planning on remaining in the same city, now may be a good time to consider buying. If you think you may need to look for work outside the area or want to have the flexibility to move on a whim, then put off homeownership for a while.
2. How's your credit? Your credit standing will affect the terms of your mortgage, so it's a good idea to try and strengthen your credit rating before applying for a loan. You can help do this by paying your bills on time, reducing your total debt load and avoiding any unnecessary inquiries to your report.
3. Pinch those pennies. Besides having to save for a down payment, other expenses such as closing costs, homeowners insurance, and more often seem to come out of the woodwork when you're purchasing a home. Most lenders will also want you to have a "reserve"—money left in your savings account after you've covered all the costs. Frugality now will payoff later when you're enjoying your new abode.
4. Tax advantage. Mortgage interest and property taxes are generally deductible. So, you may be making a larger monthly payment than renting, but remember to take into consideration the amount you're saving in taxes. See your tax advisor for details.
5. Weigh your options. Are there any financial programs that may help you get into your first home sooner? Federal and state-backed loans may make it easier to qualify for a loan by offering programs with little or no money down.
6. Where do you stand? Pre-qualification or pre-approval of a loan will not only help you know how much home you will qualify for, but also will show owners you're serious about buying. Contact your bank or mortgage broker for procedures on either of these options. Just remember to limit the number of inquiries on your credit report by only authorizing credit checks with the one or two lenders you're serious about.
7. Location, location, location. Figure out what's essential to you, such as school district reputation, crime rates, convenient shopping areas, local parks or whether there are children in the neighborhood. Rank these qualities in order of importance. Focus only on neighborhoods that meet those criteria.
8. Know what you're getting into. Most offers made on a home sale include a professional home inspection. Before you sign on the dotted line, you should be confident about the condition of the home and the expenses you may incur as a result of purchasing that particular house.
9. Knowledge is power. Learn about the broker's role in your home buying process. Brokers and real estate agents are key players in home buying transactions and it pays to do a little research to make sure you're getting the best representation available.
10. Is a condominium the right choice for me? Depending on your tax bracket, a condominium may be an affordable option for you. Although the market for condominiums is unpredictable, it may be a good way to get into the real estate market. But timing is everything. Entering on a market upswing will help you gain equity for your next home, while buying on a downswing could mean you'll be in that home for a while.
Click here to read more.

~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

Real Estate News for Monday, July 9th, 2007

Real estate slowdown to worsen, economist says. It's been a year and a half of painful "adjustment" in the housing market -- slowing sales and sliding sales prices following four boom years -- and there's still more to come, the state Realtors group's chief economist told Central Valley agents and brokers today. State sales of existing houses the first five months of this year are down 18.7 percent from the same period last year, said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "And it's getting worse," she added. "So this market, unfortunately, has not bottomed out yet. We're moving toward it, but we're not there yet." Still, the economy is doing OK, though not great, she said, and the long-term outlook looks good for recovery to a stronger housing market. Click here to read more.

3 Out of 1000 Owners Have Lost Their Homes This Year. According to ForeclosureS.com, 3 out of every 1,000 homeowners in the United States lost their homes to foreclosure in the first half of the year. Those numbers are up 41 percent compared to the same period last year. These per capita numbers translate to almost a quarter-million residential properties (247,907) that ended up in the hands of banks or lenders this year because homeowners could not get their mortgage default problems solved. Per capita reflects the number of filings as a percent of the number of households in an area. Click here to read more.

Home sales and prices. May 2007 vs. May 2006.

Riverside County
3,307 homes sold, -45.4 percent
$406,000 median price, -3.3 percent

San Bernardino County
2,220 homes sold, -46.5 percent
$361,750 median price, +0.5 percent

Orange County
2,675 homes sold, -28.9 percent
$635,000 median price, +0.1 percent

Los Angeles County
7,426 homes sold, -30.7 percent
$550,000 median price, +6.8 percent

San Diego County
3,385 homes sold, -24.4 percent
$492,000 median price, -1.6 percent

Ventura County
861 homes sold, -24.8 percent
$590,000 median price, -1.6 percent

Southern California
19,874 homes sold, -34.4 percent
$505,000 median price, +4.9 percent

California
36,975 homes sold, -31.7 percent
$484,000 median price, +2.5 percent
Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Mortgage swindler gets prison. Kenneth C. Ketner of Newport Beach was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison Monday and ordered to repay banks $9.27 million he swindled in a mortgage fraud scheme. The money helped Ketner buy a Lido Island waterfront home, a $250,000 Ferrari and a yacht he christened the "Aquaholic," according to civil, criminal and bankruptcy court filings. Click here to read more.

Real estate group membership keeps on growing. There are now more than 534,266 licensed Realtors in the state, according to the California Department of Real Estate. That means one out of about every 52 adult Californians has a real estate license. With continued sales declines, the California Association of Realtors expects its membership to fall to 185,000 for 2007, down from an all-time high of 199,000 last year. During the last real estate cycle, membership in the organization fell off by nearly 40 percent. Click here to read more.

~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

Real Estate News for Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

Housing hits plateau. A survey of comparable homes for nine randomly selected sales from last year show no clear pattern as Orange County's housing market continues to undergo a transition. Lower-priced homes are having a harder time selling – due in part to a tightening of loan standards for the "subprime" buyer with lower credit scores and to uncertainty among first-time buyers, observers say. Hence, the median price – or the midpoint of all home prices – has been skewed upward because bigger, more expensive homes dominate, even though many are fetching a lower price than they would have a year ago. For the most part, sellers still are making a decent profit since most owned their homes for four years or more. Real estate agents in Cypress, Garden Grove, Tustin and Ladera Ranch said they've noticed a clear downward trend in prices, with current home values off between 5 and 10 percent. Click here to read more from the OC Register.

Tips For Rookie Home Buyers In Down Market. Ray Martin Sheds Light On Best Ways To Get Best Deals. There's no guarantee that home prices won't fall further after you buy. In fact, there are signs that home prices will continue to decline this year, especially in regions where markets were overheated by speculative home buying, such as in Florida, California and Nevada. The rising number of homeowners in default on their adjustable rate mortgages is causing more and more of them to throw in the towel and sell, just to get out of the debt. In the worst of cases, some owners are walking away and forcing the lender to foreclose on the home. The bottom line is that the current trends point to a rise in the number of sellers eager to cut a deal, which is the good news that many home buyers have been waiting for. Click here to read more from CBS News.

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

Hey everyone, I'm back from a temporary blogging hiatus! But I didn't expect anyone to notice anyway.

The market is ever-changing, and here are some top stories for today.

UCLA Economist: Will A Declining Real Estate Market Hurt California's Job Growth? The UCLA Anderson Forecast — a forecasting source that discusses economic trends in the state of California — predicts job growth in the state will slow down during the latter part of 2007 because of a recent decline in the real estate market. The prediction was made by economist Ryan Ratcliff, who conceded that for now California's “economy is mostly unfazed: job growth has only slowed slightly, for example, and there has been only a slight up tick in unemployment.” However, Ratcliff believes in a matter of time, the changes in real estate will impact job growth, especially in areas like construction and the mortgage industry. In a press release issued by the UCLA Anderson Forecast, Ratcliff is said to believe that “the answer lies in the timing and that it is in the final two quarter of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, that the job losses will manifest.” He also predicted that by mid-2008, job growth will rebound to normal levels. Click here to read more from DSNews. While the national economy is not in a recession, the UCLA economists now say the economy is “certainly close” to recessionary conditions. The Anderson Forecast says real growth in 2007 will be 1.8 percent -- “roughly on par with the near-recessionary environment of 2002” -- when real GDP advanced at 1.6 percent. However, by mid-2008, growth will return to around 3 percent as the housing slump abates and improvement in net exports and investment propel the economy forward, the economists say. Click here to read more from Central Valley Business Times.



O.C. home-for-sale inventory growing at a slower pace. The number of O.C. homes for sale grows, but at a slower rate of expansion. Attached chart has data by the slice as of June 14 for homes listed on market; pending deals, market time in months; and market time two weeks ago and a year ago. Click here to read more from the OC Register.

The rich: Still bullish on real estate. Unlike many Americans, the wealthy still think their homes are great investments. More than half of affluent homeowners expect their property value to appreciate at least somewhat during the next year, according to the Coldwell Banker Previews International Luxury Survey. A tenth of them expect significant gains. The study polled 301 homeowners with million-dollar homes (two million dollars in California) and more than a million dollars in investable assets. "These are very successful people and they still think that real estate is a good investment," said Jim Gillespie, Coldwell Banker's chief executive. The results run counter to most industry watchers' predictions for a continued slump in the overall market. Some forecasts see home prices dropping about 8 percent for the two-year period through the end of 2008. Part of wealthy home owners' optimism, according to Gillespie, is that the luxury market has held up nationwide during the recent slump. It may also confirm a basic contrarian investing impulse found among many of the wealthy: the best time to buy is when others are selling. 40 percent polled say they may buy a second home this year. Looking ahead, 36 percent of the affluent expect the price of their homes to increase significantly over the next five years and 58 percent expect at least some gain, according to the survey. Click here to read more from CNNMoney.


Patron saint of home selling? Religious gift shop reports many Realtors buy statues of St. Joseph. In this soft market it may seem more a job for St. Jude — patron saint of lost causes — but many home sellers are turning to another sacred figure for divine help. "Oh, they're very popular," said Dennis Maurice, speaking of the 600 statues of St. Joseph he sells each year. "We sell them mainly to home sellers and Realtors and we sell a lot of them." Especially now, said Maurice, owner of the Glad Tidings religious book and gift shop in Pleasanton. "You can see the trends by how many people come in here and buy one," said Maurice, who sells a St. Joseph 'home sellers' kit for $7.99. "You can tell if it's a buyer's market or seller's. You can tell when the market slows, like now." Nationally, tens of thousands of the statues are sold each year to hopeful home sellers. Tradition has it that if you bury a statue of the patron saint of carpentry and workers on the property to be sold, good old St. Joe will help get you that offer. Divine intervention may come in handy in this market. Click here to read more from The Argus.

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, May 29th, 2007

Real Estate Power Couple Ellen Degeneres and Portia Di Rossi Have Listed Another Beautiful Home. They are at it again, our favorite real estate power couple Ellen Degeneres and Portia Di Rossi have listed another beautiful home. This home on Zorada Drive is a bit more modest than their Montecito mansion, it's just 2,755 square feet with three bedrooms, built in 1956. The home is constructed in a U-shape around the pool. For an older home it has a very modern look with concrete floors and large glass walls. It is listed at $2.3 million. Click here to read more.


State targets Murrieta real estate broker. A complaint was filed Wednesday against Stonewood Consulting Inc., a real estate sales and property-management firm in Murrieta, and its licensed broker, Hendrix Moreno Montecastro. Montecastro and Stonewood Consulting are accused of engaging in a scheme by which they used inflated appraisals to obtain mortgages larger than the selling prices of the properties their clients purchased. Stonewood took the difference between the actual sale price and the mortgage amount as compensation in addition to regular sales commissions, the complaint said. The department said an audit of 10 properties conducted as part of its investigation showed the accused collected $969,158 in extra compensation as a result of inflated appraisals. Click here to read more.

~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

Beaumont, California Fact Sheet for January 2007

City of Beaumont, California
Fact Sheet for January 2007

Population on January 1, 2007 = 28,250

21.2% growth rate in 2006, #1 growth rate in Riverside County, #1 growth rate in California.

City Population projection for 2015 (WRCOG numbers) = 45,029

Population of Riverside County 2000 = 1,545,387

Single Family Residential Permits Issued in 2006 = 3704

Residential Projects under construction = 12

New Commercial Permits Issued in 2006 = 109

Commercial Valuation 2006 = $16,697,304.00

Two proposed new annexations in process for mixed-use projects.

2000 Census Data:
Median age = 30 years
Average Family Size = 2.89
Average Household Size = 3.39
Median Family Income = $37,403
Median Household Income = $29,721

New Park design standards in process.

Community Facilities Districts (CFD) to develop new infrastructure.

Water and Wastewater infrastructure under construction will upgrade the existing wastewater treatment plant and recharge basins to 17M gallon capacity. Due for completion in 2009.

K-12 education provided by the Beaumont Unified School District.

Contains two SCPGA Championship Golf Courses.

Home to the Beaumont Cherry Festival.

Regional Commercial Shopping Center in Planning Stages.

Beaumont's current Multi-purpose Trails: 10.5 Miles Constructed, 50 Proposed Miles in the Future.



~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

Real Estate News for Wednesday, May 9th, 2007

What is a FICO Score? Very simply put, a FICO score is a credit score that lenders use to determine whether or not you will pay your debts. The FICO score method was developed during the late 1950s by Fair Isaac Corporation, and it attempts to condense your credit history into a single number. Each of the three major credit bureaus will assign you a FICO score number based on your credit history, such as:
~Late payments
~The amount of time credit has been established
~The amount of credit used versus the amount of credit available
~The length of time at your present residence
~Employment history
~Negative credit information such as bankruptcies, charge-offs, collections, etc.

Your lender will use your FICO score to determine how much money you can borrow and what interest rate you will pay.

Although it is difficult to increase your credit score in the short run, over a period of time you can get a higher FICO score if you:
~Pay your bills on time. Late payments and collections have a big impact on your score.
~Do not apply for credit frequently. Having a large number of inquiries on your credit report can worsen your score.
~Reduce your credit card balances.

Many lenders will review your credit history with you and assist you in correcting errors and planning "repairs." To view your information, contact the three major credit bureaus directly at:

Equifax www.econsumer.equifax.com 1-800-685-1111
TransUnion www.transunion.com 1-800-916-8800
Experian www.experian.com 1-888-397-3742

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, May 8th, 2007

Where Borrowers Can Find Help. There are many sources of counseling and information for borrowers in default. Among them are:

• Americans for Fairness in Lending, http://www.affil.org

• Freddie Mac's online guide to avoiding foreclosure, http://www.freddiemac.com ; under "Buying and Owning a Home" click on "Owning and Keeping a Home," then "Avoiding Foreclosure."

• Freddie Mac's Don't Borrow Trouble Hotline refers callers to appropriate local agencies for education, counseling and legal advice, (800) 477-5977.

• L.A. County Department of Consumer Affairs Real Estate Fraud and Homeowner Assistance Program, (800) 973-3370, lacountydca.info

• Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services, (213) 381-2862, http://www.lanhs.org

• National Assn. of Consumer Advocates, (202) 452-1989, http://www.naca.net

• NeighborWorks America, http://www.nw.org ; click on the icon for "NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions," (202) 220-2300

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has certified counselors, (800) 569-4287, http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm.
Choose "Search Online." Select "California."

For legal help:

• American Bar Assn., http://www.abanet.org. Select "Legal Help."

• Legal Services Corp. hotline can help you find a legal services office in your area, (202) 295-1500, http://www.lsc.gov.

• Los Angeles County Bar Assn. Attorney referrals, (213) 243-1525

• National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, (202) 331-8005, http://www.nacba.org/attorneyfinder.

If you believe you are victim of mortgage fraud:

• If Freddie Mac owns the loan, (800) 437-2838

• For other lenders, contact the L.A. County Department of Consumer Affairs, (800) 593-8222, dca.lacounty.gov.

• To file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General, (800) 952-5225, ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php


~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

Hey everyone! I have good news and bad news for you.

The bad news is that the United States Postal Service has decided to raise its postage rates on May 14th, 2007. A First-Class letter will increase from $0.39 to $0.41. Postcard rates will increase from $0.24 to $0.26. The last increase was on January 8th, 2006.

The good news is that I will be giving away sheets of $0.02 stamps! Just contact me and I will mail some to you!

Now for today's real estate news!

San Diego real estate market drags down UCLA Anderson Forecast. Weakness in the residential real estate market will continue to be a drag on San Diego's economy through 2008, according to a report released today by UCLA's Anderson School of Management. There are signs that the local real estate market is beginning to stabilize, but the economic "wild card" remains the historic high level of mortgage defaults, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. The Forecast said the combination of slower population growth and rising foreclosure rates suggests that the San Diego area's residential housing market will be weak for at least another year. "However, the absence of any serious economic weakness in the next two years suggests that a protracted bear market for housing is unlikely," according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. "Thus, our forecast for the San Diego housing market is less building, weak sales volumes and flat to slightly falling home prices through 2007, with some improvements starting in mid-2008," the report states. Employment and income growth in the San Diego region will remain positive but sluggish through 2008 amid a slowdown in the leisure and hospitality industry and construction and mortgage finance sectors. The UCLA economists who produce the quarterly report will discuss the economic outlook for the nation, California and San Diego during a morning conference at the Manchester Grand Hyatt today. Click here to read more.

Agricultural land values increase. Farm and ranch land appraisers point to a moderating "Goldilocks economy"--not too hot and not too cold--for slower, more solid appreciation in California agricultural land values. Based on property sales in 2006 and the outlook for 2007, experts say most agricultural property values have inched upward, seesawing with economic shifts. Generally the past couple of years have offered fairly positive news for agricultural commodities and that has translated into steadily increasing land values, said Mark Clarke, Rabo Agrifinance lending affiliate. But that has not necessarily translated into ever-increasing income. Click here to read more.

Realtors' Chief Economist to Leave. David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, is leaving NAR to join Move Inc. as chairman and partner of a new business entity next month, NAR said Monday. Lereah has directed NAR's research division, regulatory and industry relations division and other activities. He will leave the association in mid-May, NAR said. As chief economist and senior vice president, Lereah is the NAR's spokesman on the U.S. economy and the housing and real estate markets. California-based Move Inc. provides homebuyers and renters with information about real estate and communities before, during and after moves, according to its Web site. Move Inc. operates NAR's Web site, Realtor.com. Neither NAR nor Move offered details about the new entity, but Move said more information would be forthcoming in the third quarter. The entity is "expected to be transformational for both consumers and real estate professionals," according to a Move news release. Click here to read more.

~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

A City Undeterred by Cooling Market (LA Times, Apr. 28th): " DataQuick Information Systems: In Ontario, as in the rest of Southern California, the real estate market has been taking a beating. In March, sales of existing homes in the city were down 59% from the same month last year. The median sale price fell to $408,000 from $425,000… The value of undeveloped land, much of it still home to cows, has fallen by as much as $100,000 an acre in this part of San Bernardino County in the last six months, land brokers estimate, settling way below the peak of $550,000 in 2005." Click here to read more from Seeking Alpha - Real Estate Market Tracker.

I usually like to focus on real estate in California, but sometimes it's interesting and a little shocking to see how the ripple effect travels across the country. The following article talks about the possible financial dangers of flipping homes during a housing frenzy in Las Vegas.

Real Estate flipping goes cold in Las Vegas. In the rampant real estate speculation of the Las Vegas valley three years ago, people lined up outside Pulte Homes sales offices overnight as if they were waiting for the release of the latest video game console or hot new movie. Having seen his house in an upscale part of suburban Henderson, Nev., jump $200,000 in value in 18 months, Sam Schwartz felt he couldn't miss any part of the boom. He spent the night in the parking lot with a TV, snacks and drinks, along with about a hundred other people. Schwartz intended to buy a new home and then quickly sell it within the year - for a huge profit. Most people waiting were flippers just like him, he said. But when home prices unexpectedly took a backward step, many investors seeking to cash in quickly were left "upside-down," owing more on their mortgages than what their homes were worth. The result was a glut of homes in the marketplace, communities spotted with empty houses and for sale signs - and a foreclosure rate in Nevada that leads the nation as owners unable to sell became saddled with unbearable debt payments. The day Schwartz reserved his home, the sales staff was raising prices $20,000 after every fifth buyer came inside. The $500,000 house he and his wife were eyeing had shot up to $540,000 by the time they sat down. Somehow, it still seemed like a good deal. He and his wife put down $5,000 on a home that cost $560,000 with upgrades. While the Schwartzes were able to cancel before closing on a property that suddenly was worth only $490,000 - and recoup their deposit on a legal technicality - others were less fortunate. Click here to read more.



Potential for real estate fraud grows as more homeowners face foreclosure. The potential for real estate fraud has soared, driven by a surge in default notices sent to thousands of struggling California homeowners during the past several months. It happened to Maria Pastor in November 2002. When she met Edgar Berrazueta, she thought that "he was a decent person, a kind person." She realized that something was wrong when she and her daughter began looking over the loan documents. She couldn't figure out the new monthly payment — if it would be lowered or if it would adjust each month. In this instance and others, Berrazueta arranged "cash-out" refinance loans, but concealed it from his clients, intercepted the cash-out checks and deposited them into his bank account, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. In August 2005, he was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison. Click here to read more.

Wealthy housing markets shrug off subprime woes. Analysts expect that, like Manhattan, San Francisco, parts of Los Angeles, Seattle and a handful of other affluent urban markets for homes will evade the housing slowdown. Their economies are strong and demand for housing from higher-wage earners there remains buoyant. Also, those markets have few subprime borrowers. Subprime mortgages allowed borrowers with blemished credit and limited resources to buy homes, typically entry-level homes in fast-growing regions with affordable housing such as the Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles. By contrast, subprime borrowers are rare in affluent markets such as West Los Angeles because affordable homes are in short supply. Click here to read more.

Buying Distressed Homes: Foreclosures, Short Sales, REOs. While all short sales are foreclosures, not all foreclosures are short sales. To further complicate matters, REOs are not short sales either, but some intended short sales can end up as an REO. Learn more about foreclosures, short sales, and REOs. When is the best time for you to buy a distressed property? Click here to read more.

Resale home prices up 11 percent. Sales volume in valley declines 37 percent. Sales volume for all types of homes in the valley declined 37 percent in March from a year ago, with new-home sales experiencing a particularly soft month with nearly a 53 percent decline from March 2006, DataQuick reported. Still, overall home sales in the valley were up considerably in March compared with February. Units sold jumped nearly 33 percent - 937 homes sold in March from 705 in February, DataQuick reported. The valley's median home price was up from February as well, rising to $400,000 from $393,000 for all types of homes, and to $455,000 from $451,000 for existing single-family homes that sold, DataQuick reported. Across Riverside County, the overall median home price rose 0.2 percent to $420,000 in March compared with year-ago figures, even as sales volume plummeted nearly 47 percent. Click here to read more.

Be reasonable with real estate, readers told. Here's a sampling of some of the e-mails answered by Andi Kang, a certified financial planner at Financial and Retirement Management in Huntington Beach; Georgette Hurley, a Mission Viejo CFP; John M. Ingram, a CFP with the Keller Group in Irvine, and Jacob Shen, a CFP with Ameriprise Financial in Irvine. Click here to read those real estate questions and answers.

~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

Open Houses - Sunday, April 29th, 2007

Hi everyone! I'm hosting 2 open houses today. Feel free to stop by! I do several open houses every weekend. This weekend's homes are, by far, two of the nicest I've ever seen. Happy House Hunting!


I will be at 1068 Dysart Dr., Banning, CA 92220 from 12pm to 2pm. Click here for MLS INFORMATION. Click here for a MAP!


Then I will be at 5424 Evergreen Ln., Banning, CA 92220 from 2pm to 4pm. Click here for MLS INFORMATION. Click here for a MAP!

~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

Search MLS Listings for Free

I'm playing around with frames on my workblog. I know other non-internet savvy real estate agents pay top dollar for website companies to incorporate MLS listings into their stagnant sites. But I think I've figured out a way to do it for FREE. Don't you love it when that happens? ;)

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

Supermodel sells her home in the Hollywood Hills for $4 million and nests in the East. Looks like Gisele Bundchen sold her one-story, gated Spanish hacienda in the Sunset Strip area. The house has a media room, a gym, city views and a pool. With four bedrooms, there's enough room for the Gisele's five sisters, including her twin, to stay overnight. Bündchen said an official farewell in 2005 to her relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio. They were chosen by People magazine as the "Most Beautiful Couple in the World" in 2004. Her personal fortune, valued at $150 million, put her in the "Guinness World Records" book as "the world's richest supermodel." She has modeled for Victoria's Secret, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Lanvin and Vogue Eyewear. She is a spokesmodel for Christian Dior and Ralph Lauren. And she has her own line of shoes, called Ipanema Gisele Bündchen. More than 100 million pairs have been sold in six years. Click here to read more.



Buyers in for future shock. Stage is set for a legislative battle over builder fees that are passed on to the next guy. Builders of housing developments generally are required to pay for the construction of roads, sewers and schools for the new residents. It's a given that those costs are passed along to the buyers of those homes. What isn't a given is that, for years, some builders in California and a handful of other states have been passing along other costs of doing business — appeasing environmentalists and local governments to get their projects approved — to subsequent buyers as well. The builders attach private transfer fees, which range from about 0.05% to 1.75% of the purchase price, to the deed, which must be paid every time the home is sold. Typically set at 1%, fees on a home sold for $550,000 would be $5,500. The fees can remain in effect 20 to 25 years or longer. The California Assn. of Realtors, which became aware of the practice about 18 months ago and opposes it, says it adds a hidden expense to the price of homes and makes them even less affordable. Click here to read more.

Appealing a low appraisal may mean doing some legwork. As many people are finding out that, in today's down market, their homes aren't worth what they thought. At least not in the eyes of the professionals hired to tell lenders what the places could fetch. If a real, live appraiser is responsible for a valuation you think has come in too low, you always can ask for a second opinion from another appraiser. But you'll have to pay for that too. Moreover, the second valuation must be more than 5% higher than the first. In the appraisal game, anything less is considered an acceptable difference. Click here to read more.



House & Garden : L.A. Design. Get a jump on you summer entertaining by gussying up your nest with indoor and outdoor decorating projects. Peruse some of the classic Home sections from the L.A. Times. Click here to read more.



Arizona is the new Nevada. The Phoenix area is a magnet for people from the Golden State for two reasons: real estate prices and jobs. According to Kyle Campos, "Living in Santa Barbara, you get used to nothing being under a million dollars, and a million-dollar house is really small," Campos said. "Here, I could build my dream house for less than $300,000. At some point, you weigh the beach versus a realistic life someplace." These days, that "someplace" is likely to be Maricopa County. For the first time since Nevada became a magnet for Californians in the 1990s, the Phoenix area has nudged Las Vegas aside as the No. 1 destination for people fleeing the Golden State and its soaring home prices. In fact, the Arizona-bound are at the head of a long parade of bargain hunters marching out of expensive urban California and settling ever eastward, in Riverside, San Bernardino, Buckeye, Phoenix. Click here to read more.

Real estate market is in the midst of a slowdown. CAR has forecast a statewide 7 percent drop in sales of existing, single-family homes in 2007. In California there were 31,434 foreclosure filings reported for March, the most of any state and an increase of 36 percent from the previous month, according to RealtyTrac. The foreclosure surge pushed California's rate to one filing for every 389 households. In the Inland area, San Bernardino and Riverside, where new construction took place at a blistering pace during the real estate boom, there's now an overhang in demand, Appleton-Young said. Expect the area to feel the pinch worse, because people flocked to the still-relatively-affordable Inland area while prices were soaring. Those buyers went in search of affordable prices, and many were low- to middle-income families taking advantage of adjustable rate and interest-only loans to get into a home, Appleton-Young said. "That's where you had a lot of the subprime market, households that were facing affordability hurdles being forced inland, and a lot of speculative demand for housing," she said. "The supply is there, but the demand is not." In Los Angeles County, CAR's housing inventory measurement for February was 7.7 months. In San Diego County, there was a 10.2-month supply, and in Orange County the supply was measured at 12.5 months. In the Riverside and San Bernardino areas there is a 17-month supply, according to CAR. Click here to read more.

~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

Real Estate News for Thursday, April 19th, 2007

All about REO's and Bank Owned Properties!

Have you heard of bank-owned, lender-owned, or REO properties? If you are an investor, sometimes these properties can be a really great deal. The other day, I was talking to some people who seemed to be a little misinformed about what bank-owned properties were. They thought that bank-owned properties were "homes in the foreclosure process and that buyers were required to have all cash bids for the entire sales amount." Just so you guys all know, this is absolutely not true. REO's or Real Estate Owned Properties are properties owned by a bank. These properties have gone through the foreclosure process, but no one successfully bid on them for purchase.

According to BiggerPockets.com, there are many advantages to buying REOs.
1. All liens against the property are removed once it becomes an REO, and taxes are paid.
2. Unlike properties at foreclosure auction, REOs can be inspected prior to contract, and are listed with real estate agents.
3. While many foreclosures are often in deplorable condition, REOs are typically restored to at least a readily salable condition by the lending bank.
4. The bank or lending institution that owns the property will often offer financing with better deals then they would offer on traditional properties.
5. The bank or lender that owns the property will often provide an allowance for certain repairs.
6. REO properties are usually listed on your local MLS (multiple listing service), or can be located by going directly to your local REO bank’s website.
7. While in hot markets, you may not see a difference in price between an REO and a typical property, during slower markets, you can pick up an REO at discounts to the property’s actual value.
8. Lenders and banks do not like holding REOs on the books, and try to get rid of these as quickly as possible.

RealtyTrac, does a great job of explaining the more about REOs. Foreclosure is a legal process that allows a lender/bank to sell or take possession of a property due to non-payment of a loan that is secured by that property. Properties that have already been foreclosed on are Bank Owned. Although the lender usually clears out any liens on the title, you should still make any purchase offer contingent on a title search. Also, find out if the lender has made any repairs to the property or if it is being sold "as is." The lender wants to recover any money they've put into the property, but you can often make a successful offer that's still substantially under the market value. There is no set timeframe within which the banks must sell their REOs; however, banks often want to get REOs off their books rapidly. As a result, many REOs sell quickly. The only exception is if there is a "redemption period" for the owner to buy back the property after it is repossessed by the bank. State law dictates if there is any redemption period. The bank will typically wait until the end of any redemption period to sell the property. Keep in mind that sometimes contacting the lender can be frustrating, as the main purpose of a lender is to loan money, not to sell property. So even though the bank may have a department that handles bank-owned property for sale, that department may be hard to track down.

Still not convinced? Here's more REO vs. Foreclosure Info. An REO (Real Estate Owned) is a property that goes back to the mortgage company after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction. You see, most foreclosure auctions do not even result in bids. After all, if there was enough equity in the property to satisfy the loan, the owner would have probably sold the property and paid off the bank. That is why the property ends up at a foreclosure or trustee sale. Foreclosure sales begin with a minimum bid that includes the loan balance, any accrued interest, plus attorney's fees and any costs association with the foreclosure process. In order to bid at a foreclosure auction, you must have a cashier's check in your hand for the full amount of your bid. If you are the successful bidder, you receive the property in "as is" condition, which may include someone still living in the property. There may also be other liens against the property. Since what is owed to the bank is almost always more than what the property is worth, very few foreclosure auctions result in a successful sale. Then the property "reverts" to the bank. It becomes an REO, or "real estate owned" property.

Buyers are seeing many more homes for sale today with terms like REO, bank owned, foreclosure, short sale, and others. All these terms have something to do with a bank, click here for an explanation for each. You might be asking yourself, "how do I buy a bank owned property?" Keep reading below for great buying tips.

RealEstateABC.com shows buyers how to own an REO property. Each bank/lender works a little differently, but they all have similar goals. They want to get the best price possible and have no interest in "dumping" real estate cheaply. Generally, banks have an entire department set up to manage their REO inventory. Once you make an offer to purchase, banks generally present a "counter-offer." It may be at a higher price than you expect, but they have to demonstrate to investors, shareholders and auditors that they attempted to get the highest price possible. You should plan to counter the counter-offer. Your offer or counter-offer will probably have to be reviewed and approved by several individuals and companies. Even once an offer is accepted, the bank may insert wording like “..subject to corporate approval with 5 days." Banks always want to sell a property in "as is" condition. Most will provide a Section 1 pest certification, but not unless you include it in your offer and negotiate the point. They will allow you to get all the inspections you want (at your expense), but they may not agree to do any repairs. Your offer should include an inspection contingency period that allows you to terminate the sale if the inspections reveal unanticipated damages that the bank will not correct. Even though you agreed to “as is," always give the bank another opportunity to make repairs or give you a credit after you’ve completed your inspections. Sometimes they’ll re-negotiate to save the transaction instead of putting the property back on the market, but don’t take it for granted. Banks do not want to see a lot of proprietary disclosures; they are exempt from the California Seller’s Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS-14). If there are real estate agents involved, either representing you or the bank, those agents are required to provide you their disclosure statements. Most banks will not provide financing on their REOs but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Especially if the property has extensive damage and you are purchasing it "as is."

Well, I hoped we've all learned something new today!

~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

Real Estate News for Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

Every month my Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters Beaumont office has a delicious potluck. We usually have a theme, but people can bring whatever they want. It's a tasty tradition that we've kept up for several years. I should have taken some pictures to share with everyone, but food never lasts long with Realtors around. ;) The real estate news has been more hopeful about the housing market, instead of the usual doom and gloom. Don't expect any miracles, we're still in a pretty slow market, but studies have been showing a pick up in activity.



Los Angeles Is Least Overvalued Real Estate Market. Meanwhile, the Inland Empire is the third most overvalued in the nation, according to a market tracker. While most of the nation's markets "exhibit signs of overvaluation, we are not likely to see massive declines in home prices in most markets." Housing prices in the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale metro area are currently overvalued by 2.7 percent, still suggesting a soft landing, but that figure soars to 16.7 percent in the Riverside, Ontario and San Bernardino county area, according to Laguna Hills-based Geo-stat Advisory, the Daily News reported. This means that prices in these areas could fall by a like amount this year, barring any big shock to the economy, market analyst Nima Nattagh, who prepared the report, said in remarks reported by the newspaper. "I think the extent of overvaluation is not as much as some people have expected," he said of Los Angeles. "I think it bodes well for the market." Click here to read more.



It's amazing how brazen people can be with identity theft! Apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to buy a house with someone else's name and social security number. If they're looking for a place to live, maybe a jail cell would suit them. Unbelieveable!

2 women jailed in ID scam. Stolen data reportedly used to buy desert home. The 23-year-old woman was in for a big shock when she failed to secure a loan to buy her first home. A check of her credit history showed she was already making monthly payments on a home in Victorville. Unbenownst to her, the woman's name and Social Security number had been stolen and used to purchase a single-story home for $177,000. Investigators from the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Unit arrested two people Monday in connection with the scam. Fanny Velasquez, 52, and her daughter, Paola Garzon, 31, were taken into custody at their Fontana business and booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on $250,000 bail each. They are charged with three felony counts of identity theft, false impersonation of another person and forgery. Click here to read more.



For those of you who are renting right now, the results from this study might give you some incentive towards home ownership or maybe even becoming a landlord. The New York Times had an article that seemed to say renting was the way to go, but with rents going up, that sentiment may not last.

O.C. residential rents likely to increase. USC Lusk Center sees apartment rents rising up to 5 percent this year, off a bit from past two years. There's one group benefiting from the subprime meltdown: apartment landlords. With a funding crisis under way among subprime lenders and Orange County's home prices still high, more renters will find their home buying options limited, said Delores Conway, director of the USC Lusk Center's Casden Forecast. Fewer people will qualify for home loans, she said. The center sees apartment rents rising in Orange County by 4 percent to 5 percent this year. Still, that would be down a tad from last year's increase of 5.3 percent and 6.5 percent in 2005. The average monthly rent at the end of 2006 was $1,472. Click here to read more.

~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

Notes on a Blog

Okay, a few notes. Remember when I was ruminating about blog design changes? I realize now that it's not the look that needs to change. Rather, there should be a change in the way I interact with real estate news in my blog. Real estate news is great, but I need a better way of analyzing the news and making it relevant to our lives and our investments. Don't you agree? :) These are my thoughts, let me know how you feel about it. Remember, I'm always here for you! Email me at tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com if you have any questions or comments. I would love to learn more about you!

~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

Real Estate News for Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Blogging is the new marketing tool eh? I've been blogging for almost 4 years now, not just on TinaJan.com, but on other sites as well. Looks like everyone else is starting to catch up! :) And what's this? Northern California housing market is heating up? This bodes well for the rest of state, let's hope there's a ripple effect.

Real Estate Pros Not Getting Blogged Down By Negative Industry Trends. Blogging Has Become a Key Marketing Tool for Agents. Bloggers are offering an alternative voice in a turbulent real estate market. A recent national survey conducted by the Global Research Center and sponsored by the Blogging Systems Group reported that 68 percent of real estate agents said they would be focusing on blogs as a marketing tool in 2007. “Real estate blogs are an excellent way for real estate professionals to establish or expand their Internet presence,” said Richard Nacht, chief executive officer of Blogging Systems, a developer of community blog networks, in a release. “The Internet is now the number one place where home buyers and sellers go for real estate information. If realtors aren’t found online, there’s a good chance they won’t be found at all.” A recent report from the California Association of Realtors found that 63 percent of home buyers found their Realtor through an Internet search. CAR also found that a typical buyer is now an Internet buyer. It reported that the number of home buyers who used the Internet as an integral part of the home buying process increased significantly in the past six years from 28 percent of all buyers in 2000 to 70 percent in 2006. Click here to read more from the San Diego Business Journal.

NorCal Real Estate Market Heating Up, Realtors Say. For real estate agent Adriana Barriga, it's as if the storm clouds are brewing and the end of a long drought is near. Six-months ago, Barriga would have been uneasy putting a $500,000 home on the market in Tracy; at that price homes sit for months. But Barriga said buyers are showing signs of interest again. We would expect this from a real estate agent. But Dr. Chuck Williams, the Dean of the University of Pacific School of Business believes 2007 will mark rock bottom for the housing market. "We don't see a bubble bursting," William said. "Prices have dropped 5 to 10 percent compared to two years ago. Interest rates are low; there's a tremendous amount of inventory from which to choose. And if you're a buyer those are the three conditions that you want." Experts believe Northern California home prices will start to rise again over the next 18 months. Waiting for rock bottom, however, could be risky. Click here to read more from CBS5.com.

One of my guilty pleasures is catching up on celebrity real estate transactions. Avril Lavigne just bought a home in Bel-Air. Gwen Stefani is trying to sell her Los Feliz home after buying a new home in the Hollywood Hills.



Avril Lavigne is the "Girlfriend" next door. And Gwen Stefani is just a girl in the hills. While Canadian-born superstar Avril Lavigne was recording the chorus of her latest hit, "Girlfriend," in eight languages last month, she also was talking L.A. real estate. Lavigne and her husband, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, have bought a Bel-Air home for about $9.5 million. Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times.



And when it comes to naming a lead singer of a rock band who is finding happiness in family life, Gwen Stefani would like there to be No Doubt it's she. She and musician-actor Gavin Rossdale, frontman for the grunge group Bush, were married in 2002 and had a son, Kingston, in the spring of 2006. That September, Stefani and Rossdale bought a 10,000-square-foot Hollywood Hills home for their little family, paying slightly less than its $15.5-million asking price. The contemporary-style house is on 2 acres in a gated community. Stefani has now put her Los Feliz bachelorette pad on the market at close to $4.8 million. It has six bedrooms and five bathrooms in 5,000 square feet. The grounds are about half an acre with a pool, spa, electric gates and a long, private drive. Mediterranean in style, the house was built in 1928 and has a two-story entry, hand-stenciled beams, a stone fireplace, an updated kitchen, an atrium with stained glass and a media room. Stefani, 37, has owned the Los Feliz home since 1998, when she bought it for $1.4 million. Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times.

~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