I just received the following in my email. I hadn't heard about this issue before. - Keith


March 21, 2006
To: All Agents and local property owners of the Central Coast
From: James Molnar and the POPR Committee
I am writing this letter to assure that everyone is informed of the recent proposal from a small group of citizens in Cayucos. These individuals are attempting to limit local property owners from building on hilltops and restricting grading on hills as well; in effect stopping any building on view lots. This view shed ordinance almost made it past the Supervisors last November, and would have if not for some quick action by an opposition group called POPR (Protect Our Property Rights). Several Hundred locals and ranchers are strictly opposed to this ordinance as it restricts the use of your land and therefore de-values it. The California Coastal Commission is for the proponents and recently held up the construction of a home located off North Green Valley Road, east of Cambria on a 330 acre ranch. This is a very serious situation that demands action from all Real Estate Agents and local property owners. IF YOU WISH TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS ORDINANCE VISIT THE POPR WEBSITE AT www.popr.org . OR E-MAIL COMMENTS TO info@popr.org. WE ALSO WOULD WELCOME ANY DONATIONS OR SUPPORT!

Since I added the MLS map search in January, my traffic to my website has almost doubled to over 1200 visitors a day which puts SloCountyHomes.com as one of the most visited agent websites in the entire U.S.!

My new listing website, www.559Foothill.com has already received 519 visitors as of late Tuesday night (it's been up less than a week). I actually have multiple websites that I maintain. Another one of mine, www.LocalLinks.com, is also doing very well and is the Top 10 of Google for most real estate keyword searches. I have around a dozen more websites which I use to help people find my main two sites.

If you are looking to sell your home, I know I can provide you with more exposure than any other agent in the area which is even more important now that the market is slowing down. I also create a website targeted at Buyer agents that doesn't have my contact info on it. This is so Realtors will send my listing information to their prospective Buyers without worrying that my phone number or name is all over it. I'm the only agent that I know of that creates specfic tools to make it easier for other Realtors to sell my listings. The Realtor website is here - www.559FoothillRd.com. I feel this tool is important since there are a lot of part-time agents out there and the more info I can provide them about my listings, the better. It's a win-win scenario.

What's great about the Internet is that you can know exactly how many people visited a particular page or site. Something you don't get with traditional print advertising. If an agent talks about their Internet strategy, ask for statistics. If they can't provide them to you, that should raise a red flag immediately. With the way the Internet works, over 99% of agent websites will never be seen by Buyers and Sellers. It's easy to get a website, the challenge is to get people to visit it!

If you are thinking of selling your home sometime this year, don't miss out in getting some photos around the outside of your home when the hills are green and the flowers are blooming, especially if you have views.

The second phase of the Woodlands development in Nipomo has been given the go ahead by the Planning commission. This will add another 368 homes to the 447 homes in Phase One. When finished, the Woodlands will have a total of 1,320 homes.

Rain...rain...rain!

Wow, it's been a wet month. I checked weather.com's forecast last night and they said it was going to be sunny starting on Friday. Now today, it says more rain on the way.

Well, one benefit of all this rain is that the reservoirs are filling up. Here's a link to current capacity for Lake Nacimiento and San Antonio reservoir. They update it every morning.

It looks like my home valuation tool is working again for properties in SLO County. You can get an online home valuation emailed to you by going to this page. I also just purchased another online home valuation service which I'm testing right now. If it looks ok, I'll add that to the site as well.

The 2005 Academic Performance Index (API) for schools has been released. San Luis Obispo County school results can be accessed here.

I was at my daughter's softball game the other night and was talking to some other parents who also happen to be a Realtor team. They were dealing with their first foreclosure and were asking if I knew the proper forms to use. They've been in real estate for while and this was their first foreclosure. I hope this isn't the start of something that will become more common....

An 18-unit apartment complex in Baywood Park came on the market today. All 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath, 2 story units between 920-940 sq feet. Some with view of Morro Rock. Rent from $860-$925 month. Asking $2.99 Million.

Eight new condos next to the ocean in Avila Beach came on the market today. They range from $999,000 - $1,799,000. Not many properties come on the market in the beach side of Avila so you might want to take a look if you always wanted to be in Avila.

Just Listed! Condo in Pismo Beach

Check out www.559Foothill.com to see more photos, an interactive floor plan, full screen slide show and more.

Spring is here!

Kinda hard to think spring is here with all the cold weather we have been having. This is the day when we have equal amounts of daylight and darkness.

If you haven't heard already, Central Coast residents can hop on a plane to Las Vegas out of Santa Maria. Allegiant Air started service in January with a weekend flight and now are going to add a Wednesday flight. They are hoping that not only will Central Coast residents use the flight to go to Vegas but also give Vegas residents a way to come to the Central Coast to vacation too. Click here for their website.

Property Tax Reminder

The second installment for the 2005/2006 property tax bill was due on 2-01-06 and is deliquent if not received by 4-10-06.

Are you looking for a vacation home near the ocean? I'll be putting a Pismo Beach condo on the market in a few days. It's up by McLintock's. Ocean view with one bedroom with one and a half bath. Complex has pool, tennis courts, and spa for $599,000. Just in time for Spring! Contact me if you're interested.

Here's some interesting info about real estate licenses and Realtors.

In January, there were 481,319 real estate licensees in California, a 55% increase since January 2001. Of those, only 180,000 are Realtors. I didn't realize how many non-Realtors were out there selling real estate. Make sure you ask an agent/broker if they are a Realtor. If you buy or sell a home, I would also ask if the licensed agent representing the other party in your transacation is also a Realtor. While they don't have to be, I'd want to know. Realtors are bound by the Realtor Code of Ethics which is imporant, IMO.

Cal Poly to Break Ground on New Student City

This Friday, Cal Poly will officially start construction on the new housing developement in Poly Canyon.

This is from a Cal Poly press release:

Cal Poly officials will break ground for Poly Canyon Village , the university's newest student housing project on Friday, March 17, at 1:30 p.m. on the Horticulture Lawn, located at the end of Via Carta adjacent to the Arboretum. The event is open to the campus community.
Cal Poly administrators will discuss the project and participate in a ceremonial ground-breaking that will be followed by an official tractor groundbreaking. Refreshments will be served.

Believed to be the largest student housing project in the country, Poly Canyon Village provides for three residential village or neighborhood areas to house approximately 2,700 students. The complex includes two parking structures totaling 1,900 parking spaces, commercial village areas with retail and food service space, and a recreation center with a swimming pool.

Listing a square footage when selling a home is getting riskier, legally speaking. Because people have sued when the square footage quoted wasn't correct, some Realtors will no longer put the square footage in the listing. One problem is that there isn't an agreed upon way of measuring square footage. The following is from a discussion on this topic.

"We've had architects and appraisers provide insight and they do not agree. For example: architects measure from the outside of the wall to the outside of the wall. Appraiser and Realtors usually only measure from wall to wall and in many instances fail to allow for unused space like closets, stairwells and other storage areas. The total area is usually easier to ascertain, as you can measure the foundation including garages, entry ways and patios. "

So, if you are looking at a home and don't find the square footage mentioned, this may be the reason why.

A short while ago I wrote about Arroyo Grande's proposed solicitation ordinance. It appears that the city will vote on it tomorrow. I received a message from our local Realtor organization encouraging us to go to the meeting tomorrow to claify if the new ordinance means real estate agents can't go knocking on doors in neighborhoods too. I'm really not sure why Realtors should be given an exclusion unless they are going to do the same with newspaper sales, painters, landscapers, etc. I've never "walked a neighborhood" going door to door. If I relied on that sales method to put food on the table, I'd probably have a different opinion.

Three adjacent oceanview lots in Pismo Heights came on the market today. Each of them is 50 x 100. Approved plans for 3 homes included. Asking $2.4 Million total for all three lots.

A 15 acre parcel in Templeton also came on the market. Comes with approved plans for a winery and tasting room. Asking $1.5 Million.

Price Reductions and Home Brochures

As homes are taking longer to sell now, the chance you might have to do a price reduction increases.

The home brochure is an important marketing tool for your home. The latest survey from the National Association of Realtors showed that fewer and fewer people are using the newspaper and magazines to find their home but the Yard Sign and Brochure is still being used the same amount as in previous years.

You don't want your brochure to send wrong messages though. If you have a price reduction, a new brochure should be printed with the new price. You don't want your agent to draw a line through the price and write "Priced reduced to $xxx" or something similar. I've seen stickers placed on the brochure saying "Now offered at $xxx" with the original price also still listed. This is not a good first impression unless you want to send the message that your home is not selling and make people immediate wonder what's wrong with your home.

The reason why these methods are used is so the agent doesn't have to spend more money on printing your home brochure. I can understand about an agent wanting to keep costs down but if you are paying $20,000 in commissions, having the agent spend another $100 for new brochures should be a given. It was the agent who agreed to list the home at a particular price so if they were unable to sell it, they should bear the financial responsibility of making sure the marketing of your home stays top-notch, even after a price reduction. If you are paying a discounted commission, then this level of service may not be included.

Make sure you discuss this with an agent before you sign the Listing Agent. Ask what happens if you reduce the price, so you know what to expect.

Home Valuation Problem - Property Not Found

I just received word from the vendor that supplies my Home Valuation service. Not to get too detailed and techie but there is a problem with the geocoding of the data for SLO County. Their estimate to get it all fixed is by the end of this month :(

Arroyo Grande to start "Do Not Solicit" registry

The city of Arroyo Grande is looking to strengthen its door-to-door soliciting rules. The city council is expected to adopt new policies that will restrict the time for soliciting between 9 AM-7 PM and also allow residents to put themselves on a Do Not Solicit registry. Solicitors are expected to carry a copy of the registry with them and not knock on doors of homes on the list.

Photos can make a difference when marketing a home for sale. Here are two photos of the same room. The photo on the bottom was taken by the Listing Agent. I took the top one for the Listing Agent using a Digital SLR camera with wide angle lens. I also did editing of the photo so the interior was not dark, which is tough to do with photos where light is coming through windows. The photo is actually 5 seperate photos of different exposure settings that are merged together with a software program I found on the Internet from a company in Germany.

Counterfeit $50 bills are in the area!

According to the Morro Bay Police Department, couterfeit $50 bills are showing up in Pismo Beach already and they suspect they are moving North. The bills all start with the serial number EG88821344A and have no hologram.

There has been quite a few price drops the past few days (80 total). Most have been on the market 70+ days but there are some exceptions. An Arroyo Grande home that has been on the market for 6 days dropped the price $80,000 (over 10%). This usually indicates they received feedback that they were overpriced.

There are also some significant price drops happening for homes that have been on the market awhile. A home in Paso Robles was reduced from 1.1 Million to $999,000. Two homes in Pismo Heights that have both been on the market for 57 days dropped the price $50K and $60K. A home in the SLO Country Club that's been on the market almost 6 months dropped $60K.

Also over the past 2 days, there have been 68 new residential listings.

San Luis Obispo is looking to adopt tougher panhandling laws to help reduce the number in downtown SLO. Laws to be voted on include restricting panhandling near ATMs, intersections, and entrances to businesses. They also are looking to restrict bench sitting for 2 hours at a time or 3 hours for the entire day.

I have a new favorite Thai Restaurant!

I stopped to get some dinner before the X concert in Paso Robles last night and chose Basil in downtown Paso (across from the park). WOW. The Param chicken was outstanding. I will be coming back here again. Part of me wants to try something different but the other half says "don't pass up the Param chicken!".

It looks like the same owners have Thai Palace in downtown SLO. I've never thought too much of that restaurant but haven't been there in many months. I think I'll go check it out again too.

San Luis Obispo was home of the FIRST motel...the Motel Inn. It isn't open anymore and continues to fall apart. I hear that the Apple Farm is wanting to expand where the Motel Inn once flourished. Here are some photos I took the other day.

A 2 bedroom home in Paso Robles came on the market to day for $289,000. It's in a 55 and over area and minutes from the new senior activity center. MLS #112852.

Just heard this on the 11 0'clock news.

Looks like SLO Marketplace may be going to County voters this November. The retail space in this plan has been reduced from 650,000 sq feet to around 550,000. No Prado Rd overpass in this proposal either. Target, Old Navy, and Lowes are still the anchor tenants but Lane Bryant, Sportmart, Chili's and In-and-Out Burger are part of the new proposal too. An organic farm, soccer fields, bike trail, and nature preserve have also been added.

This should be interesting since SportsMart would be a direct competitor to Copelands. Well, at least we'll have something else to read about in the Letters to the Editor section of the Trib for the upcoming months rather than just hearing about the Los Osos Sewer over and over again!

I was alerted by one of my Blog readers to a SLO Rental website that I hadn't seen before. It displays recent rental listings from the Trib and CraigsList. Check it out - slorentals.net

Central Coast MLS Statistics - February 2006 Residential

New Listings - 868
Price changes - 654
Contingent - 81
Back on Market - 209
Pending - 491
Solds - 269

A new 15-room residential care facility in Atascadero came on the market today. Buyer must obtain permit from state. Asking $2.4 Million.

The band X is playing in Paso Robles this Saturday at the Tatoo Festival. I remember the first time I heard X at my buddies house in Los Osos in 1981 or 82. What an opportunity to see them in Slo County. Count me in! Here's the webpage for the festival.

Someone emailed me asking about rentals. Since rentals are not part of our local MLS system, I don't have access to a database of available rentals in the area. The best place I've found for rentals is the Tribune classifieds and have posted the URL on some of my pages. I haven't been to the online Tribune website for awhile so I thought I'd check out the rental section. I must say...they don't make it easy to find! I finally found a "display all categories" link and got me to this page. You'll see the rental home choice under "Real Estate".

According to an article in today's Tribune, an Oceano homeowner won't be able to keep their pot bellied pigs on their property. The County voted that the pigs are not household pets so they require a minimum of 2.5 acres (the home they are currently living in is a 1/4 acre parcel in a residential neighborhood). They also have about 6 or 7 other pets (cats and dogs). The maximum allowed is three pets.

The couple reportedly have their home up for sale and are looking for a bigger lot.