Beware of 1-800 numbers on Yard signs

One of the "tricks of the trade" is to use a 1-800 number on a yard sign with the promise of free 24 hour information about the home for sale. What most of these services do is immediately contact the agent with the phone number of the person that called. These services are able to retrieve the phone number even if the caller has Caller ID Blocking. A person is thinking they are not calling a salesperson and just getting recorded property info, but they quickly realize this isn't the case when their phone rings.

Some Fast Facts:

Calif. median home price - July 06: $567,360 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region July 06:
Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,075,000 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region July 06:
High Desert $333,330 (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates - week ending 8/24:
30-yr. fixed: 6.48%; Fees/points: 0.4%
15-yr. fixed: 6.18%; Fees/points: 0.4%
1-yr. adjustable: 5.60%; Fees/points: 0.7%
(Source: Freddie Mac)

NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES TO DECLINE IN CALIFORNIA

California housing starts declined for the fifth consecutive month during July 2006, falling 40.8 percent compared with the construction pace recorded one year earlier, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) recently reported. Despite the decline, builders are on track to produce 180,000 new single-family and multifamily units in California during 2006. CBIA anticipates multifamily construction to remain strong in most markets for the remainder of 2006 but expects single-family starts to fall by 20,000 to 30,000 units compared with 155,000 single-family starts in 2005.

Based on the number of building permits issued, 11,121 new housing units were started throughout the state in July, with single-family units accounting for 73 percent of the starts. According to the report, single-family construction was the strongest in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region, followed by the Sacramento-Arden-Roseville and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale regions.

There's going to be a missle launch from Vandenberg sometime tomorrow. They will announce the launch window a few hours before the launch but I saw one place say it's going to be between 6 AM and 10 AM.

Here's a site that has a calandar of the launches:

http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbsked.htm

Selling in Today's Market

I came across this artcle on another real estate blog and would recommend reading it.

A blog reader sent me a link to an article about the housing "slump". (Thx Lou!)

I went to Staples in SLO last night to buy a printer for daughter to take to college. They were out of stock and they told me I could order it online on their site. I've been told this by employees at other office supply stores too.

I'm assuming that if I order online, no local city in SLO County will receive any of the sales tax I pay? Send me an email if you know where the tax dollars would go in this case. Thx!

The Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) filed for bankruptcy yesterday. While there is no mention of this on the CSD website, I did find the press release.

"If you were getting professional help or advice from each of the following, how much would you trust them to give you advice which was best for you?"

This was a question asked by a Harris Poll. Unfortunately for real estate agents, consumers didn't rate their trust level too high for agents. Read the article here.

Brent Olson, a local photographer, sent me an email with a link to his photo website. There are some GREAT photos of Avila Beach on it, even some of what it looked like before the construction. Check it out! www.outofavila.com

Condo Vs. PUD

In case you aren't clear about what a PUD is, here's a definition and comparison to a condo:

It may be helpful to clarify a common misconception about Condominiums and PUDs. The terms Condominium and PUD refer to types of interests in land, not to physical styles of dwellings. Therefore, when homebuyers say that they are buying a townhouse, that is not the same as saying that they are buying a Condominium. When homebuyers say that they are buying a unit in a PUD, they are not necessarily buying a single-family detached home. Though the townhouse is the most common style of structure found in common interest developments, a townhouse might legally be a Condominium, a unit or lot in a Planned Development, or a single-family detached residence. The terms Condominium or PUD will say a great deal about the ownership rights the buyer will receive in the unit and the interest they will acquire in the common properties or common areas of the development.

Common interest developments offer many advantages to homebuyers-low maintenance and access to attractive amenities-however, there are restrictions and duties which come with ownership of a Condominium or PUD that buyers should be aware of prior to purchase.

Q. What are the basic differences between ownership of a Condo and ownership of a PUD?

A. The owner(s) of a unit within a typical Condominium project owns 100% of the unit, as defined by a recorded Condominium Plan. As well, they will own a fractional or percentage interest in all common areas of the Condominium project.

The owner(s) of a lot within a PUD own the lot which has been conveyed to them-as shown in the recorded Tract Map or Parcel Map-and the structure and improvements thereon. In addition, they receive rights and easements to use in common areas owned by another-frequently a homeowner's association-of which the individual lot owners are members.

The California Association of REALTORS today released their latest report on the California Real Estate market.

C.A.R. reports sales decrease 29.9 percent in July, median price of a home in California at $567,360, up 5.1 percent from year ago.

Here is some parts from the press release:

Today’s market is slowing as sellers maintain often unrealistic pricing expectations and buyers have more properties to choose from,” said C.A.R. President Vince Malta. “In addition, unlike the slowdown we experienced in the 1990s, homeowners today are not under duress to sell due to job losses. The urgency that characterized the market for the last few years is now gone for all but well-priced properties.”

“With inventory levels double that of a year ago, annual price appreciation for the state slowed from the double-digit rates we experienced throughout all of last year to single digits this year,” he said. “And in some regions of the state prices are down from a year ago. However, with a 7.5-month supply of homes for sale in July, we’re far below the peak of February 1991, when there was an 18-month supply on the market.”


There are some markets in California that did see appreciation in July too:

Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the greatest median home price increases in July 2006 compared with the same period a year ago were: Taft, 58.1 percent; Hercules, 35.1 percent; Morgan Hill, 33 percent; Barstow, 32.1 percent; Mill Valley, 31.3 percent; San Juan Capistrano, 29.7 percent; Loma Linda, 28.3 percent; Lodi, 24.9 percent; Compton, 24.8 percent; Laguna Niguel, 24.8 percent; Inglewood, 24.3 percent.

Read the entire release here.

I received the following email earlier today that I thought I'd pass along. This is not a recommendation since I've never used this landscaper.

"I am the owner of Gardens By Gabriel and have just moved my landscape company to the San Luis area. What an beautiful area you live in if you don't mind me saying so! I am establishing new business contacts for my full design, install and maintenance services. I am currently running a special on affordable curb appeal packages to enhance any style residences that could use some landscape charisma. This inexpensive and quick upgrade has been helpful in getting those sluggish properties moving in the right direction! .... please give me a call or visit my website for lots of photos, a full range of services, and customer testimonials. Have a wonderful day. "

Gabriel Frank (805) 215-0511
www.gardensbygabriel.com

Sales Tax Rates in other Cities

Here are the current sales tax rates in cities around California.

All cities in SLO County - 7.25%
Santa Maria - 7.75%
Bakersfield - 7.25%
Fresno - 7.975%
Salinas - 7.75%
Ventura - 7.25%
San Diego - 7.75%
San Jose - 8.25%
San Francisco - 8.5%
Sacramento - 7.75%
Santa Cruz - 8.25%
Monterey - 7.25%
South Lake Tahoe - 7.75%
Solvang - 7.75%
Palm Springs - 7.75%
Palo Alto - 8.25%
Piedmont - 8.75%
Los Angeles - 8.25%
Livermore - 8.75%

You can look up any city at this website.

I'd like to introduce Margie Drube from Team Mortgage who will be a Guest Blogger to the SLO Real Estate Blog. Margie has a wealth of knowledge about the mortage industry and will be sharing information from time to time. Welcome Margie!

July was the slowest month for home sales in the US since January 2004.
Article here

For the Central Coast, we've had 404 Pending sales for August thus far so this month is shaping up to be better than July but still down from the 800 or so Pending sales we've usually seen in August.

As the Internet continues to change the real estate industry, we're going to see new types of services. An example of this is an announcement today from reply.com. If you agree with "every home is up for sale at the right price" then their new service may interest you. For $24.95 they will send an unsolicted offer on any home for you, no matter if the home is on the market or not.

This one is for the Poly parents or any one else with kids going to college.

http://www.campusbooks.com/ is a site that has text books up to 200% off of what the campus book store charges.

http://www.freeloadpress.com/ is a new company that is going to offer textbooks for free...with advertising.

Governor Arnold signed a 2.9 billion dollar solar initiative today. Under the new law, home builders will have to offer solar power as an option to buyers starting in 2011. Developers do get tax credit in return. People who put solar panels on their homes and businesses also will be allowed to sell excess power back to their power companies (up to 2.5% of what's generated). Currently, the cap is at 0.5 percent.

I received an unsolicited email from a new home developer promoting a Realtor commission program bonus. I thought I'd include it here to show how new home developers market to Realtors in a changing market. Most new homes do not go into the MLS system so Realtors do not get paid commission if they bring a Buyer. Some developers do have referral fees if the Realtor accompanies the Buyer the first time they visit the Sales showroom office.

If finding a Buyer is getting tougher, I'll probably get more of these type of emails....


"Do you want to earn an extra 1% commission??
Centex Homes Can Make it Happen!
From May 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006, you can earn additional rewards for every Centex Homes closing. We are ready to step up to the plate and STEP UP YOUR COMMISSIONS. Starting with your SECOND Centex Homes closing, you will receive a bonus commission. AND, your bonus rate INCREASES BY 1% for EACH sale up to a maximum of 5% for EACH sale.

So:

Your first Centex closing earns the base commission at that neighborhood.
Your SECOND Centex closing earns an extra 1% over base commission for that neighborhood.
Your THIRD closing earns you an extra 2% over base commission for that neighborhood
Up to a maximum commission of 5%.
Centex has homes available for immediate close at most neighborhoods. And, our special financing programs make it EASY for your clients to own the home of their dreams. To learn more about Centex neighborhoods throughout the Central Coast, visit us at www.centexhomes.com/central-coast.



Realtor Reward$ Kick-Off Party.Food. Fun. Great CASH Prizes.
Wednesday, August 30, 20064-7 p.m.
You are cordially invited to learn more about the FANTASTIC Realtor Reward$ Commission Bonus program at our Kick-Off Party. Join us Wednesday, August 30, 2006, from 4 to 7 p.m. at our beautiful showcase home at Valle Vista in San Luis Obispo.

If you have been to one of our events in the past, you know we always provide great food, fine wine and CASH prizes. If you haven't been to one of our events before, NOW IS THE TIME TO ATTEND.

At our Kick-Off Party, we'll provide more information on the Realtor Reward$ program that can earn you up to 5% commission on your Centex Homes closings. We'll have representatives available to provide you with all the information you need about Centex Homes' exceptional neighborhoods from Paso Robles to Lompoc.

The Realtor Reward$ Kick-Off party will be held at Valle Vista, 1530 Nasella Lane, San Luis Obispo. Take 101 to Los Osos Valley Road and head west. Turn left on Valle Vista, then left on Nasella.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Five Homeownership Tax Myths

I thought this was worth reading... from msn.com

The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) released a report on the condition of roads throughout the county. The report can be accessed here.

The 10 Best Places to invest in Real Estate in 2006

Here's an article listing the author's picks for the 10 best areas for real estate.

Attention Bakersfield...you don't need to make the trip over just to get clam chowder from Splash Cafe!

According to the Trib, the 2 super-Costco's in Bakersfield will start carrying Splash Cafe Clam Chowder in the frozen section starting next Thursday. Other stores carrying it will be SLO, Santa Maria, Oxnard, and Goleta.

Here's where we stand for the first 17 days of August (residential):

1053 - Price Changes
563 - New Listings
331 - Pending Sale

According to the California Association of Realtors affordability index, San Luis Obispo County is the 2nd least affordable area for First-time home buyers. Santa Barbara is the least affordable. You can see the affordabiltiy index here.

Following are some "Fast Facts" from the California Association of Realtors (CAR):

Calif. median home price - June 06: $575,800 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region June 06:Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,300,000 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region June 06:High Desert $334,790 (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates - week ending 8/10:
30-yr. fixed: 6.55%; Fees/points: 0.4%
15-yr. fixed: 6.20%; Fees/points: 0.4%
1-yr. adjustable: 5.69%; Fees/points: 0.8%(Source: Freddie Mac)

I updated the inventory reports on www.SloWatch.com. It looks as inventory levels were similar to last month, except for Arroyo Grande which was higher. But, that can be explained with the 30 new homes off of Farroll Ave going on the market yesterday.

The 2006 STAR test results are out for our local schools. You can find the report here. You can chose to see county wide results, district wide, or individual schools.

Want to see what your Flood Risk is? Enter in a property address and this FEMA website will tell you what the flood risk is. Load this site and then look at the upper right, below the FEMA logo. You'll see "2. What's Your Flood Risk?" Click on this.

http://www.floodsmart.gov

It was a slow week for the market...well at least in Arroyo Grande. In the past 7 days, out of the 169 single family homes on the market priced between $500K-$1 Million, how many would you guess went Pending Sale? Answer: One

I plan to run some reports and update the www.SloWatch.com site later on tonite.

Want to see what $10 Million will get you in the Bay Area?

As I blogged a few weeks ago, I was asked to photograph a listing in Los Gatos that was built by Steve Wozniak, one of Apple's co-founders. The home has a lot of unique things, including a CAVE!

You can see the photos I took on this page. They are budgeting over $30,000 for the marketing of this home! These are just the photos for the Marketing agency to be able to see, not the finished product.

If you are looking for a home right now, you need to make sure you have an eye on the price changes and be ready to jump on a good deal. A 3 bedroom home in Arroyo Grande yesterday dropped to $464K from $535K. It originally listed in May for $594K. This one is a GREAT BUY and probably won't last long. I'd bet there are going to be more of these type of finds from here on out. It's sort of like when it was a Seller's market that you needed to keep an eye on New Listings to jump on something before someone else did.

I have a service that I can set my clients up on (or clients of any agents on my Team) that checks the MLS system multiple times a day (every few hours throughout the day) for any price changes for properties that meet a defined criteria. If there is a change, it will automatically email you. This is different than my "Just Listed" service which checks once a day. I use this particular service myself to keep an eye on listings and is tons better than me having to log into the MLS System throughout the day and run reports. It is the best way to stay connected with the market and find a good deal!

Here's an article that was sent to me by the Author, Noel...


Destroy The Greatest Real Estate Myth And You’ll Come Out Better Off!

By Noel Peebles

We’ve all heard it said, “The most important thing in real estate is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!” As many will say, “it’s the reason why real estate does or does not sell.”

To that I reply, “RUBBISH, RUBBISH, RUBBISH!”

Sure, location is important, but to elevate it to the status of “the most important reason” is in my opinion, unjustified. In truth, there are 4 key factors that determine whether or not real estate sells. They are:

- PRICE- CONDITION- MARKETING- LOCATION

You’ll notice I put location last on the list. Now don’t get me wrong, location is important, but to say it is the most important factor in any real estate sale is just not true! Let me explain…

Of the four, location is perhaps the least important because of one often overlooked point, which is – Location cannot be changed by anyone in the real estate negotiation process. Just think about that for a moment. Location cannot be changed by anyone in the negotiation process. So, unless you can put your house on wheels, it will stay where it is, meaning you (and your potential buyer) must accept the location as a fixed negotiating point.

Now, there are possibly a few exceptions. For example, it is not uncommon to move a house on the back of a truck from one location to another. In fact, I once watched as a multi-level hotel was lifted and moved on rails from one side of a busy city street to the other. It wasn’t a small building, so I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!

Also, without physically moving a property, it is possible in some circumstances to have a property rezoned by the local authorities. It does depend on your laws relating to where you live. However, I have seen properties triple in value when they were rezoned from ‘rural’ to ‘commercial’. But, as I say, the laws are different from country to country.

Anyway, unless you can alter the location or status of the location, you must generally accept the location as being fixed. Which brings us to the other three points – price, condition and marketing. All three are variables that you can control. Here's what I mean:

1. You can raise the condition of your property to meet your asking price. Or...

2. You can lower your price to meet the condition of your property. And then...

3. You can run a powerful marketing campaign that makes your property stand out from every other property in town.

Do you see what I mean? You can change the price, change the condition and change the marketing... but the location of your property remains static.

So, to say that LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION is the number one reason why a property does or does not sell is just a real estate myth. The truth is; price, condition and marketing rate as more important factors in the real estate negotiating process.

For more information http://www.your-real-estate-resources.com/ or http://real-estate-knowhow.blogspot.com/

Where are the swimming pools?

One thing my family noticed when we moved to the Central Coast in 2002 was the shortage of swimming pools, especially in the South County and North Coast. Besides the pools at the high schools which have limited access, there is an indoor pool in Arroyo Grande , one on the road to Avila Beach (by the campground), and one at the health club in Avila Beach. There is a small lap pool at the AG Kennedy club too.

It's really noticeable when my kids have swimming in PE at the high school. In the Bay Area we belonged to a great family health club that had 2 pools and they were on the swim team which was real good exercise for them. They haven't swimmed that much in years but they are still in the advanced group in their PE class since most of the other kids have limited swimming skills.

With all the talk of child obesity, it would seem like swimming would be excellent exercise but where do you go? As our senior population increases, water aerobics would be very beneficial too.

I sure wish that some of these developers had pitched in for a South County swimming center. Unless some other private corporation sees the opportunity to build a nice health club, I don't know if the area will ever get a good swimming pool for the community.

For the first 9 days of August, there already has been 567 price changes. We're starting to see some hefty price drops too. For example in the past 2 days:

- In Arroyo Grande, a home went from $689,500 to $589,500. Another from $1,040,000 to $899,000.

- An Atascadero home dropped from $775,000 to $699,000. Another from $989,000 to $900,000.

- A Cambria home from $789,000 to $699,999

- A Grover Beach home from $779,900 to $719,900

- A Los Osos home dropped from $679,000 to $579,000

- A SLO home dropped from $1,100,000 to $995,000

The good news for Sellers is that we've had 286 new listings and 161 pendings so far this month which, if the pattern continues for the rest of the month, we should have fewer New Listings than we had last month and slightly more Pending sales.

I've been catching up on reading the issues of the Tribune I missed last week.

So, the 2 anchors of the shopping area near Costco that Madonna Construction is building are
- Linens and Things, and
- OfficeMax

You've got to be kidding. That's the 3rd big office store in SLO and Bed, Bath, and Beyond is down the street.

This is starting to be as comical as the Los Osos sewer.

- You first had people saying how the Dalidio Marketplace would hurt local businesses downtown. Then Copeland develops these new buildings and chain stores move in.

- Then, downtown is bringing in an Apple store which will pretty much kill the (locally owned)Mac Superstore out on South Higuera.

- Downtown brings in California Pizza Kitchen 3 doors away from Pizza Solo (good luck Pizza Solo!)

- One of the arguments last year against Dalidio was that it would ruin the gateway to the city. Then a few months ago it was publicized that 2 car lots were already approved by SLO along 101 next to Dalidio's property. Oops! I haven't heard the gateway argument since.

- Now you have 2 major tenants coming in that add NOTHING new to SLO shopping.

I don't get it. For an area so short on shopping choices, you'd figure someone would be out attracting stores that we don't already have!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not knocking Copeland for trying to turn downtown into an upscale shopping destination. That's a good fit for downtown. Bring in the tourists to downtown with money to spend plus the percentage of Cal P0ly students with money from home. Maybe it will force some of the restaurants to improve or leave too. Retail sales is the best source of tax income for cities to survive these days so the Central Coast should wake up and figure out how to add shopping without messing up the quality of life around here. Can it be done if the right heads were put together? I'd rather not shop in Santa Maria but until there is someplace in SLO that offers what we currently can't find here, that's where my family goes when we need to. I can also say we brought back many bags of stuff that we bought in Las Vegas. Everyone talks about the high volume of traffic created by the Dalidio development so it sounds like there is agreement that the demand is there for the stores that will go in. Why doesn't someone figure out how to develop it without the gridlock! I know this was on the SLO proposal that was defeated but can't see how you can go forward with the County proposal without the additional Prado Road interchange. I want to vote Yes for the shopping (shouldn't SLO be a central shopping area for the County?) but right now would vote No because it doesn't address the traffic issue.

Either cities get tax revenue from retail or the residents are going to have to fork over a "Quality of Living" property tax if we want the atmosphere around here to stay like it is. We can't stop growth but you would think we can have "smart growth". I've looked around on various city websites and see no mention of a Regional plan. They all seem to just focused on what's within their city limits with their end goal of "100% build out". People say they don't want the area to be like Los Angeles but I saw more shopping choices when driving through St. George Utah than we have here.

Will the Sales Tax increases going on the ballot in some of the cities really help keep the Quality of Life around here? I don't know since I can't find any details on the city sites about it!

Ok...I'll get off my soapbox now.

I updated the top graph on www.SloWatch.com with July's MLS statistics.

I put up some photos of my Lake Powell vacation. You can access them here. Hope you enjoy them!

SloCountyHomes.com continues to grow in popularity. For the month of July, I had over 42,000 visits or 1,368 average visits per day.

While 94.38% of the visitors are from the United States, there are quite a few visiting from out of the country. Here is a list of the top accessing countries (for July 06).

Canada
United Kindom
Germany
France
Spain
Australia
Netherlands
China
Brazil
Sweden
Italy
Japan
Romania
Korea
India
Poland
Mexico
Switzerland

There are some further down the list that I need to lookup to see where they are:
Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritius, Brunei Darussalam, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Qatar

A $100 Million dollar estate came on the market in Lake Tahoe. It's the 3rd most expensive listing in the U.S. (homes in Palm Beach, Fla and Aspen, Co are the top 2 at $125M and $135M). The Tahoe estate sits on 210 acres and the current owner is a co-founder of Tommy Hilfiger. I looked at the Broker's website that has the listing and they don't even mention it on their site!

Thinking about doing some interior painting?

The September 06 issue of Consumer Reports tests and rates interior paints. Behr has the #1 rated paint in multiple categories.

This issue also has rates spyware, anti-virus software, and laptops. Check it out!

Well, I survived our week houseboating on Lake Powell and I'm in Las Vegas right now. One thing I did find interesting here is that Nevada has early voting for their August 15th primary. I saw polling places in shopping malls. I asked how long they have been doing this and the reply was "since 1994". This sure makes sense to me...

I'm not sure how the Vegas housing market is going these days. There still is new building on the strip and people on corners with the moving signs promoting condos. But the traffic around town is bad and I'm not just talking just about the gridlock on the strip!

Central Coast MLS Statistics - July 2006 - residential

New listings - 1051
Pending - 477
Price changes - 1669
Back on market - 247
Contingent - 68
Sold - 403
Expired - 424