It's Apple Time in See Canyon!

It's that time of year when you can take a nice drive up See Canyon and pick up some delicious apples from Golpher Glen. If you haven't ever done this, I'd recommend it. But if you go, you need to take the San Luis Bay Drive exit from 101 and not the Avila Beach exit since they still have the road closed replacing the bridge.

I read a newspaper article last week talking about the apple wine you can get at the winery that you'll pass on the way to Golpher Glen. I'm not much of a wine drinker but it sounded good.

Golpher Glen is a good ways up See Canyon. Just keep driving and you can't miss it. There are some signs posted along the road. If you wanted to take the full scenic route, keep on going up See Canyon Rd after you pick up your apples and you'll end up on Perfumo Canyon Road in San Luis Obispo. There's a great view along the way where you can see all the way to Morro Rock.

I took my wife to the Pac Center at Cal Poly on Saturday to see George Carlin. I'll admit that this is the first time I've been to the Pac Center. The pipe organ they installed looks spectacular and I want to take my daughter (the piano player) to hear it.

George Carlin was so-so. I think the 2 ladies sitting behind us thought they were watching one of his HBO specials from home as they talked throughout the entire performance. :(

One of the benefits a licensed real estate agent receives by joining the Realtor Association is that you have access to forms to use in a transaction. For us here on the Central Coast, these forms come from the California Association of Realtors (CAR).

There is a team of lawyers working for CAR plus committees that look to keep updating the forms to better protect all involved in the transaction. Just a few years ago, the forms were provided in hard copy to Brokers (a 3-part form with the 3rd copy hard to read). CAR quit making these available and forms are now only available online (from a place called Winforms).

One big advantage is that the forms can be revised without having to waste paper which is what happened with the hard copy forms. For example, following is a list of the forms that are being revised on November 5th. If you are presented with an old hard copy form...ASK FOR A RECENT ONE! The only thing I can think would be worse is using the forms you can buy at Office Max.

New Form-
Short Sale Addendum (SSA)

Revised Forms-
Buyer Representation Agreement Exclusive (Right to Represent) (BRE)
Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure (AVID)
Manufactured Home Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions (MHPA)
Movie In/Move Out Inspection (MIMO)
Modification of Terms: Authorization and Right to Sell, Acquire or Rent (MT)
Notice of Termination of Tenancy (NTT)
California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions (RPA-CA)
Request for Repairs (RR)
Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ)
Trust Bank Account Record for All Trust Funds Deposited and Withdrawn (TAA)
Trust Bank Account Record for Each Beneficiary (TAB)
Trust Bank Account for Each Property Managed (TAP)
Vacant Land Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions (VLPA)
Water Heater & Smoke Detector Statement of Compliance (WHSD)

I received an unsolicited email today from a builder offering a 10% Buyers agent commission on 2 homes in Templeton. That would be like a homeowner offering 20% total commission (1/2 for the Buyers agent, 1/2 for the Listing agent).

In the small print at the bottom it says that the 10% commission is if the home is sold on or before October 21st. Offers must be able to close escrow 30 days or less.

I don't know if they consider "sold" when the offer is made or when it closes escrow. The small print further states that homes sold after October 21st get a 3% commission. To further cause confusion, the headline says "2 Weeks only on 2 Completed Homes". I have no clue what the 2 weeks refers to...

Ryan's Mortgage Blog
There are several questions you should have answered before committing to use a mortgage lender. I found a top ten list of questions that pretty much summed it up, and I posted them below with a few revisions:

1 - What is my interest rate and term of the mortgage?
2 - What is my monthly payment? How much of it is principle/interest?
3 - What is my APR? The Annual Percentage Rate is the total annual cost of your mortgage with all fees and costs included.
4 - Am I paying any points?
5 - Where is my Good Faith Estimate? This estimate is a rough figure of the total cost of your loan. This will also have the fees the company charges.
6 - Is my interest rate fixed or adjustable? If adjustable, what are the terms?
7 - Can my quoted interest rate change by the time we close? Make sure they tell you if the rate is lock or floating.
8 - Do I live in an escrow or attorney closing state? California is an escrow state.
9 - What is the closing process with your company and the Title/Escrow company?
10 - Is there a prepayment penalty?

All of these questions should be easy to answer for the broker/lender. If they are having a problem answering them, this should be a red flag. These are also good questions to ask so it will be easy to compare companies if you are shopping around. If you have any questions regarding the list above, please feel free to ask me. My contact information is 805-540-0866 or RBaker@PeregrineLending.com

I'm working on a new design for the website and apologize in advance if any links don't work while I'm updating. Feel free to send me an email with any suggestions. I put up a new home page design a few minutes ago.. www.SloCountyHomes.com

byrd@SloCountyHomes.com

Lots of Updates Coming

At the end of the month, in addition to the monthly statistics I will also be updating the Sold reports for the individual cities with Q3 info. See "City Stats" on the www.SloWatch.com page.

Towards the end of August I wondered if we were going to break 400 Pending Sales for the month (we ended up with 391). Well, here we are a month later and this time the question is if we are going to break 300 Pendings. As of a minute ago, we're sitting at 277 Pendings with 5 days left in the month.

Hold on folks, the ride isn't over yet!

Best of Caravan - North Coast

Today's Best of Caravan is the 1995 Mobile Home in Daisy Hills Mobile Estates in Los Osos. Daisy Hills is an age restricted, 55+ park, where you own a share in the Park. By owning a share in the park, you are part owner of the park itself, which means that you are not subject to the unpredictability of future rental rate increases.

This lovely 2 bedroom plus office, 2 bath home offers an open floor plan, vaulted ceilings, oak wood kitchen cabinets and a 2-car carport .

This property is very well priced and depending on your needs, may be one of the best values around!

Click here for more information

(Best of Caravan is chosen by one of our team of local expert Realtors as the property that stood out on the weekly Broker's caravan of new listings. If the photo is missing or the link doesn't work, this mean the property is no longer available.)

Why isn't my home selling?

If your home is up for sale and isn't selling, here are some questions to ask yourself:

1) Is your home priced right?
If there are comparables to your home, this should be an easy question to answer. You should also be getting weekly reports from your agent with latest market activity. This will tell you if homes that you are competing with are going Pending plus the price homes are being sold for. If other homes you're competing with are going Pending, you need to ask why theirs and not yours! During the housing boom if you overpriced your home, appreciation would eventually catch up to the price you had it listed at. This is not the case in today's market. If you price it 5-10% above what the comparable value says thinking that maybe you can get the price, you are probably going to be one of the homes that sits on the market with the Days on Market (DOM) increasing. Your're going to get the most attention from Buyers and Buyer Agents when you first list your home. You don't want the initial impression of your home to be "another overpriced home".

2) How well is your home being presented?
Look for a home like a Buyer would. Search the Internet search engines and see how easy it is to find your home. Do the photos make you want to see your home? For example, is your main photo a "Wow" photo? Do the interior photos make the rooms look small? Sometimes a few photos is better than a lot of photos. EVERY ONE of your home photos should send a postive message. If not, it should be removed or reshot. Dark photos, photos without Blue skies, photos with cars parked in front of the home, etc. are examples. Also, be careful of the 360 degree panoramic "virtual tours". Most of these don't show a home that well and may cause a Buyer to cross your home off their list. Here is an example of photos that help sell a home- http://www.7725sundance.com/

If your Realtor's marketing plan focuses on print advertising, chances are after a month or two on the market, you aren't seeing your home advertised as much because of the cost. But, since Buyers are really looking at the Internet, you need your home to show up when Buyers search for real estate in your city.

3) Is your flyer box empty?
This is one of the biggest mistakes Realtors make. An empty flyer box could be sending the message that your home is Pending Sale and off the market. If you are occupying the home, ask your Realtor for a stack of brochures so you can refill the box so you don't miss a potential Buyer. Some Realtors may say "I purposely leave the flyer box empty so I get phone calls" but I think it's more like "I don't want to pay for any more brochures".

4) Are you getting showing feedback?
When a potential Buyer looks at your home, their feedback is valuable. If you start hearing the same comments, then you know something that needs to be fixed. If you have a lockbox on your home, your Realtor should be downloading the lockbox entry log to make sure you know everyone that has viewed your home as some Realtors don't leave their business card behind. Your Realtor should follow up with the Realtors that show your home. This is sometimes a challenge as a lot of Realtors won't return the phone call that's asking for feedback but there are other ways of getting it. I use a system where I've been getting 80%+ response rates from Realtors.

If you registered your phone number on the Do Not Call List, it may be up for renewal. The numbers stay on for 5 years and if you don't renew, your number is fair game for telesales people.

It's easy to renew for another 5 years. Go to www.donotcall.gov and enter up to 3 numbers. You'll get an email for each number you enter. Click on the link and you're renewed until 2012. Takes just a few minutes so click on the link above so you don't have to worry about it again for another 5 years!

I've been working with computers for awhile. If you count the years I was programming with punchcards in my computer science classes at Cal Poly, it's now over 27 years. While I've tried many software programs over the years, I have my favorites. One of these is Roboform (www.roboform.com). This program allows you to save logins you define on different websites and then login in for you when you revist them. This allows you to use different passwords on websites. Chances are you may be using on main password for all your logins, and you may have been using that one for many years! The account information with roboform is stored encrypted on your harddrive and you do need to enter in a master password each time you want to use the login. Another nice feature is you can store form information. For example, I register a lot of domain names so I have a form for GoDaddy.com so I don't have to fill out all my name, address, phone number, etc. every time. It's a big timesaver!

You can try the program for free. Check it out!!

Here's the Central Coast MLS Statistics month-to-date through the 22nd:

New listings - 451
Pending - 241
Price Changes - 867

If you've ever traveled in the Bay Area and crossed the Benicia Bridge, you've probably seen the mothball fleet of old war ships that have been there for 40+ years. They were looking to get rid of these and it looks like they may have found a home for at least 2 of them. According to the Tribune, officials are working on the paperwork to sink one ship west of Avila Beach and the other one near Morro Bay. The reason is to create a fish habitat which would attract divers and more tourist dollars.

Real estate advertising in Newspapers continues to decline. This is from the recent earnings press release from McClatchy newspapers-

"Gary Pruitt, chairman and chief executive officer of McClatchy said, "As we anticipated at the time we released our second quarter earnings, we have seen continued declines in real estate advertising, particularly in the California and Florida newspapers."

As I blogged last month, the latest California Association of Realtors survey showed fewer and fewer Buyers (4%) are looking at newspapers for real estate and are looking at the Internet instead (72% of Buyers).

SloCountyHomes.com continues to grow. In fact, of the 69 properties that closed last week in the entire County (homes and lots), 6 of those Buyers used SloCountyHomes.com and the Keith Byrd Team of Realtors!!

Ryan's Mortgage Blog:
Well the talk of the week is obviously the Fed cutting the target on the key short-term interest rate by half of a percentage point this week to 4.75%. This was a move that proved the Federal Reserve is worried about the Mortgage industry. They also cut its discount rate by another half of a point to 5.25 percent and indicated more cuts may come sooner than later. The stock market welcomed these cuts and jumped up 330 points following the announcement.
These cuts are supposed to help ease some of the worries/problems that nervous banks have had. It is supposed to stimulate more lending/borrowing and help ease some of the tension, but it is not a one-time cure. There are still major credit problems that many people face that aren't fixable in the short-term. Because of the recent problems with bad loans and foreclosures a new equation needs be formed for the mortgage industry in regards to guidelines. By the feds cutting rates and maybe doing it one more time, this should make money "easier" to get for consumers than it has been over the last several months. BUT banks can't fall back into lending to "questionable" borrowers. The right equation I am talking about needs to consist of a decent credit score/credit history and a reasonable down payment (or equity for refinances).
There are always two sides to the coin and Randy Plankey from Astoria Federal sent out an email this morning to his clients (mortgage brokers) and I will post a couple of key points so you can see it for yourself. "The rate cuts are turning into a negative for treasuries and mortgages, and rates are going to be up this morning. The fact that the Fed has abandoned the inflation fight in a desperate attempt to buoy the economy is seen as inflationary and weakening the dollar. Stocks are up, and so are commodities prices. The 10yr is up to 4.60% this morning. Consumers over the past several years think they can simply follow core interest rates and the bond market and that makes them ‘smart’ as it relates to their ability to predict where mortgage rates may or may not be on any given day. Because they don’t truly understand market dynamics in general, this particular cycle of liquidity issues and a Fed cut resulting in higher fixed interest rates probably has their collective heads spinning."
So as you can see this cut may or may not be a god thing depending on your stance or situation.
If you have any questions regarding your current mortgage I would gladly answer any questions you have. You can reach me at 805-540-0866 or RBaker@PeregrineLending.com

It's interesting that with the housing boom, I didn't see too many people sharing what their crystal ball said but not so now that the market is in decline. The link below is one analysts prediction on what will happen to home prices. They think Santa Barbara will have one of the biggest declines in median home prices (-25.9%).

Click to read article

(thanks to Ron for sending me the link!)

Best of Caravan - North County

This week’s Paso Robles Best of Caravan goes to a lovely surprise of a country home on just under 2 1/3 acres off Hog Canyon in San Miguel. The 4 bedroom, 3 bath home is 3 years new and tucked away towards the end of the long, winding Rancho Lomas Way. A nicely painted and presented ‘ranchette’ has a casually warm style and is off the beaten path but in an area of great homes. The usable portion of the parcel has plenty of room to create your hearts’ desire. Definitely worth the trip!

Click for details on this home

(Best of Caravan is chosen by one of our team of local expert Realtors as the property that stood out on the weekly Broker's caravan of new listings. If the photo is missing or the link doesn't work, this mean the property is no longer available.)

I found this game where you try to buy homes low and sell before the price starts going down. It's pretty fun. (warning: it makes sounds so may not be appropriate for work if you have speakers on your computer!).

Play the game here

I updated the Just Sold Reports just now for residential, multi-family, and lots/land.
http://www.slocountyhomes.com/just_sold.htm

Here is the average of % of List Price from the last few residential reports:

8/30- 9/16 - 189 solds - 94.92% of last List Price
8/18 - 8/29 - 77 solds - 96.34%
8/2 - 8/17 - 187 solds - 96.03%
7/24 - 8/1 - 124 solds - 95.91%
7/15-7/23 - 89 solds - 96.13%
7/7 - 7/14 - 61 solds - 95.67%
7/2 - 7/6 - 42 solds - 97.48%
6/24 - 7/1 - 117 solds - 96.13%

The above chart graphs home values as an investment over time (starting with the 1890's). Click on the thumbnail above to view.

Best of Caravan - Atascadero

WOW! This home has such exquisite attention to details and a well thought out floor plan, it was a pleasure to preview today.

The master bath features a large deep claw foot tub, ideal for soaking the stress of the day away. It also has a masterfully crafted antique vanity and matching mirror that is simply charming. The master bedroom is spacious and light with customer closet organizers. In the kitchen,
a butler’s pantry and Jenn-Air stainless steel professional appliances are a cook’s delight. The floor plans flows from formal dining room to den/library and family room with a beautiful mantled fireplace. The 3 bedrooms and 2 baths are situated for privacy from the common rooms. Many custom touches like the marble surround on the fireplace and the built in wall plaques and arched doorways show the quality and value.

There is additional RV parking and a spacious garage on large lot that is nicely landscaped. If you love to entertain, or love to stay home and relax in your own private haven, this house fits the bill with high marks in both cases.

You’ve just got to see the house. It won’t disappoint!

Click for more info and photos

(Best of Caravan is chosen by one of our team of local expert Realtors as the property that stood out on the weekly Broker's caravan of new listings. If the photo is missing or the link doesn't work, this mean the property is no longer available.)

In Saturday's tribune, there was an article on the low number of Sales in August. The majority of these were Pendings in July so if you read the statistics on http://www.slowatch.com/, you already knew this when I posted the stats at the beginning of August. The article also said that the high-end was doing well (can't remember the exact language). I'm at a loss to know where they are getting their data from.

For the first 15 days of September, we've had 5 homes priced over $1 Million go Pending. These were in Cambria, San Simeon, Morro Bay, Nipomo, and Templeton. Currently, there are 417 homes on the market over $1 Million. Call me crazy but this doesn't sound like the high-end market is moving much at all.

Also FYI, we had 161 total Pending residential sales for the first 15 days of September. We've also had 305 new listings and 599 price changes.

There will be a launch of a new imaging satellite from Vandenburg this Tuesday. The launch is scheduled to take place between 11:35 and 11:49 am.

Seems like I've hit on a topic people want to talk about based on the comments I've received from my latest posts.

As for Open Houses, the statistics say that the probablity that you will sell your home through an Open House is low. Somewhere between 1-2% of homes are sold through an Open House. But, what you don't know is if someone that attends an Open House might talk to someone else about it who then asks a Realtor to show them the home. If you are willing to vacate your home for 4-5 hours on a Saturday or Sunday and don't mind strangers walking through your home, then I'd look for a Listing Agent that will agree to do lots of Open Houses. You never know if that one Buyer will visit an Open House that's interested in your home and will give an offer on it. If your home is vacant, why not have Open Houses every week?

Agents do Open Houses for one primary purpose...to get sales leads. If the Listing Agent is a busy agent, you typically won't see them sitting on Open Houses but it will be some other agent in the office that's looking for business (and there are lots of them out there right now). If you are wanting to have Open Houses done on your property, you'll want to go with a Listing Agent that has a lot of people in their office so there will be someone willing to do an Open House. It also depends on the home too. Some homes are in an area where they will get lots of traffic during an Open House. You'll have agents in the office begging to do an Open House for this type of home. On the flip side, there are homes where you won't have anyone come by during a 4 hour period, weekend after weekend. Those are hard to get an agent to sit on after they've done it once.

If you are the one that is going to Open Houses, you'll be the "prospect". Some Open Houses you'll feel like you've stepped on a used car lot while others the agent will sit back and just hope you'll take their business card when you leave. If you are there to take a look at the home, my best suggestion is just tell them you are already working with a Realtor if asked. If they ask who, just tell them Keith Byrd from Century 21. That should get them to back off and let you focus on looking at the home rather than having them ask you non-stop questions to see if you're going to bring them a sale. If you end up liking the agent, you can always pick up their business card and contact them later.

By telling them you are working with another agent, it may also help later if you decide to make an offer on that house. If you say you don't have a Realtor, the agent sitting on the Open House may make a claim to the commission if you end up buying that home through another Realtor since they will say they were the "first to show". If it's the Listing Agent that is sitting on the Open House it probably won't be an issue, but if it's an agent from the office that's not the Listing Agent, the claim to commission gets a little more complex. But, if you attend an Open House and the agent says they know of another home that you might like and if they show you it, they can claim the commission if you end up buying it through someone else.

Sound confusing?? What I'd do is to make sure that if an agent shows you a home outside of an Open House, it's the agent you plan to use. Don't work with multiple agents unless you want to risk running into a commission dispute. If that happens, the agent's won't be 100% focused on Buyer or Seller, which you want them to be. Also, agents only get paid only if they represent you on a sale. No one wants to work for free so don't have an agent do research for you or show you homes, and then use someone else unless it's for a good reason.

I had a comment from a Blog reader about last night's post so instead of responding just to the one person, I'll post it here...

From what I see being on this side of the industry is a lot of inexperienced agents that will show houses to someone without even finding out if they are a qualified buyer. From a Seller’s point of view, if the home is occupied, it’s an inconvenience to vacate the property every time a Realtor calls with a few hour notice that they want to show the home. But, if you want to sell, you’re told to make it easy to show. It helps if there were really good photos of the home but most photos on the MLS today were taken with consumer cameras so the photos really don't show off the home that well.

So, a Realtor shows the home and they are supposed to leave a business card behind. A good Listing Agent will contact the Realtor to solicit feedback on the showing so they can try to figure out if they need to change anything. An even better Listing Agent knows that not all Realtors leave cards and will download the lockbox log regularly to get a list of all the Realtors that showed the property to follow up. From experience, you’re lucky to get half of the Realtors to even respond to calls asking for feedback.

There are people that just like to look at homes with no intention of buying, or are thinking of buying further down the road. Open Houses are a perfect opportunity to see what you get for the money in the area. Or, get a Realtor to show vacant homes which doesn’t inconvenience a owner (or worse yet…a tenant). If I was looking at a home but know that it’s not going to be on the market when I’m ready to buy, I wouldn’t want to inconvenience the homeowner or tenant.

There has always been Lookers but now that homes are on the market longer, Sellers are seeing more of them. The frustration I’m hearing from some Sellers are the ones that have had the home on the market for awhile and have a constant stream of people looking but not submitting an offer (or giving feedback).

As for the price reductions, the statistics don’t show sellers taking low ball offers. Yes, there is the exceptions as I blogged about earlier this month. Most homes are going for 95-97% of the list price. Some are going for full price, while even some others are even getting overbids.

What’s not good about Buyers looking at homes that they can’t afford is that when they see say a $625,000 home when they can really only afford a $500,000 home, they raise their expectations. Looking at a $500,000 home after that just doesn’t get them excited so it’s not really helping, IMO. If someone is betting that the market will drop that much down the road then I’d just go to Open Houses as not to inconvenience the owner of the home that probably won’t be on the market when the Buyer is ready to purchase.

If I was in the market to buy a home, here’s what I’d be looking for in a Realtor…

When you’re ready to buy, you’d want a Realtor that knew what you were looking for and was on top of the inventory and was looking out for a home that would be a fit for you. Plus, know what homeowners were motivated. A Realtor that attended the weekly MLS meetings plus read the confidential remarks on the MLS listing would see signs of motivated sellers. Also, a lot of good homes are coming on the market that are priced right. Those homes are not lasting. If you look at my blog at the “Best of Caravan” posts, you’ll see a lot with the photos no longer displaying. Those homes are already off the market. You want a Realtor that read the hot sheet every day and also was connected in the Realtor community to hear about listings that were soon to be listed that might fit what you were looking for.

I've talked to a few home owners lately who have a property on a market that are getting frustrated with all the "lookers" but no Buyers. When you list your home with a Realtor, part of the commission you pay is for the service of a Buyers agent. Most people expect a Buyers agent to qualify prospective Buyers before bringing them into a home for a showing. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen all the time (some may say rarely). Chances are if you call up a real estate office and spoke with the agent doing "floor duty", you could ask to see a particular home and probably wouldn't be asked much of anything before meeting the agent at the home for a showing. Agents are HUNGRY for any warm body asking about real estate and some won't risk turning someone off by asking questions.

The reason I bring this up is that a new listing in SLO is requiring a pre-qualification letter from a mortgage company before scheduling a showing. This is a high-end listing so this request is not surprising but it may become more common for other listings if homeowners continue to get a lot of lookers.

Unfortunately, while requiring this is not that much of a pain (it doesn't take much to get a pre-qual from a mortgage company) a lot of agents are not going to like the extra work. Unless it becomes a more common request, the homewoners that do it first risk turning away Realtors with potential Buyers that don't want to do the extra step. But, this could only help a Realtor to know what a Buyer is qualified for. I also know that some Buyers are out looking at homes way above what they qualify for thinking that they may be able to get the seller to take 20-25% lower because of the market conditions. Having a Buyer look at homes they are not qualified for only makes the ones they really can afford less appealing and instead of a Buyer...they stay a Looker.

Ryan's Mortgage/Sore Throat Blog:
I hate to say it but I am pulling the "I'm sick" card this week in defense to this short write up. I have been out of commission for almost a week now with a cold and my brain is in neutral. Anyways, I wanted to bring to your attention a raffle that was forwarded to me via my Northern California Office. A non-profit group for the City of San Rafael is raffling off a $2 million dollar home to help raise money for a variety of services for their community which includes mental health services, early childhood development, HIV/AIDS, food programs, the homeless and more. There are other prizes as well ranging from $300 - $25,000. Each raffle ticket costs $150. Here is the article from the local newspaper that has more details and instructions .... http://www.marinij.com//ci_6814626?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
Back to the topic of being sick and not mortgages because I can do that because I am sick J ... I found a home recipe online that actually did help a little for my sore throat. It is just a suggestion, please don't hold me responsible if it doesn't work, has adverse effects, or you are allergic to the ingredients. I had a sore throat for 5 days and once I tried this recipe (which could have been strictly coincidence), my sore throat subsided within 12 hours, only to leave me with all the other flu symptoms. Anyways...I boiled some water and poured it in a glass like I was making tea and let it cool for a couple minutes. I added some honey, 2 Table spoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and 5 pinches of Cayenne pepper seasoning. The directions said not to let the pepper seasoning dissolve, so you don't need to stir that in. I actually drank the whole thing the first time and it wasn't that bad. The next time I just gargled with it because I didn't feel like drinking that much vinegar was good for you. Anyways, it helped me out a bit and maybe it could help you next time you are sick.
If you have any mortgage related questions please contact me at 805-540-0866 or RBaker@PeregrineLending.com

The National Association of Realtors released a report on what features home owners are looking for in a home. Here are some highlights:


CHARACTERISTICS OF HOME PURCHASED
- The typical home purchased during the survey period was 12 years old, 1,840
square feet in size, and had three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
- First-time buyers typically purchased smaller and older homes than repeat buyers
- More than 80 percent of homes purchased had central air conditioning and
garages
- More than 90 percent of home buyers were satisfied with the home they
purchased, and nearly two-thirds of all buyers were very satisfied.

SEARCHING FOR A HOME
- Nearly four out of five home buyers worked with a real estate agent to purchase
their home.
- When searching for a home, the most desired features were central air
conditioning, an oversized garage, a walk-in closet, and a backyard or play area.
The most desired rooms/spaces were garages, living rooms and laundry rooms.
- Repeat buyers placed more importance than first-time buyers on almost all home
features.
- Home buyers that purchased a home without a desired feature or room would be
willing to pay extra for central air conditioning (typically $1,880), two or more full
bathrooms (typically $2,040) and hardwood floors (typically $1,900).
- Over 90 percent of recent home buyers thought energy efficiency was an
important consideration when searching for a home to purchase.
- When comparing the home they recently purchased to their ideal or preferred
home, most home buyers were satisfied with regard to their home’s age, overall
size, size of the kitchen, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and closet and
storage space.

HOME IMPROVEMENT AND REMODELING
- About six-in-ten recent home buyers took on remodeling or home improvement
projects within three months of their home purchase.
- The typical buyer spent $4,350 on home improvement projects within the first
three months of buying their home. Repeat buyers spent more than first-time
buyers.
- Nearly half of home buyers remodeled or made improvements to their kitchen,
and close to half remodeled or improved a bathroom in the first three months
following the home purchase.

NAR PUTS 2007 EXISTING HOME SALES AT 5.92 MILLION UNITS

The latest housing forecast by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® puts sales of existing homes for 2007 at 5.92 million units, down from 6.48 million in 2006. NAR is predicting a modest recovery in 2008 with projected sales of existing homes of 6.27 million. NAR is also projecting a 1.7 percent decline in the median existing home price for 2007 to $218,200, but is forecasting a 2.2 percent increase in 2008 to $223,000.

The United States House of Representatives will vote, next week, on H.R. 1852, the “Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007.” This bill will reform FHA and help ease the fallout from the turmoil in the mortgage market.

The following are points that the bill will address...

Call for Action Talking Points H.R. 1852, the “Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007”

H.R. 1852 modernizes the FHA mortgage insurance program, once again providing American homeowners with safe, affordable mortgage alternatives. Without reform, FHA would remain unavailable to many homebuyers or those needing to refinance.

FHA products are safe, thanks to appropriate underwriting and loss-mitigation programs, and fairly priced without resorting to teaser rates or negative amortization.
H.R. 1852 revitalizes FHA to compete in the 21st century housing market.

The legislation will:
- Use risk-based pricing for FHA products
- Eliminate the 3% downpayment requirement on FHA loans for first time homebuyers
- Increase the number of reverse mortgages that FHA can insure
- Streamline the FHA condominium loan program
- Increase the FHA loan limits nationwide and in high cost areas.
- Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Gary Miller (R-CA) and Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) will introduce an amendment to increase the FHA loan limits to 125%of the local median home price
- Additionally the Frank/Miller/Cardoza amendment will give the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development the flexibility needed to respond to changing market conditions.
- American homeowners, with subprime loans, are facing the prospect of dramatic increases in mortgage payments and an increasing risk of foreclosure, but cannot refinance.
- The proposed increase in the FHA loan limits will provide these homeowners with a safe, viable mortgage option.
- Instability in mortgage markets is not limited to subprime, the jumbo market is also affected.
H.R. 1852 will give homebuyers in high cost areas an affordable mortgage alternative to the now limited and significantly more expensive jumbo mortgage products.

We're about 1/3 of the way through the month (but we did have a holiday). Here's the September MLS statistics check as of a minute ago:

New Listings - 173
Pendings - 91
Price changes - 346

I purchased a new Toyota Prius over the weekend from Toyota of Santa Maria. I gave the Toyota dealership in SLO a chance but they couldn't find the car my daughter wanted (color/package option). I contacted Santa Maria Toyota over the Internet and received a reply from Dennis Tapper. Not only did they have the exact car we was looking for, they had two of them!

My wife and I loathe the car buying process but Dennis was great. I got a good price (over $1000 less than what SLO quoted me) and it was no hassle. I'd recommend Dennis if you're looking for a Toyota. His number is 361-2347.

Best of Caravan- Los Osos, Morro Bay & Cayucos

Today's best of caravan goes to the well priced 3 bedroom two bath home in Los Osos. Located within walking distance of the bay, it is a good value. Built in 1984, this property seems structurally sound, just needs some TLC and a bit of fixing up. This property is an REO, something that, not too long ago, was nearly non-existent in our area. Once know as an OREO, (Other) Real Estate Owned, an REO is a property that is owned by the bank, after a foreclosure. Because banks do not want to hold these properties very long, REO's are often , though not always, priced well. REO listings allow you , as the buyer, to submit your offer with financing and inspection contingencies. Foreclosures on the other hand, require cash and do not allow for inspections.

Click for more info on this property

Even on our beautiful central coast- REO's are beginning to crop up.

There are now 10 active listings on the central coast that are REO's.
2 in Los Osos, 2 in Grover Beach , 2 in Arroyo Grande, 2 in San Luis Obispo , 1 in Morro Bay and 1 in Cambria.

There is one REO in escrow at this time- it is located in Los Osos.

There have been 15 sales this year that are REO's. 9 in Arroyo Grande, 2 in Morro Bay, 2 in Los Osos, 1 in San Luis Obispo and 1 in Grover Beach.

(Best of Caravan is chosen by one of our team of local expert Realtors as the property that stood out on the weekly Broker's caravan of new listings. If the photo is missing or the link doesn't work, this mean the property is no longer available.)

Ryan's Mortgage Blog:
I know it has been a while since I've given you guys an estimate of where rates are at. I am always hesitant to do so because there are so many variables, now more than ever. Below is a rough estimate of where rates are at based on good credit.

CONFORMING:
30 Year 6.125
5 Year I/O ARM 6.00

JUMBO:
30 Year 6.625
5 Year I/O ARM 6.5

The difference between now and a couple of months ago is that the 30 year rates and the 5 year ARM rates are very similar, whereas before the ARMs were much better. A common theme right now for borrowers is to "buy down" the 30 year rates even lower than the above estimates. This has always been an option, but before some people would opt for a 5 year ARM at a lower rate than the 30 year buy down rate, and just pay to refinance it at a lower rate down the road. The cost to refinance can be cheaper than buying down depending on the circumstances, but it is a risk.

Off topic...we all know I am a HUGE football fan. I came across an article I thought you homeowners may enjoy even if you aren't a football fan because it has some good decorating ideas for the house. Check it out at http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/info/0,,20054026,00.html?xid=cnnmoney-0907-nfl

For any Mortgage related questions feel free to contact me anytime with no obligations. RBaker@PeregrineLending.com or 805-540-0866.

Looks like some people learned a lesson about being on the bleeding edge as Apple just cut the price of the iphone from $599 to $399. Being first to own a new technology product comes with a premium. You pay more and have to deal with other risks of having the first release. Some people consider the first release of anything that involves hardware and software as still "beta" and will wait until the next release before buying. But, Apple was successful in creating a lot of hype around the release of the iphone (there was a line even at the SLO store!).

From our Avila Beach Local Expert...

The kids are back in school and Avila Beach has quieted down. Well not as quiet as you might remember it prior to 1998. If you haven't visited Avila in a few years you will be in for a surprise when you do. There has been a plethora of construction since the oil cleanup of the late 90's and it is a much different town now. As always, some don't like the change and others love it. Mixed use projects with residential condos on the second floor and commercial on the first floor are popular in Avila. One of the new condos on First St. recently sold for $1,350,000. One block to the beach, 1278 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a rooftop deck with an ocean view. If you are looking for a discount on a very nice hotel room then bring your Costco card to the Avila La Fonda Hotel for 30% off.I f you're just coming for a day visit to the beach you should be able to find free parking on the street during the week. On the weekends you might have to pay $5.00 and use the large public parking lot on First St.

If you have any questions about Avila Beach, you can email me at avilabeach@slocountyhomes.com

Best of Caravan- Paso Robles

Another great back yard has captured the vote for ‘Best of Paso Robles Caravan’ this week. The home is in a great family neighborhood and definitely a stand out on the block with its subtly handsome custom exterior paint and easy care landscaping. The spacious 1991 square feet has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, all done up nicely with cherry cabinets, high end appliances and other custom touches that make this neighborhood beauty a cut above. But the very best feature is the well done backyard haven – outdoor entertainer’s patio complete with fireplace and wiring for sound.

See more photos and information

(Best of Caravan is chosen by one of our team of local expert Realtors as the property that stood out on the weekly Broker's caravan of new listings)

Saw this earlier today regarding an incident in California...interesting that the broker and company are liable.

"A Keller Williams agent was driving balloons to an open house when the balloons shifted to block her vision and she rear-ended another car. The driver of the other car sued the agent, her brokerage and franchisor Keller Williams for negligence, but a trial court ruled that the two real estate firms could not be held liable for the accident of the agent. An appellate court has now disagreed, however."

I visited the Chumash Casino yesterday for the first time. I decided to drive down to buy tickets for the upcoming concert by the GoGo's and pick out my seats vs. purchasing them online. I enjoy casinos (mainly blackjack) and have been to many casinos (Vegas, Tahoe, Reno, Atlantic City, New Orleans, Gold Coast of Australia, cruise ship, and Monaco) but didn't play any hands at Chumash. The minimum blackjack table was $15. It was mid-day and while there were people playing, there were plenty of empty seats. I did put $5 into a electronic black jack machine but it was a multi-hand (you had to place 7 bets) and the dealer had 16 and drew a 5 so I lost all 7 hands. That was it for me.

Looks like there are some motivated sellers out there. A 4 Bedroom SLO home originally was listed for $749,000 at the end of June has had multiple price reductions, the last being down to $679,000. The home just closed escrow at a sale price of....$550,000. It looks like it was a quick escrow (10 day) so having cash looks like it got the Buyer a great deal. It won't help the value of the neighborhood though.

This isn't the only home to go for a sizeable percentage less than the last list price. Here are others that just closed escrow:

- A home in Paso Robles last listed at $971K sold for $823K

- Another SLO home last listed at $821K sold for $780K

- A Lompoc home last listed at $325K sold for $285K

I'm amazed that listings are still being put on the MLS without any photos. Of the 30 new home listings put on the market since September 1st, almost 25% of them have no photos attached to the listing.

I hope these homeowners are paying for a "limited service" as I can't think of too many things that will hurt the marketing of a home worse than having no photos when first introduced to the market. When a home is put on the MLS, it stays on the Realtor "hotsheet" for 24 hours. The hotsheet is what most realtors look at the most and it's the way of getting the initial exposure for a new listing. I know I won't even click on the detail of a listing that doesn't have any photos and won't go back to check to see if photos have been uploaded later.

Make sure that when you list a home, your Realtor uploads photos at the SAME TIME they enter the MLS listing to the system. Even not having photos for a few hours misses an opportunity to market the home to other Realtors, which is the primary way homes are sold.

There is a way you can verify that the photos have been uploaded. If you go to my "MLS Search #3", you will see what the agent has uploaded. As soon as an agent uploads a photo to the MLS, it will appear on this search. My other 2 MLS Searches upload new listing information once a day (usually in the morning) and Realtor.com sometimes takes days to update.

Make it clear to your Listing Agent that you expect photos are uploaded AT THE SAME TIME the listing is entered.

Real Estate commissions are a subject real estate agents don't want to talk much about. Not that most don't want to but we're told that we can violate anti-trust laws if we make certain statements.

The facts are that real estate commissions are negotiable. Since I'm a statistics guy, I ran a report to see what the commissions were for Buyer Agents for homes sold in the last 3 months. I broke the report into 5 areas around the Central Coast.

The report was very interesting to me. It showed a big difference in commission percentages being paid depending on the area. For example, one area had 34% of homes above $600K paying a 2 percent commission to the Buyers Agent and in another area only 3% of homes paid the 2 percent commission amount. Why such a difference between areas that aren't that far apart from each other??? I don't have the answer.

I don't know where I'm going with this post. I can't publish the commission report on my website but feel every homeseller should know the facts. I guess I'll just have to keep the info to myself so I won't get into any trouble...

WOW...is it hot today or what??

After the holiday weekend, we'll have one week of calm before the new Poly kids move into town. The Week of Welcome is September 10th-14th with classes starting the following week.

The Panda Express in Arroyo Grande has to be one of the top producing restaurants in the chain based on how many people are always there. On Friday evening, there was a line of at least 20 people the entire time I was there eating and it's been that way most of the time since they opened 2 years ago. If I was in the restaurant business, I'd look at opening a restaurant in Arroyo Grande as the city is short on resturant choices! There is an AppleBee's being constructed in the Spencer Foods shopping center and Chili's is supposed to be going in up by Trader Joes but I've seen no signs that they've started work on remodeling the building.

There is a new mexican food restaurant that opened on Grand Ave called Mexico Viejo. While AG needs some better restaurant choices, there are already plenty of Mexican food choices. I've been to Mexico Viejo twice since it has opened. Food was good and prices reasonable. My biggest complaint is that the food is like most everywhere else. Rice, refried beans and the usual choices (enchiladas, tacos, burritos, etc.). It would be nice if there was cilantro, onions, or other things that would add a different taste to the typical dishes. But, it's worth a try if all your want is the typical mexican food choices.

While the Central Coast real estate market activity for August may have been slow, this Blog continues to grow. In August we had over 5,000 visitors to the Blog! (In 2006, we had a total of 25,000 visitors). The blog URL also broke into the Top 10 of Google for the most sought after keyword search phrase by realtors and brokers, "san luis obispo real estate". We now have TWO sites in the Top 10 for this often used Google search phrase (LocalLinks.com and SloCountyHomes.com)!

I updated the graph, current inventory levels, and months of inventory on the http://www.slowatch.com/ site. Months of inventory for SLO County rose from 10.4 months to 13.0. Some cities had really slow sales in August, particularly Grover Beach, Oceano, Atascadero, and Morro Bay.

Central Coast MLS Statistics - Residential -August 2007
(Last months data is also included - August (July))

New Listings - 753 (808)
Back on Market - 288 (335)
Price Changes - 1433 (1303)
Contingent - 48 (43)
Pendings - 391 (448)
Solds - 338 (365)
Expireds - 428 (1041)
Inactives/Withdrawns - 403 (330)

Pending Sales for August ended up lower than 400 for the first time this year. In fact, the only other months that were under 400 Pendings were December 2005 and 2006.