The Keith Byrd Team's San Luis Obispo Real Estate Blog

2008-05-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

I updated the Just Sold reports tonite (residential, lots, multi-family, and foreclosure solds).

http://www.slocountyhomes.com/just_sold.htm

http://www.slocountyhomes.com/reo.htm

2008-05-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

As of Monday, it will cost Realtors a bit more to send those "Just Listed" postcards.

The postage rates go up to 42 cents for first class, post cards go up a penny as well to 27 cents.

You might want to run down to Costco tomorrow and buy some of those Forever stamps if you haven't done so yet.

2008-05-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made a trip to the new Chili's in Arroyo Grande on Wednesday evening. My wife and I went early enough (4:30'ish) to beat the crowds. Food was good, service wasn't. Then it got worse. The parking lot was packed and people driving around looking for a space. I was backing out and saw another car backing down the lane towards me! I didn't have time to put in in drive or honk the horn before the "crunch". The other car put a nice big dent in my bumper. I don't know if they saw a car coming out of a space and put their car in reverse without looking to get that space before any other car. My futher shock was when I talked to the insurance company and found out the other driver said that they were stopped and I ran into her! UNBELIEVEABLE. She even said she ran into me after the accident but I guess she talked to her husband or just decided to lie on her own. The car (minivan) is insured by a Santa Maria company so maybe that has something to do with her not taking responsibility for hitting me. The damage to my car is $1000 (my deductable) and she had minimal damage to the edge of her rear bumper. I have pictures from the accident showing the scratch marks on her car showing she was the one moving plus some other evidence. Has anyone been through this that can provide me any guidance? Sounds like my insurance company isn't going to do much since it's under the deducatable.

2008-05-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ryan's Mortgage Blog:
Congress is set to vote today on a $15 billion housing aid plan for foreclosed properties and homeowner rescue. It is one of the biggest actions Congress has taken to address the housing crisis. Under the plan, troubled homeowners could refinance into government-backed mortgages and states would get money to deal with foreclosed property. I also read that part of this plan would reduce the principle owed on these government back loans to no more than 15% off of the homes' appraised value. According to the AP, the plan is also to include a housing tax credit of up to $7,500 for first-time home-buyers, to be paid back over 15 years. It would permanently raise the limit on the size of loans FHA could insure and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could buy to $729,750 in the highest-cost housing markets. The limits are set to go back down at the end of the year after they were temporarily raised recently.

President Bush has already claimed he would veto the plan and many republicans are against it. From what I read congress is pretty split about the issue as well as the American public. Republican critics argue it rewards lenders and investors who own the property, and could act as an incentive for them to foreclose rather than find ways to help struggling borrowers stay in their homes.

I am on the fence as well as to what the answer is. Something obviously needs to be done about the housing problem because it is directly related to the economy. We need to get a step ahead and not wait for more problems to arise. I definitely don't want the big banks to be "rewarded" here. I also don't want to make it easy for people to "walk away" from the homes. Walking away should be a very last resort for any homeowner. I understand some banks are making it hard not to walk away...maybe the government should send out a bunch of fair minded mediators to make deals between troubled homeowners and the lenders...and maybe there will be world peace too. You can contact me with any questions or just to rant and rave at RBaker@PeregrineLending.com or 805-540-0866.

2008-05-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the comparison of Solds for Foreclosures vs. non-Foreclosures between last year and this year for SLO County.

	REO	Short Sale	Non-foreclosures
1/1/07 - 5/8/07	14	8	786
1/1/08 - 5/8/08	112	32	458

2008-05-07T11:49:00.001-07:00

Looks like Open Houses continue to be a target. This past weekend a trio (an older man and two woman) visited an Open House in Pismo Beach and stole the wallet out of the Realtors purse which she had put in a cabinet. The same group also was seen at another Open House but didn't find the Realtors purse.

2008-05-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

I did some analysis of REOs that have sold in SLO County since the beginning of the year. What was most interesting is that homes that were on the market less than 30 days received, on average, 99.53% of their asking price.

I put the analysis here on the SloWatch.com site. It's also a link on the SloWatch home page.

2008-05-06T20:06:00.001-07:00

While on the topic of camera photos, below is a photo that shows how much of a shot you get with different wide angle lenses. The smallest outline is what you get with amateur digital cameras (actually most amateur cameras have an even smaller view!). There are a few pocket cameras that have a wider lens, but they only help a little bit.

To get the full room you need an ultra-wide angle lens on a digital SLR camera. The ultra-wide angle lenses aren't cheap. My camera and lens cost me over $2400 but that's what is needed if you are going to present a home well. If you're paying a Listing Agent 2%+ commission to sell your home, why would you settle for amateur photography equipment to create the visuals for potential Buyers? When you hire someone else to perform a service (like an auto mechanic, doctor, or contractor), I'm sure you are expecting them to use the best tools to get the job done so why is this any different? I can understand if you're paying 1% commission for limited service but don't pay for a service you aren't getting. With so many Buyers seeing a home on the Internet for the first time, you need a great photo for good "Web Appeal". Photos have become one of the most important pieces of an agent's Listing Service! I've heard a lot of people say that they've eliminated a home from their list based on what the photo(s) looked like.

You can click on the photo below to get a bigger display of it. This particular photo also shows another common problem with interior photography with the bright windows that look like a nuclear blast just happened outside. When I take interior photography, I take multiple photos of the same shot at different exposures and then merge them together in Photoshop to fix the nuke effect and not make a room look so dark too.

(p.s. The photo below shows len sizes at 35 mm equivalent. When you read a lens on a digital camera, it is not in 35 mm equivalent. Here's a site that calculates the 35 mm equivalent for certain pocket cameras. For example, my Canon Digital Elph says 5.4 on the camera which is a 41 mm equivalent and even smaller than the inner photo below. Even the wide angle lens aren't in 35 mm equivalent. A Canon 10-22 mm wide angle lens is a 16-35mm equivalent. Confusing?? Yes it is!)

2008-05-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

I have my Pole Camera working and starting to do some experimenting with it. What I've got is a camera that sits on top of a 20 foot pole. There is a USB cable connected to it and my laptop on the other end to allow me to control the camera sitting on the pole.

Here's an example of the different perspective the pole camera gives. Now that I've got it working, I'll be able to figure out what types of shots it will really make a difference on!

Shot at street level

Shot with the Pole camera

2008-05-06T00:38:00.000-07:00

I saw a report on TV about the high-end market in San Francisco and how hot it is. It said that cash from high-tech 30'ish executives were the main buyers.

Unfortunately, the million dollar plus market here on the Central Coast isn't that hot. There are 364 active properties on the market and only 11 were Sold in April. That puts the Month of Inventory at 33 months.

The $ Million+ homes that Sold in April were located in:

4 - Arroyo Grande
2 - Cayucos
2 - Nipomo
1 - Pismo Beach
1 - Morro Bay
1 - Templeton

2008-05-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

Having a background in Marketing, I'm always interested in companies trying new things and trying to figure out what audience they are trying to reach. Sometimes I don't get it and wonder if I've now reached an age where I don't fully understand the younger generation.

Here's my latest head scratcher....

If you go to www.cnn.com, you'll see a t-shirt icon next to some of the headlines. This is something new. If you click on the icon, you will be presented with a page where you can order the headline printed on a t-shirt. So you can get "Students strip to skivvies before finals " on a shirt with the cnn logo.

Are people really buying these for $15 (plus tax, shipping, handling)?

2008-05-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some more examples of photos agents have put on the MLS to market their listing. To become a real estate agent, you're not required to learn how to market a home or take good photography. In fact, I've never seen a class targeted at real estate agents on this subject. But, when you hire an agent to list your home, a portion of the commission you're paying is for the presentation of your home. Most agents photography service is coming to a home, taking their consumer camera out of their pocket, and then spending a few minutes walking around snapping a few photos to go load on the MLS. Those photos then become the way Buyers (and other agents) first see a home. Agents may be good Buyer Agents but there is an extra set of skills needed when you put on a Listing Agent hat.

2008-05-04T01:19:00.000-07:00

I did further analysis on the Pending Sales in April. Here's how they broke down:

Stick built, Condo, PUDs

SLO County
232 non-foreclosure
69 foreclosure

Of the 69 foreclosures, 52 were REO and 17 were Short Sale

The REOs broke down as:
Paso Robles - 20
Atascadero - 10
Nipomo - 4
Grover Beach - 4
San Miguel -3
Pismo Beach - 3
San Luis Obispo - 2
Oceano - 1
Templeton - 1
Cambria - 1
Los Osos - 1

Short Sales:
Paso Robles - 7
Nipomo - 3
Oceano - 2
Atascadero - 1
Bradley - 1
San Miguel - 1
Shandon - 1

For Santa Maria/Orcutt:

156 non-foreclosure
114 foreclosures

The foreclosures were
101 REOs
13 Short Sale

In addition, there were 27 Pending Sales for Residential Manufactured Homes (in parks and on acreage)

2008-05-04T00:54:00.001-07:00

Thx to Jason for sending me the following link about my gasoline tips post-

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

While not totally disputing the tips as in some other Internet rumour emails, the above link does make you think how much you will actually save for the trouble. Maybe not accelerating so fast and other bad driving habits can save you more. (You can buy a Prius too).

I was looking at one of those Smart cars that they just started selling here in the U.S. I was surprised that they required premium gas.

2008-05-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

After doing the post about saving gasoline I wanted to see how much a year I'm paying for gas. Below is a chart that shows how much you'll pay with $4/gal of gas based on how many miles you drive (12,000-18,000). The left column is how many Miles Per Gallon you get.

	12000	15000	18000
10	$4,800	$6,000	$7,200
15	$3,200	$4,000	$4,800
20	$2,400	$3,000	$3,600
25	$1,920	$2,400	$2,880
30	$1,600	$2,000	$2,400
35	$1,371	$1,714	$2,057
40	$1,200	$1,500	$1,800
45	$1,067	$1,333	$1,600
50	$960	$1,200	$1,440

$/per gal	$4

2008-05-03T15:58:00.001-07:00

I was forwarded an email from someone in the Gasoline distribution industry with some tips on pumping gas. Here's a summary:

- Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands , so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon . A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

- When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

- One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

- Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

2008-05-02T00:56:00.000-07:00

Another NEW Listing from the Keith Byrd Team!

This one is a gem in San Luis Obispo. 4 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms with over 2200 square feet. It has a park on one side and open space in the back making for a nice, private setting.

We're having a New Listing Open House this Saturday from 1-3. I plan to be there as well so it would be nice to meet any of my blog readers!! Stop on by see the home and chat about what's going on in the market, especially after seeing April's statistics. I'll have my laptop with me with an Internet hookup so I'll have access to the MLS too. The home is in the neighborhood across from Trader Joes.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

Interactive floor plan, photos, map, and more details at:

http://www.28mariposa.com/

2008-05-02T00:45:00.000-07:00

WOW! I updated the www.SloWatch.com site with the April numbers just now. Some very interesting happenings going on in our local real estate market.

First, Months of Inventory (MOI) for SLO County took a big drop to 9.5 Months from 12.1 a month ago. When you add Santa Maria/Orcutt to the mix, the MOI for the combined areas dropped to 8.4 months. This is due to a lot of activity last month in the Santa Maria Valley. Orcutt itself is at 4.9 MOI and Santa Maria is at 7.3. I haven't performed any detail analysis on the April sold data yet but would guess that foreclosures are still a big percentage of the total homes sold (last month it was 75%).

In SLO County, we've got plenty of activity going on as well. San Luis Obispo dropped to 6.6 Months of Inventory (from 7.2 last month). Nipomo took a big drop to 6.5 (from 13.1). The only cities that had an increase in their MOI were Atascadero (13.4 to 13.8) and Morro Bay (10.0 to 14.6).

The home page and inventory page of the www.SloWatch.com site is updated. Lots of new info to take a look at!

2008-05-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

Central Coast MLS Statistics -Residential -April 2008
(Last months data is also included - April (March))

New Listings - 810 (798)
Back on Market - 273 (306)
Price Changes - 1010 (999)
Contingent - 164 (153)
Pendings - 598 (513)
Solds - 363 (302)
Expireds - 333 (361)
Inactives/Withdrawns - 254 (330)

While we ended up 2 short of breaking 600 Pending Sales for the month we did have the most Pending Sales in the last TWO YEARS!

2008-05-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

The websites are back up!

I'll be updating the slowatch.com site with April's stats later on tonite.

2008-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

The web server is down that hosts slowatch.com and my new property web page 585bakeman.com. Tech Support said it should be up again in a few hours. I guess this is the .1% downtime in the 99.9% uptime guarantee!

2008-05-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

NEW LISTING...Just Listed TODAY!

This home in Arroyo Grande is move-in ready. It's perfect for first time buyers or someone looking to downsize.

Check out the details, photos, and interative floor plan at www.585Bakeman.com.

2008-04-30T18:59:00.001-07:00

Ryan's Mortgage Blog:

As you may have heard the feds cut the federal funds rate again today by .25 points, and the prime rate will fall to 5%. This action is good news for people who borrow money on loans that are linked to the prime rate. Here is an excerpt from the reserves comments today, "Recent information indicates that economic activity remains weak. Household and business spending has been subdued and labor markets have softened further." Tell us something we don't know...they always seem to be a step behind, or maybe I just watch too much Jim Kramer and Mad Money.

Mortgage rates were slightly on the rise last week preparing for today's meeting. Many believe the mortgage rates have bottomed out give or take 1/4%, but we've heard that before. I don’t think the feds can afford to do many more cuts, if any at all, because I don't think the US dollar can take much more of a beating.

The changes in rate affect oil/gas prices and I found a couple of informative articles that help explain how the rates affect oil. The bottom line that I found is that gas prices probably aren't going to go down any time soon, but the bubble will bust sooner or later once the dollar gets stronger. I have other opinions about the gas and oil problem but this isn't the place to get into it :)

Here are the articles, click the links:

http://money.cnn.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com

For any mortgage related questions I can be reached at RBaker@PeregrineLending.com or 805-540-0866

2008-04-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

Did you see the front page of the Tribune today? "Housing Market Crisis Hits County Sales"

After reading the article all I could do was shake my head. This was so off the mark. The explanation of why the median condo price went up from someone that supposedly follows trends in Central Coast real estate was not based on any real statistical info either. If you look at the individual city sold stats about midway down on the www.SloWatch.com site, you'll see that condo sales in the first quarter of 2008 were really low. You can't put much weight on a median home price when using a data sample that's so small. A few more (or less) condo sales could have made the median condo price show a decline.

While I don't dispute the "news" about March sales from Data Quick, I've blogged many times how this data is not a reflection of what is happening in the market TODAY. March sales were January and February pending sales since it takes 30-60 days for the escrow process before a home is recorded as a sale.

I'm about to do the statistics for April and update the SloWatch site. As of a few minutes ago, we're at 561 Pending Sales for the month. While we were looking that we may break 600 for the month, we'll see if today and tomorrow will result in reaching that number. Regardless, April will continue the upward trend in market activity that we've seen since the beginning of the year. Just look at the first chart on the SloWatch site and look where the green line (pending sales) is going. The other data to look at is inventory levels. If inventory levels take a jump up, that will create more competition and further price pressure. If they come down, then there is less choices for Buyers which is good news for Sellers.

But prices are continuing to drop. Part of this is due to foreclosures being the new comp for a neighborhood. Also, Sellers are becoming more realistic about the housing market and are lowering their price to sell. What's going to stop prices from dropping is more Buyers and lower inventory. We'll see the direction the April stats show we are going after I update them after the end of the month.

2008-04-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

What is going on lately? We've had people robbed at motels over the past several days. Last week, someone walked into a real estate office and robbed the Broker at gunpoint, leaving with only a few dollars.

Then over the weekend, another real estate agent had her purse stolen at an Open House by two college-aged girls who quickly charged over $10,000 on her credit card at Best Buy and the Apple store in SLO.

Be extra careful at Open Houses. Put away any medicine you have as thiefs like to check the medicine cabinet as it's easy to pocket.