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California to Offer $10,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit

California home buyers can begin claiming $10,000 tax credits starting May 1 under a bill expected to be signed soon by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Buyers must close escrow or reserve a credit on or after May 1 and before or on Dec. 31 to qualify.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/24/91023/california-to-offer-10000-tax.html

Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging

Home staging tips for Tuesday!

I found an awesome new local photo / art tip. I met a great local photographer who turns his beautiful pictures of our local landscape into framed canvas art. Some of them look like oil paintings and some look like photos, but they are all impressive. He has a great eye for capturing our beautiful coastline. For the size of these prints they are all very well priced .

I have always felt that people buy houses in our area because they fall in love with the scenery- make sure you remind them of that when they look at your home too, maybe it will be that extra special "something" that gets your home SOLD!

Here is the artist's website link: www.calseascapes.com To see the pictures- check his online store. Nice guy, local artist, beautiful pictures for your home, I call that a win-win-win!

Happy Home selling! - Shannon
Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging
to contact me direct: check out my website: www.LightBrightandAiry.com or email me: shannon@LightBrightandAiry.com

Price Change Report Fixed

The Price change, new listings, and foreclosure reports and working again!

New Listings

Price Changes

REO Listings

Short Sales

Green Building Ordinance Presentation

A presentation is planned for this Thursday March 25th from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Meadow Park in San Luis Obispo to discuss SLO County’s plan to develop its own green building ordinance (2333 Meadow Street). This plan is somewhat controversial as it would exceed state requirements for energy efficiency, which are already the nations toughest, and result in new homes being 30% more energy efficient than just 10 years ago. The concern is that such an ordinance will further slow development and make it more expensive and harder to build housing anywhere in the area. The meeting is being co-sponsored by SLO Green Build, the area U.S. Green Build Council, the county Air Pollution Control District, and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

Mary Anne Lodato, San Luis Obispo Local Expert
(805)235-3795

Rate Update and Dodd's Financial Reform Bill

Mortgage rates continued to hold steady as there were no major surprises in the monthly inflation reports or with the Fed announcement. As expected, Federal reserve officials repeated their pledge to keep the fed funds rate near zero for an "extended period" and confirmed that the $1.25 trillion mortgage-backed security purchase program will conclude at the end of the month. Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Fed, dissented for the second straight meeting. The inflation data showed that inflation is not a concern right now. February's core Consumer Price Index increased at a reasonable 1.3% annual rate, and year-over-year Producer Prices were also satisfactory. The only surprise occurred on Thursday when India's central bank unexpectedly raised rates for the first time since July 2008 after inflation accelerated to a 16-month high, ending an eight-day winning streak for US stocks. Currently, the 30-Year Fixed sits at 4.750% (4.929% APR) and the 15-Year Fixed is at 4.125% (4.432% APR). This week, we will see the monthly housing reports including New and Existing Home Sales.

On Monday, exactly two years after the collapse of Bear Stearns, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd unveiled a 1,336-page financial reform bill that would drastically reduce the oversight role of the Federal Reserve Bank, give government unprecedented powers to split up firms that threaten the economy, and create an independent consumer watchdog. The bill proposes that the Fed would oversee banks and important financial firms with assets greater than $50 billion, reducing the Fed's supervision of over 5000 banks throughout the nation to only 35. Dodd's bill also aims to end "too big to fail" bailouts funded by the American taxpayers by creating a a safe way to liquidate failed financial firms, imposing tough new capital and leverage requirements that make it undesirable to get too big, and establishing rigorous standards and supervisions to financial companies that pose a risk to financial stability. Companies that sell products like mortgage-backed securities will be required to retain at least 5% of the credit risk, unless the underlying loans meet standards that reduce riskiness. The new independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will have the sole job of protecting American consumers from unfair, deceptive and abusive financial products and practices and will ensure people get the clear information they need on loans and other financial products.

Dodd's bill, titled Restoring American Financial Stability, was immediately met with strong opposition from financial institutions including the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), American Bankers Association (ABA), Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. Initial opinions and backlash were widely varied and seemed to depend on each organization's perspective and interests. Bernanke cited the Fed's role of supervising smaller banks provides the Fed with an important window into financial conditions throughout the nation's economy and is vital to monetary policy. The ABA opposed the approach to consumer protection and noted the bill's failure to address accounting issues in any fashion. The MBA was concerned the bill did not provide uniform national regulation of all mortgage banking firms.

Dodd hopes to get the bill through his committee next week, preparing it for action on the Senate floor sometime after Congress's two-week Easter process. Americans have faced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and are demanding responsibility and accountability in our financial system. Obviously there is a long way to go for complete financial reform, and Christopher Dodd's new bill has successfully started the conversation.

Central Coast Lending, Inc.
(805) 543-LOAN
info@centralcoastlending.com

SLO County Quarterly Median Condo Price

(click graph for larger display)

SLO County Quarterly Median Home Price

(click graph for a larger view)

Providing Care for Your Aging Parent(s)

This past week has been pretty chaotic in the Byrd household. I got a call last Monday night that my mom had died. She was going to be 90 this year (my dad's 86 with dementia). We've been trying to keep them in their home in the Bay Area as long as possible but knew we were going to need seek care facilities when they couldn't safely take care of themselves. Since my brother lives on the Central Coast, it made sense to move them down here so we've been looking at care facilities for awhile. It also helps that my oldest daughter recently went through psychiatric technician training at Cuesta/Atascadero State Hospital. The technicians spend time working in the different care facilities in the area and she knows which ones are good and the not so good ones too.

My dad is now a resident (as of this past Monday) at Sydney Creek, a mental care facility in SLO. I'd like to say that the folks at Sydney Creek have been really great with the transition for my dad and our family.

The other item I wanted to note was that my parent's Living Trust helped a lot with all of this. Without it, the process would have been a lot more complex.

I'm also going to go look at long term care insurance. We got a sticker shock when we found out how much it costs for elder care.

Fast Internet in SLO???

Would you like to see 100 Mbps+ broadband service in San Luis Obispo? If you missed today’s rally at Mission Plaza in downtown SLO, you still have time to go to the Google Fiber for Communities site and nominate SLO as a beta test site: www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options. Google is planning to build and test ultra high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. It will deliver internet speeds of more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. That is fast! I believe this will help attract more people and new businesses to San Luis Obispo and ultimately be good for our real estate market. Let’s show the world that great things can happen in San Google Obispo!

Mary Anne Lodato
San Luis Obispo Realtor
(805)235-3795
Lic #01718125

Price Change Report Not Working

The Price Change and Dropped Listing reports aren't working right now and I've contacted the programmer. I'll blog when they are healthy again.

Rate Update and Broker Misconceptions

Treasury auctions contained very few surprises, and economic data was light, leaving mortgage rates nearly unchanged last week. The big question remains, what will happen to mortgage rates when the Fed's mortgage-backed security (MBS) purchase program ends March 31st? The MBS program is unprecedented, making the outcome difficult to predict. Some argue that any rate increases would be modest as the Fed has been gradually reducing the size of purchases, and has telegraphed the end of the program for months. The argument for higher rates rests largely on basic supply and demand. The added demand resulting from the Fed's intervention pushed mortgage rates lower, and a decrease in demand will naturally lead rates higher. Currently, the 30-Year Fixed sits at 4.625% (4.804% APR) and the 15-Year Fixed is at 4.000% (4.307% APR). The Fed will meet next week, with no change expected for the fed funds rate. The most significant economic data will be the monthly inflation reports. The Producer Price Index focuses on the change in the price of "intermediate" goods used by companies to produce finished products. The Consumer Price Index looks at the price change for those finished goods which are sold to consumers.

Here are some common misconceptions about brokers...

Brokers don't have to be licensed. This is simply wrong. Mortgage brokers in California are governed by the California Department of Real Estate, and are required to obtain a real estate license, as well as complete periodic education courses to maintain their licenses. Under the new SAFE Act mortgage licensing system, all mortgage brokers must register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, and complete additional testing as required by the newly formed California Department of Financial Institutions. By comparison, federal and state chartered banks are not subject to state licensing requirements and therefore do not need to have their loan officers licensed.

Brokers have no decision-making power. This is also wrong. Brokers are armed with the same tools as the banks in terms of underwriting and qualifying a borrower for a home loan, on the spot. Brokers have access to the same automated underwriting systems that most banks do. This allows brokers to obtain the same instant approvals in-house without needing to ship the file to the bank.

Brokers are financially unstable. Banks love to portray all mortgage brokers as fly-by-night operations that don't have the capitalization or stability to be a direct lender. This can be true in some cases. However, there a many brokers that are well established, have long track records of success, are well capitalized and have made the choice to stay a broker.

Brokers are a rip-off. Consumers are conditioned to believe that eliminating the middle-man always yields the best deal. Successful marketing efforts by Costco and other discount wholesalers have led consumers to loathe paying mark-ups and dealing with middle-men. In the mortgage arena, brokers are the discount wholesaler. Brokers actually receive wholesale rates that are below the market that banks offer because they are responsible for their own overhead. A well-managed mortgage broker will be able to pass these discounted rates on to you, the consumer.

Central Coast Lending, Inc.
(805) 543-LOAN
info@centralcoastlending.com

MORRO BAY UPDATE

-The Harbor Dredging is completed! The piping is now off of the beach and the last of the equipment has been removed.
-Upgrades to the Del Mar Dog Park have been completed. This park offers an "Off Leash" Area.
-Looks like the Morro Bay Library is going to be expanding its reading and children's areas. When the Libray was built in the mid 80's, Morro Bay did not have its Community Center so some of the library was used as a meeting space for community groups. Since the city is now renewing the Library's lease- it seems the time to address this change.
-The City Council is looking into writing an Ordinance to allow a Medical Marijuana Dispensary. Morro Bay previously did have one, and to my knowledge, it worked out well- until the Federal Government shut it down.
- Coming Soon: The Morro Bay Rock to Cayucos Pier Run will be held
April 17!


LYNN BATES, NORTH COAST REALTOR INCLUDING MORRO BAY, CAYUCOS, LOS OSOS AND CAMBRIA. 805 458-4409. KEITH BYRD'S REAL ESTATE TEAM

World's First Motel to be Auctioned

The Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo, the very first motel in the world, is planned to be auctioned off due to a default on the loan. Actually, it's not the motel that will be sold but the lot as the motel was torn down years ago.

How to Stop a Toyota Prius

Having a 2007 and 2009 Toyota Prius, the recent story about the guy in San Diego with a stuck accelerator has made me think. Now there seems to be some controversy about the guy who reported this and some are saying it's a "bubble boy" type incident.

Here's a video on a guy who shows how easy it is to stop a Prius

Lose an Hour of Sleep This Sunday

It's that time of year again when we move the clocks FORWARD an hour on Sunday at 2 AM (late Saturday night).

Light, Bright and Airy Home Staging Tips

Happy Tuesday! Today I am going to share about the importance of properly preparing your house for sale in a tough market! I had the honor of staging a home recently, that sold in 3 hours! That's right... 3 hours! Of course not every home is going to do that, but in this market its impressive when houses sell in 3 weeks! Here is what we focused on to make it look great!

• Neutralizing past occupant's style choices, like bright wallpaper, and choosing warm neutral paint tones instead.
• Updating simple items like drawer pulls and faucet handles , seems small but can make all the difference.
• Properly arranging furniture so that rooms maximize living space and show off the view.
• Utilizing all the natural light possible, and lighting dark areas.
• Giving every room a unique purpose. People don't need 3 kids play rooms, showcase one as a formal dining room, or an exercise room, etc.

Happy Home Selling! It can be done in this market, but you need to pay attention to the details, if you want to sell quicker and for a good price in this market. - Shannon

If you have more questions or would like to contact me directly please email me at: shannon@LightBrightandAiry.com or visit my website: www.LightBrightandAiry.com

Rate Update and HARP Extension

Generally weaker than expected economic data resulted in slight improvement in mortgage rates this week. January Pending Home Sales fell 7.6%, far below the forecasts for a small increase. The expected surge in sales from the extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit has yet to materialize so far. This decline adds to evidence the housing market is struggling to rebound after reports released the week prior showed large decreases in New and Existing Home Sales. The National Association of Realtors suggests that we may still see a pick-up in sales as buyers rush to take advantage of the tax credit before the April 30th deadline. The Fed's Beige Book report showed the economy plodded along with slow growth, but remains hampered by soft labor markets and a weak commercial sector. The employment report proved to be the lone bright spot last week as less jobs were lost than expected and the Unemployment Rate remained unchanged from January at 9.7%. Currently, the 30-Year Fixed sits at 4.625% (4.804% APR) and the 15-Year Fixed is at 4.000% (4.307% APR). Do not expect much change this week as Retail Sales and $74 billion in Treasury auctions highlight an otherwise light economic calendar.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseer of Fannie and Freddie, announced the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will be extended to June 30, 2011. HARP is part of the Making Home Affordable Program, and is designed to expand access to refinancing for otherwise qualified borrowers who cannot obtain more affordable mortgages because of a lack of equity in their homes. This means that Fannie's Refi Plus program and Freddie's Relief Refi program, originally set to expire on June 30th, will be extended for one more year. In case you forgot, the Making Home Affordable Program was made possible by $75 billion in stimulus funds aimed at helping 9 million homeowners avoid foreclosure. This refinance initiative allows underwater homeowners to refinance up to 125% of their home's value with no monthly mortgage insurance. Borrowers are also allowed to re-subordinate existing 2nd liens and equity lines. No cash out is allowed on this program, and lender closing costs are limited to ensure maximum benefit for the homeowner. Some clients may also qualify for more relaxed documentation requirements. Contact your mortgage professional to see if you qualify.

Central Coast Lending, Inc.
(805) 543-LOAN
info@centralcoastlending.com

Study Says Zillow's Price Estimates are Overvalued

A study by an Appraiser organization says that 80% of the houses they sampled in Zillow were at least overvalued by 1%, with the average overestimation of 11.66%.

Read the study here

MotionZ in Santa Maria Closing

MotionZ, a kid-friendly laser tag business in the Santa Maria Town Center, is closing at the end of the month. Sadly, this was one of the few kid-friendly places on the Central Coast. No roller rink, no ice skating rink. Now just a few bowling alleys, a rock climbing gym, a few public swimming pools, and one mini-golf available year round. In the summer, the water park in Paso Robles is an option as are the Mustang water slides at Lopez Lake.

New Pismo Beach Vacation Rental Ordinance

In February, the Pismo City County approved a new ordinance regarding vacation rentals.

Here are some of the requirements to operate a vacation rental.

- There has to be someone that lives within 25 miles of the rental that is available 24 hours a day to deal with complaints regarding the vacation rental. This person must respond within 3 hours after contact has been made.

- The vacation rental owner needs to notify owners and residents of any property within 100 feet of the vacation rental that they are using the property as a vacation rental and the phone number of the local contact person.

- Any advertising of the vacation rental needs to include the Pismo Beach vacation permit number in the advertisement.

- The permit is considered to be personal property so it does not go with home if the property is sold.

Read the ordinance here

Open House Warning

A few days ago I blogged about the risk of doing Open Houses these days. Minutes ago I received an email alert from my Realtor Association that an agent had her laptop and camera stolen and thinks it's a couple in their 50's that came to her Open House that stole it.

URGENT CARE IN MORRO BAY

Morro Bay now has an Urgent Care Facility!

It is located at 783 Quintana Road, off of Morro Bay Blvd, next to the Burger King, across from the Albertsons.

The care facility is open Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. and 10 am - 1 pm on Sundays.
Eric N. Sorensen, M.D., is the Medical Director/Owner.

Hopefully in the near future- it will be open 24/7, since the hospitals serving the North Coast of San Luis Obispo County are located in San Luis Obispo and Templeton.

LYNN BATES, C-21 HOMETOWN , KEITH BYRD'S REAL ESTATE TEAM 805 458-4409.
NORTH COAST REALTOR INCLUDING MORRO BAY, CAYUCOS, CAMBRIA & LOS OSOS.

Del's Pizzaria - Shell Beach

This month is when Del's Pizza in Shell Beach celebrates their anniversary. Through this Sunday you can get a large 2-item pizza for $10.99. There are other specials the remaining 3 weeks.

I seem to only go to Del's when they have this pizza special and I really do like their pizza. I'd probably go there more but never see any coupons from them any other time of the year. Paying full price for a pizza at most restaurants these days just seems like way too much money. Don't most pizza places set their prices assuming you're going to use a coupon???

Cabo San Luis Building Fire

The Cabo San Luis restaurant near the corner of Foothill and Santa Rosa in SLO was victim of a fire today. It destroyed the restaurant and damaged other businesses in the complex, including Kona's deli.

Didn't the Burger King that was the first tenant in that complex have a fire too?

FORCLOSURE MIX OF NORTH COAST HOMES

FEBRUARY SALES

MORRO BAY
REO'S: 25%
SHORT SALES: 0%
NON-FORCLOSURES: 75%
TOTAL # OF SALES: 8

CAYUCOS
REO'S: 50%
SHORT SALES: 50%
NON-FORCLOSURES: 0%
TOTAL # OF SALES: 2

CAMBRIA
REO'S: 40%
SHORT SALES: 10%
NON-FORCLOSURES: 50%
TOTAL # OF SALES: 10

LOS OSOS
REO'S: 38%
SHORT SALES: 12%
NON-FORCLOSURES: 50%
TOTAL # OF SALES: 8

LYNN BATES, KEITH BYRD'S TEAM, 805 458-4409
NORTH COAST REALTOR INCLUDING MORRO BAY, CAYUCOS, CAMBRIA & LOS OSOS

Foreclosure Mix for February Homes

SLO County-

154 Home Sales in February 2010

REO - 26%
Short Sale - 18%
Non-foreclosure - 56%


Santa Maria/Orcutt-

78 Home Sales in February 2010

REO - 44%
Short Sale - 24%
Non-foreclosure - 32%

Residential Inventory Rising

The inventory for homes and condos rose in SLO County and Santa Maria/Orcutt over the past month (see charts below).

For individual cities, San Luis Obispo saw the biggest increase (from 176 to 210). Cayucos had the biggest percentage increase going from 38 to 47.

Cambria had the largest decrease, from 111 to 105.

See all city inventories here -
http://www.slowatch.com/inventory.htm

(click image for larger graph)

February 2010 Residential MLS Statistics

Pending Sales rose a bit from the 2 year low last month but barely made 400 for the month. For comparison, we had 496 Pending Sales last February. Solds were down but that's not surprising because of last month's Pending Sales.

February 2010
Includes SLO County + Santa Maria/Orcutt
(Last months data is also included - February (January)

New Listings - 552 (595)
Back on Market - 227 (282)
Price Changes -530 (469)
Contingent - 280 (275)
Pendings - 404 (364)
Solds - 263 (267)
Expireds - 150 (422)
Inactives/Withdrawns - 135 (181)

Go to www.SloWatch.com for more February 2010 stats

United E-fares

I recently returned from a trip to Denver to see my college roommate. I used United e-fares and cost me $80 each way from Santa Maria (SLO was $95 plus parking).

The United efares are for travel on Saturday and returning Monday or Tuesday. The specials change every week so and you can only purchase tickets 2 weekends in advance but they are a good deal.

http://travel.united.com/ube/efares/us/eFares.do