Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!

A big thank you and a Merry Christmas to all of the followers of Tim Bryan's Paso Robles Real Estate Blog.   Have a safe and good one!

Friday, December 3, 2010

NOVEMBER NORTH COUNTY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS-

Numbers of closed sales in November  2010 were down 16% from October. Year to date sales for 2010 are down 6% when compared to the same time frame in 2009. Pending sales though (open escrows) are up a whopping 13% from October . The amount of listings on the market is down 3%  from the same time frame in 2009.

Friday, November 19, 2010

New Rules From FNMA-

  Fannie Mae, who either buys or guarantees app. 28% of all of the residential loans , has some good and some bad news . Good for buyers getting part of their down payment as a gift from relatives. The bad news is for those that have gone through foreclosure or who have other revolving debt. Rea...d the NYT article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/realestate/21mort.html?_r=2&ref=realestate

Friday, November 12, 2010

BANK OWNED HOMES SALES IN THE NORTH COUNTY

-  Wondering how many homes sales in the north county are bank owned foreclosures?   Year to date they account for 34% of the home sales in our area.    That is the same exact percentage of our sales for the same time period last year in 2009. 

Friday, November 5, 2010

OCTOBER NORTH COUNTY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS

-Numbers of closed sales in October 2010 were up 7% from September. Year to date sales for 2010 are down 8% when compared to the same time frame in 2009. Pending sales (open escrows) are only 1 escrow apart from September to October so virtually the same. The amountof listings on the market is also just 5 properties different from the same time frame in 2009.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Loan Modification Tricks are No Treat

Most of us in this business have been approached by friends, family and even clients about loan modifications. We all know folks who are having a rough go of it and are seeking help from their lender to modify the terms of their loans so they can stay in their homes.


We have all heard them say the same thing; “The people at the bank told me they wouldn’t even talk to me unless I was late on several payments.” In many cases, bank personnel have actually advised people to let their loans go delinquent, so they can “possibly” help them! And, many people take that advice and let their payments lapse, destroying their credit with no real commitment of assistance.

Here is the real horror story – Just this morning I heard from a dear friend asking about getting a loan to buy a smaller place since her expensive house just went into escrow. After talking to her I learned that she had been seeking a modification and had taken the banks advice and let her payments go delinquent for a few months. Then suddenly an offer came through on her home and now she is in escrow. But since she has several late payments, she no longer qualifies for a loan.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Would Like to Sell But Worried About the Current Market?

 Consider this: sellers who do have equity who would like to sell should not be shy about selling if they intend to purchase another property. Equity is equity and you may sell for less at the present time but you will also buy for much less and have a larger amount of available inventory to choose from. Also interest rates are at historic lows.

Friday, October 15, 2010

The Truth Behind the Noise

WHAT IS THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE LATEST FORECLOSURE NEWS ITEM?- Here is a great Q & A from the San Diego Union Tribune that really gets to the heart of the issue http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/11/whats-going-foreclosures/

Friday, October 8, 2010

SEPTEMBER NORTH COUNTY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS

Numbers of closed sales in September 2010 were down 5% from August.   Year to date sales for 2010 are also down 5% when compared to the same time frame in 2009.   Pending sales (open escrows) are down 11% in September from August.  The amount of listings on the market is virtually the same as the same time frame in 2009. 

Friday, October 1, 2010

Which Real Estate Markets are Under The Most Stress?

 Interesting new data is available which measures this in a new and innovative way.  To see a very interesting WSJ article, go to http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/10/01/which-cities-face-biggest-housing-risks/

Friday, September 24, 2010

NATIONAL REAL ESTATE MARKET HAS UPWARDS BOUNCE

- Although I reported at the 1st of the month that our local north county market had a slight dip in August , the national stats are now in and are better. Go to http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/real-estate-market-rebounds-slightly-with-better-than-expected-sales-56120.aspx

Saturday, September 18, 2010

LOWER INTEREST RATES NOW MAKE 15 YEAR LOANS ATTRACTIVE--

With the new interest rates there is now an opportunity for buyers & existing homeowners who want to refinance their existing loans to now build equity faster. Go to http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-refinance-20100917,0,4880556.story

Friday, September 10, 2010

Near Record Home Affordability

The share of homes that families making the national median income could afford to buy remained above 70 percent for the sixth quarter in a row, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
Nationally, the HOI was at 72.3 percent in the second quarter, unchanged from the same time period last year and close to the index's record-high 72.5 percent, set in first-quarter 2009.
The HOI tracks the share of homes sold in a particular area that would have been affordable to a family earning the local median income. The index assumes a family can afford to spend 28 percent of its gross monthly income on housing, according to NAHB's website.

Friday, September 3, 2010

August North County Real Estate Statistics

Sales(Closed escrows) for all types of real estate were down 18% in August compared to July and down 15% from August of 2009. Sales for the 1st 8 months of this year are down 5% from the 1st 8 months of 2009. Pending sales (open escrows) are down 3% from July of this year. Properties on the market are down 5% from July and off 2% from same time last year.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Quick Facts

1) 64% of the households in California can now afford an entry level home, even in this economy.
2) median price of an entry-level home in California is $266,750
3)estimated monthly payment including taxes and ins. is $1,470 after a 10% down payment
4) The minimum household income needed to purchase that same home in California is $43,960. Even with the tough loan qualification practices today.

Friday, August 13, 2010

MORTGAGE RATES HIT RECORD LOWS AGAIN

- From the LA Times: For solid borrowers paying 0.7% of the loan balance in upfront fees and
points, the offering rate for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan averaged
4.44% for the week ending Thursday, said Freddie Mac,
the giant government-supported mortgage buyer and generator of mortgage
securities. That compared with 4.49% a week ago and 5.29% a year earlier.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

JULY NORTH COUNTY REAL ESTATE STATS-

 Closed escrows for July 2010 are up 1% from June 2010 and down 13% from July of 2009.   Properties in escrow are up a whopping 23% from June 2010.   Closed escrows year to date are down 4% compared to the same 1st 7 months of the year in 2009.  The amount of active listings on the market is down 4% from June of 2010 and 3% from same month last year. 

Friday, July 30, 2010

REAL ESTATE SEARCH TIPS

If you are searching for real estate online and are having trouble finding things inaccurate or out of date: The two most up to date and accurate sites are Realtor.Com and Re/Max.Com because they get their feeds directly from the multiple listing services across the country.

Friday, July 23, 2010

SLO COUNTY ONE OF THE LOWEST FOR FORECLOSURES

from the Telegram  Tribune business page:
San Luis Obispo County is faring better than other counties in the state when it comes to foreclosure activity, according to recent data from RealtyTrac, a Southern California-based firm that keeps tabs on foreclosure trends.The county ranks 46th out of 58 counties in the number of foreclosure filings, the firm reported this week.

Friday, July 16, 2010

DOES THE STOCK MARKET AFFECT THE REAL ESTATE MARKET?

  This is a question a lot of people ask about and have their own perceptions of. Although they are both measures of the economy in their own ways, the fact is that at many times the real estate market can be very good while the Dow is in a "bear market" and vice versa. However, when you have a collapse like we had in fall of 2008, it will mean that people have lost a lot of their net worth which may have been used to purchase real estate and that will have an effect primarily on higher end real estate sales and commercial real estate. It may also have the effect of dampening consumer confidence because the ups and downs of the Dow are an every day item posted in the news.
 

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Statewide Real Estate Stats

LOS ANGELES (June 22) – Home sales increased 1.2 percent in May in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 23.2 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

Friday, July 2, 2010

June 2010 North County Real Estate Statistics

June Sales in Northern San Luis Obispo County were up 9% over May of this year and down 4% compared against June of 2009.   Sales for the 1st 6 months of 2010 were down less then 1% over the 1st 6 months of 2010.  This tells us that we reached the bottom of the market last year and although there is no large increase over last year there is also no real decrease in activity.   The amount of properties on the market is up only 2% from same time last year so no real change in supply either.

Friday, June 25, 2010

MORTGAGE RATES SINK TO RECORD LOWS

Mortgage rates slumped to record lows this week, Freddie Mac confirmed Thursday, with lenders on average offering 4.69% on a 30-year fixed-rateloan. The average rate on the 30-year loan fell from 4.75% last week, dropping below the previous record of 4.71% set in December. As recently as early April, the average was at 5.21%.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

HIGH END HOME SALES IN URBAN AREAS SEEING LIFE

Bay area and San Diego home sales quoted recently are showing an upturn in their high end markets. Although too soon to sell if this is a real trend, this could be caused by lower pricing for larger homes then in the past .

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Someone Has the Faith

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that KB Homes, one of the nation's largest homebuilders bought 490 home sites in Riverside County's Eastvale community and 174 in San Bernadino County's North Fontana this week.  They believe that things are coming back and they want lots to build on.  We are also seeing some SoCal developers coming back here looking for development property.  The smart money may know something.

Friday, June 4, 2010

MAY NORTH COUNTY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS

 97 properties closed escrow in the North County in the month of May which was a 1 % increase in closings from the month before in April.  It was a 13% decrease from the same month a year ago in 09.   There is less then a 1% decrease in the 1st 5 months of this year against the 1st 5 months of 2009 which means it is virtually the same amount of activity.   Pending Sales (properties in escrow) were down 3% in the month of May against the month before in April. 
  Summing this all up

Friday, May 28, 2010

Waiting for the Market to go up Before you Sell?

Waiting for the Market to go up Before you Sell?
  Consider this: On January 1, 2011, the capital gain tax reduction that was signed into law by President Bush will "sunset." The tax rate will revert from the current highest rate of 15 percent rate back to the former 20 percent capital gain tax rate that was in effect prior to 2003 unless it is extended.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Shocking Numbers in the Media are Not Always as Bleak as they Seem, Chapter Two or Mark Twain, you were enlightened:

  You have heard me harp on this before.  The black cloud of the  week was reported in the media as  follows: "10% of all home mortgages are now Delinquent".   Sounds really bad and it is accurate but despite the fact that this also means that 90% are not, here is the real thing to remember:
  App. 50% of owner occupied single family homes in this country are owned free and clear with no mortgage.  So what this really means is that only 5% of the homeowners in this country are behind in their payments.  The normal person would think that the news quote means that 1 out of every 10 homes in America is headed for foreclosure.
 So after, app.  5 years of a real estate slow down and the worst and longest national recession since the great depression, 95% of the homeowners in this country  either owe nothing on their homes or are current on their mortgages.  Puts a whole different light on it doesn't it?   As Mark Twain once said: "There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics".

Friday, May 7, 2010

Disputing a Bill: Right or Wrong?

Have you ever disagreed with a bill you received from a cell phone service you discontinued; or a doctor bill you were sure you paid? All of us have had to go toe-to-toe with some company or another over errors in billing and in most cases we usually get the problem cleared up and the issue is taken care of.


Then again……..there are those times that you are sure you’re right but they just won’t see it your way, and they send that $25.00 doctor bill to some nasty collection agency. You try dealing with the collector and after you don’t have any success, you simply ignore him until he goes away. Which, he eventually will do.

However, what doesn’t go away is the negative report that’s been left on your credit.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

North County April 2010 Real Estate Report

Closed Escrows in Northern San Luis Obispo County were up 8% in April compared against April 2009 but down 17 % from March of this year.
Sales for the first 5 months of 2010 are up 1% against the first 5 months of 2009
Available inventory of property for sale this month is down 2% from April of last year.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Confusion over the Supply of Foreclosed Homes

One of the biggest unanswered questions for those of us tracking the market should be much easier to get the data for but it is the hardest statistic for us to get.  Click below for more info

Monday, April 26, 2010

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Foreclosure Rate in California Plunges

A 40.2% drop in the first quarter suggests that the foreclosure crisis is easing.  Read More Below

Friday, April 9, 2010

North County 1st Quarter Sales Results

Sales for the 1st quarter for Northern SLO County are in and they are showing an interesting trend.  Click below to read!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Your Credit Score - The Basics

These days more than ever your credit score is key to not only having access to better loan programs but the score will determine how much you pay in rate and fees. There have been many changes in recent years and Fannie and Freddie have instituted risk based pricing which may impact you if your score is below 740. So it pays to keep your score in good shape.


So how do you do that and what are some of the tricks that can help you maintain a good score?

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Paperwork - Should Borrowers Take a Stance?

So how much paperwork do you need to give a lender these days to get a loan? Not that much really, but many people in the market today appear to be uncomfortable with providing much, if any documentation to a lender that is trying to determine if they can safely lend these folks a couple of hundred thousand bucks. In fact, I have encountered an increasing number that simply draw a line in the sand and dictate what paperwork they are willing to part with.


So how did this situation develop and why are these folks playing hardball? And the better question is; should they?

Friday, March 12, 2010

Tax exemption for homeowners in distress goes to governor

Prior to 12/20/2007 , if a homeowner who had a foreclosure, loan modification or short sale may actually have had the debt forgiven become a taxable event and had it be deemed income as far as the IRS was concerned.  Just what someone in that position needed.  The feds did take that nasty rule out of the IRS code in 2007 but California did not follow suit.  However, this may change soon.  Read on

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Safe From All Fears

Ever wonder how many homes are owned free and clear in the United States?   The answer is very surprising.  According to the Unites States 2005 census, app. 33% of all homes in the United States do not have any mortgage whatsoever.   So 1/3 of the homeowners are not worrying at all about being "underwater" on any home loan in any event.  If you think about it, there are a lot of homeowners who also owe less then 50% of the value of their home to the bank so things are more secure then you may thought. 

Friday, February 19, 2010

Paso Robles outsells Atascadero in 2009

According to MLS statistics, there were 22% more residential sales inside the city limits of Paso Robles then inside Atascadero in 2009.   Right now there are 13% more homes on the market in Paso then Atascadero.   Both towns claim a population of app. 29,000 people.

Friday, February 12, 2010

North County Sales Continue to Climb

Real Estate sales in Northern SLO County were up 22% in January 2010 over January 2009!   This is the 8th straight month of increases.    I think we can now say that a trend has developed of the market having bottomed out and in a sustained recovery.  However, prices are not rising but that is to be expected because price always lags behind increased velocity in the real estate market.  If  you have been thinking of buying, you might want to get started to take advantage of this while you can.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Home Path Financing: A Great Way to Buy!

In this current economic climate you need every advantage you can get when it comes to your spending, especially when buying a home. There is a little known loan program from Fannie Mae called "HomePath", which can make qualifying easier and allow you to buy more home. Here's how it works:

Friday, January 22, 2010

Wall Street "Experts" get the Real Estate Market Wrong Again

This month, one day the stock market took a fairly large drop and the recent for it was quoted as being because "the National Association of Realtors had reported that number of pending sales of existing homes had dropped in December over November pending sales fueling belief that the housing recovery that was happening had now actually stalled out". Why did that news leave experienced Realtors laughing rather then crying?

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Participate in Your Loan

There was a time not so long ago that the loan process was fast and easy. You met with your loan officer, talked for a few minutes, maybe signed a disclosure or two and the next time you had to be involved with your loan was when you went to the escrow company to sign your loan documents. Yes….…those were the days.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Additional Home Buyer Tax Credits Proposed in Calif.

During his State of the State address, Governor Schwarzenegger today announced his 2010 proposals for California. Included in the proposals is a recommendation to set aside $200 million for a new round of $10,000 state tax credits for first-time home buyers. The proposal expands upon the initial $10,000 state tax credit by including both new and existing homes. Last year’s tax credit applied only to new homes.

The tax credit could be combined with the recently extended and expanded federal tax credit for home buyers.

Friday, January 1, 2010

End of the Year Finds Good News for North County Real Estate

Sales of  all properties in the north county  were  6% higher in 2009 then they were in 2008 with a very strong surge in the last months of the year.   What does this really mean?