Rancho Bernardo Real Estate Market Review (March-2011)  It is tax season again, perhaps it's time to consider investing into real estate.  In Rancho Bernardo the following statistics will provide some insight into the single family and condo/townhome market:           Rancho Bernardo Single Family Homes March, 2011: Rancho Bernardo Homes for Sale: 277 (Active, contingent, and pending) March, 2011: Rancho Bernardo Months of Inventory: 6.2 February, 2010: Rancho Bernardo Median Home Price $479,000; 10% lower than February, 2010 February, 2010: Rancho Bernardo Homes Sold: 28; 15% lower than February, 2010 Rancho Bernardo Condos and Townhomes March, 2011: Rancho Bernardo Condos for Sale: 253 (Active, contingent, and pending) March, 2011: Rancho Bernardo Months of Inventory (Condos): 7.1 Feb... 03/19/2011

Top House Buying Tips So you want to buy a house.  It's a complicated process but if you use my Tips it will be a lot less difficult for you. My number one house buying tip is to find a Realtor to work with.  Realtors know houses, they study the market and see houses everyday.  They know all the inside deals that you won't find on the internet.  They know neighborhoods and communities and schools information that you won't find on the internet.  They know a good house from a bad ( or not so good house).  I study my market and know the differences between asking and sold price, so I know how Low you can go when you write an offer.   I know when it's the best time to buy or sell and I know when it's the worse time to buy or sell. Why spend countless hours surfing the internet, looking at... 03/13/2011

Rancho Bernardo homes for sale - bank owned and foreclosures Rancho Bernardo has over 200 hundred homes for sale and many are bank owned foreclosures.  Find your next home by pointing the cursor at the house icon and instantly see the asking price, click on the house and the page will load with all the homes pictures and details.  This is a great map to use when searching for homes for sale in Rancho Bernardo because it also shows the area landmarks; Highland Ranch Park, Pomerado hospital, Tha Plaza shoppping center and Pomerado Village shopping center.  You can also easily see the homes location to area roads and freeways.  Don't forget to use the upper right hand corner Map, Satelite and Terrain views when shopping for you Rancho Bernardo home for sale.      See all the homes for Sale... 03/09/2011

Rancho Penasquitos Homes for Sale   This is a really fun and easy to shop for houses.  Instead of entering all your search criteria, just point your cursor at any house on the map and see the asking price, click on the house icon and pull up all the details.  Rancho Penasquitos has over a hundred homes for sale and many bank owned foreclosures.  The market has slowed in the last few months in Rancho Penasquitos but as we get closer to spring buyer activity will increase.  The map has two pages of homes for sale in Rancho Penasquitos, so be sure to forward to the next page. As you can see the map shows the area land marks; Hilltop community park, Adobe Bluffs Park and Twin Trails Neighborhood park.       See All the Homes for Sale in Rancho Penasquitos Free List of San Diego Foreclosures... 03/09/2011

  First Time Homebuyer -  Down Payment Assistance Programs - California  First time homebuyers, veterans and homebuyers who need help with the down payment have three new programs they can consider.  Both programs provide low fixed rate interest rates and down payment assistance.  Take a moment to learn about these opportunites and then contact me to help you find a house in San Diego. 1. California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA FHA & CHDAP)  The California Housing Finance Agency offers a below market mortgage option to first-time homebuyers.  The CalHFA FHA 30-year Fixed Mortgage provides up to 96.5% financing with a low, fixed interest rate.  This first mortgage can be combined with CalHFA’s down payment assistance programs for added benefit. CalHFA FHA details First time homebuyer o... 03/09/2011

Best Rancho Penasquitos Home – Open House Sunday 2/27 1-4 pm                                                                                                                                                                  Spacious floor plan with vaulted ceilings in living room and dining room add a touch of elegance to this home.  Kitchen has lots of counter space and the large kitchen window provides a view of the backyard and makes the kitchen bright and cheery. New carpets, paint and landscaping accent this homes value and appeal                                                                          Family room with fireplace and breakfast nook area is located in the back of the house and next to the patio.    Best Rancho Penasquitos Home   Backyard is the perfect size for enjoyin... 02/27/2011

When is the best time to buy a house? Many, many people I talk with want to know, when is the best time to buy a house?  This is the biggest and best buying tip I can possibly give a home buyer who wants to get a great deal, who wants to control the transaction and who wants to have the fewest problems. The best time to buy a house is when no one else is buying.  Buy during the slow season when sellers are waiting for offers.  Buy when it's snowing outside or raining.  This weekend San Diego is expecting a big rain fall.  The news has been tracking the storms progress and reporting it's imminent arrival for the past week. Rain is very big news for San Diego where we routinely get 10 inches a year.  It is going to be cold ( 30 degrees) and rainy this weekend. Typically, when it rains is ... 02/25/2011

Down Payment Assistance for First Time Home buyers Now there is a program that provides down payment help for first time home buyers.  The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) is making owning a home easier for first time home buyers.   If you haven’t owned a home in which you have occupied for the past three years, you could qualify for this program.    Down Payment Assistance for First Time Home buyers Typically, a first time home buyers needs 3.5% down payment with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan.  On the purchase of a $400,000 home a first time home buyer would need $14,000 in order to buy the home.  With the new CalHFA program buyers only need 1%.  That’s $4,000 instead of $14,000 on the purchase of a $400,000 home.    Down Payment Assistance Program details 1. B... 02/24/2011

Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego, Ca. Rancho Penasquitos is a community in San Diego located approximately 15 miles from downtown San Diego and 5 miles inland from Torrey Pines State beach (my favorite beach).  Nestled in between Carmel Valley, and Powa,y Rancho Penasquitos enjoys ideal weather -  mostly sunny days, a slight breeze when you want it and clear blue skies.  Although many homes have air-conditioning homeowners rarely turn them on, we just don't need them.    Rancho Penasquitos means little drags or rocks in Spanish but if you live here you would simply say it's hilly. Hard to ride a bike around town here unless you're a Ironman but you'll still see joggers, walkers and bikers out and about.   Rancho Penasquitos is part of the award winning Poway Unified School district  and th... 02/16/2011

Housing Prices Drop in San Diego, Ca. Housing prices usually drop at the end of the year.  Most first time home buyers aren't interested in shopping for houses.  They are busy thinking about the holidays and with, Halloween (which is getting bigger and bigger every year), Thanksgiving ( which seems to get smaller and smaller every year ), and Christmas holidays, there are times when the stores will have merchandise for all the holidays at the same time.  I was in Costco last year and discovered that I could buy pumpkins, Halloween costumes, Turkeys and Christmas trees in the same shopping trip.  First time home buyers may drop in on an Open House as they make their way home and they may search for homes online, but typically year after year, this is the time of year when the fewest home... 02/15/2011

How to Buy a Bank Owned Foreclosure  According to Data Quick Information Systems (DQ News) over 35,000 were lost to foreclosure last year.  Although, that is a decrease of over 30% the foreclosure inventory is still a big part of the real estate market.   Many people believe that buying a foreclosure, bank owned house (the terms mean the same and are often interchanged) is one of the best deals on the market.  Consequently, buying a bank owned foreclosure is often extremely competitive.  Many foreclosures receive multiple offers and it is not unusual for houses to get 10 offers or more.  With competition like that a buyer needs to have a skilled Realtor who knows what and how to get their offer accepted.  Here are my Top 4 Tips on How to Buy a Bank Owned Foreclosure.  1.  Do not submit ... 02/11/2011

Down payment assistance for first time Home buyers Buyers in California now have a program to help them with their down payment.  Until now buyers needed 3.5% or approximately $14,000 on a $400,000 purchase.  That's a lot of money for most people to save. In fact the biggest obstacle for First Time Home buyers is the down payment.   The California Housing Finance Agency ( CalHFA) is making homeownership affordable for first time homebuyers in California but creating the CAlHFA FHA loan the requires only 1% down payment. Instead of $14,000 for a downpayment a First Time Homebuyer will only need $4,000. AND, the money can come from a family member as a gift.   AND, the interest rates for the program are below the current market rates, almost a whole point.   This is a huge opportunity for... 02/10/2011

How do I sell my house fast in San Diego? Often sellers need to sell their home fast because of a job transfer, divorce or impeding foreclosure.  Many times a seller may feel that the best thing to do is to get a sign in the front yard, however this could be the worst approach.  There are three important factors that must be addressed in order to get a house sold - 1.  Proper preparation 2.  Proper pricing 3.  Proper marketing Each one of these items must be fully addressed in order to successfully sale a house,  However, if you need to sell your house fast you really need to be extra careful to eliminate buyer objections.  When a potential buyer visits your home you want them to see all the good things about the house.  A buyer should begin liking your house as they drive by and prepar... 02/08/2011

Will the Seller Take Less than the Asking Price? Finding a Motivated Seller in San Diego I was hosting an Open House last weekend ( 9521 Pipilo St. Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego) and almost everyone who came by asked," Will the owner take less?"  I routinely analyze the difference between asking and sold price in my San Diego neighborhood and the breakdown is about a third of the time the house sells at asking price, the next third is below asking price and the last third is within the asking range.   However, when a buyer asks the question, "Will the owner take less?", he really wants to know, how low can I go? Will the owner consider an offer, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000 below asking price.  I almost always have the same answer, Why don't you submit an offer and see what happens.  You'l... 02/08/2011

4 bedroom home in San Diego, Rancho Penasquitos This perfect family home located in Park Village Estates of Rancho Penasquitos has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths with 1876 sq. ft. Part of the award winning Poway Unified School distric area schools are Westview High School, Mesa Verde Middle school and Canyonside elementary. 4 bedroom home in San Diego, Rancho Penasquitos 9521 Pipilo Street.  <>   4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths 1876 sq. ft. New Carpet New landscaping Family room Fireplace indoor laundry with washer and dryer New paint New doors Large kitchen with refrigerator Large covered Patio No HOA No Mello Roos Near Rancho Penasquitos Library Near YMCA Near Fire Dept New Police Dept. Easy freeway access Built 1987 This home is located in what I call, the Heart of Rancho Penasquitos. Asking price ... 02/05/2011

Real Estate Prices to Increase in San Diego The rumors and buzz have been of a possible double dip in real estate prices.  A double dip would be that prices would go down again instead of rise as sellers have been desperately hoping. Two major sources of real estate news are Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices and Forbes.com and both show real estate prices to increase in San Diego. The S&P Case-Shiller report was released on January 25 and stated that only four MSA's - Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington DC - showed year-over-year gains. The report graph shows 2009 as the lowest time for prices and a steady rise into 2010, but then a drop down.  Although, San Diego real estate showed only a .1% increase, it had a 2.6% increase from last year.    Todays (F... 02/02/2011

Here's a golden opportunity for first time home buyers in San Diego home looking for a great deal.  In the past few years investors have bought up hundreds of foreclosure houses. Houses that they paid cash for and sometimes had never seen.  Then in order to flip or resale they rehabed the houses, often with new kitchens; granite, counters, appliances, floors, re-textured ceilings, new bathrooms, new windows and landscaping. These remodels are anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 worth of upgrades. After all the improvements are completed they price low and try to get the house sold.  When the house hits the market the investors want to get an offer and get it sold as soon as possible. It's a really good deal for a buyer and here's why - Investors really want to sell, which means they will ... 01/29/2011

Create a Buying Plan In order to buy a house you need to create a buying plan.  I don't mean deciding how many bedrooms and baths you want, or if you need a three car garage. I am talking about a  plan that will enable you to get the house you really want.  You will need to save for a down payment, deposit and closing costs.  These three things on a $350,000 ( the average price for a San Diego home), will total approximately, deposit - 1% of $350,000 = $3,500 Down payment - 3.5% for an FHA loan = $12,250 closing costs - approx. $12,500 ( includes property taxes and insurance) $28,000. That's what you will need to get the keys to the house.  You might need less but it's better to plan for more.  Get Your Financial House in Order Whether you're financing a million-dollar home or are a  f... 01/27/2011

Rancho Bernardo San Diego Real Estate Market Update (January-2011)   As "Baby Boomers" approach retirement age some are considering downsizing their homes.  This could mean that single story homes are going to be more in demand thus driving property values up. In Rancho Bernardo the following statistics will provide some insight into the single family and condo/townhome market:           Rancho Bernardo Single Family Homes January, 2011: Rancho Bernardo Homes for Sale: 257 (Active, contingent, and pending) January, 2011: Rancho Bernardo Months of Inventory: 5.5 December, 2010: Rancho Bernardo Median Home Price $593,000; 6% higher than December, 2009 December, 2010: Rancho Bernardo Homes Sold: 36; 32% lower than December, 2009 Rancho Bernardo Condos and Townhomes January, 2011: Rancho Be... 01/23/2011

San Diego Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol trained by the San Diego Police Department is available to check the homes of vacationing families six days a week for a minimum of five days or maximum of 30. A vacation House check form for permission on the property must be filled out a few days before @ the Rancho Bernardo Police Storefront, 17110 Bernardo Center Drive, upstairs in the Library. Hours are Monday through Friday 7:30 to 11:30 AM, & 1 to 3:30 PM. Residences that are currently for sale or for rent are not eligible for the program. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________   01/04/2011