My 14 Open Houses in 14 Days tour has concluded after stops in Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Sabre Springs and 4S Ranch.
Homes ranged from a condo listed for just under $300,000 to a Poway property priced at just under $900,000.
The condo had the most traffic, drawing a line of first-time buyers looking to homeownership after years of renting. Many of them said they were eager to stop paying money to a landlord and attracted by low mortgage rates. As expected, the school district was an important consideration for many of the buyers, which is what brought them to the area that encompasses the Poway School District.
Buyers still seem scarce at the higher price levels, which makes me believe it will keep pressure on sellers to adjust prices downward until they can stir up some interest. I've seen several homes that were price in the $1.1 million to $1.3 million range cut to under $1 million in order to find a buyer.
The homes I held open in the $400,000 to $700,000 range received good interest, but buyers in this market want a deal and appear inclined to wait until they get it.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
14 Open Houses in 14 Days: Come On In, The Door's Open
My ambitious “14 Open Houses in 14 Days” promotion kicked off today with a pair of homes in Poway. The festivities didn’t include balloons and a brass band, although this morning I did see several flags fluttering in the breeze and I could hear a distant train whistle from the choo-choo at Old Poway Park.My morning property was at 14119 Kendra Way, a two-story, 4 BR/3 BA, 1,998-square foot home (priced in a range from $457,900-$499,900) just off Community Road. It’s within walking distance of the Poway Farmer’s Market, a park that includes basketball and tennis courts and several shops along Poway Road.
Virtually all the visitors were drawn here because they like the feel of Poway, which really is “The City in the Country” as the motto says.
One newlywed couple — four months and they still seem to be on good terms — already was thinking ahead to when they have children. They want to be in a good school district now, rather than having to move to one later. “Like some of our friends are having to do,” said the new bride.
There was one voice of concern among the buyers who came through. A woman wondered about plans to turn the nearby WalMart into a SuperStore and what impact that will have on the surrounding neighborhood. “Lower prices?” I suggested. For shoppers, not homeowners.
The afternoon found me heading to the Stoneridge community and the property at 17710 Del Paso Dr., a two-story, 5 BR/5 BA, 3,400-square foot home (reduced to $898,900).
There’s a lot to like there, what with the size of the home, the master bedroom on the entry floor, an updated kitchen, sizable back yard and bubbling spa (why didn’t I bring my swim suit?). I especially enjoyed the mountain and valley view to the west that goes for miles and miles. Look north and you get a glimpse of the Maderas Golf Course. Late afternoons are greeted with a breeze that makes it really relaxing on the back balcony.
Things were a little slow at first, and I was tempted to go across the street and hit a couple of drives off the 14th tee at Stoneridge. But last night I replaced my golf clubs with Open House signs in the back of my 4Runner, so I was without implements or ammo. It was probably just as well the way I’ve been hitting the ball. I’ve been slicing more than a baker at Panera.
The price point for this home is higher than many buyers can afford, but when the right person comes along they are going to make this their home. There's too much to like about it.
Did I mention the view?
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Be careful of scams out there
Bad people trying to take advantage of others is as old as time itself, but the bad guys — and gals — seem especially prevalent during difficult economic times. And real estate seems to be a favorite target because of the potential to make thousands of dollars in the scam.
I came across two rental scams last week in San Diego. In both cases, they were homes that are legitimately listed for sale — but someone not involved with the property also has listed them for rent on Craigslist.
In the first instance, a friend called to ask if I could get more details about a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Sorrento Valley that looked too good to be true. It was. The Craigslist ad said it was being rented for $800/month. This in a neighborhood where the typical rents were around $2,500. The person representing herself as the owner told my friend that she lived outside the United States. He drove by the home while I checked the ownership records and other property information. We quickly discovered that it was a short sale and the owner actually lives in Orange County.
In the second instance, I was holding an open house Sunday in Rancho Penasquitos for one of the Coldwell Banker agents in my office. Just before closing, a man walked up with his wife and two young children and said he just saw the home listed for $1,500/month on Craigslist. He was very excited. I could see why. That price was several hundred dollars less than market rents in the neighborhood. This was all news to me. The owner wants to get this home, which is vacant, sold as quickly as possible. There is no interest in renting it. I spoke to the listing agent to confirm this, and flagged the ad on Craigslist.
In both cases, the scammers used information from the MLS (multiple listing service) in their Craigslist ads. We didn't get far enough along to see how they were going to try to get money out of the potential "renters," but be assured that's what the goal was here.
I don't know why someone would mail a check out to someone (especially out of the country) after seeing little more than an ad on Craigslist. Red flags would start popping up all over, beginning with a price that's too good to be true. It seems like the scam would become obvious fairly quickly, but, as one of the agents in my office said, "They wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't work."
Homeowners in financial trouble need to be wary of companies trying to held bail them out with a short sale or assist them with a foreclosure since these are areas that scammers also have been very active in pursuing.
If you would like more information on what to watch out for, please contact me:
Email: kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com Phone: 619.920.2195.
I came across two rental scams last week in San Diego. In both cases, they were homes that are legitimately listed for sale — but someone not involved with the property also has listed them for rent on Craigslist.
In the first instance, a friend called to ask if I could get more details about a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Sorrento Valley that looked too good to be true. It was. The Craigslist ad said it was being rented for $800/month. This in a neighborhood where the typical rents were around $2,500. The person representing herself as the owner told my friend that she lived outside the United States. He drove by the home while I checked the ownership records and other property information. We quickly discovered that it was a short sale and the owner actually lives in Orange County.
In the second instance, I was holding an open house Sunday in Rancho Penasquitos for one of the Coldwell Banker agents in my office. Just before closing, a man walked up with his wife and two young children and said he just saw the home listed for $1,500/month on Craigslist. He was very excited. I could see why. That price was several hundred dollars less than market rents in the neighborhood. This was all news to me. The owner wants to get this home, which is vacant, sold as quickly as possible. There is no interest in renting it. I spoke to the listing agent to confirm this, and flagged the ad on Craigslist.
In both cases, the scammers used information from the MLS (multiple listing service) in their Craigslist ads. We didn't get far enough along to see how they were going to try to get money out of the potential "renters," but be assured that's what the goal was here.
I don't know why someone would mail a check out to someone (especially out of the country) after seeing little more than an ad on Craigslist. Red flags would start popping up all over, beginning with a price that's too good to be true. It seems like the scam would become obvious fairly quickly, but, as one of the agents in my office said, "They wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't work."
Homeowners in financial trouble need to be wary of companies trying to held bail them out with a short sale or assist them with a foreclosure since these are areas that scammers also have been very active in pursuing.
If you would like more information on what to watch out for, please contact me:
Email: kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com Phone: 619.920.2195.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Good tips for staging your home
One of my friends is getting ready to sell his home and he and his wife were wondering what they could do to make it most appealing to potential buyers. Some of my neighbors in Santaluz and Del Sur have asked about this in the past as well, so I thought this article I found would be helpful for everyone.
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© Copyright 2010 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® |
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Property reassessment could save you $$$
With market values down, it's a good idea for anyone who purchased a home within the past 3-5 years to check into the possibility of having their property reassessed to see if property taxes could be lowered.
If you haven't already looked into to it — DO IT! And do it now. The deadline for filing an appeal with the Assessor's office is MAY 14 for the 2010-2011 tax year.
Here is the Web site for the County of San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk, which has all of the contact information for learning about and filing an appeal.
In fact, here is the link for the Application for Review of Assessment, which can be filled out online.
Here is a link on the Assessor's site that can help you find a property's sale information and parcel number that are needed to fill out the form. If you enter the address, then it will give you the parcel number and other sales information.
Be prepared to fill in the parcel number of your property, the value on the current assessment roll, come up with an opinion of value and support that opinion with some recent comparables. That takes a little bit of work, but filing is FREE and it could save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in property taxes.
There are Assessor offices throughout the county — downtown, Chula Vista, El Cajon, San Marcos and Kearny Mesa — where forms are available, questions can be answered and comparable information can be obtained. The number for the assessor's office is 858.505.6262.
Feel free to e-mail me at kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com or call me at 619.920.2195 and I will do what I can to help.
-------------
One of my reasons for pointing this out to homeowners is that last year I received something in the mail from a company called California Tax Reassessment that concerned me.
California Tax Reassessment offered to file an assessment appeal for me for a processing fee of $253 ($186 if I acted by April 27). I don't take issue with the company charging for this service, although, as stated above, a homeowner can do it for free. I do take issue with their approach, misleading information and business practices.
Let me provide some details:
The information mailed to me by California Tax Reassessment said that my current assessed value is $822,896, but they had a proposed assessed value of $576,027, a reduction that would save me $3,086 annually in property taxes.
Imagine my excitement at the savings.
There's just one problem with all this — it isn't accurate. Values may be down from their peak, but they have not dropped below what I paid in February of 2003. No home in my neighborhood has sold for less than $800,000. There's no way my value could be $576,027.
So I made a phone call to California Tax Reassessment. I spoke with Andrea. One of the first questions I asked her was what their address was so I could come down there to speak to someone in person. She said they were in Mission Valley, but she would not give out the address. RED FLAG goes here.
I proceeded to tell her that I couldn't see how my value could be $576,027 when no homes in my neighborhood had dropped anywhere near that. She said their estimate was based on my zip code — 92127 — and an average was provided for the value. She took my information and they ran another check. They found one home in my neighborhood that had sold for $1 million and two or three others a few miles away that sold for $500,000-$600,000. She said they would use the lower-priced homes in my evaluation rather than the $1 million comparable.
If the Assessor's office did any kind of check on the comparables, they would realize what I did — the other homes were not comparable to mine at all. And there would be no property tax reduction. I'm sure California Tax Reassessment would still have cashed my check, though. They make no promises that the homeowner will get tax relief — only that they will file my application for review.
Beware out there.
Contact Kirk Kenney: 619.920.2195 or kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com
If you haven't already looked into to it — DO IT! And do it now. The deadline for filing an appeal with the Assessor's office is MAY 14 for the 2010-2011 tax year.
Here is the Web site for the County of San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk, which has all of the contact information for learning about and filing an appeal.
In fact, here is the link for the Application for Review of Assessment, which can be filled out online.
Here is a link on the Assessor's site that can help you find a property's sale information and parcel number that are needed to fill out the form. If you enter the address, then it will give you the parcel number and other sales information.
Be prepared to fill in the parcel number of your property, the value on the current assessment roll, come up with an opinion of value and support that opinion with some recent comparables. That takes a little bit of work, but filing is FREE and it could save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in property taxes.
There are Assessor offices throughout the county — downtown, Chula Vista, El Cajon, San Marcos and Kearny Mesa — where forms are available, questions can be answered and comparable information can be obtained. The number for the assessor's office is 858.505.6262.
Feel free to e-mail me at kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com or call me at 619.920.2195 and I will do what I can to help.
-------------
One of my reasons for pointing this out to homeowners is that last year I received something in the mail from a company called California Tax Reassessment that concerned me.
California Tax Reassessment offered to file an assessment appeal for me for a processing fee of $253 ($186 if I acted by April 27). I don't take issue with the company charging for this service, although, as stated above, a homeowner can do it for free. I do take issue with their approach, misleading information and business practices.
Let me provide some details:
The information mailed to me by California Tax Reassessment said that my current assessed value is $822,896, but they had a proposed assessed value of $576,027, a reduction that would save me $3,086 annually in property taxes.
Imagine my excitement at the savings.
There's just one problem with all this — it isn't accurate. Values may be down from their peak, but they have not dropped below what I paid in February of 2003. No home in my neighborhood has sold for less than $800,000. There's no way my value could be $576,027.
So I made a phone call to California Tax Reassessment. I spoke with Andrea. One of the first questions I asked her was what their address was so I could come down there to speak to someone in person. She said they were in Mission Valley, but she would not give out the address. RED FLAG goes here.
I proceeded to tell her that I couldn't see how my value could be $576,027 when no homes in my neighborhood had dropped anywhere near that. She said their estimate was based on my zip code — 92127 — and an average was provided for the value. She took my information and they ran another check. They found one home in my neighborhood that had sold for $1 million and two or three others a few miles away that sold for $500,000-$600,000. She said they would use the lower-priced homes in my evaluation rather than the $1 million comparable.
If the Assessor's office did any kind of check on the comparables, they would realize what I did — the other homes were not comparable to mine at all. And there would be no property tax reduction. I'm sure California Tax Reassessment would still have cashed my check, though. They make no promises that the homeowner will get tax relief — only that they will file my application for review.
Beware out there.
Contact Kirk Kenney: 619.920.2195 or kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com
Sunday, February 21, 2010
It's a Great Time for First-Time Buyers
Don't let the sun set on this opportunity.Three or four years ago skyrocketing housing prices had turned the American Dream into a fantasy for first-time home buyers.
People saved and saved and just when they thought they had enough money for a down payment, they would look up and see that prices had jumped again. Home ownership seemed out of their grasp.
The real estate slide has changed all that. Prices are down — way down — throughout the county and the country. In addition, interest rates have tumbled to record lows.
First-time buyers should be jumping up with the chance to realize their dream.
Among the advantages to buying over renting:
— Opportunity for appreciation: When housing prices rise, you get to go along for the ride.
— Tax deductions for mortgage interest: Renters don't get this write-off.
— An $8,000 tax credit: Anyone who is under contract by April 30 and closes by June 30, receives this credit.
— Hedge against inflation: A fixed-rated mortgage keeps monthly payments the same as opposed to rent payments that typically rise over time.
— Pride of ownership: How much more enjoyable is it to sit on the porch when it's YOUR porch, or host a barbeque in YOUR backyard.
Are you ready, willing and able to buy a home.
Now's the time to find out.
Contact Kirk Kenney: 619.920.2195 or kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Median Home Price Rises in San Diego County
The median home price in San Diego County rose to $290,000 last month, according to information from MDA DataQuick.
According to a San Diego Union-Tribune story right here, it was the third straight month that the median has either increased or stayed the same, which has some observers thinking the market has bottomed out.
The median home price in the county peaked at $517,500 in late 2005. That seems incomprehensible now.
We'll have to watch the unemployment rate, the number of short sales and foreclosures in the pipeline and the availability of loans over the next few months to get an idea of whether this upward trend continues.
A couple of other interesting notes in the Union-Tribune story:
— Inventory has decreased. Active listings were at 13,354 yesterday, which is down nearly 500 from last month.
— The number of foreclosure sales was down to 47 percent (it was at 55 percent in January) among all resales. This bears watching over the next couple of months because there is some concern of a backlog of foreclosures coming to the market.
— There is a proposal to increase the fund for the $10,000 state tax credit for buying a new home. The fund is $100 million and they're hoping to increase it to $300 million to keep the program going. It may be tough to find the money, however, if voters reject today's ballot propositions (which appears likely). I haven't seen how much money is left in the fund, but it isn't expected to last past this year.
— Southern California is expected to be one of the first regions to recover from the housing downturn because it was the first area to suffer in the downturn.
Contact Kirk Kenney: 619.920.2195 or kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com
According to a San Diego Union-Tribune story right here, it was the third straight month that the median has either increased or stayed the same, which has some observers thinking the market has bottomed out.
The median home price in the county peaked at $517,500 in late 2005. That seems incomprehensible now.
We'll have to watch the unemployment rate, the number of short sales and foreclosures in the pipeline and the availability of loans over the next few months to get an idea of whether this upward trend continues.
A couple of other interesting notes in the Union-Tribune story:
— Inventory has decreased. Active listings were at 13,354 yesterday, which is down nearly 500 from last month.
— The number of foreclosure sales was down to 47 percent (it was at 55 percent in January) among all resales. This bears watching over the next couple of months because there is some concern of a backlog of foreclosures coming to the market.
— There is a proposal to increase the fund for the $10,000 state tax credit for buying a new home. The fund is $100 million and they're hoping to increase it to $300 million to keep the program going. It may be tough to find the money, however, if voters reject today's ballot propositions (which appears likely). I haven't seen how much money is left in the fund, but it isn't expected to last past this year.
— Southern California is expected to be one of the first regions to recover from the housing downturn because it was the first area to suffer in the downturn.
Contact Kirk Kenney: 619.920.2195 or kirkkenney@coldwellbanker.com
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