Have you wondered what to do with those hand-scraped distressed hardwood floors once they get old and weathered? Here’s an initial consultation and assessment by Andrew Appleby of http://allamericanhardwoods.com/ – we’ll come back for a look at the end! Hat tip B.C.
How did 2014 stack up to previous years?
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A. Look at the similarities between the median SP in 2003-2005, and the last three years. In both cases, the frenzy caused a large increase one year, followed by a smaller jump the next year. It then plateaued in 2006 and 2007, in spite of the easiest credit ever. I think we can expect a similar plateau-like event in pricing.
B. In 2014, we had 3% fewer listings, but 12% fewer sales than in 2013. The pricing strategies being employed are less effective than before.
C. Over the last two years, more than half of the sales occurred within the first month the house was on the market.
Expect more of the same this year!
There have been 116 new listings of NSDCC houses this year. As expected, 61 of those were on the market last year (53%), and that’s not counting the sellers who listed with a different company.
Why are listing agents allowed to intentionally deceive the consumer? You’ll have to ask the district attorney about that one, because there is nobody within the industry that is doing anything to stop it. Get Good Help!!
Click on the link below for the complete NSDCC active-inventory data:
We have an accepted offer on Glenmont in Solana Beach!
Our goal is 50 listings this year, and here’s our third – Richard’s investor special, a fourplex in Lakeside for only $450,000 (the least-expensive 4-plex for sale in the entire county!):
Here’s the audio update on our progress in Solana Beach.
While I think listing-for-an-attractive-price-to-induce-a-bidding-war is the best strategy to sell houses, it only works if you can run an effective bidding war:
Kayla had a good experience today:
Doesn’t that price seem a little low, Jim? Well, this is one of the rare times that I have previous experience with this house in virtual the same condition many years later, and all I know is that the price was wrong previously.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/669-Glenmont-Dr-Solana-Beach-CA-92075/16726516_zpid/
An example of how to solve everything with an attractive price.
When buyers think the price is already high, once they get to the house they are looking for any reason to confirm that belief. But if the price seems appealing on paper, buyers come in ‘pre-sold’ just because of the price, and are much more willing to overlook minor repair issues or funky floor plan.
Here’s my new listing with whitewater ocean views in old Solana Beach and the last house on the street – 669 Glenmont, listed for $1,499,000:
Because California has been exempted by the IRS from their debt-tax on short sales, we should still see more of them in the coming months and years. They tend to be shady – here’s how a case in Nevada turned out:
An excerpt:
Harcourts was one of the Northern Nevada companies identified by a Reno Gazette-Journal investigation last year for engaging in quick-listed, dual agency short sales. The deals allow the same agents or firms to earn multiple commissions on the same property by representing both the buyer and the seller — at times “triple dipping” and earning a third or even fourth commission by being involved in the property’s resale as well.
The practice also allows a pre-arranged buyer or investor to purchase the property far below fair value by blocking other offers for the property, which go pending with an approved offer the moment they are listed on the market. This allows an investor to resell the property just a few weeks or months later at huge profit, with some examples posting more than $100,000 in appreciation during the resale.
“What we pursued was gross negligence based on fiduciary duty … to represent the interests of all parties involved,” said Jonathan “JD” Decker, Nevada Real Estate Division administrator. “In this case, all parties include the seller, buyer and the mortgage lender.”
According to the defense, the primary interest of the seller is to sell a property quickly to avoid a harder hit on their credit rating from foreclosure. Since the seller is losing the property, it does not matter if the house is sold at a lower price to a prearranged buyer. By failing to get the best offer, however, Decker’s team said that the deals did not fairly serve the interests of the mortgage lender.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the defense countered that courts have ruled that the lender and homeowner are adversarial so the broker cannot represent both their interests. Instead, banks need to do their own due diligence to ensure a distressed property is being sold for the best price possible.
“You could call what was going on potentially distasteful,” Decker said. “But (the commission decided) that it did not come down to being illegal or in violation of statute.”
The ivory-tower opinion below is blaming speculators for a mini-bubble, but around here I’d say that over 90% of the home sales were regular, organic real estate transactions in 2013. Prices may fall in the coming months (slightly), and if they do, it will be because buyers are being patient and picking off only the best buys.
http://journal.firsttuesday.us/california-tiered-home-pricing/
Home prices displayed mixed signals in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in the single month of October 2014. Prices dipped in San Diego, remained roughly level in Los Angeles and rose slightly in San Francisco. Low-tier property prices are still on average 10% higher than one year earlier. Mid-tier and high-tier prices are 6% higher.
As in 2010, today’s price movement is the tail end of a mini-bubble, set into motion some 18 months earlier. This price rise was produced by short-lived speculator interference in 2013 (not a tax stimulus, as in 2009). This pricing activity is under pressure from insufficient personal incomes, rising fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rates and new construction.
Prices are expected to fall in the coming months, likely bottoming in mid-2016 and retreating toward the mean price trendline. The cooling of speculative fever and continually rising mortgage rates will prolong the falling trend in sales volume, pulling prices down in turn. Remember, real estate prices track and run with bond prices due to interest rate movement. A lag time of up to 12 months exists due to expectations of continued recent price movement — the sticky price phenomenon.
The graph tells the story – the higher-end market is ‘soft’, and only those with precision pricing are selling.
Are you looking for an experienced agent to help you buy or sell a home?
Contact Jim the Realtor!
CA DRE #01527365, CA DRE #00873197
