Open House Report

by | Sep 15, 2019 | Bubbleinfo TV, Jim's Take on the Market, Open House | 1 comment

A guy yesterday said he was going to wait-and-see how the drone bombings in Saudi Arabia are going to affect the market.  But isn’t there always going to be something?

Won’t there always be a headline that makes you wonder?

Regardless of what actually does happen, the government is much more involved with interfering with the natural market forces, so the likelihood of dramatic swings is remote.

Either your life is on hold, or it’s not.

Auberge Value

by | Sep 14, 2019 | Jim's Take on the Market, Realtor | 2 comments

Lucky me! For the second listing in a row I have instant competition nearby.

Two other listings hit the MLS in the last 48 hours, including the house right in front of us – and we priced ours before we knew about them.

There are three communities within the Auberge resort, and over the last twelve months the comps have ranged from $740,000 for 1,276sf to $1,510,000 for 2,757sf.

But if we go outside Auberge and consider other one-story homes in the casitas of Santaluz – which are similar one-story plans – it looks like my $1,295,000 list price is right in there:

Thankfully, we have Redfin on our side too – and they are very accommodating!

Once the listing was inputted, their estimate jumped up nicely:

Prior to MLS input, their estimate was misguided – it was 25% lower, and instead of re-manufacturing the trend graph like they used to do, they just delete it now.

https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Diego/7924-Auberge-Cir-92127/home/112891397

Open house 12-3 today and tomorrow!

Compass Concierge Update

by | Sep 13, 2019 | Bubbleinfo TV, Compass, Jim's Take on the Market | 0 comments

We used the Compass Concierge to pay for improvements at our new listing in Auberge just for the convenience.  It meant that the seller didn’t have to bother with arranging and paying contractors – we took care of that for him, and Compass will get reimbursed out of the proceeds at closing.

The program has become very popular, and was just expanded:

Concierge Approval Guidelines for Residential Resales:

For new residential resale listings under $3 million, Concierge requests up to $150,000 are guaranteed to be approved if:

(a) the request is 5% or less of the list price (up from the previous 3%);

(b) the equity in the home is at least 2x the budgeted Concierge amount; and

(c) the home will be ready to list within 3 months of when Concierge starts paying vendors.

It makes sense to spruce up a home before putting it on the market, but it also works after we find the buyer because we can repair/improve/customize the home to their needs to help justify them paying a higher sales price.

The program is helping to grow the Compass brand too.

There are now 650 Compass agents in San Diego County, with six main offices and several satellite locations too. Here’s a look at the new office downtown:

Auberge

by | Sep 12, 2019 | Bubbleinfo TV, Jim's Take on the Market, Why You Should List With Jim | 1 comment

Here’s a video tour of our new one-story listing in the 55+ gated resort community of Auberge, next to Santaluz! It’s the former model home that features the dream great room that opens seamlessly via multi-stacking sliding glass doors into the secluded, low-maintenance backyard with the unique fire pit table plus a built-in BBQ station under market lighting. There is also a relaxing outdoor retreat off the master suite with fireplace and TV too. The Compass Concierge program was employed to enhance every upgrade, and this home is in impeccable condition – and ready for you and the grandkids, who will love the upstairs party room for sleepovers!

Encinitas ADU and PRADU

by | Sep 11, 2019 | ADU, Bubbleinfo TV, Encinitas, Jim's Take on the Market, Real Estate Investing, Realtor | 2 comments

For Encinitas homeowners who are considering a granny flat – or buyers who want to purchase a suitable property – this is a 7-minute primer from one of the architects who helped guide the city to their current policy (which is the most flexible in North County).

He quotes the costs to build a granny flat to be between $75,000 to $300,000, depending on size, which still sounds like too much for most people.  But he thinks that in the long run the benefits are so great that homeowners who have the right-sized property will build one.

http://encinitasca.gov/pradu

There are a lot of visual distractions in the video so just listening to the audio might be better.

Remembering 9/11

by | Sep 11, 2019 | Jim's Take on the Market | 3 comments

“Boom! Boom! Just like that. The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now? with somebody? and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives. It will be a Religious War, a sort of Christian Jihad, fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics on both sides. It will be guerilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy.”

Hunter S. Thompson

Media Is Not Our Friend

by | Sep 10, 2019 | Jim's Take on the Market, Market Buzz | 2 comments

The mainstream media is prone to look for anything wrong with the housing market, and they are known to manufacture it if they have to!

You’d think an article that begins with the headline above will include some ultra-high end cities like San Francisco or New York City, but it doesn’t.  Instead, it mostly names small towns in flyover states as places that could be in trouble someday.  The only two in California are Menifee and Bakersfield!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/50-housing-markets-turning-ugly-090000594.html

Number one on their list?  Peoria, Illinois!

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CNBC is usually the negativity leader, but thankfully in their article yesterday they did include one quote from a realtor (which is rare) and another from a buyer that sum up the general market conditions:

At an open house in Dallas on Sunday, a few dozen potential buyers toured a home listed at just under $1.4 million. The agent for the home said the market is still moving, but buyers are getting more picky.

“I definitely think it has softened a bit,” said Kelley McMahon a Dallas-area agent with Compass. “It’s not a seller’s market right now. Now is not the time for sellers to put out these crazy prices. Appraisals have gotten a lot harder, and buyers are a little more cautious. They’re more willing to take their time.”

McMahon said the concern is less about the overall health of the housing market, and more about the future of the economy.

“I think people are a little more cautious to pull the trigger, and I definitely think that people want to get through the election year, just kind of see what happens,” she added.

Dustin Collins and his wife toured the Dallas property while carrying their new baby. They are watching interest rates closely but don’t feel the pressure to move quickly, the way so many buyers did last year.

“For us, knowing that that kind of the frenzy is over, it’s more about finding the right house for us than paying too much for it,” Dustin said. “I feel like now houses are sitting a little longer, it just gives us a little more opportunity to find the house we want.”

Those sentiments describe a healthy environment where the price gap between the cream-puffs and the fixers is returning.  Buyers are taking their time, and passing on the fixers or demanding a better price on them, and yet are willing to pay the money for a turn-key property in a quality location.

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