Archive for the 'San Diego County Fixer of the Week' Category
So you want to buy a foreclosure?
August 6th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO– Not long ago I wrote a post about the Clairemont area and why I see it as an area with great potential for first time home buyers and move up buyers.
I am working with a couple looking to buy their first home and we have spent time looking in the Clairemont. They prefer a home to townhome, need to be near the airport and hope to be close to the beach and their budget is in the $400–450 range. Clairemont perfect!!!
Last weekend, we looked at 9 homes that were all vacant. Additionally, 
they were all either short sales or REO/ bank owned. On the plus side we saw an awesome 4 bedroom that really was perfect. It had been thoughtfully updated throughout, is in a nice neighborhood of many equally updated homes and has a beautifully landscaped oversized corner lot with western exposure to bring in the ocean breezes that come up through the canyons. After a brief discussion, they put in an offer on this great home and while it is a short sale, the list agent and I feel pretty good about getting it approved.
On the negative we saw some beat up homes, but the home pictured takes the cake.
From the oil drum, yes it had old oil in it, that was hiding the gate that, when opened, revealed a pile of trash and personal belongings, to the syringes, my gut says diabetes not heroin addict, this place was a toxic dump.
Additionally, the owners(?) decided to do a little remodel before they left. convenience the interior wall was busted open. This allows for easy access 
to the hot water heater in case the pilot were to go out or you needed to adjust the water temperature. Thoughtful yes, but a little sloppy on the finish.
Also, knowing that the new owners would most likely want to update the kitchen as well as the bath, they started the demo work for them. Now in remodeling, demo work is often the least expensive portion and can actually be quite fun, so maybe this isn’t such a plus. But, if you look closely at the kitchen photo you will see that they also left some food and snacks just in 
case you get hungry while working on the place.
So here it is. A graphic example of what a foreclosure can be. The big unknown here is that if the past occupant has done this much damage, what damage may there be that is unseen?
There could be the concrete in the plumbing trick, the cut wiring in the 
attic or more.
Can you get a deal buying foreclosures? Absolutely and I will do everything in my power to help you get that deal. Most importantly however, is making sure that you are protected and given the best of advice whether it mean walking away or not. Call me, Brian Long at 760–415–3329 if you are ready to start your search.
Lastly, if the thought “why didn’t they clean this place up first” cross your mind, you and I would work well together.
| Currently No Comments »
Just how accurate is the Case Schiller home index for San Diego
July 31st, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week
SAN DIEGO– It was reported that the most recent Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller index showed a a one year price decline in San Diego of 23.2%. This ranked San Diego fifth worse of the 20 metro areas covered by the index. Now this is in no way good news, but more importantly I do not believe it is accurate news.
This index differs from other pricing surveys by looking at repeat sales of the same house which seems like a more accurate way of tracking trends as it does not bring new homes sales into the equation. The problem with this system however, and increasingly more so now, is it does not take in to account the condition of the home and I will explain why that is more important now than ever.
See in June foreclosed homes made up 40% of home sales in San Diego and since the majority of these homes would have a recent sale history they would be used in the index. Now the depreciation would be easy to figure out, but again, the condition of the home being sold in foreclosure would 
be a completely different animal than the home sold 2–5 years ago.
Take the example of this Carlsbad home pictured above that I wrote about here. It sold in December of 2003 for $500,000 and is now back on the market as a REO home that has been foreclosed on. I believe it will sell for somewhere in the low 400’s so not while the close to the 23% reported by Case/ Schiller, certainly a loss. But what is not taken into account is the home has been stripped of all its appliances including the garage door opener, the hot water heater and all kitchen appliances including the garbage disposal. Additionally sinks have been removed, a builtin vanity, plumbing, all the light fixtures, and more. The fences are now falling over, the back fence is gone, molding has been stripped away from the sliders and carpet has been cut out. 
So my question here is, is this depreciation an accurate indicator of the overall real estate market or the damage and cost of a foreclosed home? When buying a used car, mileage and condition are taken into account and should be in this case. If you plugged this theory onto cars, you could say Honda Civics are now worth $6500 based on same car sales which would not be true. Remember 40% of home sales were FORECLOSURES.
This is not a unique situation that I am using to make a point. I have been in foreclosed homes that had actual fungus growing out of the walls because the owner took all the shower fixtures and water was dripping down the interior wall. In past market downturns I have heard stories of owners doing very destructive thigs such as pouring cement in the tolets and sinks to try to ruin the in slab plumbing. In fact one of the main provisions of the Housing Bill that President signed into law yesterday establishes a fund for communities to use to buy and maintain foreclosed properties to try to limit blight.
“As a $4 billion package to help municipalities deal with foreclosure-related blight hangs fire in the US Senate, US mayors met last weekend in Miami to vent about the scourge of abandoned homes. Cash-strapped cities are now scrambling – often using on-the-fly ingenuity – to rescue neighborhoods suddenly vulnerable to crime and stunned by millions of dollars in lost equity wrought by loose credit, opportunistic
speculators, and predatory lending.”
“Some 44.5 million homes in the US now stand next to an empty house, resulting in a drop of at least $5,000 in property value per house. By that calculation, a total loss of home value of $220 billion across the US can be attributed to the vacancy problem.”
“‘This is a man-made disaster that’s had more dramatic impacts on real estate markets than natural disasters [have],’ says Bruce Katz, a housing analyst at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington. ‘In a way, we have a lot of mini-Katrinas across the country.’”– Christian Science Monitor, July 1, 2008
Is the real estate market in the midst of a down turn? Absolutley. Is it as bad as it is being made out? I think not. Sure some areas are getting hit very hard, but I beleive it is more a reflection of the product not the market. For all you buyers that were waiting for prices to come down, now is your time.
| Currently 2 Comments »
Nothing extreme about this foreclosure
July 28th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
Georgia– Back in 2005, 1800 volunteers and ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, built the Harper family of Georgia a 4 bedroom 5000+ square foot mansion free of charge. The company, Beazer Construction, also paid off the families mortgage and gave them $100,000.
Well the mansion must not have been enough for the Harpers or the 100k, because the Harpers are now facing foreclosure. Besides the 100K the Harpers took out to separate new loans for $125,000 and $450,000. So their ‘income’ in 3.5 years was a mere $625,000 and now they’re broke.
A foreclosure notice appeared last Friday, a $450,000 second mortgage they took out less than 15 months ago was in default…. Lake City mayor Willie Oswalt was among the 1,800 volunteers helping “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build the Harper’s new home 3 ½ years ago. Beazer Homes of Atlanta was the main sponsor. The mayor said he is baffled.
“Beazer gave them $100,000 cash, paid their mortgage off and they still can’t make it,” said Oswalt. Harper told Channel 2
they invested the loan proceeds in a construction business and the business hasn’t been good. She didn’t say how much of the money is left.
“What’s going to happen is instead of keep paying my mortgage, I’m going to take my money and not pay my mortgage because I’m being harassed,” said Harper.– GeorgiaBankrutcyblog.com
As bad as this is, they really did nothing different then millions of homeowners across the nation. House as ATM. Additionally this is not the first home built by the show that has been foreclosed on.
| Currently 2 Comments »
How the housing bill may effect San Diego
July 28th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO– Well congress pulled a weekend session and passed the housing bill intended to buoy our sinking housing market. President Bush has already indicated he would in turn sign this in to law. I have been asked by quite a few people what I thought about the bill over the last several weeks, but have withheld any real opinion until I could read more about it and digest that information. So here are my thoughts.
Probably the real impact of the bill nationwide will be the portion that allows the FHA to insure and help refinance, into fixed rate, some 400,000 loans for homeowners that are in some part of the foreclosure process. Two things here however. The homeowners would have to show that they can indeed afford the payment and the banks would have to accept any loss. The problem I see with this is that most of these homeowners will not be able to afford the new payment especially if 
they got loans based on stated income or had a change in their ‘economic’ picture such as disability, loss of job, taking on more consumer debt, etc. Additionally, there is a clause in the bill that protects lenders from investor lawsuits over loss revenue caused from restructuring loans. This is probably the most beneficial to the consumer group as a whole of this portion.
The 3.9 billion earmarked for buying and or maintaining/ rehabing foreclosed homes will go to companies with government ties so I really don’t see this as being very beneficial to the populous. This will benefit some companies and quite honestly I just see opportunity for abuse. Hopefully the money will go to housing non profits that have a strong history of benefiting the community. Did you read about the Iraq prison in todays paper?
Now the 15 billion earmarked for housing tax breaks will help quite a few with 
a tax credit equal to 10% of the purchase price up to $7500. In order to earn this credit, the home purchase must fall between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009. However, from what I have been able to find this is a credit for low income and first time buyers only. Additionally, this credit will have to be paid back in equal payments over 15 years. So this really is 0% loan. Also, as with most everything associated with tax filings there are income restrictions.
What I believe will have the greatest impact on San Diego’s real estate 
market is the provision that makes the increase in the loan amount the FHA can insure permanent. Currently the FHA can insure loans up to $625,000 in high cost market areas. This amount used to be $417,000 and was set to revert back at the end of the year. Why this is important to us, is that the borrower can get a more favorable because of the assurance to cover the loan from the FHA.
| Currently 1 Comment »
How to avoid a rental scam
July 15th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week
SAN DIEGO– Two Orange County men were arrested over the weekend for renting vacant homes that did not belong to them. This is not the first time this has happened either.
Back in August of 2007 two men were essentially doing the same thing. The homes which were for sale at the time and vacant, would be placed on CRAIGSLIST and then the men would collect rent and a deposit, in some cases from multiple people on the same homes. The homes used were in La Jolla, Crown Point and pacific Beach. The men were set up by 10News I-team and were eventually caught, tried and convicted of one count of conspiracy and two counts of grand theft.
This time around, the only real difference in the scam were the homes were 
in foreclosure. Again, the men placed an ad in CRAIGSLIST. They then broke into the homes in order to have access.
It was a stroke of bad luck though that doomed these two.
When the first ‘tenant’ went to put the utilities in to their name they were told the home was in foreclosure. Realizing they had been burned, they posted an ‘alert’ in CRAIGSLIST and received a response from a couple that was to meet the ‘landlords’ on a different home, but same type ad. Carlsbad police were alerted and the men were apprehended at the home.
HOW TO AVOID THE RENTAL SCAM
Probably the only real way to be certain you know who owns the home is to to have a REALTOR, you can use me, look up the property in the MLS and in the tax rolls to see where the ownership resides at that time. You will then have a valuable unsolicited piece of information.
Additionally, ask for an ID from the ‘landlord’. In 2007, one of the potential tenants asked for ID from the landlord and was told he had forgotten it. While he did say it made him feel uncomfortable, he went through with the deal.
Another victim, Ben Taley, told 10News, “The guy was being kind of shady. Once I gave him the deposit, I asked for his license information. He said he didn’t have it on him and I said I didn’t feel comfortable. He got kind of awkward.” 10news.com, UPDATED: 10:47 am PDT August 24, 2007
I would also suggest, asking them for the name of the previous tenants and their rental and ownership history. If they struggle with this information, that should be another huge signal.
Lastly, if you are not feeling quite secure, go knock on a neighbor’s door. Neighbors are ALWAYS a great source of information. If the house is on foreclosure or the For Sale sign disappeared from the front yard a couple days ago,they’ll know and will gladly tell you.
| Currently No Comments »
San Diego Habitat For Humanity homeownership opportunites
June 4th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week
SAN DIEGO– Habitat for Humanity San Diego started off this week in coastal north county with a building blitz on their 20 home Oceanside project near Libby Lake. The plan is to build four homes this week and then construct the other 16 over the next year and a half. If you would like more information about this project please go here.
Currently, Habitat for Humanity has two other projects slated for San Diego county. In east county, Habitat for Humanity, along with the Jimmy Johnson Foundation, will be building four single family homes in El Cajon. The groundbreaking for these homes is scheduled for the end of June.
Also scheduled to the Carlsbad village. This will be start is a condo project in 
built on the site of an old condemned home and will be named Roosevelt Gardens. The project is an 11 unit condo complex consisting of of eight 674 square foot one-bedroom units and three 894 square feet two-bedrooms. You can go here to the Habitat for Humanity site for all the information.
This is a great opportunity for the individual or family that meets the purchase criteria. A 30 year 0% loan!?! OUTSTANDING!!!
UPDATE: July 1st Habitat for Humanity will be holding and orientation reagrding the Carlsbad project. Go to the website for all the information
| Currently No Comments »
Options to help homeowners save money
May 23rd, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
SAN DIEGO– Time is running out to file with the county assessor the necessary forms to lower your property taxes. I have a blog post about it here that contains all the information and link to the form you will need.
Also, one of the lenders I work with, Meghan Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Capital has had some success in getting existing loans restructured for clients. If you have a high ARM or a loan that is going to be adjusting soon and you can not refinance because you should give her a call and discuss your situation. There a fee involved, IF SHE GETS A POSITIVE RESULT, but I have used Meghan personally and am confident in her ethics and honesty.
If you have a lender you already have a relationship and are uncomfortable reaching out to someone new, call them and discuss the possibilities. Interest rates are still very low and the groundwork should be free.
| Currently No Comments »
Christian based credit union forecloses on Oceanside church
April 30th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
OCEANSIDE– Things are getting tougher in Oceanside. According to ![Jesus+saves[1]](http://www.realtorahead.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/jesus-2bsaves1.jpg)
DataQuick the foreclosure rate in the 92056 zip code of Oceanside is up 221.7% quarter 1 2007 versus quarter 1 2008. While this is high for coastal north county, the surprise was the foreclosure of the Ambassador Church this month.
Pastor Barry Cook, who founded the church in 1995, blames the churches inability to meet its financial obligations on a declining congregation. One of the possible reasons for this decline? The pastor’s divorce from his wife this year.
“There were a lot of people who were hurt because of what happened to us,” Cook said. “There were a lot of people who were hurt because of delays in building. There were a lot of people who were hurt because I wasn’t stepping up to the plate as I should.” -San Diego Union Tribune 4/30/2008
The credit union, noting foreclosure on churches is very rare, is working with Ambassador church on a possible month to month tenancy. Let’s hope they are able to work this out.
| Currently No Comments »
Carlsbad 3 bedroom contractor special
April 15th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Community News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
CARLSBAD– Here you go, the contractor/ sweat equity special you have been waiting for!!! 
This home listed by Windemere Exclusive Properties, features 3 bedroom, 2.5 baths with a pool on a 8000 square foot lot. The home sits just above Aqua Hedionda lagoon and one block, Laguna Riviera park, from Kelly Elementary school.
This project being offered at $459,000. If you are interested in viewing this home contact me, Brian Long at 760–415–3329 or follow this link.
| Currently No Comments »
Rancho Bernardo fairway home for under 300K
November 16th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego County Fixer of the Week, San Diego county Real Estate News
Rancho Bernardo– This home is very conveniently located near the business district of Rancho 
Bernardo and is within 2 miles of I-15.
1100 square feet with 2 bedroom, 2 baths and an attached 2 car garage, you just can not go wrong.
Built in 1985, this home features 14 foot beamed ceiling in the living area 
along with a wood burning fireplace and a french door that leads out to the fairway fronted patio. There is a pony wall that seperates a dining area from the living area and a kitchen pass through to make this home perfect for entertaining.
This home needs moderate repairs and updating. However the floorplan and especially the location qualify this as the fixer of the week. For all you 
HGTV fanatics, get your tools and your DIY center credit card ready. Winters coming which will be the perfect time to be inside doing the work. You’ll be finished in time to enjoy the spring weather with friends, family and guests!!
Give me a call if there’s any interest.
Brian Long 760–415–3329
| Currently No Comments »
