Archive for category Real Estate

La Jolla real estate outlook

Team Aguilar real estate, one of the leading real estate sellers in La Jolla, has released home sales year-to-date figures that indicate optimism in the La Jolla real estate outlook for home buying activity in 2010. It has reported a 14% rise in volume of properties the company sold so far this year.

TARE is selling homes in residential areas in and around La Jolla, including San Diego (the third busiest property markets in the US, as identified by the Wall Street Journal) and other neighborhoods along the coastline of Southern California. Its properties sold include oceanfront homes, neighborhood properties, resort houses, and equestrian estates. In fact, several of the most sought-after properties for sale are included in its catalog.

The growth in sales came despite an 8% decline in median price tags. Team Aguilar is confident that this is an indication of the market getting more reasonable. The positive buyers’ response is seen by the company as no less than encouraging. The company emphasized that for quite a long time, declining prices have not effectively obtained positive response in terms of home buying activities. Thus, this optimistic trend is seen as more favorable not just to the firm but to the entire housing market.

Another encouraging factor underlined by TARE is its shorter average market time, or the duration a home is held up-for-sale in the market. It has revealed that the average duration for the company to sell a home has shrunk by four days. This is a significant improvement compared to the firm’s performance in 2009. According to its analysis, home buyers are now acting faster on changes in property values. In the process, efficiency is bolstered in the entire La Jolla property market. Observers note that home buyers are getting less nervous compared to how they reacted to the market in the past several years.

Apparently, TARE is raving about its reported performance so far this year. It is positive that it is already reaching an equilibrium or balance between itself and homebuyers. It adds that this is a welcome note as it indicates emergence from a period when nobody was buying. For the company, its figures serve as evidence that market performance, aside from its own, is already in the process of improvement. Thus, it could not help itself but be very optimistic in its outlook for the entire housing industry in the area.

TARE employs dynamic teams of real estate agents, who could be considered as the most active in the La Jolla real estate area in California. Such agents know the market more as most of them are actual residents of the region. The company focuses on selling homes in secluded and prime neighborhoods. It is currently linked to exclusive industry networks, maintaining relationships that are long term with homebuyers and homeowners alike. TARE reiterates that its teams are well trained and oriented to provide assistance to home buyers from preparation, quick location of properties, to actual buying transactions. It aims to offer and provide the best options, services, and properties to its customers.

Tags:

New San Diego Library Approved by City Council

The city council has given the signal to start construction of a new San Diego library which will be centrally located in Downtown’s East Village of San Diego.

The building of a new central library has been repeatedly talked about for years now in the county. Rob Quigely, an architect, has already made the design back in the 1990s. The dome buildings are to be built in the East Village, on Park Boulevard. The site was chosen ten years after the design was created. The library is located directly across from Park Terrace & Icon. Now, a contract will finally be signed to initiate the construction.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders reiterated to the council that already $17 million have been spent on the planning of the library. More than $100 million has already been scraped together as of now. The first phase of the construction alone has been estimated to amount to $150 million. And almost 20 years have been invested into planning the central library.

Opponents of the library’s construction, such as Hudd Collins and Carl DeMaio, criticized the decision. They say it’s too much public spending from a state that is already in severe financial crisis. Councilwoman Sheri Lightner is also worried about it. She foresees a gap in the funding of the project, and has no assurance that the funds can be raised by the 2013 deadline. If the funds will not be available, the city will be made liable and will have to come up with the funds to complete the library.

Mel Katz, member of the San Diego Library Foundation, believes that once the deal has been signed, many more philanthropists will help. At present, they have already raised over $30 million for the project. Councilwoman Marti Emerald likewise voted for the project. According to her, the planned construction will create 1,000 jobs for the unemployed people in San Diego. She proposes that the project start immediately.

Mike Aguirre, a former attorney in the city, is also against the project, saying the city is actually breaching laws on liability limits. This is because the council will be signing a contract saying that they have to pay a certain amount of money that the city doesn’t have. The lawyer accused Irwin Jacobs, the library’s biggest donor, of harming the city by giving money for the project. Jacobs has already given $30 million to get the project started.

Many other critics fear that this move could just be the beginning. Plans for expansion and the construction of a new city hall, convention center and stadium may already be in the works.

The motion was presented to 8 councilmembers by councilman Kevin Faulconer. The motion to start construction passed 6 to 2.

Its time to get something done. I would have liked to have seen a partnership between private and public groups to help finance and continue to bring in additional revenue for the library. There still may be opportunity to do this down the road. Only time will tell and I think this library will really help finalize the East Village especially with the new Thomas Jefferson School of Law being built just a block a way.




----
WE ARE LOOKING FOR BLOGGERS! If you would like to contribute to this blog please feel free to sign up. Doesn't matter if you are a consumer or real estate agent. Articles must be original. Please click on the link in the top right corner to sign up.

Tags:

Zillow Real Estate Blog Contest Results

The first edition of the People’s Choice Best Real Estate Blog contest at Zillow has ended. Below you will find all of the winners for each city that participated. It appears to have been so popular that they have already created another contest for many more cities. We will be sure to post those winners as soon as the next contest is completed and they tally all of the winners. Be sure to check out some of the excellent real estate blogs below.

Baltimore
Winner – Realtor Marney
Runner Up – Real Estate Wonk

Chicago
Winner – Chicago Real Estate Blog

Dallas
Winner – Ebby Halliday Blog
Runner up – North Dallas Homes

Houston
Winner – Tom D Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog

Jacksonville
Winner – What’s Up Jacksonville

Oklahoma City
Winner – SellAMetroHome – the Blog

Philadelphia
Winner - The Philadelphia Real Estate Voice

Phoenix
Winner - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
Runner Up – The Phoenix Housing Blog

San Diego
Winner – Team Aguilar Blog

Seattle
Winner - Cooper Jacob Real Estate Blog




----
WE ARE LOOKING FOR BLOGGERS! If you would like to contribute to this blog please feel free to sign up. Doesn't matter if you are a consumer or real estate agent. Articles must be original. Please click on the link in the top right corner to sign up.

Tags:

Santaluz, one of my favorite communities in San Diego

I wanted to share a few listings that are currently available in the Santaluz community of San Diego County. This is one of my favorite areas of San Diego County. Just take a look at some of the photos below and it’s easy to see why. Unfortunately you need a couple million dollars to purchase any of these homes. The area is great, it has a world class gold course and it is so close to everything. It backs up to Rancho Santa Fe and Carmel Valley. It’s only a 5 minute drive to Del Mar and some beautiful beaches. If you have the means to purchase a home in this price range take a look at the homes available in the Santaluz community. You will not be disappointed!

Feel free to view all Santaluz homes by doing a search HERE.

$1,740,000 : 7511 Plein Aire, San Diego, CA 92127
5 beds
6 full baths

Year built: 2006

Size: 5545 sq ft

Lot size: 67,082 sq ft

Parking spots: 0

$1,795,000 : 8370 Sendero De Alba, San Diego, CA 92127
5 beds
6 full baths

Year built: 2003

Size: 5534 sq ft

Lot size: 0 sq ft

Parking spots: 0

$1,850,000 : 8194 Run of Knolls, San Diego, CA 92127
5 beds
8 full baths

Year built: 2009

Size: 6060 sq ft

Lot size: 0 sq ft

Parking spots: 0

$4,495,000 : 8304 Santaluz Pointe, San Diego, CA 92127
5 beds
7 full baths

Year built: 2008

Size: 6968 sq ft

Lot size: 0 sq ft

Parking spots: 0

$5,195,000 : 7908 Entrada De Luz East, San Diego, CA 92127
6 beds
10 full baths

Year built: 2006

Size: 10208 sq ft

Lot size: 0 sq ft

Parking spots: 12

$8,500,000 : 8543 Run of the Knolls, San Diego, CA 92127
6 beds
7 full baths

Year built: 2006

Size: 8800 sq ft

Lot size: 0 sq ft

Parking spots: 8

Alex Aguilar
Alex Aguilar
Team Aguilar Real Estate Agent & Blogger!
San Diego Houses
Real Estate Blog

If your looking for real estate in San Diego, Riverside or Imperial County you have arrived at the right place. Please feel free to contact us and please read our Real Estate Blog and leave your comments.

Tags:

U.S. Congress backs home buyer tax credit extension

It was good news for homebuyers all over the United States last June 30, as the US Congress finally approved a tax credit extension bill.

According to this tax credit extension bill, anyone trying to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit will have the closing deadline extended for those trying to buy homes. Originally, homebuyers who have signed contracts by April 30 needed to go to closing by June 30. With the new bill, they now have until the last day of September to close their purchases. According to real estate agents, many home buyers would not have been able to make the June 30 deadline, had it not been moved. The approval of this bill will also benefit settlement offices and banks, as they are already having a hard time dealing with the sheer number of people who are hastening to close their purchases by the end of June.

The Obama administration has so far been successful in jump starting the sales of American houses in the midst of the economic recession. Since the tax credit was initiated, residents all over the country have been rushing to buy their dream homes. This is because first-time homebuyers can get an $8,000 tax incentive, while homebuyers who are purchasing their primary residence can get as much as $6,500 as tax incentive. This tax credit program has been credited by many, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as the major factor in boosting up California’s economy and housing market. This is especially true in his hometown of Nevada, where foreclosures have become a common matter.

A bill that covered both the tax credit extension for homebuyers and an extension of the jobless aid program was actually proposed previously in the Senate, but was blocked by the Republicans. The bill fell short by a single vote. The proposition was to extend until November the said program, which provides benefits for residents who have been unemployed for a long time. Approval of this bill would have cost $34 billion; because of this, the Republicans objected. Instead, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republicans, suggested an extension of two months using the money from the economic stimulus program last year. The Democrats, however, objected to this. Senator Reid has said that he would again attempt to pass the bill after the recess on July 4th.

The tax credit extension bill has now been forwarded to the office of the President, and awaits his final approval. This has been very popular in markets where home prices have fallen. Homes for sell in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego have seen an increase in sales because of the tax credit.

Alex Aguilar
Alex Aguilar
Team Aguilar Real Estate Agent & Blogger!
San Diego Houses
Real Estate Blog

If your looking for real estate in San Diego, Riverside or Imperial County you have arrived at the right place. Please feel free to contact us and please read our Real Estate Blog and leave your comments.

Tags: , , , , ,

BofA Offers Help to Homeowners Underwater

With hopes of encouraging more participation from homeowners in programs of modification, the Bank of America now has a brand new approach on modifying loans that are extremely underwater.
First, it looked at principal forgiveness when modifying adjustable-rate and subprime mortgages that qualified for the NHRP. These also had to meet the most basic qualifications of the Home Affordable Modification Program.

This approach focuses on mortgages that are extremely underwater and have high delinquency rates, most of all Pay-Option ARMs and subprime loans.

The Bank of America has seen a lot of homeowners that owe a lot more on mortgages than on what their homes are actually worth but are reluctant to accept solutions that focus merely on the payment without balance reductions from their loans.
When it comes to these mortgage modifications, the Bank of America is going to take principal reduction into consideration to reach reasonable payments that are equal to around 31% of the household income. If it is a necessity to get extra savings to reach that target of payment, a reduction of interest rates will also be taken into consideration.
Under this new approach, the qualified homeowners will get an offer of interest-free principal forbearance, which can become forgiven principal – a result of up to 30% in loan principal balance reduction.

For the initial three years, the forgiveness installments will be set to a level of 20%. In the last two years, this amount will rely on the property’s updated value to make sure that the LTV won’t go below 100% because of principal forgiveness.
Earned principal forgiveness can help homeowners

    and it even focuses on and recognizes the interests of the mortgage investors by making sure that forgiveness does not entirely depend on the performance of the homeowner. Under the new terms, this lowers the chances of future defaults from happening and changes the overall amount to forgiveness because of the property value gains that might happen during a recovery of the economy.

    Aside from this new approach, the Bank of America has also started to provide two other sustainable and reasonable payment solutions when it comes to certain Pay-Option ARMs.
    If negative amortization is the case, they will think about offering up HAMP modification to get rid of negative amortization and to forgive some of the amounts for principal reductions. If pending Pay-Option ARM recasts appear to increase the monthly payments of a customer, however, a preemptive modification which gets rid of negative mortgage amortization and changes it to a completely amortizing market rate loan might be taken into consideration.
    The latest NHRP components will come about next month and they are expected to offer up improved solutions to principal reduction to around 45,000 customers that qualify for the HAMP modification. This would result in around a total of $3 billion of reduced principal.

    Tags: , ,

February Foreclosures High

In February, St. George’s rates of foreclosure went up compared to its rates last year.

St. George’s foreclosure rate among existing mortgage loans stands at 4.19% for February, 1.88% higher than last year’s 2.31%. In fact, the overall activity of foreclosure in St. George stands higher compared to the national rate of foreclosure, which stood at 3.17% this February – a difference of 1.02%.

The rate of mortgage delinquency in St. George has also gone up. In the month of February this year, 11.13% of all mortgage loans happened to be at least 90 days delinquent as compared to the 6.11% of last year – a 5.02% increase.

Foreclosures do not appear to be a problem is Rancho Santa Fe as the Rancho Santa Fe real estate market continues to remain strong.

Tags: ,

Short Sale Process Getting Faster

Are you doing everything that you can just to avoid foreclosure? Well, short sales may become a more reasonable option for you soon.

Although the latest mortgage modifications that President Obama promised will not come into fruition until fall, people who are already in trouble can make things move faster; and short sales could save their credit, too. Unfortunately, short sales take some time because banks also take their time in approving them.

For banks that choose to cooperate in this endeavor, though, the government has plans of handing out checks in a few weeks. Many more lenders are starting to want to work with people for short sales since there are more benefits to them compared to foreclosures. And, because potential homebuyers can find great deals with them, it is completely a win-win situation. Clearly, if you are facing unforeseen circumstances right now, this would be the greatest option out there.

Why Short Sales are Better than Foreclosures

When it comes to the market of distressed property, short sales are going like hot cakes and they are expected to become even hotter in the weeks to come because the government will be shelling out money to encourage lenders to close the deals.

Because of this, banks have increased their approvals of short sales and now hire tons of people who have had experience with the industry of mortgage-lending to make them work with short shales.

Transactions wherein lenders let homeowners sell their homes for a lower amount than they actually owe made up 17% of every residential sale of real estate in February – 4% more than the amount in November. Even the Bank of America, which is the biggest mortgage servicer in the country, has doubled the amount of their processed short sales within the last few months. And they approve them much faster, too.

This is definitely a massive change compared to how things were in the short-sale market half a year ago. Since lenders could lose a lot from such transactions, they were very reluctant about accepting short sales and really took their time – usually around six months – before contacting potential buyers again.

Things have definitely changed since then. Banks now realize that they do financially better with short sales rather than foreclosures. Lenders lose around 50% on foreclosures and a mere 30% on short sales. Plus, short sales provide a means of getting rid of distressed properties much faster.

Now, there is also a new program called the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, where borrowers can earn $3000 on relocation incentive, while servicers get $1500 for handling each short sale.

The investors that own the actual mortgage notes get $2000 for sharing the short sale proceeds with second-lien holders, who in turn get $6000 for the release of the claims.

Because of this program, a boom in short sales is expected, which could end the crisis of foreclosure by getting rid of the overhang of distressed borrowers and putting stable homeowners in their stead. Plus, this will make the sales for distressed borrowers better since their credit scores will not suffer as much as foreclosures make them.

Brand New Rules in Favor of Flipping

Residential real estate never used to like the term “flipping”, but things have changed since then. The latest changes in policies actually encourage flipping in order to sell more foreclosed homes, which are already horribly damaged – something that area realtors are also in favor of. There are hopes of this helping today’s struggling home market.

Back in the days when there was a boom in real estate and home values had risen, flippers could buy homes to sell them for a profit without increasing the value of the homes in any way. To stop this practice from going on, the rules were changed to forbid property flipping on properties financed with FHA-insured mortgages.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,