Homescopes

This Valentine’s day I received something extra sweet. I decided that it had been long enough since my husband and I moved into our Ponderosa pad, that it was time to connect heart to heart with my neighbors. I’ve been watching (and walking my neighborhood; PS: down 18 pounds! To those who are my past readers & RSS Feed fans), all year long. Out on my adventures, I’ve contemplated the work it takes into maintaining a happy home. I decided I wanted to show my appreciation this past Valentines day to my neighbors as I delivered handmade chocolate tools to those folks who have made the neighborhood a better place to live. As I see it, these neighbors all deserve a job well done for helping me out. I’m thankful and appreciative by their efforts of upgrading their exterior and property. Their upgrades helped me retain a better value for my property. Their purchases really do say a lot about a neighborhood. Any great agent will illustrate many key factors to look for when shopping neighborhoods. Looking at what the “Jones are doing” i.e. the neighbors, is one of them. I also now know from being a homeowner for 5 years, it’s not easy to be a homeowner and have to make some big and sometimes quick decisions. That maintenance and care are just one of the many elements that goes into being a property owner. It’s a lot of work to pay for, choose, and go through such remodeling efforts. So I wanted to let these folks who have taken a step to improve their properties a big sweet thank-you. There was no strings attached, no call me note. Just real thoughtful appreciation. And to all those folks who did get my note, I appreciate the invite in and showing me around at your home’s interior upgrades too. These days not everyone takes the time to get to know the neighbors. I’m glad I did, that was the biggest reward I could ask for.

In my search for the truth to find out if it was true or not that a cancelled postcard with today’s once in a blue moon date stamped on it is a collector’s item. I find my fellow bloggers with some more interesting data that’s worth channeling. Pam’s research embarks that’s there is more to this day than just marriage proposals and babies. http://www.pamwinterbauer.net/blogs/pam_winterbauer/archive/2008/02/19/trivia-fun-facts-about-leap-year.aspx Also, this author found a math calculation error and explains how to fix this connundrum about Leap Year on Microsoft’s Open cal program. By determining the date in which leap year occurs, and no it’s not every four years - read on! Just another tid bit of knowledge I was unaware of that the Internet was so kind to share. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214019 Hey, but I never did find out about the post office collector’s piece - anybody know the answer. O’well, I’m off to mail out my campaign to my sphere of influence anyway.

If you follow homes built by Joseph Eichler, California Modern and Mid-Century Modern, you will be very interested in the Eichler/CA Modern Faire that my colleague, Heidi Slocomb and I are hosting. The event is Saturday, March 8, 2008 from 10 AM to 2PM at the Rancho San Miguel Swim Club at 2727 San Carlos Drive in Walnut Creek, California. Joining us at the event are contractors and crafts-people who specialize in products and services for Eichlers and CA Modern style homes. Abril Roofing and Energy, specialist in foam roofing; Light Energy Systems, specialists in all aspects of energy saving heating; Jeff and Annette Nichols, fabrication of unique interior and exterior siding patterns; Kitchens Italia, European kitchen and bath designers; Freschi Air Systems, air conditioning and heating specialists; Terralinda, landscape designers; Fleyry’s Flooring, contemporary floor choices; and more. Last year we had over 125 people attend our event from Oakland, Castro Valley, Berkeley, Concord and Walnut Creek. These cities represent the areas in the east bay area of San Francisco that have a large concentration of Eichler and California Modern homes. By the way, it’s free to the public, just drop on by.

Just had lunch today with a group of friends (aka The Russian River Valley Girls) at the new Bistro 29 in downtown Santa Rosa–they graciously opened for us for a private lunch and the food and service were fantastic!  It was a tough day to schedule for a lot of folks who are furiously preparing to host lots of locals and tourists for this weekend’s Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting.  Anne Giere of Sapphire Hill Winery, who heroically organized our lunch at the same time she is getting ready for the weekend, reminded me that this is the 30th Anniversary of the Barrel Tasting tour!   It has become such a big success that this year, as in 2007, the festivities stretch to cover two weekends.   Hard on the wineries to staff but lots of fun for the rest of us.  Many of my friends from the Bay Area come up and rent limos or designate a driver and then cover the area vineyards to sample wines not yet committed to bottles.   People have been known to buy copious amounts of cases to bring home and wine futures to pick up at a later date.

“Barrel Tasting is not a food or themed event.  It’s all about the WINE…many wineries offer “futures” on their barrel samples. This is a chance to purchase wine now, often at a discount, then come back to the winery when the wine is bottled, typically 12-18 months from now. Many wines are so limited, buying futures is your only chance to purchase them.”

Help us, help the Redwood Empire Food Bank - $1 from each tasting glass sold is donated back to the Food Bank. This resulted in a $30,000 donation for 2007.Barrel Tasting is not at one location. You drive to the wineries you would like to visit.
We will produce a program that shows the specific wines each winery will offer for the two weekends - you can expect to see that online beginning Feb. 1, 2008.”

I think we will file this under: “News of the Weird”, but I was stunned to see that even Michael Jackson has been unable to escape the clutches of the expanding foreclosure crisis. Apparently, The King of Pop’s has joined the thousands of homeowners across the country who are losing their homes to foreclosure. Apparently, Jacko owes $24.5 [...]

Local agents were brought up to speed on the California Land Title Association(CLTA) owner’s coverage and how beneficial it can be, particularly for Coastside homeowners.  Invited speaker, Chief Title Officer, Steve Johnson, is a 30 year veteran of San Mateo County title issues.

With so many details to pay attention to at the closing, buyers may not notice that one of the items they are paying for at settlement is a one-time fee for Owner’s Title Insurance.  This coverage protects the owner’s title to the property.  You might think, why do I need it if I can see the public record?  Because not everything related to the title of a particular property may be recorded.

Back in 1998, apparently with very little fanfare, homeowner’s title insurance coverage was expanded to include previously excluded issues, including unrecorded encumbrances.  A few examples:

• Someone else has an easement on the land.

• Someone else claims to have rights affecting your title arising out of fraud, duress, incompetence or incapacity.

• You are forced to remove or remedy your existing structures - possibly not boundary walls or fences - because any portion was built without obtaining a building permit from the proper government office.

• You are forced to remove or remedy your existing structures or any part of them, because they violate an existing zoning law or zoning regulation.

• You cannot use the land because use as a single-family residence violates existing zoning law or zoning regulation.

• Your title is unmarketable…allowing someone to refuse to perform a contract to purchase, lease it, or make a mortgage loan on it.

• The map attached to the policy does not show the correct location of the land according to the public records.

The list goes on… These items are from a sheet provided by Old Republic Title called “29 Covered Risks for Homeowners”.

When you buy or sell property in our area, the Listing Agent typically opens a “pre-sale escrow” which includes ordering the Preliminary Title Report.  That Report is included in the Seller Disclosure Package.  The prospective buyer can then review what this Title Report shows, we call it the “Prelim”.  This report includes items that have been recorded with the County Recorder’s Office.  Your Realtor will review this report and order items in the report that may be prudent to review further, called “Exceptions”.

Fortunately the claim rate in San Mateo County is below the national claim rate average of approximately 4%.  While this type of coverage is good for all homeowners, Coastsiders who own property in areas such as Montara, south of Half Moon Bay, Sunshine Valley area, and other rural areas, will be glad for this blanket of coverage.  Country properties can have fuzzier histories than clean-cut subdivisions.

To find out who your carrier is and what is covered and excluded, review your Closing Documents or ask your Realtor get you the name and contact information of your Title Insurance carrier.  To check out different carriers and their prices, check out this cool online tool called CLTA TitleWizard.

By the way, Old Republic Half Moon Bay is moving to a smaller location at 785-H Main Street, Half Moon Bay, to be staffed part-time/as-needed.  Phone number 650-726-9095 will remain the same as will the contact information of your escrow officer.  Call them for further information on this change.  Thanks to Angela Burnett for arranging for Steve’s visit.

My good friend, Mark Brunelle; fellow sailer and mortgage guru at Chase Bank has articulated the roll-out of the increase in loan limits.

“The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which regulates Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, announced it plans to remove the portfolio growth caps
for both companies on March 1. The shares of both government-sponsored
mortgage giants surged on the announcement, and were recently higher by
about 12% each.
Who cares?
This is significant because the two agencies were operating at over 90% of
their caps. Should they be suddenly open to the market for $417k to $729k
loans, it wouldn’t take much for the caps to be breached, which in turn
could shut off their capacity for new loans. OFHEO’s action isn’t a major
newsmaker but it’s an important link in the chain to some housing relief
from the lending side.

Rules are changing like we’re in a Road Runner Cartoon. “Beep Beep” and
suddenly you’re Wiley Coyote with an anvil on your head. Last month we had
90% CLTV loans with Stated results. Now there are no stated seconds at all.
Next month, there won’t be any 90% seconds. Each company in the industry
has subtle (and not so subtle) revisions, so keeping up is a full time job.
The rate of change will be even heavier when the loan limits do come into
play because the agencies will need to apply risk management to the new
loans.

What’s likely when the increased limits are finally ready for prime time:

Higher rates. This will come in the form of higher fees. It occurred to me
that we might see staggered fees, say around $600-$625k. The end result
might be something like a quarter point higher rate for up $600ish, then
3/8ths higher on the rate for the next tier, to $729,900.

Tighter guidelines: I haven’t seen anything on this, but having stricter
standards to get Stated/Stated findings is likely. These will be part of
the automated underwriting algorithm so you probably won’t see guidelines
but you’ll get the sense that some people who were stated/stated at $417k
might be getting full doc at $650k.  You’ll also see stricter total debt
ratios needed in the automated decisions. Right now, there’s no effective
cap on ratios, the decision is balanced among several other risk factors
with tremendous weight given to credit score and LTV. I wouldn’t't be
surprised if we started seeing a hard ceiling at between 45-48% on debt
ratios.

Lower LTV’s:  There’s no information about this either, but the agencies
are increasingly sensitive to declining market indicators, which currently
limit maximum financing on any given program to 5% lower LTV’s. Right now,
what used to qualify for 5% down needs 10% down if the area is determined
to be declining.  Expect another 5% LTV reduction for the higher limits and
I can’t imagine them doing anything at 100% even in markets that are not
declining.

What’s left? First and foremost is the consistency that comes with a
Fannie/Freddie loan. Plenty of liquidity for the product on the secondary
market. Next will be a better spread between today’s jumbo fixed and these
loans. Even with the ticket price higher than regular conforming, they’ll
still be 3/8ths to 5/8ths less than the current jumbos. Finally, these
loans will be far less susceptible to the “now you have it, now you don’t”
approvals we hear about that make us all work harder and look dumber.

Finally, those ideal, middle class, professional who wants and needs a nice
3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a good neighborhood, will be able to get one with
5-10% down and with a decent rate. They’ll need good credit and verifiable
jobs with good incomes, but the money will be available.”  Mark Brunelle, Chase Mortgage Services

 During the next month or so, lenders will be able to price these new products.  The price of homes in Walnut Creek and surrounding areas are a perfect fit.

As I have said in the past few weeks, this may be the time to list your home.  This may also be time to start the buying process.  If we are not careful, we will be in a market with little inventory.  That’s not a good idea.

Buyers and sellers here’s an incredible real estate window.

Walnut Creek single family homes continue to sell in less “days on market.”  This has always been a “bell weather” in the real estate business as a possible change in the market. 

Throughout the 680 corridor, Walnut Creek has always been the last to feel a depreciation in the real estate market and the first to bounce back.  Walnut Creek real estate seems to blend the perfect amount of single family homes to condos to retail to office space.

WALNUT CREEK MARKET PARITY.  This could be a very good thing for housing and the market in general.

 

 

Unlike the entry level where inventory keeps growing, and sales are also up sharply this last January, properties priced from $500,000 to $750,000, what is our lower mid-range, are showing declining sales, but also declining inventory at nearly the same rate.   Buyers at this price range are entering jumbo loan territory, and sellers who don’t have to absolutely sell may be taking themselves out of the market.

Not surprisingly the supply and demand dynamics for Sonoma County real estate vary greatly at various price levels indicating different forces at work.  The next few posts will look at different price ranges and the number of ratified sales (escrows opened) versus the number of new listings.    My broker, Rick Laws, compiles a detailed view of market statistics on a monthly basis which is shared with the Press Democrat newspaper.  Once a month I receive about 20 or 30 reports looking at homes, properties over $1 million dollars, and condominium sales throughout Sonoma County.  These are pulled from sales data from the BAREIS MLS for Sonoma County and supplied via Brokermetrics.   When I need data for a particular area or type of property I can drill down deeper in Brokermetrics but the monthly standard reports give a good statistical overview of the county as a whole.   The benefit being that it helps us to hopefully deduce some trends for our buyer and seller clients so that we can come up with the best strategy for their real estate needs.

 Not surprisingly, the low end of our market (under $500,000) is flooded with inventory compared to two years ago.

However, the number of ratified sales in January (sales that should close in February or March) is up nearly 50%, an encouraging sign and evidence of the increased buyer activity post holiday and Super Bowl.   The question is how far up will that inventory rise, and will the buyer bump up trend continue so that the lines level out or converge, rather than trend apart as they have in the recent past?