[SD Realtor]

Stopforeclosure I would assume that to maximize the number of offers you receive for your listings for your auctions, you would list them on the local MLS to get Realtors to bring clients. I have many clients looking for solid deals. If you look at our MLS in San Diego, you will see there are more and more short sales popping up every day. I put a client in a very nice REO property this past summer that went for about 15% below comps.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Hi Cristalight –

This is the other SD Realtor responding. I have sold a few listings in Escala and indeed it is a very nice place. I think that your choice should be dictated by what it most important to you. If commute is the biggest issue then I would move out further north/east. You mentioned Carmel Valley as a potential choice as well That may not be a bad idea as you can be in the 56 corridor and jet right up to I15. Also you will get more house for the money. I think Escala is great but I am not sold on raising my kids in a complex like that. Also the surrounding schools are not exceptional. Also if you want something in the newer category of housing stock be prepared to pay Mello Roos fees.

Now I would definitely agree with other comments to exercise patience. Like you I am also renting right now and while we REALLY want to buy a home, I think that waiting is the right thing to do and we could realize substantial savings. When your lease expires in August you should consider renewing it for at least 6 more months OR just let it convert to a month to month, (which is what happens if you do nothing)…

You may fall into a great situation where someone overextended themselves in a 2003-2005 purchase in a nice Carmel Valley home and they must short sell in 2008… I think there will be lots of those.

[SD Realtor]

Thanks Cardiff, I did not realize that! Any thoughts on the quality of the schools within the district? I have always been told for instance that as you head south the quality improves but I have not done any hard searching of data to prove that.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

MH –

I would also recommend the rental strategy prior to buying as well. I am doing that right now. If school district is a priority then the Torrey Pines school district is tops, (which means you live in Carmel Valley) and other good school districts would put you in Solana Beach, Del Mar and of course La Jolla. The Poway school district serves Rancho Penasquitos, Poway and Rancho Bernardo and this is also a good district. I also like Encinitas and Cardiff but I do not know the quality of the San Dieguito school district.

Again like you I am renting and I have two toddlers and will be concerned about school in a few short years.

Mello Roos fees vary with the subdivision you choose but a good rule of thumb is that if you choose a newer home, (built in the late 90’s and after) the chances are good that you will have MR fees. When you start really looking the MLS listings will display if there is a MR fee or not.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Perry I am not so sure the decline will be as rapid as we all hope it to be… (Yes I to am renting and WANT very badly for the pricing to reach more affordable levels)

Again I have posted many a note about the sticky on the way down phenom… More concrete examples… a couple at Crescent Court in San Marcos priced thier home at 580-595 EVEN though the last from the bulder is priced in the 570’s… This family is only “semi motivated” right now. Another listing I just cancelled was a condo owner who had a condo at Pelican Cove in Oceanside. He bought last year at 339k and couldn’t fathom why his home didnt sell at 380 then 360… So now he will rent… and lose more money…

Also I am still fascinated by buyers that ARE still out there. I went to a listing appointment today out in Carlsbad and the young couple were very disappointed by the comps I showed them… So they will hold off and not sell BUT THEY STILL WANT TO BUY… I am bringing them to Portico tomorrow in Carmel Valley… This after I spent an hour telling them why I felt they should hold off on buying…

Anyways I think the worst depreciation will continue for condos and certain areas of town. However I am very much puzzled by what I call the bonehead factor… yes in the long run real estate does go up but like any other commodity there are intelligent entry points. Why anyone would buy now when the past 3 months have seen YOY declines in sales that are close to 30% amazes me…

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

“Military pay is good enough that you shouldn’t need handouts”

That may or may not be true however my wife and I feel pretty strongly about helping military families out. Rodger Hedgecock does alot of charity work for the military on AM 600 and we drove a truckload of baby supplies down there last week. I went to Venice High up in L.A. when I was a kid and while I had it pretty good, alot of my friends were from very poor neighborhoods in Culver City and Mar Vista. Not alot of them were great decision makers in life and for many of them the military was the best choice.

I think that the sacrifice military personnel have made for all of us is noteworthy to say the least. You do not have to agree or disagree with the policies of our government but like it or not, the military protects all of our well being and without a strong military this country and the world would be a very very different place… I believe for the worse.

I have many friends who have active duty servicemen and the stress on these families is gut wrenching. I think any help that our society can give these families is useful regardless of the good or bad decisions some of the service people have made regarding starting a family to soon or getting married to early.

[SD Realtor]

Qwerty –

As a realtor I do not hold much stock in Zillow and never did. Do not get to bummed out. If you really want to know what is going on then focus on the exact area and the exact type of housing and ask a Realtor or someone with MLS access to start tracking the listings for you. I think Zillow is a nice tool for people to get more information on the market but I could not comment on the accuracy of it.

Also I think in general the market is going to do what it will do. We all, (including me cuz I am a renter and I need a bigger home) want the market to slide down fast. However it may or may not do that. Yes inventory is sky high and yes sales have declined which is great. However for many reasons that has not translated to the price declines many of us WANT to see. However, in alot of certain types of housing I HAVE indeed seen big price drops. Not in the areas or types of homes I want but something is better then nothing. The other night I got some email from a good guy who posts here every now and then and we were trying to figure out why the market hasn’t tanked like it should. I commented that my wife is gonna kill me if it doesn’t indeed tank so maybe next year on my headstone it will read “he died waiting for the downturn”…

Real estate cycles are slow slow slow…

Anyways get your data from someone who can give you accurate stuff. You want to know what is active, what is pending, average market times, recent solds, recent expireds and cancelleds… When you want to really start to assess what is going on in the area you are thinking of buying in, then start gathering data and tracking stuff.

[SD Realtor]

PS –

I dont want to be accused (again) by “shilling” on the site. Suffice it to say that I have saved people money simply based on the low commission I charge. Similarly every person buying real estate should know that there are some Realtors out there who will give them buyers rebates. Also many Realtors have very good established relationships with contractors and such. My client who just needed extensive remediation from termite damage had estimates of several thousand dollars from contractors they called. I have someone who I refer jobs to who did the job for $1300 and saved them over $3000. Many other people selling thier home have no ideas of the cancelled, expireds and withdrawns so thier pricing is usually off. Not pricing correctly will cost you in the long run. Finally the biggest unknown little gem is using a Realtor when you buy a new home from a builder. The builders purchase agreements are usually NOT the same as the CAR purchase agreement. These private sales are generally much more one sided (in favor of the builder) then standard resale homes. Having a Realtor represent you WILL NOT change the price of the new home, and in fact your Realtor may be able to negotiate a better price then you would be able to do. Finally, you should be able to work with that Realtor to get a rebate.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Hi Hammer –

SD Realtor here, different person then sdrealtor. If you are planning on occupying the home you live in for several years then you should be okay. Make no mistake I do believe we have more depreciation coming so be prepared to take a ride down and then back up again. However if you enjoy where you live and have a secure financing vehicle then you will be fine. My brother lived there for many years and loved it. There was definite noise from the flight path (where he lived) so beware of that. If you are south down towards Pt Loma then you will be fine. Also as others have commented the east side of the hill is really nice as well. I am not overly thrilled about the Southpark area due to the school districts. The same is true for North Park, Talmadge, Kensington, University Heights areas. Don’t get me wrong, they are nice places, I own a home in Talmadge, however unless you plan on private schools I would not recommend those locations for a family raising thier kids and sending them to public schools. As other posts have recommended alot of people recommended Carmel Valley. Cookie cutter homes with not much personality but they are newer, and the school districts are very good. You may want to compromise in a community like University City. The home stock is a bit older but they are still nice homes and the school district is good, not as great as Carmel Valley but still good. Finally you get a bit more value then Carmel Valley and you are about 15 minutes closer to downtown.

[SD Realtor]

Lindi it is because Zillow is not marketing to people who really know what is going on. They market to the average consumer who is just cruising around on line. People on this site have done thier homework and are very adept at comping properties that they are truly interested in.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Guys –

I saw some replies to the posts from sdrealtor in here where the replies were titled to SD Realtor. Remember we are two seperate people.

Actually sdrealtor and I have differing opinions about real estate and the commission structure. While many of you don’t find much value in Realtors, there is not a single client I have who was not only very happy with my work, but has referred friends and family to me. Admittedly my fee structure is not the same as the traditional brokerages. However, independent of the fee structure I do believe that a good Realtor will save you money regardless of whether you are a buyer or a seller.

We have had threads like this before. Since nobody that has ever posted her has ever had a for sale by owner gone bad, or had to face a lawsuit due to improper disclosure, nor have any of you ever gone to the classes where we have gone to that have illustration after illustration of lawsuits. So it is entirely understable from my point of view why the frustration about the way real estate is done.

Again, I come from an engineering profession where I routinely worked 60-70 hours for extended amounts of time on projects. I dealt with very smart people. Real estate is quite contrary to that and it is easy to diminish the value of a good agent. My answer to the frustration that all you feel was to go out and get my license. However what was quite interesting was that it wasn’t until after being in the field for a little while and dealing with buyers and sellers, and learning the industry from the inside, that the value of the job became apparent.

I can almost see you guys rolling on the ground. That’s okay because honestly, the majority of agents are booboramas… but there are a few good ones out there that will make you more money on the sale, and save you money on the purchase.

[SD Realtor]

If you don’t like Powaysellers posts then don’t read them.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

I do not believe that to be true at all. The June, July and August solds were close to 30% less then the June, July, August solds from 2005.

[SD Realtor]

Yeah I have had problems as well. Sometimes it takes me two times to log in. Sometimes I login and it says page not found…

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

I think people should post as much as they want. If you don’t like it don’t read it.

SD Realtor

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