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| Real Estate Today |
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Beautiful Castaic Townhome Detached condo with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms approximately 1650 sq. ft. Offered at $259,900 http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/31760-Paseo-Bonita_Castaic_CA_91384_1116935304 |
Articles and Advice |
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| Tell us what you love about living in California What’s not to love about living in California--eternal sunshine, miles of gorgeous beaches, majestic mountains, and beautiful stretches of desert – this state has something for everyone. With so much to offer, it’s no wonder everyone would like to own a piece of California. Now you can tell the world about your piece of California .Leave a short comment at www.yourpieceofcalifornia.com via your Facebook or Twitter account and join others in sharing the love for California neighborhoods, beaches, and mountains. Looking for the right home is a big task, and the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) has created the perfect resource to help you find the home of your dreams. Visit www.yourpieceofcalifornia.com where you’ll not only find many great tools – from homes for sale to neighborhood information – you’ll also be able to share your thoughts about your piece of California, and see what others have said about our state. |
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| Santa Clarita Valley Home Sales Feel Loss of Federal Tax Credit August 2010 Update By Southland Regional Association of Realtors® A tight inventory and the end of federal tax credits contributed to a slowdown in home resale activity during July throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors® reported. Realtors® closed escrow on 176 home sales last month compared to the 235 sales of 2009, a drop of 25.1 percent. The 68 condos that changed owners last month came in 22.7 percent below year ago totals. “There are plenty of buyers out there who want to take advantage of the low prices and record-low interest rates,” said Andrew Alter, president of the Association’s Santa Clarita Valley Division. “The small inventory is a huge challenge, combined with the outsized expectations of lenders and continual delays getting final approval, especially on short sales. “Investors and first-time buyers still make up the majority of transactions,” Walter said. “Yet short sales take too long to negotiate, banks are making buyers jump through multiple hoops, and escrows, as a result, take longer to close.” Throw in the impact of losing federal tax credits and Walter said it’s easy to see why the market is slowing down. While off 56.5 percent from the record high 405 sales of June 2005, even with the slowdown in activity compared to a year ago, local sales during July are still up 77.8 percent from the low point of 99 sales set in January 2008, the Association reported. “Keeping perspective is a challenge,” said Jim Link, the Association’s chief executive officer. “We knew the end of the tax credits would hobble sales. Nonetheless, we’ve come a long way since January 2008 and we hope that the current dip in consumer confidence is only momentary because it is a key ingredient in a full-fledge recovery.” For the second time this year, the median price of single-family homes sold last month came in at $420,000, up 2.5 percent from a year ago and 5.1 percent ahead of the June median. The July median is far below the record-high $643,000 of April 2006, but last month’s figure was up 9.2 percent from the record low of $385,000 set in December 2008. The condominium median was up less than 1 percent during July to $220,000. It, too, has been trending higher for months and was 7.3 percent above the record low of $205,000 reported in January 2009. “Some of the slowdown can be blamed on the loss of the tax credits,” Link said, “but there would be more sales if the inventory was larger and if lenders streamlined the approval process.” The 812 single-family listings and 315 condo listings pushed the active inventory slight higher last month. While still too low to satisfy demand - which generate multiple offers on many properties -the 1,127 listings were up 39.7 percent from a year ago. At the current pace of sales the inventory represents a 4.6-month supply compared to the 2.5-month inventory of July 2009. A 5- to 6-month supply presents a balanced market. Pending escrows - a measure of future activity - suggest that the July pace will be around for months to come. The 360 open escrows at the end of the month were off 15.3 percent from a year ago July, a month that typically is one of the busiest months of the year. |
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| Pricing to sell in today's market By Dian Hymer Putting yourself in the right mindset to sell is essential. It's the most difficult aspect of selling for most sellers. Your home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay, which may not be what you think it is worth. Detaching yourself emotionally from your home is difficult. Clearing out years of clutter, depersonalizing your home by removing personal memorabilia, and staging your home for sale can help you step back and view the home as a commodity that needs to be sold rather than as your personal sanctuary. Putting your home on the market at a price that reflects what you want and not what the market will bear can cost you time and money as it sits on the market unsold. The home-sale market is a localized phenomenon. The only way to get a clear picture of what your home is likely to sell for is to find out which listings are selling in your neighborhood and for how much. The most recent sales -- those that closed within the last three months -- will be the most informative. Be sure to take a hard look at the list prices of homes that are new on the market. If the list prices are lower than they were two or three months ago, this indicates that prices are declining. This needs to be taken into account when you select a list price. HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Pay close attention to your competition. Don't fall into the trap of pricing your home higher than your neighbor's home because yours is better. If your neighbor's price is too high for the market, neither of your homes will sell. Ask your listing agent to call the listing agents of properties similar to yours to find out what kind of showing activity they are receiving. Have they had offers? If so, why weren't they accepted? Were the offers too high? If so, you should set your sights lower. Some listing agents recommend that you list considerably under market value in order to stimulate multiple offers. In some cases, this can be an effective strategy. For example, in the low-end foreclosure market, this was common practice at the end of 2009. Some listings priced way below market value received more than a dozen offers. However, it can be risky to price significantly lower than market value on a more expensive property for which the demand is lower. You could end up with more than one offer, but you could also receive under-market price offers. Your home needs to be perceived as a good value to a buyer to sell in this market. However, you could shortchange yourself by discounting the price too much. Your home is most marketable when it is new on the market. Buyers wait anxiously for the new crop of listings. Listings that don't sell relatively quickly often languish on the market. Price reductions often follow as the sellers try to find market value. A listing that has been on the market for months is likely to receive a low offer -- if a buyer makes any offer. A listing that receives a lot of showing activity when it first hits the market but gets no offers is probably overpriced for the market. In this case, it's best to lower the price to market value as soon as possible while the listing is still fresh in agents' and buyers' minds, even if this is within two to four weeks of the listing date. THE CLOSING: Listings in neighborhoods where sales activity is slim require a longer marketing period. Even so, pricing right for the market is imperative. Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience, is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author. |
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| Real estate contingencies make comeback By Dian Hymer During the recession of the early 1980s, when mortgage interest rates hovered near 18 percent, few home buyers could qualify for financing, particularly if they already owned a home that needed to be sold before buying a replacement home. Offers made contingent on the sale of the buyers' current home were popular. Contingent-sale offers are increasing in the current housing market. Most buyers who want or need to make a move to a home that better suits their current lifestyle can't qualify to buy before selling their existing home due to stringent mortgage-qualifying criteria. Sellers don't like offers that are contingent on another property selling because it increases uncertainty. If the buyers don't price their house right for the market and it doesn't sell, the sellers are back to square one searching for another buyer. Most buyers aren't keen on selling their current home before they know where they will be living next. This can limit buyers' prospects because many sellers won't accept contingent-sale offers. The best houses at the best prices usually sell quickly, sometimes with multiple offers. Sellers usually reject contingent-sale offers if there's another qualified buyer who doesn't have to sell a home. As always with homebuying and selling, compromises must be made. In areas where home sales are slow and there are many homes on the market, a contingent-sale offer may be better than no offer. A drawback is that once the sellers accept a contingent-sale offer, this fact must be disclosed to other interested buyers. This can slow the showing activity. Aggressive marketing, like continuing to hold Sunday open houses, can counteract this to some extent. Sellers who accept contingent-sale offers can continue to entertain offers from other buyers for backup position, subject to the collapse of the primary offer. But when there is plenty of inventory for buyers to choose from, there's not much incentive for a buyer to make an offer on a listing that already has an accepted offer -- even though it is contingent on the sale of another property. HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Sellers who accept contingent-sale offers can maximize their chance of selling by including a release or escape clause in the contract. This clause allows the sellers to notify the contingent-sale buyers that they have accepted another offer in backup position and that they are invoking the release clause. The release clause has a time frame -- often 72 hours, but it's negotiable -- within which the primary buyers must remove the contingent-sale contingency and provide evidence that they can close the sale of the replacement home without having their home sold. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, the first contract is canceled and the backup buyers move into primary position. Recently, buyers who were in contract to buy a home contingent on the sale of their home were delivered a 72-hour notification. The buyers who were kicked out of contract had their home on the market but hadn't found a buyer in time. It's tempting for buyers who lose a home they want to another more qualified buyer to pull their home off the market and wait for a better time to sell. However, it's near impossible to buy contingent on the sale of another home in a seller's market when buyer demand is high. THE CLOSING: It's inconvenient for most buyers to move to an interim rental if they sell their home before they find a suitable replacement home. But, with cash in hand, they have the luxury of waiting for the right house. They can make a stronger offer and probably receive a price concession compared to the premium usually paid to entice sellers into accepting a contingent-sale offer. Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience, is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author. |
| Hot Links |
| Search for Properties Like An Agent http://realestate-santaclarita.listingbook.com/ Help for Homeowners - HUD Website http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/topics/avoiding_foreclosure Research and Compare Schools Nationwide http://www.greatschools.net/ |
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