A client I have been working with for some time, from Lodi, CA, came up to look at our fair State as a possible retirement option.  Since I am a Santa Rosa transplant I was very interested in what he had to say regarding the Real Estate market there.  He is much more adapt at computer research than I am and what I gleaned from our conversation regarding his research of his local market is this:

The market there started an upward momentum with rising prices and reduced inventory, took a little dip and is on it's way back up again.  Since we followed the CA market in our decline and have followed their recovery I have my fingers crossed.  I needed some encouragement and that little bit helped.  It doesn't take much for eternal optimists and I am one. 

He went on to compare many factors which have influenced his decision to look to Oregon as a viable place to retire.  I will attempt to enumerate them.

1.  Lower DMV fees

2.  Lower property taxes, although CA property taxes are 1% plus special assessments of purchase price which usually equated to 1.25%, due to the lower Oregon cost of housing the property taxes they now pay are much higher than those they will pay.

3.  CA sales tax adds up to 10%, depending upon the community you live in, to every dollar spent.

4.  Life style.  They want out of the rush rush.  They noted to me the people here are not running yellow lights, not cutting people off, not shaking fists and shouting obscenities

5.  Graffiti, they were pleasantly surprised at the lack of it in our community.

6.  Crime, they found our crime stats "cute."

As they left I thought, once again, how much I miss friends, family and colleagues I left behind and then I took a long look at what I saw when I initially came here, much of which still remains, and a sigh of relief came from me.  I am blessed to live and work in such a wonderful place surrounded by great people.

With the advent of the deregulation of the banking system and the years of reckless lending which the de-regulation led to we are experiencing a depressed real estate market in a depressed economy.  Despite housing prices being lower than they have been in some years and iinterest rates making many investors drool, the housing market remains depressed.  As people loose their homes and the devalued, Bank Owned, properties hit the market we would expect an upturn in the market as they are snaped up and the supply decreases.  In spite of people in snatching up the opportunity of their lifetime the hemorrhage of foreclosures and short sales continue and appear unending.  

Recently a young couple called me inquiring about their dream:   a wonderful little home on a great piece of land with a spring and a good productive well.  The house was Bank owned and had sold a couple of years ago for over $300,000.  It was now on the market with an asking price below $130,000.  We managed to negotiate closing costs of $6000 and a home warranty and this blended family of 6, living in a mobile home park, will soon be in the country, paying approximately the same principal, interest, taxes and insurance they previously paid for space rent and house payments on their trailer.  Their children can run on their land and have the freedom children deserve in childhood.  When I see those boys running and loving life on dirt, instead of concrete, I see some good in the awfulness of this time we are experiencing.... a time where people loose jobs and homes.   Many wonderful and tragic experiences unfold before our eyes, as Realtors, each day. 

Another fallout attributed to the "big flush" is people who came into this business as a way to earn big money fast when a sign planted in a lawn was a sure payday in thirty days, but that is a whole other blog, are dropping out like flies when it rains.  I see colleagues with more education, working harder for their principals and relationships strengthening within offices and between offices.  Those of us who are still here after surviving the soaring 18% interest rates of the early eighty's and the  downturns of the market in the early eighty's and again in the ninety's are as fresh water to those who came into the market later and are sticking.  The new comers are a breath of fresh air to us elders as they bring freshness, new ideas,  new and sometimes better ways of serving others who use our services. 

When the flush is complete who will be here, who will not, and what will be indelibly changed?  Those are questions that only time will unfold answers to.  I am convinced that much good will come from this time of education and learning.  Hang in there and I hope to see you all after the big flush is complete.    

 

Although we were a little behind the rest of the Nation in the slow down....here we are.  There are more foreclosures and short sales than in times past.  There are some really good opportunities for those who are in the market to build their Real Estate portfolio as well as realize instant equity as the market turns, which it surely will. 

So how is the rest of the country doing?  I would love to know who is recovering, who is still sliding and who is going gang busters.  Check in.

Shirley

Am I the only one who experiences this thing which is akin to stage fright when preparing to meet new Buyers or Sellers for the first time?

This business is my choice and it is right for me.  The earth and the houses we build upon it are an amazing thing to introduce people to.  Watching the magical connection a Buyer has to their "special" home fills me with joy, even after all these years.  There truly is a home for everyone.  Helping people build wealth through their wise investments is very fulfilling, even through the ups and downs.  Seeing that Buyers and Sellers get the value from what they are buying or selling gives me a real thrill.  It is just that after the research has been done and I am waiting to meet that new "Boss" for the first time I get really anxious.  It is not due to shyness or lack of experience or knowledge about the product.  It is not the fear of rejection.  I am so nervous I can't remember their names even if I have been corresponding with them for months or in some instances years.  Perhaps this is the only part of this business that I truly detest aside from having to tell other hard working Brokers that the transaction is failing for reasons beyond anyones control.

I am open to suggestions about how I can get over this unsettling feeling.  Any help out there?

Shirley 

The escrow closed, the Buyers were happy.  A year later I get a call from the Buyer saying a neighbor had told them there was a violent murder in their garage prior to their occupancy.  My daughter lives in this community and the only murder I have been aware of in the town in the past 10 years was a drowning in an upstairs bathtub, many blocks from their home.  I call the listing agent, she checks with her Sellers who say they are unaware of any murder in the house.  They owned the house for 2 years prior to putting it on the market.  I call the police department, it is a small community, 32,000 population, so everyone knows everything.  I get a resounding no there was never a murder at that address or on that street.  I call my clients and they relax.  A few months later I get the same call, only this time there is sleep disturbances, ill health and strange noises in the night.  They want to be made whole and it is a declining market...much as the one we are experiencing now.  They want my Brokerage to buy the home.  I once again call the police department and bingo, there was a violent murder in the garage some 5 years prior to their occupancy.  I check the law for the State and time for disclosure has passed.  I call my Buyers and tell them that there was indeed a murder and the Brokerage I work for has no legal responsibility for my lack of disclosure and assure them that although the time for disclosure had lapsed I would have, had I known, disclosed the information to them.  I offer to sell the home for them.  Is there a way to find out accurate information from Government Entities  which I am unaware of?  Why would a neighbor tell one set of neighbors, living in a crime scene home of the crime and not tell the previous neighbors?

Interest  is low, houses are plentiful, Sellers are motivated, rents are stable.  I don't know about you but I can guarantee you I am in the market for any property that I can buy that will cash flow.  Most of us put aside some healthy savings while the market was hot.  At least those of us who have been in the business a few decades did.  Now is our time to not only be hero's by buying those stale listings, but circumstances allow us to get them at really good values, often with seller carry and at interest rates that are very attractive.  Of course we owe it to our clients to introduce them to these wonderful values before we take a run at them but come on.....we know the product, we know people have to have a place to live, and as Will Rogers said, "they don't make no more of it,"  We know the ups and downs of the marketplace.  There is no way we can be selling this wonderful facilitator to wealth, Real Property, without treating ourselves to some of it as well.  Get out there and set yourself up for your future and retirement.  NOW IS the time!!!!

I am new to the community and need nelp.  I have structured an ad and really don't know who to target nor do I understand the pricing.  I would so much appreciate help from anyone who is doing ads or who has done ads comments as to pricing and/or how to set up the ad in such a way it will neither be price prohibitive or targeting the wrong market.

I am uncertain as to whether it is appropriate to blog requests for help, however,  help is apprciated.

Wishing you all a very productive, healthy, happy, and fulfilling New Year.  If it is a fraction as good as 2007 we are so blessed.

Today during an open house at a new development here in Douglas County, Oregon,  I was speaking with some local builders.  Thay came to see how I was doing and to talk about my read on the real estate market.  As we discussed the press and the impact it has on our industry a young couple came in.  I greated them and began to answer their questions regarding Lookingglass Creek Estates.  The husband wanted to know if the gentlemen I had been talking to were Realtors?  When I explained they were local, high end, builders of custom homes he wanted to know what we meant by the press's influence.  Reflecting on our conversation I decided to  blog it.

The press does not talk about the fact that when interest is 6.25%, the payment on a hundred thousand dollar mortgage is $616, instead of $665. at 7%, which allows one to borrow $108,000 for the same payment one would pay for $100,000 at .75% more interest.  The press doesn't talk about how in a softer market those who qualify for loans can buy more for the same amount of money.  The press doesn't talk about the tremendous hand up home ownership gives young people in building untaxable wealth.  The press doesn't talk about how rents continue to rise over the years while fixed rate mortgages stay the same which eventually means your house payment is less than the renter next door is paying for rent.  The press doesn't speak to tax write offs and how after tax dollar saving the monthly payment is not all out of pocket.  The press doesn't describe how it feels to put your key in your lock at an affordable monthly payment.

Perhaps the biggest issue I have with The Press is I spend a huge chunk of what I earn paying them to advertise the properties I am marketing, which is spent basically to satisfy clients as 90% of today's buyers are coming from the internet.  It irritates me that I pay the most money to an entity which least benefits my clients and creates fear and doubt in those who should be running, not walking to invest NOW.  As an investor I am delighted with today's interest rates and my ability to neggotiate in this wonderful arena of real estate investment I play in.

The young man at my open house had heard the builder say to me, "we will all be okay if we simply don't read the papers or listen to the news as we are insulated here in Oregon, in large part from the market most of the nation is experiencing.  How do we get this message out?"  I decided to BLOG it.