Encinitas Real Estate and Homes - EncinitasCarlsbad.com

Get Started with Aerial Photography for your Listings - Just $10

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:15:46 -0800

You have seen the pole photographs by us, Lee Jinks, and others on Active Rain. I wanted to put out the good and get the year off to a great start, and so I am offering to help AR agents/readers get started with aerial photography for just $10. For just $10, I'll send one of our standard painter pole adapters, and that includes FREE SHIPPING. The adapter will allow you to put your camera up on any standard paint pole. For $10, there is no reason to make your listing photos this year look even better.

You must use the following link to obtain the special: AR SPECIAL OFFER LINK. If you access the ordering page from the normal web site, you won't see the specials because this is an ActiveRain-only special.

Link: Gallery of Pole Photos Gallery of Real Estate Photos

Link: www.PolePixie.com web site (all sorts of useful info)

I have also established some specials on the two and three piece standard kits.

SPECIAL TERMS: The offer only lasts for a week, so items must be purchased by 2/1/2011; no exceptions. Only one adapter or kit per person. Also, I've set aside only 50 adapters/kits for this special, so supplies are limited. Finally, I usually get the kits out within 24 hours, but if I get swamped with orders, please be patient while your order is fulfilled.

Enjoy!

John Hokkanen, www.PolePixie.com

PS: Please don't ask for special deals on any of the other equipment. Previous customers are welcome to purchase per the above as well.

Example of a painter pole photo of a home, and then the same home from the ground:

Creating zoomable high-resolution images

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:46:38 -0800

Our listing went live today, so here's a link to the page with the cool zoomable images: http://www.solanadelmar.com/page.cfm?page=forsale

Some people were asking about the underlying technologies, and I posted a few details on another post. Here's what I've learned. There is push-button capability (more or less) built into Photoshop versions CS3 and CS4 (File/Export/Zoomify). I'm not sure of exactly what parameters enable the function (8 bit mode?), but if you have a .JPG in the editing window, it is enabled. You export the file and it will create a directory of tiles and a sample page and put a default viewer. You just copy those files to your web server and you have a zoomable image; it's as easy as that.

I wanted to customize the viewer so I went to zoomify and purchased the customizable files; consequently, the viewer that you are using to see those photos is my customized version. Creating a customized viewer is not difficult if you have a programming background or at least an HTML background. If you have neither, then it may be more intense that you bargained for and you might stick with the off-the-shelf viewer.

There are other tools available if you don't have photoshop or don't want to use the zoomify function. Some mapping professors/students have created an image tile cutter for tiling maps, but it can also be used to tile .JPG photos. Link: http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/software/googlemapimagecutter.asp This tool cuts up the photos and allows you to use the Google map interface as the browsing interface. Pro: No Zoomify flash widget. Con: You have to learn about custom google maps, and each view will be counted against your google map count for the month. I started using this tool, but I had some problems when tiling really large images. It took me some time to get the google interface exactly the way that I wanted, but, in the end, I decided not to use the map interface for photo browsing. If you don't have a web design/programming background, then I would not recommend going this route.

If you want to show off your beautiful images, THIS IS IT! BUT BE FOREWARNED - While this is REALLY cool stuff, you do need web server space to store the files and so you need to know how to upload files to a web server, and, as indicated, creating customized stuff requires some work.

John Hokkanen, Broker, www.SurfTheTurf.com

PS: One other item. Someone asked how I created that really high-res image of the living room. Here is what I did. I took the photo of the room with a 17mm lens. Since my camera shoots full sensor (no multiplication factor), it's a nice, wide shot. The shot was lined up so that the window was dead center in the view finder. Then, being extremely light-handed and carefult not to move the camera or tripod in any way, I replaced the 17mm lens with my 100mm lens and shot the window. (NOTE: Before I had taken the image with the 17mm lens, I had set up the camera using the 100mm lens.) Then, in photoshop, I resized the room photo so that I could then drop in the window photo. When tiling the large image, the software resizes it, which means that the photo is very sharp, and the center of the picture is equally sharp at the highest zoom level.

Dig this! HDR/High Resolution on the Net!

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:22:10 -0800

Hi, Margaret asked me to post some additional details on what we are doing with our high resolution imagery. As you may know, we shoot with a Canon 5d, II, with a shift lens; that means we take photos with about 40 million pixels. We've wanted to showcase our images on the Internet for a long time.

It's a nice image, but I surely want the web viewer to be able to see that awesome ocean view out the windows near the sink and beyond the dining room. With the image as it is, you can get the idea. BUT CLICK ON THE PHOTO (or this link) and you will REALLY see what I am talking about. When you open up the page, zoom in a bit and then click on the RED FULL SCREEN link and see the image as it was meant to be viewed!

OK, so everyone wants to know how we do this stuff. Originally, I started using Google Maps, and I think Margaret made a post to one of those pages. But there is an easier way to do this, and so that's how this page was created, and this is how we'll be doing it from here on out.

In Photoshop CS3 and above, there's an Export option called Zoomify. It takes the photo and chops it up into pieces at many different resolutions (i.e., tiles, just like the map tiles that Google uses, which is why that's where I started). Then, I went to Zoomify and purchased their designer option, and created my own custom full screen viewer, which is what you are looking at. That's the magic part. I also had to upload all the image tiles to my server, along with the Zoomify files and create the relevant web pages and XML pages. But, the result, in my opinion, is impressive. In about a week, I'll be pasting relevant links together to create a custom web page for a listing where nearly all the photos displayed will be high resolution images. This brings the full potential of a high resolution DSLR (like a Hasselblad or my Canon with its shift lens) plus editing in HDR to the Internet. NOTE: This isn't "easy" in the sense that it is pushbutton easy, but it doesn't require a web programming degree either. You will need to have some web server space where you can upload the image tiles in an easy way.

I do not mean to suggest that every image or every home we shoot will get this sort of technology. But, we go to a lot of effort to create spectacular interior shots, and so this will help show those images off for the benefit of our sellers. PLUS, it will really show the pole photography for all that it is worth as well.

John Hokkanen

New Pole Photography Trigger is Shipping

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:17:46 -0800

We started shipping the new point-and-shoot camera triggers this past week (the Pixie Click). The product turned out really great, and we think it will help those of you who want to make pole photography a part of your real estate practice, but don't want to buy a DSLR or have to use it up on a pole.

There were a lot of tricky implementation issues, including the strength of materials, a flexible design to accomodate nearly all of the point and shoot cameras, and cost (a major consideration). We think we achieved a nice balance to all the goals.

The good news for us is now that we have this new tool, we will now be able to use our Canon point and shoot as well as our 5D. We've tested the Canon point and shoot using live view, and so we can even hook up our battery-powered TV so that we can see what photos we are taking with the Pixie Click.

Don't hestitate to email me or ask any questions! You can see the product at www.PolePixie.com.

John Hokkanen

www.EncinitasCarlsbad.com

New Pole Photography Remote Trigger

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:49:52 -0700

We've been working on this for many months! As you know, we've developed a number of products for taking pole photos. Many people with point and shoot cameras want to do this, but are frustrated by having to raise and lower the pole to set the 10 second time. So, we created the Pixie Click remote trigger frame. You can use it on a tripod or monopod or on a painter's pole with one of our pole adapters.

For more information, just visit our web site at www.PolePixie.com We have an introductory offer on this new product - if you order a kit, we'll include FREE one of our foam padded resting plates specifically designed for use with our Pixie Click trigger.

John Hokkanen

New! - Pole Photography Adapter for Professional Gear

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:56:03 -0700

We've now released the Pro version of our camera adapter for painter's poles. It's made of solid aluminum and is super strong. Here are some pics of various configurations:

You can see some of the great images on our web site, http://www.PolePixie.com. Here are a couple of links:

Real Estate Photos

Photos from around the world

Prices are reasonable for the quality of the components, and this really solves the problem of how to easily get your camera up high. Just use your timed shutter release, push the button, and raise the pole. You'll get some great photos.

John Hokkanen Broker, SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.

Making Your Own Pole Photography Rig - Easily!

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:32:03 -0700

We have been taking pole photos for years. We decided to use painter's poles
because they were readily available, came in many styles, and cheap. Though I had
to fashion my own brackets on the end to allow the mounting of a camera mount, this
past year we manufactured the parts and they are now available to anyone who wants
to get started with pole photography.

Adapter - Converts any standard painter's pole to camera mount

Resting Plate - Allows you to set down your pole and avoid having your camera get wet from damp ground or scratched from concrete

To the left you can see what it looks like to place a resting plate
and adapter on top of the painter's pole and then put the camera on
top. You may already have a painter's pole in your garage, and, if not,
you can get one at your local home improvement store.

Total time for assembly: 1-2 minutes
Cost for Adapter: $29.95
Cost for Padded Resting Plate: $29.95

Where to order: www.PolePixie.com

Discounts for buying a "kit" as well as club discounts. Now there is
no reason why you can't get started with pole photography!

Below you will find a couple of side-by-side images so you can see the
difference that pole photography can make.

John Hokkanen
SurfTheTurf.Com Realty

On the Ground	Up on the Pole

BuyersUSA.com or BuyersUSARelocation.com - No way they will get my money

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:20:01 -0700

I keep getting spammed from BuyersUSA.com (aka buyersusarelocation.com ). They won't turn off the emails, and I think they hijacked the email from our MLS. Years ago we had an account with them, and there is NO WAY that I would EVER have an account with them again. But, there is no justification for their sending me any emails today - it's just spam. I've asked them to stop, but they continue. OK, but you may not know this company....here are some things to consider:

You know you're not dealing with a first-class (maybe not even a second-class) company when:

They don't have a customer service phone number for you to call. When I was a member years ago, they only had an email form, and they may not even reply to that. You know something is wrong when you can't talk to anyone. That's a sign that there are going to be problems.
The company spams and spams and spams. As far as I can tell, they stole my email address from the MLS. Or maybe they are using some shady company who stole it from the MLS. I've tried to get them to stop spamming me, but they ignore my requests.
Their "leads" were terrible. To say that they were discount-oriented does not begin to describe it. Not only did most of the leads want discounts, they also wanted points back from the commission. If it were a mid-range to high-range client, one MIGHT consider giving some buyer consideration, depending upon the circumstances. But their arrangement is based not only on a subscription fee but also a referral fee off the top of the commission. So you end up with a "client" who wants the lowest of the low properties, plus a piece of the commission, plus a referral fee to BuyersUSA, and you end up with deals that are not worth being done.

You make your own call, but, in my experience, this was a BAD way to spend one's limited marketing dollars. There are much better ways to spend your marketing money....this is not one of them.

BUT, if you have had a positive experience with this company, then please let us know your experience and who you are so that we can ask some questions. And if you've had a negative experience, let's hear those as well.

The net result for my "membership" was 0 serious leads, 0 transactions. I'm sure that they would want to blame me or blame my agents, but if you asked anyone in San Diego County, we are one of the leaders in the use of the Internet. We know how to work with folks over the Internet, so it isn't us.

Fortunately, it has been many years since I spent any money with this company. Now, if they'd only turn off the spam. Indeed, if they turn off the spam and agree to never spam me again, I might even agree to modify this post.

Just so you know who I am talking about, I'm posting their most recent spam email. They say now that the membership is "nothing like the membership before." In itself, that's nearly a confession that the value that agents got before was terrible. OK, so let me think this through. Company that takes my money and I don't get anything asks me to trust them now because they aren't the same company that they were before. OH YEAH. What's the expression....Fool me once? I don't think I'm going to get fooled twice. They can keep their new, improved membership. And the "guarantee" that you'll get at least 10 leads. Yes, I may have gotten 10 leads, if you want to call them that. But they were the worst of the worst kind of Internet leads. Not stuff that any agent on my team wants. They don't guarantee quality, and that's the real issue.

Best of luck - people figure these things out, and now that we have tools like ActiveRain, we can share our experiences.

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Johns [mailto:memsupport@mail.buyersusarelocation.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 5:42 PM
To: Hokkanen, John
Subject: Guaranteed Leads for Encinitas area - or your money back!

Suppose you could pay for advertising but get your money back if you didn't get enough leads?

Would you be interested?

We're betting you will.... you've nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Introducing our new LEAD ASSURANCE PROGRAM. It's nothing like the membership you had before.

On this special program we promise that:

If you don't receive at least 10 leads or close on a sale within 6 months of your membership, we'll refund your money!*

But we're increasing our advertising and need another member. This offer is currently NOT open to the public - just to select few agents in certain cities.

Are YOU ready to boost your profits by investing in an affordable, low-risk lead generation system at a fraction of the cost of other relocation services?

*For more information on this new program and to sign up, go to our member information and JOIN page <http://members.buyersusa.com/pages/leadassure.cfm?number=0504534234&specialoffer=leadassure> TODAY!

(You must use the link in this e-mail to take advantage of this offer. This offer is not available if you use the renewal page on our site or respond to any other offer. This offer applies only to a small select group of licensed REALTORS. Our goal is to provide an increasing number of leads to a smaller, select group of quality members who are serious about increasing their relocation-related revenue.)

BuyersUSA Relocation

PO BOX 367

Anniston, AL 36202

To remove yourself from our mailing list please cancel your membership at:

Member Services <http://members.buyersusa.com/pages/services.cfm>

NAR Conf 11/2009 - Meetup of HDR & Pole Photography People?

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:27:43 -0700

The NAR meeting will be held in San Diego this year in November (Nov 11-16). Would you have an interest in getting together to talk about photography topics like High Dynamic Range photography, pole photography, etc.?

I would be happy to organize a meeting, and I could even bring over some of my equipment and we could mess around one afternoon. For example, I'd be happy to demonstrate my pole rig and let people try it out. If people wanted to be ambitious, we might even set up a PC with Photoshop so people can show some of their tips and tricks. Or we could just arrange to just get together.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw out the idea to the ActiveRain groups to see if anyone had an interest. I'm happy to organize since I am here in San Diego. Please post your ideas here and let us know if you are interested.

John Hokkanen

HDR vs. blended HDR? You pick.

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:06:46 -0700

Well, I've been photographing our next listing, and here are two images that I've assembled. The first one is an HDR image using Photomatix. As best as I have tried to tweak that tool, I cannot seem to raise the level of the ceiling...it's just grey. These particular images were even photographed with artificial strobes to raise the level of the interior in general and the ceiling in particular.

Next up is the blended image, where I took one of the exposures as the base and then blended it with the HDR image seen above to reveal the midtones in the wood and some of the objects. I much prefer this image to the pure HDR image also because the HDR images also can seem a bit flat.

I also don't like some of the color shifting that was going on with the HDR image - the wall looks slightly green. I don't know exactly what I'm doing wrong....Does anyone have any ideas? If you're doing HDR, how do you keep walls and ceilings nice and bright? How do you avoid the image going flat? Any input would be great.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

SERIOUS drawback to MagicJack VOIP widget

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:35:07 -0700

OK, I was all hepped up to get rid of my plain old telephone line. I plugged in my MagicJack into my USB port on my computer. Two days ago I had upgraded to cable modem, so I had plenty of bandwidth outgoing, and I figured this was going to be a slam dunk. I called a few people, and the new VOIP widget made things sound just a tad tinny, but it was definitely acceptable and usable, especially since there are no long distance charges.

What went wrong? THEN I plugged my fax into it. I dialed out to my fax server. It rang, connected and started transmitting. I got a "No Good" on the transmit. I tried again, same thing. And a third time.

So I ran a Google search "problem sending fax with MagicJack" or similar search. THAT'S WHEN I GOT TO SEE THE FINE PRINT. Apparently MagicJack doesn't support fax machines. Or, more accurately, the codec that their VOIP algorithm uses to transmit the data (and possibly ANY VOIP codec--but I'm not sure) does not use error correction and will likely fail. Further research showed that some people have some success some of the time transmitting their faxes to some fax machines. HOWEVER, I use fax.com, and I was completely unsuccessful, even after turning off error correction on my fax machine and reducing the speed to 2400bps.

Fortunately, I have not yet turned off my last telephone line, and so now my fax machine sits on the one telephone line, completely idle 99% of the time. I haven't figured out exactly what I am going to do, YET. But HERE'S THE THING - no where during sign up or the advertising literature (or the 30 minute commercial that marketed MagicFax to businesses) was there anything said about the unit not supporting fax machines. This is pretty basic stuff for a home office. I don't know if I should send the MagicFax unit back or not. It works well with the telephone sets, but if I am going to have a phone line, I can easily hang the phones on it, and I don't have to worry about any intermittent performance on the cable modem.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

Finally Getting Rid of the Last Plain Old Telephone Line

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:56:37 -0700

I decided that with anywhere from 2 to 4 of us at home on the Internet at the same time, I needed to upgrade the Internet connection past basic DSL. AT&T hasn't upgraded to fiber in the neighborhood, and the distance to the Central Office was too far to get anything more than basic DSL which is cost $25/month. So here's my plan:

1) Get Cable Internet from Time Warner. I got it installed today - piece of cake. Only change to the router was I had to let the PC mac addresses pass through the router to make it work. The signal is rock solid, especially since I don't have cable TV on it. Cost: $39/month.

2) Get a MagicJack for Voice over IP - This cool little device was discussed on AR, so I ordered one. It allows you to plug your regular phone into the USB jack on your PC. Since we only use the phone for outgoing faxes, this is a perfect application. Startup cost: $39. Monthly cost: 0. Since I have the very high speed cable modem, I have plenty of bandwidth to allocate to this application should I need to send a fax.

3) Once the magicjack is operational, get rid of the plain old telephone line by transferring the phone number to one of our cell phone numbers. The plain old telephone line is costing me about $20/month, plus long distance when I do a long distance fax.

Net savings: I'm currently running about $50/month for my phone+dsl. Now I'll be running around $40, and I can make as many long distance calls as I want for free. Plus no more of those pesky federal taxes and the like on the phone bill. Only downside risk is if the cable crashes for days, in which case I will be having a heart attack because of no email and activerain, and so I won't need to be worrying about the phone situation. :)

John Hokkanen

Vicaso.net - HDR Photos for Real Estate

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:39:34 -0700

I talked with the local rep of Vicaso.net tonight. They are a company that is offering real estate HDR images for relatively low cost. The base fee is $125, and $10 per HDR room image, and so for a 12 image shoot, it would be $245. They offer panoramics for $30 each. They have about a dozen cities where they have photographers so far. They do not do their own local HDR processing....all the images get uploaded and processed at another facility and then they make them available via download on their site.

See Link: http://vicaso.net/

I have seen their site, but the best way for me to review them is to have them come do a shoot of a house that we're also photographing so that we have an apples-to-apples comparison.

Anyway, I thought some of you in the Photography Group would like to know.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

AR Home Photo Contest - Prizes Awarded!

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:46:57 -0700

1st Annual AR Photography Group Contest

Categories
1) Best Home Interior Photograph
2) Best Home Exterior Photograph

Criteria
Photographs will be judged on their ability to market the property in the photograph. Though "art" photos may be submitted and artistic creativity considered, the winning photo will be the one that would (in the judges' combined assessment) generate substantial interest in potential buyers so that they would want to visit the property for possible purchase.

Prizes
1st Place: 1000 AR points + The HDRI Handbook (book on HDR photography)
2nd Place: 750 AR points
3rd Place: 500 AR points

Rules
1) Only non-professional submissions will be judged. Professionals may submit images, though the photos will not be considered for prizes.
2) You may only submit 2 photos per category; additional submissions need to be approved by the judges.
3) All submissions must be personally photographed/edited by submitter.
4) Photo must have been taken after Jan. 1, 2008 (i.e., no photos from last year or before).
5) Photos must be submitted by April 15, 2008.
6) High Dynamic Range submissions are allowed, but must be noted.
7) You need to specify your AR username when you submit your entry.
8) The judges are Cheryl Johnson, Lee Jinks, and John Hokkanen. Judges and their spouses may only submit non-judged works.
9) Judging will be blind as to the submitter. The Judges' decisions are final.

Send Your Submissions
1) Please post your submissions at http://www.SurfTheTurf.com/ARContest.cfm
2) Only .JPG images accepted. Please complete the form completely with your name, AR username, and email.

Posting of the Photos
The photos will be resized and posted to this entry. You are encouraged to post your comments and critiques as the photos are made available. If you know who submitted a particular photo, PLEASE DO NOT IDENTIFY IT.

The contest is sponsored by Active Rain and the judges.

Uh-Oh. This doesn't look good.

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:10:52 -0700

We plot the foreclosure data on maps. I've been watching it for the past year on the map. This week I post the data and decided to look at the map today. I don't like what I see.

For the MOST PART, the map looks just like what it has been looking like for many months. But I detect, unless I am misremembering, that there are more NODs closer to the ocean than in past maps. If indeed the NODs are creeping towards the ocean than that could bring with it some bad news. It's not a clear enough trend yet to make any conclusions. But this will be something to watch closely.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

Dining Room A to B

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:54:50 -0700

We received a number of comments about the dining room photo that we took of that little condo, so I thought I would take the time to dig up the before picture so that it could be compared with the after-the-editing photo. If you want to see a big image of the after shot with some comments about my editing, click here. Here are small copies of the before and after images:

BEFORE

AFTER

I then moved the umbrella and got out of the picture to reshoot the mirror, still leaving the camera, the big TV in the corner, and the corner of that table that the giant TV sat on. It requires some painstaking work to remove such stuff with the clone brush. Maybe an hour or so of editing. But the final pic came out pretty nice in the end, I think.

The one lighting item that really suprised me was how much light was reflecting off of that dining room table....see how hot it was. I cooled that down with an HDR image overlaid on top of the table.

Finally, I should note...we put the property into escrow last week! Let's hear it for escrows!

John Hokkanen

Rentals in Rancho Santa Fe and Environs

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:58:45 -0800

Here's the rental map for part of Encinitas and Rancho Santa Fe. As you can see, there are a LOT of properties for rent in Rancho Santa Fe. I was surprised at how many there were.

Notice how few rentals there are in Encinitas except for the coastal area. THere are actually quite a few in Solana Beach and Del Mar as well, but he number in Rancho Santa Fe was quite high, I thought. We have interactive rental maps at our web site where you can peruse the inventory courtesy of Sandicor MLS.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

New Granny Flat / Accessory Unit Lists Available

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:57:36 -0800

We are constantly looking for new ways to slice and dice the MLS data, so today I implemented our new Granny Flat/Casita/Accessory Unit list. There are many reasons why buyers want a place with a room (or building) with its own entrance and kitchen. So, we finally got around to creating this dynamically updated list from the MLS data.

We're always trying to create these new kinds of lists? If you have a list that you create or if you know of a list that you think would be interesting and valuable, post a comment and we may give it a go.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

PS: If you want to see our Granny Flat page for Encinitas and Carlsbad, click here to access our new page. Accessing the list is a separate link on the page.

Violation? Or No Violation? See the Pics!

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:43:29 -0800

I know that in some parts of the country, local rules ban leaving business cards when you preview a listing. In San Diego, it is considered a courtesy to the listing agent. We try to be courteous and leave a card behind. An established agent whose listing we previewed with a client called us and said that she thought we were violating the ethics rules against advertising to other agents' clients by leaving the cards! Our answer: we just don't leave cards, and the agents have to pull the data off their lockbox to know that we showed the property, and so now it's just more hassle for the listing agent.

Here's what the complaint was. The complaint was that the BACK of our card constituted an advertisement. We even put our standard disclaimer "Please disregard this notice if you are already using a real estate agent" on the back of the card just to be safe. But this agent opined that it was irrelevant and that the card was a violation.

Tell us what you think! Our card is at the bottom, but I've also included some cards that others have left at our listings. Tell us whether you think any of these are out of bounds and why! (For 6, 7, and 8, I just put the back of the card.) I'll forward your comments to the ethics person over at our association as I am on one of the committees.

New FNMA loan limits - Full List

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:28:48 -0800

Here is the full nationwide list of the HUD numbers for conforming loan limits that we've all been waiting for. Realtor.com did a nice job of putting together the list, so here's the link: http://www.realtor.org/GAPublic.nsf/files/chart_hud_loan_limits_08.pdf/$FILE/chart_hud_loan_limits_08.pdf

For San Diego, the new GSE limit is the same as the new FHA limit: $697,500!!

That's really good news for those purchasing within 6-8 miles of the coast where even a condo can cost $500,000. AND, if you have a adjustable rate mortgage that is less than $697,500, you can refinance at a conforming rate (assuming that you meet the other criteria like loan-to-value ratios, credit scores, etc.).

If you are wondering how these numbers were determined, HUD came up with these numbers by multiplying the median price of homes for that metro area X 125%, but limited to $729,500. It isn't clear to me what dataset they were using to determine median price data as the Dataquick numbers yielded a significantly lower median price. But, as agents and homeowners, we're happy the number is as high as it is.

John Hokkanen

Aviara Activity

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:26:00 -0800

We haven't posted info on Aviara for a while, so here's the map that shows what homes are available in which neighborhood. You can check out the interactive map at http://www.AviaraHomes.com (The site used to be called AviaraGems.com, but not since we got our new domain.)

The inventory has built up a bit, and we even have 3 listings there. But we received an offer on one of them today, which is good news. This is one of my favorite maps...it took me a long time to create the map where each neighborhood was color-coded. We've got another map on the site that serves as a legend to all the neighborhood names.

John Hokkanen, http://www.EncinitasCarlsbad.com and http://www.AviaraHomes.com

1st Client to Use Active Rain

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:12:33 -0800

Today we had the first client-Active Rain connection. The person had previously contacted us off our web site as we advertise our listings and materials pretty heavily. But today the person contacted us via Active Rain rather than through our web site. It just goes to show you that today's consumers are checking out real estate information all over. We've known that for a long time, but today was the first time that one of our clients also touched us via Active Rain. Neato.

John Hokkanen

HUD Secretary Press Release - New FHA numbers for California

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:14:18 -0800

Here's the newest press release from HUD regarding FHA. It can be seen at: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr08-026.cfm

Most critically, here are the California FHA loan limit numbers. For San Diego, the FHA limit is $697,500. THIS IS GREAT NEWS, and it bodes well for the numbers that will be released for FNMA loans.

Call us if you have questions. We also know great loan officers who can help.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

County	Median Price	FHA limit
Alameda County	$995,000.00	$729,750.00
Alpine County	$438,000.00	$547,500.00
Amador County	$355,000.00	$443,750.00
Butte County	$320,000.00	$400,000.00
Calaveras County	$370,000.00	$462,500.00
Colusa County	$318,000.00	$397,500.00
Contra Costa County	$995,000.00	$729,750.00
Del Norte County	$249,000.00	$311,250.00
El Dorado County	$464,000.00	$580,000.00
Fresno County	$305,000.00	$381,250.00
Glenn County	$230,000.00	$287,500.00
Humboldt County	$315,000.00	$393,750.00
Imperial County	$260,000.00	$325,000.00
Inyo County	$350,000.00	$437,500.00
Kern County	$295,000.00	$368,750.00
Kings County	$260,000.00	$325,000.00
Lake County	$321,000.00	$401,250.00
Lassen County	$200,000.00	$271,050.00
Los Angeles County	$710,000.00	$729,750.00
Madera County	$340,000.00	$425,000.00
Marin County	$995,000.00	$729,750.00
Mariposa County	$330,000.00	$412,500.00
Mendocino County	$410,000.00	$512,500.00
Merced County	$378,000.00	$472,500.00
Modoc County	$125,000.00	$271,050.00
Mono County	$370,000.00	$462,500.00
Monterey County	$599,000.00	$729,750.00
Napa County	$615,000.00	$729,750.00
Nevada County	$450,000.00	$562,500.00
Orange County	$710,000.00	$729,750.00
Placer County	$464,000.00	$580,000.00
Plumas County	$328,000.00	$410,000.00
Riverside County	$400,000.00	$500,000.00
Sacramento County	$464,000.00	$580,000.00
San Benito County	$790,000.00	$729,750.00
San Bernardino County	$400,000.00	$500,000.00
San Diego County	$558,000.00	$697,500.00
San Francisco County	$995,000.00	$729,750.00
San Joaquin County	$391,000.00	$488,750.00
San Luis Obispo County	$550,000.00	$687,500.00
San Mateo County	$995,000.00	$729,750.00
Santa Barbara County	$615,000.00	$729,750.00
Santa Clara County	$790,000.00	$729,750.00
Santa Cruz County	$719,000.00	$729,750.00
Shasta County	$339,000.00	$423,750.00
Sierra County	$228,000.00	$285,000.00
Siskiyou County	$235,000.00	$293,750.00
Solano County	$446,000.00	$557,500.00
Sonoma County	$530,000.00	$662,500.00
Stanislaus County	$339,000.00	$423,750.00
Sutter County	$340,000.00	$425,000.00
Tehama County	$250,000.00	$312,500.00
Trinity County	$200,000.00	$271,050.00
Tulare County	$260,000.00	$325,000.00
Tuolumne County	$350,000.00	$437,500.00
Ventura County	$599,000.00	$729,750.00
Yolo County	$464,000.00	$580,000.00
Yuba County	$340,000.00	$425,000.00

HUD SECRETARY: TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIANS COULD BENEFIT FROM HIGHER GOVERNMENT-INSURED MORTGAGE LIMITS
Congress must finish the job on FHA modernization bill so more families can keep their homes
Temporary loan limits part of Economic Stimulus Package

San Francisco - Tens of thousands of California families could benefit from affordable government-insured mortgages under a plan to be announced shortly that will temporarily increase home loan limits, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said today. Highlighting the Bush Administration's plans to help Americans keep their homes, Jackson said the President's economic growth package, which became law last month with wide bipartisan support, could allow more than 30,000 California families to be eligible over the next several months for safe, affordable mortgages insured by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

"The plan raises FHA's loan limits, enabling more families to qualify for a safe, affordable FHA mortgage. This is critical for California, where most families are currently priced out of FHA loans. Because the FHA loan limits didn't reflect the housing market in California and other high-cost states, a vacuum was created that was filled by exotic subprime loans. We estimate that nearly 33,000 Californians will benefit over the next 18 months," Jackson said in speech to the Commonwealth Club of California.

This week, FHA will publish temporary loan limits that will range from $271,050 to $729,750. This increase will help provide economic stability to communities in California and give hundreds of thousands of homeowners and homebuyers throughout the country a safer, more affordable mortgage alternative. Loan limits will be set at 125 percent of the median sales price for the area. Currently, FHA loan limits are capped at $362,790.

However, these higher loan limits are temporary and expire at the end of 2008. President Bush and Jackson continue to call on Congress to pass a permanent bipartisan solution to help more families quality for FHA-insured mortgages, which allow low-income, minority and first-time homeowners access to prime-rate financing so they afford to purchase a home. While FHA has seen an increase in business in California, FHA modernization legislation still remains critically necessary. Legislation, which has been pending in Congress for two years, offers flexible downpayment requirements, permanent loan limits higher than the current amount of $362,790, and fairly-priced insurance premiums.

"FHA modernization could help a quarter of a million families this year alone. It passed the House and Senate in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion. But a final bill has yet to cross the President's desk. Congress must act now," Jackson stressed.

Jackson also explained how the Bush Administration's aggressive efforts are keeping hundreds of thousands of families in their homes. The Secretary pointed to FHASecure, the refinancing arm of FHA, which has helped more than 100,000 homeowners refinance their mortgage since it was announced last fall. FHASecure includes homeowners who are current on their loan or past due because their teaser rates reset; some borrowers who owe more on their homes than they are worth; and those in the process of foreclosure. Families are saving an average of $400 a month compared to the cost of their previous exotic subprime loans. FHASecure is on pace to help 300,000 families by the end of 2008.

"FHA is back. And we're letting the American people know about it, sending letters out to 850,000 homeowners with resetting rates, including 54,000 Californians, who might qualify for FHA," Jackson added.

The HOPE NOW Alliance, representing 90 percent of the subprime market, has also responded to the Bush Administration's call for action and is helping homeowners in need of mortgage relief. Formed by Jackson and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, HOPE NOW has implemented a plan that makes more than one million people eligible to modify their home loans, refinance into FHASecure, or have their interest rates temporarily frozen. Recently, HOPE NOW introduced Project Lifeline, which makes thousands of at-risk borrowers eligible for a pause in the foreclosure process while servicers try to modify their loans.

"I am pleased by their actions...I see denial replaced with hope...And proof that foreclosure is not inevitable-that it is, in fact, preventable." Jackson said.

To stress the importance of housing counseling, Jackson pointed to studies that show homeowners in need of financial help responding more quickly to community and non-profit groups than to lenders and banks. Emphasizing the importance of financial literacy, Jackson said 96 percent of households that saw a HUD-approved counselor avoided foreclosure. The Bush Administration has increased funding for housing counseling by 150 percent since 2001. President Bush's new budget proposal would increase it by $65 million. Currently, HUD's non-profit partner NeighborWorks is distributing an additional $180 million in grants for foreclosure prevention counseling.

"More than half of all homeowners in foreclosure did not discuss it beforehand with their servicer or lender. We must change this attitude. With the help of our housing counselors, we are," Jackson concluded.

Recent Sales Activity for Encinitas/Carlsbad

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:06:46 -0800

I just looked at the front page of our web site and saw the last 12 sales that have been posted by zip code:

RECENT SALES BY ZIP
92008
   $525,000 4998 Eucalyptus Ln Mar 3
   $520,380 1750 Andrea Ave. Mar 3
   $518,000 4553 Cove Dr #1 Feb 29
92009
   $619,000 2734 Ascot Avenue Feb 29
   $825,000 2814 Atadero Ct Feb 29
   $255,000 2352 Altisma Way #7 Feb 29
92010
   $304,000 2813 Via Diego Mar 4
92011
   $745,000 657 Seaward Avenue Mar 4
   $740,000 609 Saltgrass Ave Feb 29
   $322,000 803 Caminito Del Mar Feb 29
92024
   $925,000 1467 Heritage Ln Mar 3
   $730,000 1638 Hawk View Dr Feb 29

We update this data from the Sandicor MLS data about 5 times a day. You can see it any time by visiting http://www.EncinitasCarlsbad.com The data concerns me a bit. There isn't a single property over $1M, and all but one of them are under $850,000. Now, this is anecdotal, but I look at the data a lot, and I can tell you that I don't see this happen very often. It tells me that the upper end of the market is a bit soft right now. My guess is that people who are buying are buying less expensive properties and those buying more expensive properties are waiting to see how the economy does or are waiting for a good deal.

Anyway, it struck me as a bit odd, so I thought I would share it with you.

John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate

Real Estate Video - 1671 Plover Ct., Carlsbad, CA

John Hokkanen → Encinitas Real Estate (SurfTheTurf.com) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:57:53 -0800

Here's our newest video. I just got done completing it the other day. Let us know what you think. The fun thing about this video was that Margaret has gotten to the point where she is really fast on her feet, so to speak.

All of that commentary was UNSCRIPTED. She did it ALL off the top of her head. We've definitely gotten to that point where we can go in and feel comfortable not only with the filming for me, but for the tour for her. It's really pretty fun to put one of these together, and it really shows off all the property features.

Let us know what you think.

John Hokkanen