Is now the right time to refi? Maybe, mortgages rates are around 5%, or so, for a 30 year fixed rate loan and less for a new adjustable, if you can find it. (Wells Fargo seems to be doing them... today anyway.) The best refi deals are for those who (1) have a loan limit below $600,000, or whatever the conforming rate is in their area. (2) You should have 20% equity minimum, plus a credit score of over 700 and plan on staying in your home for a while, since it usually takes over a year to break even because of the cost of the refi. (3) You need to be able to actually "qualify" for your new loan. This includes your income and assets and they will be verified. No more "stated income" loans. It's a catch 22 because if you need to refi to lower your payments, so you can afford the payment, you might not quality for the new loan. The government does have a new program for those who have no late payments for the last 12 months, to help them renegotiate with their current loan company to accept less than is owed. Then the original loan is paid off and a new "downsized" loan is funded at a lower rate. It's complicated, but worth the hassle. Call Fannie Mae at 1-800-732-6643, or Freddie Mac at 1-800-373-3343, or go to www.freddiemac.com/avoidforeclosure.
The SLO County Planning Dept has been working diligently on the proposed sewer project. The final EIR was released in April. There are two possible sites with the least impact to the environment that are acceptable to the county. The County Engineer in charge, John Waddell (788-2701, has said that the assessments will vary, but a "typical" home assessment will be $25,000.00. If the homeowner chooses to pay off the assessment through their property tax bill, it will cost them $2,400.00/year. There's also an option to pay the additional $50.00/month it will cost to hook up to the sewer as an addition to the tax bill. This would raise the yearly bill to about $3,000.00 per year. In addition, it is estimated to cost $200.00/month for maintenance fees. Residents have been fighting this sewer project for 30+ years. Unfortunately the costs have risen so dramatically that many residents cannot now afford the costs. It is hoped that the sewer will qualify under President Obama's stimulus package which would be a huge cost benefit to residents if this happened, especially if "we the taxpayers" foot the bill, or part of it anyway
Summer is over heating the inland valleys, so cool fog is the main tourist attraction at the coast. The tourists are shivering with delight beneath their Morro Bay sweatshirts. They're just happy to be out of the heat for a while. Hopefully they are spending a bit of their hard earned dollars while they're here, since it's been a tough year for small businesses in small towns. A few tourists, as well as, myself and a few other North Morro Bay residents, were fortunate to see a pod of dolphins and even a couple of whales close to the surf line in Estero Bay. What a thrill that was! The bay is host to seals, sea lions, otters and tons of birds, but rarely do we get a glimpse of dolphins or whales. It makes me feel even more lucky, if that's possible, to live on the beautiful Central Coast. Even though home prices have lost an average of 40% of their pre-recession values, homes aren't moving very fast unless they are foreclosures. However, short sales and foreclosures have dwindled in the last 4 months or so, but National real estate pundits say there's another wave of them due to hit the market soon. I'm glad the government is attempting to help some homeowners lower their monthly loan costs, but I haven't heard of anyone being successful yet in renegotiation their loan downwards, to reflect today's home values. The county, however will reassess over-valued homes, which should help lower taxes for those who bought in the high market. Real estate is now a long term investment rather than a way of "flippin' and making a fortune," unless you can buy foreclosures and even then maybe not. Real estate is still the best "wealth builder" around as a long term investment and, unlike stocks, it gives you a roof over your head!
At long last! On August 2, 2009 there will be a ground breaking ceremony for "Morro Bay Pups Dog Park." It will be held at Del Mar Park, in North Morro Bay, at 11AM. The Morro Bay Pups group, after many years, a plethora of garage sales, fund raisers and extended negotiation with the city and its notorious red tape, has secured permits for an "official" off-leash dog park. Of course, dog owners have been using the whole park as an off-leash area for many years, but now they will have their own special area. Bring your fun loving pups and join the celebration!
Get going and go to the ongoing, popular Art in the Park @ Dinosaur Caves in Shell Beach. There are 120+ vendors. It is held on the first Sunday of the month through November. Next date is 8/2.
Bargain Hunters, save your pennies for the Citywide Yard Sale in Morro Bay on 8/22-23. It is great fun and a good way for residents and others to exchange their treasures for dollars. Those items not sold can be disposed of in the Annual Fall Clean-up week from 8/24-28. How convenient!
Opera Buffs will be on the bluffs at the Chapman House, in Shell Beach, on the afternoon of 8/29, for the Pacific Repertory Opera's presentation of the "Broadway by the Sea" concert. Tickets are available by calling 541-5369. Call now as this event, with its music, fabulous location and ocean views sells out fast every year.
An Annual Labor Day tradition is a visit to Morro Bay's Art in the Park. It will be held 9/5-7 and is the last one until 2010. Don't miss this wonderful art show and sale by local and regional artists. For fun and funky items you need to see the Cayucos Peddlers Faire. Don't miss Cambria's Pinedorado and their annual parade.
An afternoon of fun will be had by all who attend Morro Bay's Annual Margarita and Avocado Festival on the embarcadero on 9/19. Sample Margaritas and Guacamole by various restaurants. What could be better? And, the next day, you could go to the Central Coast Wood Carvers demonstration and sale at the Cayucos Vets Hall!
Days of Fabulous Fall Fun! The annual Harbor Festival in Morro Bay will be held 10/3-4. There will be seafood tasting, wine and beer tasting, sand castles, marine exhibits, marine petting zoo, arts and crafts vendors and a variety of entertainment, including bands playing Rap to Rock.
The good: So far, the current 15% max tax rate for capital gains isn't scheduled to expire until the end of 2010, unless Congress changes it. However, even better, if your income is low enough, you can pay as little as 0%. That was done to help retired persons, emancipated minors and the self employed who had a bad year and sold stock and mutual funds to help keep their businesses afloat. (I'm not sure if anyone still has capital gains on any stock, but for those who do it's a great tax advantage.) The bad: Previously you could exclude gains upon sale of your principal residence of $250,000/$500,000 if you lived there 2 of the last 5 years. Many people figured this out and moved around to thier vacation homes, rentals, etc to take advantage every 2 years of this tax break. Oops, someone got wise to this and the law has now been changed. If you sell your principal residence that was previously a vacation home or rental, the gain may no longer excludable from income taxes...depending. For example, if you rented your home for 3 years, moved back for 2 years, only 40% of the gain is excludable. There are exceptions. If you're thinking about doing this contact a tax professional please!! The ugly: Good grief, they are taxes!! Nothing's good about paying them! Well, to be fair, clean water, schools, good roads, dams and sewers are necessary in today's world. So taxes..."can't live with ‘em, can't live without ‘em."
Spring has sprung. Summer is around the corner. The howling March winds arrived in April downing a few trees, but....we live in paradise, so who cares? Glorious sun for a few more months, green hills fading to brown, wildflowers abound, no hoards of tourists (though we sure need their money) yet, but who cares, we live in paradise! The real estate market is lousy but who cares we live in paradise! At least we tell ourselves that, but we do have some foreclosures, some people have lost jobs and are behind in their house payments. Even though we think we live in paradise, we are wondering, like the rest of the country, when this miserable economic situation will turn around. Having read the papers and listened to economic pundits and real estate guru's the consensus seems to be that those with cash or who can get a loan with good down payment, will benefit from today's real estate market, but only until early 2010, then prices should flatten out for a year, then begin to rise again. Million dollar + homes were selling in 2006, so prices on them were high; low end and foreclosures sold in 2008 dragging those prices down; but not many of either in 2009 so far. However, the high end isn't selling, so prices are now dropping. Everyone wants a bargain and sellers who need to sell can offer them that bargain. It's a great time to buy if you can and plan on holding for 5 years or so. Where else are you going to put your money? The stock market, CD's, or T-Bills? NOT!
FYI
Tax break for widowed homeowners You now have up to two years following a spouse's death to sell your jointly owned home and keep up to $500,000 in profits tax-free. Previously a homeowner had to sell his, or her principal residence in the same year as a spouse's death to qualify for the exclusion. If they waited longer they could only deduct up to $250,000, the same as a single person. Check with your tax advisor before making any such decision however.
Quilt and garden art Don't forget to go to two events over 4/25-26. One's the fabulous Seven Sister's Quilt Show at the Madonna Expo Center on both days. View 350+ pieces of art for only $7.00. On Sunday 4/46, noon-5PM, enjoy eight "Secret Gardens of the Central Coast" a highly anticipated AAUW annual event!
Wine art at the Paso Robles 27th Annual Wine Festival held on May 15-17 with wine tasting at City Park and events throughout the Paso wine country including winemaker dinners, open houses, winery tours, etc.
Car art. at the Crusin' Morro Bay Car Show. Another fabulous display of old cars this year, beginning on May 1st for registration, May 2nd for Cruise Night, and Show "n" Shine on both Saturday & Sunday. Over 400 cars.
Classy Art at Art in the Park in Morro Bay on 5/23-5/25, also July 4-5. Funky art at the Peddler's Faire in Cayucos over the holiday's also. In addition, there's a new Art in the Park @ Dinosaur Caves park in Shell Beach.
Music as art, in Morro Bay on June 6th between 11AM and 7PM. Wine, beer, BBQ, 29 vendors and the best of local music and national rising stars. For more info on the talent, check out www.mbmusicfest.com
Conservation, an art? The annual WaterFest 2009 is a family friendly event held at Morro Rock on 6/20. It features entertainment and educational activities focusing on water quality protection, conservation and water shed information on our beautiful bay.
Firework art in the evening over the bay in Morro Bay, includes a family oriented July 4th celebration at Tidelands Park. In Cayucos the celebration includes a morning parade, sand sculpture contest and fireworks over the pier. The annual huge fireworks display over the pier will also be held in Pismo Beach.
Welcome to fall in Morro Bay! A kaleidoscope of color from the brown hills, red, sun burned tourists bestowing green dollars upon the town, colorful tents sprouting in out campgrounds, colorful trollies carting folks around and, of course, gray skies (at least for part of the day.) Since tourism is our main stay, you might be interested to know that we're considering a "Ships to Reefs" artificial reef project just outside the harbor. This will be an attempt to lure divers to our area from all over the world. Not only will they be tempted by the new reef, but hopefully will want to explore other central coast reefs and kelp beds that are considered pristine. Full wet suit gear is highly recommended in our chilly waters. Tourist or local, you need to check out the Montana de Oro trail that runs from Coon Creek beach 1.4 miles to Point Buchon. Another mile was recently opened going south to Big Wash. These trails are on PG & E property accessible from 8AM-5PM Thursday through Monday. (no mountain bikes allowed). I know you're thinking, all that's fine, but how's real estate? Well, right now it's slow. However, more homes have sold countywide in the first half of this year than did in the same period for 1998 through 2001. That's good news, right? Of course many more homes sold in 2004 and 2005, but that was then, this is now. Higher end homes, over one million dollars have been selling, mostly for cash. One of the major problems with today's market is that loans are very hard to get right now. Hopefully that will ease up soon.
Did you know...that it costs around $14,000 for development fees and permits to build a new residence of about 1500 sqft in the city of Morro Bay? However, you'll be given a credit for demolition of an existing home. If you're adding less than 500sqft to an existing residence, you won't have to pay the development fees, but will pay for permits. If you increase your "floor area" by more than 50%, or more than 1000sqft, are building on the waterfront, or changing the type of business in a commercial space of over 1000sqft, you'll have t install an approved automatic fire sprinkler system throughout the structure (new as of 6/08). How about those so called "granny units?" The ordinance has been changed to call them "second dwelling units," although "guest houses" are still guest houses. They don't have cooking facilities, and have their own restrictions. Second units may be established in any R (residential) or AG (agriculture) district where there is already a primary residence, or one is proposed. Of course, you do have to meet lots of conditions to do this, including size, set backs, parking, etc. But this is good news, as the City has vacillated for most of the past 20+ years on whether or not second units are a good idea, especially if they were rented out. Now they are considered low income housing by the city. Questions? Visit the planning department at www.morro-bay.ca.us
No, the question doesn't involve that U-turn in front of the post office, or the borrowing of your neighbor's cable TV signal. It's much more obscure. The question is, is my bedroom really a bedroom, legally? You're thinking, who cares, I sleep in it so it's my bedroom isn't it? Ask a Realtor and if it doesn't have a closet, it's not an "official" bedroom. Sort of makes a weird kind of sense. If you can't hang up your clothes before you go to bed, how can it be a bedroom? With no closet we'd all just toss our clothes on the floor. What a mess! However, according to the International Residential Code, a legal bedroom should be 70+sqft with a width of at least 7'; a ceiling at least 7'6" high; a window that can open for an emergency escape, no more that 44" above the floor, with an opening of at least 24"X20". The code doesn't care about closets. Must have something to do with wishful thinking by those who wrote the code to be able to toss their clothes on the floor...no closets hmmmmm?
Information about local housing issues,national real estate issues, fix-it ideas and local upcoming events. Covering the Central Coast of CA from Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay through Los Osos.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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