As active professionals, we need to take some time off to recharge our batteries.  Some say that they can't afford to take the time off but I say you can't afford not to take time off. 

When I get stuck in a rut I know I have to do something else other that real estate.  My two main distractions is rebuilding an old car and scuba diving.  I have a 52 Chevy that I have been working on for a while.  Sometimes I just take it for a ride out in the country. 

I also enjoy underwater photography.  The phone don't ring 80 feet down. 

It would be interesting to hear what others do for fun.

I need to take my own advice more often.  Taking time off helps me get my head on streight and I am able to set my priorities in the proper order.

LETTER FROM A FARM KID,

Dear Ma and Pa,
I am well. Hope you are.  

Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 AM. but I am getting so I like to sleep late.

Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things.

No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay.

Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad,there's warm water.

Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food,

But tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee.

Their food plus yours holds you till noon when you get fed again.

It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us.

If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different.

A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home.

Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

This will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting.I don't know why.

The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it.You don't even load your own cartridges.They come in boxes.


Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys.

I have to be real careful though, they break real easy.

It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home

I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake .

I only beat him once.

He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

 

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,

Kathy 

Some feel that selling homes in the rain is the best time.  What do you think?

The following is an annoucement I received from Mike Sylvas about calREDD^TM. 

 Some wanted to be kept informed so here it is.

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 25) - calREDD^TM today announced a succession of successful launches at the Chico Association of REALTORS®, the Oroville Association of REALTORS®, and the Paradise Association of REALTORS®. Members of those associations now can view properties for sale, place listings, prepare CMAs, and access agents for referrals via calREDD^TM, the statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS). calREDD^TM has been up and running to users' acclaim since Jan. 11 at the Lake County Association of REALTORS® and since Aug. 17 at the Madera Association of REALTORS® and the Merced Association of REALTORS®.

"calREDD^TM offers much needed efficiencies, state-of-the-art technology, and increased security for our members," said Chico Association of REALTORS® President Jan Piacentine. "The calREDD^TM team has been very responsive during our transition. They've worked diligently to address our members' concerns, and have conducted multiple trainings prior to launch. We are so pleased with the knowledge and support we have received, and are looking forward to having everyone get up to speed so they can use the system to its fullest capability."

"The launch of the new statewide MLS in Oroville is a tremendous change, bringing us into a new age of technology for MLS systems - a great benefit to all members," said Oroville Association of REALTORS® President James Guderian. "We've witnessed the development of the system from the beginning and watched as it has progressed since then. The progression toward a statewide MLS is exciting and will provide the members of our association tangible benefits by being a step ahead in MLS system technology."

"As president of the Paradise Association of REALTORS®, I am excited to announce our partnership with the new calREDD^TM MLS," said Paradise Association of REALTORS® President Phillip Serna. "We believe the new system will be more effective in meeting the needs of our members, as well as providing superior service to our clients. We are pleased to be leading the way into the future towards a statewide MLS."

calREDD^TM enables brokers and agents to access the entire calREDD^TM data through any participating AOR or MLS. Associations and MLSs may be part of the system by using the new vendor as their primary software or under a hybrid arrangement using an association's existing vendor connecting to the statewide system through calREDD^TM for the rest of the data. To date, local REALTOR® associations and multiple regional MLSs representing more than 120,000 members across the state have recognized the importance of a statewide MLS and have signed letters of intent to participate in this critical endeavor.

"With launches at the Chico, Oroville, and Paradise associations today on track, following the Lake County launch earlier this month, calREDD^TM is off to a successful start for 2010," said REALTOR® Mike Silvas, CALMLS chairman. "We'll now concentrate on March launches at the Amador Association of REALTORS® and the Yosemite Gateway Association of REALTORS®, followed by April launches scheduled for the Mariposa County Board of REALTORS®, the Tehama County Association of REALTORS®, and the Plumas Association of REALTORS® in April, with more to follow."


calREDD^TM, an acronym for California Real Estate Dynamic Data, embodies the long-term vision of creating one database for all California real property, with advanced technology that goes beyond current MLS systems.
calREDD^TM is a service of California MLS Inc. (CALMLS), a subsidiary of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Owned and operated as a non-profit mutual benefit corporation, calREDD^TM's board of directors is made up of a dedicated group of individuals committed to success.

The Chico Association of REALTORS® provides ongoing education, training, information, and support services to help members succeed. In partnership with our business affiliates, we add value to the community by advocating private property rights, providing community services, and promoting quality of life. We are dedicated to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.

It is the mission of the Oroville Association of REALTORS® to be a source of information and education for our members, to promote the REALTOR® brand, and to be a positive influence in the growth of Oroville.

The purpose of the Paradise Association of REALTORS® is to enhance our members' ability to conduct their business ethically and successfully by developing and promoting programs, services, and the preservation of real property rights. Our vision is to promote the highest level of professionalism and ethics, and to affect changes in the real estate industry to benefit our members and the community. The association was chartered in 1950 and serves the Paradise and Magalia areas.

Leading the way...® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with nearly 170,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

As you know the real estate market has taken a beating lately and as a homeowner I'm sure is a subject that you are keenly interested in.  There is some good news and some bad news.  The bad news is that home values have reached an 8 year low the second quarter of last year but the good news is that they have started to make the slow turn around the second half of the year.  The $140,000 median price point in the second quarter of last year was the lowest since 2001.  The fourth quarter median price is $147,000 showing an increase in home values.  Even though this looks like a big gain, historically the first half of the year tends to be weaker on home values than the second half.  

To put everything into perspective the median price of a single family home in Lake County was $316,000 the second quarter of 2006.

Overall sales are up across the county by 25 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same time last year.   This is because investors are looking for good deals and homes are now affordable enough for many to buy.  Lenders have tightened up the lending requirements, credit scores are now more important than ever in the equation for buying a home.

What does this mean?  It looks like the free fall in house value has ended.  We may bounce along the bottom for quite some time before it substantially goes up.  The reason is that there are huge backlogs of foreclosure homes that haven't hit the market yet that need to be processed through the system.  Banks are holding many back and only put a few out at a time so not to flood the market.  That has stabilized the current market but as long as they keep being offered buyers will still look for bargains. 

At the current time the inventory of well priced homes is low giving the opportunity for a quick sale because of less competition.  We have been seeing multiple offers in many of these cases and it often sells for more than asking. 

Unfortunately sellers have to compete with the banks so they have to be realistic in their expectations.  Overpriced homes are being ignored by buyers month after month while the sellers hope that the market will turn around or that someone will be willing to pay more than what the market will bare.  That simply won't happen in the near future. 

We have made a successful transition from Paragon to calREDD and so far we have had very few complaints.  Those that have called in have had questions on how to operate the system, not that the system gave them problems or the data wasn't transferred over.  This is a new program and does take a little getting used to but overall reaction is very good. 

The folks at Concentric, the software company who is doing the work, have been very responsive and are able to take care of any bugs we find in the system.  In Lake County we have a task force that addresses the issues head on and follow up on the requests so the system is a good program that is able to be used with little training or prior experience.

I am looking forward to some of the improvements and will keep on suggesting changes that I see that may need to be made to make the program even better. 

Ray Perry

CRS, GRI, e-PRO

CPS/Country Air

707-277-8000 X 101

707-277-7840 Fax

707-245-8376 Cell

DRE#01246324

MailTo:Ray@RayPerry.com

http://RayPerry.com

After a bit of a shaky start it looks like calREDD is finally going to be implemented in my area, Lake County.  As a director of the local Lake County Association of REALTORS®, chairman of the MLS committee and chairman of the calREDD^TM  task force let me assure you that we didn't take the task lightly in helping develop this system.  We spent countless hours in testing and putting the system through it's paces and, I'm sure, giving the good folks at calREDD^TM fits with all our requests for improvements and bug fixes.  It now looks very robust and much better than what was presented to Fresno. This Adobe based system is much faster, can be used on just about any server, apple friendly is improving on a daily bases.  Realtor® owned this system is designed to give local listings a state wide presence and Realtors® access to comprehensive information about property. 

 The program is currently being used in Merced and Madera and will be live in Lake County January 11th to accommodate the holiday season.

 calREDD^TM installations beyond Lake County are proceeding at a measured pace to ensure that the software is delivered to members of the Chico, Oroville, and Paradise associations to calREDD^TM's satisfaction.. Amador will follow shortly thereafter, with the expectation that these additional four associations will be online by the end of January according to a C.A.R. news release. 

 Implementation of calREDD^TM is not without it's controversy.  Not everyone is welcoming the concept with open arms.   Independent MLS services are fighting for their lives.  Some are privately owned and have an obvious financial reason to keep control of the data that it harbors.  Some are owned by Associations who do not want to give up local control.  calREDD^TM has made some agreements to accommodate some of these without making them give up local control.

 Whether you are for it or against it, if you are a Realtor® or use MLS information in California I would recommend that you look closely at this program because it very well could be the wave of the future.

Real Estate Outlook: Sales Picking Up Tempo

Here's an important question about the current market: To figure out where we are in the current real estate market, do you look at home prices or do you focus on sales?

In a real estate market where an estimated 35 to 40 percent of all home sales are foreclosures or short sales - in other words, distressed properties-- prices don't tell you much more than the obvious that we are still "correcting" the excesses of the boom years, still peeling back those wild and unsustainable hyperinflationary price run ups.

So it's no surprise that median prices are down, year to year, in Lake County and other areas across the nation.

Sales statistics, on the other hand, tell you how fast buyers are responding to those lower prices -- and greatly improved affordability.

Right now, in Lake County sales are definitely increasing.  According to information gathered from the Lake County Multiple Listing Service (MLS), fourth quarter sales are 55 percent higher than a year ago. 

In a recent report from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) sales are way up in most areas of California.  This is great news, and we're in a recession. .

No question that a high proportion of these sales are distressed properties.

A total of 3,157,806 foreclosure filings, including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, were reported on 2,330,483 U.S. properties during the year, an 81 percent increase in total properties from 2007 and a 225 percent increase in total properties from 2006, according to RealtyTrac®'s 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report^TM. According to the report, 1.84 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 54) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 1.03 percent in 2007.

But that's what the bottom of a real estate cycle looks like: Value-savvy buyers see the opportunities, move in and mop up the mess left over after the big party.

Happily, in this cycle, they're getting real help from the capital markets: Mortgage money is at historically-attractive low levels, and is readily available to anyone with a down payment and reasonable credit.

Rates fell again last week to an average 5.12percent for 30-year fixed loans, according to Reality Times Interest Rate Watch, and to 4.80 percent on average for 15 year loans.

If you can spot the opportunities -- and have the resources -- it's not a bad time to be a buyer.

For more information contact Ray Perry at Ray@RayPerry.com or http://RayPerry.com

LAKE COUNTY- Home sales increased 19.2 percent in December in Lake County compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of a home fell 37.4 percent according to information gathered from the Lake County Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

Closed escrow sales of homes in Lake County totaled 45 in December according to the MLS.  The median price of a home in Lake County during December 2008 was $150,000, a 37.4 percent decrease from the $239,500 median for December 2007 according to the MLS. The December 2008 median price fell 18.9 percent compared with November's $185,000 median price.  The countywide median dropped below $150,000 for the first time since early 2002.

The median price can be a bit deceiving because of the low numbers however the quarterly figures reflect the same picture.

Inventory has been steadily declining since May and along with the increased number of sales shows that many buyers are taking advantage of the low prices.  Historically sales drop off in December through February and reach their peak in May. 

Highlights of Lake County's housing figures for November 2008:

Lake County's Unsold Inventory Index for homes in December 2008 was 14.5 months, compared with 17.2 months for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.14 percent during December 2008, compared with 6.21 percent in December 2007, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.95 percent in December 2008, compared with 5.48 percent in December 2007.

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 177 days in December 2008, compared with 199 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

What does this all mean? 

Prices are at their lowest in years along with interest rates.  January has historically been one of the months when homes sell at their lowest prices.  Investors and savvy buyers are snapping up many of the bargains as reflected in the lower inventories and higher sales numbers.  Now would be the time to buy a home if you have good credit scores and down payment money.  Some sellers are working with buyers by helping out with down payments.  If you are considering buying or selling property, call Ray Perry at 277-9255 Ext 101 or email Ray@RayPerry.com for more information. http://rayperry.com

By Ray Perry

LAKE COUNTY, CA-Home sales increased 15.8 percent in July in Lake County compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 25.9 percent, the Lake County Multiple Listing Serves (MLS) reported.

"Sales improved significantly in July 2008," said California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) President William E. Brown. "Deeply discounted, distressed sales continue to drive volume in many regions of the state.

"Year-to-year increases in the number of transactions ranged from a 6.7 percent increase in the San Francisco Bay Area to a 176.5 percent increase in the Riverside/San Bernardino region," he said. "In general, greater percentage gains occurred in lower-priced areas that had been most adversely affected by the market downturn since late 2005 and that are concurrently experiencing the biggest declines in prices."

Closed escrow sales of homes in Lake County totaled 88 in July according to information collected from the MLS. Countywide home sale activity increased 15.8 percent from the revised 76 sales pace recorded in July 2007. Sales in July 2008 increased 41.9 percent compared with the previous month.

The median price of a home in Lake County during July 2008 was $200,000, a 25.9 percent decrease from the revised $270,000 median for July 2007, the MLS reported. The July 2008 median price fell 8.9 percent compared with June's revised $219,450 median price.

"Once again, the 40.3 percent year-to-year decrease in the median price of a home was an all-time record, surpassing the previous record set in June with a 37.9 percent decrease," said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. "Since the statewide median remained in the $585,000 - $595,000 range through August of last year, the market will continue to experience significant year-to-year adjustments through August even if the median price holds steady over the next few months," she said. "The statewide median was last in the $350,000 range in early 2003."

The Lake County market as well as the rest of the country is being driven by the large volume of foreclosures at this time. Sellers who are not in foreclosure have to compete in the existing market. This is not a problem if they have some equity in their home and are planning to buy right away, their next home may also be selling at a reduced price so it is relative to the situation. As volume of sales increase eventually so will the prices. We may see a slight drop in volume over the next few months as the foreclosure market gets snapped up but it appears that we are at or close to the bottom of the market. The savvy buyer should take advantage of the low prices while they can.

Highlights of Lake County's Housing Figures for July 2008:

• Lake County's Unsold Inventory Index for homes in July 2008 was 13.7 months, compared with 18.5 months for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

• Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.47 percent during July 2008, compared with 6.70 percent in July 2007, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable mortgage interest rates averaged 5.24 percent in July 2008, compared with 5.71 percent in July 2007.

• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 148 days in July 2008, compared with 134 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

To find what your home is worth, call Ray Perry. 

Ray Perry is a Realtor® with CPS Country Air Properties and can be reached at 707-277-8000 Ext 101 or email http://www.move2lakecounty.com/content/contact.html