To effectively work with today’s internet savvy homebuyer, you need an internet savvy Realtor

• Windermere was the first real estate company to feature an interactive listing map on their website, allowing visitors to conveniently search for properties from the comfort of their homes.
• Windermere Exclusive Properties was the first real estate brokerage in San Diego to launch a companywide blog site. It is updated daily with real time news, powered by more than 100 active agent authors, including HotOnSanDiego’s Sue Johnson & Misty Dobson.

• We are the only real estate brokerage in California with our own multimedia production company and green screen studio. Our team of videographers and directors support agents with everything from professional photography to full motion video.

• Windermere developed an exclusive virtual toolset that allows us to reach, track and engage buyers on an international level.

• Windermere listings are syndicated to thousands of websites through the most sophisticated internet property plan ever developed.

If you want access to the greatest tools technology has to offer, chose us, your Windermere Agent ! Email us at: HotOnSanDiego

<strong><span style="color: #008000;">To effectively work with today’s internet savvy homebuyer, you need an internet savvy Realtor</span></strong>
<ul>
    <li>Windermere was the first real estate company to feature an <a title="Interactive Property Map" href="http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.SearchLanding" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>interactive listing map</strong></span></a> on their website, allowing visitors to conveniently search for properties from the comfort of their homes.  <a href="http://www.hotonsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/windermere-agent.png"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1066" title="windermere-agent" src="http://www.hotonsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/windermere-agent-193x300.png" alt="windermere-agent" width="193" height="300" /></a></li>
    <li>Windermere Exclusive Properties was the first real estate brokerage in San Diego to launch a <a title="Windermere's Company Blogsite" href="http://www.pictureperfectsandiego.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>companywide blog site</strong></span></a>.   It is updated daily with real time news, powered by more than 100 active agent authors, including HotOnSanDiego’s  Sue Johnson &amp; Misty Dobson.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
    <li>We are the only real estate brokerage in California with our own <strong><a title="Our Green Screen Studio" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Wn9Uk0lWw&amp;feature=player_embedded" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;">multimedia production company and green screen studio</span></a>.</strong> Our team of videographers and directors support agents with everything from professional photography to full motion video.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
    <li>Windermere developed an <a title="Our Virtual Toolsdet" href="http://pictureperfectsandiego.com/files/2009/10/Web-2.0-Book.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>exclusive virtual toolset</strong></span></a> that allows us to reach, track and engage buyers on an international level.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
    <li><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Windermere listings are syndicated to thousands of websites through the most <a title="The Best Technolgoy &amp; Internet Marketing Plan" href="http://www.hotonsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Web-2.0-Book.pdf" target="_blank">sophisticated internet property plan ever developed</a></span><a title="The Best Technolgoy &amp; Internet Marketing Plan" href="http://www.hotonsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Web-2.0-Book.pdf" target="_blank">.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<strong><span style="color: #008000;">If you want access to the greatest tools technology has to offer, chose us, your Windermere Agent !  Email us at: <a title="Email Our Team" href="mailto:rrj2020@gmail.com" target="_blank">HotOnSanDiego</a>
</span></strong>

Search Brookside Escondido Homes For Sale

Are you thinking of buying a home in Brookside Escondido? If so, with the world of financing having been turned upside down in the last year, reviewing your options is what our team recommends to our clients and in conjunction with our team's lender.

The right or wrong decision when signing your home mortgage can mean thousands of dollars difference in interest paid. There are very important considerations to evaluate before you commit to a 15 or 30 year note. For many of us, our mortgage payment is the most important financial decision we’ll ever make. Doesn’t it make sense to know as much as possible about the financing of our home?  Take the time to thoroughly investigate all of your options!

Unbelievably many of us sign the first mortgage placed in front of us. Typically the excitement of the new home purchase reduces the mortgage to not much more than an afterthought. What you read here could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Your real estate professional has established relationships with the top lenders in your area. By aligning yourself with a professional agent you ensure all the financial steps are taken care of properly and economically.  

1. Utilize a Lender With Established Ties to an Agent- Lenders are much more flexible with the real estate agents who have done business with them previously. Their relationship establishes them as a team member. The lender and agent work effectively together. That’s why a good agent can make substantial difference in setting up the most economical financing. And the right financing can, literally, save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan!

2. Don’t Attempt Paperwork Alone- All the paperwork required to complete the purchase of a home can be quite intimidating and frustrating for a home buyer. Make sure you have your lender help you with all the paperwork. Get help from your team, your lender and agent. Their expertise will help alleviate the stress and it will prove to be invaluable before you sign your mortgage.

3. Look at All Your Options- Make sure you see at least 3 loan programs for your mortgage. Lenders have at least 5-7 programs and should work with you and your agent on deciding what is best for your circumstances. Evaluate all your options. After all, it’s your money you’re spending - not theirs!

4. Demand Service- There is little difference between a bank, savings and loan, or a mortgage broker when it comes to the competitiveness of their loan rates. The difference is in the service they provide. It is their job to serve you! You want to get the loan approved and move into your new home as quickly as possible, but don’t overlook the fact that you are the one spending the money and they are the ones who should cater to your needs. Don’t let the process become so intimidating that you lose that understanding.

5. Stay in Complete Touch- You should receive a written report from your lender concerning every step. This will ensure that no details are overlooked and there will be no surprises.

6. Don’t Give Up on the First No- Initial decisions are not always final decisions. Going to a higher authority can sometimes get you the loan, but do so with the assistance and compliance of your lender and agent. Many times, special circumstances, when explained properly to the person in charge, will win you the loan.

7. Don’t Wait for the Bottom of the Market- The odds of your hitting the bottom of your market are about like the odds of you hitting your state lotto! You will almost never hit the bottom of a market. And trying to time it exactly right is often costly. It usually causes a person or family to miss out on the opportunity to purchase a very nice property. You’re better off simply negotiating the best rate and terms you can at the time you find a property. If interest rates go down, you can refinance. This is a much better approach because you won’t miss out on the property you’ve spent so much time locating.

8. Be Honest With Your Lender- Your lender wants to help you with your loan. The only time they get paid is when you get approved. The more information (good or bad) you provide your lender, the easier it will be for them to get an approval. It helps them present the loan in the best light. This in turn helps the loan get the highest approval rating.

9. Become Completely Educated- Pick your lender’s brain. Lenders will teach you all about your various options, even if you haven’t found the right property yet. They will be very patient with you while you are looking, especially if you have aligned yourself with the right agent. They understand all the up-front work will pay off in future business. Your agent will then continue to refer people to the courteous and service-minded lender on down the line.

10. Get Pre-qualified- Lenders will provide you with a certificate of pre-qualification. By getting pre-qualified, you know exactly what financial parameters to stay within. Your agent and lender will consult with you and help you get qualified for the loan that best fits your needs. Many times, they are able to get you a larger loan than you may have thought possible.

Getting approved for a loan is often times much easier than you might think. If you've been house hunting in Brookside Escondido, you know that prices are at levels we haven't seen in years.  Great neighborhoods, excellent amenities and fabulous prices and loan rates make this a perfect time to buy.  So if you are really trying to time the bottom, remember that we won't know what it truly was until it's passed.

As a Branch Manager for Windermere Exclusive Properties it’s my job to spread the word on why our brokerage is a great place to work. With all of the “consolidation” going on in the San Diego real estate world, it’s been hard for me to get out because our phones are starting to ring off the hook.

Our phones are ringing because we are the company that is different than the rest and agents are looking for better, more innovative companies to hang their license with.

 

I had a really good interview today with a recently relocated broker associate who is considering joining our company. As always, I try to convey an accurate portrait of our company and what it’s like to work with us while getting to know the potential new agent.

I always end up saying the same things… “It’s our culture that makes us different” and “we’re like a family”, which sound sort of cliche’ish ( I know this isn’t a word!)

When I interview for our offices, I look at the person in front of me and try to visualize how they will “fit” within the office. Most often, I end up apologizing for talking too much and going on too long (I do love my company!) instead of being a good interviewer and asking lots of the boring traditional questions.

When I do get to the questions I like to ask, I’m usually able to bring to the top what the agent is really looking for in a brokerage, and what they need to succeed.

REALTORS are starting to get that it’s not all about us anymore. People don’t care what million dollar clubs we belong to. They’re not impressed with our image websites with pictures of our dogs and cats or our beautiful families. People want the local info, the stuff they can’t find on Zillow or Trulia.

They will gravitate to those agents who can provide them with this type of service. We teach this everyday! At one point in my interview, I told the interested agent that at our brokerage, every agent donates a portion of their commission on every transaction we close to the Windermere Foundation.

The amounts vary but every closed transaction results in money going to a good cause. I was asked where does the money end up, and while I answered the question, it made me think of a video we produced that answered the question far better than I ever could. Watch The Video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4yJeeQ3LWs[/youtube]

The real estate professional of today needs the support, resources, and tools that a company like Windermere Exclusive Properties can provide them with.

Marketing in general and online marketing especially are critical for today’s homeseller. Providing the right information to buyers today is hugely important, who now have the capability to know just about everything about a property before it’s ever seen in person.

We provide the support and the tools and the education to our agents that consumers need today. What our professionals are looking for, even in tough economic times like we’re experiencing today, is to feel good about what they do and how they help people.

It is The Windermere Way.

If you are looking for a professional real estate representative, you can count on Windermere. My interviewee today was that professional, and would fit right in to our family.

I hope she joins our team! To find an experienced agent who can help you navigate today’s ever changing market, click on this link.

Using Sue Johnson’s Team to Help You Find a Home

Whatever your reasons for buying, know that finding the right home, in the perfect neighborhood and at a cost that is within your budget, is no small task. There are many buyers in the market right now taking advantage of investment opportunities that exist because of the perfect storm of affordable prices, low interest rates, and motivated banks and sellers.  

Having the right representation can mean the difference between success in obtaining the right property while this window still exists at the right price.  Our sales associates are licensed professionals with specialized skills. We work with many savvy investors who value their time and require professionalism and ethics.  There are many benefits you receive from working with our professionals.

As your Buyer’s Agent-

1. We can save you time by doing a lot of the legwork.  By knowing your needs, We can eliminate homes that do not meet your criteria.
2. We will mak
3. We know the local market and can quickly narrow down a few areas where you are likely to find your home at the price you want.
4. e appointments, preview homes with you and help you determine the pros and cons of each home.
5. We have access to the multiple listing service (MLS), a service that provides access to thousands of homes for sale.
6. We can provide information and make appointments to see almost any property listed for sale. A home does not have to be listed by us in order to get detailed information or an appointment to view.
7. Once you find the home you want to buy, we will guide you through the negotiation, legalities and details of purchasing a home.
8. We work with many investor buyers in today’s market.  There are many homes for sale right now that will positive cash flow.
9. We are very experienced in working with Short Sale & Bank Owned properties.  We know the “in’s and outs” and how to get your offer accepted.
10. We have Foreclosure lists available to you.
11. We give honest, personalized service and give you the facts.

Our Advice:

Get pre-approved. Do you already know how much home you can afford? There is nothing more frustrating than looking for a home, finding the perfect home, and then discovering that it is out of your price range.

Sign up for Property Watch. In order to make an educated decision you need to know what is available and how much it is going for. You can browse all the active listings from our website.

Remember, if you have any questions we are always just a phone call or email away.

Huge headlines, scary story lines, and big government moving at breakneck speed to shore up our economic backbone.  You are undoubtedly hearing about an eminent and massive move by the Federal government to finally get its arms around the national, indeed global, financial crisis. The latest courtesy of my friend and Branch Manager Paul Gonzalez at our sister company CW Mortgage.  

We are writing to you today to briefly shed some light on what this may mean to you and I.  It will be historic, with nothing in our Nation’s history to compare to it.  And this is going to happen literally in a matter of days.  

The Federal government appears to be preparing a new entity that will purchase most, if not all, bad mortgages that are currently on the books of lenders and banks, and possibly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The Federal Reserve, US Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress and the Administration are feverishly working on this as I am writing this, and will continue through the weekend and into this coming week.

When a bank has a lot of bad loans on its books, it must set aside equal amounts of cash to offset the bad debt and protect its stockholders.  This is currently tying up tens of billions of dollars that could otherwise be pumped into the financing system. This has also caused, or been a primary factor, in the collapse of institutions including IndyMac Bank and Lehman Brothers, among many others. 

The intended effect of the Federal plan will be to free up huge amounts of capital that lenders and banks will again be able to lend as mortgages and other types of consumer financing. 

The plan will likely resemble the Resolution Trust Corp, or RTC, which was set up in 1989 to clean up the portfolios of bad debts that resulted from the Savings and Loan crisis of the times.  . All this is vitally important to you and I, and all  real estate professionals, and will warrant our close attention over the next few days and weeks. 

If such a plan is enacted we will expect to see investors and banks more willing to invest money into the mortgage financing system.  Increasing the amount of funds in the system should, over time, bring down the interest rate spreads and lower interest rates. 

In the short term, be prepared for wild swings in the stock, bond and mortgage markets.  Volatility will be likely rule the day until the global markets begin to sense greater stability and lower risks in putting money into the financing system.

One of the most important functions of our Government is to help individuals and corporations when they are in trouble.

Last Sunday, our Government made a strategic decision to officially bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The decision is obviously great news for the two mortgage giants, and homebuyer-hopefuls should be just as excited – you’re going to benefit, too!

Although the bailout is a complicated issue, it is better than the alternative – the failure of two companies that own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans!

A complete failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have lead to a catastrophic freeze in the mortgage market because of the lack of money to fund new loans.

The bailout is positive news and is exactly what the housing industry needs right now. The CEO’s of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being replaced and the new heads will report to the recently formed Federal Housing Finance Agency – which was created under our friend the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

There will be an injection of up to $100 billion into each of the two companies which should help lower mortgage rates and add stability to the economy. Lower rates and added stability will entice banks to become more willing to write new purchase-money loans and refinance existing loans.

Since the announcement, we have already seen a dramatic decrease in rates. From September 5 to September 8, Conforming 30-year fixed rates dropped about a half percent! 

  In my twenty-five years of financial and real estate experience, I cannot remember a time when rates decreased that much in such a short period of time.  

Buyers are coming out of the woodwork asking how much more they can afford at these lower rates.  With their buying power significantly increased, everyone is excited by the homes that are now in their price range.

San Diego is a particularly fortunate place to be if you want to buy a new home. A recent report by Global Insight, the global leader in economic and financial analysis, showed that San Diego homes are undervalued by more than 17 percent. This is a dramatic drop from 2005; at that time our city was overvalued by more than 39 percent.

The combination of lower rates, increased buying power and a newly affordable inventory of housing makes this a fantastic time to buy a home.

The key will be for the rates to hold at these low levels. Remember, lower mortgage rates alone will not solve the housing predicament.

The highly unregulated, Wild West of loan guidelines we experienced a year or so ago helped get us into a mess and the market is still in a corrective period. Reasonable rates, fair guidelines and a properly valued market are our way out.

It is still hard to tell how all of this will be absorbed in the long run and there is no quick fix to the housing situation, but combined with other recently passed legislation, we are making fantastic progress.

Brookside Escondido continues to be a wonderful value! Located in North Escondido and adjacent to Reidy Creek golf course, Brookside is a gated community of 262 homes. This neighborhood is a fabulous value for anyone looking for large homes (from 2550 square feet up to over 3600 square feet), both single story and two story, large lots (minimum lot size in Brookside is 10,000 square feet) and lots of other amenities. It's also a gated community, with walking trails, low homeowner fees, and no mello roos! Below you'll see a chart (click on it to see a larger version) that shows the current listings and the five most recent sales. There are a few "Bank Owned" homes, and a couple of short sales as well. If you would like more information on Brookside, please call or email us. We not only list and sell Brookside, but we live here too!

  The secret to having more Time and Money has been sought after by people for thousands of years. Recently, we have added a new item to the list of things to lust after…GAS.

While prices have come down slightly over the past week, they are anything but low. The average price for mid-grade gasoline in California is $4.23 while the U.S. average for mid-grade gasoline is $3.93 (data from from U.S. Energy Information Association, 8/11/08).

High gas prices wouldn’t be so bad if we were only driving a couple miles a day, but the majority of Americans are driving much more than that. In fact, the U.S. Department of Transportation reports that we drive an average of 13,476 miles per year.

At 20 miles per gallon and $4.23 per gallon, we are spending $2850.17 a year on gas. Sigh!

Real Estate agents suffer even more than the rest of us as they tote clients up and down the coast, from property to property. Anyone searching for a new home understands this plight…

So now the great challenge is to find a way to save time, money AND gas. It is definitely a challenge, but it is not impossible.

Follow the tips below and you will be well on your way to conserving our most prized possessions while you search for a new home.

Drive Less

I know that sounds like a terrible inconvenience, but it actually can be quite the opposite. Advancements in technology have armed the Real Estate community with powerful new tools that allow buyers to virtually tour properties, neighborhoods and communities.

A savvy agent will be able to show you satellite images of potential homes and track traffic in the area. You will be able to eliminate homes that aren’t right for you without wasting time or gas.

In the past real estate agents would have to show their clients 15 to 20 homes before they would find one that they like. The drastic improvements in our ability to preview properties through the internet have lowed that number - now agents typically show clients only 6 homes before they fall in love.

Translation: Eliminate homes that aren’t right for you through electronic tours and save precious time and gas.

Get More Gas for your Money

If you can’t resist the temptation of taking the drive to a potential home, you can stretch your gas tank farther with these tricks.

• Fill Up in the Morning: Gas is kept underground in tanks. In the colder morning ground gas becomes more dense and you will get more gas in your tank.
• Don’t Squeeze the Nozzle Trigger: The faster the gas pumps into your car, the more vapor that goes in with it. Keep it at a slow speed and load up on gas, not air.
• Fill Up Well Before Empty: Gas evaporates quickly when exposed to air. If you keep your tank at least half full at all times (so there is less air in the tank) you will minimize evaporation and maximize value.
• Find a Less Expensive Gas Station: Use this website to search for the gas station near you with the lowest prices.
• Beat the Traffic: The stop-and-go of traffic will dramatically reduce your highway miles per gallon. Use this site to find traffic-free routes.

There is no quick fix for the Gas-Time-Money quest, but there are things you can do to make the best of it. Use a technology-friendly agent to eliminate homes you don’t need to preview in person and stretch your gas miles as far as they will go. Oh — and if anyone comes up with the secret to unlimited time, be sure to let me know!