SAN DIEGO REAL ESTATE AGENT BLOG » News

San Diego County housing prices rebound in February

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:08:28 +0000

San Diego County housing prices bounced back in February to reach a median $322,000 that was in the range of prices for much of last year, MDA DataQuick reported Monday.

The median, the midpoint of all prices, was up 5.6 percent from January’s $305,000 and up 13 percent from February 2009. The January median price had fallen 7.5 percent from December’s $330,000, reflecting an active market in low-cost homes and little activity in moveup properties.

February’s numbers represented the highest year-over-year increase since March 2005, a few months before the median peaked at $517,500 and then fell to a low of $280,000 in January 2009.

But housing experts caution that January and February do not usually set the pace for sales and price trends for the year because of their traditionally low volume of activity.

Single-family resale homes had a median price of $358,500, up 3.9 percent from January’s $345,000 and just about the same as the December median; the figure was 12 percent ahead of year-ago levels. Condo resales stood at $219,500, up 8.9 percent from January’s $201,500 and nearly equal to the median price in December; it was 12.6 percent ahead of February 2009’s $195,000. The new-home median, including condo conversions, was $460,000, up 13.3 percent from January’s $406,000 and the highest since last May; it was 1.8 percent higher than in February 2009.

Sales in February stood at 2,465, up 6.2 percent from January but 8 sales lower than in February 2009. Single-family resales were below year-ago levels, down 4.2 percent, a reflection of the low inventory of homes for sale, especially low-cost distressed properties, as lenders try to modify loans rather than initiate foreclosure proceedings. Many analysts expect foreclosures to increase this year and thus lead to more sales but perhaps lower prices overall.

By Roger Showley

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Fannie Mae Announces Deed for Lease Program

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:36:14 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) is implementing the Deed for Lease™ Program under which qualifying homeowners facing foreclosure will be able to remain in their homes by signing a lease in connection with the voluntary transfer of the property deed back to the lender.

“The Deed for Lease Program provides an additional option for qualifying homeowners who are facing foreclosure and are not eligible for modifications,” said Jay Ryan, Vice President of Fannie Mae. “This new program helps eliminate some of the uncertainty of foreclosure, keeps families and tenants in their homes during a transitional period, and helps to stabilize neighborhoods and communities.”

The new program is designed for borrowers who do not qualify for or have not been able to sustain other loan-workout solutions, such as a modification. Under Deed for Lease, borrowers transfer their property to the lender by completing a deed in lieu of foreclosure, and then lease back the house at a market rate.

To participate in the program, borrowers must live in the home as their primary residence and must be released from any subordinate liens on the property. Tenants of borrowers in this circumstance may also be eligible for leases under the program. Borrowers or tenants interested in a lease must be able to document that the new market rental rate is no more than 31% of their gross income.

Leases under the new program may be up to 12 months, with the possibility of term renewal or month-to-month extensions after that period. A Deed for Lease property that is subsequently sold includes an assignment of the lease to the buyer.

For additional information about the Deed for Lease Program, including full details on program eligibility, please review the Guide Announcement on www.efanniemae.com.

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Home prices across area ending decline, data show

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:38:50 +0000

San Diego County’s three-year slide in home prices is ending, neighborhood by neighborhood, according to a quarterly breakdown from MDA DataQuick.

Eight out of 56 neighborhoods saw higher prices than a year ago, compared with only one or none in the recent quarters, DataQuick said. The findings are based on ZIP codes with at least 50 single-family-house resales in the latest three-month period.

Overall, the resale median price of $360,000 was down only 5 percent from $379,000 in the same quarter last year, a big improvement from the 24.2 percent slump from 2007, when it stood at $500,000.

Robert Brown, a Cal State San Marcos economics professor, said he has been watching price declines lessen since April.

“There certainly has been an uptick in North County in the last three or four months,” Brown said.

Escondido West (ZIP 92029) saw the biggest increase, 15.1 percent, from a median of $467,000 in the third quarter of 2008 to $537,000 this year, and Brown said relatively few distressed properties may be the reason.

Sue Scott, a longtime real estate agent in the area, said the semirural setting near Lake Hodges and low turnover in ownership have sustained values.

“I think we do better than elsewhere, comparatively,” Scott said.

DataQuick numbers back her up. The median for the Escondido West area is down 21 percent from the 2007 peak of $680,250. That compares with a countywide median decline of 35 percent from the 2006 high of $554,000 to $360,000 in the third quarter this year.

By contrast, many more areas continue to post lower year-over-year prices, with three central San Diego city neighborhoods among the five worst performers.

Golden Hill (92102), east of downtown, was off 32.3 percent to $152,250 and down 65.4 percent from its 2006 peak of $440,000.

Peter Dennehy, senior vice president at Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors, said these fast-sinking neighborhoods were among the last to see an upsurge during the early-2000s bubble market. As prices elsewhere soared, desperate buyers with shaky financing bought there, where prices were lowest.

“They came late to the appreciation curve and really boomed in what I’d call the ‘unfortunate’ years, when subprime mortgages were quite prevalent,” Dennehy said of the worst-performing ZIPs.

Scott Holder of Aloha San Diego Properties in Golden Hill called the inner-city markets “schizophrenic” because investors outbid first-time buyers now.

“We have people that want to buy and can’t buy,” Holder said.

Many agents report that the inventory of homes for sale is shrinking because the supply of distressed properties is down — a situation that may change if an expected new wave of foreclosures materializes. The San Diego Association of Realtors said the number of active listings for detached homes this week stood at 5,670, down from 8,562 in mid-July.

Meanwhile, owners of nondistressed homes do not want to sell because they hope prices last seen in 2006 will return soon. That may not happen for 10 more years, agents say.

Analysts caution not to read too much into price trends, because they vary greatly in market mix. During one quarter there may be many small, low-priced houses that change hands, and in another, more higher-priced listings.

Mark Lau of WKL Financial, a real estate office in central San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood, said he was surprised that his area dropped 17.8 percent in the third quarter to a median of $183,000. That compared with $222,500 in the same period in 2008 and a record $411,000 for all of 2006.

“My feeling was it was going up,” based on multiple offers and overbids on foreclosure properties, Lau said.

In one recent case, a client made an all-cash bid of $190,000 on a home listed at $150,000. There were 38 offers, and it went to someone else.

“We got beat up so many times, we learned our lesson to go higher,” Lau said.

In Chula Vista, where prices continue to fall, Ramon Zamora of Executive Brokers Real Estate said frustrated first-time buyers will probably have to wait their turn.

Investors, although often offering less money, are making winning bids by paying all cash. They spend $5,000 to $20,000 on repairs and upgrades, then sell the homes to first-timers for thousands more than they invested.

“It’s not that it’s a better deal; it’s just the way the first-time buyer can get it,” Zamora said.

Ray Metcalf, a 30-year-veteran real estate broker in Oceanside, said he has backed out of the realty business for the time being because it is dominated by what he called “a bunch of barracudas” — bottom-fishing investors and banks eager to rapidly unload foreclosures.

“The industry is no fun anymore,” Metcalf said.

Linda Bell at Panda Realty in Poway characterized the market as being in a “frenzy.”

“Everybody just goes bananas over the cheap ones,” Bell said.

But she and other agents predicted continued problems in San Diego real estate if the economy continues in its weakened state with little growth and high unemployment.

“People who are not making money can’t buy a house,” Bell said.

By Roger Showley

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

SoCal home sales up, prices hold steady

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:29:46 +0000

Southern California home sales rose unexpectedly last month as price declines moderated, MDA DataQuick reported Tuesday.

There were 21,539 sales in the six-county region, including San Diego, up slightly from August’s 21,502, as low rates, federal tax credits and delayed closings reversed usual 9.5 percent August-September downturn. The total was 11 percent higher than in September 2008, the 14th straight year-over-year increase.

As reported Monday, San Diego’s sales rose from 3,306 in August to 3,454 last month.

The overall median for the region stood at $275,000, unchanged from August and 10.9 percent below year-ago levels, the smallest year-over-year decline since November 2007.

San Diego’s September median also was unchanged at $325,000 and just 0.9 percent below September 2008’s $328,000 – the smallest decline since June 2006, when there was a 1 percent annualized increase.

Orange and Ventura counties joined San Diego in seeing the first annual increase in existing-house prices in years.

Orange County’s median price for resale single-family homes rose 4.2 percent, from $480,000 in September 2008 to $500,000 last month, the first year-over-year increase since August 2007. Orange also was the first Southern California county to post an overall increase in median prices, up 0.9 percent to $429,000.

Ventura’s resale house median was up 2.2 percent, from $410,000 to $419,000, the first such year-over-year increase since October 2006.

San Diego, as reported Monday, saw its median house price increase 1.5 percent, from $360,000 in September 2008 to $365,500 last month, the first such gain since August 2007.

However, DataQuick said the increases were not due to increases in values as much as a change in market mix, with fewer low-cost distressed properties selling and more higher-priced homes closing escrow.

Regionwide foreclosure sales – houses and condos that had been foreclosed on at some point in the previous 12 months – represented 40.4 percent of all resales, down slightly from a revised 41.7 percent in August.

San Diego’s foreclosure count was 35.3 percent, up slightly from the revised 34.5 percent in August. It was the first month-to-month increase for San Diego since January, when the all-time high of 55 percent was reached.

The September boost was attributed to a possible delay in closings due to a slowdown in appraisals and the continued flow of short-sale transactions. These involve homes sold for less than the outstanding mortgage balance and usually take much longer to go through escrow because lenders must approve such sales.

Analysts also said buyers were eager to take advantage of the $8,000 federal first-time-homebuyer tax credit, scheduled to expire next month but now being considered for extension in Congress.

Low interest rates also are thought to be drawing in buyers.

Roger Showley

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Take steps right now to rebuild your credit

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:23:16 +0000

WASHINGTON — The ideal of homeownership may have lost its attraction to the millions of underwater owners who have lost their castles during the housing meltdown. But it is never too soon for folks who have given up their homes to start pointing to the day when they will once again take the plunge.

Whether you were able to persuade your lender to accept a payoff for less than what you owed and dump your albatross in what’s known as a “short sale” or lost everything to foreclosure, if you start rebuilding your credit now, you may be able to buy another place in as little as two years.

Even if you’ve vowed never again to be an owner, the damage done to your credit profile by your housing woes will affect your everyday needs for at least the next 24 to 36 months. Everything from shopping for a cell phone to buying insurance to renting an apartment will be affected by your credit score because of bankruptcy or foreclosure notations in your file.

“We live in a credit-dominated society, making it especially critical for those with tarnished credit reports to begin the rebuilding process as soon as possible,” said Gail Cunningham, representative for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling in Silver Spring, Md.

It won’t be easy, and it takes time, but “it is always worth the effort,” Cunningham said. “Time is on your side, and the farther away you move from your financial distress, the less impact it will have.”

Many of the steps you need to take to rehabilitate your profile are similar to those of anyone with tarnished credit. But it’s likely that if you’ve been tagged by a short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy, the rest of your credit has gone to seed as well.

So follow these tips:

Review your credit report. You can’t know where you are going until you know where you are. So get a free credit report at www.creditreport.com , and look it over for accuracy. (That’s the official government Web site, and the only one that’s truly free.)

First, make sure that the information in your file is about you and only you, not someone who has a similar name or a similar Social Security number. Next, look for items about you that are simply erroneous.

If you find mistakes, dispute them. If you discover old debts that haven’t been paid off, satisfy them as soon as you can. “Paid late looks better than not paid at all,” Cunningham said.

Beware of credit-repair scams. Don’t pay for something that you can do yourself. And by all means, don’t pay someone to wipe away the negative items in your file. They can, simply by disputing the bad stuff. But if they don’t follow through — and it’s likely they won’t — the damaging items will reappear in two or three months.

Check the status of a short sale. If your mortgage lender has accepted a payoff for less than what you owed, make sure that the account reflects a zero balance rather than the difference between the outstanding balance and the sales price.

Don’t assume that your short sale carries no further obligations. Some lenders are going after unpaid balances by filing deficiency judgments, while others are selling these bad debts for pennies on the dollar to bottom-feeding investors who then go after borrowers with a vengeance. Also, Uncle Sam can tax the difference as income.

If you are responsible for the remaining balance, make arrangements to repay, follow your repayment plan, and make sure that the lender, whoever it is, carries your account as current rather than seriously delinquent.

Foreclosures and bankruptcies. Bankruptcies tend to have a greater impact on a credit score because they typically involve more than one account, whereas a foreclosure involves just your mortgage, said Craig Watts, public-affairs director at FICO, the company that devises many of the credit-score formulas used by most lenders. But either way, there’s nothing you can do about these extremely weighty black marks against your credit except ride them out.

Bankruptcies and foreclosures will remain on your credit report for seven years (10 years for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy). But as these items age, says Watts, they will have less and less of an impact.

Just a few years ago, underwriting rules were so loose that you could buy a house just 24 months after filing for bankruptcy. But now, according to Ginny Ferguson of Heritage Valley Mortgage in Pleasanton, you will have to wait for five years after the bankruptcy is dissolved, not just filed — and seven years if you’ve filed for bankruptcy multiple times.

Short sales. Lenders tend to look more kindly on applicants who have unloaded homes via a short sale, Ferguson said. In fact, she said you may be able to obtain another mortgage in as few as 24 months, depending on the circumstances of your previous derailment. “If you truly have extraordinary circumstances, you can be out there again as soon as two years.”

Checking and savings accounts. If you don’t have these already, open them. While activity on these accounts is not usually reported to the credit bureaus, your future mortgage lender will likely want to see two or three months of bank statements, so they count in your favor, especially if you are not overdrawn.

Apply for credit. Chances are good that if you’ve gone through a rough time, your credit-card issuers have closed your accounts. But if you still have one or two or more, make sure that you make your payments on time.

Next, apply for new cards. Credit-scoring models value the various types of credit differently, so the right mix is important. Having two or three revolving accounts, typically credit cards and an installment, fixed-pay loan (say, for a car) can actually improve your score, as long as you are current.

Also consider a secured credit card, one backed by a deposit you made with the institution issuing the card. While secured cards sometimes have higher fees and interest rates, the account activity is reported to the credit repositories each month. And after a period of on-time payments, the issuer will often offer you an unsecured card.

Realize, however, that credit cards are loans, and each issuer has different lending standards. So you will want to apply only for those cards that fit your profile. To research the various yardsticks, go to www.CreditCards.com or www.Bankrate.com.

Beware, though, of applying for too much credit at one time because it can appear as though you are desperate. Too many credit inquiries can have a negative impact on your score.

Take out a small loan. A personal loan from a bank or credit union can serve to re-establish your credit. You may be asked to put up collateral, but it will be worth it to build your file back up.

Make sure that your accounts are reported. After going through all this trouble, it would be a shame if your lenders did not report your on-time payment status. If the credit agencies are unaware that you’ve cleaned up your act, all this effort will have gone for naught.

By Lew Sichelman

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Escondido Chargers?

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:44:16 +0000

By Joe Tash

Could the “hidden valley” of Escondido have been the number one draft pick of the San Diego Chargers all along?
In recent months, the Chargers’ search for a new “San Diego” stadium site has turned northward, following the implosion of Chula Vista’s finances and its troublesome bay-front power plant, and the solid defeat of Proposition B, where voters said “no way” to building a stadium over the bay’s banana-receiving Tenth-Street Terminal.
Seven years after it began, the team’s search for a new home continues with the big contenders today being sites in Escondido, Oceanside and – surprise – Downtown San Diego.
And while all the talk and press was flying over Oceanside’s two sites – the early contender near a golf course and the newer proposal near the city’s municipal airport – could it be that the Chargers have had a hidden agenda leading to Escondido’s doorstep all along?
Escondido Chargers?
The idea of building a new home for the Bolts in Escondido surfaced earlier this year when Mitch Mitchell, a downtown business leader and vice president of external affairs for San Diego Gas & Electric, introduced Mark Fabiani, the Chargers’ special counsel charged with finding a new stadium site, to Dave Ferguson, a veteran Escondido land-use attorney. That initial meeting led to further meetings with Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler.
“We’d love for the Chargers to locate in Escondido,” says Pfeiler. “We’d certainly be cooperative in trying to work something out, but we don’t own any property.”
Neither, she says, does the city have the kind of money – estimated at $1 billion – that it would take to build a stadium. Pfeiler believes a regional solution involving local government agencies may be the way to go, and she also leaves open the door to what she calls a “creative” approach that could involve the use of future tax revenue generated by a stadium and related development to help pay for the project.
Those involved in the talks say a stadium near the intersection of Interstate 15 and State Route 78 would have great transportation links, from the freeways and the new Sprinter light rail line between Oceanside and Escondido. A North County stadium would also help lure fans from further north, an attractive proposition to the Chargers.
“It seems to be an excellent spot,” says Mitchell, who, along with Fairbanks Ranch businessman Dan Shea, helped broker a new lease between the city of San Diego and the Chargers in 2004 that eliminated an unpopular provision requiring the city to buy unsold tickets.
The major problem with Escondido, however, is the lack of an empty piece of land big enough for a stadium. Fabiani says a 50-acre site would be needed for the stadium and some 4,000 to 5,000 parking spaces for luxury box and club seat holders. Fabiani says the southwest quadrant of State Route 78 near the I-15 that backs up to the Nordahl Road Sprinter station is “definitely the right section of land.” It’s dotted with tilt-up industrial buildings, which Pfeiler and Ferguson both agree is underutilized.
And Pfeiler’s idea of a joint-city agreement is already gaining traction: the cities of Oceanside and Escondido might look at ways to partner, and in the process, solving one of the biggest obstacles: finding enough space for both a stadium and a mixed-use development that could help fund the stadium. It might be possible for one city to build the mixed-use project, the other city the stadium, and then revenue share.
“That was something that Oceanside Councilman Rocky Chavez came up with,” said Fabiani, with a bit of bemusement, when informed of a news report on KGTV. “I’m never going to react negatively to something that a council representative introduces, because our council reps are important to us. But at the same time, I don’t want this proposal to be overstated. As far as I know, it’s not a big deal. I just talked to our Escondido people and they don’t know what’s going on. There’s nothing formal out there right now.”
“At the same time, obviously if you have more than one site, you’ve got more options,” he said, noting that nothing is off the table.
So, Mark Fabiani, do you have a favorite site?
Fabiani laughs. And laughs.
“Favorite is a relative term,” he says. “After seven years and $10 million worth of work, I would say, if you could do it, the Downtown site makes the most sense simply because it’s a lot cheaper and the transportation is there, the parking is there. If you look at any other site, you’re going to have to make major road improvements, find major parking or build structured parking which is tremendously expensive. And we’ve got to finance all of that. But, again, there is no perfect site.”
One advantage the northern locales offer is their proximity to Orange and Riverside counties, both areas rich in Charger season ticket holders. Escondido promoters are quick to point out the ease in having fans bussed down from Temecula, or Orange County fans parking in Oceanside and “Sprinting” over. Similarly, San Diego fans are logging onto area websites, such as voiceofsandiego.org, to say that they’re more than willing to spend 30 minutes driving to Escondido if it means keeping the team in the county.
Fabiani says up to 30 percent of the club’s “luxury business” — luxury suites, club seats, signage partners, business partners and advertisers — are based in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Fabiani won’t speculate on when the Chargers might pull up stakes, but one thing is clear — the team’s store of patience has its limits.
When team officials announced their desire for a new stadium in 2002, they cited their need to improve revenue through such means as the sale of luxury box seats and other amenities, and the difficulties of competing in an aging facility such as 42-year-old Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley. Elected officials have come and gone, interest in various potential stadium sites has waxed and waned, but the team’s basic position has remained constant.
“This is a business. If you are $50 million, $75 million, $100 million behind other teams in the league in the revenue standpoint, at some point you have to do something about that,” Fabiani says. “I just can’t imagine this would go on another seven years. I think the next year or two are critical.”
Under the scenario being considered in Escondido, most fans would have to park off-site, either on surrounding streets, in office parking lots unused on Sunday afternoons, or other locations.
Such a change from the tailgate scene at Qualcomm “will be a big jolt to fans,” Fabiani concedes, but says the model will be more like Petco Park in Downtown San Diego.
The first task, says Ferguson, is a thorough study of such issues as marketing, transportation and, most critically, financing such a venture, and whether the model of building ancillary development to help pay for a stadium is workable. The Chargers say they intend to privately finance a new stadium through the profits from related commercial and residential development, rather than seeking public funding.
A definitive answer on the financing question is still at least 30 days away, says Ferguson. At that point, the focus would turn to identifying a specific location.
“My gut feeling is if the financial model can be made to work we can find a place for the Chargers in Escondido,” says Ferguson.
Oceanside Chargers?
As the Chargers and Escondido officials study options, the team is analyzing another North County location, the site of a defunct drive-in movie theater on State Route 76 in Oceanside.
As with the Escondido location, the Oceanside site has good prospects because of its proximity to Interstate 5, and accessibility to fans in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.
Another advantage is the 90-acre site is controlled by Thomas Enterprises, a willing partner which contacted the Chargers when the poor economy stalled the company’s plan to build a regional shopping center on the property.
One fly in the ointment – as big as a Cessna four-seater – is Oceanside’s municipal airport, which is next to the Thomas Enterprises property.
“No question, that’s a very tough issue,” says Fabiani, who contends a 230-foot-tall stadium would be incompatible with the airport for safety reasons.
The only options, then, are to close or relocate the airport, which would require the approval of both Oceanside officials and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mel Kuhnel, vice president for west coast development with Thomas Enterprises, said his company has conducted extensive research and concluded the airport issue can be resolved by counter-balancing the loss of the Oceanside airport with improvements to a nearby facility such as Palomar-McClellan Airport in Carlsbad, or Fallbrook airport.
“We’re excited about the possibility,” says Kuhnel, whose company holds a 90-year lease on the property. “We just think if you put a bulls-eye for an ideal site for the Chargers, that is it.”
Reaction from Oceanside City Council members ranged from cautiously optimistic to dubious.
“It’s a really long, long shot to pull this off,” says Councilman Jack Feller, who believes the stadium would have been a better fit at another Oceanside site previously considered and rejected by the Chargers, a municipal golf course next to I-5.
Obstacles such as the airport and potential traffic jams on SR-76 stand in the way, says, Feller, “but we need to look at every option when it comes to progress for our city. If they come up with options that make sense, absolutely I’m going to listen.”
Councilman Rocky Chavez says the Chargers could be part of a long-term strategy to bring jobs and diversity to Oceanside’s economic base, if the community supports the idea. Chavez says he wouldn’t support closing the airport to land a new Chargers stadium, and other sites should be considered as part of a broader vision for the city’s future.
According to Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, there’s a perception in Oceanside that the Chargers are merely going through the motions of looking for a site in San Diego County before departing for greener pastures. San Antonio and Las Vegas have expressed interest in the franchise, and another developer is seeking to build a football stadium in the City of Industry near Los Angeles.
Like Feller, Sanchez says the airport and traffic problems would be difficult to overcome.
“I just don’t see this happening in any way,” says Sanchez. “I have not seen anything that’s been serious at all. It’s part of the dance on the way out.”
Downtown Isn’t Dead.
Of the three sites now under consideration, says Fabiani, the front-runner from a financial standpoint may be Downtown San Diego, because of existing infrastructure such as freeways, public transit and parking, which would trim some $200 million from the cost of the project.
San Diego officials have also been more open in recent months to meeting with the team, which Fabiani attributes to the election in 2008 of Jan Goldsmith as city attorney. Goldsmith’s predecessor, Mike Aguirre, was known for taking a combative stance with the team and its goal of a new stadium.
The Chargers have met with Goldsmith, Mayor Jerry Sanders’ staff, and business leaders, the San Diego Unified Port District, redevelopment officials and others, Fabiani says.
The site most mentioned is the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, which is owned by the Port District and used for loading and unloading cargo, Fabiani says. Last year, voters rejected a proposal to build a massive deck above the terminal where a stadium, hotel and/or other development could have been built.
“A lot of people feel that with smart land use, you could have a 30-acre stadium site and the same or greater port activities,” Fabiani says. “You would have to persuade the Port Commission to support you.”
Such support appears unlikely.
“The comment surprises me because Mark and I have worked together over three-plus years. He knows there is no way the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal can co-host a Chargers stadium and continue to maintain marine operations,” says Port Commission Chairman Steve Cushman. “We wouldn’t be in the maritime business if we did that. The bottom line is it is not possible for the two to co-exist together.”
In any case, Goldsmith says he, like Fabiani, is encouraged by the renewed dialogue between the city and the team: “The lines of communication are open.”
The next step is to find a site that makes financial sense for both the city and the Chargers, which Goldsmith calls a “win-win.”
“We need to have patience and perseverance. I cannot tell you if we will find the right mix of a project,” Goldsmith said.
For now, the Chargers remain firmly ensconced in Mission Valley. Each year, the team has a window of time from February 1 to May 1 when it can notify the city of its intention to leave. If it gives notice in 2010, it will owe the city $56 million for breaking its lease. The following year, the lease termination fee drops to $25 million, and gradually declines until 2020, when the lease ends.
“I don’t think anyone would have wanted it to occur this way,” says Mitchell, “where there’s a mad scramble… but somewhere in this region there is an opportunity to find a place to house the San Diego Chargers and keep our home team here.”
Fabiani will tell you that the question he’s asked most often is when will the team leave San Diego if it doesn’t get a new stadium. He says he can’t answer the question with any degree of certainty.
“I’m not a very accurate predictor of the future,” says Fabiani, who was hired in 2002 by team President Dean Spanos to lead the stadium quest. At the time, he says, “I never would have predicted we’d still be working on it in 2009.”
Until the Chargers come up with a solid plan for a new stadium in San Diego County, fans will have to hold their breath each spring until the termination deadline passes.z

posted by sandiegometro

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Federal Index Shows Home Prices Rising

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:37:12 +0000

U.S. home prices rose 0.3 percent in July compared to June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday.

The index is 4.2 percent below what it was in 2008 and 10.5 percent off its peak in April 2007.

The index excludes most expensive homes from its calculations, so prices appear to have declined less than they have by other measures.

The report “supports other evidence that the three-year long decline in prices has come to halt,” Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients.

Other economists were less positive. “We think house price indexes are likely to edge somewhat lower in the fall when foreclosures become a larger share of home sales,” Barclays Capital economist Nicholas Tenev wrote in a note to his clients.

Source: The Associated Press, Alan Zibel (09/22/2009)

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

More Waiting in Store Before Prices Head Up

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:07:43 +0000

Real estate forecasting service Local Market Monitor, which predicts housing market trends for investors and banks, forecasts that housing prices will decline an average of 5 percent through 2010. This prediction includes double-digit decreases in Phoenix, Miami, and Las Vegas.

But then the worst could be over, says CEO Ingo Winzer. As the recession eases, “We’ll see good price increases in many markets,” he reports.

In the following markets, home values are expected to remain level this year but increase in value next year:

Baton Rouge, La.
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas
Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Pittsburgh, Pa.
San Antonio, Texas
Syracuse, N.Y.

Here are the 10 largest markets where prices are expected to continue to decline through 2010:

Fresno, Calif.
Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla.
Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
Stockton, Calif.
Tacoma, Wash.
Tucson, Ariz.

Source: Local Market Monitor (09/09/2009)

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Don’t be among victims of foreclosure-prevention scams

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:38:41 +0000

WASHINGTON – How’s this for a business plan to make money during the housing bust? You buy or rent lists of recent default filings from across the country – thousands of people who have been notified by lenders that if they don’t get their mortgage payments back on track, the next step will be foreclosure.

You send each homeowner a personalized letter with this urgent message: We know you’re having a tough time right now, but WE CAN SAVE YOUR HOME! It’s not too late! We know how to get through to your lender and work things out to save your house. Call this toll-free number immediately!

The letters generate hundreds of callbacks. Many panicked owners agree to pay a fee of $1,200 to $1,300 for the foreclosure prevention services in advance.

You can guess what happens next: Little or nothing in the way of help in most cases. The homeowners lose their houses to foreclosure, and the rescue company keeps sending out letters and pocketing fees.

Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission settled with a Florida-based company – United Home Savers – that allegedly operated like this, and victimized more than 3,100 homeowners nationwide.

The company and its officers denied any legal wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but have shut down the firm and agreed to a $4.1 million judgment and close monitoring by federal officials of their future business activities. However, most of the judgment was suspended because United Home Savers and its principals had only about $22,000 in their bank accounts when the FTC froze their assets under court order.

United could not be reached for comment.

The 3,100 victims, in other words, probably won’t see a dime in restitution.

“What really hurts,” says Harold Kirtz, the FTC lawyer who led the government’s case against United Home Savers, “is that a lot of these people not only lost money upfront, but they also fell further behind on their mortgages” during the weeks and months while they waited for United’s staff counselors to work things out with their lenders.

That, in turn, made foreclosure for the homeowners even more likely.

But United is just one of literally hundreds of alleged foreclosure rescue operations that have prospered in the toxic wasteland of the mortgage market bust. Reilly Dolan is familiar with many of them. He is the FTC’s assistant director for financial practices and the coordinator of “Operation Loan Lies,” a joint federal-state effort that has targeted 189 companies allegedly running mortgage-modification or foreclosure-prevention scams. The FTC alone has brought or settled 19 cases against firms of this type in the past 12 months, Dolan said in an interview. “And more are coming.”

“This is now one of the top priorities” at the FTC, according to Dolan, because the sheer breadth of mortgage foreclosure problems “has caused a lot of scams to come out of the woodwork.”

Kirtz, who is based at the FTC’s Atlanta office, said even well-educated, financially knowledgeable consumers can fall prey to loan-modification and foreclosure-prevention rip-offs because “they are in a very vulnerable state,” threatened with the loss of the roof over their heads. As a result, they don’t ask the questions they should, and they don’t look for the clear warning indicators of potential fraud. What telltale signs should tip off financially distressed homeowners?

No. 1: If the company claims to be able to guarantee success in preventing foreclosure, no matter what your financial situation or mortgage details, don’t listen further to the marketing pitch. Nobody can guarantee you’ll get a loan modification, and nobody can guarantee that your lender won’t pull the plug and foreclose.

No. 2: Although there is no federal law against collection of upfront fees for loan-modification assistance – unlike so-called “credit repair” operations, where fees are prohibited until services are completed – any company asking for $1,000 to $4,000 in advance should be checked out thoroughly by the homeowner before sending in any money.

“We can’t say all advance fees are illegal,” Kirtz said. But when the fees are for things like “processing” and “administration” costs, “in most case they’re probably bogus.”

Finally, mortgage-modification companies that claim to have special inside connections allowing them to make your payments directly to your lender – provided you send your monthly checks to the modification company, not to your regular servicer – is almost certainly intent on just one thing: Cashing as many of your checks as possible, pocketing the money, and leaving you unprotected on the conveyor belt heading for foreclosure.

By Kenneth Harney

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

New Home Sales Surge 9.6% in July

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:19:38 +0000

New U.S. home sales surged 9.6 percent in July, rising for the fourth straight month
and beating expectations as the housing market shows continuing signs of rebounding from its historic downturn.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 from an upwardly revised
June rate of 395,000. Sales are now up 32 percent from the bottom in January, but off 69 percent from the frenzied peak four years ago.

Last month’s sales pace was the strongest since September and exceeded the forecasts of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who
expected a pace of 390,000 units. The last time sales rose so dramatically was in February 2005.

The median sales price of $210,100, however, was still down 11.5 percent from $237,300 compared to the same time a year ago.
There were 271,000 new homes for sale at the end of July, down more than 3 percent from May. At the current sales
pace, that represents 7.5 months of supply, the lowest since April 2007. The decline means builders have scaled back on construction to the point where supply and demand are coming into balance.

Source: Associated Press, Alan Zibel (08/26/09)

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774