How To Read A Plat Map for San Diego Real Estate

The Assessor’s Map is not filed with the official County’s Records. This map is based upon tract maps that are filed with the local County records. The Assessor will include a reference to the maps that have been filed at the County. See the image below to understand how to read a plat map when buying San Diego Real Estate.

San Diego Real Estate Market Opinion

This post is from my April 2008 Newsletter I send out to clients:

This is a cRaZy market!!! Let me know if historically you’ve ever seen anything like this. Conventional wisdom would suggest that this many foreclosure on the market should mean that interest rates would be historically high – around 12-15%. Completely the opposite is true. Loads of foreclosures and historically LOW interest rates. If that doesn’t signal TIME TO BUY in the next 18 months then what does? What do you think will happen in our San Diego real estate market in 5 years from today?

Anyhow, at the moment we seem to have 2 real estate markets going concurrently, the usual retail market and the foreclosure market. The foreclosure market is picking up speed and continuing to drive retail listing prices down in the areas hardest hit by the sub-prime debacle. Those areas hardest hit by foreclosures in San Diego are the South Bay, North County Inland and East County. The coastal areas of San Diego are holding up quite well amidst the turmoil.

Buyers – It’s shaping up to be a good year for buy and hold investors and home buyers. If the stringent lending standards ease up slightly and interest rates continue with their historically low rates Spring/Summer/Fall will be good for real estate.

Sellers – if you don’t have to sell, Buckle-up and Stay Put. Ride out the next 18 months and possibly look for an investment opportunity, re-fi, or rennovate.

The Fine Print of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

California and San Diego real estate mortgage defaults are literally off the charts as of the first quarter of 2008. Recently I’ve been helping some new clients who got in over their heads with house debt and un-refinancable Adjustable Rate Mortgages. A recent article details some of the issues you’ll need to know about when navigating the tax waiver law from the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007. Read the full San Francisco Chrinicle article HERE.

Congress, Bush and the real estate industry hailed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 as a boon for struggling homeowners who might face a big tax bill if they restructure or give up on their mortgage. But like everything that comes out of Washington, it is full of fine print that borrowers should fully understand before they decide how to get out from under debt they can’t repay. The rules are extremely complex. I bring this up to show how important it is for homeowners in trouble to get professional tax and legal advice before acting.

Get info directly from the IRS HERE on the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007.

Is California In A Recession?

NO, California nor the USA is in a recession… according to this recent article from the UCLA Anderson Forecast. 

The California forecast

UCLA Anderson Forecast economists Ryan Ratcliff and Jerry Nickelsburg look back at the California economy since World War II and come to two conclusions. First, the U.S. and California economies move together — there has never been a recession in California without a national recession. Second, the California recessions have twice been amplified and extended by long-lasting structural adjustments — the Southern California aerospace contraction in 1990 and the Northern California tech bust in 2001. The recession-only downturns have been sharp-but-short contractions driven by temporary job losses in manufacturing and construction. These recessions typically last less than a year, but both the aerospace and the tech adjustments took more than half-a-dozen years to complete.

Today’s economy fits neither of these patterns; our economy is in “uncharted waters,” they say. There are some negative signs, such as job loss in real estate-related sectors, but it is unlikely that these sectors can create enough job loss to generate the 2 to 3 percent declines in non-farm payroll employment that have characterized past recessions.

The forecast is for a very weak California economy in 2008. The “double-whammy” of construction and financial activities job loss will continue to drag at the economy.

“The current state of the California economy and our forecast fall short of the weakness in previous historical episodes that we’ve chosen to label recessions,” Ratcliff and Nickelsburg write. “Based on comparing the current economy to past recession episodes, we once again conclude that real estate weakness will remain a significant drag on the economy, leaving us treading water in 2008 — but not slipping under the waves into recession.”

The Wealthy Are Buying Real Estate… Why Not You?

According to The Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, from American Express and the Harrison Group, 40 percent of the nation’s wealthy plan to buy real estate in 2008.

What do these rich people know that you don’t? Read HERE to find out. It is TIME TO BUY real estate.

You make money when you buy, not when you sell a home, suggests one popular idiom. That could be the reason the wealthy are trolling for bargains. While most of America is struggling with four percent gains in inflation, the wealthy, with discretionary income of $100,000 or more, believe that today’s market is a good time to buy.

When you think it’s time to buy click HERE.

Virtual Open House – 1129 Felspar

Here is the actual MLS Listing for 1129 Felspar Pacific Beach, CA 92109
Listed by ReMax Coastal.

Contact Us for more info

The Plastic Surgeon of Real Estate

Ken Cornell is truly the Plastic Surgeon of Mission Beach real estate… or should it be the Steel and Glass Surgeon of Mission Beach real estate. Being a long time resident of coastal San Diego even I marvel at the massive change in the face of Mission Beach over the past few years. Ocean Pacific properties is adding tremendous investment value and style to Ocean Front Walk and beyond.

HERE is a great article about Ken and his company and the impact they are having on real estate in Pacific Beach, California.

Positive Press for San Diego Real Estate from Forbes.com

For the first time in a long time there is some positive news in the media regarding San Diego real estate. This article from the LA times talks about America’s Riskiest Real Estate Markets. Highlights from the article are below.

In cities like San Diego, one of five major metros where transactions rose, that’s good news, assuming it’s sustained. What makes transaction volume a good indicator is that it shows how easy it is for people to get loans and how much confidence there is in the market. If mortgages are available and buyers have some faith in the value of the home, they’re more likely to buy. San Diego’s present conditions suggest that over the next half-year, prices may start to rise. That’s because “there’s usually a three- to six-month lag between when transactions go up and prices go up,” says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a Manhattan real estate appraisal firm. Another good sign for the coming year? Increased credit availability. We took into account increased Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) loan limits. The new legislation will open up credit in markets such as Sacramento and San Diego by boosting the GSE loan limit by 125% of the median price. That’s a huge deal for San Diego, where 18% of the market will see improved lending conditions, based on projections by Radar Logic, a New York-based real estate research firm.

San Diego Foreclosure Search

West of the Five has some very exciting news to share with you.

A perfect storm is brewing in the San Diego real estate market for buyers. An opportunity that only comes along once in a 10 year real estate cycle is upon us now. To help you maximize this buyers opportunity we have acquired the latest website technology and are in the early stage of making it available to you.

SDForeclosureSearch.com

- This is an exclusive San Diego Foreclosure-Only MLS technology. So Cool!
- Search, Sort and Save properties that meet your specific criteria
- There are over 1,400 foreclosed properties currently available. Wow!
- 2008 & 2009 will be ideal years to buy Foreclosures

This new technology also allows you to utilize these other useful tools 24 hours a day:
- Search the Entire San Diego MLS, currently over 24,000 properties
- Check Up On Current Values in you neighborhood
- Take Virtual Tours of Any Home Listed For Sale and a whole lot more…

To get you started with this great new service create a FREE VIP Membership account to use anytime you visit our site at SDForeclosureSearch.com.

California Real Estate Conforming Loan Limits Increased!

Just found out this morning and I’m excited to announce HUD’s new conforming loan limits for San Diego, California Real Estate. The real play here is the FHA loan limits—flexibility in ratios, credit, downpayment and appraisals!! ROCK N ROLL…

Median price FHA limit Conforming loan limit
San Diego County $558,000 $697,500 $697,500

Time to get off the fence and get investing. Happy House Hunting.

To check other loan limits click HERE.

Source: Department of Housing and Urban Development