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.

Step 1: How to buy a home in San Diego

Deciding to Own

Understand the financial benefits of owning and evaluate down payment options to make the best use of leverage.

How Much House Can You Afford?
How much you can afford really depends on a number of factors. One factor is how much of a loan you can qualify for with a reputable lender. This takes into account your credit history, how much of a down payment you can accumulate and your debt to income ratio. Lenders generally allow for about a third of your income to be applied to your housing payment. Other factors you’ll take into account before choosing a home are location, size, condition, age, amenities and view.

Benefits of Home Ownership
The tax benefits associated with owning your home truly make it a taxpayer’s dream come true. Please consult your tax professional to make sure you take advantage of all the benefits you’re entitled to. Also, statistics show how communities improve in relation to the rate of homeownership as well as children obtaining better grades in school.

Quite possibly our favorite benefit is the use of leverage or OPM (Other Peoples Money). To buy stock worth $500,000 you’d need to actually have $500,000 to purchase the stock. Conversely, to buy a home or condo worth the same amount, $500,000, you have options. You can pay an initial down payment of 5 to 15% or possibly finance the entire amount. Either way your ROI (Return on Investment) significantly increases as your home goes up in value. We’d love the opportunity to show you how to put the power of leverage to work and gain lasting financial freedom.

Down Payment
Home buyers usually believe that saving enough money for a down payment is the biggest hurdle to owning a piece of paradise here in San Diego. So how much down payment does it take to own you may be asking. Great question. Your decision will be dictated by your financial circumstances, the type of loan you choose, and your risk tolerance. If you’re financially secure, you may want to go ahead and put 10% to 20% down. On the other hand, you may want to leverage yourself, putting down as little as possible, that way you’ll have more liquid cash to invest.

Market Conditions
What is our San Diego real estate market doing right now? Think Economics 101, Supply vs. Demand. Are there more buyers buying than sellers selling? Are prices shooting up at 20% with multiple offers on homes that sell within 48 hours? If so, we are experiencing a seller’s market. However, if more sellers are selling than buyer’s buying we may be in a buyer’s market. In a buyer’s market the supply of listed homes exceeds buyer demand. Between these two extremes are more balanced market conditions. It is advantageous to check the pulse of the market with an experienced agent and lender. Market conditions fluctuate consistently and we pride ourselves on keeping you informed and empowered with up to date analysis and statistics on current market conditions.

Own vs. Rent
Are you tired of paying rent with nothing to show for it? The benefits to owning your own home are numerous and rewarding. The money you spend on rent every month could be put towards gaining long term financial security and stability. Log onto http://www.ginniemae.gov and use their Buy vs. Rent calculator to check the numbers for yourself.

Here’s To The Crazy Ones…

This is one of my favorite adverts from Apple. In light of the rough times we saw in 2008 and in celebration of the wonderful changes 2009 brings our way I’d like to share this with you and invite you to be Crazy Today.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
~ Apple

San Diego Happy Hour

With the current state of real estate in San Diego I thought it would be appropriate to re-post this happy hour list from YELP San Diego.

Happy: hap·py, an adjective for delighted, pleased, or glad.
Hour: ou-er, a noun for a period of time equivalent to :60 minutes.

Now, throw in some cheap booze, potato skins and a few double-fisting commercial bankers and you’ve got yourself a party! Since Yelp’s all about having a good time, we’ve compiled a list of some of San Diego’s greatest happy hours to obtain that much-needed buzz after a long day at the office… or an extended rendezvous with Rock Band 2.

If a stiff drink and fried food in the late afternoon is wrong, we don’t want to be right — nor does Brian K — as he professes his love for the “unbelievably cheap appetizers and $1.75 Coors Lights” during happy hour at South Beach Bar & Grill in Ocean Beach. Katelyn W also cites the “Beer O’Clock” special where select brewskis start at just a buck, then increase by 25 cents every hour. Likewise, broke college student Sarah S flashes her student ID for $2 tequila shots on Thursdays at Baja Betty’s. Other celebrated happy hour stops include PB’s World Famous, Avenue 5 Restaurant and Bar in Bankers Hill and at The Prado at Balboa Park.

Perhaps you’re more of a wino? Even better, as fermented grapes make for a great alternative to beer and liquor. Just ask the sophisticated Amanda S. In addition to the “amazing cheese plate” she devoured during Wine Steals‘ happy hour, she also gushes, “the wine tastings were more like a wine party!” Ashleigh O certainly doesn’t mind gettin’ sideways with a massive amount of Merlot, which is why you’ll find her gettin’ down and dirty at the 50% off “Wine Wednesday” happy hour every hump day at Cafe Bleu.

Need a little sustenance to accompany those inexpensive cocktails and cushion the blow of tomorrow’s looming hangover? Of course you do, which is why you should cop a squat next to David G for a $1.50 hand roll at Sushi Deli 2 Downtown. On the other hand, if the spare-change-in-the-couch search proved plentiful this week, a mere $3.95 will buy you a bucket of hush puppies at Alice H‘s fave Gulf Coast Grill in North Park. Finally, if an evening aphrodisiac sounds like an enjoyable way to end the work day, join Geraldine C for discounted drinks and $1 oyster shots at Oceanaire on J Street. Grrrrr!

San Diego Real Estate NOT Accurate on Zillow

Earlier this week in a post comparing real estate sites Trulia and Zillow, I suggested that the most important success factor for these sites is how comprehensive they are. The more listings the better because home buyers want to go to one place to find every home on the market. They want a single dashboard from which they can filter down the choices.

And indeed, if you do a search for homes for sale in San Diego on Trulia, you get 4,395 results, compared to 6,036 on Roost. That’s 73 percent. (Zillow claims 7,661 listings in the San Diego city limits). Even if half of them are stale listings or not accurate in some other way, it’s hard to get to the 9 percent that the Roost-financed study claims. That’s because for some reason, the WAV study only compared homes in each city with exactly 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, within a $50,000 price range. Read More…

Real Estate Agents in “Foreclosure”

Someone had to say it… and my man Seth Godin has a mouthful for real estate agents nationwide. His latest blog as of this post is titled, Advice for real estate agents (quit now)

OUCH.

If you are in business and interested in marketing and great idea generation give his blog a read. Seth has words worth repeating and books worth sharing. I was introduced to his work about 9 months ago and have since gone back to read his books, ebooks and posts from 1999 forward. I am a card holding SethGdevotee. RSS his blog Here.

Turns out, Seth was a bit behind the curve in San Diego for his real estate agent blog post. Many agents preceded his advice to quit. According to a manager at Prudential California Realty who is on the board at SDAR, the local San Diego Board of Realtors, over 30% of agents in our local San Diego market have not renewed their yearly dues. This means no lookey lookey for homes on the MLS for thousands of San Diego agents. In our office alone we’ve lost at least that percentage of agents and office meetings have dwindled in numbers.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS read this POST! It’s time for a healthy dose of Plan B. My lens is here. Can’t wait to read your too.

A merging of passions has culminated in the development of a new division of West of the Five Real Estate Services, a division that is aptly named Rising Tide Investments. The name comes from the saying “A rising tide lifts all ships”, but it is more than boats that he is lifting. His is lifting spirits with an easy to understand investment plan that makes financial freedom and retirement a reachable reality in the not-so-distant future!

Travis is passionate about his family and friends, loves research and, as most of you already know is a pro in his chosen field of Real Estate. Out of concern for close family members with little or no exit strategy in their current professions, Travis began combining resources to create Rising Tide as a way of offering a simple plan for retirement with ample funds to live in comfort and style.

The process is easy to understand and simple to start. As of December 15th he is offering consultations with this West of the Five community to share the process in detail. I cannot do it justice here in this brief piece, but I will do my best to give you the simple overview.

The basic concept is to purchase about 20 homes over the span of time between now and the time you choose to retire. At the time of retirement sell 10 properties to pay off the other 10 thereby having a stream of income from the 10 remaining investment properties plus a cash bonus form the equity if you don’t mind paying taxes on the gains. If you have an aversion to paying taxes on the gains Travis and the Rising Tide team of professionals will be happy to show you how to balance things in your favor by keeping more properties, thereby having more monthly income.

Now that you have the basics you might be wondering how the heck you are supposed to handle twenty mortgages and the overage that the rents would not cover if the properties were purchased here in San Diego. I certainly was curious, not to mention a little intimidated. I’ll admit that normally I would think that a worn out library card and intricate knowledge of how to acquire and make sense of statistical data would be qualities I’d associate with a complete nerd. Nerdy turned sexy real quick when the information Travis shared with me offered a way to have minimal cash outlay now to get $15,000 a month conservatively once I acquire 20 properties over time according to my individual risk tolerance.

It took my brain a while to get the concept of nice, new homes in great areas all across the nation costing from $175,000 to $225,000. Having been raised in Hawaii and in San Diego, that was simply a foreign concept for me. Once I understood the formulas for cost versus expenditures and the compounded growth from equity in the properties it was clear and easy. We made our first purchase the day after Thanksgiving and we are due to sign another before Christmas! That means we have two down eighteen to go. Don’t leave us on the beaches of the world alone! Call and get the scoop on Rising Tide Investments from Travis directly or make it a party and host a dinner to listen to the concept with your loved ones.

Article from West of the Five Newletter, by Joy L Houston December 2006

What will the market in San Diego be like in 2016?

San Diego Metropolitan Area

Median Price of Existing Single-Family Home: National, San Diego
*Also includes Carlsbad and San Marcos, Calif. Source: Moody’s Economy.com

Read More

Housing Market at a Tipping Point

As the housing boom of the last several years unwinds, a number of regional markets have experienced significant and unsustainable price appreciation and are at risk of a more severe correction. To determine their exposure and manage risk, participants in the housing market need to identify the markets that are most at risk.

Unfortunately, the voluminous data available on the subject is oftentimes anecdotal, and published studies frequently investigate only a particular, narrow measure of housing market imbalance.

The Moody’s Economy.com Housing at the Tipping Point study cuts through all this noise to present a comprehensive view of the housing market, measures of housing risk, and those markets most at risk.

Read more

Housing Market in Transition

Conditions for home buyers improved during the third quarter as existing single-family home prices in many metropolitan areas experienced corrections. NAR’s report on third-quarter metropolitan area single-family home prices — examining changes in 148 metropolitan statistical areas — shows 102 metros experienced price gains. Of those, 21 posted double-digit annual increases. Forty-five areas reported price declines; one was unchanged.

The largest single-family home price increase was in the Salem OR area, where the third quarter price of $228,000 was 24.7 percent higher than in the third quarter of 2005. Next was Elmira NY– at $93,600 – a price increase of 21.4 percent from the third quarter of 2005. The Salt Lake City also boasted a price increase with a third quarter median price of $216,300, a 19.2 percent over the last four quarters.

The second most expensive area was the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, at $747,400, followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area (Orange Co. CA), at $705,000. For comparison, the national median existing single-family home price was $224,900 in the third quarter, down 1.2 percent from a year earlier when the median price was $227,600.

NAR analysts expect the “buyer’s market” to continue in the months ahead. This window of opportunity will continue into the new year. But inventories are starting to decline. Sellers will be less willing to negotiate when conditions begin to balance in most areas around early spring. Home price appreciation should turn positive in most of the country in 2007.

read more