What Do the Experts Say (About the Home Buying Market?)

As we are going towards the second half of the year, and entering our summer period with the Memorial Day holiday weekend, I have to ask:

Do YOU think the real estate market has nowhere to go except for DOWN? You're not the first one! History proves that even the experts have had it all wrong, time and time again. Consider these quotes from history’s “experts”:

#1. "Houses cost too much for the mass market. Today's average price is out of reach for two-thirds of all buyers."

#2. "The goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more and more buyers."

#3. "If you are looking to buy, be careful. Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore.

#4. "Most economists agree.... a home will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative tax investment it once was..."

#5. "Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment.

#6. "A home is where the bad investment is.

Below is a list of sources and publishing dates from the quotes, above:

#1. Science Digest 1948
#2. Business Week 1969
#3. Miami Herald 1985

#4. Money Magazine 1986

#5. Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine 1993

#6. San Francisco Examiner 1996

You can be the judge. If this is what the "experts" were saying throughout the years.... do you really think there is ever a truly bad time to own a home?
Don't get spooked out of buying or owning a home. Real estate is still a great investment..... history tells us so! I look forward to hearing from you soon.
(Courtesy Joe Tishkoff, Skyline Financial.)

Find residential real estate and income properties at http://www.juliahuntsman.com/, click on my property search.
For headlines about California market trends, go to http://www.car.org/media/pdf/consumer/Beyond_the_Headlines__052710.pdf .

HAVE A SAFE HOLIDAY.

New Listing: Bixby Knolls Condo 2 bedroom 2 bath - One of the Area Lowest Prices

The seller is still working to get ready for showing, but this Bixby Knolls condo is a great value at $180,000 for a front end unit with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and no one below. This is a great value in an FHA approved building. Has one parking space in gated garage with storage.

No interior photos yet, will include those in it goes into the MLS at the end of the month.

Interior features are kitchen area Pergo flooring, new kitchen counters, lots of kitchen/dining storage cupboards, and new dishwasher. Seller is freshening up with new paint, and bathroom has new tile floors.

The complex is conveniently located near the 405 FWY and the Bixby Knolls and Atlantic Ave. shopping/restaurant corridor. HOA dues are about $225 monthly. Complex has very nice pool and patio area, and community laundry. One parking space. This is an equity sale!

Call me to find out more about this property. 3510 Elm, #1, Long Beach, CA.

Find this and more properties at http://www.juliahuntsman.com/

Julia Huntsman, Broker, e-PRO®, SFR, REALTOR®

562-896-2609. CA DRE #01188996

Seller, Please Take Yourself Out of the Picture

At Awkward Family Photos there's one thing you can see a lot of--the kind of kids pictures and engagement photos you really don't want showing on your walls when your property is on the market. I don't know what the people at the left were thinking of, and the photo at the right was showing off the kids modeling Dad's cabinetry with a much-loved family pet.

I know what you're thinking: That you don't have anything as crazy as these photos on your walls because your photos show much better taste. After all, they were taken by an expensive portrait photographer showing the close family gathered in formal attire in a classic setting as a beautiful holiday memoir--nothing goofy about that. Why wouldn't you want to proudly show off your family for buyers coming through your home?

Well, in a nutshell, photos in your home may represent you and your family members in a very personal way, and buyers read clues about you and possibly make opinions which may not help sell your home. Even if they do identify, or sympathize, with the Star Trek outfits because they have the same picture on their bookcase, is this the focus of their seeing your home? Because personal objects are usually a distraction to the buyer, a detour into personal aspects of the seller's live(s)that is best avoided if you want an offer soon. You want to present your property, not you and your family, to get it sold as quickly as possible for the best price. You are now selling a product, as cold as that may sound, into which the buyers are trying to see their pictures, furniture, etc. So, sellers, so after seeing the photos voluntarily submitted by those who are having a good laugh at themselves, http://www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ , then go around your home and take yourselves out of it as much as possible, so that someone else can put themselves into it. Oh yes, thanks for California Association of Realtors for leading me to this entertaining site. I might submit a photo or two myself.

The Return of the 5% and 10% Down Payment on Conventional Loans

This is welcome news for borrowers (up to $417,000) whose only option was FHA if they didn't have 10% or 20% down payment funds. This is also welcome news for sellers of single family homes because buyers whose loan amount is $417,000 or less may now borrow with a 5% down payment. Yes, we know there are cash buyers out there with that amount of money, because the FHA buyers in the Southern California market have regularly been beaten down by the all cash buyers or 50% down buyers. But assuming the borrower is well qualified, pre-approved with a lender with a track record (and I mean fully pre-approved), and motivated, a seller may well want to seriously consider such a committed prospect who as a great desire to purchase his/her first home.

And, also in the good news department, is the return of the 10% down conventional loan for condos. This has been almost impossible to get in recent history from most lenders, and this is good news for sellers also, because it relieves the issue of an FHA borrower whose lender may well have to fully approve the entire association before closing escrow. Not only is this time consuming and requires a lot of work by both the lender and the homeowner association, the HOA may not, in the end, meet FHA standards criteria. In fact, sellers, did you know that if your association has 5% or more owners delinquent 30 days or more in their HOA dues payments, there is a problem with loan qualification.  This is true for both FHA and conventional loans.
But back to the good news. For associations which can overcome any such issues, the 10% down conventional loan opens up the door for many more borrowers and thus a faster sale for the seller.
So if you're thinking of selling, contact me for all your possibilities. Buyers who have been holding off should get rolling while interest rates are still in the 5% area (that's usually included paying one point of the loan amount).

Right now there are 349 single family homes listed in the MLS in Long Beach under $438,000 (for the 5% down buyer). In Lakewood, there are 96 single family homes under $438,000.  No, they don't have ocean views, but find them in east Long Beach, Wrigley, Ridgewood Heights, Alamitos Beach for Long Beach, and Lakewood Park and Lakewood Mutuals for City of Lakewood, plus other areas that might be worth your investigation especially if you are a first time buyer, or looking for a down sized smaller home.
Please find these different areas at http://www.juliahuntsman.com/ by clicking on links from the first page (scroll down first).

House and Condo Selling Prices in Long Beach for April 2010

Was April the month of the "Effect of the IRS Tax Credit"?  While I've been telling some people that the median price of condos, townhomes and lofts was still trending downward, for the city as a whole, it's been trending upward, by quite a bit. Truthfully, it's been jumping around all over the place. March and April saw increases from the prior year, with April showing a 25% increase in median price from last year to over $240,000, but not as high as September, 2009's median price of $255,000.

A similar graph for single family homes for April shows a 10% increase in the median price for Long Beach, to $370,000, with a different peak in price showing for last November at over $400,000 (the first "end" of the IRS buyer tax credit). For Los Angeles County in March, per tax data, condos priced at $325,000, a decrease from $330,000 in March 2009.

The median price for the city does not tell the entire story, and anyone wishing an analysis of their zip code or housing area should contact me for a custom report. For Los Angeles County per tax data, the single family home median price for March 2010 was at $340,000, an increase from $303,000 for March 2009.

Sales volume for LA County in March in both categories increased over the prior year.

Long Beach, just by looking at these statistics, is definitely looking like the "bright spot" as described recently by CAR economist Leslie Appleton-Young.