Mike's Corner

Have we hit a bottom in Riverside County? Should I wait to Buy in the Inland Empire?

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:41:00 GMT

I’m often asked, “Has the market hit a bottom here in Riverside County” to which I calmly reply “ No one really knows…” I’m also repeatedly told by “on-the-fence” buyers “I’m going to continue to wait to buy a home because prices are going to continue to drop and homes are going to be dirt cheap!” Now these are both two very interesting things that I consistently hear and I wanted to address them and see what others thought.

The BOTTOM: What technically-speaking is “the bottom?” The reason I ask this is because I think most people believe that you hit the lowest possible point for prices and then they will shoot straight back up. Similar to a “V-shape”. However, I don’t think that is what we will be seeing I think we are seeing a leveling-off with price drops. The reason I say this is because for there to be more steep drops you have to take into consideration supply and demand. For prices to drop, supply has to increase and demand stay constant or supply needs to stay constant and demand needs to drop. Here in the Inland Empire, namely Riverside County that isn’t the case. If you missed my Inland Empire Homes Sale Report- July click here, there is still a sizeable amount of supply out there on the market, but demand has shot through the roof. 300+ homes sales in Moreno Valley, 300+ in Corona, and 300+ in Riverside. Not to mention that as of August 1^st, there were over 500+ pending transactions in each of these cities.

(---- A great Eastvale home that sold in the month of July

My question is how can we have a drastic drop in home prices here in Riverside County if demand is increasing? Here is a story from CNBC.Com that was posted today Click Here For the Story. A 12 percent jump over last year? Do you see a trend building here? Yes prices have dropped, but the question becomes was 900 sq. ft. home with a 3,000 sq ft. lot in Riverside really worth $400,000? Markets correct and tend to over-correct when they do so, so we might see a few slight drops here and there, but 4,000 sq. ft. homes for $200,000 in Corona won’t be happening! The best advice I can give is, if you’re interested in buying a home, do so now because when you notice it’s the “BOTTOM” it’ll already be too late. And you would have missed out on some great opportunities.

Here are just a few of them:

Sorry ABout the Previous Post! Here are the Videos!

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:52:00 GMT

Here are the actual videos sorry!

Two Repo/ Foreclosure Video Walkthroughs

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:47:00 GMT

These were originally posted on ActiveRain, but I wanted to post here to give all of you an idea of what to expect with a repo walkthrough. More videos will be posted. Look out for the Eastvale video that will be done on our next trip out there!

HAVE A GREAT ONE AND ENJOY!

The Inland Empire July Sales Report

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:46:00 GMT

Here are the statistics on Eastvale,CA (92880), Riverside, CA (92501,92502,92503,92504,92505,92506,92507,92508,92509),Corona, CA (92877,92878,92879,92881,92882,92883) Moreno Valley, CA (92551,92552,92553,92554,92555,92556,92557) and Rancho Cucamonga, CA(91701,91729,91730,91737,91739) for the month of July. :

•    Eastvale, CA (92880) Home Sales For July, 2008: (Big Jump!)
        Homes Sold: 85
        High Sales Price: $ 500,000
      Low Sales Price: $ 115,000
        Median Sales Price: $ 381,709
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,906

Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 3.25 Bathrooms

•    Eastvale, CA (92880) Pending Sales As Of August, 1, 2008:
       Home Sales Pending: 149
       Average List Price: $ 368,770

      Avg. Days on Market: 38
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,892
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 3.27 Bathrooms

•    Riverside, CA (92501,92502,92503,92504,92505,92506,92507,92508,92509) Home Sales For July, 2008:
       Homes Sold: 365
       High Sales Price: $ 2,699,000
       Low Sales Price: $ 2,150
       Median Sales Price: $ 289,381
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,942
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.47 Bathrooms

•    Riverside, CA (92501,92502,92503,92504,92505,92506,92507,92508,92509) Pending Sales As Of August, 1, 2008 :
       Home Sales Pending: 500+
       Average List Price: $ 266,139
       Avg. Days on Market: 52
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,874
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.37 Bathrooms

•    Corona, CA (92877,92878,92879,92881,92882,92883) Homes Sales For July, 2008:
        Homes Sold: 360

        High Sales Price: $ 1,850,000
        Low Sales Price: $ 114,000
        Median Sales Price: $ 365, 871
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,454
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 3.01 Bathrooms

•    Corona, CA (92877,92878,92879,92881,92882,92883) Pending Sales As Of August 1, 2008:
       Home Sales Pending: 500+
       Average List Price: $ 353,961
       Avg. Days on Market: 50
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,501
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 3.01 Bathrooms

•    Moreno Valley, CA (92551,92552,92553,92554,92555,92556,92557) Home Sales For July, 2008:
        Homes Sold: 328
        High Sales Price: $ 440,000
        Low Sales Price: $ 0 (? maybe an error)
        Median Sales Price: $ 201,390
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,898
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.55 Bathrooms

•    Moreno Valley, CA (92551,92552,92553,92554,9255,92556,92557) Pending Sales As Of August, 1, 2008:
        Home Sales Pending: 500+

        Average List Price: $ 191,130
        Avg. Days on Market: 55
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,865
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.56 Bathrooms

•    Rancho Cucamonga, CA (91701,91729,91730,91737,91739) Home Sales For July, 2008:
       Homes Sold: 113
       High Sales Price: $ 1,229,000
       Low Sales Price: $ 185,000
       Median Sales Price: $ 422,141
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,123
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.68 Bathrooms

•    Rancho Cucamonga, CA (91701,91729,91730,91737,91739) Pending Sales As Of August, 1, 2008:
       Home Sales Pending: 194
       Average List Price: $ 425,964
       Avg. Days on Market: 58
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,182
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/2.79 Bathrooms

Riverside , Corona and Moval are booming right now! For the second straight month, Moreno Valley has seen pending sales reach 500+. July is the first month since I've been charting these statistics that, Corona and Riverside have charted 500+ pending sales and over 300 home sales. I think another month of these kind of numbers will be good for the Inland Empire Housing Market. Eastvale is holding up very well itself, and will continue to do so as the REOs/ foreclosures that become available for sale in the area are only on the market for 6-8 days max! Rancho has a lot slower activity but saw a jump in over 50 pending sales since last month. I will continue to chart these numbers in hopes that I can provide a reality to the negative bombardment by the media.

The Inland Empire June Home Sales Report

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:50:00 GMT

originally posted on: The Real Estate Frontlines.Com

As we start the month of July I want to start something new. At the end of each month I will start providing the statistics for homes that have sold in the previous month as the amount that are currently pending. I will focus the statistics on Eastvale,CA (92880), Riverside, CA (92501,92502,92503,92504,92505,92506,92507,92508,92509),Corona, CA (92877,92878,92879,92881,92882,92883) Moreno Valley, CA (92551,92552,92553,92554,92555,92556,92557) and Rancho Cucamonga, CA(91701,91729,91730,91737,91739). These areas are providing the SoCal Real Estate Market with a lot of activity and I want to make sure that you as the consumer are getting correct information! Here we go:

•    Eastvale, CA (92880) Home Sales For June, 2008:
        Homes Sold: 51
        High Sales Price: $ 505,000
      Low Sales Price: $ 40,000 (--- I don’t know if this is a mistake, but it was stated in the MLS!
        Median Sales Price: $ 389,000
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 3,116
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 5 Bedrooms/ 3.43 Bathrooms

•    Eastvale, CA (92880) Pending Sales As Of July, 1, 2008:
       Home Sales Pending: 116
       Average List Price: $ 386,586
       Avg. Days on Market: 42
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 3,074
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 3.37 Bathrooms

•    Riverside, CA (92501,92502,92503,92504,92505,92506,92507,92508,92509) Home Sales For June, 2008:
       Homes Sold: 301
       High Sales Price: $ 1,700,000
       Low Sales Price: $ 99,000
       Median Sales Price: $ 295,532
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,975
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.48 Bathrooms

•    Riverside, CA (92501,92502,92503,92504,92505,92506,92507,92508,92509) Pending Sales As Of July, 1, 2008 :
       Home Sales Pending: 500
       Average List Price: $ 281,971
       Avg. Days on Market: 51
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,918
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.44 Bathrooms

•    Corona, CA (92877,92878,92879,92881,92882,92883) Homes Sales For June, 2008:
        Homes Sold: 232

        High Sales Price: $ 3,395,000
        Low Sales Price: $ 100,000
        Median Sales Price: $ 391,927
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,382
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.93 Bathrooms

•    Corona, CA (92877,92878,92879,92881,92882,92883) Pending Sales As Of July 1, 2008:
       Home Sales Pending: 416
       Average List Price: $ 366,503
       Avg. Days on Market: 58
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,356
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.93 Bathrooms

•    Moreno Valley, CA (92551,92552,92553,92554,92555,92556,92557) Home Sales For June, 2008:
        Homes Sold: 238
        High Sales Price: $ 455,000
        Low Sales Price: $ 99,000
        Median Sales Price: $ 212,741
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,894
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.55 Bathrooms

•    Moreno Valley, CA (92551,92552,92553,92554,9255,92556,92557) Pending Sales As Of July, 1, 2008:
        Home Sales Pending: At least 500
        Average List Price: $ 202,167
        Avg. Days on Market: 56
        Avg. Sq. Ft.: 1,862
        Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.53 Bathrooms

•    Rancho Cucamonga, CA (91701,91729,91730,91737,91739) Home Sales For June, 2008:
       Homes Sold: 103
       High Sales Price: $ 1,250,000
       Low Sales Price: $ 90,000
       Median Sales Price: $ 445,649
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,215
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/ 2.76 Bathrooms

•    Rancho Cucamonga, CA (91701,91729,91730,91737,91739) Pending Sales As Of July, 1, 2008:
       Home Sales Pending: 169
       Average List Price: $ 431,427
       Avg. Days on Market: 66
       Avg. Sq. Ft.: 2,210
       Avg. Rooms and Bathrooms: 4 Bedrooms/2.75 Bathrooms

HR 3221 and Senate Bill 3221

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:33:00 GMT

I haven't posted in a while due to going to C.A.R. in Sacramento so here is a little something for you Repo Tours.com members:

Originally Posted On My Site

Let me start this entry off by saying that C.A.R. (California Asssociation of REALTORs®) was very informative and there are many things going on right now in the industry. The most important news I pulled from the Convention was about HR Bill 3221 and Senate Bill 3221. These started as energy bills and foreclosure prevention was added as a "rider" (Definition Here) The House Bill will raise FHA limits to 729,000 and about 750,000 in high-priced areas of California. The Senate would raise the limits to only 550,000. There will also be 6.5 million dollars alloted to attorneys who specialize in foreclosures! Now this is another tricky part and has some people very concerned and it's called the "bailout." With this the lender agrees to write down to 85% of the appraised value and allow homeowners to change their loan. The government will then take 3% of the equity that builds in the home. This part becomes tricky because the system for administering it hasn't been developed yet. And finally, money to local governments so that they can buy foreclosures that have been sitting on the market! WOW...this bill is getting a lot of support, but some stauch opposition from Senator Shelby Dodd. Let's see this one through! What do all of you think? Is this too late to fix a problem or just what the doctor ordered? What would you do differently?

Full HR Bill Link Click Here

Link #2

Link # 3

Lets talk about Gas Pumps...

Thu, 29 May 2008 22:05:00 GMT

I was showing property this past weekend and my client expressed concern that “I really like this home, but man I’m worried about recession and gas…Oh MAN gas…they’re saying that we’re looking at seven dollars a gallon by the summer and then ten!” There wasn’t much I could say…except “I know that recession is technically two quarters of no growth or negative growth and so far we haven’t had that.” My client had a valid point, but 7 dollars for gas is crazy…Is it possible for it to become this extreme of a situation? Personally I don’t think so, for the fact that it would break the economy not here in the United States, but also in Britain. But, how are high fuel prices affecting REALTORS® and the Real Estate Marketplace? Is it causing REALTORS® to prospect less and work more from home? Are buyers and homeowners worried about making mortgage payments due to the price of gas? What are your thoughts on this?
http://www.rmi.org/
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24861881
(Next week I’ll be C.A.R. ‘California Association of REALTORS®’ in Sacramento and I should have some good news to talk about!) check out:

www.therealestatefrontlines.com

A New Tale

Tue, 27 May 2008 21:45:00 GMT

The entry is also cross-published on my site: www.therealestatefrontlines.com

I’ve continued to say on this blog and throughout the website that I felt that the market would begin to stabilize, especially as we head into the summer purchasing season. I also said that the media glorifies the negatives, instead of praising the positive. (Read the Blog Post Here) Well when they have some great news about home sales, there is no way they wouldn’t and couldn’t share it. So with that being stated, statewide we saw a growth of 2.5%, but in the Inland Empire the growth was 33%. These numbers are compared to those from last year at this time. It was the first time in over 30 months that we have seen an increase. (Story Here) There have different theories as to why this is happening, namely foreclosures that are bringing buyers back into the market. What do you all of you out there think? And is this upward trend going to continue? If so will be enough to stabilize and “repair” the real estate market?

I Pre-Qualed At $250,000 What Price Should I Buy At?

Sat, 24 May 2008 02:19:00 GMT

I’ve discussed prequaling a lot in the past few weeks because I think it’s an important process. It saves the REALTOR® time, the client, the lender…EVERYONE! I was speaking with a loan officer a few weeks back and he told me “These agents who aren’t prequaling people are really frustrating me, because they are expecting us to work some kind of miracle when the people can’t afford the homes they’ve been showing them!” How true…Buyer’s have told me “I was prequaled for 250k and I was told by Agent John Doe that I could buy up to 400k.” So with these completely wrong actions practices and ideas going around I thought it would be good to clear a few things up.
If you prequaled at 250k, that’s the range that you need to buy at. You can look and something 5-10k over that price and gauge how you’re going to work it into your negotiations. But, thinking that you can purchase a home 100k over that, when other buyers are placing offers at the higher list price is crazy. As I’ve stated before prequaling takes into account various aspects of your financial standing and these play a significant part in the loan process. If a REALTOR® tries to steer you towards something significantly higher than what you prequaled at; it should be a sign that it’s time to look for a new professional to work with. I just thought it was time to clarify this as I’ve heard talk relating to it multiple times in the past few weeks. Good luck with the home search…and to answer the question in the title; Buy at the price level at which you prequal.

And like always you can catch me at: www.therealestatefrontlines.com

Why A "Repo Tour"

Sun, 18 May 2008 21:11:00 GMT

When I originally wrote this article it was for my own personal site and it was titled "What to Do After You Prequal?" When reading through the list of things I've suggested check out how many are done for you by signing up for the Repo Tours. So what should you do after you prequal....SIGN UP FOR THE REPO TOURS!

Here's the article from www.therealestatefrontlines.com:

     Well, I’m an equal opportunist and an avid Men’s Health reader…You’re probably thinking that there is something wrong with me for starting my entry with that sentence, but I must tell you it will all make sense. The previous post was a guide for homeowner’s on making improvements to their homes that would bring value. And in this entry I’m going to provide buyers with some tips on what to do once they’ve gotten their prequal letter and are ready to look for a home. (If you don’t know what a prequal letter is you can click here and find out all about it!) So here we go:
1.)Use a REALTOR®:
    A REALTOR® will be able to show you property and negotiate for you. While reading, a Men’s Health article I came across a reference to “real estate agents” and hiding material facts to close a deal. (See I told you it would come together) I thought this was crazy, one for being raised in a household with a REALTOR® and a Broker and two for being a REALTOR® myself. We are bound by a code of ethics and are often more educated than a “real estate agent.” Though I will be honest; you will still be able to find a REALTOR® who is fraudulent and unethical, so choose wisely. Interview the person who is going to help place you in your part of the American Dream, it can save you a lot of hassle.
2.)Find the "Right" Location
      What I mean by this is find the right location for YOU. I’ve heard that the three key words in Real Estate are: location, location, location. That may be true, but don’t place yourself in a neighborhood with a great reputation if you can’t afford it and be able to live happily. Work within your means and build from there. I know this might be a little different than what you might have been used to hearing, but I think it’s important and will make homeownership more rewarding.
3.) Schools
    If you have children, do a thorough check on the schools in the area and if you come to find that the schools your child(ren) will be attending aren’t what you are looking for, check with the district on transfers or bussing. This is important because a happy child, doing well in school makes for happy and more relaxed parents!
4.) Stake-Out
    This sounds a little crazy, but I read about it in the Men’s Health article and I thought I’d share it. When you’ve made a decision on an area, go by on a Friday or Saturday night and just sit in your car and take a look at everything that is going on. “If someone calls the cops on you, it’s probably a good thing!”
5.) Make the Offer
    We’re in a crazy market, so if all of your stars line up, MAKE THAT OFFER, and pray that you get in your dream home. GOOD LUCK!