North County Coastal Living
Life and living in San Diego's North County Coastal region.
April 26, 2016
It's Time For Your Semi-Annual Checkup On Your Biggest Investment!
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Investment
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March 3, 2016
John Sullivan Group Reveals Grand Remodel of Ocean View Alta Mar Home
GRAND UNVEILING
SAT & SUN, MARCH 5 & 6 (1 - 4 PM)
13204 Ocean Vista Road
Completely Remodeled & Updated - Ocean View Vista Mar Home
Welcome and step into this beautifully remodeled 4 bed, 3 bath Alta Mar home. This spacious 2,860 square foot home embraces the Southern California indoor/outdoor lifestyle in the family-focused Carmel Valley community. Completely upgraded including new flooring, vinyl windows, granite, and Bosch appliances to create a fantastic Chef's Kitchen. The intelligent floor plan boasts a highly desired downstairs bed and bath. The master bedroom features a private patio balcony to enjoy your very own spectacular ocean views. An over-sized entertainer's backyard with room for a pool is the perfect place to watch the evening sunsets. This idyllic family home is move-in ready and close to award winning schools, shopping, freeways and the beach.
Call 858-754-7155 for more information!
Posted in
Real Estate
Dec. 7, 2015
SD County's Favorite Map of Christmas Lights is Here!
San Diego Family's awesome 2015 Neighborhood Map of Christmas Lights is here for you to plan and map out the county's best holiday lights festivities for your eyes. Download and save on to your smartphone/tablet or print it up and GO!
Click here for your FREE 2015 Neighborhood Map of Christmas Lights!
Posted in
Community Information
Sept. 9, 2015
How to Sell Quickly and for Top Dollar in San Diego
Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report
Everyone wants to sell quickly and for top dollar, but it doesn't just happen automatically. There are a few different things that need to happen in order for you to sell for top dollar.
Curb appeal: Your home needs to look attractive from the outside if you wish to draw buyers inside for a viewing. Spruce up your yard and make it look as neat and clean as possible.
Declutter your home: The things that you've collected over the years may be appealing to you, but they'll just be distracting for the buyers. The idea is to create a blank canvas in your home by removing as many personal items as possible.
Neutral paint: Strive for a uniform paint scheme in your home. Don't leave a bathroom painted red or a laundry room lime green. Buyers don't like to see that. Lighter colors and earth tones seem to register well with buyers.
Flooring: If you can't make your carpet look brand new after cleaning it, then I suggest that you have it replaced. Installing new carpeting will almost always earn you your money back.
Clean your windows: Buyers like to see natural light pour into your home, so make sure that the windows are extremely clean. You should even take off the screens so more light can get inside.
Staging your home can have a big impact: Home stagers can make your home feel like a resort. This will get buyers to pay more money. A lot of sellers probably think this is too much work, but getting your home staged will almost always get you your money back, and then some.
Hopefully these tips have been valuable for you. If you'd like to learn more about selling for top dollar in San Diego, please don't hesitate to contact me!
Posted in
Real Estate
Sept. 3, 2015
San Diego Makes Top 10 List of America’s Fastest Moving Housing Markets
The online real estate listings service, Trulia, calculated how long homes are staying on the market by measuring the share of homes for sale on its site over a two-month period.
It looked at homes listed on June 17, then counted how many were still for sale on August 17.
Nationally, 63% of homes listed for sale on June 17 were still on the market on August 17, which is up a bit from 61% for the same period last year.
HOWEVER! California continues to hold most of the fastest moving markets, with San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Orange County making the top 10 list of America’s fastest moving housing markets. Is your market moving faster or do you see homebuyers gaining the advantage? Please tell us in the message boards below the article.
Trulia said that increases in home prices is what, usually, strongly impacts the share of homes on the market after two months, but in this new report, affordability might be starting to play a role in the priciest markets.
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Real Estate
Aug. 25, 2015
The Buyer's List
Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report
Today, we'll discuss the ever-important home buyer's list.
Everyone has a list when they are out there shopping for a new home, and the items on these lists are often very similar. The only thing that changes is the order of importance of those items, which is based on each individual's needs.
The key to the buyer's list is to keep some balance. Try not to put too much emphasis on any one item on your list, or you're bound to overlook some negatives.
For example, say you're tired of living in a noisy city, and you want to move to a country home. You may enjoy the peace and quiet at first, only to later notice that your commute is much longer. Now, instead of enjoying your new home, you and your family are spending a lot of time in the car. This is a negative that you might have noticed if you weren't so preoccupied with finding a quiet place to live.
That kind of scenario can happen with any item on your list. The key really is to keep a balanced list, and be aware of any potential drawbacks to a home.
If you have any questions about today's video, or about real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you!
Posted in
Real Estate
Aug. 24, 2015
Mortgage applications rise 3.6% on refinance activity
Mortgage applications increased 3.6% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Aug. 14, 2015.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3% compared with the previous week.
The Refinance Index increased 7% from the previous week to its highest level since May 2015. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1% from one week earlier to its lowest level since March 2015. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3% compared with the previous week and was 19% higher than the same week one year ago.
“Concerns about the Chinese economy pushed interest rates down last week, resulting in a two basis point decline in thirty year fixed interest rate, bringing the rate down to its lowest since May 2015,” said Lynn Fisher, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “The pick-up in refinance activity was led by larger loan sizes on average, as continued investor interest drove jumbo interest rates down even further, by five basis points.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 55.5% of total applications from 53.1% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 6.9% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 12.9% from 13.3% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 11.1% from 11.3% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.8% from 0.7% the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.11%, its lowest level since May 2015, from 4.13%, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 4.03%, its lowest level since May 2015, from 4.08%, with points decreasing to 0.29 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.88%, its lowest level since May 2015, from 3.94%, with points decreasing to 0.17 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.37%, its lowest level since July 2015, from 3.39%, with points decreasing to 0.36 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.98%, its lowest level since May 2015, from 3.11%, with points increasing to 0.40 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
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Real Estate
Aug. 19, 2015
San Diego Home Prices Fell Back
San Diego County home prices fell back to a median of $470,000 in July, a $6,000 drop from June, CoreLogic reported Tuesday.
But the latest figure was still 5.6 percent higher than a year ago, continuing an unbroken, post-recession trend that began in April 2012.
Sales also dipped a bit in July, from 4,467 transactions in June to 4,322 in July, but remained 22.4 percent above July 2014 levels.
- Single-family home resales: Median, $520,000 down from $530,000 in June but up 6.1 percent from July 2014's $490,000. There were 2,797 sales, compared with 2,866 in June and 2,402 in July 2014.
- Condo resales: Median, $361,500, up from $360,000 in June and $337,000 in July 2014. There were 1,355 sales, compared with 1,355 in June and 1,052 in July 2014.
- New houses and condos: Median, $610,000, up 11.9 percent from June's $545,000, but down 1.4 percent from July 2014's $651,500. There were 170 sales, down from 258 in June and 244 in July 2014.
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Real Estate