Construction Continues

July 31, 2007

New home construction may be cooling down, but a drive through Riverside and San Bernardino counties will convince you that new home buyers have plenty of choices. What is even more impressive about the current state of construction in the Inland Empire is the amount of new commercial buildings.



Seeming to rise out of the ground overnight, huge tilt-up concrete buildings can be seen where a year ago citrus trees grew. Putting aside the hot potato of the vanishing citrus, I find myself fascinated by the technique of pouring concrete on the ground and creating giant walls. These walls even have decorative patterns and details when they are lifted from the ground and set into place. One of these days I am going to take the time to look at the forms as they are constructed on the ground. I am totally awed by the architectural and engineering expertise that came up with this form of construction.



I wonder whether we will see this tilt-up construction when the next residential building boom comes our way. Probably not in the near future, but perhaps ten years from now.

Our Colors of Summer

July 30, 2007

As I was driving around this weekend, it struck me just how much color the crape myrtle trees add too our environment. Perhaps because we have had a hot spring and summer, these trees have thrived. To me they seemed larger, fuller and more vivid than I had remebered from past years. People tour the northeast to see the fall colors, right now, an easterner would probably be amazed to see these flowering trees that seem to be in almost every yard.



I did a little google research on "crape myrtle" or "crepe myrtle". Here is what I learned.

The deciduous crape myrtle is among the longest blooming tree in existance with flowering periods lasting from 60-120 days. Flowers are borne in summer in big, showy clusters and come in white, and many, many shades of pink, purple, lavender and red.



The origin of these trees is Asia and some articles were even more specific in citing China as the origin. The tree was first introduced in England and the United States in the eighteenth century, but is now cultivated throughout the world. It originally was a bush, but has been trained to become a tree. Even when its leaves have fallen, the smooth bark and branching limbs are an attractive sight in the winter landscape.



The crape myrtle belongs to the family "Lythraceae" They are relatively fast growing and they do put out seeds that you can find as "baby crapes" in the soil surrounding a mature tree or bush. If you are interested in adding crape myrtles to your landscape, summer is a good time to do so as you can pick the color when the plant is in bloom.



Enjoy these wonderful plants and thank your community leaders who selected the crape myrtle as a street tree.

Your Home - Buying Experience

July 27, 2007


How long have you been searching for a home? Are you fearful that if you buy now, the value of your property will drop at some future date? Have you just not found that perfect home - the one that meets your ideal wish list?

Buying a home, whether your first home or your second, third or fourth, can be an awesome experience. Owning a home is a big commitment. No longer can you call the landlord when a repair is needed. The maintenance of the home is up to you. However, once you do own a home you will probably not want to be a renter again. There is something wonderful about creating your own living space to your own specifications.

If your search for a home has been more than 6 months and you have been prequalified by a lender so that you know what you can afford, it may be time to rewrite your needs and wants lists. In the present real estate marketplace, there are many, many homes for sale. You can choose resale or brand new. You can choose the community you like. You can choose one story or two story. You can choose condo, PRD or single family.

If you have been attending open houses, you are educated as to what a dollar can purchase in amenities and location. Now is a great time to become a serious buyer.

"Waiting for Godot" - Not a good buyer strategy

July 26, 2007

"Waiting for Godot" is a 2 act play by Samuel Beckett. It involves 3 characters who are awaiting the arrival of an individual by the name of Godot. Godot never arrives.

It seems that many buyers have decided to wait for Godot. They want to wait until the prices on homes have "bottomed out". Perhaps, like the 3 characters in the play, they will miss opportunities. I know that my husband and I did when we were looking for our first home. We were convinced that the sellers would not get the prices they were asking and if we waited, they would reduce their prices and we could buy the house we wanted. Didn't happen. We lost the opportunity to purchase a great house.

Will prices drop? I don't know. What I do see in the present real estate market is sellers willing to do serious negotiations with qualified buyers.

If you want to purchase a house, either your first home or a "move-up" or "move down" home, identify your wants and needs and take action. Choose a lender, choose a real estate agent and begin the search. Action is a much better strategy than waiting.

Pricing, Condition and Marketing

July 25, 2007
I have spent the past several posts discussing the components of pricing your home to sell. Once the property has been priced, entered into a multiple listing service, toured and advertised, the real test for the listing price begins. While it can take longer for a seller to receive an offer when the real estate market is slowing, a well priced property should receive an offer within 60-90 days.

For selling a property there are always 3 criteria to check. Besides the price, condition and marketing are also important. Most buyers are not wanting fixer-uppers. They want an immediately livable environment. So when a property is not selling, the agent and the seller need to revisit the condition.

A serious seller needs to make the property easy to show and the agent needs to use all the various marketing tools that are available; print ads, internet pictures, flyers, signs and open houses are absolutely necessary. If potential buyers do not know that your property is for sale, they are unlikely to come to view it and without viewing it, they are unlikely to write an offer.

If the condition and marketing are both great, a revisit to the pricing will be necessary for the committed seller. Early in my real estate career, I was coached by Lois Lauer. She would counsel her sellers to gradually reduce the asking price until showing activity increased and offers began to be made. Sellers will know that they have arrived at the true market value when the showings and offers occur.

Good marketing, good condition and good pricing will translate to a sale in any market.

Your "Assured Home"

July 24, 2007

Having spent the last week writing about pricing your home to sell, I am now suggesting another step that a seller can take to attract buyers. In the current real estate market place, agents often suggest to potential sellers that it would be a good idea to hire a home inspector prior to offering the property for sale.

CENTURY 21 Lois Lauer Realty has created a program designed to inform sellers and buyers the "as is" condition of the home.

The program highlights are:

The property is inspected by a structural pest control technician;

The property is inspected by a profession property inspector;

Reports are then available to the seller and to a potential buyer;

The seller has the opportunity to repair any items not up to par;

A Natural Hazard Disclosure is also available for Buyer and Seller review.

This plan prepares a seller for the buyer's request for repairs and prepares the buyer for knowledge of the physical condition of the property prior to submitting an offer. Both parties can thus go into a negotiation with fewer surprises after a purchase agreement is signed.

Pricing Your Home to Sell (Conclusion)

July 23, 2007

After your real estate agent (or several real estate agents) have done a market analysis for you, it is the moment of truth when a listing price must be selected.

As a seller you have had a price in mind based on your costs and your future needs. The real estate agents helped you examine the data for similar properties currently on the market and recently sold. Next comes the negotiations between you, the seller, and the real estate agent you have selected.



As you hopefully learned from my previous posts, setting a price to offer your property for sale is not a science. In the 1990s when the market was also slow, a book was written suggesting that a listing price 10% under the market analysis would generate multiple offers and the seller would end up selling at the market analysis price (or more). I found very few sellers willing to try that particular strategy.



Since in the first half of 2007, 12% of houses sold sold above list, 27% sold at list and 63% sold under list with 70% of that 63% selling within 5% of the listing price, it illustrates to me that to obtain a buyer, a seller needs to look very carefully at the market data.



How do you know that the price is right? When exposed to the market place, a home priced correctly will have a significant number of showings. If there are many showings and no offers, it indicates that it may be priced too high. If there are few showings, it is also an indication that buyers feel that it is too pricey.



Like the rocket to Mars, it may take adjustments to arrive at a sale. Even in a slow real estate market, there are still buyers that are ready, willing and able to purchase a home. However, buyers who are serious about making a purchase are discriminating about what a property has to offer. The secret is to select your list price based on comparable data and be willing to make adjustments as may be necessary to acheive your goal - a closed sale.

Pricing Your Home to Sell (cont)

July 20, 2007

In a flat or declining market (the market we are presently experiencing) pricing is critical for achieving a sale. Pricing a property too high, even in a rising market, increases the time a property will be on the market or increases the likelihood that the property will not sell. So how does a seller price a property in order to find a buyer who is ready, willing and able to buy it in a reasonable amount of time?

MARKET VALUE is the amount that will bring a sale between a willing buyer and a willing seller. It is based on the history of similar properties recently sold in the area. PRICE is the stated amount an owner is willing to accept for a property. A professional real estate agent will work with a seller to determine what that acceptable price will be or should be.

Factors that will influence a buyer are the actual location of the property, the amenities in the property and the competition of other properties with similar locations and amenities.

A good market analysis will show the seller what the competition is asking (homes presently for sale); the price at which similar properties have sold within the past several months (markets change and in the present market going back more than 3 or 4 months may give false expectations for today's market); the list price of properties presently in escrow, but not yet "sold"; and properties that were listed, but for which the listing period expired with no sale.

Pricing and market value ultimately are opinions, but based on data available, these opinions are educated and will price a property to achieve the desired outcome - a sale.

Pricing Your Home to Sell (cont)

July 19, 2007

David Knox, a real estate trainer from Minnesota, has long been a source of great information for the real estate profession. He has produced videos and pamphlets about pricing your home to sell. The following are a few questions he suggests will help a seller analyze a pricing strategy.
1) Is the local market rising, falling or staying even?
2)Is my (the seller's) opinion of value based on the actual neighborhood sale prices?
3)How many homes in the area are competing against mine right now? How does mine compare?
4)Have any of the neighboring homes been on the market too long? Why?
5)Is my home consistent with, larger or smaller than surrounding area homes?
6)Are my financial needs influencing my asking price?
7)Are the benefits of moving important enough to price my home at the market? If you would like a David Knox DVD on "Pricing Your Home to Sell" just click on "comment" and leave a name and address or come by CENTURY 21 Lois Lauer Realty at 1998 Orange Tree Lane in Redlands after August 6.

Pricing Your Home to Sell (cont)

July 18, 2007

In the past few years, several web sites have been created that purport to give you the value of your home. One of the earliest of these sites was zillow.com.

Just by typing in your address and city and state, and clicking on the search button, a map and a "zestimated value" would appear on the computer screen. How cool is that?



Since zillow, a number of other sites have been launched. Some require the visitor to register. Others, like zillow, only ask for the property address, city and state. I checked out zillow and 2 other sites to see how they valued my home. The two other sites were realestateabc.com and cyberhomes.com. Their valuations differed by more than $50,000. I checked the comparable properties that they used and found that in many cases there were at least 3 years old and not really comparable.

The values are usually the result of the following methodology:

1) Gather, in electronic form, the property characteristics from tax rolls;

2) Write an algorithm that selects comparables and adjusts the sale prices;

3)Arrive at an estimated value.

Obviously, the algorithm has never seen any of the properties, nor the actual neighborhood. It is basically a mathematical calculation. Twenty some years ago, Lois Lauer Realty developed a mathematical program that used price per square foot to calculate value. It was fun to use and gave additional information to our analysis of comparable properties, but again, it did not factor in the uniqueness of a particular home.

Pricing a home to sell is always one of the largest challenges that face a homeowner and a real estate agent. In a cooling marketplace such as we are presently experiencing, it is crucial to achieving a sale.

Pricing Your Home to Sell

July 17, 2007



I subscribe to a great real estate news service, Inman News. Daily I receive articles about real esate related subjects. This morning there was an article by Jim Remiley of Pro Performers Seminars. The article was entitled "The Secret of Pricing Your Home to Sell".


His introduction paragraph read as follows:

"Contrary to popular belief, when selling your home its value is determined by one thing and one thing only - what a qualified buyer is willing to pay for it. No more and no less. Sure, many sellers will argue that their home has an insurance replacement value, or an appraisal value, or a tax assessed value, but unless your insurance agent, your banker, or your tax assessor is willing to write a check for your home - guess what? None of that matters. A home without a buyer has no value in the market place. Sure it might have a value to you the seller, and it might have a value to your banker, and to your insurance agent, and to your appraiser. But none of these people are buyers.

So here is the secret to pricing your home to sell - It's not what you think the home is worth that matters, it's what a reasonable buyer will think your home is worth that will ultimately determine if your home will sell."


Obviously these opening paragraphs do not give a seller any real idea of what is the price to list a home. A licensed real estate agent who prepares an in-depth market analysis can certainly give some reasonable data about the current market. Pricing a home is not a science, but it can be based on real data and an educated analysis.


Look back at a few of my previous blog postings and check out the market. Tomorrow, I will address more of the secret of pricing your home to sell.

No Cost Refi

July 16, 2007

In the month of July, CENTURY 21 Lois Lauer Realty's local lender, has arranged special options with their investors, title company and escrow services in order to be able to offer borrowers a NO COST refinance of current mortgages. This offer is something special that CENTURY 21 Loi Lauer Realty has arranged for borrowers who refinance with them.


There has been much media spin on adjustable loans and the need to switch to a new 30 year fixed rate loan. Many borrowers find that the refi cost will take several years to recoup. This No Cost refinance eliminates that issue.


CENTURY 21 Lois Lauer Realty has a local mortgage broker that has been in business for over 10 years. If your current mortgage needs include a summer refinance, contact us at 909-748-7110 for information about this promotion.

Higher Education in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties

July 13, 2007

Reading an article in The Riverside Press Emterprise about a UCR graduate student's entry into the driverless car contest, I was again reminded of how fortunate we Inland Empirers are to have so many great institutions of higher education. These institutions contribute greatly to the quality of life in our region.



We have the University of California, Riverside. We have Cal State University, San Bernardino, We have Loma Linda University and its world renowned medical school. We have Cal Baptist University, Riverside. We have the University of Redlands, Redlands. We have the Claremont Colleges. We have the Riverside Community College District and the San Bernardino Community College District.



These institutions contribute jobs as well as a number of campus events that serve the communities in which they are located. They enhance the demographic mix of our communities and their employees and staff often become leaders in both cultural and social programs.



We do not have to drive to L.A. to hear world renowned speakers or to hear quality symphonies or to see quality dance programs. The colleges and universities sponsor these events. When a transferee is seeking a home in our area, the fact that so many educational institutions are located here influences the potential home buyers decision in a positive way.

Real Estate in Redlands, California

July 12, 2007



Because so many of my friends and acquaintances ask me "How much have real estate prices dropped?", I decided to take a look at the closed sales reported for Redlands in the IMRMLS. Of the 300 closed transactions reported from January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007, 27% closed at the listed price, 12% closed above the listed price and 63% closed below the listed price. (Just one caveat, the data is based on the listed price at the time of sale. The list price could have been reduced during the course of the listing period.)


I then reviewed the properties reported as selling under the list price to learn how much below the list price, sellers were willing to accept. Much media attention has been given to the decline in prices and suggesting that buyers should offer 10% less than the asking price. In the first half of 2007, such an offer would not have bought you a home in Redlands. Only 5 properties sold at 10% under the listed price. The majority of the properties sold between 1% and 3% less than the listed price - a fairly normal spread between listing and selling price in any real estate market. Actually in Redlands, 70% of the properties sold under the list price from January to June 2007 closed at 5% or less below the listed price.


Does this data tell you whether to buy or wait, probably not. I continue to believe that when you have lifestyle needs and a desire for a home, any time can be the right time. Using a knowledgeable agent who is familiar with the market will assure that you will have the necessary information to make an informed buying decision.

How's the Inland Empire Market?

July 11, 2007

As I am out and about, people who know that I am a real estate agent always ask, "How's the market?" I have been spending time the past several days analysing the statistical data as it becomes available for the first half of 2007.

Here are some median prices, days on the market, and average price per square foot. The data comes from the IMRMLS and a program called Titan Tarasoft.

In alphabetical order:
Banning/Beaumont........$300,000.....DOM.....98....Per Sq.Ft......$200
Loma Linda.....................$421,000......DOM.....90....Per Sq.Ft......$232
Fontana...........................$420,000......DOM.....81....Per Sq.Ft......$258
Highland.........................$379,000.......DOM.....82....Per Sq.Ft......$225
Moreno Valley................$365,000.......DOM.....86....Per Sq.Ft......$221
Riverside.........................$405,000......DOM....106...Per Sq.Ft......$265
San Bernardino..............$310,000.......DOM.....90....Per Sq.Ft......$240
Redlands.........................$406,750.......DOM.....72....Per Sq.Ft......$251
Yucaipa...........................$370,000......DOM.....89....Per Sq.Ft.......$221

These figures are only as accurate as the data submitted. The most accurate data would come the county recorder's office that has the complete data of real estate transactions. These numbers do not reflect any for-sale-by-owner data or any tract sales.

The DOM (days on market) figures indicate that 80 to 90 days is a common marketing period. The price per square foot is an average and consequently can be affected plus or minus by sales that sold at a high price per square foot or a low price per square foot. The data bank that I am using does not throw out high or low numbers. It simply averages all numbers.

My personal opinion is that the median prices have not changed dramatically over 2006 but the number of days on the market has increased.

Your Home - Your Castle

July 10, 2007

More than any other reason, the value of owning a home has most to do with putting down roots and providing the setting for the small and large pleasures of life. After a period of zooming home prices, the media is full of articles about buying a home as an investment. It is true that over time, a well maintained home does gain in value. This appreciation is a great when it occurs, but for many a buyer, the amenities and location of the property purchased become the deciding factor - not how much will it appreciate.

The purchase of real estate has some distinct advantages over the purchase of other assets. First, it is a leveraged purchase - meaning you can use others' money(Lenders) to buy a home. If you put 20% down and the real estate rises by 5% in value, your return could be 25% on that down payment.

Second, the government gives home owners some serious tax advantages. Interest paid on the mortgage is tax deductible. Capital gains are forgiven up to $500,000 for a couple or $250,000 for a single person.

And thirdly, as I began this blog, your home is your castle! You can live in it, decorate it and create your own unique life style. No other investment gives this kind of return.

Market Camparison - First Half 2006 vs 2007

July 9, 2007

The following numbers were gathered from the closed sales reported through the IMRMLS. Numbers which will come out from the title company's research at the recorder's office will reflect both resales and new home sales and for sale by owners that were not reported through the IMRMLS.

The sale of units in Loma Linda, Redlands, Yucaipa and the Banning/Beaumont areas remained relatively strong during the first half. Markets in the larger Riverside/San Bernardino Metropolitan areas showed a steeper decline in the number of units sold.

Loma Linda - 69(2007) - 85(2006)
Redlands - 586(2007) - 921(2006)
Yucaipa - 253(2007) - 340(2006)
Banning/Beaumont - 323(2007) - 508(2006)
Highland - 184(2007) - 343(2006)
Riverside - 639(2007) - 1241(2006)
San Bernardino - 606(2007) - 1251(2006)
Fontana - 586(2007) - 921(2006)
Moreno Valley - 517(2007) - 1460(2006)

At my initial look at the data it seems that the slowest segment of the market remains the properties under $500,000. It will be interesting to watch the effect that changes in lending practices might have on sales in the coming months.