The Race Weekend

August 29, 2008

Yesterday licked off the huge NASCAR weekend at the Auto Club Speedway in Ontario, California. Remember that there will be a great deal of traffic on the freeways as NASCAR fans come from near and far to enjoy this big event. The kickoff was yesterday with the Stater Brothers Racefest. Today NASCAR Sprint practice and qualifying is ongoing as are the NASCAR Nationwide practice and qualifying. During the day Saturday these practice and qualifying events will be continuing.

At 7:30 p.m. the NASCAR Nationwide Camping World RV Service 300 will occur with 150 laps around the race track. Then on Sunday at 5 p.m. the NASCAR Sprint Cup Pepsi 500 will begin; 250 laps for 500 miles.

On Saturday the parking lot opens at 9 1.m. and on Sunday the parking lot opens at 7 a.m. The FanZone gates open Saturday at noon and on Sunday at 11 a.m.

NASCAR racing has become a huge sporting event and literally thousands of fans will be enjoying the beautiful weather that makes Inland Southern California such a desirable spot to live or visit.

Have a safe Labor day weekend.

A First Time Homebuyers Window of Opportunity

August 28, 2008

There has been lots of press about the various incentives that are contained in the housing bill passed by congress in July 2008.Mentioned most frequently is the $7500 tax credit for first time homebuyers. What really will a first time homebuyer receive and when?

1) A tax credit of 10% of the cost of the home but not to exceed $7500. Thus, if the home you purchase costs $350,000, you would receive a tax credit of $7500 since you can not receive more credit than that amount. In all probability in the Inland Southern California market area, most purchases would be eligible for the maximum $7500 credit.

2) To be considered a "first time homebuyer" you may not have owned a principal residence in the past 3 years.

3) Any single family residence (including condos) that will be the buyers principal residence will qualify.

4) A buyer's income can not exceed $75,000 adjusted gross income or $150,000 on a joint return.

5) This program is available for home purchases on or after April 9, 2008 and will terminate on July 1, 2009.

6) The tax credit is not a gift, but is to be repaid over a 15 year period. However, this "loan" does not require any interest payment - just the repayment of the tax credit at an anticipated rate of $500 per year during the 15 year period. (I suspect that the IRS has not yet figured out exactly how the repayment will be made. By the time you file your 2008 tax return guidelines for claiming it should be in place.)

If you are wanting to own a home, taking advantage of this window of opportunity would be in your best interest.

Loans of Choice Also Have Cycles

August 27, 2008

It is interesting to note that in this down cycle of the real estate marketplace, most foreclosing loans are of the conventional type, usually part of a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac portfolio. In our Inland California market area, we see few HUD(FHA) foreclosures and even fewer VA foreclosures. During the rising real estate market, most loans were 80% conventional first trust deeds combined with a second trust deed or an equity line of credit. The borrower was able to achieve 100$ financing with no mortgage insurance premium. Those loan products are never, or very rarely, available today.

Today the loans that lenders are touting to borrowers are FHA with its low down payment (presently 3% but going to 3.5% on October 1, 2008) or VA with zero down payment. Until January 1, 2008 the maximum VA loan is $729,000. Certainly high enough for many great properties. Since we have many veterans in our area, this could be a great time to make use of VA eligibility since conventional "jumbo" loans are very difficult to obtain and carry a high interest rate.

FHA loans do have an insurance premium that the borrower must pay. Up front it is presently 1.5% of the loan amount, but shortly going to 1.75%. (Notice how often I am saying "presently, but").
The credit markets are very volatile and as they make attempts to stabilize and cut their losses, the loans they are willing to give are in a state of flux. Those of us who have been in the real estate industry for over 30 years do remember the 1080s when interest climbed to 22%. The interesting thing about those times was that folks still were willing to purchase a home. We are certain that folks will still choose to be homeowners as they adjust to the new credit environment.

If You Still want a Green Lawn....

August 26, 2008

The Wall Street Journal in its Saturday/Sunday edition of August 23/24, 2008 had an op ed piece that caught my attention. I have been trying to add "green tips" to my post as well as tips for improving your property. Whether you will be in the real estate market as a seller or whether you just want to have your property be a symbol of your "pride of ownership", having a well cared for lawn and garden are basic. The op-ed piece entitled "The Absentee Lawnlord".

The author, Gwendolyn Bounds, tells of the success of her switch to organic lawn care. :That meant substituting toxic or synthetic chemicals to combat weeds and foster growth with natural ingredients from plant, animal, and mineral sources such as corn gluten meal, seaweed extract and worm waste."

Here is Gwendolyn Bounds" back to basics organic lawn-care routine:

Spread a natural herbicide to attack weed seeds in the ground;

Fertilize;

Hand-weed whatever weeds emerge;

Fill in bare spots with grass seed.

Her suggested products include: Safe 'N Simple Pre-emergence Weed Control. Apply in early spring and again in late summer (now) or early fall. Scotts Organic Choice Lawn Food (yes, the major garden product suppliers recognize the organic movement). Apply 4 times a year so now is the time to begin. And as nights begin to be cool, over-seed and existing lawn to fill in those bare spots.

It took Bounds approximately 3 years to become the "Absentee Lawnlord" but the effort you use to begin your "green" lawn will begin the improvement of your property for now and in the future.

Time to Plan Your Garden for Fall, Winter and Spring Color

August 26, 2008

September will shortly be here and it is the time to plant bulbs for Spring color. Bulbs that are at the garden shops now and are ready to plant in September include anemones, crocus and other tiny bulbs. The larger bulbs can be purchased now, but October and November will be the appropriate time to put them in the ground. Take a walk around your yard and select the spots where flowers will brighten the landscape.

Plant the bulbs in a depth of 3-4 times the bulb's height and with the pointed end up. (I always have a time figuring out the "pointed side of ranunculus. These are best planted in November and give bright, splashy color in the early springtime.) If you are bothered with animals that dig (Gophers, Squirrels, etc.), you can surround the bulbs with screen and sprinkle cayenne pepper on the ground after planting and watering in the bulbs.

Bulbs can also be planted in containers. Place pots in the sun for growth. I have a friend who always puts bulbs with her potted roses, dwarf lemon trees, etc. These pots can add wonderful color to a patio.

Taking the time now to plan a colorful garden will give you much pleasure in the future.

Final Concert of the 2008 Season

August 22, 2008

Tonight will be the final concert of the 2008 Redlands Bowl Season. The season opened with the San Bernardino Symphony and the season will close with the Redlands Symphony. Frank Fetta will be conducting a program of "Symphony Fireworks" by Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak.

The weather should be perfect for a night in the open air Redlands Bowl venue. As always, there is no charge for attending and the seats are available on a first come, first serve basis - no reserved seating. Many folks bring a picnic and come early to enjoy the beautiful setting.

However, don't forget to bring your donations to put in the red bowls that are passed during intermission.

These summer concerts were the gift of Grace Stewart Mullen in 1924 and have been presented continuously to the present time. These concerts bring music and dance to over 100,000 people each season and are a real treasure of the Inland Empire.

A Green Tip

August 21, 2008

It is amazing how many newsletters come to me by e mail. I mine them for information that I might share on this blog. This "green tip" comes from the weekly California Association of Realtors Newsline. "C.A.R.'s "Green Tips" are part of the Association effort to raise member awareness about environmentally sound practices and off er REALTORS ideas for greening their businesses and better serving their green-minded consumers.

The tip for this week has to do with your land-line phones. As technology advances, more folks have purchased cordless phones. These phones offer the flexibility of use anywhere in one's home. They do not require multiple phone jacks and they are totally portable.

However, according to the C.A.R. "Green Tip", cordless phones draw power in both charging and standby modes. The standard corded phone uses very little power purportedly saving 28 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, a seemingly insignificant amount. If 5% of households opted for one corded phone, the savings would amount to140 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year according to "The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time."

For those of us who care about "saving the planet" this book can be full of simple tips.

What's Been Going On Under the San Bernardino Mountains?

August 20, 2008

According to articles in the Riverside Press Enterprise yesterday and the Los Angeles Times today, a giant rock-chewing machine is breaking through the San Bernardino mountains. It has been chewing rock creating a four mile long tunnel, 19 feet wide that is a major segment of the Inland Feeder water project. The boring machine will punch trough at Devil Canyon near Cal State San Bernardino.

Locally there was a lot of publicity about this project back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when they were tunnelling under south Redlands to Moreno Valley. That segment of the project was completed in 2003.

The entire project is designed to bring water from Northern California though an already built canal to the Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet. It is a project of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The scheduled completion date for the entire project is 2010.

As I remember, the plan was to build a reservoir to hold water that would be available to Metropolitan District communities if a rupture of the San Andreas fault caused a blockage in the flow of water. The plan to use Northern California Water to supply the lake necessitated the construction of this 44 mile long series of tunnels and pipelines that weave their way through San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Clearly this project is a great engineering feat and officials are celebrating this emergence of the huge boring machine that occurred this week.

"Loving Your House Again"

August 19, 2008

"Loving your house again" is a quote from a Sunday opinion piece in the August 17, 2008 Los Angeles Times newspaper. Written by Chris Ayres, the Los Angeles Times correspondent for the Times of London and the author of "Death by Leisure: A Cautionary Tale", it offers a witting take on the present doom and gloom of the real estate market. If you go on the Internet to http://www.latimes.com/ and search with the title, "Loving your house again", you can read his complete editorial.

Some of the points that caught my attention included the fact that even though prices are down, interest rates are up and loans are much more difficult to obtain. I quote: "Here's another reason to pat yourself on the back (because you bought during the boom): You got a mortgage before banks stopped lending to anyone other than the king of Saudi Arabia, which means your interest rate is almost certainly much lower than the rate that will be offered to the likes of Mr. Hong (a person who sold his house at the top of the boom and went into a rental to wait for the bust) when he tries to get back into the market on the cheap."

The phrase I liked the very best was "it seems appropriate for me (Chris Ayres) to make a rather bold statement: Those of us who purchased nonspeculative property from 2004 to 2007 for the gratuitously self-indulgent purposes of raising a family and investing in our neighborhoods will ultimately have the last laugh."

I urge you to go to the Los Angeles Times web site and read Mr. Ayres entire piece. It is, perhaps tongue in cheek, but in my 33 years in the real estate arena, I believe in his point:
owning a home has many benefits in both the short term and the long term.

How to Amaze Government Officials

August 18, 2008

This past Saturday, Congressman Jerry Lewis, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), lenders and housing industry companies sponsored a workshop on "Home Ownership Preservation. Held at the National Orange Show Events Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the hoped for audience of 300-400 people swelled to a standing room only crowd of an estimated 600+. "This is incredible," said Lewis. "We knew we'd get a response, but we had no idea how big a response."

Folks have been hungry for the opportunity to hear from the government and from lenders. Many wished the workshop had been held months earlier, before they were as far down the path to foreclosure as they presently are.

The congressman and the HUD officials should not have been surprised. San Bernardino County has been cited as a major center for home foreclosures. For most folks, when facing foreclosure, there are few resources. Calling your lender is usually fruitless as the automated answering systems seem to confuse rather than direct you to a helpful live person. The past 2 months, the government has finally stepped up enacting programs to assist homeowners wishing to keep their homes. Getting the message out is the challenge.

Congressman Lewis is to be applauded for this first step. Let's hope that more of these workshops can be held. Folks will give up their Saturday recreational time to learn about their options to preserve their home ownership.

Here Are Some Classics

August 15, 2008

As summer comes to a close, some entertainment opportunities will also be ending. This week will be the final movie in the park in Redlands. On today, Friday, with activities from 6 p.m. and a the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz, at approximately 8 p.m. will be shown at Brookside Park located between Bellevue and Terracina. There is no charge for these Friday evenings of movies in the park. On Sunday, The Wizard of Oz will be shown at Texonia Park, same hours.

Also, this evening, the State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara will present the great Tchaikovsky ballet, Swan Lake. Again, there is no charge but a free will offering will be taken at intermission.

We are so fortunate to live in an area where entertainment opportunities are available to all comers. It makes the Inland Empire special!

Boosting "Workout" Incentives

August 14, 2008
"Workout" incentives in this post is about loan servicers, not about shaping up your body!
This week Fannie Mae followed Freddie Mac's lead in boosting incentives for loan servicers who work with borrowers to help them avoid foreclosure, including repayment plans, loan modifications, short sales and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. These incentives for the loan servicers will apply to loans in which Fannie Mae assumes the risk of loss and in which the workouts are completed on or after August 11, 2008. These incentives are cash incentives paid to the loan servicers.
For borrowers, sellers, buyers, and agents the hope is that these incentives will motivate servicers to be more timely in their responses. Most of the time, short sales are taking 4 months or more to get approvals. By that time buyers often decide not to make the purchase and the lender has lost months more of payment income. Many prospective buyers will not even look at a property that is listed as a short sale due to the long waiting period before they know whether or not the sale will be approved.
It will be a wonderful thing if loan servicers streamline their processing and properties can be saved for the existing borrower or sold in a timely manner.

Tooting Our Own Horn !

August 13, 2008

I don't brag about the greatness of Century 21 Lois Lauer Realty too often on this blog, but since the Corporate Century 21 ratings have just been released, I thought it would be appropriate to brag. In the July 2008 national ratings of the top Century 21 companies, We are ranked in the top 20, 19th to be precise. In the national ratings of individual offices, our Redlands office located on Orange Tree Lane is rated in the top 10, 7th to be precise.

In our southern California region, the Redlands office is ranked #1, our Yucaipa office is ranked #22 and our Moreno Valley office is ranked #53.

We have a wonderful support staff for our sales associates and these numbers reflect the professionalism of these sales associates. In the real estate business, dedicated agents and great administrative leadership define a company.

Purchasing Investment Property

August 12, 2008


With the median price of homes dropping and banks and investors offering their foreclosed properties at substantially discounted prices, prospective buyers are looking at the possibility of buying a property for the purpose of holding it for rental income. As a long term investment, real estate has historically proven to be a great wealth builder. However, purchasing a property just because it is substantially discounted does not necessarily make it a good rental income property.


Some issues to consider:


1) Location, location, location - These three words have been the real estate mantra for as long as I can remember.


2) Do your homework. Check out the local newspapers regarding current monthly rental prices.


Will your purchase have a positive cash flow? What is the selling of other properties in the neighborhood? Is the area filled with foreclosures? Does the municipality have a landlord licensing law and/or inspection law? Get prequalified by a lender. Loans are more difficult to obtain in the present credit environment.


3) Interview any acquaintances that own rental property. You need to understand the pros, cons and pitfalls of being a landlord.


4) Go over the financials with your accountant. Know the tax ramifications.


There are many really "good buys" coming onto the market. If you invest now, it is quite possible that 10 years from now, the value of your property will have increased.

Homeownership Preservation Workshop

August 11, 2008

Congress has passed legislation aimed at assisting homeowners and lenders to stop the wave of foreclosures. Representative Jerry Lewis, the PMI Group and the city of San Bernardino are co-sponsoring a workshop next Saturday, August 16, 2008. It will be held at the National Orange Show, Valencia Room, 689 S. E. Street, San Bernardino, CA 92408. The hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and admission is free.

There will be representatives of major mortgage banks, FHA counselors, community leaders and a variety of other resource experts. For some individual counseling, you should bring your mortgage statement.

The sponsor have lined up an impressive panel. There are so many questions concerning the options available to homeowners regarding salvaging their homes and their finances. As a real estate professional. The barrage of questions that I receive from both agents and clients regarding what is truly available in the way of assistance, has me planning to attend.

Don't pass up this opportunity!

Some Inland Empire Creativity

August 8, 2008


Pomona is really working hard to develop its art presence. For those of you who are interested in ceramics, the American Museum of Ceramic Art located at 340 Garey Street in Pomona is one of the few museums in the United States that is devoted exclusively to the ceramic arts. It is truly amazing what ceramicists are doing with clay these days.


A new exhibit entitled "Diversity in Clay" will have its artist reception this Saturday, August 8, 2008 from 6 to 9 p.m. The cost is free. The exhibit will be on display until August 16, 2008. The museum hours are noon to 5 p.m.Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. All the artists in the exhibit are from Southern California. For more information the web site is http://www.ceramicmuseum.org/ or you can call 909-865-3146.

"Skin in the Game" Yes or No?

August 7, 2008
The recently enacted Housing Bill of 2008 eliminates the down payment assistance programs. These programs, most frequently the Nehemiah and HART programs, have a seller contribute to these "not-for-profit" entities and these entities then contribute a like amount to the buyers down payment for the purchase of a home. FHA has been on a crusade to eliminate this down payment assistance because they believe that the chance of a default on the loan is greater when the buy has not had to come up with a portion of the purchase price; i.e."No Skin in the Game".
Another piece of legislation has been introduced in Congress that would allow these programs to continue.
What do you think? Skin in the game, yes or no?
Frankly it has been fairly common practice for the past decade for buyers to be able to purchase with 100% financing or with the use of a variety of housing assistance programs. I read in the Press Enterprise yesterday that the state of California has begun a program to assist buyers in purchasing bank owned houses with fixed rate, below market mortgages. The web site for the California Housing Finance Agency is http://www.calhfa.ca.gov/.
If you are a first time home buyer, now is clearly a good time to buy a house.

A Sampling of Median Prices for Inland Empire Cities

August 6, 2008
Here is a sampling of median prices for July 2008 . Also I am including median prices for the years 2003-2007. It is a tracing of the residential real estate market in the up cycle and the current down cycle. The data comes from my examination of the sold data presented through the IMRMLS. I pick the median by selecting the reported sale at the middle of total sales reported. I also check the prices of the properties just before and after the median. For that reason, in some cases, I show 2 prices because the spread is so great. The prices are listed in 3 digit numbers which represent the $1000 of sale price; i.e. 227= a selling price of $227,000.
Banning/Beaumont.....2008/227....2007/320....2006/328....2005/325....2004/235....2003/148
Bloomington.................2008/190....2007/385....2006/375....2005/309....2004/270....2003/170
214 438 392 326
Colton...........................2008/194....2007/265....2006/320....2005/314....2004/225....2003/170
Fontana........................2008/275....2007/420....2006/424....2005/399....2004/315....2003/212
Grand Terrace............2008/267....2007/348....2006/352....2005/342....2004/292....2003/225
275 365 366 365 249
Highland......................2008/280....2007/349....2006/395....2005/346....2004/272....2003/217
Loma Linda.................2008/305....2007/388....2006/495....2005/397....2004/315....2003/209
429 372 225
Mentone......................2008/160....2007/170....2006/370....2005/225....2004/298....2003/165
189 344 385 325 330 238
Moreno Valley............2008/199....2007/345....2006/390....2005/340....2004/275....2003/230
Redlands......................2008/285....2007/420....2006/425....2005/362....2004/330....2003/256
Rialto............................2008/190....2007/360....2006/390....2005/340....2004/272....2003/190
Riverside,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.2008/255....2007/399....2006/437....2005/400....2004/330....2003/230
San Bernardino...........2008/150....2007/295....2006/315....2005/275....2004/212....2003/142
Yucaipa/Calimesa......2008/250....2007/355....2006/395....2005/360....2004/314....2003/205

In the cities with a few number of transactions it seems that the price spread is greater. When the numbers are greater, there seems to be a cluster around the median. The interesting comparison is between 2003 and 2008 median prices.

Improved Sold Statistics

August 5, 2008

These residential real estate sales are reflective of transactions begun mostly in May and June. It is very encouraging to see the number of residential real estate sales in the Inland Empire increase. When I post median prices tomorrow, you will also note that prices have decreased year over year. As the affordability increases, the sales do increase. Here is the data which I researched from the IMRMLS for July 2003-2008.

Banning/Beaumont.....2008/96......2007/51......2006/76......2005/105......2004/100.....2003/67

Bloomington.................2008/18......2007/11......2006/17.......2005/23........2004/37........2003/26

Colton............................2008/32......2007/12.....2006/58.......2005/51........2004/44........2003/36

Fontana.........................2008/231....2007/79.....2006/196.....2005/245.....2004/235......2003/244

Grand Terrace.............2008/10......2007/2.......2006/7..........2005/17........2004/8..........2003/9

Highland........................2008/60.....2007/27.....2006/44........2005/70.......2004/59........2003/53

Loma Linda..................2008/13......2007/15.....2006/18.........2005/11.......2004/16........2003/11

Mentone.......................2008/6........2007/4.......2006/4...........2005/12.......2004/6..........2003/7

Moreno Valley.............2008/324....2007/90....2006/198.......2005/289....2004/310.....2003/261

Redlands.......................2008/46......2007/45....2006/69.........2005/72......2004/95........2003/89

Rialto.............................2008/99......2007/33....2006/74.........2005/122....2004/119......2003/117

Riverside......................2008/373.....2007161....2006/326......2005/458....2004/426......2003/414

San Bernardino...........2008/217.....2007/91....2006/188......2005/218....2004/220/....2003/259

Yucaipa/Calimesa......2008/37.......2007/36....2006/57.........2005/71......2004/66........2003/73

A tour of the San Andreas

August 3, 2008

On Sunday, the San Bernardino Sun ran an article about a UCR instructor, Gary Arce, who will be leading a tour of a portion of the San Andreas fault. Since last Tuesday's shaker, interest has been aroused in the many faults that underlie California, particularly Southern California.

This tour is a UCR Extension class field study. It will visit the San Andreas from San Bernardino to Bakersfield. The class will gather at 8.am and the tour will last until 6.p.m. Students will see the geologic features created by seismic activity. There is no prerequisite for the class and Arce said that typically all ages participate.

The fee for the class is $179 or #155 each for couples or family members or $140 each with the Partners in Nature Education discount.

For more infromation call (951) 827-5804.

Its August - How's the Real Estate Market is Doing

August 1, 2008

Those of us in residential real estate sales felt the up cycle stop in August 2006. Here we are in August 2008. Are we leveling out, still falling or improving? You can draw your own conclusions as I post the listing, pending and sold data from the the IMRMLS. It certainly seems that some of the Inland Empire real estate markets have turned the corner. Others are still seeming to lag.

Here is the active number of listings and pendings as of August 1, 2008.

Banning/Beaumont..........Listings/825...........Pendings/226..........Percentage/27.3%

Bloomington......................Listings/213...........Pendings/50.............Percentage/23.4%

Colton.................................Listings/366...........Pendings/78.............Percentage/21.3%

Fontana..............................Listings/1802.........Pendings/563..........Percentage/31.2%

Grand Terrace..................Listings/55..............Pendings/19............Percentage/34.5%

Highland.............................Listings/340...........Pendings/110..........Percentage/32.3%

Loma Linda........................Listings/97..............Pendings/17............Percentage/29.8%

Mentone.............................Listings/61..............Pendings/16............Percentage/26.2%

Moreno Valley...................Listings/1975..........Pendings/851..........Percentage/43% (YEAH)

Redlands.............................Listings/428...........Pendings/71.............Percentage/16.5%

Rialto...................................Listings/823...........Pendings/240..........Percentage/29.1%

Riverside.............................Listings/2557.........Pendings/737..........Percentage/28.8%

San Bernardino..................Listings/2037.........Pendings/423..........Percentage/20.7%

Yucaipa/Calimesa..............Listings/433...........Pendings/70............Percentage/16.1%