Real Estate and Real Life in the Wine Country

California Outlook 2008: Where Do We Go From Here?
To see details of the November 2 breakfast with Dr. Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics, click on the link at the EDBwebsite or call. Seating is offered on a first-come, first-served basis for this often sold-out event.

RSVP RESPONSE FORM

Dr. Christopher Thornberg

CALIFORNIA OUTLOOK 2008:

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Now that the real estate bubble has officially popped,

what comes next?

Friday, November 2, 2007 ???? 7:00 AM—9:00 AM ???? Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel, Santa Rosa

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For more information, call 707 565-7298 or email edb@sonoma-county.org.

Limited seating available on first-come, first-served basis.

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Deadline: Monday, October 29, 2007

Mark Your Calendar for 2007 Events

The Economic Development Board presents several seminars throughout the year that address key opportunities, challenges, and initiatives facing Sonoma County. These events and online reports are supported by business and community sponsors through the Economic Development Board Foundation. Subscribe to EDB updates above to get quick, convenient information on all upcoming activities. Posting of events and registration details usually begins several weeks prior to the event date.

See the Sonoma-county.org, Economic Development Board (EDB)  website for more news about the economy locally. Sign up for continuing free reports of interest. 

This Tuesday morning we had our Santa Rosa chapter of Realtor breakfast meeting at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club -normally we meet at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa- and it was a good meeting. We did discuss how the local newspaper does a pretty good job in telling everyone how bad the real estate market is, I guess that’s their job since bad new is news that sells. However, they do have their numbers skewed and the coming weeks I will spend some blogs on this. Of course, the real estate market is not at it’s ‘hottest’ point in history and yes, we did loose a lot of loan programs in August/over the credit crunch. But some of these programs have come back and most buyers don’t realize this. Contact Denise of me for more info on this.

Anyway, the most spectacular property on tour was on Calistoga road. It is a Victorian style home. The views are absolutely spectacular, the floor plan is perfect and the property comes with 114 acres.

There are properties in Sonoma County for every budget, whether you are looking for a place to live, or a pied-a-terre for your vacations, you will find something to match your taste and your budget.

Have a great day!

Mirjam

Like most counties in CA the Sonoma County website www.sonoma-county.org is packed with valuable information about starting and doing  business in this county. The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce www.srchamber.org   in Sonoma County also has a “Business Start up Kit” to assist you.

I am a member of the the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce involved with assisting companies to start and relocate in our area. I am specifically a member of   the Economic Vitality Committee. Recently on October 18th we sponsored the 2nd Annual Venture Capital conference.  Six companies had a chance to pitch their companies to angel investors and early state venture capital companies. We had over 150 participants. This program event is included in the Venture Cities program and it has received several state-wide awards. It is mentored by the GoldenCapitalNetwork www.goldencapital.net using a format that provides direct input from investor panelists to assist companies with their presentation and funding. We will plan on the 3rd conference next October so stay tuned for more information.

Coming weekend is the second weekend of Art Trials in Sonoma County. It’s the 22nd year and voted “Sonoma County’s Best Outdoor Art Event”. It provides a rare opportunity for the public to meet local artists in their studios and learn about what they are doing. And of course enjoy the art.

It’s going to be gorgeous again this weekend, the colors are beautiful, it’s life the wine county at it’s best, my husband calls the best place on earth to life (he’s done quite a bit of traveling). So when your visiting or live locally: get out and enjoy life!

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board came out with the employment report for September for Sonoma County: Local unemployment dropped slightly in Sonoma County to 4. 5 %. Employment is up slightly in September for two primary factors: Farm jobs are up 16% a month over; extra help must have been hired for the harvest. Also, government is up 11% after a 28% increase in local government education hiring a month over. Teachers have gone back to schools. Other sectors mostly had minor dips or rises within a few percentages.

All reasons to life and invest in living in Sonoma County. Investors have started to buy Real Estate for investment, it’s a great time to buy property, and an even better time to move up. Contact me for more info.

Have a great weekend!

Mirjam

The 2006-2007 Sonoma County Labor Market Report has just been released http://www.sonoma-county.org/edb/reports.htm and it is important to understand what the business climate is here. Sonoma county have about 478,000 residents and is voted the “most livable city”. So who lives here and why? Read the report and come visit us.

We have the best recreational choices for residents and visitors - mountains, the sea, the wine, fine restaurants. Name your choice and Sonoma county has it.  Let us know if you would like your personal tour of the wine country? Mirjam and I would be happy to discuss with you the trip of a lifetime!!

    As Realtors we might have the tendency to have our clients decide on the loan product they choose and rightfully so. However, for buyers it might be wise to discuss the loan product you choose with your Realtor, even if it’s only  for some feedback.

Today’s Realtor Magazine online mentions a survey conducted for the AFL-CIO labor union, it brought out that borrowers are unprepared for the burden of higher mortgage payments. One in five borrowers don’t know their current loan rate, and 25 percent don’t know when their lender will raise the rate.

With so many different loan products out there, besides educating oneself on the loan products, it might be wise to first of all, work with a reputable lender and second of all, talk to your Realtor for feedback on the loan product. He or she might have some good suggestion to consider, just to make sure. Also, something is wrong if you cannot explain your loan to your Realtor.

 Have a great day!

Mirjam

After a soggy Friday it turns out to be a sunny weekend. The perfect weather that we are used to in Sonoma County -aren’t we spoiled rotten and loving every minute of it?

Recently we had some pretty interesting articles in the Pressdemocrat -specifically one on Oct 12th 2007 - about the tremendous amounts of foreclosures… Yes, it’s better not to have any at all but let me put this into perspective:

Although they say foreclosure filings have tripled from last September to this September, we only have 272 Sonoma County homes in default or foreclosure. And they admit some might have been double counted due to multiple loans on the property.

Let’s put it in actual perspective. According to the article, that is one in 711 households, for a total of 193,392 households in Sonoma County. If my math is correct, that is .14% of the properties in Sonoma County… less than ¼ of 1%!!!
Let’s get real about our market and realize that this is a perfect market to buy and also to move up. (I will post more about this the coming weekd)

Of course, unless you are one of the 272 households…

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and should you decide to go home shopping: call us first for a list of excellent opportunities.

Mirjam

(707) 486-2638

This weekend is going to be a soggy weekend in Sonoma County. The unseasonable rain has the grape growers running to harvest the grapes before they rot (see PD article)and the rain will not boost buyers confidence to go shopping for homes. Most people don’t realize but investors have started to pick up good opportunities. This week we did put an offer in on a fixer on Montgomery drive. Interesting to see that there were 5 competing offers… Yes it was a good deal.

Recently I have seen quite a few properties with a price per SqFt around $260, great opportunities in great neighborhoods.

So the best thing to do this weekend is go, enjoy the drive through beautiful Sonoma County, visit a small winery and get a feel for the hustling and bustling of the winegrowers. A great small winery of the beaten path is Sunce on Olivet road, great wines, a lovely place to enjoy a pinic -should the sun decide to show up- with a lovely bocce bal court.

Their 2005 Zinfandel won double gold at the Harvest Fair and rightfully so…

Have a great weekend!

Mirjam

TheVeteran’sAdministration http://www.homeloans.va.gov/ offers vets great opportunities to purchase homes. Do you know a vet? or you a vet? If so, call me and find out how you can qualify with little or no down on VA programs. Let me do the paperwork for you….Read the following information from American Banker.

New Campaign for Veterans’ Loan Program
American Banker (10/12/07) P. 3A; Johnson, Hilary
The number of outstanding mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Home Loan Guaranty Program fell to 2.5 percent at the end of this year’s second quarter from 3.2 percent in 2005, reports the Mortgage Bankers Association. The agency is undertaking some improvements to make the loan program more efficient and to eliminate some of the red tape that made lenders and real estate agents hesitant to deal with such loans in the past, and Don Munro of the agency’s St. Paul, Minn.-based regional loan center says the efforts are beginning to attract the attention of lenders that have not participated in the program in years. Computer system updates allow lenders to go online for veterans’ certificates of eligibility, and appraisals also are reviewed on the Web. To minimize paperwork for servicers and enhance loan monitoring, the agency will launch its VA Loan Event Reporting Interface System in early 2008. Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation that would boost the maximum guarantee on home-purchase loans to $625,000 from 25 percent of the conforming loan limit; and the agency may seek additional help in updating lending guidelines and enabling it to refinance problem loans.