George Houghton a CPA in town who is specialized in Real Estate gave a seminar this Friday. His concepts on Real Estate and Real Estate investing in the Bay area are profound and supported by numbers. Please remember, these are concepts, give or take a few years.
Rules of inflation (excluding high tech stuff and salary) : every 30 years add a zero. Think about the value in gold, rent, ticket to the movies etc
For Real Estate: every 10 years values double , every 30 years ad a zero.
Your first house is free. You have to live somewhere and if you take the cost of renting a home, compare that to all the tax benefits of owning a home, it’s almost the same. Rent is paid to someone else, mortgage is paid ‘to yourself’. Of course this does not work for a million dollar home but for an entry level/median home.
Every rental cost about 10% of the value. Yes, this is true, think about it, I look forward to your reaction!
And last but not least: every $10K spend on a car is the same as $100,000 is Real Estate and 1 million in retirement… I know you have to enjoy life but it gives something to think about an spend more consciously.
By the way: George Houghton wrote a book: Unleash the power of Real Estate.
Have a great weekend!
Mirjam (mirjam@c21alliance.com)
With so much said in the news about foreclosures and short sales just some facts.
At this moment the bank owned properties are selling well, the lower price range of our market is selling, some bank owned properties were priced so low that they had more than 20 offers on them and I know of one property ( NW Santa Rosa) that went into escrow $100,000 over asking. It will be interesting to see the numbers when these transactions close.
Financial Title did sent me enclosed stat, an overview of the sub prime ARM’s that will mature the coming months/are maturing now. Sorry to say that quite a bit of these will end up as foreclosure. Banks are only interested to sell these properties as fast as they can.
While you have to be careful buying these (use a good Realtor), they are excellent opportunities for investors and buyers. Should you like to be on my ‘opportunities watch list’, just send me and email with your contact info so I can set you up. By the way, not only bank owned properties are great deals, sometimes a regular sale might be a better deal.
We are going to have a wonderful weekend, great for touring around Sonoma County an enjoy some wines. I did meet Pat Maier at the Chamber Expo this week, she was pouring an excellent 2005 Cabernet. Check out their website, you have to make an appointment to taste their wines, they are also available at some great restaurants in town (one was Willi’s Wine bar in Larkfield).
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mirjam (mirjam@C21alliance.com)
I know the market fluctuates all the time but I have been noticing that a lot of homes have been going into escrow, it has been rising over the last 5 weeks. It started slow but then it picked up. And yes, a lot of the homes that went into escrow also closed. Look at the statistics that I pulled from Broker Metrics a program that very conveniently pulls the data from our local MLS system.
The media is giving you info that the economy is going through the drain, the Fed will have to cut interest rates again. Perhaps they are right, but keep in mind John D. Rockefeller who said “The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.”
The info is also great for sellers, should you need or want to sell your home, the numbers clearly indicate the ‘new reality’.
The above statistic is from all Sonoma County. The drop shows that a some people have take their home of the market at the end of the year, some home owners who were trying to do a ’shot sale’ did not succeed and the property went into foreclosure (these properties will come back a few months later as an REO) and it clearly show the increase of activity.
I look forward to your feedback!
Mirjam (707-486-2638)
As my husband always acclaims: Sonoma County is the most beautiful place in the world to live. Well there are other beautiful places but the fall colors in Sonoma County together with the dramatic skies never fail to catch my breath. Our dear friend Vernon Nelson has taken some beautiful pictures, feel free to visit his website for some beautiful pictures. His wife owns a spa and is one of the best massage therapists I know (A Place To Relax on Cleveland Ave).
Anyway, this morning The Press Democrat had a gallery with beautiful pictures: The Colors of Fall.
Just some Real Estate numbers for your information: As of this moments we sold a little bit over half the amount of properties that were sold in the all time high top year 2004. Considering that 2004 was a crazy year in Real Estate and that we are now paying the price for the ridiculous lending practices, it’s not that bad. Also, isn’t it interesting to see how fast the median home price went up? That was not healthy either. It was time for a correction.
By the way, should you be interested to see these numbers for your neighborhood, please contact me.
Enjoy the colors of the beautiful fall and enjoy the day.
Mirjam
