Category

RE by the numbers

Mar 08
0

Are we at the bottom?

By | Economy, RE by the numbers, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry, Wine, Wine Tasting | 3 Comments

Earlier this week I had the privilege to be at a financial seminar organized by Wachovia Securities. Senior Portfolio Manager Margaret Patel was the first speaker and besides a lot of valuable information she expects the real estate market to go further down, about 10-15%. Of course this forecast is based on the financial and economic situation in general and is an overview of the real estate market nation wide.  However, all real estate is local and the following charts show what’s currently happening in the real estate market in Sonoma County. Please feel free to give your opinion, quite frankly I think with numbers like these we might have hit bottom in Sonoma County…

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In the mean time, don’t forget that we live in beautiful Sonoma County and this weekend and the next weekend is Wine Road Barrel Tasting.

Should you like to go next week, it’s cheaper to order tickets ahead of time, click here to order.

Have a great day!

Mirjam -707-486-2638

 

Nov 13
0

Facts and numbers to keep perspective!

By | Economy, Financial news, Interest rates, RE by the numbers, RE Investing | No Comments

Some people have compared the current financial turbulence to the 1930’s and other ‘black days’. Some facts to know:

  • More than 1000 banks closed in 1930 – only 14 U.S. banks have been taken over in 2008
  • There are 76 million households in the U.S. that own their home – 24 million of these homes are free and clear
  • There are 52 million homes with mortgages – 97.2% of these are not in foreclosure, 93.8% of these homes are current on their payments

On a sobering note:

  • Over 20% of homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their home is worth
  • 40% of all foreclosures are non-owner occupied

How did we get here?
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Resale numbers – the above does not include new home sales.

Sources: Wall Street Journal / Moody’s Economy.com / RealtyTrac / NAR / Forbes

Do you see the problem and thus the predicament we’re in? Something had to happen one way or the other. Of course no one wanted it to be this bad. Let’s see what’s going to happen the coming time.  In the mean time, Pat Kitano has a great way of keeping us informed –

In the mean time, it’s an excellent time to buy real estate!

Mirjam

May 25
0

You first home is free!

By | Buyers, Economy, RE by the numbers, RE Investing | No Comments

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 de Rijk Mirjam (mirjam@c21alliance.com)

May 10
0

Foreclosures …

By | Buyers, Financial news, Foreclosure, RE by the numbers, RE Investing, Sonoma County info, Wine Tasting | No Comments

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.

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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 de Rijk Mirjam (mirjam@C21alliance.com)

May 07
0

Snapshot of our market

By | Buyers, Economy, RE by the numbers, RE Investing, Sellers, Sonoma County info | No Comments

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’.picture-2.png

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 de Rijk   Mirjam (707-486-2638)