San Diego Real Estate - San Diego Homes Sale

A very dear client called me to help sell a house in San Diego. After talking about the property, I learned that he was facing a delay due to title issues. His attorneys were working to get it cleared up. I suggested that we wait to put it on the market, until he was actually able to close escrow. But the client decided that he really wanted it to be on the market, and perhaps a buyer would want to rent before closing escrow. Not a good idea, I thought. Renting to a buyer prior to close of escrow is usually a recipe for disaster. But the client wanted to get it on the market to "test the waters."

This is a great house, near downtown San Diego. It is on a low traffic street and has a large back yard. From the yard you can see the Coronado Bridge and watch sunsets over the ocean. Inside is clean and move-in ready.

Through April we had several very strong offers. Unfortunately none of those buyers would wait until the Seller cleared up the title questions. Now the Seller says sell now! So my recommendation? Drop the price to get offers! Now priced at $229,000, down from the original list price of $300,000! This is a great deal for some lucky San Diego home buyer.

House on large view lot in south-central San Diego

Overview Maps Photos Features Description Neighborhood Market Stats See more San Diego homes for sale.

$229,000 Single Family Home For Sale Main Features 3 Bedrooms 1 Bathroom 1 Partial Bathroom 1 Unit Interior: 1009 sqft Lot: 8,000 sqft Location 7239 Farmdale St. San Diego, CA 92114 USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below:

---

The Schiering Team: Geoffrey and Anne-Marie San Diego Real Estate Professionals at Keller Williams (619) 200-7612 homes@sdrealtypros.com http://www.sdrealtypros.com Listed by: Keller Williams Carmel Valley - Del Mar

Our recent listings Wonderful House in La Costa - Carlsbad, CA Luxury Home In Rancho Penasquitos Near Carmel Valley The Crosby At Rancho Santa Fe - Premier Luxury Home Building Site - San Diego, CA Beautiful Canyon Home Sale San Diego - Mira Mesa Del Sur Beauty! 4 Bedrooms 2,570 Sq.Ft. LIKE NEW! Subscribe to our listing feed

See more San Diego, CA real estate for sale

This is a great opportunity to own an immaculate house in the perfect neighborhood. A job transfer forces the move... and the sellers are sorry to go! Enjoy this comfortable home and a great community of friends and neighbors. The list price of $595,000 is a great value for a house this clean and attractive. Follow the links below to view additional details about the property, an extended property description and neighborhood information. Then call Geoffrey or Anne-Marie Schiering, the San Diego real estate pros, at 619-857-7203 with questions or to arrange a private showing.

Wonderful House in La Costa - Carlsbad, CA

Overview Maps Photos Features Description Neighborhood Open House Market Stats

$595,000 Single Family Home For Sale Main Features 4 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 1 Partial Bathroom 1 Unit Interior: 2013 sqft Lot: 5,959 sqft Location 3529 Corte Lupe Carlsbad, CA 92009 To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below:

---

The Schiering Team: Geoffrey and Anne-Marie San Diego Real Estate Professionals at Keller Williams (619) 200-7612 homes@sdrealtypros.com San Diego Homes For Sale Listed by: Keller Williams Realty

Our recent listings Wonderful House in La Costa - Carlsbad, CA Luxury Home In Rancho Penasquitos Near Carmel Valley The Crosby At Rancho Santa Fe - Premier Luxury Home Building Site - San Diego, CA Beautiful Canyon Home Sale San Diego - Mira Mesa Del Sur Beauty! 4 Bedrooms 2,570 Sq.Ft. LIKE NEW! Subscribe to our listing feed

See more Carlsbad, CA real estate for sale

When people shop for homes in North County San Diego they are typically underwhelmed by what they can get for their money.  In any price range, really, people usually want just a bit more than their maximum price threshold will buy.  $1.2M buyers want features found in $1.5M homes, and $700,000 buyers want the features of $1M homes.  There are usually tradeoffs required in the San Diego real estate market.

The tradeoffs are most frequent when people shop for homes in top San Diego school districts.  For years the Carmel Valley schools have been the most highly rated public schools in San Diego County.  As a result, the prices of Carmel Valley homes have held up very well compared to other neighborhoods in this past market cycle.  Four bedrooms homes with 3,000 square feet of living area on relatively small lots still routinely sell above $1Million in zip code 92130.  Luxury homes in Carmel Valley are still priced closer to $2 Million and up.

A good alternative to Carmel Valley for North County San Diego luxury home buyers is Rancho Penasquitos.  The West side of Rancho Penasquitos has some very large four to six bedroom houses on larger lots than are typical in Carmel Valley. And the schools serving West Rancho Penasquitos are excellent.  Part of the Poway Unified School district, Westview High School in Rancho Penasquitos recently ranked higher than Torrey Pines High in Carmel Valley. And PQ still enjoys the cool breezes of the 56 corridor, keeping the climate ideal even during hot San Diego summers.

Here is a good example of a luxury home in Rancho Penasquitos that is currently for sale (since the beginning of August).  Nearly 4,000 square feet, tastefully upgraded and decorated, the sellers are accepting offers in the range $899,000 to $959,900.

Luxury Home In Rancho Penasquitos Near Carmel Valley

Overview Maps Photos Features Description Neighborhood Open House Market Stats

$959,000 Single Family Home For Sale Main Features 4 Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 2 Partial Bathrooms 1 Unit Interior: 3813 sqft Lot: 7,874 sqft Location 8368 Entreken Way San Diego, CA 92129 To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below:

---

The Schiering Team: Geoffrey and Anne-Marie San Diego Real Estate Professionals at Keller Williams (619) 200-7612 homes@sdrealtypros.com http://www.sdrealtypros.com Listed by: Keller Williams - Carmel Valley - Rancho Penasquitos

Our recent listings Luxury Home In Rancho Penasquitos Near Carmel Valley The Crosby At Rancho Santa Fe - Premier Luxury Home Building Site - San Diego, CA Beautiful Canyon Home Sale San Diego - Mira Mesa Del Sur Beauty! 4 Bedrooms 2,570 Sq.Ft. LIKE NEW! Point Loma Home With Downtown San Diego Views Subscribe to our listing feed

See more San Diego, CA real estate for sale

We've put together a great little tool for San Diego real estate buyers.  The San Diego Homes Toolbar is an add-on that works with Internet Explorer and Firefox.  It allows users to easily navigate to listings of homes for sale on a variety of websites.  And when the user finds a home of interest, a button on the toolbar allows them to contact their agent immediately for additional information and advice.

The customized Google search is linked to websites specializing in real estate and San Diego news.  The Twitter link shows tweets from San Diego real estate agents and San Diego news outlets including the San Diego Union Tribune, the Del Mar Times, and the North County San Diego news.  The RSS feed distributes San Diego news headlines from a variety of similar sources.

Here's additional details and the download to the San Diego Homes Toolbar.

And here's a screenshot (snipped in two pieces so that it will fit the screen here):

This is technology from Conduit.com, and it has a lot of potential for Realtors.  Some of the add-ons are from Realbird.com.  Their map-based search of MLS listings is particularly good, and property showing notifications are sent to the agent through an RSS feed.

The toolbar is a nice service to be able to provide.  I plan on letting all of my clients know about it, and hopefully they will see the advantages of using it.  I really think it will make searching for homes in San Diego a lot more fun and interesting.

If you've had experience using a Conduit toolbar, I'd love to hear from you!

Fourth of July in San Diego can be a great time, but often hit-or-miss in terms of the weather.  The "june gloom" along the coast sometimes comes in late and stays through the beginning of July.  That's what happened this year.  Saturday July 3 partly cloudy, Sunday July 4 very cloudy and overcast, and Monday July 5 even more cloudy and overcast.  When weather is like this, tourists tend to call the San Diego real estate agents for tours. 

As a long-time Realtor in San Diego, I've grown accustomed to working holidays.  But if I'm working on a holiday, I need it to be for people who really need my help.  Any real estate professional in a resort destination could fill every holiday week with appointments to give tours of the city.  Let's face it, a lot of people expect Realtors to be tour guides.  But that's not what Realtors are for.  We help people buy and sell homes.

Would you call your lawyer for tour of the courthouse on the Fourth of July?  Would your doctor meet you to give a tour of the hospital?  Not on a holiday weekend, and not any day of the week. Well, Realtors aren't tour guides either.  In San Diego there's a nice red double-decker bus for that and it costs about 25 bucks.

Last year I helped a very nice couple close on a San Diego home purchase on Christmas Eve.  During a nice conversation a week before Christmas I learned that the family was relocating to the area on January 1 and needed to find a house... quick.  Well, that's when I jump into action.  We spent three solid days touring homes and writing offers. Then on Christmas the clients, and I, all had time to relax after a job well done.

There are Realtors in every city who will go the extra mile to make sure our clients receive the service they need.  So don't hesitate to call... but please call us for the right reasons! When you need to buy or sell a home in San Diego, I'll come through for you every time. 

Like neighboring Rancho Santa Fe real estate, homes at The Crosby are synonymous with luxury.

The Crosby At Rancho Santa Fe - Premier Luxury Home Building Site - San Diego, CA

Overview Maps Photos Features Description Neighborhood San Diego Real Estate IDX Search

$1,200,000 Lots and Land For Sale Main Features Lot: 1.14 acre(s) Location 16431 Top O Crosby San Diego, CA 92127 To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below:

---

Geoffrey Schiering San Diego Real Estate Professionals at Keller Williams (619) 200-7612 homes@sdrealtypros.com http://www.sdrealtypros.com Listed by: Keller Williams - Schiering Team

Our recent listings The Crosby At Rancho Santa Fe - Premier Luxury Home Building Site - San Diego, CA Beautiful Canyon Home Sale San Diego - Mira Mesa Homes sale San Diego Del Sur Beauty! 4 Bedrooms 2,570 Sq.Ft. LIKE NEW! Point Loma Home With Downtown San Diego Views Crosby Ranch at Rancho Santa Fe. San Diego Real Estate Deal of the Week! $879,000+ Subscribe to our listing feed

See more San Diego, CA real estate for sale

Anyone bemoaning the fact that the $8,000 federal income tax credit has expired should be pleased to see today's news.  The interest rates for 30-year fixed mortgages has dropped to an average 4.58%.  When the tax credit expired the interest rate was closer to 5.25%.  The drop of more than half a percent is a significant savings to anyone thinking of buying a home.

San Diego homes start at around $400,000.  With twenty percent down on a $400,000 house, the monthly payment (including property taxes) on a 5.25% loan would be approximately $2,100.  With an interest down to 4.58% the monthly payment is closer to $1,970.  Obviously that $130 per month savings adds up over time.

In one year the $130 savings becomes $1,560.  Consider most home owners will stay in the house for at least five years.  The $130 monthly savings adds up to $7,800 over just five years.

And most home buyers today are planning to stay in their house for between five and ten years.  After ten years difference of $130 per month adds up to $15,600.  It starts to make the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit pale in comparison.

So waiting to buy may not have been such a bad thing.  But one thing is for certain.  These low interest rates cannot last long. Mortgage rates haven't been this low since the 1950's. The wobbly global economy spurred what the Wall Street Journal called a "race for 'safe' assets" such as U.S. Treasuries.  When treasury prices are pushed up, yields are pushed down, and mortgage rates fall.  But when investors start moving back into equities the interest rates will rise again.

Standard & Poor's Case Shiller Index was just released for April. It shows San Diego houses have increased in value for each of the past 12 consecutive months, through April 30.  The index is always two months behind, so that's their most recent report. So today's big news in San Diego real estate isn't really such big news.  We've been talking about it for the past year. 

San Diego homes were second to San Franciso in terms of appreciation.  San Francisco showed a 12-month increase of 18 percent.  San Diego was 11.7 percent.  Minneapolis 9.5 percent.  Cleveland 6.8%.  Eleven of the twenty major metro areas in the US are now up for the year ending April, and nine are still down.  The largest drop during that twelve month period was Las Vegas. Still falling.

I reviewed the house price index methodology and talk about it on my San Diego real estate blog.  I really can't find any fault with the methodology.  It's the same methodology used by the fedreal government for many real estate market studies.  They compare prices of resale homes that have the same general characteristics.  They attempt to exclude properties that have been improved or renovated since the last sale, and they exclude properties that have been flipped by investors.  And only arm's-length transactions are considered, so houses that are transferred between family members are also excluded.

Of the twenty metropolitan areas tracked in the index, all twenty showed price increases between the March and April index.  This could easily have been a runup related to the $8,000 tax credit.  But San Diego is the only city that has posted increases in each of the past twelve months.  Hard to believe that that's solely related to the tax credit.

No, I really think that there is sufficient demand for san diego homes to support prices at their current levels. This is particularly true at the entry level, though there's still going to be some downward pressure at the top end.  I wouldn't, however, count on 11.7percent a year, and the appreciation rate will probably even drop by the end of the year.  Something in the 4 to 6 percent range is much more likely.

Time is running out to take advantage of the $10,000 home buyer tax credits in California. There are two California tax credit programs.  One is for "first-time" buyers or buyers who haven't owned for a while, who are buying resale homes.  Funds for this program are almost gone.  The second is for buyers of "new homes", and just about half the new homes tax credit funds are still available.  Homes sale San Diego has not seen significant changes in buying behavior due to the California tax credit.

Starting May 1, 2010 the California state legislature offered a state tax credit of $10,000 to any home buyers who have not owned a home for the past three years, and who will promise to stay in the home for at least two years.  The legislature  allocated $100 million to that "first-time homebuyer" program, given on a first-come-first-served basis. That fund is down to its last few million.  A similar credit was offered a couple of years ago, and the tax credit funds were gone in eight weeks.  Looks like it will take a few less days this time around.

The new homes tax credit was also allocated $100 million, and so far there have been about 6,500 applications totalling just under $43 million.  At that rate the funds for new homes buyers will last through the summer.  There is no restriction on who may use these funds (first-time buyers or buyers who presently own but are moving).  But sales contracts for the new home must be signed between May 1 and December 31, and the new home purchase must close escrow by August 1, 2011.

Successful applicants for the tax credit will receive the $10,000 tax credit in three equal installments of $3,333 over the next three years of tax returns.  While a few thousand dollars is nothing to sneeze at, San Diego real estate experts predict very little impact on the market when the credits are depleted.  The median sale price of a house in San Diego is now around $360,000, up from $325,000 a year ago.