La Quinta California Real Estate

As with everything and every industry there are always those people who try to take advantage of the underdog.Sadly, Real Estate and Mortgage is no exception to the rule. In times of homeowners distress, there are slime who are looking to profit off of the suffering of others.

Thankfully, a warning has been issued by California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., the California DRE, and the State Bar of California warning consumers about short sale fraud.  Hopefully people will read the news, and pay attention to this warning before it happens to them.

Quoted from C.A.R Newsline it defines this short sale fraud warning as  "A negotiator working without a license; charging up-front fees without prior written permission from the DRE to do so; adding surcharges and hidden fees to place an offer on a home; and misrepresenting current market conditions and only submitting offers on the property from an affiliated straw buyer."

Ignorance is not bliss, keep your friends , clients and agents informed of this.  It is our responsibility as agents to look out for our industry.

For 3 months in a row , Californias total housing starts are up. What this means to us as California residents is that building permits for new homes is no longer standing stagnant. With a 45% increase in San Bernardino and Riverside counties permit activity it is a good sign that times are moving forward not backward.

Is this a sign that the worst is over in the housing market? Obviously, we did not fall upon the crashing market overnight, so time is key. It will take time to recover, recoop and move forward. The good news is we are seeing signs everyday that things are moving in the right direction

I was reading an article this morning about Millionaires and was surprised to see that California has 662,735 people in this bracket. In the midst of California's financial crisis, the budget issues and no money for our schools it was amazing to see this number. Now that is all relative to numbers based on population, so California is actually 9th in the country but it is still a staggering number.  When you look at the total population of California however it actually only works out to 5.28% of millionaire households so not as impressive. The median household income is $61,017.  There is quite a gap in numbers.  As they say money makes the world go round, hopefully we can get California back on track.

As I was reading posts from friends on Facebook this morning, it made me really grateful for where I live in La Quinta, Ca.  As I looked through pictures of snow covered driveways, snow blowers and people bundled up like Eskimos i looked outside and thought wow am I lucky.  For so many people around the nation, now is the slow time for Real Estate.

Winter here though is our peak selling time!  To us our winters are cold, with a temp of maybe 65 or 70 we are pulling out our jackets and boots and complaining that we miss warmer days.  However our clients who are in town are running around in polo shirts, pants and sandals talking about how nice the weather is.  I guess we are acclimated and spoiled and need to be reminded that in other parts of the nation people are shoveling snow.

December home sales in the Coachella Valley rose 21 percent compared to November, the California Desert Association of Realtors reported.  That is great news, but also in reality it is our season to sale.  From Nov through May we stay really busy and sales are the norm.  With the weather, people want to buy and partake in our beautiful sun and outdoor lifestyle.

Thinking of all of this just reminded me that Real Estate is like the weather....It is different in every area and can not be lumped into one category....

How is the market and weather where you are?

I was reading an article in the local paper about the housing market in California.  According to the article Mortgage default notices for California homeowners dropped  24 percent during the fourth quarter. So this sounds like great news right? Should we be rejoicing that the crash is finally over?  Or is there a catch?  As I kept reading I saw the downside.  According to the facts, the median priced home market appears to be stabilizing while the high end homes in the top percent of the market are now taking over in the default department.  So while it is good news inn some aspects, we obviously are not out of the woods yet.

What are your thoughts on the market and the impact of the higher end mortgages defaulting now?  Is this going to upset the day to day market even more then middle class?  Or will this just be another wave to ride through?

I live in La Quinta, California, where the real estate prices have continued to plunge and unemployment continues to rise while having over 10 per cent of the nation's wealth here in the winter time. I have been working hard for the past 3 years to try to keep the values as high as possible. I focused on short sales rather than REO's. I staged homes, even distressed properties. I kept lawns watered and mowed and pools clean. I just worked harder and got paid less. A few weeks ago we found in our county that the banks are now selling homes on the court house steps for much less than is owed. Prices are falling 10 - 30 per cent immediately due to this and in all price ranges. For example, recent sales in an area are $400,000. The loan on the home is $500,000. Rather than the bank buying the home at the trustee sale for $500,000 and then reselling as an REO, they will sell for $300,000 to a private party at the trustee sale. This $300,000 is now the new comparable sale used for appraisals. I have now started to write a lot of offers and low offers. About half are sticking. I feel bad that prices are plummeting, but people are getting very low offers accepted on very nice homes. When will this end and where will it stop?

Mountains may shelter the Coachella Valley from undesirable weather patterns that affect those beyond the desert, but could protect us from the economy. Despite its resort lifestyle, the desert has felt the pain of the past 18 months.
 However, vast resources also put the valley on the cutting edge of what economists think will be the way out of the recession. Since the recession started the housing prices have fallen further than they had risen. Retail sales shriveled as national chains closed and left and local shops too.
 All three major golf tournament revenues were down more than 20%. Convention and tourism bookings are down 12.7%.
 With this all said, there are events succeeding in this challenging economy.Dinah Shore week was up 50%. Modernism Week  in Palm Springs was up 24.9%.Good planning by the Coachella Valley Water District has resulted in an excellent supply of water in the largest underground aquifer in the world.
 Adversity forces people to think out of the box and refine their business models.Throughout Coachella Valley there are signs this is already happening.Cities are operating as a team to streamline procedures and accomplish tasks. Tourism agencies are working to stimulate the local markets. Valley economic agencies are stepping up efforts to create public- private partnerships to diversify the local economy. While the faces of the valley's nine cities are very different, the recession is forcing everyone to find common ground on which to grow

I was amazed when i attended this informational Summit on the Coachella Valley in Indian Wells, Ca.  One of the comments that truely struck me was, If you do not have equity in your home, you are not considered a homeowner.  After thinking about that comment I had to saw, it made sense even though I didnt want to hear it. 

The key to a recovering housing market is more jobs.  But where do these jobs come from and where does the money come to invest in new companies if the people are not buying?  It saddens me to call a major phone company and be told I am talking to someone in India, yet we have millions of people here out of work.  Is this down economy our fault?  Did we cause this by allowing all of our jobs to be farmed out to every other country but America?  How do we recover from this?

The article below was taken from The Desert Sun.  Interesting data on the Coachella Valley.

"When will there be true recovery in the Coachella Valley?

Inland Empire economist John Husing says it will be sometime in 2012, and that's if everything's done right.

" Now is the time to build a solid foundation for future prosperity, and that depends on virtually everyone in this room," he told hundreds gathered at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells today for the 2009 Coachella Valley Economic Summit in Indian Wells

Housing issued the Coachella Valley a set of barely-passing grades on how it is performing in this economy in these categories:

Housing: D-minus, up from the "stone-cold" F

Employment and payroll: D-plus, down from C-minus

Assessed valuation: C-minus, down from a B

Crime: Holding at C-minus

Retail spending: C-minus, down from a solid C

Education: B-plus for Desert Sand Unified School District, and a D-plus for all other districts.

Husing's report is one of many that will come throughout the summit. Investors in the action plan will be announced later in the day.

For openers, Wesley Ahlgren, director of operations for the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, summed up the reason everyone had gathered here.

"It's jobs, jobs, jobs."