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Gary Lee Smith Moves To Windermere Real Estate
October 4, 2010
After six years of serving the Coachella Valley at Zephyr Real Estate, Gary Lee Smith announced today that he has signed an agreement with Windermere So Cal and will begin working at Windermere Real Estate in Palm Springs. His new office location is in the Smoketree Shopping Center at 2465 East Palm Canyon Drive, Suite 605.
TOP TEN CONDITIONS THAT KILL A DEAL NOVEMBER 1, 2009
1. POOL IS IN DISREPAIR
2. ROOF IS IN DISREPAIR
3. AIR CONDITIONER IS MORE THAN 10 YEARS OLD
4. LANDSCAPING IS OVERGROWN
5. KITCHEN NEEDS REMODELING
6. BATHROOMS NEED REMODELING
7. HOUSE LACKS AN ATTACHED TWO CAR GARAGE
8. HOMEOWNER’S ASSOCIATION DUES ARE EXCESSIVE
9. NEIGHBOR’S HOUSE IS IN DISREPAIR
10. FENCES ARE IN DISREPAIR
You’ve probably heard that the three most important factors in real estate are location, location, location. That’s been true since the beginning of time but it doesn’t end there. Many sellers forget that the house they’ve lived in and are proud of is viewed by buyers as a potential money pit first and then as a home second. What looks like normal wear and tear to a seller may look like a disaster in the making to a buyer. When I work with buyers, I always point out these items because it’s my job to make the buyer aware of what they’re facing if they decide to buy the house. I’ve noticed a pattern of houses that sell fast. They tend to be well maintained and moreover, well priced.
SENATE APPROVES $8000 FIRST TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT EXTENSION October 29, 2009
First time home buyers are one step closer to an extension of the $8000 tax credit for purchasing a home. A deal struck in the Senate would continue the credit for first-time buyers into April and add a $6,500 credit for repeat buyers who have lived in their current home for at least five years. Congress will likely pass the extension before the current credit expires Nov. 30.
ATTRACT BUYERS WITH THESE 10 AFFORDABLE HOME RE-DO'S OCTOBER 26, 2009WAS IT REALLY UNQUALIFIED BUYERS WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE US ECONOMY? OCTOBER 21, 2009
Recently a group of “experts” on CNBC were talking about the real estate market. One was heard to say that the current real estate meltdown was caused by “people who never were qualified to buy a home in the first place”. His take was that these undeserving cretins single-handedly brought down the financial health of the USA, indeed the world, by going out and buying more house than they could afford. I don’t see it that way. There’s a lot more to this story than what I’ve seen on television or read in newspapers. The real problem lies in a much more complex labyrinth of duplicity. While it was true that there were many people who bought houses who were unqualified to pay their mortgages, there were many more speculators who manipulated the system in ways that were either illegal or should have been. I’m talking about people who were trying to leverage their way to wealth by purchasing several homes and then refinancing them for more than two to three times their market value. I’m not slamming real estate investors who do this with their own money or even those who do it with borrowed money, just those who pumped up the price of their appraisal and defrauded banks for their personal gain. Once they had their cash, they promptly ran and left their holdings to rot away in the housing crash. I suspect that these people are now sipping Mai-tais on a beach somewhere far away from the prying eyes of the press and the legal system. At best they were betting on a scheme that would have eventually allowed them to sell those properties for a profit and then pay back the bank. In reality, they were fueling one of the biggest frauds in world history by creating “toxic assets” that were traded on Wall Street like an STD during spring break. It all comes down to greed. There were many people involved in creating the problems that we are now trying to solve. It’s unfair to blame first time home buyers who were trying to claim a piece of the pie. While I believe that anyone who borrows money to buy a house (this was especially true for those using “designer loans” during 2005 – 2007) should read the fine print of their loan documents, it would be a stretch to say that the average home buyer could see the big crash coming. Surely, they could have avoided a world of hurt had they realized that they would eventually run out of time before their interest rate reset or their lack of adequate income caught up with them. All of the “experts” missed it, by the way. I also believe that the uninformed people were but the tip of the iceberg. Banks were going crazy with credit lending to dubious real estate investors who seemed to have a way of cooking up values to order. I look at histories of properties for sale in my area when I’m doing research for buyers and I am astounded to see houses that were worth $350,000 being refinanced for $825,000 during those years. There had to be a lot of cooperation between finance sources, appraisers and unscrupulous borrowers to bring this about. This isn’t an isolated situation. It’s the norm on most of the houses that are now in foreclosure. Not only did such houses never reach a value close to $825,000, they’re now on the market for less than $250,000. The US Taxpayer (read TARP) is picking up this tab. In the meantime, if you qualify for a low interest mortgage, there are homes on the market that are truly bargain priced. There is an $8000 first time home buyer credit for US citizens who have not owned property for the past three years and who are using the house for a full time residence. I have seen our local inventory of unsold homes drop from 10,000 to 5000 in six months. The “toxic assets” are being cleaned up by people with jobs and good credit (are you listening Washington?). This is an excellent time to get back into the real estate market. The crooked appraisals are a thing of the past. Banks are being overly cautious (for a change) and stability is returning to the local market. We may never see the gains that we saw in 2004-2007, but that’s why you need to consider that the coast is finally clear. I’d like to see more done in Washington to find the people who really brought down our economy, the fraudulent borrowers, appraisers, and bankers and bring them to justice. But let’s not forget that home ownership is still the best way to avoid paying more income taxes and a great way to build equity for your future.
$8000 FIRST TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT TO END SOON OCTOBER 11, 2009
The $8000 First Time Home Buyer tax credit will end on November 31, 2009. This is a one time credit that is available to first time home buyers and anyone who has not held property in their name during the past three years. As of today there is no assurance that this will be extended, so if you're on the fence about buying property, please consider that you may never again have this lucrative credit towards income taxes. Further, the supply of our housing inventory in the Coachella Valley suggests that prices are not expected to drop. The credit will effectively be gone just as the winter season begins here in the desert with more buyers competing for less available inventory.
REAL ESTATE SUPPLY SIGNALS RETURN OF A HEALTHY MARKET OCTOBER 9, 2009
Something you might be surprised to know is that inventory levels in the Coachella Valley are the lowest we've seen in years. A sign of a healthy real estate market is a low supply of available homes for sale. As of October 9th, the unsold residential properties listed on the MLS are 5249 listings. Compare that to May 2009 when that number was 9800 unsold homes. Lots of Realtors, me included, have been busy selling homes and reducing that inventory. The truly surprising thing is that those levels are staying around 5,500 since about August. I find it amusing when a prospect says to me, "There sure are a lot of For Sale signs in this neighborhood". Well, perhaps, but compared to a few months ago it's about half as many. For this reason, I conclude that the market has bottomed and we're going to make a slow and steady climb out of the doldrums that we were in for the last two years. For sake of comparison, in July 2004 when I started selling real estate, the unsold inventory level was about 7000 unsold residential properties in the Coachella Valley. So, as you can see, the inventory levels are lower than they were during the "boom" days. This is a good sign for anyone who is contemplating purchasing a home in the near future.
