This Week in Real Estate 5-8-2015 - Happy Mother's Day

Home Tip of the Week. – HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

I have purposely flipped the order of the newsletter for this week. Because my tip is more important than my housing news.

“If Momma ain’t happy. Aint nobody happy.” “Happy Wife, Happy Life.”

To all the moms out there. Thank you. Thank you. and Thank You.

When looking on the internet for what I wanted to get my Mom and my wife (mother to Lucy) it was filled with lots of great stuff.

I found a survey from eBates.com found that the top 3 wished for gifts were:

·         Spa day/massage

·         Flowers

·         Jewelry

Then I found an article from a 2009 ABC poll where women were given the open question of what do you want with no restriction on categories of things.

·         Time with children(family)

·         Help around the house (coming home to no laundry, dirty dishes, clean house)

·         Family Photo or a keepsake project

So for you men out there that might have (probably have) procrastinated. Your job is actually easier than you thought. Family time with Mom is all she really wants. (ps Flowers and Jewelry don’t hurt either)

Investors are still buying, but more multi family

With the depletion of available distressed homes on the market over the past two years, more investors are shifting to investing in multifamily properties and away from single-family homes, according to a CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) survey of its members about their interactions with investors.

C.A.R.’s 2015 Investor Survey found 21 percent of investors purchased in multifamily properties in the past year, up from 19 percent in 2014 and 14 percent in 2013.

Eighty percent of the transactions were non-distressed, up from 70 percent in 2014, reflecting the recovering housing market.

Investors also turned to higher-priced properties given a lack of inventory of lower-priced properties.

Among the reasons investors cited for buying now include good price (39 percent), followed closely by good location (38 percent), future development potential (9 percent), and size (7 percent).

Additional findings from C.A.R.’s “2015 Investor Survey” include:

•        More investors (65 percent) rented their properties, rather than flip them (26 percent), up from 58 percent in 2014 but down from 73 percent in 2013.

•        Two-thirds (66 percent) of investors paid cash in 2015, essentially unchanged from 67 percent in 2014 and 2013. Investors cited proceeds from a previous investment as the primary source of cash funds (49 percent), followed by personal savings (42 percent), and private investors (20 percent).

•        Investors were buying more expensive homes. Median price $375,000 up from $320,000 in 2014. Also 32% of the properties were over $500,000 in 2015 as compared to only 24% in 2014

-Kris

This Week in Real Estate 5-1-2015 - Watch out for Sacramento

Sacramento is looking for $10+ BILLION.

This week is the California Association of Realtors meeting in Sacramento. This is our opportunity to talk with our local assembly members and senators to express our support or concerns for government’s actions. Well This year we have a bombshell of a bill that has been introduced.

Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) – lovely titled the Upward Mobility Act is a broad change in the tax code to put a service tax (similar to a sales tax) on EVERY service in the state except education and medical services.

If you use or go to any of the following you will have to pay more in taxes.

·         Accountant

·         Lawyer

·         REALTOR

·         Mechanic

·         Dry cleaner

·         Hairdresser

·         House cleaner

·         …

You get the picture. They expect to raise at least $10,000,000,000.00 that is a lot of zeros. TEN BILLION dollars.

I do not know how giving the government $10 Billion dollars is upwardly mobile.

The purpose of this bill is not actually to get passed this session. It is a long process in getting the idea of a service tax out there. Currently there are 3 states that have this type of broad reaching service taxes Hawaii, New Mexico and South Dakota. These three states generate on average more than 50% of the tax revenue from sales/service taxes. Currently in California we generate about 30% from sales tax.

I highly recommend contacting Assembly Member Bill Dodd and Senator Lois Wolk to express your view of the impact of a broad reaching service tax like this one.

Home Tip of the Week.

This week was the 60^th anniversary of Earth Day! We will be having a fun celebration in downtown Napa on Saturday (4/25 from 10-3p). Come and find out ways that we can all help Mother Earth.

http://www.wwwpallas.com/EarthDay/

Last week we talked about how brown is the new green. We were updated in Sacramento that our Snowpack as of April 1, 2015 is about 3% of average. To put the dire situation in perspective, the previous lowest amount of snow pack was last year April 1, 2014 at 25%.

This Week in Real Estate 4-24-2015 - Economy slowing?

Warning of a slowing economy.

In the past 4 weeks we have seen weak jobs reports. Interest rates in Europe are near zero on their long term bonds (our 10 year bonds are about 2%). China has posted concerns in their growth and real estate market as well. We are all in a global economy and the US has been the shining star for the last 2-3 years.

But this week, U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve cited weakness in the U.S. economy and data showed U.S. growth slowed more sharply than expected in the first quarter.

But the Fed's acknowledgement of weakness in some sectors of the economy makes it more likely it will not be ready to raise the short term rate until at least September, which kept stocks from falling further.

"We all know the Fed would love to start normalizing rates, but the simple fact is, the data does not warrant that action right now," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at Phoenix Financial Services in New York.

So the KEY point to get from this latest information:

·         Interest rates are likely to stay in the range we have seen this year (3.75-4.25%) until at least the fall. That is good news for the busy summer real estate season.

·         The US Economy is weaker, but relative to the others in the global arena we are STILL the shining star

·         The Federal Reserve wants to raise interest rates, but will not do so at the expense of the overall economy.

Home Tip of the Week.

Plant your own modern victory garden.

I have a 5 year old so this is about getting our own delicious carrots, snap peas and tomatoes. But it is a great way to help your home’s value as well. A gardening spot, is a big plus in the landscaping for homes today.

Here are a couple of links to how to build planter boxes and starting your own back yard garden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B--i7Cv8ffA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKIAoKHkss0

This Week in Real Estate 4-17-2015 - All Quiet

A quiet week on the news front.

This week there was a weaker than expected jobs report, but that goes against the trend of the 1^st quarter. So we will need to keep an eye on the next report to see.

Interest rates are still very low and the detailed minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting showed that some of the board was pushing for the rate increases to be postponed.

Home Tip of the Week.

Keeping your home browner. Yes brown is the new green in our drought. Gov. Brown has mandated a 25% reduction in water.

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/emergency_regulations_waterconservation.shtml

#1. Fix all leaky/dripping items. A leaky toilet or dripping faucet can waste over 10,000 gallons a year!

#2. Get water conserving devices. Low flow shower heads, hose nozzles, and more are FREE at the Napa water board.

#3. Reduce your outdoor watering. Letting your lawn be a little brown is ok. But look to replace your landscaping with drought tolerant plants. Instead of spray irrigation also consider drip or other more efficient methods.

#4. Change your habits. Running water while brushing your teeth for 2 minutes can waste over 5 gallons each time. 10 gallons per day per person in your home adds up very quickly.

Here are 100+ other ways to conserve that don’t include “if it is YELLOW, let it MELLOW. If it is BROWN, flush it DOWN”

http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/