Updated note: This was written during the heady, early days of real estate blogging–when we are all going to be connected and syndicated in every direction. It never quite turned out that way. First came the Great Recession and many early players moved on to different ventures. As a seasoned and toughened San Diego Realtor, I continue to list and sell homes and write when the opportunity arises. Many of…
by Roberta Murphy This months hot real estate question: Which homeowners will benefit from President Bush’s recent interest rate freeze for subprime loans? And who will be left out in the cold? It’s a question on the mind of both mortgage and real estate professionals alike. Drumroll. The winners, who may receive a five-year extension (and possibly even longer) on their low introductory mortgage rates, are those: Whose mortgage loans…
by Roberta Murphy Opportunities for real estate fraud couldn’t have been more ripe than in 2005 and 2006, when real estate prices started to quietly soften–especially in fertile markets like San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami. Home prices in these areas had rocketed to unsustainable levels, and some of the micro markets within these areas had already started to stall as early as 2005. By 2006, market time and…
by Roberta Murphy Say what? In 2004, San Diego real estate was ranked as the least affordable in the United States. Thousands of San Diegans, priced out of the coastal market, moved to Temecula, Murietta and other outlying and inland areas where homes were more affordable. These days, according to the National Association of Homebuilders, San Diego has slipped to 16th place in California, with an improved 10.1 percent affordability…
by Roberta Murphy The Malibu fire started early this morning just before 3:30 a.m. near Malibu Lake and Mesa Peak Canyon–and as of this writing, has destroyed over 35 homes. Propelled by strong Santa Ana winds and fed by dry brush and trees, this Thanksgiving weekend wildfire is currently out of control. Over 1500 acres burned in the first five hours as huge walls of fire and smoke raged through…
by Roberta Murphy It had to happen sooner or later. With the falling dollar, American real estate has become a screaming bargain to foreign investors around the world. Real estate prices in many prime US locales have already declined, and must be irresistible for those who are purchasing with Euros or Canadian dollars. Now, many Americans who have been living abroad are considering a return home, where the purchasing power…
by Roberta Murphy Yesterday afternoon and evening were devoted to Leaving Las Vegas. I was tired of long lines at the airport, anxious to get back to San Diego, and was dismayed to hear the Southwest flight had been delayed two hours. I spent much of the time catching up on email, reading about Costa Rica and near the end of the wait, met David Greenberger, a real estate attorney…
by Roberta Murphy A year or so ago, real estate circles were abuzz with argument and discussion about the pros and cons of discount real estate services and commissions. Discounter Redfin had opened with one agent in San Diego, and their CEO Glenn Kelman promised that real estate discounters would turn the real estate brokerage business either upside down or inside out (I dont recall which). Beating Kelman at his…
by Roberta Murphy The displaced people of San Diego County are beginning to return home. Most return to standing homes; 1600 or so others are greeted by their nightmares: Homes destroyed by fires. We are just beginning to hear and see stories of people returning to the burned heaps of rubble that were once their homes. They sift through some of the debris and find broken china, perhaps a metal…
by Roberta Murphy I awoke at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning with a sense of dread, quickly remembering that there is a demon called the Witch Creek Fire raging in the communities around our home in La Costa. It is just one of several mega firestorms raging in San Diego County–but is the one we fear(ed) the most. Monday afternoon, our Reverse 911 system called to inform us we are under…
