Archive for March, 2009
A Rare Real Estate Find
REAL ESTATE PRACTICE, SHASTA COUNTY, TIPS FOR BUYERS
Over my 25 year real estate career, I have previewed thousands of homes and occasionally I will see one I would love to own. That happened this week when I viewed a new listing near Redding.
A long driveway leads past several stocked ponds to the log home perched on a hill overlooking the estate and beyond to the Lassen Range. The home inside has has a very warm feel, accented by huge wood beams, knotty pine walls, huge windows, 
a very dramatic and inviting fireplace with river stone hearth, a claw foot tub in one bathroom and an open loft with additional bedrooms and bathroom.
A wraparound porch on the rear of the home overlooks a beautiful pool with a rock mountain feature with built-in slide and seating areas. There is a shaded cabana area 
next to the pool as well.
Next to the home and pool is a huge 960 square foot shop with an office and extra storage area. Asking price is $690,000.
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
Housing Affordability Spikes Upward
INDUSTRY NEWS, SHASTA COUNTY, TIPS FOR BUYERS, TIPS FOR SELLERS
The California Association of Realtors recently released a report detailing housing affordability for first-time buyers. The index measures the percentage of households that can afford to purchase an entry-level home in various geographic areas.
The overall index for California is 59%. During the recent real estate bubble, the index bottomed out closer to 20%. C.A.R claims “the index is the most fundamental measure of housing well-being for first-time buyers in the state.” My only beef with this index is the loan type selected for the calculation of the index. The formula uses an adjustable rate loan with a 10% downpayment. Why not a 30-year fixed rate loan? The downpayment is reasonable but let’s not promote or even suggest a buyer use an adjustable rate mortgage for their first home purchase. Haven’t we learned our lesson?
The drop in prices has lowered the qualifying income to purchase an entry-level home by 42%. Last year at this time, a buyer needed $83,700 in income to qualify. Today, with lower home prices and interest rates, buyers only need $59,160. On average, buyers purchase a home priced equal to 85% of the prevailing median price.
The affordability index varies widely across our great state of California. The most affordable places to be a first-time buyer include Riverside at 79% and the High Desert at 76%. Other selected areas have affordability indexes and entry-level prices as follows:
- Marin 29% $709,420
- San Francisco 30% $570,660
- Contra Costa 35% $540,050
- Monterey 58% $265,700
- Sacramento 74% $159,750
- Los Angeles 46% $301,110
- Northern California 56% $241,410
Redding is not broken out as a separate area. I’m working to get our data to the state association economist so future press releases detail our local area stats. FYI- United States entry-level price is $153,090 and indexed at 76%.
Just for yucks, Marin county entry-level buyers can expect a monthly mortgage payment of $4,650 and High Desert buyers can expect payments of $820. Marin must be 6x better place to live. I hope your income is six times higher-you’ll need it!
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
Spring Forward With Daylight Savings Time
REDDING LIFESTYLES, SHASTA COUNTY
Who cares about losing an hour of sleep? Not me. I think this is one of my favorite days of the year! And it arrives on Sunday.
One hour less sleep but one extra hour to play after work. Instead of darkness falling at 5:30PM now it will stay light until 6:30 or so. Early risers and kids that wait for the bus won’t see the daylight early in the morning but in a month or two the days will have lengthened and eventually mornings will be brighter.
March 8 is the beginning of DST-it will return to standard time the day after Halloween. The calender worked in our favor this year with the 2nd Sunday in March falling on the 8th.
I hope the longer afternoons make everyone a bit cheerier. We need something to lift our spirits in these tough economic times.
bradgreps@yahoo.com
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
Distresss Sales Increase in Redding/Shasta County
INDUSTRY NEWS, REAL ESTATE PRACTICE, SHASTA COUNTY, SHORT SALES, TIPS FOR BUYERS, TIPS FOR SELLERS
In 2008, about 1/3 of all sales could be classified as “distressed sales“. A check of today’s activity indicates this segment of real estate activity has increased to nearly half of all sales.
Today there are 1519 active home listings on the Shasta MLS. of those, 126 are classified as REO’s or bank owned and another 198 are short sales or pre-foreclosure properties. The accuracy of these numbers requires agents to properly designate the ownership and available terms when they input data to the MLS system. Occasionally agents do not identify their listings properly which can lead to errors. This could be called the “garbage in, garbage out” scenario.
Of the 304 homes marked as pending sales today, 85 were REO’s and 66 were short sales. A short sale is when the seller is “underwater” on their mortgage. They owe more than their asking price and are hoping the lender will agree to forgive the shortfall. These two categories of distress sales combined equal 49% of the pending home sales activity.
Closed home sales since the beginning of the year through today total 229 units. 98 were REO’s and 13 were short sales. Again, this number works out to 48% of sales activity being distressed properties.
This year is shaping up to be a good one for bargain hunters and first-time buyers. Interest rates remain low-about 5% for credit-worthy borrowers and prices are off by more than 30% from the peak. Bank repo’s are setting the market prices and property owners will need to be competitive if they hope to sell in today’s market.
A robust increase in sales in the large metro areas of the state may result in an increase in sales activity locally. Redding has traditionally relied on out of area buyers to fuel the local market, particularly for the higher priced new homes. Local buyers fall into two main groups: first-time buyers and investors.
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKERR ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
Home Sales Activity Doubles In California
INDUSTRY NEWS, SHASTA COUNTY, TIPS FOR BUYERS, TIPS FOR SELLERS
Portions of California hit hard by foreclosures are seeing a dramatic increase in sales activity. Historically, the Redding area lags behind the state trend and local home sales have not seen a surge yet. January home sales were comparable to a year earlier in Redding/Shasta County.
The flood of foreclosures in some areas of the state has attracted bargain hunters. This is a good sign that buyers are scooping up distress sales which is a necessary step in stabilizing the real estate market. If activity continues at this pace, home sales in California could top 625,000 units by the end of the year according to an article in The Daily News.
In an effort to help sagging new home sales, the state announced a $10,000 tax credit to buyers that purchase a brand new home. This credit was pushed by a home builder association trade group. The tax credit will be spread out over 3 years or $3,333/year.
January’s median home price for the state was $254,350. This is the lowest level in eight years and $172,850 lower than a year-ago. In LA, the median price sits at $305,310. Ventura County is fairing better with a median price of $364,530. Locally, the median price for the Greater Redding area is hovering around the $200,000 mark.
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
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