All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Hiking, Lakes in nevada county, Recreation

Rollins Lake in Nevada County

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There are many recreational lakes in Nevada County, one of which is Rollins Lake. The lake is located in an unincorporated area called Chicago Park, so called because the first settlers there were first generation Italian-Americans who settled in the area from Chicago.

Rollins Lake is at an elevation of 2,100 feet, surrounded by a forest of pines, oaks and many other species of trees. It has a surface area of 900 acres with 26 miles of shoreline. You can sail or water ski on this lake which has many coves and long stretches of open water. Fishing is allowed, with many species of fish available which include brown trout, catfish, largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill. There is also swimming, picnicking, hiking and riding stables with horseback riding trails.

The boating which allowed on this lake include: power, row, Jet Ski, windsurf, canoe, sail, water ski and inflatable’s. You can also rent fishing boats with motors, canoes and paddle boats. There are four launch ramps, houseboat mooring and a floating gas dock.

rollinslake2

There are 250 developed camping sites for tents and RV’s. There are also full hookups for RV’s and trailer storage along with disposal station and flush toilets.

For further information contact:

Rollins Lake Resort Campground (530) 272-6100
Orchard Springs Campground      (530) 346-2212
Peninsula Campground                  (530) 477-9413
Long Ravine Campground             (530) 346-6166
View Larger Map

Real Estate

Foreclosure Crooks Close To Home

 theives

In the continuing fight against scam artists, the Better Business Bureau of Northern California is warning consumers about bogus loan modification companies that make promises about helping borrowers modify their mortgage loans.

You don’t have to look far from home to find one such company, which according to BBB is ShortRefiNow.com located in Roseville, CA. According to BBB, fourteen people have filed complaints with them. The complaints allege that the people paid between $2,600 and $5,300 up front to ShortRefiNow.com to get their loan modified, but the company did not perform or refund their money.

One woman said she gave ShortRefNow.com $3,000 up front to modify her loan based on a recommendation from a friend. She stated that “I kept getting the runaround. They said “I’m not sure who’s taking care of it. The person taking care of it had emergency surgery,” At that point she said “you know when someone is lying.”

After checking with her lender, she found out they had made one call to the lender and asked how do you do a refinance?

According to KCRA 3:

“Another homeowner told KCRA 3 she paid $5,370 to ShortRefiNow.com to modify her loan. She said the company told her not to talk with her lender directly.

She said the company did not secure a loan modification and did not refund her money.
The Department of Real Estate said consumers need to be very careful when deciding to use a loan modification company.

Companies must be licensed with the DRE. Furthermore, in order to collect advance money, brokers must have a specific agreement called an Advance Fee Agreement, approved by the DRE. Brokers may not collect advance fees if a notice of default has been recorded against a property.”

The DRE issued a Desist and Refrain order against ShortRefiNow.com in February, telling them to stop performing any and all acts for which a real estate license is required until such time as they obtain the required license.

The DRE said borrowers should contact their lender directly to try to work out an agreement or work with a nonprofit housing counselor.”

Real Estate

Nevada County Residential Sales First Quarter 2009 Vs First Quarter 2008

This has nothing to do with real estate sales, just to remember the beauty that is around us. Picture courtesy of my next door neighbor Jocelyne Pietto
This has nothing to do with real estate sales, just to remember the beauty that is around us. Picture courtesy of my next door neighbor Jocelyne Pietto
Nevada County residential property values continued to drop, although not as much as other areas. The drop in prices for the first three months of this year compared to the first three months of 2008 is eleven percent.

The medium price in the first quarter of this year for residential property is $302,000 compared to last year’s first quarter of $345,000. The number of residential properties sold in the first quarter was 124 units compared to 141 units in the first quarter of last year or a fourteen percent drop in sales.

However, I notice that pending sales is up in the first quarter of this year  compared to the first quarter of last year. In the first quarter of this year, there are 192 units under contract compared to 171 units under contract last year.  This may indicate that there is a twelve percent increase in sales, although some may fall out of contract. There also may be a long time lag on sales because some of the sales may be with lending institutions that historically seem to take more time in completing their transactions.

Sales figures quoted above are for single family residences and do not include multi-family residences.

I keep track of the daily Nevada County MLS transactions on this web site through Twitter, listing the number of new properties on the market, the number of price changes, completed sales for the day and pending sales.  These figures are for all types of property

You may find that information on the right side of this page or you can follow me on Twitter, I’m odelljohn.

 

 

Real Estate

California Association of Realtors® Launches Mortgage Protection Program

houseonhand

The California Association of Realtors has created the Housing Affordability Fund which offers a new mortgage protection program to first-time home buyers.Through the Housing Affordability Mortgage Protection Program, first-time home buyers who lose their jobs due to layoffs may be eligible to receive up to $1,500 per month for up to six months to help make their mortgage payments.

A Qualified co-buyer can also participate in this program, for a reduced monthly benefit of $750 per month for up to six months in the event of a job loss. Program benefits also include coverage for accidental disability and a $10,000 death benefit.  C.A.R.’s Housing Affordability Fund is dedicating $1 million toward its Mortgage Protection Program, and estimates that up to 3,000 families will benefit from the program this year.    

To qualify for the Mortgage Protection Program, applicants must: 

        Be a first-time home buyer – someone who has not owned a home in
        the last three years 

·       Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or
        before Dec. 31, 2009 

·       Use a California REALTOR® in the transaction 

·       Purchase the property in California 

·       Be a W-2 employee, cannot be self-employed or military personnelHome buyers must request an application for the H.A.F. Mortgage Protection Program from their Realtor®. More information on this new initiative will be forthcoming. Check for updates  By the way, a Realtor® is a real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors or N.A.R. Realtors® are pledged to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.

Real Estate

Foreclosures Up 30% in February

hwyfore

 Although several major lenders have temporary halted foreclosures, the number of households threatened with losing their homes rose 30 percent in February from last year’s levels. RealtyTrac reported Thursday.

Nationwide, nearly 291,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice last month, up 6 percent from January, according to the Irvine, Calif-based company. While foreclosures are highly concentrated in the Western states and Florida, the problem is spreading to states like Idaho, Illinois and Oregon as the U.S. economy worsens.

“It doesn’t bode well,” for the embattled U.S. housing market, said Rick Sharga, vice president for marketing at RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing firm. “At least for the foreseeable future, it’s going to continue to be pretty ugly.”

The rise in foreclosure filings came despite temporary halts to foreclosures by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and major banks JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America. Those companies pledged to do so in advance of President Barack Obama’s plan to stem the foreclosure crisis, which was launched last week.

It’s my opinion that the Al-A loans, are now starting to hit home. Al-A loans were the re-wrapped subprime loans that lending institutions came up with when the subprime loans were starting to get a bad name. There is an estimated $600 billion in residential mortgages that are due to fail that were made in 2006-2007 because of the Al-A loans.

 

Real Estate

The Most Expensive Residential Listing in America

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mansion
According to several news sources, the most expensive residential listing in California and the United States is the home of Candy Spelling, widow of legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling. It’s the largest house in Los Angeles County. A few statistics:   

            Size 56,500 square feet, slightly bigger than the White House

            Three Stories

            Called the Holmby Hills Estate, also known as “The Manor”

            Style: Looks like a French chateau

The home has a kitchen in which you can cook for 800, an automated projection room, a bowling alley, a flower cutting room, a wine cellar/tasting room, a silver storage room with humidity control. There’s also a service wing to house the bedrooms of five maids two butlers’ suites, one which has a kitchenette. The house is believed to have more than 100 rooms. Spelling said she isn’t sure, she never counted them.

On the outside, there is a parking lot, dubbed the “motor court, which can accommodate 100 vehicles, with 16 carports to boot. There’s a swimming pool with a pool house, tennis court, a koi pond, gardens, and a citrus orchard.

It’s all become a little too much for Spelling, 63, who is downsizing to a 16,500-square-foot condo in Century City.“All the stars came through,” Spelling said of her 18 years in residence. “Prince Rainier, Prince Charles, Jackie Kennedy — every star from every one of Aaron’s shows.

Fred Sands, who once owned one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages and is now a commercial real estate investor, said prices for houses like the Spelling property tend to be set largely at the seller’s whim — and the listing price could be far from the eventual sale price. “A broker is capable of saying, ‘It’s listed at 150, but make me an offer,’ ” Sands said, “They’d have a better chance at $60 million, $70 million, but it’s an iconic property — who’s to say?”

Yes, it would be hard to make a comparable sales price on this home, since there is nothing like it on the market.  I wonder if guests are given GPS devices when they vist so they won’t get lost?

Real Estate

Bay Area Medium Home Prices Plunge

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According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle today, home prices in the Bay Area have dropped dramatically since its peak in spring 2007.

Spring 2007, median Bay Area home sale price $720,000

February 2009, median Bay area home sale price $295,000

The large drop in home prices is the result of more than half the homes sold in January and February were foreclosures, compared to two years ago when only about 2.6 percent were foreclosures. This drop in home prices has created a surge of buyers. Among those buying, first time home buyers with an incentive of an $8,000 Federal tax credit to savvy investors who are buying to rent and waiting for the appreciation of home prices which will surely come.

According to the SF Chronicle:

“A Chronicle analysis of sales data from MDA DataQuick, a San Diego real estate research firm, indicates that the majority of local buyers are either first-time homeowners or investors taking advantage of the huge glut of fire-sale-priced distressed properties – bank-owned foreclosures, short sales and homes surrounded by foreclosures and short sales.

“At least two-thirds of the market is split between investors and first-time buyers,” said LePage. “The balance is mainly the people who have to buy because of a new job or other life events.”

Many homes here have returned to the realm of reasonable prices, with the median sale price hovering below $300,000. That means that even people with incomes around the Bay Area’s median of $80,000 or so can find properties within their price range. ”

An increasingly larger share of the buyers are investors. They’ve either made the calculation that, for the first time in years, they can make money by renting out the properties, or they think they can re-sell them at a profit. “

I agree with the investors, real estate prices will come back. In 1982 when the Savings and Loans crashed, people were saying, real estate prices will never come back. I say, history repeats itself.

Real Estate

California Bill Passed to Delay Foreclosures

stop-foreclosure

In order to delay foreclosures and give homeowners more time to deal with their lenders, California has passed a bill to delay the foreclosure proceedings another 90 days beyond the filing of a notice of default. The primary method of foreclosure in California involves what is known as non-judicial foreclosure. This means that court action is not required to foreclose a home. The normal length of time once foreclosure proceedings are started is about 120 days. However there is a 90 day (three months) waiting period prior to the final 30 day foreclosure proceeding. This bill will extend the waiting period from three months to  six months.

The bill was signed into law on February 20th, and became effective until May 22, 2009

This is an excerpt as of the original posted on JD Supra. “As an add-on to the California budget package, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures. This new law, which will become effective on May 22, 2009, requires that lenders wait an additional 90 days from the date of filing of a notice of default before the trustee can give notice of sale in a non-judicial foreclosure. Currently, lenders have to wait three months from the filing of a notice of default before providing the notice of sale, so this law, in effect, creates a six-month waiting period. This extended waiting period is intended to encourage lenders to work with their borrowers and enter into loan modifications. However, whether this aim will be achieved — and even whether this moratorium will apply in a significant number of foreclosures — remains to be seen since there are a number of requirements in the bill that must be satisfied for the moratorium to apply.

The moratorium applies only if:

1. the loan in question is a first lien loan (though it need not be a purchase money loan);

2. the loan was recorded against residential real property between January 1, 2003 and January 1, 2008, inclusive;

3. the borrower occupied the property as the borrower’s principal residence at the time the loan became delinquent;

4. the loan is serviced by a loan servicer that has not implemented a “comprehensive loan modification program”;

5. the loan is not made, purchased or serviced by a California state or local public housing agency or authority and the loan is not collateral for securities purchased by any such agency;

6. imposing such moratorium will not “require a servicer to violate contractual agreements for investor-owned loans;”

7. the borrower has not surrendered the property, as evidenced by a letter confirming surrender or the delivery of keys to the lender;

8. the borrower is not currently in bankruptcy; and

9. the borrower has not contracted with “an organization, person or entity whose primary business is advising people who have decided to leave their homes regarding how to extend the foreclosure process and avoid their contractual obligations to mortgagees or beneficiaries.” “

To read more details go to NuWire”

For further information on foreclosure proceedings go to Foreclosure.com

Real Estate

The Russians Are Coming, To Buy Real Estate That Is.

1 Comment
Residence is 80,000 square feet with nine-bedrooms, a ballroom, a conservatory and a 48-car (yes, you read that right) garage, bought by Russian fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million.
Residence is 80,000 square feet with nine-bedrooms, a ballroom, a conservatory and a 48-car (yes, you read that right) garage, bought by Russian fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million.

I wrote in an earlier blog about the Chinese buying property in the United States because of the bargain prices of our real estate. Along with the Chinese the Russians are also buying American real estate. During the crash in the real estate market in the 1980’s the Japanese came in and bought a tremendous amount of real estate. The crash in the 80’s was due to the failure of the Savings and Loans Institutions.  Now we have a repeat of the 1980’s, with banks failing just like it was predicted when the banks were deregulated. Just like then, now some people feel that the real estate market will never be the same, but it seems people from other countries appreciate the long term value of American real estate. Consequently they are taking advantage of the real estate market while it’s at current bargain prices. .

In addition to luxury cars, vacations, branded clothing, high-end footwear, and race horses, Russia’s elite is also passionate about buying international properties. This can be illustrated by a few recent noteworthy real estate transactions such as the purchase of Donald Trump’s beachfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida by a Russian fertilizer oligarch, Dmitry Rybolovlevy for $95 million (supposedly the most expensive residential sale recorded in U.S.) The purchase of a Manhattan townhouse by investor Len Blavatnic for $50 million, just a few blocks away from his $31.5 million townhouse he bought a few years ago, The purchase of a condo on Central Park West by former Kremlin insider Boris Berezovsky, The purchase of a ranch in Colorado by the Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich for $36.4 million, and the purchase a beautiful multi-million condo by Aleksey Morozov, Captain of the IIHF World Champion Russian Hockey Team.

 Moscow’s real estate is among the world’s costliest. So property in the politically stable U.S. environment is a boon for well-to-do Russians. According to Hall Willkie, president of real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens, foreign buyers now make up about 15% of the New York City real estate market and Russians are the largest contingent. The Miami area in particular, with its upscale shopping and hip nightlife, is attracting Russians and is increasingly viewed as a fashionable escape from Moscow’s harsh winters.

By the way, I see an uptick in real estate sales. As of yesterday, in Nevada County, there was 176 pending sales compared to about 120 sales pending around the first of the year. .

Real Estate

Buy a New Home, Get Income Tax Credit From State of California

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In order to help the construction industry and sales of newly constructed homes in California, a $10,000 tax credit is now available for reducing California State income tax. The home, either attached or detached, must be a principal residence and have never been occupied. As of March 18, 2009, 1,189 applications have been received. This represents, if all the applications are approved, $11,599,825 in tax credits. There is $100,000,000 available, so if you are going to buy a brand new house that’s never been in lived in, hurry and get your application in. Once the $100,000,000 is claimed, there will be no further tax credits.

Here is part of the text from the Franchise Tax Board:
.
“This tax credit is available for qualified buyers  who on or after March 1, 2009, and before March 1, 2010, purchase a qualified principal residence  that has never been occupied. The buyer must reside in the new home for a minimum of two years immediately following the purchase date.

California allocated $100,000,000 for this tax credit. Buyers must apply for credit allocation from us. Applications will be reviewed and credit allocations will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. Once $100,000,000 has been allocated, the tax credit will no longer be available. Please check this page for updates on the allocated and remaining credits available.

California allows qualified new home buyers a total tax credit amount equal to either five percent of the purchase price or $10,000, whichever is less. Taxpayers must apply the total tax credit in equal amounts over three successive taxable years (maximum of $3,333 per year) beginning with the taxable year (2009 or 2010) in which the new home is purchased.

Qualified Principal Residence/New Home:

A qualified principal residence means a single-family residence, whether detached or attached, that has never been occupied and is purchased to be the principal residence of the taxpayer for a minimum of two years and is eligible for the property tax homeowner’s exemption.

Types of residence: Any of the following can qualify if it is your principal residence and is subject to property tax, whether real or personal property: a single family residence, a condominium, a unit in a cooperative project, a houseboat, a manufactured home, or a mobile home.

Owner-built property: A home constructed by an owner -taxpayer is not eligible for the New Home Credit because the home has not been “purchased.”

To apply and for further information go to Franchise Tax Board”