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Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Travel

Visit to New York Tenement Museum

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Tenement Museum

New York again… this time February 7, 2013… COLD… We did come prepared, thermal underwear, hats, gloves, scarves, and  boots, but this is really cold, high of 30 degrees.

Last time we had tried to go on a tour of the Tenement Museum, but couldn’t due to the crowds, although we did see a nice 30 minute movie of the times. This is a 5 story tenement that 10,000 people from 25 countries called home between 1863 and 1935 in the Lower East side of NY at 97 Orchard Street. So this time we made reservations to the tour called “Hard Times”.

This was a tour of the three room apartments of two families of immigrants who survived the economic depressions at 97 Orchard Street between 1863 and 1935. We visited the restored apartment of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family, whose patriarch disappeared during the Panic of 1873  (they think he just ran away from his family) but the mother became a seamstress and move up in the world later in life.

And we also visited the Italian-Catholic Baldizzi family, who lived through the Great Depression and went on to move up to a better area of town. Fascinating stories complete with artifacts and pictures. In the tour, they say one in eight Americans can trace their lineage back to the immigrant tenements in New York.

After this we wandered through Chinatown and Little Italy (right next door to each other), the changes happen rapidly between one and the other within just one block!! It is amazing… like going to a different country by walking!!

We ate a wonderful Italian meal at El Piccolo Buffalo at 141 Mulberry Street – see picture! We recommend it!
For all your real estate neeeds
Call or email:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
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DRE# 00669941

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Politics, Real Estate

Home Prices May be Rising Too Fast

upside-down-house

In a historical context, home prices typically increase about 3 to 4 percent a year.

But in the years preceding the housing crash, prices in 2002 started soaring 7 percent a year, then 8 percent in 2004, and 12 percent by 2005, CNBC.com reports.

A “new bubble” may be forming, CNBC columnist Diana Olick writes. CoreLogic’s latest housing data shows home prices rose 8 percent in December year-over-year, the largest gain in more than six years. In some places, home prices are up by double digits from a year ago, like Phoenix where prices are up 26 percent year-over-year.

Inventories of for-sale homes are very tight and many are attributing the tight inventories as helping to drive up home prices. Inventories were at their lowest supply since May 2005, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

“The greatest concern in the market is the inventory situation,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. “Even if we see an increase in the spring and summer, if home sales hold at the [current] level or even a 5- to 6-month supply, price increases are guaranteed. We don’t want to see rapid appreciation in prices faster than income.”

CNBC reporter Diana Olick notes that “healthy housing market gains are historically driven by increasing employment and income, not by lack of supply; the latter leads to price bubbles.”

But another part driving recent gains are the flood of investors in some markets. Investors are cashing in on once hard-hit markets by the foreclosure crisis, like in California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. Many of these investors are hedge funds turning single-family homes into rentals, but as prices increase they may be inclined to take their profits sooner rather than later, Olick writes.

“What we had thought were safer, long term buys, may now turn into flips of the last decade,” Olick writes. “The question will be if there are enough non-investor buyers out there to support those sales?”

But the price gains may be sustainable, some say. Consumer confidence is increasing, employment is improving, and price gains may soon allow more home owners who are seeing equity once again trade-up, Olick writes.

Source: “Housing Market Already Shows Signs of New Bubble,” CNBC.com (Feb. 5, 2013) and “New Housing Fears: Home Prices Are Rising Too Fast,” CNBC.com (Jan. 22, 2013)

 

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For all your real estate needs

Call or email: John J. O’Dell

Realtor® GRI

Civil Engineer General Contractor

(530) 263-1091

Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE# 00669941

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Real Estate

Best Season For Home Buying

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Photo Credit: icanhascheeseburger.com
Photo Credit: icanhascheeseburger.com

After the holidays, buyers tend to start getting more aggressive with their house hunting. Search activity usually peaks around March or April in most states, according to a new study of home searches from 2007 to 2012 conducted by Trulia.

In September, searches slow down. By December buyer searches ebb to their lowest point of the year.

“Home-search activity swings with the seasons in every state,” says Jed Kolko, chief economist of Trulia. “Buyers and sellers can use these ups and downs to their advantage. Sellers looking for the most buyers should list when real estate search traffic peaks. Buyers, however, should think about searching off-season, when there is less competition from other searchers.”

The study revealed seasonal patterns of search activity state to state. Here are the months when online real estate searches peak in every U.S. state:

  • January: Hawaii
  • February: Florida
  • March: Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington
  • April: Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin
  • May: Real estate activity does not peak in any state
  • June: Mississippi
  • July: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming
  • August: Montana and Oregon
  • September-December: Real estate activity does not peak in any state

Source: “Trulia Reveals Best Home-Searching Season,” HousingWire (Jan. 29, 2013)

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Real Estate

What Will the New ‘Normal’ for Housing Be?

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house-on-roof-side

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae recently offered some predictions of what the housing market’s “normal” will look like in the next two years.

In its report, “Transition to ‘Normal’?”, Fannie says while the housing market has shown improvement, uncertainty remains over both the economy and the real estate market.

“Our forecast is that 2013 and 2014 will exhibit below-potential economic growth,” according to the white paper. “This is despite the fact that we expect the housing rebound will continue and that the economy will benefit from the gradual increased growth of U.S.-based manufacturing, as well as the expansion of domestic energy production.”

The following are some of the projections Fannie made in its report:

  • Mortgage rates to stay low: Fannie Mae expects mortgage rates to remain low over the next few years. The mortgage giant expects rates will increase to no more than 4.2 percent by the end of 2014.
  • FHA loans may get more expensive: More costs may be assigned to Federal Housing Administration loans.
  • Refinancing drops: The boom in refinancing may have peaked last year with slower activity projected this year. “We expect 2012 to be seen as the high watermark for refinances and 2013 as the first of several transition years as the housing finance market transitions back to a more normal balance between purchase and refinance activity.”
  • Foreclosures continue to fall: Fannie expects foreclosures to continue to decline from their peaks as more alternatives to foreclosure are pursued.
  • Housing starts to rise: Fannie Mae predicts that housing starts will increase 23 percent in 2013 — which would be 60 percent more than the record low in 2010. Fannie expects housing starts won’t reach sustainable levels until 2016.
  • Mortgage originations grow: “Given our expectations of continued improvement in housing starts, home sales, and home prices in 2013,” Fannie Mae writes, “we project that purchase mortgage originations will rise to $642 billion from a forecast of $518 billion in 2012.”

Source: “‘Normal’ Housing Market May Not be What it Used to Be,” Realty Times (Jan. 30, 2013)

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For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Real Estate

Housing Inventories Are Falling

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Photo Credit: http://www.shakesville.com/2008/06/my-former-landlord.html
Photo Credit: http://www.shakesville.com/2008/06/my-former-landlord.html

Home prices are increasing across the country as the number of homes for-sale continues to fall. But at a time when buyer demand is picking up, why is inventory still so low?

Inventories fell to 1.82 million at the end of last year, a 21.6 percent drop from one year earlier, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.

The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted several reasons behind the dropping inventories, including:

  • Sellers hesitant to sell: About 22 percent of home owners with a mortgage are still underwater, owing more than their home is currently worth. Home owners don’t tend to sell unless a life-changing event occurs when they’re underwater because they don’t want to take a loss on the sale of their house. CoreLogic data shows that inventories are the most constrained in areas with the highest number of underwater borrowers.
  • Not enough equity to trade up: Often times, home owners rely on the equity from their home to make a down payment on their next home. With fewer home owners seeing equity in their houses, they may not have enough money to move into a pricier home, which is constraining the would-be “trade up” buyer from moving.
  • Investors continue to snatch up properties: Investors are snapping up properties, but they’ve changed their strategy from past years, which is also constraining inventories. Now they’re holding onto properties and turning them into rentals instead of rehabbing properties and flipping them for profit. This is keeping fewer homes on the market.
  • Banks are slowing down foreclosures: Banks have new rules to meet with the foreclosure process, and it’s causing them to move at a slower pace in foreclosing on homes. Banks also are showing a preference for short sales and loan modifications, which are curbing the number of foreclosed homes on the market.
  • Builders are doing less building: Housing starts were at record lows from 2009 through 2011 so there’s less inventory being added to the market. A rebound in the new-home market has only recently started to occur.

Source: “Six Reasons Housing Inventory Keeps Declining,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 22, 2013)

 

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For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Bits & Pieces

China Builds a Hotel in 15 Days

httpv://youtu.be/GVUsIlwWWM8

How about assembling a hotel onsite in  fifteen days. Well, they did it in China.  When I was there they built a freeway in six months that would take us 6 years to construct.
For all your real estate needs

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

Environment, Government

Three Easy Steps to Get Brush Chipped at Your House Year Round

Chipping

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County will chip any brush that is cleared from defensible space of any permanent structure and/or 30’ from any roadside or driveway used for evacuation purposes. Any vegetation that grows past such limitations is beyond the boundaries of what we can chip.

Grant funding is very limited for the Chipping program. We need your support to keep the program functional.  The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County relies on a suggested donation of $75 per hour from chipping customers, membership dues and generous donations of local businesses and Nevada County residents to keep the program running.

To use the chipping program:

1. Create your piles to be chipped. See program requirements below.

2. Download the Defensible Space Chipping Application or contact the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County at (530) 272-1122 and leave your name, mailing address and phone number and a Defensible Space Chipping Application will be mailed to you.

3. After the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County receives your chipping application they will enter it on the appropriate neighborhood route. Chipping is completed on a six to eight week rotation throughout all the different neighborhoods. When you complete your piles for chipping and submit your chipping application will determine how long it will be before the chipper arives to complete your chipping. Sustaining members of the Fire Safe Council generally recieve chipping service within two weeks. If you would like to learn how to receive priority chipping please visit our membership page.

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County is not able to chip:

  • Solid piles of leaves.
  • Pine needles.
  • Yard clippings.
  • Decaying wood.
  • Scotch Broom
  • Timber harvest projects.

Waste Management offers a “Green Waste Pick-Up” program to dispose of such materials. They can be contacted at (530) 274-3090.

Program Requirements:

  • Chipping piles need to be stacked along a road or driveway frontages which will allow the crew to work from the road or driveway.
  • Piles must be placed within 5 feet of chipper access.
  • Piles must be placed on the uphill side of road or driveway.
  • Piles must be free of roots/stumps, rocks and mud, poison oak, scotch broom and blackberries and other vines.
  • Piles must be stacked with the cut ends facing the same direction, pointing towards access route to piles.
  • All material chipped will be blown back onto the property or put in a pile where the brush was or.
  • The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County will provide service on a first-come, first–served basis.
  • The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County cannot clean up timber harvest projects or vacant lots.

Any more questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County (530) 272-1122.

 

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Camping, Fishing, Hiking, Lakes in nevada county, Nevada County Information, Recreation

Scotts Flat Lake January 2013

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Scotts Flat Reservoir seems to be very close to the spillway elevation which is approximately 3074.8 feet in elevation. That’s the elevation in which the water starts flowing out due to increase in volume from rainfall or from release of water from upper dams.  As of today, the elevation of the water is 3073 or about 1.8 feet from flowing over the spillway.

In the pictures above, you can see how close to the top of the dam the water is. Camping, fishing, swimming, sunning, boating, water skiing, sailing, board sailing and other activities are popular at  Scotts Flat reservoirs in the Sierra foothills. Day use parks, campgrounds and beaches which is operated by a private operator under contract with Nevada Irrigation District.

Scotts Flat is situated among the tall pines at the 3100-foot elevation nine miles east of Nevada City via Highway 20 and Scotts Flat Road. It offers 169 campsites at two large campgrounds, plus a group camp. Across the lake, accessible via Red Dog and Quaker Hill Roads from Nevada City, is the Cascade Shores Day Use Area.

 

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Real Estate

Banks Close To $10B Settlement Over Foreclosure Abuses

give a man a gun rob bank

Fourteen banks are reportedly nearing a $10 billion settlement with banking regulators over the banks’ past involvement in foreclosure mishandlings that included faulty paperwork and excessive fees, The New York Times reports.

About $3.75 billion of the reported settlement would go to aid home owners who lost their homes to foreclosure — more than double what was set aside from a $26 billion settlement reached in 2012 among the state attorneys general and five of the nation’s largest banks.

The majority of the money from the latest settlement would go to help home owners struggling to make their payments and remain in their homes, such as with aid like loan modifications or lowering the amount of principal on their mortgages.

Banks have faced several settlements with government officials and home owners in recent months that have aimed to hold them accountable for the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent housing slump. From 2007 to early 2012, four million Americans faced foreclosure.

“It’s certainly a victory for consumers and could help entire neighborhoods,” Lynn Drysdale, a former co-chairwoman of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, told The New York Times about the latest proposed settlement. “But the devil, as they say, is in the details, and for those people who have had to totally uproot their lives because of eviction it may still not be enough.”

The same banks involved in the $26 billion mortgage settlement–JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial — also are included in this recent settlement, The New York Times reports.

Sources: “Settlement Expected on Past Abuses in Home Loans,” The New York Times (Dec. 30, 2012)  Daily Real Estate News

 

 

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For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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