Bailout Explained as only Southpark Can Do!

San Diego Housing in Now Affordable

It's been many years since investors looked at our local housing market and viewed it as 'affordable'. (In this case, I'm referring to professional investors and not the lazy day, get rich quick who helped drive the market so high during the Bubble). Now, from my favorite local source of news Voice of San Diego comes this story:

San Diego Home Prices Reasonable At Last

Yes, you read that headline right. In aggregate, and based on their historical relationships with local rents and incomes, San Diego County home prices are reasonable. Not cheap, but reasonable. For the rest of the story, go here:

Voice of San Diego

There is another insight into the current market I find interesting, and it has to do with 'what' type of houses are selling and why. If you guessed foreclosed properties, you're correct. And as best stated the other day in a piece called Existing Home Sales: Turnover Rate:

The turnover rate during the housing bubble was boosted by:

Speculative buying by flippers.

Speculative buying by homeowners (using excessive leverage).

Move up buying, especially by Baby Boomers.

Although slowing, the turnover rate is still above the median for the last 40 years and substantially above previous troughs. Both types of speculative buying are over for now. And the Baby Boomers have probably bought move up homes, and the next major move for the Boomers will be downsizing in retirement (still a number of years away).

And finally - and probably a very important point - homeowners with negative equity, who manage to avoid foreclosure, will be stuck in their homes for years.

All of the above suggests the turnover rate - and existing home sales - will fall further, perhaps much further.

Read more at: Turnover

And finally, on the good news side (perhaps ironic):

Mountain House, Calif., in which more than 90 percent of owners owed more than their house was worth in 2008, is feeling less glum these days -- you can tell by the Little League participation, which has gone from 178 to 220 kids in a year.

More importantly, the bidding war has returned to the real estate scene, with one family jostling with 12 others for a $299,000 5-bedroom home. (They lost, and the house eventually went for 30 percent above asking.)

The exurb: It's not dead yet!

View post at Curbed.com. That's why I love San Diego with all of it's potential!

It's a good, brisk morning and I'm ready to make this an awesome week of new business!

Played bocce ball today with a Dane and 11 yr old, I won. Dang I'm good!

Off to the San Diego Zoo to spend time with a friend not seen in several years.

Happy Vernal Equinox!!

Tired of the bad news and all of the 'woe is me', check out: http://ping.fm/9TLke

You are not going to believe this. Save it...

Below is a link to a great piece of sound engineering. It is a composite audio/video of song whereby additional tracks were laid in by different singers and musicians from different places around the world. The finished product is tremendous!

The song itself is that classic standard "Stand By Me" originally released in 1955 by The Staple Singers and released again in 1961 by the Drifters.

This composite version is a real toe tapper, so turn up the speaker volume: http://ping.fm/8nynk

Enjoy!

Back from the gym, sun coming up, time to roust kids and get the day movin'. It's gonna be a good one, I can feel the possibility.

Holding a late evening coaching call with client in the Philippines, I love Skype!

What a great morning, possibility is in the air...gotta go grab some!

Great morning already, gonna be a wonderful week! Time to stay focused.

Great day playing bocce ball and wondering if we'll ever get better...not that hard, really!

Just planted a tree at Lake Dixon with the kids, we're building a forest for everyone.

I just found a great site for California down payment assistance info, check it out at: http://ping.fm/mBlbY

There is a lot being tossed around in the real estate industry about down payment assistance: "Is there some or isn't there?' is the question most often voiced. I just ran across a good site for every first time home buyer (remember this only means you haven't owned a home or been on title for 36 months): http://www.californiadownpaymentassistanceprograms.com/finding_down_payment_assistance_programs/

Please take a moment to check this out when you're ready to jump back into the market or to buy your first property. It'll be my pleasure to give you guidance and support in the process when you are ready.

Is was wondering...

Ready for dinner, Max made a big challah and little hot dog challahs...should be interesting.

I'm up and at'um...time to get my fun monkeys out of bed and ready for school.

Late night call with a client in the Phillipines where its daytime and 100% humidity...glad I'm here and not there.

Back from a solid workout at the gym, ready to make things happen today!

I'm gearing up for a really productive day with a cup or two of strong joe! How about you?

Is winding down after a long day... plop!

Cool and breezy morning, very nice! Off to buy a bocce ball set at Noon.

Ready for a great day, great week and lots of excitement! How about you?

It's been a long day with my 11 yr old son. Even without food he seems to have tons of energy to keep pushing me forward! Gotta love it.

Off to an afternoon of watching kids and their sports. Can't wait for some great Mexican food tonight at Estrada's.

Want to learn something and have a chuckle at the same time, check out my blog: http://ping.fm/mBlbY

It's time for some knowledge and amusement...

I'm pretty frustrated with the politicians, fat cat bankers, greedy corporate honchos and media pundits during this time of economic bewilderment and fear, perhaps you are as well. It is fair to say the ship of Commerce is rudderless with an 'every man for himself' mentality...oh yeah, every woman, too! The government is in cahoots and everyone appears hell-bent on saving the dead and dying. 

This week some interesting pieces were sent to me that gave me a chuckle, even a laugh, and I thought passing these along might brighten, enlighten or frighten you, your choice...

For a concise and very easy to understand explanation of what has happened and is happening, check out: http://crisisofcredit.com/

Once done with that, enjoy the top two commentators on the newspeople and media:

Colbert: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2009/03/stephen_colbert.html (Doom Bunker)

Stuart: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2009/03/a_few_minutes_w.html (Nocero and CNBC) 

On a positive note, the stimulus efforts from 9-10 months ago are now beginning to filter down through the system and people are actually getting some relief. All of these 'relief packages' take time to infiltrate the economy, so it is almost time to start looking 24-36 months into the future to see what might befall us next!

Happy trails!

Spring is here, flowers on the orange trees...just walked through the orchard.

There's some good activity in real estate happening! San Diego is a good place to invest.

Just finished a great social networking call with an expert, Brad Hanks, who really knows his stuff. See a recent article on him in RisMedia: http://ping.fm/eebI0

Gorgeous day! Just made a fresh, breakfast lemon souffle with latest harvest. Yum!