Another of San Diego’s Finest Neighborhoods, Carmel Valley. Here Is The Scoop -Rina Podolsky San Diego Exclusive Properties_ Carmel Valley Homes For Sale

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Carmel Valley is a community in San Diego county that has become one of the prime Neighborhoods for many reasons, from its privileged location just a short distance from the beach, it’s top ranking schools and it’s easy freeway access. It has fared better than many local areas through the Real Estate market ups and downs and continues to be a very sought after place to live.

• LOCATION

Carmel Valley is bordered to the north by the North City Future Urbanizing Area (NCFUA) and Pacific Highlands Ranch; to the south by Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Torrey Hills; to the east by Pacific Highlands Ranch and Del Mar Mesa; and to the west by Interstate 5 and Torrey Pines. Nearby is the Torrey Pines State Preserve, where one of two stands of the endangered Torrey Pine is found to occur.

While many people in the area are now referring to the entire 92130 zip code as Carmel Valley, the actual boundaries of the community remain unchanged from the original community plan. The remainder of the 92130 zip code is filled by the surrounding communities of Del Mar Mesa, Pacific Highlands Ranch, and Torrey Hills.

Original Carmel Valley Area Map

• HISTORY

The earliest inhabitants of the area are believed to have been the earliest settlers in the region. There have been some artifacts found along the Carmel Creek area that are said to belong to this Native American tribe, confirming their settlement in the area, however, little is known about their life in this region.

Later in time, around the 1800 to 1900 the area was known as “Cordero” in it is where we find “Ranchers” it is thus known as the Rancho Period. The main activity in the region was producing and trading cattle hides and tallow. This was immediately followed by a period of agriculture became the main trade. At this time in history, we had the California Gold Rush going at full swing and some of these gold rushers did come to settle in the area, among those settlers we had the McGonigle Family who acquired  2,040 acres of what is today known Carmel Mountain preserve. It was then that the area became known as “McGonigle Valley.

Around the 1890’s the sisters of Mercy came from San Francisco down to the region. When they established themselves in the area they gave medical care to the McGonigle family and established a dispensary in 1000 acre parcel of land that they purchased from the same family. They also established a dairy farm and a vegetable garden. They also built a three story Victorian home that has played different roles through out time, it played the role of housing orphans, dispensary for the nuns and that is what later became Mercy Hospital, it later became a private home and horse ranch and most recently, after the Carmelites land was divided in two by the passing of the 56 freeway in the middle of their land, the home became property of the Chabbad center and it is currently on sale. The other half of the property houses a Church and burial grounds.

This nuns  from the Carmelite order and were instrumental in naming the area when they named a mountain “Carmel Mountain” and their ranch “Carmel Mountain Ranch” after it. That is how the area got it’s name.

Sisters of Mercy Victorian House

However in 1975 the area was mapped out and a plan was established it was named the “North City West Master Plan” and the name of the area was changed to North City West.

Construction in the area began in 1983 and by that time the original name had stuck to the region and so in 1990 the local planing board change the name back to Carmel Valley. The area is designated with the 92130 zip code.

Today Carmel Valley has grown to include surrounding areas such as: Torrey Hills, Del Mar Mesa and Pacific Highlands Ranch.

• SHOPPING + ENTERTAINMENT

As of Today there are 3 main shopping Areas.

The largest is Del Mar Highlands Town Center It includes fast food restaurants such as Mc Donalds, El Pollo Loco and Rubio’s,  it also has Red Robin, Sammy’s Pizza and Champagne bakery, Starbucks and Chuao chocolatiers. It is divided in upper and lower level and houses some clothing boutiques, Gepetto’s Toy store,  an Aveda and a Barnes & Noble book store. It houses two major groceries stores, Ralphs and a Jimbo’s which is a more natural and organic store. This shopping center included the Carmel Valley Ultra star movie theaters, however they ar currently close for remodel and will re-open sometime this summer.

There is another shopping center called Piazza Carmel  It is a smaller plaza that includes Souplantation, Villa Capri a Vons grocery store, some boutiques and banks. Across the street you will find a Shell Gas station and a Pat & Oscar’s restaurant.

The other shopping area is  Torrey Hills Shopping Center located in the southern part of Carmel Valley, this plaza is the most recently built but it is also the smallest one, it has a Vons groceries store as well, Starbucks, an italian restaurant three banks and the Carmel Valley office of Windermere Exclusive Properties.

The Scoop is that there will be 3 more shopping areas built in Carmel Valley, 2 of them are expected to be big shopping centers. One is located on the corner of Del Mar Heights and El Camino Real right across of Del Mar Highlands Town Center and construction is expected to begin soon.

The other major shopping area that is expected to be built is in the Pacific Highlands Ranch Neighborhood, it is said that it will include some major department stores but no word yet on which ones or when it will be built.

Finally, in the corner of Carmel Mountain and Carmel Country, Pardee is building a new community, part of the land, the south-west corner of it to be precise, is designated to be commercial/retail, No word yet what stores will be there but it is a much smaller space.

There is also a little known secret, here is the Scoop there is an Organic Farm right in the middle of Carmel Valley called Sea Breeze Farms

Also coming to the neighborhood we have 3 restaurants opening their doors in 2011, all of the in Del Mar Highlands town center. Rimel’s Rotisserie, The Counter which will be a burger place, Searsucker a great downtown restaurant is also working on opening up a new restaurant as is Swirls, a yoghurt ice cream store.

The movie theater will re-open with a new concept of VIP theaters where patrons will be able to reserve their seat ahead of time and there will be drinks and dinner served to your seat.

There are many excerisze places that go from yoga and pilates studios to full out sport centers. There are 2 in particular that are worth mentioning:

Pacific Athletic Club – One of San Diego’s  finest sports resorts.

The Training Club – An innovative, high energy, and fun workout facility, totally committed to creating exercise programs for groups and individuals.

 

• REAL ESTATE MARKET

There are currently 230 Homes listed as Active

Here is a brief chart of the current listing statistics

out of which 160 are Detaches homes 70 are attached

There are 33 homes showing as contingent (this is a recently added status that means an offer has been accepted by the buyer and an approval is being negotiated with the bank in the case of a short sale)

There are 62 homes in escrow or listed as pending

In the past 30 days there were 35 homes that Sold here is a chart to view the stats of past months sale

out of those 35, 22 were detached homes and 13 were attached

There are 224 properties in the public records list of homes in some stage of Foreclosure, you can search foreclosures here

In general this area has fared very well thru the Real Estate market downtown.

You will be able to find many different communities within the area and prices go from $205,000 to $7,980,000 but the average sales price is around $1,ooo,000. If you want to look for homes in this area be sure to check out this site

• SCHOOLS



ELEMENTARY

There are 3 main School District operating in the area as far as elementary schools go.

Solana Beach School District

Solana Highlands: 3520 Long Run Drive; Office: 858.794.4300, Fax: 858.794.4350, CDC: 858.794.4377

Carmel Creek: 4210 Carmel Center Road; Office: (858) 794-4400, Fax: (858) 794-4450, Absence: (858) 794-4451, CDC: (858) 794-4477

Solana Pacific: 3901 Townsgate Drive; Office: (858) 794-4500, Fax: (858) 794-4550, CDC: (858) 794-4577, Absence: (858) 794-4551

Del Mar Union School District

Ashley Falls: 13030 Ashley Falls Drive; voice 858.259.7812, fax 858.259.1828 Carmel Del Mar: 12345 Carmel Park Drive; voice 858.481.6789, fax 858.481.7418

Del Mar Heights: 13555 Boquita Drive, Del Mar, CA 92014; voice:858.755.9367, fax:858.509.1412 Del Mar Hills: 14085 Mango Drive, Del Mar, CA 92014; voice: 858.755.9763, fax: 858.755.6107 Sage Canyon: 5290 Harvest Run Drive; voice: 858.481.7844, fax: 858.481.7949 Torrey Hills: 10830 Calle Mar de Mariposa; voice: 858.481.4266, fax: 858.481.0344 Sycamore Ridge: 5333 Old Carmel Valley Road; voice: 858-755-1060 Ocean Air: 11444 Canter Heights Drive; voice: 858.481.4040

Poway Unified School District

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Both Solana Beach and Del Mar Union school districts merge when it comes to upper grades but Poway remains separate. We have:

Carmel Valley Middle School 3800 Mykonos Lane 858-481-8221

Earl Warren Junior High 155 Stevens Street, Solana Beach, CA 92075 858-755-1558

And Poway Unified School District

HIGH SCHOOL

Torrey Pines High School 3710 Del Mar Heights Road 858-755-0125 (Torrey Pines High School Foundation)

Canyon Crest High School 5951 Village Center Loop Road 858-350-0253 (Canyon Crest High School Foundation)

And Poway Unified School District

Only a very small section of Carmel Valley falls into the Poway School District designated boundaries and most people don’t even know that this is the case, so make sure you confirm that the home you are considering moving into falls into the boundaries of the school district that you are looking for. All of the schools in the area have received top rankings you can check the scores in this CA state website

You will also find Private schools in Carmel Valley:

San Diego Jewish Academy Upper School (grades 6-10) 11860 Carmel Creek Road voice (858) 704 3770 fax (858) 704 3771 Lower School (grades K-5) 11860 Carmel Creek Road voice (858) 704 3761 fax (858) 704-3701 Cathedral Catholic High School 5555 Del Mar Heights Road 858-523-4000 Notre Dame Academy pre-school to 8th grade 4345 Del Mar Trails Road 858.509.2300 thesisters@ndasd.org

Del Mar Pines (grades K-6) 3975 Torrington Street San Diego, CA 92130 858-481-5615

If you have any other questions about Carmel Valley, would like any additional information or want information in any of the surrounding areas please feel free to contact me at : info@SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

 

 

Have We Seen The Worst Of The Real Estate Market In San Diego? What To Expect For 2011. -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Real Estate-

Have we seen the worst of the Real Estate Market slum or are we still on the way down? That is the main question that analyst are asked. As we begin 2011 there are many factors that will determine the behavior of this market on the year to come. Although there is no clear consensus, the majority of the experts predict that we are either bouncing at the bottom or on our way out of it, there are some that still predict a 5% slide in some areas. The Real Estate Market in some parts of California like Del Mar, and La Jolla are believed to be on their way out however to get a better understanding of what is ahead, here is a look at what experts look are looking at.

The determining factors that will come into play this year are mainly 4

• Unemployment.- Much of the markets bounce back is now hinging on this indicator. It is clear that if people don’t have jobs they will not be able to buy a home but it is also important to understand that even people who have a job need to feel that job is secure to feel they can take on the responsibility of home ownership. If the Job market gets stronger and companies start hiring instead of letting go of personnel that will help the housing market greatly.

• Mortgage Rates.- Home affordability is now at a great level. One of the upsides to the National crisis is that with home prices having dropped an average of 29% nationally and Mortgage rates being at historically low levels, many people who could not afford to buy a home are now able to. Even though credit has been challenging to get and underwriters are being very strict with the loans, there is an important sector that does qualify in today’s market conditions that would not have done so before. Mortgage rates have gone up for five consecutive weeks, yet they still remain at a low level, if they continue to go up, the affordability will be affected and in those cases prices will need to adjust down so that buyers can continue to buy. If the rates remain steady then prices will most likely do the same.

• Home Inventory.- There has been a lot of talk regarding the large inventory of homes that are in some stage of the foreclosure process and of how those homes threaten to hit the market and like a new wave that consequently will bring prices down once again. It is very important that we understand some key differences between the situation of that first wave of foreclosures and the next one. After the market crashed, new construction came practically to a screeching halt. Builders main focus was to get rid of their inventory and they all but stopped planing new projects. Also, banks had no systems in place to deal with loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures. Not that what the banks are doing today can be considered efficient or a well oiled machine, but at least there are more systems in place. Banks also understand very well by now that if the market has a big slide, they, as property owners which they have undoubtedly become, will be very hurt. If instead, they control de speed and amount of foreclosed properties coming into the market, they are being greatly benefitted. Banks are more open to bulk transactions, homes are being sold more often at court steps, lenders are making some efforts to get short sales approved, loan modifications work. I do say some efforts because they are still very far from I would say they are efficiently doing either one of those.

• Government programs.- Last year the government implemented tax credits that were succesful in getting buyers off the fence and getting the Real Estate Market moving. Once those credits expired the market definitely stalled again, it did not stop but it certainly slowed down. The government has said that they will take a detailed look at two of the most important agencies. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be revised and the president has said that in the coming months there will be some serious changes to both. That will very likely have an effect on how the market behaves, specially since in todays market, it is said that 9 out of 10 loans are backed by one of those two agencies. Emile Haddad, chief executive of FivePoint Communities Inc said that due to this key factor he believes the market will remain steady for all of 2011.

One thing I do know is that I agree with Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the recovery will not happen evenly across the country and talking about California’s Real Estate recovery in particular it will happen in the areas near the coast first and way before the areas like Riverside or San Bernardino. Once again we go back to Real Estate’s cardinal rule, Location, location, location!  As he explains itat there are not enough high earning people in the later areas whereas Del Mar, La Jolla, Newport, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, etc. as he said

” A place like Silicon Valley, or a place like West Los Angeles, there is a critical mass of very high-income people.… That means you have a large number of people who can afford to spend in the neighborhood of $1 million on a house, and these are desirable places.”

So he believes that these areas will se a return to their peak levels within 5 years, where the other areas, will take much longer and will have to change the product they offer to cater to a different income market before they can see a comeback.

The one thing that most if not all experts agreed on is that bottoms are really hard to pinpoint, usually people can only see the bottom when the uptick is already strong. The one thing that is clear is that this a good time to buy, specially because of the combination of low prices and low mortgage rates that will not be seen in many years to come.

If you have any further questions or for information regarding The San Diego Real Estate market you can go to our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com or contact us and we will be happy to help.

A year in review. 2010 San Diego Real Estate Market Analysis -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Homes For Sale-

Here we are once again at the close of a year. I find it helpful to look back and see how the Real Estate Market in San Diego, specially in the areas where I do most of my business trended. I am sharing with you a very brief summary of the Real estate Market of homes that sold in Carmel Valley, Del Mar, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and Coronado. I am hoping you find it useful or at the very least interesting. In a future blog post I will be talking about the Real Estate Forecast for 2011.

• CARMEL VALLEY 92130

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 411

Price:

High: $5,100,000    Low: $522,000   Average: $1,026,345

Price per S.F:

High: $573.03             Low: $221.07      Average: $337.78

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 96%

Days on Market: Average 51

Attached

# sold 256

Price:

High: $712,000  Low: $198,100 Average: $408,806

Price per S.F:

High: $447.76             Low: $251.91      Average: $339.13

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 97%

Days on Market: Average 68

Most Expensive Home Sold in Carmel Valley in 2010. Sale price was $5,100,00

• DEL MAR 92014

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 93

Price:

High: $8,000,000    Low: $685,000   Average: $1,726,665

Price per S.F:

High: $2580.65             Low: $241.63      Average: $637.40

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 93%

Days on Market: Average 101

Attached

# sold 44

Price:

High: $1,850,000  Low: $182,500 Average: $534,783

Price per S.F:

High: $1.013.22             Low: $248.80      Average: $437.55

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 97%

Days on Market: Average 68

Most Expensive Home Sold in Del Mar in 2010

• LA JOLLA 92037

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 254

Price:

High: $10,000,000    Low: $100,000   Average: $1,337,000

Price per S.F:

High: $1,550.39             Low: $221.07      Average: $619.74

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 92%

Days on Market: Average 96

Attached

# sold 276

Price:

High: $5,950,000  Low: $175,000 Average: $648,893

Price per S.F:

High: $1,574.07             Low: $206.55      Average: $439.66

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 95%

Days on Market: Average : 80

Most Expensive Home Sold in La Jolla in 2010. Sold for $10,000,000

• RANCHO SANTA FE 92067

Sold Homes :

# sold 174

Price:

High: $9,575,000    Low: $650,000   Average: $2,470,799

Price per S.F:

High: $907.41             Low: $152.85      Average: $430.21

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 90%

Days on Market: Average 151

Most Expensive Home Sold in Rancho Santa Fe in 2010. Selling Price was $9,575,000

• SOLANA BEACH 92075

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 90

Price:

High: $4,550,000    Low: $499,500   Average: $1,241,699

Price per S.F:

High: $1,481.60             Low: $239.59      Average: $537.09

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 95%

Days on Market: Average 88

Attached

# sold 75

Price:

High: $1,600,000  Low: $195,000   Average: $637,313

Price per S.F:

High: $1,074.75             Low: $201.48      Average: $426.29

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 95%

Days on Market: Average 64

Most Expensive Home Sold in Solana Beach in 2010. Sale price was $4,550,00

• CORONADO 92118

Sold Homes :

# sold 225

Price:

High: $10,500,000    Low: $479,900   Average: $1,452,743

Price per S.F:

High: $4,506.07             Low: $246.44      Average: $728.82

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 92%

Days on Market: Average 119

Most Expensive Home Sold in Coronado in 2010. Sale price was $10,500,000

If you want any more information on the data shown here or how to best use and interpret this information, feel free to contact us. You can reach us thru our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com where you can also search for all the listings and foreclosures available in San Diego.

Wishing you a happy healthy 2011!!!

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How You Can Transfer Your Lower Property Tax Basis To Your New Home -Rina Podolsky -Carmel Valley Real Estate Homes For Sale

For some people, the idea of buying a NEW HOME sounds appealing. They have their finances in order, qualify for a loan and have the Down Payment ready to go, but if they purchased their current home many years ago, they might end up paying a much higher property tax, and that might be stopping them from going forward with the purchase. For example, lets say a couple purchased a home in Rancho Santa Fe in 1995, they might have paid $800,000.00  and now they want to sell their Rancho Santa Fe property and  buy a home in Del Mar. The new home has a price of $1,500,000.00 and their current home will be selling for $2,500,000 so even though they are downsizing the property tax that they will be paying on the new house is almost double of what they are currently paying.

There are two Propositions in the state of California that allow you to transfer your current tax base to your new property, those are prop 60 and prop 90.

Now there is a catch, actually more than a catch there are several restrictions in order to qualify for either one of this propositions.

1. One of the owners must be 55 years or older at the time of the sale of the original Property

2.Both Properties have to have been or will be your principal residence.

3.The Replacement property must be of “Equal or Lesser current market value” than the original property. You are not allowed to combine two separate properties as a total value even if both of you are selling two homes to purchase a new one together.

4.The replacement property must be built (If new construction) or purchased, within two years of the sale of the original property (This may be two years before or after)

5.The owner has to complete and file an application within 3 years of the purchase of the replacement property, or new construction completion date.

This benefit can only be used once in your lifetime, unless you become severely disabled in which case there is a different exemption that applies (Proposition 110).

So what is the difference between proposition 60 and Proposition 90?  Proposition 60 allows the tax transfer benefit only within the same county(intracounty). Whereas Proposition 90, will alow  transfers from one county to another county in California (intercounty) It is however at the discretion of the county to allow such transfers. Not all counties will accept applications for this proposition and you are required to fill out a form and follow a process, this transfer will not happen automatically.

For more detailed information you can go to the California Board of Equalization Web Site http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/faqs/propositions60_90.htm#2 or ask your trusted CPA or Real Estate Lawyer.

For any other questions or comments please feel free to contact us at www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

How is the Market? Understanding The Case Schilling Report – Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Homes For Sale-

As a real estate agent I often come in contact with people who ask me, How is the market? followed by a statement, I just saw the latest report saying…. Although some people do get the idea behind what the numbers show, often times they have either taken that information to be a prediction or have trouble understanding what the numbers really mean. What they really want to know most of the time is;  is it the right time to buy? should I sell my home now or wait a bit? Is it the right market to invest?  So I thought I share with all of you a glimpse as to how and why you should interpret this indicators with care, specially because what happens to Real Estate in New York City is very different than what happens to Real Estate in Carmel Valley Real Estate or La Jolla Real Estate or Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate.

Case Schilling reported their numbers for the September behavior of the Market and it is calling it a “weak report” in fact they believe it is even weaker than last months report. However it is important to understand that they believe that this results are believed to be highly influenced by the end of the government’s incentive programs.  I believe this numbers were to be expected, many of the people who were ready to buy, did so in time to take advantage of all the government credits and incentives, pushing the number higher for several months. Another fact that might have influenced the numbers is the fact that the interest rates have been going down and people keep hearing of a new wave of foreclosures, and a possible second dip in home prices and because they have no time concerns after the credits expired, many people have gone back to sitting on the fences and waiting to have a clearer picture of how the market will be trending.

Another important fact to take into consideration is that Case Schilling is reporting what has happened in the past few months, since this report came out, there has been some better than expected numbers from different indicators, Wall Street broke to pre crash levels, unemployment has started to shift, the government has said it will be pumping 600 million to re-invest , consumer confidence is higher than expected and so are the results of gains of many of the large corporations.

I would like to point out that if you look at the graph, you can see that the 20 city index shows that the market is up above 2003 price levels. ” From their peak in June/July of 2006 through the trough in April 2009, the 10-City Composite is down 33.5% and the 20-City Composite is down 32.6%. Through September, they have recovered by +7.2%and +5.9%, respectively. The peak-to-date figures through September 2010 are -28.7% and -28.6%,respectively.” 

Lastly, Case Schilling is a snapshot of the country, taken from 10 or 20 cities, it is important to understand that each market behaves differently. For example, if you look at the local San Diego market, you see that it actually is showing a 5.0% GAIN from the 2009 levels, not a loss by any means and if you take it a step further you can see that even within San Diego, you have to look at each area separately, some have had bigger gains, some have shown a steadier path through the whole crisis and some have shown some losses in the last months. This is why it is very important to know what you are looking at and be careful when you interpret any charts or information to make decisions based on them. Be sure to always ask an expert.

If you would like to see more detailed information you can go to:  http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&blobcol=urldocumentfile&blobtable=SPComSecureDocument&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3Ddownload.pdf&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobheadername1=content-type&blobwhere=1245262947491&blobheadervalue3=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobnocache=true

Please feel free to contact us for any questions or you can go to our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

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Least Expensive Homes For Sale in Carmel Valley, San Diego -Rina Podolsky – San Diego Exclusive Properties-

I Have compiled a list of the Homes for Sale in Carmel Valley, including all neighborhoods such as Torrey Hills, Ashley Falls, Pacific Highlands Ranch, Etc. and selected the ones with the lowest price per square foot.

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Here is a quick Snapshot of the “Homes for Sale  market” in Carmel Valley, 92130 area.

There are:

• 164 Detached Homes for sale listed on the MLS as of today.
  • Lowest asking price per SF is $226.13. Highest is $812.79 which leaves an average selling price of $380.81
  • Lowest Priced Home is$535,000. Highest Priced Home is $7,695,000. Average price is $1,528,565

• 81 Attached homes for sale on the MLS.
  • Lowest asking price per SF is $283.16. Highest is $431.45 which leaves an average selling price of $354.97
  • Lowest Priced Home is$189,500. Highest Priced Home is $739,900 . Average price is $434,396.

Within the 92130 zip code, there are 3 school districts as far as elementary schools go. 2 for High School. Most homes in Carmel Valley are zoned for Del Mar School USD)  or Solana Beach School District (SBSD). Leaving only a few homes that are within the Poway School District designated Boundaries.

The homes within the Poway school District area, have been selling for less than those zoned for either of the other two Districts.

The homes that I have selected today are those that fall within the boundaries  of DMUSD or SBSD. And they have been selected for their asking price per S.F. Plain and simple.

Click on the pictures to display more detailed information on each of these homes.

1.

Santa Barbara Short Sale @ $252.17 per s.f.

2.-

Short Sale in Senterra @$277.13 per s.f

3.-

Rural Carmel Valley @ $278.27. Home built in 1905

4.-

Short Sale in Portico @ $280.32

5.-

Short Sale Watercolors @ $288.86

6.-

Watercolors @291.71 per S.F.

7.-

Torrey View @ $296.36 per S.F.

8.-

Seabreeze Farms @ $297.85

9.-

San Raphael @ $298.90

10.-

Bank Owned Stone Canyon @ $302.84

11.-

Belmont Short Sale @ $304.75

12.-

Breakers Short Sale @ $304.79

13.-

Short Sale in Rancho Pacifica @ $304.17 per S.F.

Even though the last home is not the least expensive one per S.F., this is a true SCREAMING DEAL! It is a Custom made home while most of the other homes in the area are what you call Track Homes, it is inside a very exclusive Gated Community.

If you want any information on any of these homes or on the trends of the local market, please contact us by going to our web site at www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com we will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

If you want to make an appointment to view this or any other homes or if you would like to get together and talk about the value of your home please call us and we will arrange it.

Foreclosure Moratorium Lifted

The ink wasn’t even dry on the newspaper (or this blog for that matter) regarding some of the largest banks putting all foreclosures on hold for what analyst thought would be a long time, and here comes Bank Of America proving them wrong and making us re-write our news and commentary pieces.

What happened? On Monday BOFA announced that it is lifting the foreclosure halt Partially, only on those states that have judicial foreclosures, that is, states that require a court to approve the Foreclosure, the ban will be lifted, these states, were the first ones to be put on a foreclosure freeze last week and the first ones to be put out of it.

BOFA said is that they will resume foreclosures in 23 courts starting october 25. They also said they are very confident and have reviewed their process and find it to be sound. As for the rest of the foreclosures in non-judicial states, those will resume soon after the bank begins refilling amended affidavits.

It is estimated that 30,000 foreclosures will resume now and 102,000 will resume thereafter the corrected affidavits are in place.

GMAC who also declared a temporary moratorium is also lifting the halt and moving forward with the foreclosure process.

The question remains, why halt the foreclosure process one week and bring it back to working order the next? Could they really have sorted out the state of this foreclosures in a short week? I highly doubt it specially when we are talking about institutions that have continued to make mistakes, and who take 9 months to approve a short sale.

Now don’t get me wrong, I did not want a moratorium knowing that it would mean for these homes to start accumulating on the banks  inventory, instead of them coming at a steady pace into the market. We learned that lesson already. However, Now that the fact that there might be serious questions about the banks process not only on the foreclosure end, but on the ownership of some loans, even if it is a small technicality, has hit the mass media, there WILL be reactions from many ends, legal reactions that is. And that will only tie up and bring more complications and cost more money. So, in conclusion, I am glad they lifted the moratorium but I hope that their process is really as clean as they say and that the banks are as confident as they claim to be because they will have to prove it in court.

TimesFootnote:
Since I last published this last night, there is already an update that I deemed pertinent to this note. This morning there was an article on the LA Times http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-of-america-loss-20101020,0,5193498.story , it states that some of the investors that bought faulty mortages from BOFA have sent a written request to the bank, asking that they buy back improperly procesed loans. BOFA has so far refused to do so.

Carlsbad School Shooting. Lessons to be learned?

The breaking news came in and what I heard was one of parents worst nightmares. To hear that a local elementary school had been the victim of such  a violent act. On Friday October 8, 2010, A single gun shooter jumped the fence at the campus of Kelly Elementary in the Carlsbad area and began shooting at the kids.

The gunman managed to hit two second grade girls, 6 and 7 years old, they were both shot in the arm and both were eventually flown to Rady Children’s Hospital and are expected to recover fully from the gun wounds. But what about the mental scars that these kids, all of the kids that lived thru this ordeal will carry with them?

This was a case of a horrible situation with the best possible ending thanks to both construction workers who were working on a campus project and reacted bravely and quickly and to the fact that the gunman was a poor shooter and did not reload.

For many of us the question remains, can incidents like this one be prevented? are our school campuses too easy to access and a prime target for anyone who wants to make a statement or who looses their sanity?

First of all, everyone who knows something about securing an institution will tell you that if someone wants to seriously target any school, will find a way to do so, even if the campus was a closed off institution. Not only would it be very costly to re-design our schools and add security to each and every one, it might prove to be a deterrent but not a unusrpassable solution. And of course there is the matter of the cost of doing all this at a time where there are no funds available to keep teachers in the school roster, much less pay for everything that this would require.

Now, it is also true that new schools are still being built and many of them pay little regard to school safety from an intrusion point of view, so if we are building new schools, I believe we should be trying to make them as safe as possible from the get-go.

There should also be an assessment of the current schools to see if there are small steps that can be taken in each case to help prevent at any rate, an intrusion scenario.

However, I believe that the most important action we can take at this point is training. We need to train people on campus as well as students on how to react if such a scenario were to occur. Unfortunately, most schools do not have construction work being done at all times which means they wont all have well fit, willing and able construction workers to come to the rescue. And it should not be left up to chance to see if someone happens to be there that can aid the children.

We as parents need to prepare our kids as well and make sure that they know how to react in bad situations such as this one. We need to sit down with our children and discuss what happened and what they should do in a similar case. Many time we ourselves don’t know what is the right way to react so we need to get the school district to put such training and information out there so that it is available for everyone. We need to work as a community, keeping a constant eye out for things and people who may seem out-of-place or out-of-order in and around our schools and we have to let the authorities know immediately.

So going back to my question, are s to be learned from this incident? My answer is yes, in every incident there are always lessons to be learned. In this particular one I would say the most important ones are to be aware of our surroundings, be prepared, make sure the children are also aware and prepared and to work as a community.

If you would like to read the complete story on the School Shooting you can find it at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/08/carlsbad-police-respond-to-reports-of-shots-at-a-s/

If you have any comments, feedback is always welcome

How to buy a Short Sale….Succesfully Carmel Valley Real Estate

In past posts we have talked about the different type of sales, covering Foreclosures, Short Sales, Deed in Lieu, and regular Sales. However we have done so from a seller’s perspective mainly.

I very often work with buyers and in this market, most people who initially approach me to help them find and purchase a home, will bring up the idea of snatching a great Short Sale for them to purchase at an amazingly discounted price. Some of them will have already heard some of the horror stories of people waiting months on end for the bank to approve the sale, yet many have no idea what it really implies and all the emotional and labor intensive process that a short sale can be. As an agent, a very important part of my job is to prepare my clients to what lies ahead, so when any new client approaches me, I ask them to give me at least 20 minutes of their time just so we can go over what I consider the ABC’s of buying : 1) A Short Sale  2)Foreclosure  3)Regular Sale. Only after they have heard what each of them entitles will we come up with a specific search plan for them.

So when it comes to the Short Sale portion, there are basically 6 points that I consider crucial for them to understand and be aware:

First, The timeline is what we call a moving target, it is NOT set in stone and will shift as we move along, so if they are in a situation where they have a set date by when they have to be living in their next home, short sales might not a good choice. Banks are taking anywhere from 60 to 130 days average to approve a short sale. Although some lenders like World Savings have set up faster programs where they are able to approve a short sale in as little as 7 days, and then on the other end of the spectrum I have seen others take as long as 9 months to approve a short sale, specially in the higher end loans where the bank will be forgiving a considerably higher amount of  debt.

Second, although it varies greatly in each case, I have seen a trend lately of banks not covering closings cost of a short sale and most of the time they will not pay for money owed to the Home Owners Association So it will be up to you as the buyer to bring some extra cash to the table and cover those extra expenses, this sometimes makes that initial price you offered and got an acceptance on, not such a great deal after all. Be very careful that you ask all the  necessary questions before you open escrow, have the listing agent disclose to you what the bank has agreed to pay for as soon as they know and most of all, ask them if there are any back payments to the HOA, any other liens, back taxes, etc.

Third, Don’t assume that because it is not a foreclosure the home will be left in good shape. Many of the short sales will have delayed maintenance issues, some will come up during the inspection face, and some will come out a little while after living in the home so it is highly advisable to buy a service insurance policy at least for the first year after purchase. Also, you will need some extra cash to fix up the property once you buy it, it is a house that has been lived in and that will need some repairs.

Fourth, Don’t fall in love with this property, an acceptance of your offer does not mean it is yours. Although your chances of buying this home did increase by getting an acceptance, it still has to go thru a long approval process and then there is the pending auction date you have to beat, many people assume that since the bank has approved the short sale, that means that they have cancelled the foreclosure proceedings and that the home is now ready to close. Sadly, one is independent of the other, sometimes the bank will grant you an extension on the auction date just so you can close a sale however more and more lately, banks have started to be less agreeable to grant extensions, they will allow one but no more than that and they WILL sell it in auction two days and even one day prior to the closing escrow date, so be very vigilant of those auction dates and if there was an extension on the auction date, make sure that it has gone into effect.

Fifth, On a typical transaction you have 17 days to complete all of your inspections before you are required to remove your contingencies, in many short sales situations, since ironically you are running against the auction date clock and some times because the bank has requested it so, you only have 5 days to do all your inspections, so make sure you have all your inspections ready to go in a moments notice as soon as you open escrow and know beforehand what you are willing to accept and what will make you pull out of the deal.

Sixth, Expect to be making offers along with people who are looking for investments and are all cash. If a short sale is looking like it is a good deal, there will be some competition so make sure that along with your agent you know how to write an attractive offer that will increase your chances of getting accepted. There are some key points that banks and therefore listing agents are looking at to select the offer that will get the house.

Probably right about now you are ready to give up on short sales altogether, however, the fact is that many of the homes that are for sale in today’s market, are short sales and they will be around for many years to come still, so it is not the best idea to discard any short sales as an option unless you are really pressed for time. Short Sales are a reality so it is wiser to learn how to deal with them and what to expect, it is also smart to have an experienced agent guiding you to the process and even better yet if there is a solid qualified short sale negotiator dealing with the short sale part of the process, one that knows exactly how to deal with the specific bank that holds all of the loans on this property and that has a proven track record of succesful closings. Be aware that sometimes, the agents will have NO information from the bank for a long period of time, so bear with them but stay on top of it.

The one thing that I tell my clients is to keep their emotions in check and to keep looking, hope for the best but don’t close your options just yet. Once you are in escrow and have a clearer picture you can stop actively looking but don’t start mentally placing the furniture just yet…keep a clear head and be realistic that this deal might not happen.

And last, please, whatever you do, DON”T make any big purchases that will disqualify you or affect your income debt ration making your own loan a new issue to deal with, this sometimes only comes up at the eleventh hour when there is not enough time to correct it, so help and don’t hurt your chances when you are trying to close an escrow on a short sale.

San Diego County Top Schools

The scores used to calculate the ranking the schools in the San Diego area, are based on their API score , this is a number that ranges from 200 to 1,000 and it is derived from the performance of public school students in grades 2 to 11 that take the California standards Tests. API Scores are the categorized by sub-group, this relates to their, ethnicity, race, origin and special conditions such as: English learners, Economically disadvantaged and or students with special needs.

The Standard tests target score was at 800 points and anything over 900 points is considered very succesful. According to an article from Del Mar Times newspaper “”Forty-six percent of all California schools are now at or above the overall statewide target API of 800, up four percentage points from the year before,” according to a press release issued Sept. 13 by the California Department of Education. “This includes 51 percent of elementary schools, 40 percent of middle schools and 25 percent of high schools.” In this article you can also see the breakdown of how the different groups scored in their API in each area , to view this article go to  http://www.delmartimes.net/news/274493-local-elementary-schools-dominate-api-list
This year’s API scores yielded an interesting situation, having 6 of the 10 Top schools concentrated in one single School District. Six of the Top ten schools are within the boundaries of the Del Mar School  Union District, this district encompasses those schools that serve the 92014 and part of the 92130 zip codes, which belong respectively to Del Mar and Carmel Valley areas.

The Del Mar Union School District  (DMUSD) has a total of 8 Elementary schools, out of which, 5 of them have scores of 950 or higher, 2 have a score of 948 and one has a score of 924 being this the lowest score in the district, As a whole the  DMUSD has a score of  961, up 2 point from the previous years scores. This despite some inner political problems that the district has been facing. James Paebody the Districts Superintendent  acknowledged that the Del Mar Union School District has experienced challenging issues and turmoil in the past few years but said the focus never wavered from student learning and achievement.

Del Mar	2010 Growth	2009 Base	Change
Ashley Falls	952	955	-3
Carmel Del Mar	943	948	-5
Del Mar Heights	965	948	+17
Del Mar Hills	923	924	-1
Ocean Air	981	975	+6
Sage Canyon	973	976	-3
Sycamore Ridge	965	959	+6
Torrey Hills	955	962	-7
District overall	961	959	+2

Within the 92130 zip code of Carmel Valley there are homes that are zoned  within the boundaries of the Poway School District and there are 3 schools that belong to the Solana Beach School District, two of them serving grades k to fifth and Solana Pacific which serves fifth and sixth grade students. This school district also includes Solana Santa Fe in Fairbanks Ranch which  is a K-6 school, and the two  more schools in  Solana Beach proper, Solana Vista serving grades K-3 and Skyline with grades 4-6.

Within San Diego this are the Top 13 Elementary Schools according to their API.

Schools in the spots 1,2 and 4 all belong to the San Diego Unified School District yet they are all within the 92037 zip code that belongs to La Jolla.

Rank	API	School	District
1	983	Torrey Pines	San Diego Unified
2	982	La Jolla	San Diego Unified
3	981	Ocean Air	Del Mar
4	974	Bird Rock	San Diego Unified
5	973	Sage Canyon	Del Mar
6	971	Pacific Rim	Carlsbad
7	965	Del Mar Heights	Del Mar
7	965	Sycamore Ridge	Del Mar
8	963	Solana Pacific	Solana Beach
9	957	Dingeman	San Diego Unified
10	955	Torrey Hills	Del Mar
11	954	Deer Canyon	Poway
11	954	Del Sur	Poway
11	954	Scripps	San Diego Unified
11	954	Stone Ranch	Poway
12	952	Ashley Falls	Del Mar
12	952	El Camino Creek	Encinitas
13	950	Curie	San Diego Unified

For more information you can check out the 2009-2010 Accountability Progress report at http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2010/2010SchSummary.aspx?allcds=37103716069355

When a family is looking for a home it is very important to take the school boundaries into account, not all districts will accept transfers from other districts easily, some may not even be able to accept intra district transfers within the same school district depending on policies and amount of students attending each particular school so, if schools are an important factor to you in the purchase of your home, be sure to look at boundaries and speak to the particular school district you are interested in before you go ahead and buy a home.