Yesterday’s LA Times real estate section had a good Q&A question: As a first time home buyer, is this a good time to buy? Home values have plunged and home prices may fall further, so is this the best time to buy?

Columnist Liz Weston wrote some good thoughts. She said the best time to buy is when:

1. You have a strong desire to be a homeowner.
2. You are financially prepared and can afford the costs of a home, and
3. You are ready to stay put for several years.

Read the rest of this article »

The last two Thursdays I’ve spoken to two different types of audiences. On the 19th, I spoke to a crowd of about 100 investors. I started out with “I feel poor – poor, I tell you!”

Because Leslie and I own real estate, we’ve “lost” hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year or so. We tell our clients, unless you have to sell, DON’T SELL! Ride this storm out! Things will get better (someday…). So those of us who’ve owned real estate for awhile are feeling a lot of pain right now.

But last Thursday night, I spoke to a group of first time home buyers, and my message was different - their gain! With the plunge in home values, new home buyers (and to a lesser degree, investors) are the ones driving this booming sales market.

What you say – sales are down? The national media would have you believe that. But, wait till you see the sales numbers for June next week right here! Sales in Oxnard are screaming, and Ventura and Camarillo are way ahead of sales from a year ago!

Over the past 4 plus years, dozens of kids, family members of kids, friends and my own family have worked on the Tiger Moth. Here’s a quick snapshot of just some of them. Read the rest of this article »

The Tiger Moth wing now has its leading edge, but there’s still a lot more to do. The next step is to add the wing tip bow and all the inside bracing. Read the rest of this article »

On the Tiger Moth, I’ve had the students do the “gross” or production work, but I do the “fine” or detail type work. So now that we’ve got the basic wing structure done, it’s time to add the rounded leading edge of the wing. Read the rest of this article »

The next step in the Tiger Moth project (after building the ribs) was to build the main and rear spars. You just can’t have enough clamps…

Read the rest of this article »

The “big picture” for the Tiger Moth project was to build the wings first. The structure of a wing is formed by wing ribs, which gives the curve of the wing, so this was the first task. Read the rest of this article »

Don’s been invited to speak to the monthly meeting of the Santa Barbara/Ventura chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (www.aaii.com) this Thursday, at the Pierpont Inn. He’ll be speaking on “How to Spot Value and Benefit From the Current Real Estate Crisis”. To find out more about this great group and their quest for greater investor knowledge, visit www.aaii.com/calendar!

We all want to hear stuff what makes us feel good (or at least not bad), but when you think about selling your home or other property you need wise counsel.  What do I mean? Read the rest of this article »

Real estate goes in cycles.  During the heyday of exponential price increases a few years ago, sellers called the shots. It wasn’t unusual to have more offers than what you really wanted. We stopped taking offers on listings once we had ten! Read the rest of this article »