Savvy investors with the financial wherewithal are taking long hard looks at commercial properties that are either in foreclosure or have already gone to sale. The “vulture capitalists” are swarming! They’re taking advantage of the plunge in values from our current economic crisis.

So how are investors finding the deals? Read the rest of this article »

With limited inventory (especially in the entry level market place) and first time buyers scrambling to find, offer and close escrow by the end of November, competition is fierce and brutal. So multiple offers are common and frustrated buyers are having to offer more (sometimes a lot more) to get an accepted offer. So why are appraisals causing sleepless nights? Read the rest of this article »

Yesterday the Fed made 2 decisions that fundamentally affect the real estate industry. First, they kept the federal funds rate (what banks charge each other for overnight loans) unchanged. Secondly, and more directly, they decided to extend their purchase of mortgage backed securities, which has kept interest rates low. How do these decisions made so far away affect Joe and Mary Mainstreet thinking about buying a home? Read the rest of this article »

A lot of buzz is being generated in the real estate industry for extending the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit which expires at the end of November. On Wednesday, a Senate bill was introduced to extend the credit for 6 more months and other bills are in the House. Opposition to the extension centers on its cost, while supporters say the economy is still too fragile for the housing industry and needs that stimulus. Another issue for the extension is that Congress is fully engaged with the health insurance issue and other issues are on the back burner. Our advice – assume the credit is going away in 10 weeks and plan accordingly!

In our August newsletter, read about a weekend with our Marines and the Camarillo Air Show!

Don and I were privileged to see several recruits, Jordan and Ondrej, graduate as recruits from Marine Corp boot camp, to full fledged United States Marines. Oorah!

Also, Don had a blast showing lots of people at the Camarillo Air Show the progress he’s making on building his Tiger Moth.

Ventura real estate activity is directly reflected in homes pending that have gone into escrow. This data is taken directly from the Ventura  MLS and provides a monthly and quarterly summary since January 2007.

Oxnard real estate activity is directly reflected in homes pending that have gone into escrow. This data is taken directly from the Oxnard MLS and provides a monthly and quarterly summary since January 2007.

Camarillo real estate activity is directly reflected in homes pending that have gone into escrow. This data is taken directly from the Camarillo MLS and provides a monthly and quarterly summary since January 2007.

Here are the August sold statistics for Ventura in our newly expanded 14-plus month format. The homes sold and condos sold data comes from Ventura MLS listings.

Here are the August sold statistics for Oxnard in our newly expanded 14-plus month format. The homes sold and condos sold data comes from Oxnard MLS listings.