Buyer Optimism Is Way Up Infographic

Call your favorite Comet Realty Realtor today 

for all your real estate needs! 

(HINT: Look to the right for the list!)

805-546-9925, Info@CometRealty.com

Financial Perks of Homeownership Infographic

If you, or someone you know, is considering buying or selling a home this year, 

please contact your favorite Comet Realty agent today for excellent representation. 

805.546.9925

(HINT: look to the right to see our team of Realtors®)

Happy Valentine's Day!

California Median Home Prices - Summer 2012

Advantages of Pre-approval

The housing market is warming up in many areas, with multiple offers becoming more commonplace. Buyers who want an advantage in the bidding process will need more than a mortgage prequalification – they will need a pre approval.

Making sense of the story

• The differences between mortgage prequalification and preapproval are significant. Prequalifying for a mortgage is based solely on what a borrower discloses to the loan officer or broker about his/her earnings, credit score, and total assets, including what is available for a down payment. By contrast, a preapproval requires a borrower to provide documentation of his/her income and assets.

• The lender typically pulls the borrower’s credit report and score, while the borrower gathers together almost everything else needed for the actual mortgage underwriting: W-2 wage statements; 1099s; recent pay stubs; bank statements; and statements from Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k)s; and other assets that could show the borrower has the resources to buy and maintain a home.

• At one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo, the first quick review provided by an underwriter constitutes an agreement to lend.  Other lenders may treat preapprovals as more of an opinion on the person’s ability to borrow, not a guarantee to lend.

• With so many homes receiving multiple offers, a preapproval is more important in today’s marketplace. 

• The preapproval letter should include the amount a borrower is qualified to borrow, as well as the loan officer’s contact information.  Some letters may have an estimated monthly payment, but details about the loan time and interest rate are not included.

• Timing also is important.  Buyers should aim for obtaining a preapproval letter from a lender within 30 to 60 days of the expected purchase date.  That is because some letters expire in 90 days.

taken from an article in the New York Times June 2012

Comet Realty works closely with several top lenders in our area. If you don't have a favorite yet, let us help you choose an excellent one. Give us a call at 805-546-9925, or email INFO@CometRealty.com.

Comet Realty's Photo of the Day

What is wrong with this picture? 

Let me count the ways:

1. A wood stove
2. Made out of wood

3. Guaranteed to burn 4 hours

4. Made in Poland

5. Only $48.95

We found this in a machine shop in a very unique house we were showing to one of our clients. It could barely be seen through the dust of the years (and I mean years). We dusted it off and sure enough, it said what we thought it said. 

Firewood costs $5/bundle. It burns for about 4 hours. 

Or, you could just send off $48.95 (+shipping/handling) to this company in Poland, get yourself a real wood stove, and have yourself a fire in style. Your friends will be amazed (probably at your stupidity, but amazed, none-the-less).

Or, if you have some scrap wood laying around the house and a lot of time on your hands, perhaps you could make your own, amazing and dazing your friends. In fact, if you do it, I'd pay you at least $19.95.

I can't make this kind of stuff up. I love my job. 

Six Must Haves for Mortgage Approval

Interest rates are hovering around historical lows, and low interest rates increase affordability, making it easier for buyers to qualify. Yet stories of buyers waiting months to gain loan approval and home purchase transactions not closing on time due to lender's strict underwriting are all too common.

Some buyers are turned down for illogical reasons. For instance, if you have investments -- even if they're performing well -- an underwriter might deny the mortgage because your portfolio doesn't fall into the underwriter's risk assessment model.

One couple was turned down because the husband had worked at his current job for less than a year -- even though he was making more money at the new job than he was before.

These buyers were well-qualified. The wife had worked several years for one employer and was able to qualify for the loan on her own. So, the transaction closed, although two months late. 

Generally, it's more difficult to qualify now than it was a year ago. Most conventional lenders require a 20-25 percent down payment. For the lowest interest rates, your credit scores need to be in the 700 range. You need to have verifiable income and cash reserves in addition to your down payment and closing costs.

You could run into underwriting problems if you're self-employed, as W-2 income is much easier to verify. Other hurdles are lapses in employment and owning a lot of property. Some lenders won't lend to buyers who have more than three or four residential properties.

If you're buying a new home before selling your current home, you'll need to have 30 percent equity in your current home. This needs to be verified by the lender's appraiser. Also, the lender will want to see a copy of the cashed check from the tenant for the first month's rent to verify rental income if needed to qualify.

HOUSE HUNTING TIP: As soon as you're serious about buying a home, find the best mortgage broker or loan agent you can to assist you. Don't make your selection based on interest rates alone. A good track record counts for a lot.

Closing the deal should be your primary goal. If you have to pay 0.25 percent more to assure your transaction closes on time and that you're not turned down at the last minute, it's worth it.

Be candid with your loan professional about anything in your financial picture that might impact loan qualification. A good loan agent or broker will be able to assess your financial situation and anticipate what you'll need to do to satisfy the underwriter.

Be aware that appraisal issues can impact your loan approval. For example, if a previous owner added square footage without a building permit, the additional square footage probably won't be included as livable square feet.

If the appraisal comes in for less than the purchase price, the lender might not lend you enough to close the deal. Include an appraisal contingency in your contract.

There are more jumbo financing options available now. Adjustable-rate mortgages that are fixed for 10 years and then revert to an adjustable have a starting rate about 0.25 percent less than a 30-year fixed jumbo. A five-year fixed starts about 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent lower, but is riskier.

THE CLOSING: Because of the risk factor, the lender may want you to have a large cash reserve. Your retirement account counts toward this.

Dian Hymer is a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience and is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author.

FOR SALE: 1938 Bungalow in Downtown Templeton

This terrific 1938 bungalow is located in downtown Templeton, California at the corner of First & Main. Currently used as an office, this quaint property offers hardwood floors, coved ceilings, arched doorways, plaster walls, and a remodeled period style restroom. It has recently been painted with updated wiring and insulation. Exterior features include great visibility, custom concrete walkways and patio, landscaping, 2 beautiful heritage oak trees, garage, shed, and a large parking lot.

100 S. Main in Templeton has amazing potential. Contact your favorite Comet Realty agent to see the inside! 805.546.9925 or Info@CometRealty.com.

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS! 


This is currently listed with Shannon Fitzpatrick, who can be reached at 805.801.5436.

For Sale: 1009 Jacqueline Place, Nipomo

click for: VIRTUAL TOUR

click for:  WEBSITE

Call any of Comet Realty's amazing agents today to see this amazing home!    805-546-9925

For Sale: Oasis in Arroyo Grande!

Please contact Shannon Fitzpatrick to arrange for your private tour of this fantastic home, or other Central Coast Properties. 

Shannon can be reached at 805-801-5436, Shannon@CometRealty.com.

www.690Monadella.com

Happy Comet Realty Clients

This fantastic remodeled 3 bedroom 2 bath home in Los Osos was a great deal for one of our investors. He then contracted with Keith Hoffmann, Realtor®, to property manage it for him. The home is currently being loved by some amazing tenants who plan on staying there for a long time.

Please contact Comet Realty - a full service Real Estate firm - to find out what they can do for you. From selling to buying to property management, they are just a phone call away.

Keith Hoffmann, Realtor®, can be reached at 805-801-6498, or Keith@CometRealty.com

Four Ways On-line Real Estate Valuations FAIL

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is an author and the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com.


Q: Knowing that I would be selling my home, I have been following price ranges for comparable properties to my home on a couple of major real estate websites. Now that I am ready to list, all the agents I've talked to say that the websites are so out of line that their recommendations are worthless. What a shock!

A: Real estate websites have transformed the whole experience consumers have of home buying or selling -- they have made public what used to be private and difficult to get to -- namely, listing and sales data about homes across the country.
Several of these sites offer nearby recent sales, with the promise that savvy sellers like yourself can simply go online, input your address and find out what specific homes in your neighborhood have sold for lately -- some even go so far as to take the leap from what those homes have sold for to placing an estimated value on your home.

These sites try hard to do a lot of the work for you -- surfacing the homes they see as comparable to yours.

However, these are, at bottom, computer programs.

So, what's involved is a computer taking the description of your home from the public records (which usually reside at the county recorder's office and in their databases) or from a recent listing (if your home has been sold in the past few years), in terms of the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet, primarily, and pulling out the closest homes to yours that have sold recently that have similar data on record.

However, the computer can't necessarily distinguish nuances in a property's condition or aesthetics, nor does it always correct for whether the house two blocks over was a short sale or a foreclosure.

Depending on where you live, how similar homes are to each other in your area, the level of sales activity near your home and the level of accuracy found in the public records for your house and nearby homes, these sites can offer very comparable "comps" -- or comparables that aren't really comparable at all.

If you live in a fairly cookie-cutter subdivision where several homes just like yours have sold very recently, you're likely to get a good set of comparables, and a value estimate that's at least in the ballpark. But in many areas, lots of fairly common scenarios can come between you and a good set of automated comps:
• if your home is older and has had a lot of improvements and even additions that are not in the county records, you're likely to get bad comps;
• if homes in your area are very different from each other, you might get bad comps;
• if you live in a neighborhood very nearby another neighborhood where homes have a much higher or lower value than your area's (say, because they belong in a better school district or even on the other side of the city limits), you're prone to getting bad comps;
• if your home is in an area where homes are dense, the algorithm might jump over many very nearby properties to get to a relatively dissimilar one even a half-mile away, and that can give you bad comps.

The listings provided by the sites can be very useful for homeowners trying to stay on top of what homes around theirs are selling for -- not listed for, but actually selling for. They are less useful, in my opinion, at placing values on properties; the sites that do this usually have their accuracy rates listed somewhere on the site, and I haven't yet seen one that's impressive.

But when it's time to actually list your home, or figure out what it is worth, no computer -- no algorithm -- is as accurate as a living, breathing local real estate professional who sees and sells all the different specimens of homes in your neighborhood and sees firsthand what ready, willing, qualified buyers actually pay for them, day in and day out.

I think it's important for sellers interviewing listing agents to discuss the online comparables with prospective listing agents, but not as a counterargument to what the listing agents recommend you list your home at.
Rather, it's a smart way to see what the agents know -- and what you can learn -- about the other properties in your area.

If you are considering selling your home, or just want to see what your home would be worth in today's market, please call one of Comet Realty's professionals at 805.546.9925. 

Happy Comet Realty Clients

This adorable two bedroom, one bath home in Atascadero was purchased by one of Comet Realty's happy clients in May, 2011. Other than the fact that this is one of the cutest little cottages in all of the land, she also got it for 85% of the asking price! She is truly a Happy Comet Realty Client!

The Realtors® at Comet Realty are amazing negotiators. Call them today to experience the Comet Realty difference. 805.546.9925 or Info@CometRealty.com.

Happy Comet Realty Clients

In May of 2011, Tim Townley, Broker, listed 185 Aspen in Arroyo Grande as a short sale, and closed it successfully within 69 days for more than 95% of the asking price! 

Short sales can be stressful transactions for all parties involved. Let Tim, or any of our other experienced Realtors, negotiate YOUR transaction and experience the Comet Realty difference for yourself.

Tim can be reached at 805.440.8735 or Tim@CometRealty.com. 

Owning a Home is the Anchor to "The American Dream"

RISMedia, June 10, 2011—Despite the ups and downs of the housing market, home owners and non-owners alike consider owning a home essential to the American Dream.

That’s the key finding of a recent survey of people likely to vote in 2012 that was conducted on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C.

“The survey results show that Americans see beyond the immediate housing market to the enduring value of homeownership,” says NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev. “An overwhelming 75 percent of the people who were polled said that owning a home is worth the risk of the fluctuations in the market, and 95 percent of the home owners said they are happy with their decision to own a home,” Nielsen says.

“Homeownership is worth the risk, pure and simple,” says Neil Newhouse, a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies. “Even though the market is weak, people who don’t own say they want to buy a house. Almost three-quarters of those who do not currently own a home, 73 percent, said owning a home is one of their goals. And among younger voters who are most likely to be in the market for a home in the next few years, the percentages are even higher,” Newhouse says.

One of the more striking aspects of the survey results is the intensity of sentiment among potential voters, according to Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners. “People believe overwhelmingly that owning a home is an anchor to the American Dream,” she says. “It’s an anchor to your retirement, and it’s an anchor to your personal economic well-being.”
Among the other survey results:

•Homeownership and a retirement savings program are considered by voters to be their best investments.
•80 percent of home owners would advise a close friend or family member just starting out to buy a home.
•Saving for a downpayment and closing costs is the biggest barrier to homeownership.
•Americans believe that owning their own home is as important as being successful at their job or being able to pay for a family member’s education.

“Owning a home isn’t just a policy to people,” says Lake. “It isn’t just a commodity to people. It is a core value.”

This national survey of 2,000 likely 2012 voters was conducted May 3-9, 2011 by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C. It has a margin of error of +2.19 percent.

San Luis Obispo Local Realtors - Comet Realty

Insider real estate knowledge is irreplaceable. No matter what charts, graphs, listings and blogs you find on-line, there's nothing more valuable than a well-informed opinion from a real estate professional with experience in your neighborhood or community.

Call one of Comet Realty's professionals today to get local knowledge on the local real estate market in San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara counties.

Pictured from left to right in front of their 1965 Mercury Comet Station Wagon:

• Mike Copeland ®, 805.441.9021  Mike@CometRealty.com 
• Kristin Lachemann ®, 805.801.4653  Kristin@CometRealty.com
• Hayley Townley ®, 805.440.9194  Hayley@CometRealty.com
• Tim Townley ®, 805.440.8735  Tim@CometRealty.com
• Therese Cron ®,  805.878.1684  Therese@CometRealty.com  
• Keith Hoffmann ®, 805.801.6498  Keith@CometRealty.com
• Shannon Fitzpatrick ®, 805.801.5436  Shannon@CometRealty.com
• Erik Slayter ®, 805.476.3663  Erik@CometRealty.com

FRIENDLY.     PROFESSIONAL.     LOCAL.

Be sure to connect with Comet Realty on Facebook, read our reviews on Yelp, or visit www.CometRealty.com.

Butter or Parkay? Photo of the Day

 The things you see when you are out and about. I tried to get my clients to buy it just for the sign. We found another place for them. Don't be surprised if you see the same sign at their new place when they close escrow on their new home! 

First impressions are lasting!

by Dian Hymer

Imagine walking into an important job interview looking like you just dragged yourself out of bed. You'd be unlikely to make a good impression and diminish your chance of securing the job. 

The same goes for selling a home. First impressions are lasting. Some buyers won't even look at the inside of a listing that doesn't have good curb appeal.

Today's buyers are picky. There is no sense of urgency in the market, so buyers are holding out for the best home they can find that will work for them for years to come. In some areas, there are a lot of homes for sale. It's important to make sure that buyers will be attracted to your home before they even walk through the front door.

Fortunately, exterior improvements needn't be expensive. The recent Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report 2010-2011 found that the improvements that yielded the highest return on the investment when sold were a new steel front door and a new garage door. 

The average cost nationally for a new front door was $1,218; the return was 102 percent. The average cost for a new garage door was $1,191; the return was 83.9 percent. The top nine of 10 most cost-effective improvements nationally were for exterior projects. Curb appeal is as important as ever, and may be more so in this market.

The Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report is a collaborative report done annually by Remodeling Magazine and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. It compares construction costs with resale values, which are based on estimates from more than 3,000 REALTORS® and appraisers. 

Sprucing up the front yard for sale needn't be costly. Clean out weeds and dead plants. Add flowering plants for color and mulch to tidy up areas that aren't heavily planted. Replace a lawn that has seen better days with less lawn and a border bed of flowering shrubs. 

Do in-ground planting well in advance, if possible, so that plants have a chance to get established before your home goes on the market. If you have no choice and must plant at last minute, be sure to remove the ID tags from the nursery.

A deteriorated fence should be removed, repaired or replaced. Any peeling paint on the front walk and steps and house exterior and trim should be refreshed. The side of the house that gets the most exposure needs the most maintenance. If you've let it go, you'll be docked dollars by the buyers unless you repaint where needed before you sell.

HOUSE HUNTING TIP: The amount returned on home improvement investments varies from one location to the next. It's important to consult with your local real estate agent before you embark on an upgrade to make sure that you don't overpay on an improvement that won't generate the desired result.
Most homeowners assume they'll get their money back and more when they sell. In fact, most upgrade investments often don't return 100 percent of the amount invested, particularly in a down market.

A minor mid-range kitchen remodel returns 72.8 percent nationally, according to the 2010-11 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Index. In the Pacific region of the U.S., you're likely to recoup 84.1 percent.

However, a major upscale kitchen remodel pays back only 59.7 percent nationally and 66 percent in the Pacific region. It makes sense to take on a major remodel project only if you're staying in your home and can enjoy the use of the improvements before selling.

A deck addition ranked high on the list of popular exterior improvements. Although, nationally the cost recouped is only 72.8 percent, it may be an essential enhancement if your home has no outdoor living space and all the homes for sale in your neighborhood do.

THE CLOSING: Supply and demand in your local area will also impact how much you'll recoup from your fix-up investments. 


Give Comet Realty a shout today to find out how to improve the value of YOUR home! 805.546.9925

FOR SALE: 1332 PURPLE SAGE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA (MLS #171481)

Move right into this 3 bedroom plus office/den/4th bedroom, 3 bath home. This lovely home is located in the Los Ranchos school district in San Luis Obispo, across from a neighborhood park and walking/biking paths. Other amenities include eco-friendly drought tolerant landscaping, plantation shutters, tile and laminate flooring, loft area, and 2 car garage. 

It's priced at only $589,000. Call Comet Realty today to see the inside of this superclean home!

Visit the property website for more information:   www.1332PurpleSage.com

California Home Sales Rose in January 2011

California home sales rose in January, marking three consecutive monthly increases and posting their highest level since May 2010, according to data compiled from California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.). 

“With lower home prices and rates edging up from their historic lows of late last year, prospective home buyers should consider the opportunities in today’s market,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce.

California home sales rose 5.1 percent in January compared with December, to a revised pace of 520,080 units.  Sales also increased 2.5 percent in year-over-year comparisons, marking the first year-over-year sales increase since May 2010.  The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2011 if sales maintained the January pace throughout the year.  It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

Call Comet Realty to find out how you can take advantage of opportunites in investing in real estate on the Central Coast. 805.546.9925