All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Politics

“Demon Sheep” Let the Political Games Begin!

Let the games begin! Now we again start the political cam-pain season and this little video has taken the internet by storm. It’s on the top ten twitters on Twitter. The ad, released this week by California republican candidate Carly Fiorina, takes aim at her primary opponent Tom Campbell. Ms Fiorina’s ad shows a human dressed as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” with red laser eyes creeping around a field of real sheep.

• Depicts competitor as red-eyed sheep
• May be inspired by B-Grade Kiwi horror

If you don’t want to listen to the full cam-pain ad, skip to 2:20 for the demon sheep

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo7HiQRM7BA

According to the Huffington Post, the ad may be inspired by Black Sheep, a 2007 B-grade horror film made in New Zealand.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gEDUDmZkyc

So, what do you think?

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker

animals

Coyotes in Paradise – Watch Your Pets In Nevada County!

by Lisa J. Lehr

Most of us living in Nevada County moved here because we like the rural environment. Rural environments include wildlife, and that, for the most part, is a plus; however, most of us also share our lives with beloved pets, and clashes between wildlife and pets often end in heartache for the pet owner.

Coyotes are a particularly ubiquitous wild critter here in Nevada County, and pets falling prey to coyotes is a far too common occurrence. The consolation—if there is any—is that, compared to a car accident, dog attack, or abduction by a person with evil intentions, death by coyote is quick and, as far as we know, relatively suffering-free. Coyotes kill to eat, and they do it efficiently.

Still, it is heartbreaking to lose a cherished pet, and it is our responsibility to take care of them.

Coyotes are difficult to eradicate. They are becoming alarmingly unafraid of humans, with daytime sightings becoming more frequent. Trapping and relocating coyotes is not as good an idea as it may sound, as any young coyotes orphaned by this process will seek easy prey—e.g., our pets.

They can be frightened, so if you see one, try shaking a noisemaker (like a can full of hardware) or throwing things at it. Fire a Super Soaker (high-powered toy water gun) filled with water or vinegar.

More often, though, we don’t see them lurking around our property, as they are naturally nocturnal. The key to keeping coyotes away from your home (and your pets, your children, and you) is to eliminate all that attracts coyotes—mainly food. Coyotes are generalists, meaning they’ll eat just about anything.

With that in mind:

·         Keep your cats and small dogs indoors at night; your medium and large dogs, too. Coyotes hunting in packs can take down a fairly big animal.

·         Rabbits, chickens, etc. that are kept outdoors need protection: strong fencing with a top, and/or a small enclosure inside it that they can hide in.

·         Don’t let your pets’ food become coyote bait. Cats are best fed indoors, and dogs should be fed only what they will eat all at once, with no leftovers.

·         Be careful with your birdfeeders. Place them close to your house, and clean up spills. Do not feed squirrels, deer, or other wildlife. Any naturalist will tell you that birds are the only wild critters we should feed.

·         Put garden compost in enclosed bins, and gather your ripe fruits and vegetables immediately. Continue reading Coyotes in Paradise – Watch Your Pets In Nevada County! →

Real Estate

Banks Paying For Their Bad Loans

Countrywide ad before they had to be taken over by Bank of America
Countrywide ad before they had to be taken over by Bank of America

Banks are reaping what they sowed.  As you know, during the housing boom, all the banks wanted were more and more mortgage loans. They loosen the rules that  so low that credit scores did not seem to matter, as long as you were breathing and had a pen to sign mortgage documents. So now they have to buy back their bad loans!

According to the Wall Street Journal:

“The accountants at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are  auditing mortgage files to uncover loans with improper documentation about a borrower’s income, and then forcing banks and savings and loans to buy the loans back.

Freddie required lenders to buy back $2.7 billion of loans in the first nine months of 2009. Fannie Mae won’t disclose its figures, but the mortgage trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance said Fannie made $4.3 billion in loan-repurchase requests in the first nine months of 2009.”

Of course now, the banks are tightening up their underwriting for mortgage loans more carefully than they were just a year ago.  This results in a further slowing down of the lending process. Which is good and bad of course. But I think in the long run it will be better for all of us. What do you think?

Written by John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
With a background in Civil Engineering
and General Contracting

Real Estate

90 Day FHA Anti-Home Flipping Rules Eased For One Year

During the recent housing boom, many peope were buying homes, putting a little money into them and then putting the homes back on the market, hoping to make a lot of money quickly.  This is known as flipping in the real estate world.  I saw some horrible examples of flipping, with people not knowing what they were doing.  It was amazing, but everything seem to sell. Of course the market crashed and that was the end of flipping.

That is until the market crashed so badly and prices dropped so low, that smart investors with cash started buying homes, fixing them up and flipping them. However, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had banned flipping, fearing that people would not be able to sell the homes once they fixed them up. That is they would not insure a home that was resold within 90 days of purchasing a foreclosed home. This of course, limited the ability to sell the home to a new purchaser.

Now, in order to move foreclosed properties quickly, HUD has decided to eliminate the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 90-day anti-flipping rule. Most experienced investors, buy a home, fix them up and resell them within 90 days in this market. (Surprise?  Yes the market is changing)

For full details you can read HUD’s press release.

Written by John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker

Real Estate

Real Estate Scams Continue to Roll

I’m still receiving letters at the rate of one to two letters a week from overseas scammers  wanting to give me a portion of millions of dollars or invest in real estate. Bad English in writing the letters, promises of giving you a cut of the millions they are supposedly wanting to feral out of the county are tips enough that all these people want is to take your money. Most of them wind up in my spam folder, but you know, I have to check my spam folder to see that a client’s e-mail hasn’t gone there by mistake, so I always open them up for a laugh.

Sad to say, they make millions every year from people in America.  Here’s a video from the today show that explains a common real estate scams.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1e4CpSyCik

Real Estate

Michael Jackson’s Former Rental House Sells For $3.1 Million

A sprawling Las Vegas mansion, once rented by Michael Jackson, was sold for $3.1 million Thursday, the Nevada palace reportedly being the spot where the late King Of Pop met the physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been investigated in the wake of his shocking death.

The house, which Jackson lived in from late 2006 to 2007, spans 15,461 square feet and has seven bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a tennis court, a basketball court and a 20-seat theater.

The mansion is the largest piece of real estate sold in Sin City in nearly a year’s span, no small feat considering that the sagging economy has depressed both the city and its’ real estate.

The sale of the 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) house was the city’s biggest in almost one year, according to an e-mailed statement today from Vegas Fine Estates, the broker on the deal. The buyer was a doctor-lawyer couple with property in California and Asia, the broker said without giving their names.

Jackson, who died June 25 from a drug overdose, paid $1 million to rent the seven-bedroom house for six months over 2006 and 2007 after returning from a self-imposed overseas exile, according to the statement. The luxury home includes tennis and basketball courts and a 20-seat theater.

Source:  Bloomberg.com

Real Estate

California December Home Sales Increased

· Overall, existing, single-family home sales increased 4 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted rate of 558,320 units on an annualized basis.

· The statewide median price of an existing single-family home increased 0.8 percent in December to $306,820, compared with November 2009.  However, portions of Nevada County median prices dropped.   Grass Valley areas median price in December 2008 was $300,000 compared to $235,000 in December 2009.  A drop of -21.7 percent.  Nevada City area median price in December 2008 was $331,000 compared to December 2009 of $324,500, a drop of -2.0 percent.  In Truckee area median price increased 6.5 percent from $469,500 in December 2008 to $500,000 in December 2009.

· C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 3.8 months in December, compared with 5.6 months in December 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 22) – Home sales increased 1.7 percent in December in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 8.4 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

“As expected, the large year-to-year sales gains have diminished substantially compared with earlier in the year,” said C.A.R. President Steve Goddard. “However, home sales in December were strong, and were comparable to sales of late 2008. Activity in December can be attributed in part to the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit, as well as near-historic highs in affordability due to current price levels and low interest rates.

“For the second consecutive month, California’s median home price rose year-to-year in December, and had the largest year-to-year increase in more than three years,” said Goddard. “The state’s median price also remained above $300,000 for the second straight month.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 558,320 in December at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 1.7 percent from the revised 549,190 sales pace recorded in December 2008. Sales in December 2009 increased 4 percent compared with the previous month.

The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2009 would be if sales maintained the December pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during December 2009 was $306,820, an 8.4 percent increase from the revised $283,060 median for December 2008, C.A.R. reported. The December 2009 median price rose 0.8 percent compared with November’s $304,520 median price.

“Home sales were unusually strong in December and were more consistent with peak season trends,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Historically, the median price declines November through February and then rises in March. However, lean inventory, historically low interest rates, and incentives for home buyers have resulted in California’s housing market experiencing non-seasonal variations.

“Looking forward, we expect the state’s median home price to fluctuate around the $300,000 level throughout the first quarter,” said Appleton-Young. “While we expect to experience price gains in the near term, it remains to be seen how the market will fare once the Federal Reserve discontinues its purchase of mortgage-backed securities.”

Continue reading California December Home Sales Increased →

Real Estate

Nicolas Cages $4.95 Million Home Sells in One Day

The upper end market for real estate is picking up.  This reminds me of prior downturns, when people waited for the bottom of the real estate market to turn, and when they finally decided to buy, they paid thousands more by waiting because the bottom had passed them by.  Which brings up  actor Nicolas Cage’s foreclosed 14,306-square-foot Las Vegas home sold the first day it was on the market for $4.95 million. The deal is expected to close today.

Cage purchased the six-bedroom, seven-and-a-half bathroom home in September 2006 for $8.5 million. He owes the Internal Revenue Service nearly $6 million in back taxes, and the IRS has foreclosed on four of his homes including two in New Orleans and one in California.

Cage, who had a variety of properties scattered all around the world, picked up this home in 2006 for $8.5 million. In July 2008 he listed it for $9.95 million. The 14,000-square-foot home with a 16-car garage was later discounted to $9.49 million. The seven-bedroom home is blandly extravagant with a sweeping staircase, home theater, elevator and panoramic views of Las Vegas. The home has a pool and spa and is located in a gated community for privacy. After it was foreclosed it got a discount in line with current Las Vegas prices, Lowman sold Cage’s former home for close to the asking price of $4,950,000.

Last November Cage’s New Orleans homes were sold back to the bank for a total of $4.5 million. His Rhode Island home still appears to be listed at $12 million.

Kenneth Lowman, owner of Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, listed and sold the Las Vegas property. He says the luxury home segment of the market moves in tandem with the stock market. As stock rise, so do top-dollar properties.

“I’ve been preaching to all of my potential buyers who are waiting in the wings the same message over and over. If you have the wherewithal, now is the time,” Lowman says.

Real Estate

Existing-Home Sales Down, but Prices Rise

Existing-home sales fell as expected in December after first-time buyers rushed to complete deals during the months leading up to the original November deadline for the tax credit. However, prices rose from December 2008 and annual sales improved in 2009, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales—including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops—fell 16.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million units in December from 6.54 million in November, but remain 15 percent above the 4.74 million-unit level in December 2008.

There were approximately 5,156,000 existing-home sales in 2009, which was 4.9 percent higher than the 4,913,000 transactions recorded in 2008. It was the first annual sales gain since 2005.

Tax Credit Creates Swing in Market

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says there were no surprises in the data.

“It’s significant that home sales remain above year-ago levels, but the market is going through a period of swings driven by the tax credit,” he said. “We’ll likely have another surge in the spring as home buyers take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit. By early summer the overall market should benefit from more balanced inventory, and sales are on track to rise again in 2010.”
Continue reading Existing-Home Sales Down, but Prices Rise →