Lawn Care Tips : Lawn Care Tips: Growing St. Augustine Grass

St. Augustine grass is a very good grass that is susceptible to insects and diseases.

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ZipRealty-Android-App 2.1

ZipRealty’s Android app helps you instantly Search, View and Connect with your local real estate market — at home, or on the go. Download here: http://www.ziprealty.com/android/index.jsp

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ZipRealty App for iPhone and iPad – Version 3.0

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Cycle with pro cyclists in Santa Clarita

Cycle with pro cyclists like George Hincapie this weekend!

http://www.arideforlife.com/event.php

http://www.arideforlife.com/index.php

Great hiking area in Santa Clarita

Southern California home sales rise in October, prices fall

Click here to read the article on   Southern California home sales rise in October, prices fall. in The-Signal . Santa Clarita’s own hometown newspaper!

Sales rise due to good rates!

Clients are constantly asking me, “what the heck is Mello Roos?”

Mello Roos? CFD? what is that foreign language you realtors are speaking!

Here is an easy explanation I found from a title company I use often, Orange Coast Title,  that might help explain what it actually is.

http://www.octitle.com/pdf/melloroos.pdf

For more in-depth information on what Mello Roos or CFD’s are click on this link here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mello-Roos

Is renting possible after a foreclosure?

With the short sale or foreclosure of homes being so prominent everywhere one has to wonder where do those people go. Most will move into a rental and then save to buy another place again down the road when time permits or because of hardship end up in a rental for a very long time.

The question I get most often about rentals is, “will an owner want or let us rent due to our credit from the foreclosure?”

The quick answer is in our current economic times there are a lot of people in this exact situation and most landlords are quite aware of that.

I handle rentals in Santa Clarita and the first thing we ask a prospective tenant when they apply is,  ”Are you coming from a foreclosure?” If so why? nobody is perfect. There are bankruptcies every day as well.

Some folks are coming from a foreclosure on a  much larger mortgage payment then what the new rent is and need to downsize. As long as you show you can afford the payment, have a job, and show you are trustworthy, most landlords/tenants will rent to you.

So all in all there are landlords or owners out there renting to people who have foreclosed. Are they all, no. It will take longer to find a place to rent but you should find a place. Sometimes paying for 3-6 months in advance is a good way to show your sincerity in being a good tenant.

One persons junk is another persons treasure

This famous quote (I don’t remember who said it) is all so true with this person. Derek “Deek” Diedricksen’s designs little houses, cabins, get a way places out of junk. A trinketer (new word) of sorts.

Watch this unique video and you will see that in order to live simply you really don’t need a whole lot.

I would enjoy building one of these in my backyard for my kids!

How much should I bid on an REO home?

In today’s market when I show homes to buyers more than 50% of the time there are short sales or REO’s (bank owned homes). The question that arises about 99 % of the time is “How much should I bid on an REO home?

There are a few variables to consider before I actually answer that question.

• The first response I give and so should any agent in the business is “let’s check the comparables (comps) for that area.  This way we can see what others of like value have sold for. Key word here is “sold” for. Your bank is only going to lend you the money to buy a home based on the value or going rate at the time.
• Besides the  average price of the “solds” another very important factor to look at is the average of what the house sold for vs what the list price was at. That way we can see how hot that pocket of homes is selling for right now vs another area 5 miles away in another part of Santa Clarita that might not be as hot. To me this is very important. If homes are selling for 95% of list price to sold price then we shouldn’t go in at 80% and not even get a counter offer. We stand a better chance at 92% .
• Length of time on the market – a rule of thumb is, the longer it sits on the market the more flexibility there should be in the price. On the flip side,  a brand new listing should have less flexibility.
• On a regular or standard sale you can go in with a punch list and a letter of why you are offering the lower price in hopes the seller will understand and be flexible with the price. With a bank owned sale the bank doesn’t care about that. Most banks if not all will give you very little or nothing in the way of concessions. They are looking solely on the comps.

With those few variables I can give an answer and then the buyer will decide what they want to do. If they really want the house, I mean they “want” this house vs just throwing out an offer and seeing what happens, then they will make an offer close to asking price.