Several of these sites offer nearby recent sales, with the promise that savvy sellers can 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 just that – computer programs that rely on formulas, not necessarily all the facts.

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.

This is a great way for you to do some initial research.  But one of the reasons that agents are so invaluable to the home buying and selling process is that they bring more, structured, valuable, precise information to their clients.

Two prominent home-price indices continued to show declines in September and October, with one outlook indicating no more than flat growth in the next two years.

A home-price index report from loan data aggregator Lender Processing Services showed the national average sales price for single-family homes fell 4.4 percent year over year and 1.2 percent month to month in September, to $202,000.

LPS’ Home Price Index, tracks monthly sales in more than 13,500 ZIP codes. Prices declined on a monthly basis in all ZIP codes covered by LPS. The top 20 percent of homes (selling for more than $317,000) saw a slightly smaller monthly decline, 1.2 percent, than the lowest 20 percent (selling for less than $102,000), which saw a 1.4 percent drop.

“Home prices in September were consistent with the seasonal pattern that has been occurring since 2009,” said Kyle Lundstedt, LPS Applied Analytics’ managing director, in a statement.

“Each year, prices have risen in the spring, but revert in autumn to a downward trend that has not only erased the gains, but has led to an average 3.7 percent annual drop in prices to date. The partial data available for October suggests a further approximate decline of 1.1 percent.”

A report released by property data firm CoreLogic bears out the monthly decline in October. For the third straight month, nationwide single-family home prices fell on both a monthly and yearly basis, dropping 1.3 percent from September and 3.9 percent from October 2010. Excluding distressed sales (short sales and real estate owned home sales, also known as REOs), October’s index fell 0.5 percent from a year ago.

“Home prices continue to decline in response to the weak demand for housing. While many housing statistics are basically moving sideways, prices continue to correct for a supply and demand imbalance. Looking forward, our forecasts indicate flat growth through 2013,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement.

The index was down 32 percent in October from an April 2006 peak. Excluding distressed sales, the drop was 22.4 percent. CoreLogic’s index is based on 30 years of data for repeat sales transactions, and “price, time between sales, property type, loan type and distressed sales.”

Not surprisingly, there are a number of factors that determine the sale price percentage of your list price.

The biggest factor is current comparable inventory.  The more comparable inventory there is on the market, the more competition you have, and the “less valuable” your property may be perceived as.  On the flip side, if you happen to be only one of 9 listings in La Costa Oaks, then there is limited competition – so your property will likely be perceived as more valuable – likely bringing in a higher sales price.

One of the other major factors is the time of year you may be selling.  There are often more buyers out, looking to move in the summer.  Because there are more people looking, you have a higher likelihood of finding that person that may just fall in love with YOUR house, and be willing to pay more.

As La Costa Oaks real estate agents, we have seen a NUMBER Of times, that your first offer, is often your best offer!  Therefore, we always strongly encourage clients to price their property appropriately and be ready to entertain realistic offers early in the sale process.  It will give you a much higher likelihood of success in selling your home at a higher price.

If you have any questions about selling your La Costa or Carlsbad home, please feel free to contact The Mewborn Team for a free marketing consultation.  We would be happy to provide you with any information necessary to make the best decision possible regarding your Carlsbad real estate sale!

According to the California Association of Realtors, California’s median price was has increased about 1%  in November – up to $280,960 in November, but down 5.2 percent from a year earlier.

The statewide median price had remained around $290,000 from February through September, so the past two months’ decline may be the fairly typical holiday slow down.

2012 is expected to be a transition year – depending much on the national and international economies.  It is expected to closely mirror any economic growth that we may (or may not) experience in 2012.

Although there are state and national real estate trends, San Diego  real estate tends to be very localized – with some market seeing growth, while other San Diego real estate markets may be trending downward.

To look at your specific market conditions, and to get a comparative marketing analysis on your Carlsbad real estate, please contact The Mewborn Team for more information!  We’re always happy to provide no obligation information.

When someone is looking to buy a house, statistics show that the more time a potential buyer will spend in your home, the more likely they are to buy it.  The reason is that as they spend time in your home, they are often envisioning their own family in that home.

In getting your home ready to sell, you want to ensure that your house will be desirable to a potential buyer.  Because of all the options available to buyers, they are becoming more picky – often holding out for a home that is almost turn key.

As you get ready to sell a house, you often don’t want to put a lot of money into it.  However, there are a few low cost things that you can do to make your home more buyer friendly.

A little cleaning goes a long way:

Does the house smell clean and inviting?
When you walk through the house, are all the baseboards dirty, black, and old looking?  Sometimes something as simple as wiping down the baseboards, cleaning up the corners, putting away the dishes, vacuuming the house, or lighting a scented candle can really add to the ambiance of the home.

De-clutter your life!
Walk around and put away (pack or throw away) the clutter.  Make sure that the house is neat and orderly.  Put away the pictures that you have hanging on the refrigerator.  Maybe put away some of the extra knick knacks.

Paint it up!
Are the colors neutral, warm, and inviting?  Again, you may not want to put a lot of money into home improvements, but paint is a cheap, HUGELY impactful item that really makes a house feel more like a home!

Yards matter!
In Carlsbad and San Diego real estate – homes and outdoor living become an extension of who we are!  In La Costa Oaks, many of our homes have outdoor bars, barbecues, and lounge chairs.  That’s because we pay so much to enjoy this weather – that when it’s nice, we want to soak it up!  Again, just walk around and pick it up.  Make sure there aren’t tons of toys in the yard.  Throw away the old mattress in the side yard.  Throw down a little grass seed to cover up where the dog kept killing the grass!

These are all small things that you can do, without costing a lot of money, that will dramatically increase the desirability of your home – making it sell faster, and maybe even earning you a bit more money.

If you are considering selling your Carlsbad or La Costa home, please contact us for a marketing review.  We are happy to sit down with you and make recommendations about the things you can do to make your home more saleable!

Do you owe more than your home is worth?

Are you having a hard time making your payments,
but feel you can’t sell your house for what it is worth?

A short sale is a way that you can sell your house for less than is currently owed, while minimizing the expense to you and protecting your credit score. We have years of experience in short sales, and have handled some of the most complex foreclosures and short sales in San Diego.

When you first buy your La Costa Luxury Home, your purchase price is the value of the home. Any money that is put into the purchase of the home, is considered the equity of the home. The amount borrowed is your mortgage value, or amount owed on the home.

When the value of a home falls, the home may have no (or even negative) equity – meaning that you may owe more than your home is worth. Unfortunately, many home owners have a change of circumstance – changing jobs, losing jobs, pay cuts, family health problems, or a number of other issues that may make keeping your home impossible. At that time, often home owners lose their home to the bank in a foreclosure.

As simple as this may sound, this is often the worst option a home owner can take. In losing a home to foreclosure, your credit is affected for ten years, showing that you defaulted on a loan. So in addition to any change in your credit score, for ten years, your report shows a negative report that you defaulted on the loan. You also have to answer on every credit application for ten years that you defaulted on a loan.

With a short sale, you lose about half the points from the credit score. It shows that you were late on payments, but it does not register a loan default. Instead, you are considered to have worked with your lender to sell the property to the benefit of both you and the lender.

A short sale is not an easy process. It takes a lot of paperwork and the ability to navigate the process with the bank. This is not a sale you want to trust to just any agent.

If you are concerned about making your payments, and feel that a short sale may be an option for you, please call us at (858) 205-2000 for a no obligation consultation about your options.

As of the end of October, the median San Diego home price was down to about $357,000 from $364,000 in September. Overall, San Diego home prices are down about 7.1% since last October.

As most home owners are seeing in their neighborhoods, the largest single influence in our prices right now are due to distressed sales. Any time a home goes into a short sale or foreclosure, those homes tend to sell at a lower price, ultimately bringing all of our home values down.

Foreclosures in particular tend to drastically lower prices – with many foreclosures selling for a full 10-20% less than its non-foreclosed upon neighbor.

As less distressed properties hit the market, we will start to return to more normal sale prices – and that is when home values will start to rebound. If you, or someone you know, owns a home that you are not able to continue making payments on, please contact us to discuss a short sale. A short sale will look more favorably on your credit report, as well as your neighbors’ home values.

Is it enough to really encourage the banks to be more cooperative in a short sale environment?  Probably not.  Will it encourage more homeowners to attempt to short sell their house versus a foreclosure – maybe. 

In a Carlsbad short sale, the homeowner normally can not afford to keep making the payments.  Maybe they have contacted the lender and asked for a modification and the lender couldn’t help them.   So, rather than walking away from the property and letting it go to foreclosure, they attempt to sell the property for less than is owed on it.  They normally live in the property (payment free) until the sale is completed.

This is beneficial to the lenders because vacant foreclosures are often ransacked – by angry property owners, or vandals, bringing down the price of the home even further.  It is beneficial to the homeowner because it reports more positively on their credit report. 

For More Information on Carlsbad Short Sales vs. Carlsbad Foreclosures…

Carlsbad, CA

In today’s real estate market, more and more people are looking foreclosure out of both necessity and financial strategy.  If you give back your house, they can’t still hold you accountable for the loan, can they? 

Although California is a non-recourse state that typically says no – more and more banks are finding themselves successful in recouping losses from borrowers who refinanced their homes and used the funds for things other than improving the home itself!

In addition to the more severe credit penalties, a debt on a house you don’t even own anymore is really making foreclosures less desirable.  If you can not afford to make the payment on your home, you really may want to talk to a real estate professional about the possibility of a short sale instead.  In a short sale, you actually sign documents with the lender, releasing yourself from the obligation of the loan.  If you have any questions at all about your possibilities of a foreclosure or short sale, please contact The Mewborn Team.  We would be happy to schedule a no obligation marketing consultation.