The San Diego Home Blog

Our summary of market statistics for San Diego County and for each of the I-15 Corridor communities has been updated. I’ll make a couple of obvious, general observations and, as always, leave the remainder of the interpretation to others.

• I am seeing a whole lot of the same compared to our last couple of updates. List prices remain relatively stable, but the price points of homes in escrow have come down. This gives us a clue as to who is buying right now, and of course who isn’t. Take Poway, for instance, where the average list price is $1,192,443 today versus an average list price of homes in escrow of $775,669.
• The number of homes in escrow has increased slightly in all cases, undoubtedly a reflection of seasonal factors. Numbers of escrows and sales, however, remain dramatically lower than we have been accustomed to over the past five years.
• Market times are for the most part up across the board: Actives, pendings and solds.

Good Lord!! I recently returned to San Diego after my annual backpacking trip to the High Sierra’s and I see that Kris has gone Blog-Crazy. I may have to consider enrolling her in BA (Blogger’s Anonymous) before this gets out of control (too late??).

But there is nothing like a trip to the Yosemite back-country for a few days to clear my head of real estate. Of course, the beauty of this and other areas in the Sierra’s has not escaped the interest of real estate developers in the past. As I was heading over Donahue Pass I thought about the old Disney proposal to establish a ski resort in what is now Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. If anyone has been to the remote trailhead of Mineral King, a pristine and gorgeous high valley surrounded by even higher 12,000 foot peaks, they have seen why Disney was so interested. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and it is preserved forever in its’ natural state. Driving back along Highway 395 paralleling the east side of the Sierra’s is a different story. I’ve made this trip many times over the past 25 years and the small towns such as Lone Pine (Gateway to Mt. Whitney) , Big Pine, Independence and Bishop were, at one time in decline. Now, particularly in Lone Pine and Bishop, there appears to be somewhat of a commercial real estate renaissance. The hunters, fisherman, and, yes, even us lowly backpackers have seemed to have spawned a decent amount of commerce in these towns. Outfitters have sprouted up and restaurants have followed. Rehab of the main streets (one in each town) is ongoing and looking good. I checked Realtor.Com and in Bishop, the least expensive home is listed for $260,000 (2BR/2BA, 1,300 sq.ft.). Prices quickly climb to well over $1 million. So, it appears, at least in the case of Bishop, to have been re-discovered.

Anyway, it’s always great to be home after a great hiking trip in the wilderness where I can clear my head of real estate for a few days. Plus, I have got to get Kris’ picture off of this Blog for at least a few hours. You can thank me later…   

Here is my latest public service announcement, this one on the top ten signs that you picked the wrong agent. I’m sure I have overlooked something, so feel free to chime in.

10. When you say you would like to buy the home, your agent instinctively responds, “Would you like fries with that?”.
  9. Your agent’s car has a bumper sticker declaring “Intellectuals is stupid”.
  8. His favorite shirt sports the message “My parents went to Vegas and all I got was this stupid t-shirt”.
  7. Halfway through the day’s showings, your agent asks if he can “bum” five bucks for gas.
  6. He can’t show you property on Monday because he will be in a deposition.
  5. He refers to himself as a Re-lator.
  4. His business card promotes Real Estate, Mechanical Engineering & Dental Prosthetics. (True story - This particular card is pinned to my office wall).
  3. While signing the offer, you notice that his bookshelf includes a copy of “Real Estate for Dummies”.
  2. Has framed and displayed in his office the first dollar he ever made in real estate, which unfortunately consists of four 1917 Standing Liberty’s.
  1. He invites you to email him any time at rockotheluvmachine4927@aol.com.

Ba-da-bum.

It’s a strange day on the blogging front. Greg at the Bloodhound and Ardell of Rain City Guide fame and of her own Searching Seattle Blog are going head-to-head to see who can be the first to log 101 posts in a single day. Many of you will find this amusing (myself included), but many more will not care. You have to have a blog of your own to “get it”.

Blogging is an addiction. And it is hard work. A frequent commentor here recently sent me an email asking for advice on blogging. This seems like the perfect time, in the wake of the Great Blogathon, to speak to the art of blogging.

Keeping in mind that I am no expert and what little “wisdom” I have was gleened from others, I have learned a ton in the past six months, much of it from my mistakes. So, here is my own 12-step program to blogging intended for those considering taking up the “habit”.

1. Do your homework. Visit and read as many blogs related to your area of interest as possible. Believe me, it has all been done before, so find the blogs you like and emulate. We’ve all heard the saying, “If you want to be the boss, dress like the boss”. If you want to have a blog that gets noticed, research the blogs that are getting noticed.
2. Learn at least a little bit about html coding. You don’t have to be a webmaster, but an at least limited working knowledge of code will be essential. Your blog will most likely be template driven, which means you will be using a shell that someone else has designed. Guaranteed, however, it will not have all the features you will ultimately see a need for. Further, you will need a very basic working knowledge of servers, rss, plug-ins, pings, trackbacks, etc. Don’t freak out. Just remove all children from the profanity zone and start Googling.
3. Establish your intended audience. Many blogs are geared towards industry professionals, many the consumer, and the best (in my opinion) to both. If you fall into the category of the latter, as we do, you will have to make an ongoing effort to “mix it up”. Case in point: Much of our daily traffic has likely already quit reading this post. My next installment, therefore, will have to be something lighter or something more relevant to the home buyer or seller. Some want stats, some want amusing antecdotes, some want more thoughtful discussion on market and industry trends. Too much of one flavor is just… too much.
4. Post often. This is the biggest challenge. Most mornings I find I have too much to say and too many demons I need to exorcise. When I’m fired up about something, the posts come easily. Other times, however, I have to work at it. Your readers are fickle. If they don’t find new content on a daily basis, they will lose interest quickly and move on.
5. Have fun. If your blog isn’t a priority, if you don’t enjoy it, if you aren’t excited about firing up the computer each morning to check feeds and comments, find another hobby. Your readers sense your sincerity (or lack thereof), and the honest, uncensored nature of blogging is one of the biggest appeals. Reading your blog should leave your visitors feeling like they are having a chat over a cup of coffee, like they know you. Your unique personality should show in your writing.
6. Don’t sugar coat. Be honest, be controversial, be unafraid. I am not suggesting that we all go get sued, but I am suggesting that you take some risks now and then. Ardell is famous for this. Your most popular posts will likely involve your most unpopular comments.
7. Allow comments on your blog. I have seen a surprisingly large number of otherwise interesting blogs that had no mechanism for allowing the reader to comment. Comments allow discourse, and the “conversations” are what make a blog most interesting. You want to encourage readers to participate. Getting others to participate, like all good things, takes time, but once you begin getting the comments, others will feel more comfortable. It’s the old snowball effect.
8. Your blog is not your website! Know the difference. I go nuts when I see a real estate “blog” which is monopolized by posts like “Just Listed” or “Open Sunday”. Real Central VA and the Real Estate Tomato both had good posts on this. Your website is a commercial venture; your blog should not be blatantly commercial. Sure, if done well, you may get some nice residuals in the context of improved credibility and exposure. However, nothing will turn readers off more than the feeling of being sold. On our blog, for instance, you can figure out who we are, who we work for, and how to reach us with a little navigation. But you have to want to know; we don’t beat you upside the head with it.
9. Cross-market. So your blog is not your website, but a little back and forth traffic is a good thing. Promote your blog on your website front and center, and promote your website on your blog in a much less obvious way (see #8). If your intended audience doesn’t know you exist, what’s the point?
10. Have something intelligent to say. Read, read, read. You will accumulate a list of five or ten or fifty great blogs that speak to you. These, in my case, include blogs by news services, agents, brokers, individuals, marketing firms, and other service providers. They include fancy, “prettiful” blogs and free, not so pretty sites. What they have in common, however, is that they all having something thought-provoking to say. Sign up for a feed service (Bloglines is a good example), so that you have a one-stop shop to visit each morning to catch up on the chatter.
11. LINK, LINK, LINK! Link for fun, link to generate traffic to your site, link to improve your search engine rankings, link as professional courtesy, but LINK! Dustin at the Rain City Guide had an excellent post on this some time ago. Read it. Search engines love blogs. The content is dynamic and brimming with important key words. Within three months of the birth of our blog, our blog traffic had surpassed that of our eight-year-old website. Along these lines, comment regularly on other’s blogs (assuming you have something of value to say). Good bloggers will reciprocate. Add them to your blogroll, and they just may add yours to theirs. However, the good, respected bloggers have quite a following and quite a feed list already. So, make damn sure your blog is worthy, as in - well written, contemporary and thoughtful in content, and updated regularly.
12. Devote the time, care deeply about your message and your blog, or kick the habit. Do not expect to delegate or it will show. Consider it a part of your daily routine. Real estate agents attend to their voice and email when on vacation; blogging real estate agents attend to their blogs as well. Done right, it becomes an addiction, and the community you become a part of becomes your group therapy. I follow bloggers and their blogs from Massachusetts to New York, from Utah to Arizona, from Seattle to Virginia to Minnesota, to name but a few, and I feel like I know each of them although we will likely never “meet”. Why do we bother? In my case, because I believe blogging is becoming an essential in the Real Estate 2.0 world (sorry, Redfin), because I have become much more informed and therefore (dare I say) effective in my work, and because I am having a blast.

 I had a mini tirade a couple of weeks ago (including a poorly produced podcast), the object of my rant being Redfin and their limited services model. For those new to the discussion, Redfin is a newer web-based real estate company courting buyers with this attractive proposition: “You find the home, local Redfin agents negotiate and close. 2/3rds commission refund”. Now, commission concessions are nothing new, nor are limited services brokerages. Redfin takes this one step further into dangerous territory, however, by washing their hands of many of the duties and much of the liability typically associated with buyer representation.

In my last installment, I focused on agency and representation issues associated with Redfin’s transfer of showing responsibilities to the listing agent; in short, the “everyone else do most of the work, and we will give the buyer some of our money” model. In Perfect Escrow Land, a place we rarely visit, a smooth and successful transaction may result under this model. More often, however, “stuff” happens. This time, I want to touch on the implications of limited service when things get ugly. I think the best way to do this is to share some stories, my own very real stories, of what can go wrong. And keep in mind, these tomes are just from my story bag, encompassing many genres: Adventure; Humor; Horror; but, all non-fiction. I am certain many agents out their have their own tales that would make even better reading, and that is just the point. So, Once Upon a Time…

• A termite inspector reconsiders his career choice. Well into escrow and during the pest inspection, it is discovered that an extended family of racoons has taken up residence in the attic, apparently during the Eisenhower administration, ultimately requiring an army of brave men (I must assume they were men) to don haz-mat suits and scoop, clean, reinsulate, etc… Damages to the home were in the thousands; the “shrine” that my client subsequently built in my honor, complete with ceramic racoon and prayer candles - Priceless!
• Kids say the darnedest things. Three days before scheduled close of escrow, the seller informs all that their son is emotionally distraught over the impending move and that they, therefore, will not be selling - or moving. The buyers, meanwhile, have sold their home and are renting back from the new owners.
• Til close of escrow do us part. Five days prior to close of escrow, buyer wife finds out that buyer husband has a girlfriend. Buyer wife calls agent on the way to buyer attorney to say that she never wants to see buyer husband or seller home again. “We are in breach of contract. Get over it”.
• In sickness and in health. Little clues during escrow lead agents to question the seller’s capacity to enter into contract much less legally transfer property. These include locking the deadbolt from inside the home and denying access during scheduled appointments, reports from neighbors of all-night screaming episodes (”get out, you murderers”), and the calendar magnet with the heads of the agents (that would be us) chopped off.
• For richer, for poorer. Despite loan prequalification, verification of funds, and all of those other silly things we do as agents, closing date arrives, and only then do all parties learn that buyer has no cash to close. Meanwhile, the Seller has moved.
• The sky is falling? Thankfully, no, but it could have. During the buyer inspection, it is noted that the framing truss has been “compromised” (as in, cut into pieces in about five places) to allow the installation of some lovely yet unpermitted skylights. Got outrageously expensive structural engineers and general contractors? Bring ‘em on.
• Oh, and another thing. Seller finds buyer for home. Buyer is contingent on sale of their home, but home is in escrow. Buyer home falls out of escrow two weeks into the transaction. Did we forget to mention that the previous owners were involved in a murder-suicide… related to the meth lab in the garage? Was that important?

And, finally, for the Redfin “seller”, the one Redfin tells on their website, “You’ll do much better than most agents at selling your home, because you know the property better than anyone else”.

• Bottoms up! During an open house, listing agent meets nice man who is thinking of moving into the area. As another couple enters, listing agent notes that nice man does a bee-line upstairs. Agent, being of the crime-fighter ilk, removes shoes, tip-toes to the master bath, and finds nice man drinking the codeine cough syrup. Agent chases man out front door but is unable to get a license number. Police refuse to take report because open house is considered an “invitation” to visitors. Kids, don’t try this on your own. Steve will yell at you for being stupid.
• I saw the home (and your picture) in an ad. Agent takes call from man very interested in seeing a listing. No problem. It is vacant and easy to show! Agent makes nice-nice with man on the way into the home. Man sees that vacant home is not so vacant today; the carpet cleaners are in full-swing. Man runs at Mach I speed out front door. Guess he didn’t like the sense of entry. Steve yells at me again.

What’s a Redfin buyer, or seller, to do?

None of this matters. Not Zillow, Refin, or declining home prices. Not dual agency, property inspections, termite fumigation or even our little Blog. What matters is that my 16-year old daughter is at home asleep and that she wants to be a journalist.

Any phone call from your child which begins with the words “I’m okay” is enough to send shock waves through your system. You see, on the way home from school yesterday, she was broadsided. T-boned, as Steve put it. The other driver ran a red light. One 911 call, four air bags, two flatbed tow trucks and countless tears later, both drivers walked away. The physical scrapes and bruises will heal, if not in time for the homecoming dance, then shortly thereafter. The emotional scars, both hers and mine, will take a little longer.

My daughter, who fashions herself the next Anderson Cooper, will now have that chance. She wants to be a journalist, and this morning, at least, that is all that matters.

I borrowed this graph from Steph at FollowSteph.com showing American housing price trends dating back to the turn of the century (the last one), but this time adjusted for inflation. I will let you draw your own conclusions. Jack, if you are out there, you are going to love this one!