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Mortgage Rate Freeze: Who Wins and Who Loses
2007-12-09 05:22:00
by Roberta Murphy This month’s hot real estate question: Which homeowners will benefit from President Bush’s recent interest rate freeze for subprime loans? And who will be left out in the cold? Drumroll…. The winners, who may receive a five-year extension (and possibly even longer) on their low introductory mortgage rates, are those: Whose mortgage loans are truly subprime. Traditional ARM mortgagees apparently need not apply. With FICO scores at or somewhat below 660. Who originated their home loan between 2005 and this past July 30. Who are relatively current in their mortgage payments. Who cannot afford higher monthly payments. Who have less than 3 percent equity in their homes. Who actually live in the mortgaged property. Investors need not apply. Whose mortgage rates are due to reset in the next two years. Who call their loan servicers, and begin the application process. Don’t expect them to call you. The losers appear to be everyone else in San Diego, but most pa...
More About: Mortgage , Freeze , Wins , Rate , Mort

Luxury Home Sales to Climb with Bonuses
2007-12-07 21:37:00
by Scott Murphy Many top executives at large investment banking firms will be depositing some jumbo bonuses by the end of this month. Despite an overall bonus decrease of 10% due to months of multibillion-dollar bank write-downs and a spreading credit crisis, many will be pocketing some still-sizeable sums. Depending on which firm they work for and the position held, bonuses can range anywhere from up to $2 million to $50 million. Real estate prices this year have dropped–and where else should these high earners invest their bonuses? According to Forbes, some of these bonus recipients may also be rookies– as well as first time homebuyers–looking in the $5 to 6 million range. For top executives, the bonuses will be substantially more and potentially leading them towards the $20,000,000 home range. Some rich real estate markets such as Manhatten, San Diego, the Silicon Valley area, Los Angeles and other top markets, just might see an increase of sales come the end...
More About: Luxury , Sales , Home , Climb , Limb

Real Estate Fraud: Cash Back and Consequences
2007-12-04 17:57:00
by Roberta Murphy Opportunities for real estate fraud couldn’t have been more ripe than in 2005 and 2006, when real estate prices started to quietly soften–especially in fertile markets like San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami. Home prices in these areas had rocketed to unsustainable levels, and some of the micro markets within these areas had already started to stall as early as 2005. By 2006, market time and “days on market” had begun to climb, to the discomfort of many sellers. Many had listed their properties, hoping their homes could sell for at least as much as the recent neighborhood comparable sales or their own refinance appraisal–and perhaps even more. Some of these sellers were more motivated than others, and reduced their listing prices substantially to attract more buyers. The stars were perfectly aligned for the real estate crooks: The housing market was declining, and there was general confusion in pricing; Mortgage money was eas...
More About: Estate , Fraud , Real Estate , Back , Real

21st Century Clocks
2007-11-30 23:29:00
by Roberta Murphy This futuristic clock doesn’t necessarily belong in the luxury home discussion, but it certainly provides some interesting global details: Abortions are far more prevalent than marriages. There are more divorcecs than HIV infections. Bicycle production still far exceeds auto production. Bicycle production also outpasses the manufacture of computers. Respiratory disease is far more prevalent than STD/HIV and AIDS. Suicides ...
More About: Clocks , Century

San Diego and Detroit Make Strange Bedfellows
2007-11-29 06:57:00
Say what? In 2004, San Diego real estate was ranked as the least affordable in the United States. Thousands of San Diegans, priced out of the coastal market, moved to Temecula, Murietta and other outlying and inland areas where homes were more affordable. These days, according to the National Association of Homebuilders, San Diego has slipped to ...
More About: Strange , Make , Detroit , Strange Bedfellows

Malibu Thanksgiving Wildfire Burning Homes
2007-11-24 19:32:00
by Roberta Murphy The Malibu fire started early this morning just before 3:30 a.m. near Malibu Lake and Mesa Peak Canyon–and as of this writing, has destroyed over 35 homes. Propelled by strong Santa Ana winds and fed by dry brush and trees, this Thanksgiving weekend wildfire is currently out of control. Over 1500 acres burned in ...
More About: Homes , Burning , Wildfire

American Expats Join Foreign Rush for US Real Estate
2007-11-21 17:26:00
by Roberta Murphy It had to happen sooner or later. With the falling dollar, American real estate has become a screaming bargain to foreign investors around the world. Real estate prices in many prime US locales have already declined, and must be irresistible for those who are purchasing with Euros or Canadian dollars. Now, many Americans who ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Quality of Life , Join

The Timeless Luxury Home
2007-11-17 02:09:00
by Roberta Murphy Sometimes you walk into a home, sense both ageless soul and serenity–and can’t help but smile. We recently listed such an estate in the beautiful hills of Vista, California. Its current and original owners are a spirited and beautiful international opera singer and her dashing husband, a retired professor of art. With loving ...
More About: Luxury , Home , Timeless , Mele

Real Estate Exchanges: Banter and Barter
2007-11-16 22:40:00
by Roberta Murphy Yesterday afternoon and evening were devoted to Leaving Las Vegas. I was tired of long lines at the airport, anxious to get back to San Diego, and was dismayed to hear the Southwest flight had been delayed two hours. I spent much of the time catching up on email, reading about Costa Rica and ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real

Commission Conundrum with Luxury Real Estate
2007-11-13 04:55:00
by Roberta Murphy  A year or so ago, real estate circles were abuzz with argument and discussion about the pros and cons of discount real estate services and commissions. Discounter Redfin had opened with one agent in San Diego, and their CEO Glenn Kelman promised that real estate discounters would turn the real estate brokerage business either upside down–or inside out (I don’t recall which). Beating Kelman at his own venture was Iggy’s House, which would list one’s home for free, and a corresponding sales arm that rebates even more than Redfin. In between the two were countless other ventures that vied against each other in real estate commissions and levels of service. In the ensuing months, we began to see not a decrease in real estate commissions, but instead a rise in commission offerings. Builders and desperate sellers were offering 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and even 8 percent sales commissions on their properties (usually condos). It is unimaginable to this writer that the U.S....
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Luxury , Commission , Real

San Diego Fires: Coming Home to Ashes
2007-10-26 00:49:00
by Roberta Murphy The displaced people of San Diego County are beginning to return home. Most return to standing homes; 1600 or so others are greeted by their nightmares. We are just beginning to hear and see stories of people returning to the burned heaps of rubble that were once their homes. They sift through some ...
More About: Rants , Home , Ashes , Fires

The Witch Creek Fire
2007-10-24 17:31:00
by Roberta Murphy I awoke at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning with a sense of dread, quickly remembering that there is a demon called the Witch Cree k Fire raging in the communities around our home in La Costa. It is just one of several mega firestorms raging in San Diego County–but is the one we fear(ed) the ...
More About: Creek

The Luxurious Closet
2007-10-18 17:44:00
by Roberta Murphy In our coastal San Diego luxury real estate market, buyers are almost manic about their closets–and especially the ones in the master suite. Luxury home buyers are most pleased when there are separate closets for each–or if single, closets for the seasons. The compleat closet in the luxury home will be spacious, well lighted ...
More About: Closet , Luxurious

Lenders: Pre-Negotiate Your Short Sales
2007-10-17 00:25:00
by Roberta Murphy  We are trained and skilled negotiators.  Give us a chance, and we could probably get hostages released from terrorists, convince a teenager to leave his tongue unpierced (perhaps)–or successfully negotiate a sale leaseback of the Brooklyn Bridge.  As competent Realtors, it’s what we enjoy doing, and we are passionate about negotiating on behalf of ...
More About: Sales , Short , Lenders , Enders

Sotheby?s Realty Debuts in San Diego
2007-10-03 17:48:00
Owners of luxury real estate in San Diego should be celebrating because of the long-awaited arrival of Sotheby ’s International Realty . It’s been a long time coming, but luxury listings in San Diego County will now reach the plasma displays at Sotheby’s Auctions throughout the world. Passing by the Sotheby’s real estate desk, an ...

An Appeal for Credit Amnesty
2007-09-28 07:35:00
by Roberta Murphy There is a tsunami of wrecked credit that has only begun to hit the credit reporting bureaus. Many of the victims are those whose FICO and credit scores have been demolished by short sales and foreclosures. With the short sales, or short pays as they are sometimes called, the mortgage ...
More About: Credit , Amnesty , Appeal

What Do Luxury Home Buyers Expect from their Agents?
2007-09-26 16:30:00
by Roberta Murphy This is Part One of an ongoing series about Luxury Home Buyers , their expectations, origins and trends. This first article in the series will look at these buyers and what they expect from their luxury real estate agents. For some reason, I thought market knowledge and keen negotiating skills would head the list ...
More About: Agents , Expect

A Second Plea?for a Young Widow
2007-09-25 06:57:00
Just yesterday afternoon Real Estate Rainmaker Lani Anglin wrote on this blog, and spoke of her grandmother who had sold her home and earthly possessions so she could go help the less fortunate in an African orphanage. This was in response to our underwear plea for children in a Kenya orphanage. Not long after that blog ...
More About: Quality of Life , Young

A Plea for Underwear
2007-09-24 00:33:00
by Roberta Murphy I took a break from San Diego real estate this weekend and went shopping for underwear instead. I bought 30 pairs, and fear it won’t be nearly enough. You see, a very cool lady named Rocky wrote a very compelling blog, that inspired me to not only go shopping, but to start blogging for underwear–and ...
More About: Underwear

Stop Identity Theft: Freeze Your Credit
2007-09-19 21:08:00
by Roberta Murphy Become a victim of identity theft, and you could be in for the nightmare of a lifetime. We have known several identity theft victims. One family lost its home because of it?and another even fears for his safety. It is a vicious crime that can take years to to resolve and the damages can last far ...
More About: Rants , Credit , Identity Theft , Quality of Life , Stop

Database Consolidation: Nightmares Undressed
2007-09-14 23:17:00
by Roberta Murphy Want to know what keeps me terrorized at night? Database management. I am in an urgent race against time–and my nightmare is one that haunts major corporations throughout the world– from retailers to brokerage firms to telecoms to the U.S. Government itself. In our San Diego real estate practice, I have until December 30 to ...
More About: Quality of Life , Nightmares , Base , Dati

Luxury Home Digest Makes ?Top 100 Real Estate Blogs?
2007-09-11 08:12:00
by Roberta Murphy It came as a total surprise when I received an email from International Listings that Luxury Home Digest had been tapped as one of the top 8 Home Buying blogs in the country. WOW! I join the other winners in this category in thanking the judges at International Listings for this special real estate honor: Barbara ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Blogs

Google to Gobble GoDaddy?
2007-09-05 16:14:00
by Roberta Murphy Rumors and gossip are are swirling around a possible Googl e and GoDaddy marriage. It seems about two years ago, Google became accredited as a domain name registrar. Meanwhile, GoDaddy, the world?s largest domain registrar, has been busy filing patent applications for search, VOIP and other technologies that would make it an attractive buy to acquisition-hungry Google. A ...

New Real Estate Danger: Cancellation Fees
2007-09-04 00:28:00
by Roberta Murphy I believe we have a new issue to negotiate on behalf of our clients: CANCELLATION FEES A couple of weeks ago we had a buyer cancel a transaction within the timeframes agreed upon by the buyer and seller. Notice of cancellation was sent out shortly after the physical inspection on the $400,000 downtown San ...
More About: Rants , Estate , Real Estate , Fees , Danger

50 Simple Feng Shui Tips
2007-08-31 16:33:00
by Roberta Murphy  I was asked to share some simple Feng Shui tips for home offices, written by Laura Milligan over at the Bootstrapper Blog. She lists 50 great ones, but I’ll tease you with a few she has listed in her article. In spite of a personal bookshelf full of Feng Shui education, I found these ...
More About: Tips , Simple

Richistan Home Prices Continue to Soar
2007-08-21 15:58:00
by Roberta Murphy $50 million is the new $30 million, says Glenn Roberts over at the Inman News Blog–especially when it comes to high end luxury homes. Citing a 2007 Mid-Year Luxury Report by Stribling Private Brokerage, Roberts explains how just a few years ago, even a rumor of a $30 million real estate sale in ...
More About: Home , Soar , Conti , Prices

Mortgage Crisis and the Blame Game
2007-08-20 17:16:00
by Roberta Murphy Brad Inman this morning wrote an excellent article about the mortgage and real estate crisis that has gripped so many markets in the United States–and elsewhere. In The Housing Market Blame Game , Inman reports that even formerly raging real estate markets that were once seen as unshakable, such as Manhattan, are now beginning ...
More About: Rants , Mortgage , Crisis , Blame Game

Del Mar Estate Most Expensive Home in San Diego
2007-08-19 18:39:00
by Eric Murphy We follow luxury listings throughout the world, and when a home listed above $50 million hits the market, it’s NEWS by any stretch of the imagination. And San Diego is just the latest to break that barrier. Priced at $76 Million, this circa 1937 oceanfront Del Mar trophy estate sits on nearly 5.5 singular ...
More About: Estate , Home , Most Expensive

Mortgage Fraud Rocks Beverly Hills
2007-08-14 16:06:00
by Roberta Murphy Luxury real estate circles are abuzz with the latest report that two top producing Beverly Hills agents have been indicted for their alleged participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. The LA Daily News reports that Joseph Babajian and Kyle Grasso have been suspended by Prudential California Realty, and are under orders not to ...
More About: Fraud , Mortgage Fraud , Mortgage

6 Luxury Gadgets and iPhone Envy
2007-08-12 19:39:00
by Roberta Murphy I am developing a severe case of phone envy as I watch friends caress and tickle their iphone screens. Their voicemail is visual and at a glance, they can see who has left messages and can prioritize the return of those calls. Their web surfing is real, and reading glasses aren’t required because ...
More About: Gadgets , Luxury , Iphone , Envy