I was “quoted” in the local papers, Gilroy Dispatch, Morgan Hill Times and the Hollister Free Lance.  I say “quoted” because I don’t remember saying the exact words they used, but hey, it was fun to be interviewed by the media and then to get a mention in the papers!  (And not in the Crime Watch section….!)

The article discussed the impact of foreclosures on our South Santa Clara County area and included a few personal stories.  My quotes are somewhere in the middle of the article.  One of the article’s authors, Nicole Baldocchi, had contacted me to ask me about the number of foreclosures hitting Morgan Hill and Gilroy and I helped direct her to some statistics regarding the impact on our local real estate market.  Nicole was able to find several families facing foreclosure.  These families had been misled by their real estate agents and lenders (too often one and the same person), and their stories are heartbreaking.

Mortgage interest rates are very attractive right now and could become absolutely irresistible in the near future.  Interest rates are in the mid-5% for a thirty year fixed rate mortgage below the jumbo level of $729,750.  Although the jumbo rate will be lowered to a cap of $625,500 beginning in 2009, it was in the news today that financial industry lobbyists are pushing a plan that could help send interest rates down to 4.5% to shake up the housing industry.

Should this plan be enacted, not only will it increase home sales, but the lending industry will be performing mortgage refinances like there’s no tomorrow.  The lenders that I know are already up to their eyeballs in refi’s due to the great interest rates currently available.

Will this help curb foreclosures?  It will most likely help those who need to refinance their loans - unless they are some of the unlucky ones who are no longer employed…

The South County Realtors Association (SCRA) meets for a marketing session and new listing tour every Wednesday morning in Morgan Hill and every Thursday morning in Gilroy.  At today’s Wednesday morning meeting, there were five new listings on the tour.

Two of the listings have dropped substantially in price from the time that they were first listed.  19085 Eagle View Drive is located in Coyote Estates and is $100,000 lower than it’s original price of $919,000.  It is now priced at $819,000 for a 2,327 sq.ft. single story home with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms on a 10,454 sq.ft. lot.  This is a lovely listing and it is located right across the street from the beginning of the Coyote Creek bikepath - very handy for runners and bicyclists.

Another listing that was on tour has dropped substantially in price.  16800 Zinfandel Circle in Morgan Hill was priced in 2007 at $1,295,000.  It is currently on the market for $899,900.  Oh, what a difference a year makes!  This listing is a 2,995 sq.ft. home with  4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on a 8,712 sq.ft. lot with a pool and spa.

Both of these homes are located in the Nordstrom Elementary School boundary.  If you would like a showing, please contact me to set an appointment.

This morning’s office meeting tour included one home in San Martin and four new homes at Eagle Ridge in Gilroy.

This cute home at 13365 Llagas Avenue in San Martin is priced at $679,000.  The 3 bedroom/2 bathroom, 1700 sq.ft. home has hardwood floors and lots of curb appeal.  It is a cozy home on a 12,000 sq.ft. lot with a large fenced backyard which the current owners use for storage.

This home would be perfect for someone who would like a large backyard to build a workshop or possibly an inlaw unit.  It may be overpriced for this current real estate market.

Next we visited four never-occupied homes in Gilroy at Eagle Ridge Golf Club.  Two of these homes come furnished and are decorated model homes.  The homes are located on Eagle Ridge Drive and Killarney Court.

These homes range in price from $799,000 to $999,000 and they have from 3 to 5 bedrooms with 3 to 4 bathrooms.  The square footage of the homes range from 3,048 to 3,772 sq.ft. and the lot sizes span from 7,917 to 11,764 sq.ft.  One of the homes has a gorgeous view of the 14th fairway.  All of the homes feature distinctive amenities including stainless kitchen appliances, upgraded surfaces, built-in entertainment centers and bookshelves and one home has a pebbletech pool.  These homes are well-priced.

Sales slowed down last week in our area of the south Santa Clara County towns of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy.  There were 23 residences that went from active to pending status.  Of these, 21 were single family homes and 2 were condo/townhouses. 

Of these sales, the list price ranges were:

$200,000 - $500,000 = 13 sales (57% of total)

$500,000 - $800,000 = 7 sales (30% of total)

$800,000 - $1,200,000 = 3 sales (13% of total)

As of November 30, 2008, there are 676 residential listings active on the market in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, and 234 pending residential listings.  Therefore, 26% of the total listings are pending under contract as of this date, still a healthy number for this time of year.  Many of the pendings are short sales and therefore take a long time to close.  This could keep our pending percentage up artificially high. 

Tune in next week for an update on the number of sales in South Santa Clara County!

Buying a home should be fun, not stressful. I help my clients by taking on much of the behind-the-scenes details, which lowers their stress.  As you look for your dream home, keep in mind these tips for making the process as peaceful as possible.

1. Find a real estate agent who you connect with. Home buying is not only a big financial commitment, but also an emotional one. It’s critical that the REALTOR® you chose is both highly skilled and a good fit with your personality.2. Remember, there’s no “right” time to buy, just as there’s no perfect time to sell. If you find a home now, don’t try to second-guess interest rates or the housing market by waiting longer — you risk losing out on the home of your dreams. The housing market usually doesn’t change fast enough to make that much difference in price, and a good home won’t stay on the market long.3. Don’t ask for too many opinions. It’s natural to want reassurance for such a big decision, but too many ideas from too many people will make it much harder to make a decision. Focus on the wants and needs of your immediate family — the people who will be living in the home.4. Accept that no house is ever perfect. If it’s in the right location, the yard may be a bit smaller than you had hoped. The kitchen may be perfect, but the roof needs repair. Make a list of your top priorities and focus in on things that are most important to you. Let the minor ones go.

5. Don’t try to be a killer negotiator. Negotiation is definitely a part of the real estate process, but trying to “win” by getting an extra-low price or by refusing to budge on your offer may cost you the home you love. Negotiation is give and take.6. Remember your home doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Don’t get so caught up in the physical aspects of the house itself — room size, kitchen, etc. — that you forget about important issues as noise level, location to amenities, and other aspects that also have a big impact on your quality of life. 7. Plan ahead. Don’t wait until you’ve found a home and made an offer to get approved for a mortgage, investigate home insurance, and consider a schedule for moving. Presenting an offer contingent on a lot of unresolved issues will make your bid much less attractive to sellers.8. Factor in maintenance and repair costs in your post-home buying budget. Even if you buy a new home, there will be costs. Don’t leave yourself short and let your home deteriorate.9. Accept that a little buyer’s remorse is inevitable and will probably pass. Buying a home, especially for the first time, is a big financial commitment. But it also yields big benefits. Don’t lose sight of why you wanted to buy a home and what made you fall in love with the property you purchased.10. Choose a home first because you love it; then think about appreciation. While U.S. homes have appreciated an average of 5.4 percent annually over from 1998 to 2002, a home’s most important role is to serve as a comfortable, safe place to live.

We had our weekly meeting and listing tour this morning.  Only one home was on tour:  181 Tarragon Avenue.

This is a lovely six year-old home in the Capriano development in the northwest part of Morgan Hill.  The home is priced competitively at $989,000 and is being sold by the original owners.  It is a 3706 sq.ft. home with 4 bedrooms/4.5 bathrooms and is situated on a 9583 sq.ft. lot.  The backyard feels private and comfortable and boasts a very large spa with no pool but the spa is often the most used portion of a pool/spa combination anyway!

At our meeting we discussed the drop in interest rates due to the Fed’s purchase of $500 billion in mortgage backed securities.  Rates dropped below 6%.  This bodes well for purchases and refis.  Should be a happy Thanksgiving for many who may be helped by this and will be able to stay in their houses!

Today marks a change in my weekly sales report for the south Santa Clara County area.  From now on, I will be publishing this update on Mondays.  I switched from my typical Wednesday updates for various and sundry reasons.  Hope you’re all okay with that!

Sales last week were still robust in our area of the south Santa Clara County towns of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy - and by far the most sales were priced below $500,000.  There were 39 residences that went from active to pending status.  Of these, 34 were single family homes and 5 were condo/townhouses. 

Of these sales, the list price ranges were:

Below $200,000 = 2 sales (5% of total)

$200,000 - $500,000 = 32 sales (82% of total)

$500,000 - $800,000 = 3 sales (8% of total)

$800,000 - $1,200,000 = 2 sales (5% of total)

$1,200,000 - $2,000,000 = no sales

As of November 23, 2008, there are 704 residential listings active on the market in the Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy area, and 235 pending residential listings.  Therefore, 25% of the listings are pending under contract as of this date.  Active listings are down most likely due to the upcoming holidays.

Tune in next week for an update on the number of sales in South Santa Clara County!

As I mentioned in my last post, I showed a lot of bank-owned residences in Los Banos on Friday.  One thing that struck me was that for the most part (with a few exceptions), the properties were in good condition.  Out of the ten that we saw, at least half of them had been freshly painted and new carpet was installed.

This goes against what most people think of when they consider the condition of REOs and short sales.  But the condition of these homes is sometimes ”turn-key”, meaning that you could move into the home and not have to do anything.

In the south Santa Clara County cities of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, there are currently 346 distressed residential properties that are either REOs (bank-owned) or short sales.  See my previous post that defines the meaning of these types of sales.  These homes range in price from $1,999,999 for a short sale at 12895 Ales Place in San Martin,

to $104,900 for a bank-owned townhouse at 7759 Murray Avenue in Gilroy:

Both of these properties appear ready to move into.

If you like the prices of the distressed properties that are on the market now but are reluctant to even look at them because you are concerned that all distressed properties are going to be terribly damaged, please reconsider.  As your agent, I can weed out the properties that are in poor condition and only show you the properties that require very little work to make them habitable.

I have many great repeat clients and two of them have called me within the past week to help them in locations other than Santa Clara County.  I suggested to each of them that they may want to use a Realtor who is located closer than I am to their property sale or purchase, but both sets of clients insisted on working with me.  And who am I to refuse?!  Not only do I know that I can do a “way beyond expectations” job for them by doing a lot of research up front along with the excellent service I always offer, but I also get to spend time with some wonderful people and help them achieve their real estate goals.

The first call came from some previous clients who asked me to do our sixth transaction together.  They’d like me to sell some investment property they have in Santa Cruz.  I sold this home to them several years ago.

  They now have some very fortunate tenants living there from UCSC who are lucky enough to live in a beautifully remodeled home with a lovely backyard.  This home has a wonderful floorplan with 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms.  The choices in colors and finishes are incredible.  Look for it on MLS sometime early next week.

So yesterday I had lunch at Cafe Sparrow in Aptos (so delicious!) with the Santa Cruz clients.  Life is good.  Then today, I trek off to Los Banos with my investment buying clients.  Life is still good.  I hadn’t been to Los Banos in a while and it has grown into quite a city.  Many new businesses and nice housing developments.

My clients and I both did a lot of research on the city regarding investment property prior to our house tour today.  I talked with several people who gave me first-hand accounts on the excellent rental market in Los Banos.  My clients and I saw 10 homes today that met their criteria:  5 years or newer, 4 bedrooms, and priced under $150,000.  Homes meeting the age and bedroom criteria in 2005 would have been selling in the $400,000s.  We found some homes that may fit the bill for my clients.  We’ll see how the REO negotiations go….

Most of the homes we saw in Los Banos were bank-owned homes and, although this home pictured above was also bank-owned, most of them had dead grass in the front yard, and no landscaping at all in the back yard.  And most appeared to be in good condition, with a few exceptions.

Obviously, I travel far and wide for my clients.  If you need help anywhere in the Bay Area, I can help you with advice, with agent referrals or with my very own expertise!

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Gretchen Merrick Phone:408-892-9015 gmerrick@interorealestate.com Featured Listings 16830 Edwin Jones Court Morgan Hill, CA 4 BR | 3 BA $749,000 More Details 16868 De Witt Ave Morgan Hill, CA 6 BR | 4.50 BA $849,999 More Details

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