Issue #241
In This Issue
Welcome / This Week's Special Offer
Welcome To The Latest Issue
Happy Friday, I hope the day finds you well. …Check out all the bank-owned
foreclosure listings I have coming up. The latest is a penthouse condo in La
Jolla. …Many believe when the Dems take over congress they’ll push to raise the
15% max federal capital gains tax rate. If you’re considering a taxable sale,
perhaps you should hurry. …Our Chargers keep finding a way to win, don’t they?
Watching TV, you may not have seen on the Vincent Jackson “pass” that the
officials awarded the ball to the Raiders, Chargers, Raiders, then the Chargers
again. I’m glad Marty explained the rule book to the officials.
FREE MLS Online Search For A San Diego or Riverside Home
To search for a home right now, click here: Free MLS Homesearch
U.S. Cities Ranked 2006: Most Affordable Homes
Here are cities from the CNN/Money “Best Places to Live” database with the
lowest median home price in 2005.
1. $42,850 Reading, PA
2. $45,000 Buffalo, NY
3. $47,000 Niagara Falls, NY
4. $55,000 Camden, NJ
4. $55,000 Youngstown, OH
6. $58,000 Utica, NY
7. $59,000 Flint, MI
8. $60,000 Rochester, NY
9. $62,000 Saginaw, MI
10. $63,000 Dayton, OH
Next Week: U.S. cities with the most educated population.
Get On Our San Diego “Foreclosure Hot-List”
Several major lenders have selected me to handle their foreclosures. So I’m looking to build a short list of investors or people just looking to purchase a home at an attractive price. I anticipate they will be available 5-10% below market. If you’d like to be the first to find out about them, click here.
Real Estate Trivia (from a Snapple bottle cap)
The top of the Empire State Building was originally built as a place to anchor
blimps.
This Week’s Free Offer:
FREE DVD: How To Sell Your Home & Buy Another
There's 5 ways to coordinate buying a home while selling your old one. One is
best. Another's a recipe for disaster. Discover the pro's and con's of each +
smart buying & selling tips. This DVD is a must if you're making a move in the
next 12 months. You'll learn:
- Which of the 5 strategies works best for YOUR needs
- Don't be forced to give your home away for a quick sale
- The $5,000-$50,000 trap in the small print most people overlook
- Pricing to get top $$ for your home (it’s not what you think!)
- The HUGE MISTAKE agents make when juggling 2 closings
- Find out what your home will REALLY sell for in today's market
- How NOT to get stuck paying mortgages on 2 homes
- When is the very best time to list your home?
- Avoid being the "contingent buyer" sellers hate to sell to
- How do bridge loans work? Should you get a "HELOC" instead?
Call (800)748-1340 to have this sent to you FREE via mail. Call 24 hours / 7
days a week; free recorded message. It should arrive at your home within 72
hours.
Send This Free Newsletter To A Friend
Subscribe them with a quick email to
TellAFriend@GaryKent.com
with their email address in the subject line.
FREE SEMINAR: Saturday, January 20, 2007 10AM-Noon
At "Forum Hall" at the UTC Mall in University City
Click Here For FLYER
Don’t Dare Buy or Sell…Until You Go To This Seminar:
2007 SAN DIEGO REAL ESTATE FORECAST
Fasten your seatbelts!
Sanford Goodkin, “real estate's leading guru” per the San Diego Union, internationally known real estate economist and advisor, will share his insider’s forecast for San Diego real estate in 2007. Mega-homebuilders pay him big bucks…for info you’ll get free.
And I’ll provide a review of 2006, including lessons learned from our changing
market…based on 22 years experience and surviving and thriving in past
challenging San Diego markets.
Here’s just some of the fascinating insights and information you’ll discover…
- 2007 Real Estate Forecast: "Soft Landing" or "Bursting Bubble"?
- 2006 Local Real Estate Review - From The Trenches
- An Insider’s perspective on the economy, real estate, & housing
- Bird’s eye view on other markets
- Why what you see on the news & read in the paper about real estate prices is often DEAD WRONG
- How will San Diego’s rising foreclosures and short sales impact the market? You may be surprised...
- Why today’s slowdown is NOT like the ‘90’s slowdown
Sandwiches & drinks provided + free dinner-for-2 drawing.
To RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW for this free presentation, click here or call (858)457-KENT!
Homebuying Question
"Hi Gary. We just found the
perfect house and it’s at a great price. Even though we both agree it’s priced
right, my husband wants to offer quite a bit under the asking price. What’s the
downside to making a low offer?”
***ANSWER:
Great question.
Though buying or selling a home is best treated as an unemotional “business”
decision, it rarely is.
Buying and selling a home (and even an investment property) can be an emotional
rollercoaster. So realize that if you make a low offer you may well offend the
seller. And this often actually makes a seller LESS negotiable. I’ve seen it
happen scores of times.
On the other hand…
There ARE indeed times when making a low offer is your smartest move. So when is
it smart move and when is it a costly bonehead mistake?
See next week’s newsletter for the answer…
"Something very strange just happened and I’d
like your comments. My wife and I listed our home and after a couple of weeks we
got two decent offers the same day. Since we had two buyers on the hook, so to
speak, we took our time and countered back at our full list price. To our
surprise, both buyers walked. We had our agent call their agents and tell them
we were open to a counter-offer, but neither buyer would come back to the
bargaining table. What do you think happened?”
***ANSWER:
As I mentioned in the previous question, buying and selling can be an emotional
roller coaster.
There’s a very curious human psychological event that often happens when people
are trying to buy a home. I’ll call it “Rejected Buyer’s Remorse”.
You may have heard of “Buyer’s Remorse.” Someone buys a home (or anything), then
gets cold feet and talks himself out of it.
With REJECTED Buyer’s Remorse, a couple doesn’t get (or doesn’t THINK they’re
getting) a home they want. This causes them to experience “cognitive
dissonance,” the stress of holding two conflicting thoughts: specifically ‘I
want it’ and ‘I can’t have it’.
To end that stress, they rationalize reasons that they’re better off without the
home. They think “We were paying too much,” or “We didn’t like the neighborhood
anyway.”
Your slow response or high counter-offer likely made your two buyers think they
weren’t going to get the home. So their Rejected Buyer’s Remorse kicked in and
they convinced themselves they didn’t want it.
My advice is that you usually should respond quickly and not come back too
strong unless you’re OK with losing that potential buyer.
Investing or Financing Question
FINANCING:
"Last week you answered a question about FICO scores. But what actually makes up
a FICO score?"
***ANSWER:
Here’s what goes into your FICO, with some comments and tips:
35% - Payment history
How current you are with your monthly bills. So pay everything ON TIME.
30% - Amount of debt
It’s best to never exceed 30% of your available credit card limit and to pay it
down to a zero balance each month.
15% - Length of credit history
The longer your revolving accounts (credit cards) have been open and active, the
better your score.
Don’t close credit cards with a 2+ year history or you’ll lose all the good
history you’ve built. Keep them open and charge $5 every 3-5 months to keep them
active. (Credit cards go “inactive” after 6 months, lowering your score.)
To quickly add good credit history, ask a friend or relative to add you as an
“authorized user” (NOT “joint user”) on 3-5 credit cards they’ve had 5+ years.
You MUST make at least one charge of $5+ on your new card to get their positive
history on your credit. After that, cut the cards up.
10% - New credit
Opening any new account (even cell or cable!) lowers your score for 6-12 months.
And new inquiries lower your score 5-22 points for 90 days.
10% - Types of credit
Having both credit cards and installment loans (and making payments on time!)
raise your score. But don’t open accounts just for a better credit mix – it
likely won’t raise your score for a while.
Hot Properties: Call Now On These Hot New
Listings & Not-Yet-On-The-Market Properties
|
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED PROPERTY! | |
 |
Great Home |
|
For more information on this Delightful Home Click Here | |
"COMING SOON"
(Click
Contact Me to be contacted BEFORE these properties hit the market!)
- Allied Gardens – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 3BR house w/ double garage. Quiet street near Kaiser.
Contact Me
- Chula Vista – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 3BR/2BA 1186 square foot condo in “Woodland Hills” complex.
Contact Me
- Downtown – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 1BR/1.5BA ground-floor condo with direct street entrance.
Contact Me
- Downtown – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! Under-market 2-year-new 2BR/1BA high-rise condo in Acqua Vista. Contact Me
- La Jolla – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! Remodeled 3BR/2BA penthouse vu condo 2 blocks to beach. Price TBD. Contact Me
- La Mesa – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 2BR/1.5BA house with big yard, no garage. Should be high $300’s. Contact Me
- La Mesa – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 2BR house w/ garage, RV parking & big yard. Should be high $300’s.Contact Me
- Mira Mesa – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 2BR/1BA condo, 913 square feet. Should be mid-$200’s. Contact Me
- Point Loma- BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! Very affordable 2BR house on quiet street. Should be in the $500’s.
Contact Me
NEWLY LISTED (Your Property Here!)
- Clairemont – SHORT SALE! Nicely remod 3BR/2BA house w/ 2-car garage, quiet street. Should be in the low 500’s. Contact Me
MORE GREAT HOMES & INVESTMENTS (Your Home Here!)
- Chula Vista– Stroll to Hilltop Park from this 4BR/2BA house w/ 2-car garage, fireplace, updated kitchen, French doors: 495-530K! Photos and More Here
- SOLD/Clairemont – SHORT SALE! Stunning remod 3BR/2BA house on quiet street in great neighborhood. Lo 500s! More for Sell Here
- SOLD/Clairemont – 4BR/2BA house w/ brand-new neutral paint & carpet, 400 square-foot family room, quiet street! Just 459K! Take A Look For More
- SOLD/Encanto – Cute 3BR/2BA home on IMMENSE near-half-acre lot. Offers large rooms, eat-in kitchen, double garage. 395-440K Find One Like It
- Encanto – Upgraded 3BR/1.5BA home with HUGE grassy backyard & double garage. Price to follow. Contact Me
- Escondido – Spacious 4BR/3BA 2029sqft house w/ large family room, huge backyard, corner lot, dbl garage: 499-535K Look for yourself
- La Costa – Just-remodeled luxury Mediterranean-style 4,800 sqft estate on huge lot, right on La Costa Golf Course. 1.695-1.795M Look For Yourself
- La Mesa/Mt. Helix – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! Mega-fixer 3BR house “contractor’s special” w/ dazzling views! 399,9K More Foreclosures Here
-
SOLD/Mira Mesa – SHORT SALE! Newer 3BR/2BA house w/ garage. Priced below market for fast sale! 385-415K…
Look here
-
SOLD/Pacific Beach – Enjoy dazzling bay/city/nightlight views from this north P.B. home w/ large rooms! 900K-1M!
More Homes
-
SOLD/Pacific Beach – Delightful Tommy-Bahama-meets-Cayman-Islands 3BR/2BA beach cottage w/ 2-car garage. 620-660K!
Find Others
-
SOLD/Paradise Hills – SHORT SALE! 33BR/2BA, 1224sqft townhome w/ sunny kitchen, oversize patio, & more. 295K-335K.
Find Other Homes
- SOLD/Poway – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE! 3BR/2BA home w/ open views, FPL, 2-car garage, quiet street. $469,900! Look here!
- Tierrasanta – BANK-OWNED FORECLOSURE!
1584sqft 3BR/2BA townhome, dbl garage. Near pool, canyon. Now $464,900 Take A Look
Call me at (858)457-KENT to find out more or for a private showing. To find other homes, go to Free MLS Homesearch.
Clicked on a property, but there’s no info? It may be sold. Call me to double-check or discover other similar properties we have for you.
Thank you Melissa L. for
referring a friend to buy a home…
Thank you Myrna G. for referring your son to buy a home…
Thank you Raquel R. for referring a friend to buy a home…
Have a great week...
"The Agent You See EVERYWHERE"
All-Time #1 Agent/Team In San Diego County for RE/MAX
22 Years Experience -- 3,000+ Homes Sold
Gary Kent Team --- RE/MAX Associates
(858)457-KENT --- (858)457-5368
GaryK@GaryKent.com -- http://www.garykent.com/
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