Category Archives: Investing in Real Estate

CAR Fast Facts for March 2016

California Median Home Price

  • $483,280
  • Highest median home price by region/county: San Francisco, $1,360,580
  • Lowest median home price by region/county: Merced, $189,500

California Pending Home Sales Index: Statewide pending home sales fell in March on an annual basis, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) decreasing 1.7 percent from 138 in March 2015 to 135.6 in March 2016, based on signed contracts.

California Traditional Housing Affordability Index: First Quarter 2016: 34 percent read more

Return on Investment

Remodeling and replacement projects can add value to your home, but some projects recoup their costs better than others. According to Remodeling Magazine’s 2015 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, small and exterior projects return the most value for your money.

The project that offered the best value overall was a steel entry door replacement, which recouped 101.8 percent of its costs when the home was sold. The steel entry door is consistently the least expensive project named in the report, costing about $1,200 on average. The second best value is the addition of a manufactured stone veneer, which can recoup 92.2 percent of its original cost, but be prepared to invest at least $7,000 for the improvement. read more

What is Mello-Roos?

Mello-Roos refers to “special” tax districts. Senator Henry J. Mello and former Assemblyman Michael Roos won passage of Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act in 1982. This legation authorized Mello-Roos Community Facilities District as a way to assist cities, counties and schools districts to provide new infrastructure and facilities after governmental funds were cut by the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. read more

Ventura Housing Market

2013 Pace of Ventura Sales

Last year it was easy to see that the inventory of homes was very low during 2013 and got skinnier as the year continued. You could almost feel it in the air.

The beginning of the year looked very hopeful for buyers coming into the market. For every home sold, two homes were coming on line. This meant there was certainly inventory to choose from. By December, the ratio showed only 1/2 a house coming on the market for every sale! Very little choices and sellers were really controlling the market as prices started increasing. It was a crazy time with many multiple offer situations and very short Days on Market. For buyers, pickings were slim for sure. For sellers, they were finally seeing an increase in equity because of rising home prices. read more