Real Estate Information

Home Sales are down just 0.3% from April and down 10.3% from a year ago. Prices also continue to drop for the tenth straight month, down 2.1% and inventories continue to rise, now to an 8.9-month supply. A pretty bland housing report all in all, except for a strange new number slipped into the middle of the report by that crafty NAR Senior Economist, Lawrence Yun. Household Formation. What’s that? It’s first time homebuyers. Whether it’s young professionals, new families, or new investors, none of these people, well, a lot less than usual, are jumping into the market. Household formation is down 70% (!) in the first quarter of this year from last year. On an annualized basis, it’s less than 500,000, which Yun calls, “rare.” You only see that in a real economic recession.

Orange County’s inventories continue to rise. As of the middle of June 2007, Orange County homes for sale is approximately 16,900. According to DataQuick Information Systems, last month in may the home sales hit the lowest in at least 2 decades, falling 37.5 percent below the month’s norm.  I predict that we will be above 17,000 by the beginning of July.

Currently the number of new escrows is just over one sale for every ten homes compared to two yeas ago it was three homes in escrow for every four listed.

For an Orange County market update click "My newsletter" to read the latest.  Please contact me for more info about rents, purchasing you own personal residence or investment properties.  888-877-6062. 

You heard right; a tankless water heater investment can be more profitable then the stock market. Most already know that the stock market is a powerful long-term investment tool earning an average 10% on the dollar. But very few know that a tankless water heater investment can earn returns over 15% on the dollar-trumping oven even the savviest or luckiest investors today.

Tankless water heaters are for more energy efficient than ordinary tank water heaters. Unlike a regular water heater that constantly heats water in a storage tank, a tankless water heater stores no hot water and heats water only when you need it. Hence, be converting to a tankless water heater you save 50% instantly on you gas bill. Your savings rate easily can equal 10% of the cost of the tankless water heater. Just like that, you earned 10% on your investment.

Tankless investments have an important tax loophole. After federal, state, city and FICA taxes, investors lose 40% or more of their stock return. In other words, your 10% stock return is reduced to 6% after taxes. Thankfully, Uncle Sam cannot tax your savings-a powerful tax loophole. When you lower your gas bill, your savings represent tax-free dollars that go 100% into your pocket. Therefore, you have a true after tax net earnings of 10%, not 6% like the stock market. If you calculate your tankless profit return on a gross tax basis, it is over 15%. In addition, because tankless water heaters are so energy efficient, Uncle San also gives you a $300 federal tax rebate (on certain models)-increasing your investment profits even further.

Some other advantages of tankless water heaters are:

Low risk. A tankless water heater investment is as close to a sure thing as you can possibly get. Imagine beating the stock market, but with the safety of a savings account.

Rising natural gas prices. Tankless hedges your risk against rising natural gas costs.

Lower flood risks. Tankless reduces your risk of costly floods commonly associated with regular tanks.

Diversify. Successful investors diversify risk-there is nothing quite like a tankless investment in your portfolio today.

Increase real estate value. Tankless instantly increases home values because it frees up valuable real estate space (especially states like California)

While the naysayer makes a good point, stocks appreciate while in 20 years a tankless water heater will need replacement, this makes the case for tankless stronger. The average household goes through two to three tank water heaters in 20 years; it is money you have to spend anyways. Therefore, your true investment is zero dollars, and you are earning money by doing nothing different-using hot water. Another argument is that stocks have compounding interest rates, tankless do not. This is true, tankless investments earn simple interest. The solution is simple; you can earn compound interest by investing your savings back into your stock market account.

Don’t forget, not only is a tankless investment money smart, it is loaded with lots of other benefits; endless hot water, environmentally friendly, space savings, 50 years of proven technology, and safety. You already consume hot water on a daily basis-why not earn money for doing it?

For an Orange County Market Update click "My newsletter" to read the latest.  Please contact me for more info about rents, purchasing you own personal residence or investment properties.  888-877-6062. 

If you have experienced the nightmare of a slab or water leak, recent findings show that you have lots of company. Copper water pipes, once thought to last forever, are failing at an alarming rate across Orange County. The started showing up in the mid 1990’s, soon after the EPA’s “clean Water Act in 1991” had been implemented. The EPA’s efforts to clean up the water were successful, but recent studies indicate that changes made to the disinfection process are having a negative impact on copper water pipes. The cleaner water is more aggressive and is accelerating the development of pinhole and slab leaks. If you have copper pipes, it is only a matter of time before they will fail. Knowing what options you have, either as a remedy or as preventive maintenance, may help you avoid a vicious and costly cycle of plumbing repairs.

In the past when a leak occurs, options were limited to breaking into the slab to repair a leak, rerouting water lines or repiping. These methods require extensive demolition to you home and disruption to our busy life for weeks and sometimes months. Furthermore, since repiping leaves you with large holes in your walls and ceilings, you will be required to hire additional contractors to fix the drywall, paint, texture and basically put your house back together.

If you have involved your insurance company, you can expect some adverse action like increased premiums, cancellations or non-renew. Then, after going through al that, the new copper pipes may only provide as little as five years of service before pinhole leaks begin to occur once again.

Today, there is am alternative to prevent or stop this ongoing cycle without tearing apart your home and will prevent your copper pipes from leaking ever again known as epoxy pipe lining or ePIPE.

The ePIPE process cleans the inside of your existing water piping system and seal the pipes with a healthy, non-toxic NSF/ANSI 61 Certified epoxy barrier coating making the pipes leak-proof and corrosion free. It’s like getting a pipe within a pipe without opening walls, floors and ceilings.

For an Orange County market update click "My newsletter" to read the latest.  Please contact me for more info about rents, purchasing you own personal residence or investment properties.  888-877-6062. 

It's happening again ... Motorists who use two south Orange County toll roads will pay more for the service starting July 2. The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operate the San Joaquin Hills (73) and the Foothill/Eastern (241/261/133) toll roads, say they need to raise rates to help the roads meet debt obligations. The increases are part of proposed budgets for the roads.

In general, prices will go up a quarter at four ramps and one toll plaza. The most expensive toll, however, will hit drivers who use the entire 15-mile 73 during peak periods and pay cash. They will pay $5 instead of $4.75. TCA officials said the increases are required to help make bond payments and noted the increases had already been planned. Rate increases were approved Thursday June 14, 2007 as part of the TCA's overall $396.3 million 2008 fiscal year budget.

• To see a map of the Foothill-Eastern's new toll structure (increases are in gold) CLICK HERE

• To see a map of the San Joaquin's new toll structure (increases are in gold) CLICK HERE

Orange County's unemployment rate remained stable at 3.5% in May of 2007.  The same as April but higher then 3.2% of May in 2006.  Construction added 2000 jobs, growing sectors included health and educational services that added 6,600 jobs.

It looks like Orange County is weathering the downturn in real estate and mortgage lending.  Over the last 12 months Orange County has lost 3,400 jobs in the financial sectors which includes the reeal estate and mortgage sectors, a drop of 2.4%.  It will still take several months to see if we've bottomed in the job losses in these sectors.

At 3.5% unemployment (Basically this puts us at Full Employment) it places Orange County 1st in Southern California and 2nd in the state with the lowest unemployment.

With a great job market in Orange County it will defintiely help keep the housing market stable as the real estate market works it's way through changes in tighter lending guidelines, the subprime colapse, foreclosures and higher interest rates.

For an Orange County Market Update click "My newsletter" to read the latest.  Please feel free to contact me for more info about the housing market,  selling your home, purchasing a home or an investment properties.  My Direct line is 888-877-6062. 

Mortgage Bankers Association, which conducts a survey of loan servicers and claims to have data on 44 million loans. This is the “National Delinquency Survey.” It covers over 80% of the approximately 50 million outstanding loans, including more than half of the nonprime market.

According to the MBA, 1.28% of all loans outstanding in the U-S were in the foreclosure process in the first quarter of this year. That’s up from 1.19% in the fourth quarter of last year and is up from 0.98% in the first quarter of 2006. The average since 1990 is 1.1%, so that is a jump.

Tuesday June 12, 2007   Zen Ziejewski, one of Prudential California Realty’s top Orange County Realtor’s has been the first agent selected to be a part of Prudential’s new REO Specialist Team.  Zen was quoted saying “The REO business in Southern California is just about to explode and it’s exciting to be a part of it.  This will give me the ability to better serve my client’s and investor’s in our ever changing real estate market.  This is only the beginning of great things to come for my client’s, their families and friends.”

Zen is based out of the Prudential California Realty office in Laguna Niguel located in the Laguna Design Center at 23811 Aliso Creek Road Suite #181.  If you would like to contact Zen to find out more about REO properties and taking advantage of the REO boom please contact him at 888-877-6062.

For an Orange County Market Update click "My newsletter" to read the latest.  Please contact me for more info about rents, purchasing you own personal residence or investment properties.  888-877-6062. 

Me or them? A generation ago, most people did their own improvements around the house (that’s DIY, or Do-It-Yourself). However, with today’s busier schedules, there’s les time to devote to your home renovation. As a result, using a contractor (that would be DIFM, or Do-It-For-Me) has become an even more viable option for your home improvement.

It’s who you know

The good one’s are always busy. The best way to find a contractor, painter, plumber or electrician is through a direct referral from someone you know who has had similar work done. Just ask around: friends, neighbors, coworkers and business contacts are all good sources for a great referral. If you still have trouble, your local home improvement store, hardware store or lumberyard may e able to suggest a few competent references.

Get at Least Three bids

Comparison shopping pays of. The bid alone can tell you a lot about the contractors you’re considering. Before making a bid, a contractor should visit the sire to make sure he or she understands everything that is involved in the job. Once you receive the bids, don’t be surprised if there is quite a variance. One contractor may have reputation for always “building beyond the code” and using top-of-the-line materials, while another bid may be exceptionally low. Simply use your best judgment; be wary of going with a lowball bid, as you may end up paying more in the long run for a substandard job.

Check their paperwork

License? Check. Insurance? Check. Requirements for a license vary form state to state and even city to city. Hiring a licensed contractor means you’re hiring an individual that complies with local regulators and standards. Liability insurance may not be required in you state, bit if the contractor is working in your home, it’s best to make sure they have it. Ask for proof of insurance before any contracts are signed.

Ask for References

Seeing is believing. Ask the contractor for a list of references where he or she has completed similar projects. Visit these homes and ask the customers if they are happy with the end product and how they liked working with the contractor.

Important…It’s all in the Contract

If it isn’t in the contract, don’t assume it’s going to happen. Basically, don’t assume the contractor will clean up if it’s not in writing. A well-written contract is necessary to guarantee the work is performed as you envisioned and that you are protected in case of dissatisfaction.

For an Orange County market update click "My newsletter" to read the latest.  Please contact me for more info about rents, purchasing you own personal residence or investment properties.  888-877-6062.