Summer’s almost here and the weather is warming up. We’ve started the month with our usual June Gloom, but I’m not complaining. It keeps the heat at bay and is perfect weather for working in your garden.
Here are a few June gardening tips to help you and your yard get ready for summer.
Continue reading June Gardening Tips 2019
The May 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Report shows that after climbing at a fairly fast pace for several years, home-price growth is slowing down. North County saw its first year-over, median price downturn in 43 months. Countywide, prices continued to move up at a moderate rate of 2.4 percent compared to the previous April.
Before you panic about a crash, most experts don’t see one coming soon. They blame this slowdown on a lack of affordability in high priced markets like ours. This lack of affordability is because home prices have risen faster than wages.
Continue reading May 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Report
May is a great time to plant subtropicals, summer annuals, vegetables, and herbs. It’s also a great time to mulch. A 3- to 6-inch layer of mulch around trees and plants will help keep roots cool and moist. Make sure you leave the area around the base of trunks mulch-free to prevent diseases.
Here are a few May gardening tips to help keep your landscape beautiful and blooming.
Continue reading May Gardening Tips 2019
The April 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Market Report has good news for both home buyers and sellers. If you are thinking of buying, there’s good news all around. Home appreciation has slowed down considerably, interest rates are holding steady, and homes were as affordable in March as they were a year earlier. According to RealEstate.com, it’s even improving for first-time buyers.
If you are thinking of selling, it’s still a great time. Although inventory is slowing growing, it’s still very low. And this is a great time of year to sell a home. Realtor.com® claims that the beginning of April is the best time to put your home on the market. Their research shows that homes sell for more now than they do at the beginning of the year, and there are fewer homes for sale, thus less competition, than there will be in coming months.
Continue reading April 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Market Report
If you’re thinking about buying a home, you’ve probably received your share of advice from family and friends. Add to that the constant stream of TV shows, news segments, and social media posts that over-simplify the home buying process for easy entertainment.
With so much information to sift through, it can be tough to distinguish fact from fiction. That’s why I’m revealing the truth behind some of the most common home buyer myths and misconceptions.
Continue reading Top 10 Home Buyer Myths
Whoever came up with the proverb “April showers bring May flowers” didn’t live in Southern California. The rainy season is mostly over with April bringing less than an inch of rain on average. So to get those May flowers, it’s time to water. April’s also a great month for planting because what you put in the ground now will have time to get established before the weather heats up.
Here are a few more April gardening tips.
Continue reading April Gardening Tips 2019
The March 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Market Report shows only modest appreciation compared to the previous year with properties taking longer to sell and fewer homes selling overall. This market adjustment will help bring the cost of purchasing a home more into alignment with buyers’ ability to pay.
The Fed is also helping with the cost of purchasing a home, and announced yesterday that they would hold interest rates steady for now and didn’t expect to increase them this year. This is good news for home buyers.
Continue reading March 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Market Report
It’s easy to look up how much money you have in your savings account or the real-time value of your stock investments. But determining the dollar value of a home is trickier.
As a seller, knowing what your home’s worth helps you price it correctly when you put it up for sale. If you price it too high, it may sit on the market. But price it too low and you may be losing out on a good chunk of money. For buyers, it’s important to know a home’s worth before you make an offer. You want your offer to be competitive, but you don’t want to overpay for the property.
Continue reading What’s Your Home Actually Worth?
San Diego County has had a lot of rain this season, and more is forecast for this weekend. So don’t turn on your water just yet unless the ground has dried out. Before you start irrigating again, check your sprinklers or drip lines for leaks and make sure they are delivering water where it’s needed. Don’t let the water hit your house. Not only is this wasteful, it will also damage your stucco or siding.
Here are a few more March gardening tips.
Continue reading March Gardening Tips 2019
The North County and San Diego Real Estate Market Report for February 2019 continues to show a slower market, but with drops in interest rates that started at the end of December, there has been a slight pickup in sales. That’s why closed sales numbers were down 16.2 percent in North County and 17.9 percent countywide compared to the previous January. But pending sales, which show more recent activity, dropped quite a bit less with a 1.1 percent decrease in North County, and a drop of 3.7 percent countywide.
Experts anticipate that interest rates will rise as high as 5.5 percent in 2019. If this happens, it will most likely put a damper on home sales and appreciation. But because income growth is strong in San Diego, Zillow still predicts our market will be one of the top 10 hottest markets in 2019.
Continue reading February 2019 North County and San Diego Real Estate Market Report