Archive for December, 2007
H A P P Y N E W Y E A R
December 31st, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News
Dear friends, clients and readers! I so appreciate the opportunity to know you, to read your comments, to work with you, to laugh and cry with you, and to traipse through life together. In spite of the turmoil we see in the world, this has been an incredible year with many happy stories and outcomes right here in our small town.
I hope that you are enjoying your holiday on the slopes or on your bicycles, with children and loved ones. I wish you all great happiness, peaceful hearts, success and health in this new year of 2008. With unreserved enthusiasm, Jamie
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Roe Building : Dramatic Price Update
December 26th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Roe Building
Tell me, when else will you be able to own YOUR piece of downtown Davis?
As the Roe building approaches completion - just one month away - developers Chuck Roe and Mark Rutheiser have adjusted the pricing in response to customer requests and market demands. “We want to sell 5 units before March” remarked Chuck Roe, “And we have dramatically dropped unit prices by as much as $80,000 to make it happen.” New pricing is as follows:
Unit 201 - $529,900
Unit 202 - sold
Units 203, 203, 205, 206 - $419,900
Unit 207 - $459,900
Unit 208 - $449,900
It’s rare, folks. Pricing in the core area over the past 3 years has averaged $494 per sq/ft. The new prices for the Roe building put ownership in the inner core area of Davis at just $388 sq ft on average.
Based on the challenge of getting building permits for variant projects in Davis, double-digit increases in building costs, and a rapidly changing landscape in the loan market, I speculate that it may be some time before an opportunity to own your piece of downtown becomes available again.
Stay tuned here to get details about our grand opening party! If you have questions or are interested in having a tour of the Roe Building, contact Kim at 530.574.0563 or Jamie at 530.574.0596.
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Party Prattle or Wisdom?
December 21st, 2007 Categories: Davis RE Trends
“So, what IS going on with the real estate market???”
Not a party goes by that I don’t get asked this question. People are very concerned, interested, smirking, regretful, proud, trying to decide their next course of action…. A friend shared some points she took away from a talk by Carol Rodoni, Northern California real estate guru/respected economist (former CEO of the prestigious Alain Pinel Company, now executive advisor with The Clientor Group.) I would like to share these provocative and sensible considerations.
1. There is no national market, no California market, only the local market. Davis - a market nearly as flat as its landscape.
2. Flat markets that hold their value today are good markets. Flat markets translate to buying opportunities for you. Davis?…not completely flat, but nearly so - see previous post for the facts.
3. Markets in which there are multiple offers will continue to exist in buyer-driven communities. In Davis I translate this to mean that for highly desirable homes and properties, we will still see the occasional multiple offer.
4. Understand your market and play in that market. Seller’s should not be testing the market and buyers should use it to their advantage - not sit on the sidelines waiting for further movement. If you are making a long term investment, now is a good time to do so. 2008 may not be a good year for short speculation.
5. Homes listed at/near fair market value average 98.1% of their list price in Davis. Homes that are priced too high and reduced later, sell for 88% of the reduced price! Be smart and price your home at what the market will bear.
6. Don’t count on further cuts in the Feds short-term rates to greatly impact long term mortgage rates - these are two different animals. The rates are favorable now.
7. Historically a downturn in the market runs a 50 - 60 month cycle. 2008 will be the third year of this cycle overall.
8. International investors will strengthen the US real estate market in coming months and years. International cities like San Francisco and outlying communities will continue to attract strong buyers.
9. Expanded and improved reverse mortgages will become the new funding source for the children of baby boomers. New products are being created to mitigate estate taxes by reducing the size of the boomers estate. More than ever parents will become the lenders for their children and all parties will benefit from this equitable collateration.
Is this the year that you are going to welcome home ownership? If you think it might be, give me a call (530.574.0596) and let’s talk about your options in view of Ms. Rondoni’s comments. And enjoy your holiday conversations, with or without the martini!
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Davis Real Estate Trends: 2006 vs. 2007
December 10th, 2007 Categories: Davis RE Trends, Real Estate News
Not as far down as seekers might hope …
I get at least one call each week from someone hoping to get a “steal” in Davis. We talk about prices, inventory and they go away. The prices are low compared to previous months, but outrageous ? - not so much. Take a look at the charts comparing 2006 and 2007 units and prices. The sample for single family homes is small, but the information in the following charts - derived from MLS data - doesn’t suggest the strong change that we see in other communities.
The take away? We are selling fewer homes this year. Average prices are generally down slightly. Sq ft prices are lower. This suggests that people are getting a little more home for the money. Sorry, you sojourner for the affordable Davis home. Keep calling…I have no idea what to expect in the coming months as the market heats up.
Find out more, call Jamie Madison at 530.574.0596.
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A Strip or a Path?
December 10th, 2007 Categories: Bicycling
Quick update from my 12/8 post regarding the proposed Woodland-Davis bike path: it is actually planned to be a strip - a 4′ strip right along side the traffic, separated by a white line.
Further clarification reveals that Matt Rexroad’s mission is to create a REAL and wholly separate path - a project much beyond what is proposed for this spring. Matt is right - we need more than a strip for one single reason - SAFETY.
-Jamie Madison
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Shake Appeal, Community Drug Testing, Craigslist Revenge
December 9th, 2007 Categories: Amusement
If you can’t make time for the NY Times, amuse yourself with this.
It is heavenly to be on vacation for a few days, lounging around my hotel room while it rains here in Palm Desert. The greatest luxury is lolligaging by the fire with the Sunday New York Times. Check out the Sunday Magazine this week - the feature article is “the seventh annual year in ideas” and there are some doozies.
Careful how you shake it ! Take for example the handshake - Gordon Gallup, an evolotionary psychologist who has studied whether animals recognize themselves in the mirror, and whether semen acts as an antidepressent, has a new idea. He suggests that women take a handgrip dynometer on a first date to measure the strength of their prospective suitors handshake. According to Gallup, the strength of the handgrip is directly related to sexual fitness.
People with high grip strength scores live longer, recover faster from injuries, have reduced disabilities, higher bone density and greater fat-free body mass. Males with high grip strenth scores are more agressive, more dominant, have more masculine body types, increased sexual opportunities and younger ages at their first sexual encounter. Females have an increased hand strength when they are at their most fertile (a trait that may have evolved to prevent forced impregnation by unwanted mates, Gallup speculates).
The essay concludes by asking Gallup if he worries about his own grip strength - the answer is no. “I measured it and it is pretty substantial.”
What drugs are in your community water? Jennifer Field, an environmental chemist at Oregon State University has brilliantly discovered how to identify the drug habits of an entire community by testing a mere teasponfull of water from the city’s water sewage treatment plant. She has run this test in many American cities and been able to identify traces of 11 drugs including methampetamine and cocaine.
This approach preserves anonymity while creating the ability to track a drug epidemic in real time. Interesting to note that one affluent community that Field tested showed very few drugs except an uptick of cocaine usage (peaked on weekends). Meth varies widely from city to city. The single most popular drug? Caffiene by far. I wonder what Davis’ profile would look like.
Watch out for Nichole. Apparently she had a bone to pick with her aunt, who had evicted Nichole’s mother from her home. She got on Craig’s List and gave the address of her aunts home with the tender post “Take what you want. Everything is free. Please help yourself to anything on the property.” It was less than 2 hours before Craig’s List flagged it as false, but everything had pretty much already been hauled off from the unlocked house - including the front door, baseboards and the kitchen sink!
Post a comment to Jamie Madison here or at jamiebmadison@msn.com . Or better yet, spend the $5.00 on the NY Times and treat yourself to hours of amusement.
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