Mike’s Real Estate Show

Mr. Pete Phillippee is back in the saddle as am I. We’ll both be in the studio this Sunday to take another look at the interest rate market, check on availability of loan products and explore where this market is going–Heck in a handbasket? But spring has sprung and sales are up. If you’re an investor or first timer wishing to take advantage of this great “Buyer’s market” welcome but get used to hearing, “There are 15 offers on this REO property and we need to overbid!” HUH?!! I thought I was going to get a deal? Read the rest of this entry »

Craig Norgard (left)

Buying a home or real estate is the largest investment a person or a couple makes. Although the process is very exciting, it is crucial to have as in-depth an understanding as possible of the building, its components and related issues in a relatively short time.
Having this detailed knowledge is very useful, not only for persons considering buying, but also for those men or women considering repairing, remodeling and even selling a home. This knowledge can have very positive financial rewards in the immediate, short term perspective, but also great rewards over the long term future of their home ownership.

Read the rest of this entry »

Are guest host next week, as I tour my family heritage in Ireland, will be Adrian Roach of Keller Williams Realty and the “Hermosillo Group”.  Adrian is no novice to radio having had a fun show back in his college days in Colorado. Having moved from Colorado in 2001, Adrian’s first taste of Sonoma County business was in the retail sector managing a local clothing store. The rather hectic and draining schedule of retail prompted him to enter the field of real estate as this basically IS the life style of one who makes a living selling real estate!! He was perfectly suited!With the help of his wife, Tina, he began the journey which has led him to Keller Williams Realty and the partnering with Shawn Hermosillo. This culminated in the forming of their team, The Hermosillo Group. His real estate background includes an association with Coldwell Banker where he attained the prestigeous “Diamond Society Award”.   Read the rest of this entry »

Our guest on today’s show is Tom Havstad. Tom is the owner and primary consultant for permit-help.com. His work in the contruction industry goes back more than 35 years. He has been here in Sonoma County since 1979.Tom has had a General Contractor’s license since 1976, and a Real Estate License since 1978. In 2003 Tom acquired the certification of the California Real Estate Inspection Association as an Inspector to write Property Inspection Reports. Read the rest of this entry »

My guest this week is Chief Deputy Assessor for Sonoma County: Bill Rousseau.
Currently, as Chief Deputy Assessor,Bill is responsible for all operations at the Sonoma County Assessors Office, including managing over 75 staff members. He is a Certified General Appraiser - California Office of Real Estate Appraisal, and a member of the International Association of Assessment Officers. He has served under the last four Sonoma County Assessors. Read the rest of this entry »

We are video taping the radio show today!! What? Yup! I’m putting together a “Real Estate Essentials’ video program which will also be podcast and will consist of some our most popular guests over the years. First up is Alice Noel of Fideility National Title Company. Here is the local web site for the Santa Rosa office:  http://www.fidelitysonoma.com/ . Alice (Ph: 707-544-1771 Fx: 707-544.8027) is a true professional and is extremely competent and attentative to buyers/sellers during the escrow process. We’ll have her talk Escrow and Title and what you can expect of these folks in the real estate transaction! Here’s their address and further contact information: Read the rest of this entry »

A blog, or web log, is very similar to what we have here at TruliaVoices–but in reverse! On my blog I’m posting data on my weekly radio show. I feature an interest rate update posted at the close of business on the Friday before my Sunday show. Read the rest of this entry »

this is an email to Guy Kovner who wrote a front page article on the real estate market highlighting two couples/Home Sellers who are “Trapped” here in the County as they cannot sell their homes. This is my response.

 I disagree with the tenor of your article exclaiming Seller’s are “trapped” in their homes. My last 7 transactions over the past two months had an average time on the market of 14 days. They sold close to 98.9% of the listing price at the time of sale. This is an important phrase which is abused by many in my industry. “Listing price at time of sale” does not take into consideration the many price reductions which came BEFORE the FINAL list price. However, in my case we did NOT have price reductions but priced them to sell at the time we placed them on the market. Both of the parties you highlighted in your article have two thing in common—Equity and Greed!!! Read the rest of this entry »

The Benefits Of Investing In Out Of Area Properties Most of us are aware that returns on commercial investment properties in the San Francisco Bay area are among th very worst in the country. Last year, San Francisco apartments fetched an average cap rate of 4.4%. Shopping centers and retail properties fared somewhat better, normally trading at cap rates between 5.5% and 6.5%. Still when you can put your money in government securities and bank paper investments for not a whole lot less than that, many investors hav elected not to take the risk for such low returns. Still, the fact remains that real estate over time has made more millionaires and multi-millionaires than any other investment vehicle. Investing in real estate is a good decision. The smarter investors have been going out of the Bay Area, and have increasingly elected to go out of state for better returns. After all, if you can buy a freestanding Starbuck’s in downtown San Francisco at a 5% cap, and can buy a freestanding Starbuck’s somewhere in the Midwest or the Southwest for a 6.5% cap, how much sense does it make to buy the one in San Francisco? You get a 25% better return on the out of state investment. That’s a financial “no-brainer”. Most people are reluctant to invest out of state because they don’t want to travel somewhere far away every time something happens with one of their properties. They also want to keep an eye on their investments. That’s where triple net single tenant investments come in. If you lease to Starbuck’s (for instance), you have a national credit tenant on the hook for the rent. So, you know you are going to get paid. If the lease has been negotiated well on the landlord side, they have the obligation to maintain and repair any non-structural items in the premises. With a newer property, structural problems are very unlikely to occur any time soon, so you are not likely to have visit the property with any kind of frequency. Still, let’s say that you want to visit the property 2 to 4 times a year. A flight to anywhere in the continental U.S. should be under $500, and a night in a good hotel should be no more than $200. That’s less than $3,000 per year even if you go four times a year. Plus, your trips are tax deductible, so it’s even less. Those expenses simply pale in comparison to the increased investment returns that you will receive.

Listeners,

  This morning I am pleased to bring my old friend, Bill Fried of Carriage House Properties, McDonough, Georgia. We will be discussing the investment market for rentals in the greawt state of Georgia and comparing them to our market now in Sonoma County. Very interesting loan and cash flow scenarios will be revealed. Stay tuned and listen in!!