Mike’s Real Estate Show

Find below a link to the State of California’s official web site on “going solar”. I’ve taken a blurb from the sites mission statement.

http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/

“Renewable energy is a natural choice. Harnessing the earth’s own inexhaustible energy - whether from the sun, wind, fuel cells, or other renewable sources - can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and provide clean, affordable electricity.

California has made a bold decision… to place 3,000 megawatts of new, solar produced electricity systems on rooftops by 2017. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s goal is to put solar systems on a million California roofs.

But that’s only part of the big picture. About 10.2 percent of the electricity we use comes from renewable sources - biomass, geothermal, small hydroelectric, solar, and wind (see graph below).

In 2002, California established its Renewable Portfolio Standard Program, with the goal of increasing the percentage of renewable energy in the state’s electricity mix to 20 percent by 2017. The California Energy Commission has recommended accelerating the goal of 20 percent by 2010 and increasing the target of 33 percent electricity from renewable energy by 2020. The state’s Energy Action Plan supported this goal. The Governor’s goal for a million solar roofs is an important part of that “bigger picture.”

 

March 11, 2008  
UCLA Anderson Forecast: Sluggish Economy On the Cusp of Recession —Forecasters Say Economy Doesn’t Meet Definition of a ‘True’ Recession
 

LOS ANGELES – In its first quarterly report of 2008, the UCLA Anderson Forecast remains confident the national economy was not in a recession through January 2008 and continues to forecast weak growth but no official recession in 2008.  As in their most recent forecasts, the UCLA Anderson Forecast sheds a negative light on the real estate sector as problems there continue to be a drag on the economy as a whole, particularly as the home mortgage crisis becomes a credit crisis.

In California, the economic outlook continues to mirror that of the nation, despite questions by some regarding the possibility of a state recession in the absence of a national recession.  The UCLA Anderson Forecast concludes that California is too closely tied to the nation for such an occurrence and the outlook appears much the same: slow growth as the fallout from the real estate sector slowly works its way out of the economy. Read the rest of this entry »

William E. Brown is first African-American president of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
 
LOS ANGELES (Feb. 26)— When REALTOR® William E. Brown assumed the helm of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) in November, he became the first African-American president in C.A.R.’s 103-year history.
Brown held a number of other important leadership positions in his field prior to this ground-breaking milestone.
Brown has been a C.A.R. director since 1980 and has chaired numerous committees, including Federal Issues, Real Estate Finance, Local Governmental Relations, and the Legislative committees, as well as the Issues Mobilization Political Action Committee (IMPAC). In 2002, he was chairman of CREPAC, C.A.R.’s Political Action Committee. In addition, he has been an active member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) board of directors for the past 16 years.
His NAR Leadership positions include serving as 2006 Committee Liaison to the State and Political Issues Group, 2004 Chairman of RPAC, and as 2007 President’s Circle Chairman.  Brown specializes in apartment brokerage to institutional and private capital investors and was selected by Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson to serve as the first landlord representative on the city of Oakland’s Residential Rent Arbitration Board.
Brown is co-owner of William H. Brown, REALTOR® in Oakland, Calif. The company was founded by his father, William H. Brown, nearly 50 years ago.
“It’s a privilege to be able to work with my colleagues to enhance professionalism in our field, and to lobby for the removal of barriers to homeownership for all people,” Brown said.
You may schedule an interview with Brown by calling Mark Giberson at (213) 739-8304.
Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with about 200,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.
 
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Call-for-Action Update

Congress Passes Stimulus Package — Final Bill Includes Increased Loan Limits
Thanks in part to the lobbying by C.A.R. and NAR members; the Senate passed their version of an economic stimulus package on Thursday, February 07, 2008.  The Senate version expands rebate checks for seniors and disabled veterans and includes the same increases to the conforming loan limits for both GSE and FHA found in the House stimulus package.  The House just passed the Senate version of the bill  and it will now be sent to the White House. The President is expected to sign the legislation by the end of this week, ahead of the Congressional self-appointed deadline of February 15th.   The increase in the conforming loan limits will last through 2008, but C.A.R. and NAR continue to lobby for FHA and GSE reform,  making these increases permanent. Read the rest of this entry »

Our statewide Association of Realtors gave us some interesting updates today. They are:

 *Interest rates continue to remain near their historic lows. The fixed-rate mortgage was 6.10 percent in December, below November’s 6.21 percent, and slightly lower than 6.14 percent from December 2006.  Today they are hovering around 5.375!!

• December’s fixed-rate was at its lowest level in the past five months, having peaked in July 2007 at 6.7 percent. A week ago Monday the rate fell to an astonishing 5.125%! The following attempted “lock-ins” crashed the whole system!! So be prepared to “Lock and ROCK!”

• Month-to-month sales increased for the second month in a row, rising 4.7 percent in December compared with November. The new home builders we speak with have been seeing multiple offers on some of their models!!! They are offering rock-bottom pricing, upgrades and terrific incentive packages. You an also be represented by your Favorite REALTOR as they are cooperating with every licensee to get their product sold!

• The time a home remained on the market prior to selling improved to 67.2 days in December compared to 72.1 days for the same period a year ago.  Back in the early 90’s when the market was very bleak the statewide inventory on the market hit 26 MONTHS!! Here in the NorthBay it’s more like 6 months.

• In December, it would have taken 14.5 months to sell all the homes on the market at the current sales rate, an improvement compared with November, when it would have taken 15.4 months.

• Although seasonally adjusted sales fell 33.4 percent year to year in December 2007 compared with 2006, they were above the 300,000-unit level for the first time since August 2007.  Don’t forget–when you come OFF HISTORIC HIGHS you are bound to see huge numbers when they quote PERCENTAGES!!  We had virtually NO foreclosures for years in Sonoma County but a modest increase could results in a PERCENTAGE number of 50%!! Careful with what you read!

Don’t forget to listen to the Real Estate Hour every Sunday for the latest and the greatest in NorthBay Real Estate.
 

Last year 1200 California homebuyers took advantage of the CalVet Loan offered by the California Department of Veterans Affairs and with a correcting value marketplace and interest rates starting at 5.45% they are once again gaining popularity for Vets.
http://www.cdva.ca.gov/calvetloans/ Read the rest of this entry »