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General Consumer Articles:Week in Review December 1-7, 2008
I have been working a lot of hours, and writing this site is about the only area where the time factor can give. I've got a new article queued up for tomorrow (and it's a goodie: Presenting Offers In Person),...
Is San Diego Market Underpriced or Overpriced? - A Thought Experiment for August 2008
Let's do a thought experiment. Any market in any commodity has two components: The demand, or willingness and ability to pay for that good, and the supply of that good. Let's consider the demand half of that first. Specifically, ability...
Who Does Creating Artificial Barriers to Growth Hurt?
For at least the last thirty years, I've been hearing "affordable housing" advocates yammer about the high cost of housing, and how working families can no longer afford "decent" housing, which they apparently consider to be the three or...
The History of Suburban Housing
For at least the last thirty years, I've been hearing "affordable housing" advocates yammer about the high cost of housing, and how working families can no longer afford "decent" housing, which they apparently consider to be the three or...
San Diego Real Estate Market: June 2008 Advice
My advice to sellers is very simple: Hold off if you can. Things have already improved, but better times are coming once more inventory clears. The prognosis for this is very good. I'm seeing fewer short sales, at least...
First Time Home Buyer Assistance Programs: Locally Based
One of the things people keep asking about is first time buyer programs. They exist, but lenders are not the first place to ask. Why? Because many, if not most lenders, actually charge a quarter of a point or so...
Why the Current State of New Developer Housing
I've seen many new home developments with vaulted ceilings, mini-vineyards, huge houses on little tiny lots...Why can't some developer built some homes for us regular people? A normal sized home with plenty of closet space and a decent (not...
How to Tell A Good Real Estate Market Article From A Bad One
Don Henley has a fun song off his second solo album called "Driving With Your Eyes Closed". I can't find a video performance, but here's an MP3. It's got a chorus that ends with the line, "You're gonna hit something...
FHA Loans: Poised for a Comeback
I want to state that I am in no way shape or form an FHA loan guru. I haven't done an FHA loan in years. But with the new developments in the market rapidly transforming FHA loans into being...
The Future of Real Estate Agency: Expert Consultants, Not Market Access
Expertise and attitude, not control of an informational chokepoint, is the way that things are going. Let's analyze this from both sides of the problem. The current owner looking to sell really needs a marketer. For better or worse, most...
Fear and Greed Counterpoint
Quite some time ago, I wrote Fear and Greed, or How Did The Housing Bubble Get So Big?. I re-ran it just a few days ago, to once again illustrate what went wrong. But Fear and Greed can keep the...
San Diego Market Prognosis December 2007
Moderately good news for sellers, not so great for buyers. I wrote a few days ago about the federal government and lenders agreeing to freeze rates. This isn't a panacea, by any means. It may not help people who...
Real Estate Boycotts
I simply love: "Fear and Greed, or How Did the Housing Bubble Get so big? I'm not sure if you are aware that there is a grass-roots group that is starting a "boycott on housing." They feel that the...
What Would I Buy With A Million Dollars?
Somebody asked me that. A dachshund puppy (or two!) would be the first item. I miss Thing, and Mellon just isn't the companion he was. She's very sweet, and devoted in her own way, but the phrase "Canine American Princess"...
San Diego County Fires October 25, 2007 (UPDATE 4 2010)
making updates to this post today, same as yesterday Scroll down. If you have something to tell me, comment or email danmelson (at) the domain name). Wildfires spread but 'we've turned the corner' No homes were lost Wednesday in San...
Economics of Home Ownership in High Density Areas
This has been knocking around my head for a while, and I've written on closely related subjects before. But the idea behind this essay really just gelled in my mind within the past couple days. Here are the facts of...
Wanting a More Expensive Property Than You Can Really Afford
This is one of the biggest issues with my local real estate market. Because the San Diego market has very high demand and limited supply of property, prices are high. A reasonable two bedroom condo runs around $300,000. A 1200...
Fear and Greed, or How Did The Housing Bubble Get So Big?
One of the occasional questions I get from people has to do with why the housing bubble got so big (or if you're one of those still in denial about it, how prices jumped so far so fast). This has...
Full Circle: Back to More Traditional Lending Standards
I've seen more changes in the lending industry in the last six months than the previous five years. But those changes simply restored us to the place we were a few years ago. Loans are easy to get, rates are...
The Affordability of Property in San Diego September 2007
Let's consider where the rates are: Ever so slightly higher than a year ago. With the Fed boosting liquidity and cutting their short term rates, I expect this to change rapidly, but let's take a look at the actual...
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