Month: March 2009

Gottschalks didn’t find a buyer to keep the stores open and sold to a liquidator instead. The going out of business sales should start soon. Also, the Sizzler in Arroyo Grande closed their doors last Sunday.

On the flip side, Orcutt Burgers recently opened in Grover Beach where the Kentucky Fried Chicken was. They seem pretty busy right now and we’ll see if that continues after the honeymoon period is over. One suggestion if you go, park out on the street. That parking lot has to be one of the worst around and when there are multiple people in the drive-thru, the cars in the parking lot are blocked from backing out.

I know a lot of you are on the fence on whether to buy now or wait to see if home prices continue to drop. While it’s still anyone’s guess what will happen with prices the rest of this year, one thing is certain….Loan Rates WILL climb. We are at rock bottom loan rates right now. Another unknown is how long they will stay this low.

Here’s an example:

A 30-year mortgage for $300,000 at 4.75% interest is a $1,565/month payment.

If the loan rates jumped to 6%, to pay the same monthly payment the mortgage amount needs to be $40,000 less. So if home prices dropped another 10-15% but the mortgage rate increased to 6%, it would be the same as if you purchased a home today at the lower mortgage rate.

Still need a crystal ball for some of this but it’s a given that the loan rate won’t stay this low forever.

I just heard that Judas Priest and Whitesnake will be performing on the main stage at the Paso fair this year. Tickets aren’t cheap either $27-$53….

Not something I would think fits with Kelly Clarkson and Tim McGraw. Wonder if the younger generation is into these aging headbangers?

Jordan competed in her last local race today at Cuesta College (and won). About 3 hours later, I saw her running up the big hill in my neighborhood. This young woman is creating her future with her hard work and dedication. Go Jordan!

I’ve noticed fewer diners in local restaurants lately. We were the only customers at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants last week. And, no one else came in the entire time we were there. I was really surprised as they have good food and it has decent prices too.

I sure hope the economy doesn’t drive some of these restaurants away. If someone has to go, please make it the ones that have bad service or food.

A few days ago, we twittered – www.twitter.com/byrdreo – about a SLO REO that came on the market for under $300K. Later that day, it went Pending Sale.

Well, it just came back on the market a few minutes ago. Don’t know the reason why the first Buyer backed out though. It does say that it needs a lot of TLC. The confidential agent comments tells a bit more about the work needed but I can’t post those comments here.

If a home goes contingent sale, that means the Buyer has to do something first before the offer can proceed. Usually, it’s when a Buyer has to sell their own home first. The contingency is an “out” for the Buyer so they aren’t legally bound to a purchase contract if they can’t sell their home.

When a home goes contingent sale, it still shows up as an Active property in the MLS searches. That’s because another Buyer can submit an offer. If the Seller likes that offer, they then can go back to the first Buyer and give then a period of time (stated in the purchase contract) to remove their contingency. If they can’t/won’t, then the Seller can take the second offer.

The offer prices are never listed on the MLS, either in the public or in the private agent comments. If you were the Buyer with the first offer, you wouldn’t want this advertised. But, there is nothing in the standard contract to not have the Seller tell others about it. The Realtor representing the Seller can’t tell anyone unless the Seller has given them the ok to do so. If they do it without the Seller’s consent, that’s a violation of confidentiality between the Seller and the Seller’s agent.

If I was a Buyer (or Buyer’s agent) and found out that the Seller (or Seller’s agent) was telling others the details of the first offer, it wouldn’t set too well with me.

A friend of mine found a box of 35mm slides a few years ago and I scanned some. Above is one of them. I plan on putting the other ones on the site when I get around to it.

Binding Bier is based in Germany so I’m assuming that is where this photo was taken.

A nationwide commercial real estate company just listed all of Gottschalk’s bulidings. This may be the end of Gottschalks if a bidder doesn’t act soon.

Click to see the SLO Gottschalks Listing