I was interviewed by a reporter today from Pacific Coast Business Times about Trilogy (the Woodlands development in Nipomo). Sounds like Trilogy is going to wait until the buyer comes before building, rather than building and then waiting for the buyer to come. I’ll put a link to the article if/when it is published.
Month: June 2006
A few weeks ago I posted that there were a lot of price changes already for the month and we may go over 1500 by the end of the month. I just checked…we’re at 1406 with 3 days left. Good news for Buyers???
I added a few more choices to the Neighborhood menus at the right of a MLS Map Search. They are:
– Lake Nacimiento
– Templeton
– The Cloisters (under Morro Bay)
I also fixed the map for Arroyo Grande – City View.
If there is a neighborhood you would like added to the Menu, send me an email – byrd@SloCountyHomes.com
I wonder if this is going to replace people selling maps of Star Homes in Hollywood, courtesy of real estate site Zillow.
I was in Bakersfield yesterday and visited the Valley Plaza mall. They had a real estate kiosk there with a touch screen where you could look at photos of homes they were featuring. The problem is that they used small digital photos and then enlarged them to full screen. If you’ve ever enlarged a digital photo, you’ll know that it looks AWFUL unless you have a good density of pixels to start with. All of the home photos I saw did not show the home well at all.
The same happens on the Internet. Sites like Realtor.com and our local MLS shrink photos when an agent uploads them. Realtor.com reduces the photo size to 300 pixels wide, the MLS to 400 pixels wide. The quality problem pops up when some MLS Search programs enlarge them to 800 pixels or above. YUCK!
How to take and submit the photography plus knowing how systems on the Internet are going to display photos is something that I’m always looking at.
The Risks of Being a Realtor
Just in the past few days, there have been 2 incidents of Realtors being assaulted. One happened in Florida, the other in the SF Bay Area. In both cases it was someone saying they were interested in looking at a home.
Some Realtors are eager to please and will drop everything when someone calls them and says they want to see properties that day without getting any info from the prospective Buyer. Unfortunately in this day and age, that puts the Realtor at risk.
If a Realtor asks you questions before agreeing to meet you to show properties, don’t think that all they are doing is trying to see how real of a Buyer you are. Sure, they don’t want to waste their time if you are already working with another Realtor or have not talked to someone about a mortgage to see what you qualify for. They may also be trying to protect themselves to make sure they won’t be the next victim.
Chances are that your friends or co-workers are searching for information on the Central Coast real estate market as you are. If you like my website, I’d appreciate it if you spread the word to others. Help me keep my business strong so I can continue to improve the site. Tell them they need to check out SLO County Homes (dot) com or they can just Google for “Keith Byrd” (like Admiral Byrd…not Larry Bird).
Thx!!!
If you are reading this today (Wednesday) you can read the article about the housing slowdown in California. After today, the site will ask you for your member login.
California had 7 cities rank in the top 20 for the fastest growing cities (by percentage) from 2004 to 2005. According to the US Census bureau, Elk Grove (near Sacramento) was #1. Other California cities in the Top 20 were Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Miramar, Irvine, Bakersfield, Lancaster, and Visalia.
A PDF chart of the Top 25 can be found here.
There are some other charts you might find interesting:
The new 20 ton pipe organ arrived today at Cal Poly. It will take a year to put together in the Performing Arts Center but when complete, it should be something! I think the only pipe organ I’ve heard is the one at Pizza and Pipes in the Bay Area.