Surrounded by majestic California Oaks, nestled in a private end unit, this 1575 sq. ft., 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath condominium lives large, allowing lots of natural light to flood each room. You’ll be greeted by beautiful wide plank manufactured hickory wood floors. The living room has a wood burning fireplace perfect for those chilly evenings. For privacy its windows are clad with plantation shutters. The open space concept on the main floor, is expansive with the living, dining, and kitchen areas, melding into one another while inviting you to step-out onto the rear patio. The kitchen has been handsomely updated with custom painted cabinetry, recessed lighting, Corian counters and a dual deep basin stainless steel apron sink. The indoor laundry closet is perfectly located. Upstairs the master bedroom has another custom application of great accent beams on the ceiling and French doors opening to a private balcony deck. It also enjoys a private en-suite with two custom vanities and spacious walk-in shower. The auxiliary bedrooms are also on the second floor, each light and roomy. All baths have been updated. The outdoor spaces rival the well-finished interior. On the back deck there is a fish pond and tiered areas for entertaining and dining. In addition the hot tub is a terrific place to wind down after a long day. Located central to the lake, parks, transportation, eateries and schools, this home has everything in close proximity.
LeeAnne Fisher 805.440.0251 or George Fisher 805.400.9839
Month: May 2017
New Listing! 3 Unit Ocean View Complex
Hard to find three unit ocean view complex in popular Pismo Beach! Walk to shops, restaurants, bars and — the beach! Beautifully and professionally maintained, each unit offers a beach feel and tropical theme. Use for your personal vacations or rent the separate units, or as the current sellers do: Do both! Three locked garages allow for securing recreational toys, too.
Wendy Teixeira 805.310.3505
New Listing! Upgraded 3 Bedroom Orcutt Home
Beautifully upgraded 3 bedroom, one story home in Orcutt. This home was custom built in 1985 and includes a formal living and dining area, large updated kitchen complete with granite tile and breakfast bar. The bathrooms are nicely tiled and roomy. Too many upgrades to mention! Just come see for yourself! This great home also offers a large RV parking area and a backyard fit for entertaining.
Wendy Teixeira 805.310.3505
2017 USDA Income Limits Update
2017 USDA Income Limits Update
The income limits for the USDA Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program were recently updated and increased for new mortgages originated in 2017. The maximum eligible income for this loan program is defined as the greater of 115% of the US median family income or 115% of the average of the state-wide and state non-metro median family incomes or 115/80ths of the area low-income limit. The updated limits became effective on May 17, 2017.
The income limits for the local Central Coast area are as follows:
San Luis Obispo County
- 1-4 Person Household – $93,950
- 5-8 Person Household – $124,000
Santa Barbara County
- 1-4 Person Household – $104,200
- 5-8 Person Household – $137,550
Link to the directly to the USDA Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program here, or directly to the USDA income document here.
CCL Market Update
Housing Market Index
New home sales have been leading the home market with home builders reporting strong activity this month and predict even better times ahead. The housing market index topped economists’ predictions In May, rising 2 points to a level of 70. Current sales are also up 2 points to 76 with 6 month sales up 4 points to a very strong 79. Traffic, a key reading, is at 51 and over the breakeven point of 50 for the fifth time in the last six months. Even though traffic is nearly 30 points behind sales it is still the highlights of the report. This is the best run by fart of the expansion and offers a hopeful hint that first time buyers, who have been priced out of the new home market, may begin to be a factor.
Housing Starts
Levels of the of the April housing starts reports were disappointing in the month. Though, still health starts fell 2.6 percent to a 1.172 million annualized rate that is well below the low estimate economists’ predicted of 1.215 million. Downward revisions are a factor in the report, totaling 27,000 in the prior two months. The strength in the report is in the single family component with starts up 0.4 percent to a rate of 835,000. Besides the increase in single family homes the report is filled with minus signs. Permits for single family homes fell 4.5% to a rate of 789,000 with completions also down 4.5 percent to 784,000. The sharpest weakness, however, comes from the multifamily homes sector where starts fell 9.2 percent to 337,000. Permits did rise 1.4 percent to 440,000 but completions declined by 17.2 percent to a 322,000 rate.
Mortgage Applications
Mortgage applications activity after reaching 8-year highs last week, May 12th, retreated. Purchase applications for home mortgages fell on as a seasonally adjusted basis 3 percent from the previous week and refinance dropped 6 percent. Unadjusted, the purchase index decreased by 3 percent from the prior week, however, the level was still at a sharp 9 percent higher than a year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity resumed its decline and was down to 41.1 percent, the lowest level since all the way back in September of 2008.Mortgage rates remained flat yet again this week. The week’s decline in purchase application may just be a temporary slackening in volume which is still 9 percent higher than a year ago.
Jobless Claims
Demand for labor is still high judging by jobless claims which remain right at record lows. Initial claims fell 4,000 in the week of May 13th to a lower than expected level of 232,000, this pulls down the four week average by 2,750 to 240,750. The week of May 13 is also the sample week for the May employment report and in comparison with the sample week of April employment showed further improvement, down 11,000 from the 243,000 in the week of April 15th, down 2,000 from the four week average of 242,750. The continuing claims side of the report tells a similar story, down 22,000 in lagging data for the week of May 6th to 1.898 million. This is a 29 year low for this reading. The four week average is down 20,000 to 1.946 million which is a 43 year low. The unemployment rate for insured workers is at 1.4 percent.
New Listing! 3 Bedroom 2 Bath Lompoc Home
Endless possibilities with this home! This 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home has a garage conversion which has a large family room with a beautiful fireplace, laundry room and storage room. This area has the option to be converted into an in-law area with the storage room to be used as a walk-in-closet. Permits for the garage conversion have not been verified. The living room has a beautiful rock fireplace. The dining area is located in the kitchen. There are neutral colored floor tiles throughout the main areas of the home. The bathrooms have been updated in recent years. There is a spacious back yard with alley way access into the backyard for those who need it.
Bernie Davidson 805.878.6967
New Listing! 4 Bedroom 2 Bath Home
This well-loved mid-century single story home was built by a contractor for his young family in 1956. This home has owned and well loved by just one owner as one can see by the way the home has been kept throughout the years! This quaint single story cottage is located in a desirable neighborhood in Orcutt. The home offers 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms. The laundry area is just off the kitchen. There is a huge great room just off the kitchen with beautiful wood ceilings overlooking the beautiful backyard. All walls are finished in plaster. In close proximity to shopping, parks schools and parks. There alley access on the back of the property with gates that open to RV/Boat parking. The roof has just been replaced and the plumbing has been updated a few years back.
Bernie Davidson 805.878.6967
New Guidelines for SFR’s with Manufactured Homes
Plaza home mortgage has expanded their guidelines on properties with manufactured homes on them; the once impossible scenario to finance now has two loan options
First Option: Stick built SFR and PERMANENTLY affixed Manufactured Home on the same property; since both are taxed as real property the following requirements are allowed
- Appraiser must support it is common to the market with at least three closed sales with a stick built SFR and permanently affixed Manufactured Home
- The property must be appraised as a 2-unit property. It cannot be appraised as an SFR with the manufactured home as an accessory unit
- Loan program must be Fannie Retained
- Rental Income can be considered to guidelines
Second Option: Stick built SFR and a NON-permanently affixed manufactured home on the same property.
- Manufactured home can remain on the property as long as it was taxed as personal property
- The wheels and axle are still attached to the Manufactured Home
- If people are living in the unit (either indicated by appraiser or the Home Owners policy with some type of “renter/tenant” description, then it must be documented that the Manufactured Home is permitted by local code
- Fannie Retained program only
- Rental income cannot be considered from the Manufactured Home. The Manufactured Home is considered personal property and even if they are allowed on the property with some type of “use permit”; the Manufactured Home unit is still personal property. If the lender foreclosed on the stick built dwelling they are not foreclosing on the Manufactured Home, the lender has no rights to the Manufactured Home; the borrower could continue to collect rent on the Manufactured Homes after foreclosure, which is NOT okay with Fannie.
2017 1st Quarter Central Coast Real Estate Report
The San Luis Obispo County’s Real Estate update includes data for all cities and surrounding areas that make up the Central Coast of California. This data is for the first quarter, January through March, of 2017.
- 667 Total Home Sales (2017) vs. 686 (2016)
- $663,100 Median Home Price (2017) vs. $603,108 (2016)
- 97% Sales per List Price (2017) vs. 98.55% (2016)
- $462.00 Average Price per Square Foot (2017) vs. $365.51 (2016)
- 103 Cumulative Days on the Market (2017) vs. 99 (2016)
Of all the five reported components of the real estate report for San Luis Obispo County and the surrounding areas that make up the Central Coast two of the five factors reported improved in the first quarter of 2017 from the year prior, 2016. Median home price and average price per a square foot all improved in the year. Cumulative days on market, total number of sales, and sales vs. list price worsened with the cumulative days on market increasing and the sale price per a list price decreased both negatives in the report.
The median home price increased from $603,108 in 2016 to $663,100 in 2017 for an increase of almost 10% or $59,992. The price per a square foot increased as well from $365.51 to $462.00, almost a $100 increase. This increase in price per a square foot is consistent with the increase in median home price both factors increased.
The cumulative days a home for sale sits on the market increased by 4 days from the first three months of 2016 to the first three months of 2017. This small increase is an indication that houses are sitting after being listed for slightly longer in 2017 than in 2016. This is a negative because it means inventory isn’t moving as fast this year.
Total home sales decreased by a minimal amount of 19 total sales in the first quarter of 2017 vs. the first quarter of the year prior 2016.
The last factor tracked in the real estate report is sales price vs. the list price of a home. It decreased from a home being sold for 98.55% of its list price to 97% of the price a home is listed for. This is the other negative in the report for the Central Coast as a whole; homes are being sold for less than what the seller is asking for this year when compared to last.
Sollvang made a huge jump in 2017 to the most expensive city on the Central Coast with a median home price of $1,715,000, last year at this time the median home price was only $755,000; that is almost a 130% increase! This data however, may be an inaccurate representation of the city’s median home price since there was only one sale in the city in the first quarter, therefore all the statistics for the city are relying on just one home sale.
Mortgage Rates Increase After Five Consecutive Weeks of Declines
After five consecutive weeks of rates dropping, they have finally began to increase again; with all the programs increasing in rate and APR with the exception of the 30-year fixed jumbo loan program that decreased by 12 basis points and the 30 and 15-year fixed conventional programs who’s rates remained the same as last week. The overall change to APR was an increase of 14.1basis points. The largest change can be seen in the 30-year fixed FHA program which increased by a substantial; 57.9 basis points.
Take a look at the Freddie Mac Survey of the 30-year fixed rate movement over the past year:
The Freddie Mac mortgage rate increased for the first time in five weeks. It increased by 6 basis point to an APR of 4.03%. APR still remains higher than the APR a year ago when it was at a level of 3.66% APR.
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.
“The 10-year Treasury yield rose about 10 basis points this week. The 30-year mortgage rate moved with Treasury yields, rising 6 basis points to 4.03 percent. Despite recent swings in mortgage rates, the housing market continues to show signs of strength — both existing and new home sales in March exceeded expectations, and the Case-Shiller Home Price Index posted another solid gain.”