Coachella Valley Blog

Hello and welcome to my Coachella Valley Blog. Here you will find fun and exciting news and information about the desert cities and events along with any local real estate deals you should know about.

FHA has increased their mortgage limits to $500,000 for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties for single family residences.

 The new limit should allow more borrowers to purchase their primary residences at the more beneficial terms FHA allows.  ONLY 3% down!  Call Karen Stearns 760-413-2694.

Despite what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn’t the same kind of investment as stocks or bonds.  What you get is a USE asset that depreciates over time while it grows in market value.  Just keep the home in good repair to maximize your investment.  Here are five reasons why you get more for your money with a house than the stock market.

1.  Leverage.  With stocks, you put in all your money for a little piece of a company.  With a house, you put in a little money to get the entire house.

2.  Tax benefits.  What other investment can you put in 5% of the cost of the asset, reap all the appreciation and pay no capital gains?  That’s rights:  live in your home for at least 2 years, and you don’t have to pay capital gains tax on up to $250,00 in appreciation if you’re single and a combined $500,000 if you’re a married couple.

3.  Control.  With a home, you have control - what you buy, how much you pay, and where you live.  You can improve the value with repairs and updates.

 4.  Lifestyle.  With a home you choose the neighborhood you want to be in, and the size and style of a home that fits your needs.

5.  Value.  Unlike some stocks, you house will seldom become worthless.  Barring a catastrophe, your home will retain a major portion of its value, even in the worst of times.  Housing has lost value only one year out of the last 35.  It’s more normal to beat inflation by 1% to 2%.

Let’s add a little perspective here.  You lost a greater percentage on the stock market this past year than if you owned a house.  And…..when it rains, which would you rather have over your head…a roof or a stock certificate?

 Exerpts from an article provided by Michelle Morris of Coldwell Banker Mortgage.

Discover the Coachella Valley area’s unique treasures - including ancient Indian canyons, modern art, mid-century architecture, spa resorts, boutique shopping, street fairs, theme parks, down-home diners and upscale bistros.  Worth a trip to Palm Springs. 

In addition there is gambling - 8 casinos run by local Indian tribes plus resort hotels and spas with natural mineral water wells, making it a prime vacation destination.

Don’t forget the great real estate buys right now…what about purchasing that desert condo and renting it when you aren’t using it!  Go to www.KarenStearns.com for your property search.

Calif. median home price - December 07: $475,460(Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region December 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $925,000 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region December 07: High Desert $244,330 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 07: 24 percent (Source: C.A.R.)
Mortgage rates - week ending 01/31: 30-yr. fixed: 5.68%; Fees/points: 0.4% 15-yr. fixed: 5.17%; Fees/points: 0.4% 1-yr. adjustable: 5.05%; Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

The Coachella Valley is the “golf capital of the world,” with over 130 of the world’s most beautiful courses in the greater Palm Springs area - hosting great golf tournaments including PGA, Skins, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the LPGA Samsung tournament.

About 21% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are generated from household energy use, according to the U.S. Energy Information administration. Here is just one easy tip to improve energy efficiency:  Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.  They produce the same amount of light yet require 75% less energy and last longer.  Switching out just the five most frequently used lights in your house can save as much as 3,000 kilowatts of energy a day.  E-mail your energy tips!

Click here for more on green homes.

The National Association of Realtors is doing something atypical — directly reaching out to consumers with little-known facts about housing. NAR’s new website – www.housingmarketfacts.com — is designed to give homebuyers and sellers information that illustrates the value of real estate as a long-term investment.

WATCHING THE GAME - A 30-second TV ad run during Super Bowl # 1 (held on 1/15/67) cost $42,000. For Super Bowl # 42 (to be held 2/03/08), a 30-second TV ad will cost $2.7 million. Today’s cost reflects annual price inflation of +10.7% over the last 41 years. 93 million viewers watched last year’s game (source: USA Today).  

SUPER BET - on the Monday after the New England Patriots and the New York Giants won their respective conference championships to qualify for Super Bowl #42, the Patriots were made 14-point favorites by the odds makers. In the previous 41 Super Bowls, the favorite has won 30 times (source: USA Today). 

The 20th Anniversary of the Frank Sinatra Countrywide Celebrity Invitational tournament launches Tuesday, Jan. 29 with a “Guess the Number of Golf Balls” contest at the Countrywide Mortgage office, 73261 Highway 111, Palm Desert. Read the full story here.