WINE NOTES(Local Wine and Real Estate News)

I recently read an interesting article "Buying a Home, Time for Negotiation Bootcamp". Although the article contained some valuable information, there were a few points that I totally disagree with. I encourage you to read the article, but I'll share with you some of my thoughts on the subject.

Choose and Trust your Real Estate Agent:
Share with your agent your needs, wants, desires in a home and most important a realistic price range you are willing to pay. Personally, as an agent I will show homes to perspective buyers that are listed up to 5 higher than their range for two purposes: comparison and possibility we can negotiate down to your range. I highly recommend against seeking out the listing agent for a property you are interested in. There is no advantage to you as a Buyer, you will not get a better deal. In many states it's not legal for a Real Estate agent to have fiduciary responsibility to both the Seller and Buyer. Choose a good, competent Real Estate agent you trust.

Negotiation:
Negotiation is a combination art and science. The first thing I ask a potential buyer when making the first offer is "How bad do you want this home". I have to know if either Buyer party will be heart broken if they can't negotiate a deal or if getting the best deal possible is the most important thing. If the initial offer is too low, often the Seller will not respond. If you make an offer and Seller doesn't counter you are then stuck. If you make a second offer at a higher price, the Seller knows you want the house and will pay almost anything. Unless you are willing to walk away with no second thoughts, your initial offer needs to be within 10% of the market value of the property. The important thing here is Market Value, not Listing Price.

Listing Price:
A popular miss conception is that if a home is listed at a particular price and a full price offer is made the Seller must sell. That is false. A listing price is an invitation for an offer, a contract is not established until there is an offer and acceptance of that offer. Many times homes are listed below market value to generate buyer interest. Many times a home is listed too high because Sellers feel that no matter what price is listed, offers will be less. Back to point above, trust your agent.

Foreclosure Auctions:
Buying a home at a foreclosure auction is not for the faint of heart. Occasionally, I've heard of people getting reasonable deals, but in almost all of these situations they were investors. When you purchase property at a Foreclosure Auction (Trustee Sale) it is purchased "As Is, Where Is". The lists of risks in doing this justifies a much lower price than the auction normally yields. Some of the risks are: You do not get inspection rights. You have to purchase the home based upon an external visual inspection only. You do not know if the previous owner poured concrete in toilets (yes, it happens). You may notice that all the kitchen appliance have been stripped (very common). But you may not notice that bathroom toilets, sinks, etc removed or busted. Then you may find that there are IRS liens, Tax liens, Mechanics Liens, etc. since there is no title insurance, you must make those determinations yourself. And, last, but not least, you have to pay CASH. You must take cash or cash equivalent to the auction.

Anytime you want to talk Real Estate (or Wine), give me a call.

Quick Real Estate Stats:(California)

Median Home Price-
California $297,500

Highest Median Home Price
Santa Barbara So. Coast $970,000

Lowest median home price
High Desert $118,580

Mortgage rates- week ending 12/04/09:

30-yr	fixed	5.05%	Fees/points: 0.7%
15-yr	fixed	4.45%	Fees/points: 0.6%
1-yr	adj	4.38%	Fees/points: 0.6%

WINE and LOCAL TRIVIA

The Paso Robles area has such an interesting present and past. It has had some interesting celebrity guests over the years. Red Skelton is said to have been a guest of the Paso Robles Inn. The Clifton Apartments on the corner of 1st St. and Spring was a motel years ago and was the location that a famous celebrity couple spent their honeymoon. What famous couple spent their honeymoon at the motel located at 1st and Spring?

a) Clark Gable and Carol Lombard

b) Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe

c) Humphy Bogart and Lauren Bacall

d) None of the Above

(Please visit http://www.pasostyleliving.com for the answer)

PASO STYLE LIVING REAL ESTATE (Local Real Estate Market Conditions)

National news indicates that Home Sales volume is increasing and has been for the past couple of months. Locally, we're still seeing some ups and downs. Locally we had our highest sales volume in July. Since then, sales volume and prices are wavering quite a bit. The numbers don't show a solid trend.

What's considered the true predictor of housing prices is available inventory. The attached chart shows the home inventory level as expressed in months (Available homes / number of homes sold). The generally accepted rule of thumb is anything over 6 months available inventory is a Buyers market and anything less is a Seller's market.

Real Estate Up, Down, and Around:

Area(12/1/09-12/30/09)	Avg Price	Homes Available	Sold	Pending
Atascadero	$372,361	107	19	14
Paso Robles	$359,540	208	44	30
Templeton	$673,618	45	11	5
All Paso Wine Country	$409,571	431	82	55

Paso Wine Country contains the following real estate areas (Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton, San Miguel, Creston, Shandon, and Santa Margarita) (Single Family Homes, SFRSB)

REAL ESTATE HOT LIST (Special Properties for Sale in the Paso Wine Country)

● Lowest price Single Family Residential Property

● Most Expensive Single Family Residential Property

The above properties are listed in the Central Coast MLS and may or may not be listed by Home and Vineyard Real Estate Brokerage. The presentation of this information is not meant to imply any advertisement of these properties.

FOOD CORNER (Personal Recipes and Favorite Restaurants of the Paso Wine Country)

Chickpea Soup

I'm a big fan of the Bravo show "Top Chef". The 2008 series had a chef from San Francisco compete, Jamie Lauren. She is executive chef at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar in the Civic Center area. It's a really good restaurant I recommend. Below is a recipe which won a "QuickFire" challenge for her.

	1	Jalapeno or serrano chile, cut into thin rounds
	1 1/2	Lemons (juice and zest)
	1 tbs	Sugar
	1/4 cup	Olive Oil
	6	Garlic Cloves
	1	Yellow Onion
	4 tbs	Curry
	2 cans	Garbanzo Beans
	32 oz	chicken broth
	1/2 cup	Heavy Cream
	1 cup	Greek Yogurt
	1/2	Bunch Cilantro
	1/2	Bunch Mint

Combine chile rounds, 2/3s of the lemon and sugar and macerate for 30 minutes.

In a large pot over low hear, combine the olive oil, garlic, onion and cook until softened. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Add the curry and aroma to develop. Add beans and broth and simmer until the onion is tender (about 15 to 20 minutes). In a food processor puree until smooth. Thin with cream, season to taste and return to medium heat.

Combine yogurt, cilantro, mint, and remaining lemon in a small bowl and mix well.

Pour the soup into warmed bowls, Garnish with the cilantro yogure and sprinkle of pickled chile rounds.

Enjoy!

Ron Johnson
Broker, Realtor®
(805) 423-1902
www.PasoStyleLiving.com

945 12th Street, Suite F
PO Box 1981
Paso Robles, CA 93447
www.PasoStyleLiving.com