An informational source for people who are relocating, with a particular focus on moving to the Carlsbad area of North County San Diego (and nearby coastal communities), with advice, guidance and true stories to help you on your way and make it a great journey, from a REALTOR� with plenty of personal (4 major moves, most recently from Boston to Carlsbad, California) and professional relocation experience. Are you running into problems selling your home? Need to find a new one quickly? Never moved before and haven't a clue? You'll find some great tips on how to solve your relocation issues here. Or ask me a question any time and I'll share some solutions or tell you where to get more information.
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Carlsbad Relocation Tips - Finding the Right Comunity and Your New Home
Relocating presents many challenges, especially if you are moving a long distance say from the right coast to the left coast as I did.
Finding the right community adn the right home are usually at the top of the relocating buyer's list. And while that can be a chore, with today's technolgoy adn a few tips, you can conduct a search for where you want to live without too much trouble other than some time and some good questions.
Since reprinting word for word can creat a problem for the search engines, here are the links to those articles that I believe will help in your search and answer some of your questions.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
If you are selling your home as part of your RELOCATION, and planning to buy a new one in your new location, you really need to understand about INVENTORY and how it can impact the decisions you need to make.
Inventory will affect the price you will determine for listing your home so it is positioned well in YOUR particular market.
Bbut inventory will also impact the options you will have in your new location. A well-informed agent WILL understand this and be able to provide you with the information you need most so you can be an informed consumer.
If you need help in finding a qualified agent in your area, please feel free to let me know. I have a huge network of agents I know around the country becuase of my substantial Internet marketing plus my professional certifications (Certified Residential Specialist or CRS for one).
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
Stay tuned for Parts 3, 4 and 5 where I will help you find the right home, get through the house hunting process, and navigate the transaction from a distance so you can move to your new home in your new location.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
In the current market in some areas, at the lower price points, it is NOT a buyer's market. That is certainly true here in Southern California in communities like Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido where there are a lot of short sales and REOs (bank owned foreclosures) under $300,000.
And buyers are finding they need to make quick decisions or they will lose out on properties they like. It is particularly difficult if you are relocating and are not here physically to see properties as soon as they come on the market.
The question becomes - "Buyers, How Fast Can You Move?". Read more to understand how this may affect you.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
Considering a Short Sale or REO in Your Relocation Plans?
Lots of folks want to buy a short sale or an REO...or think they do.
This is fairly common for folks who are relocating here to Southern California because of the perception that these may be great deals given what they have heard about California foreclosures, and major price adjustments in the last several years. While it is true that prices have come down, substantially in some areas, the belief that you can get a home for 50 cents on the dollar is just not realistic, nor is buying a waterfront home in Carlsbad on the ocean for $500,000 a possibility.
That does not mean that you should not consider short sale and REO (foreclosure, bank-owned) homes, along with traditional resales so you get the full picture of your options. Indeed, you should. But being aware of some of the issues is important so you make an informed decision.
One thing you will often find is that things you normally would find in a resale are missing in a short sale, and even more commonly in an REO.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
Researching Schools, Communities, Crime Stats and the Housing Market
Check out my recent post on Carlsbad Real Estate News for information how to research schools, communities, crime statistics and the housing market reports.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
There is some good news for folks who are relocating to California and will be buying a new home afte March 1, 2009 and before March 1, 2010.
You MUST buy a new construction home (one that has never been lived in) in order to quality and must apply for the credit from the Franchise Tax Board here in California.
This must be a primary home and you must live there for two years.
So, if you are also a FIRST TIME HOME BUYER you might qualify for up to $18,000 in California - the new $8,000 First Time home Buyer credit AND the new home credit offered by CA.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
WOW - Condos in the San Diego Area for UNDER $100,000
It's hard to believe but you CAN buy a condo in North County Can Diego for less than $100,000. And some of them are 2 and 3 bedroom.
If you are seeking a new home in our area in this price range, check out my recent post on condos for less than $100,000.
BTW, if you would like a customized list of homes, under $100,000 or otherwise, in a San Diego community, please send me an email and I will send you the information you need.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
For many buyers who are relocating, checking out the schools is a critical part of the process in their move.
It can impact where they move to (i.e., the specific neighborhood) as well as the timing (in some school districts you must be a resident for a period of time before registering AND provide proof of occupancy), so doing the research in advance is smart.
Here are several sites that buyer clients have recommended from their own research. I have looked at all of them and find School Digger to be my favorite becuase of the amount of information and the functionality, but make you own decisions.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
I wrote a warning to buyers, and agents, recently. It had to do with ot opening the refrigerator door in homes they were touring that are distress sales - bank owned properties, and vacant short sales and foreclosures.
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
The ActiveRain Real Estate Network - A Powerful Consumer Tool
I have mentioned, on more than one occasion, my writing on ActiveRain, the largest real estate social and informational network on-line with over 128,000 members of the RE biz.
I suspect many of you have been there as a result of links to articles posted here on Relocation A to Z. I have been a member of ActiveRain for over 2 years now, with almost 1000 articles written. The membership when I started was a little over 6,000 folks.
ActiveRain, or AR as it is fondly called, is a powerful consumer tool (see link below)
There are many thousands of articles on AR written by REALTORS like myself, mortgage brokers, staging professionals, home inspectors and others in our business. These articles have to do with communities all over the US, housing, things to do and places to visit, as well as a wealth of information useful to buyers and sellers.
A recent article by founder Jon Washburn indicated that while AR is a powerful peer-to-peer platform, it is even more powerful as a consumer tool, with about 9 times as many consumer hits as members, and a growth rate in 2008 of about 200%.
I have had a good number of buyers who are relocating here and want to be within walking distance of amenities such as shopping, restaurants, services, and the public library, among other things.
While this is not an easy thing to find, there are real estate opportunities in a number of North County San Diego communities where I work that will allow for this - Carlsbad, Cardiff, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar for example.
Walkability, of course, is in the eyes of the beholder, or should we say the feet of the walker?
Some people consider 15 - 20 minutes a very reasonable walk and others want to be closer, say 10 minutes or so. So as I am sharing information about these communities, bear in mind that if walking distance is important you will need to check it out for yourself to be sure.
There is a neat web tool that allows you to gain an idea of walkability. I talk about it in the first of my walkable neighborhood series articles - it's called a WALKSCORE. You simply enter an address and it will calculate a score based on proximity to a variety of amenities (plus you get the distances to those amenities so you can sort of judge for yourself). Being close to one store will not get you a high walkability score - what is more important is general walkability to a range of amenities and services.
I am continuing to add communities to my walkable neighborhood series, but here are the first few. And if I can provide more information, please let me know. Or stop by the search page on my website and search for homes in the MLS (the link is BELOW). Grab a few and enter the addresses into Walkscore to see how it works. Or use your own address. have fun, and happy searching.
If I can provide more information about Del Mar, Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.
Market Conditions - I provide monthly market reports on communities like Carlsbad, Encinitas and Cardiff but can customize reports for you for any North County San Diego community.
MLS listings
Photos - My Carlsbad Video and Photobloggery which I update regularly has plenty of photos and videos about the area to give you a feel for the San Diego lifestyle.
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I have had a good number of buyers who are relocatin
g here and want to be within walking distance of amenities such as shopping, restaurants, services, and the public library, among other things.