Real Estate Supergirl

Downtown San Diego Condo Sales Statistics and Market Snapshot for 2011

So I’m pretty excited about this blog post.  Instead of finding the real estate information about statistics, sales and market reports online , and sharing it on my blog, I actually did my own research this time and calculated my own data on Downtown San Diego Condo sales, based on the MLS statistics during 2011 and how it compares to the first month of 2012!

It’s super cool, since that way everybody can check and cross reference the real numbers that I can provide, and not just listen or read about the bias opinions of the real estate agents and/or media! So here we go.

Q. How many condos were sold last year in Downtown San Diego, the whole 92101 zip code? 
A. 947.
That averages out approximates 79 sales every month. Now these numbers are not complete, since some of the new constructions sales are not all uploaded to MLS, but most of them are. This year buildings like Bayside, The Legend, Aria, etc all came really close to a complete sold out of their units. From what I know, there are only a couple left in each building that are still new sales, everything else are resale units. So I would consider this approximately 90% of the market, making a conclusion of 90 or so units selling Downtown San Diego on average ever month.

There were sales last year in 92101, starting from $95,000 studio in the Element building to $3 mil 4br penthouse in Renaissance! That is how diverse our Downtown market is, and that’s why I am a firm believer there is property here for everyone, whether it’s a first time home buyer making his first entry level purchase, or an investor that is trying to make some ROI and bank on future gain, or an affluent penthouse owner, that wants to live the good life on top of one of the gorgeous high rises, with possibly their own elevator access! ( love those!

Ok back to business:
Q. What is the average amount of days Downtown San Diego property was on the market before being sold? -
A. 90 days. 90 days is a full average of ALL the documented condos being sold.

Q. What is the the average price of the condo sold in Downtown San Diego?
A. $425,000

Q. What is the average % of the sold vs listed price? 
A. %95.5

The last factor I believe is very important to us. Why? Because for example, when one of the condos Downtown listed at the market value, and you want to submit an offer on it, this information comes in very valuable. Of course there are many factors to consider before submitting an offer, like how long has this property been on the market, how does it compare with the comps, how many interested buyers are submitting offers, etc. But one of the factors is this % figure I showed you above.  Let’s say a condo is listed at $500,000. The AVERAGE ( which obviously means it varies so don’t take it as a law ) percentage for Sold to Listed price is 95.5%, which means that you on average get a 4.5% discount in the current market. So 4.5 % of $500,000 would be $22,5000. So, let’s say you submit a slightly lower offer than that, since you don’t want to start with your highest and best ( unless it’s a competing situation of course, etc.. ), and then after counters back and forth eventually get it for $477,500.

Now mind you, those % do change in differnt price ranges. Please don’t expect to always get a discount, it just plain unrealistic! There are condos Downtown San Diego that sell for well above the list price, and it simply because they were listed for under market value from the beginning. You want examples?.. Here:

-Union Square San Diego, 2br 1b, short sale, listed for $180,000, sold in just 90 days for $190,000!
-Habror Club San Diego, 2br 2ba, regular sale, listed for $849,000, sold for $860,000!
-Park Blvd West San Diego, 1br 1b, short sale, listed for $190,000, sold for $195,000!
-ParkLoft San Diego, 2br, 2ba, foreclosure, listed for $700,000, sold for $770,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All these are sales just in the last 6 months! If you want, I could gladly provide you the detailed reports on them directly from MLS.

What’s important to note, is that under $400,000 price range, that percentage was 98.
From $400,000 to $1 m, it was 95%
And over $1 m, it was 89%.

This tells us that there are more discounts from the listing price being made in the higher end market Downtown San Diego now that in the lower end! So please adjust this information to the particular property and building you live in or looking to buy in.

Another thing is there are currently buildings Downtown San Diego that have absolutely 0 inventory!.Examples include Gaslamp City Square, both sides, the 450 J and 445 Island, currently as of today, January 30th, have nothing active that is listed on MLS! ( If you do know of a unit in that building coming up, please let me know i have ready buyers for it! ) Neither does Grande North, on 1205 Pacific Highway or 350 Ash in Little Italy!
Other buildings, like Crown Bay, La Vita and Trellis have just 1 unit for sale  each. The scarcity of inventory could dictate the prices to go up, at least on those particular sales, since there is demand for them but no supply.

Coming to a conclusion, what market were we in Downtown San Diego in 2011?.. Let’s take a look at some definition of what a buyer’s and seller’s market means, let’s say by the Redfin glossary? “A buyer’s market is one in which there are more sellers and homes for sale than buyers. Since supply is greater than demand, homes will be lower priced, making them more attractive to buyers. In contrast, a seller’s market is one in which there are lots of buyers and relatively few homes for sale, which leads to multiple offer situations that drive up prices.”

Even though we did have buyer’s market couple years ago with all that extra inventory and low prices, at this point our market has shifted significantly and stabilized, creating a strong seller’s market in most price ranges except above $1 mil. It hasn’t reflected that significantly on prices yet, but what it did, is significantly reduced inventory (supply ) and with the steady flow of buyers that we experience Downtown San Diego, (demand), I believe we will see a slight increase in prices in the next couple years.

Hope this information was helpful, and I am glad to provide you any data I used to write this blog! Please feel free to comment!

Sincerely,
Real Estate Supergirl
Khrystyna Chorna
Allison James Estates and Homes
619.808.7064
7 Horton Plaza,
San Diego, CA, 92101

http://www.youtube.com/chornarealestate

Shaving my head…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEhFfZTxJO0[/youtube]

Hi, this is a post not related to real estate directly, but at the same time it so is. At least to my relationships with my clients, my colleagues and my business in general.

On February 14th, 2012 I will shave my head.

I wanted to do it all my life and it is time for me to make it happen.

The reason I am writing about it in my real estate blog, is because I don’t want to shock people, or my clients next time they see me on the street or see a video of me on YouTube!

One thing everybody wants to know is WHY?. my friends, family and colleagues are asking me this question, and many more. So I want to answer most of them.
Do I have cancer or a relative who does? No.
Is my hair falling out? No.
Am I going crazy?. No. ( maybe, but not in that sense ).
AM I doing this for charity?. I wish, but no! I don’t think I have enough hair, plus it’s dyed so it won’t work!
And finally why NOW?.. My answer is why NOT?. If not NOW then WHEN?.. When are we going to do the things that we always wanted to do?.
And of course most importantly I am doing it to save $ on shampoo!

I am doing it for freedom. I am doing it for love. I am doing it for liberation. I am doing it because I believe in our ability to make our own choices. I am doing it because I don’t believe in standard of beauty. I am doing it because I want new energy. I don’t want to NOT do it because I am afraid of other people’s opinions, or judgements, or rejections.

Am I concerned about my career or if it would affect my business?. I have to say, yes I was in the beginning. And that was a reason I haven’t done it earlier. My business is a relationship business, I deal with clients and people I don’t know all the time. We all know how “important” the real estate agent’s look is! We see them on the benches together with the 30 year old airbrushed pictures on their websites and business cards all the time. But why?.. Why can’t we just be ourselves?. I am not saying you shouldn’t be professional. Being the best agent I can be was always and still is my priority. But I have to also honor myself and who I am and what I want. Me not having hair does not change my knowledge of inventory or punctuality, or customer service, or negotiation skills; it only changes just that – my hair. So if people don’t want to deal with me for just that one reason – then, oh well!..

And most importantly I am not saying by any means that everybody should follow, is is not a path for everybody. What I am saying is that YOU know what YOUR path is. Not me and not anybody can tell you what is the right thing to do. You have to follow YOUR heart.
I know that for other people shaving their head is not a path to enlightenment or better life or better feeling and that is perfectly OK. I just want to follow my path and inspire people to follow theirs…
Sincerely,

Khrystyna Chorna
Real Estate Supergirl
Allison James Estates and Homes
619.808.7064
[email protected]
7 Horton Plaza,
San Diego, CA, 92101

http://www.youtube.com/chornarealestate

Want to see condos Downtown San Diego, that are NOT on the market yet ?..

Hi, so i came back from the broker’s caravan this morning. For those who are not familiar with what it is, it’s a event usually done at the same place and time, once a week, when real estate agents of the particular neighborhood and area ( in my case Downtown San Diego )  get together and preview the new listings, as well as network, and share “sometimes” useful real estate and community information with each other.

I really like those, even though there are agents that hate them and think they don’t get anything out of them! In my opinion it is always good to keep your hand on the pulse of what is going on in your industry as well as know other agents, and share information! If nothing else, you could win free symphony tickets (like I did today! yaay, congratulations to me and thank you, Downtown News magazine) or gas cards, etc. But jokes aside, knowing agents Downtown really helps. If I am writing an offer on the condo and we are in the competition with 3 other offers, and we are all the same in price, who’s offer do you think the listing agent would advice the seller to pick? Somebody they know works and shows up every time and has a track history of selling in the area or an agent they’ve never heard about before?.. What ever you want to say, business IS personal and people do pick people they like to work with them or for them.

Leading on to the actual title of this article.. At times, like today for example, during the caravan, some listing agents pitch in the listings that are not yet on MLS (haven’t hit the market, as we like to say in the industry). That really does give us the agents in the meeting a huge advantage, especially in this limited inventory real estate market Downtown San Diego offers right now. As off right now,01/19/2012, at 4 pm, we have 211 active listings in 92101 zip code. Around 35 of them are short sales… I can hear from the agents left and right complaining about the lack of supply and I personally am working with 5-6 currently preapproved ready to go buyers AND realistic about the market, that can’t buy simply because there is nothing out there that fits their criteria, like the specific downtown buildings they like, etc.. So when I hear about a listing that matches one of my clients criteria and is NOT on the market yet, it is like finding a gold mine!.. You show it before  10 other agents go see it with their clients  ( if it’s priced right ) and submit 3 offers and you get stuck in the bidding war. If you do it before that happens, plus you have a relationship with the listing agent, the only biggest thing would be to agree on the price. Once you do it and both your buyer and their seller is happy, we can quickly and smoothly move on to escrow without the hold and the pain of waiting for a week or two to hear from the bank and worry if the other buyer will increase the price, etc..

The bottom line of this article is that it would be very beneficial to you if you are looking to buy a Downtown San Diego condo, or any other area, that your downtown agent is actually active in his real estate community, knows the inventory from A to Z and attends those cravans as well as has close relationships to the top listing agents so that he/she can educate on your what REALLy is available.

Some examples of the condos that are for sale but have not hit the market yet are: 1br 1ba condo in the Alta building on 6th ave, ( it’s around 653 sq ft, facing market street ), 1br 1ba at the Icon in East Village, ( around 785 sq ft ), another 1br 1ba in Palermo building in Little Italy Downtown San Diego, as well as a condo in the East tower of Harbor Club on 17th floor. Again these condos have not been put on MLS as of today but they are available to see and submit an offer on. So if you need additional information on them, please feel free to contact me,

 

Sincerely,

Real Estate Supergirl
Khrystyna Chorna
Allison James Estates and Homes
7 Horton Plaza,
San Diego, CA, 92101
619.808.7064
[email protected]
http://www.youtube.com/chornarealestate

Mayor of San Diego Jerry Sanders delivers his ultimate speech on Jan 11th! Will the City’s money problems finally end?..

On Jan 11th in his 7th and last state of the city speech, San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders vowed to “push forward till the hour he leaves the office!”

The whole spirit of the speech was very strong and positive, focusing on the past accomplishments and convincing us in the bright future of San Diego. “I’m not done here, not by any means!”, the mayor proclaimed. Except continuing his pension reforms and job-creating initiatives, he also is moving ahead on the city’s 4 biggest projects:  Qualcomm Stadium, Balboa Park, the City’s new library and the San Diego Convention Center’s expansion.

Structural deficit, that has been San Diego’s problem for decades, is expected to be removed by the end of Sander’s term! There were 1700 city positions eliminated, saving $5 m  a year, meanwhile the pension reforms, once fully implemented would save $22 m a year and retire health care reform is predicted to save $700 m in the course of next 25 years, making it the largest cost cut in the history of the city!

Other important announcements:

- Central Library has raised enough $ to complete it’s construction and open in the summer of 2013!

- Sanders and the Chargers are proposing to build the new regional multi use stadium on the intersection of 15th street and Imperial ave Downtown San Diego and the mayor has pledged he will work tiresly to make it happen and keep Chargers in San Diego where they belong. He hired a outside financial consulting firm in order to develop a plan that would not include any new taxes!

- the mayor promised to continue working toward Convention Center’s expansion, a very lucrative project for San Diego, producing $9 m additional revenue for the city in annual taxes as well as additional 7000 jobs!

- new idea of protecting and enhancing the Balboa park, by separating the cars from the pedestrians, called Plaza de Panama!

“We will be fearless and we’ll finish what we’ve started, closing the deal on civic projects that take San Diego to the next level of greatness”, the mayor said, “We can and we WILL do this. I know this because in only a few years we’ve shown the world that San Diego can overcome any obstacles on its path!”

 Mayor Jerry Sanders also thanked a lot of people, from community leaders to a regular San Diegans, who have made the city success possible.

This is awesome. I’m excited! Are you?

Real Estate Supergirl
Khrystyna Chorna
Allison James Estates and Homes
7 Horton Plaza,
San Diego, CA, 92101
[email protected]
619.808.7064

http://www.youtube.com/chornarealestate