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Carlsbad, CA Real Estate News

By Jeff Dowler, CRS, The Southern California Relocation Dude
(eXp Realty of California, Inc.)
As a prospective buyer (or even a resident) you should know about the trash services provided by the city of Carlsbad. Yes, I know it's not a fun, interesting topic, but it's an important one from an environmental perspective. And all residents should cooperate in the city's efforts to deal with all the trash we produce.Trash services are provided to residents' homes (which includes curbside recycling pickup - I have been amazed to learn that there are communities that do NOT do the recycling) on a weekly basis through Waste Management. Charges are monthly and come on the city bill that includes water usage; trash service is about $19.00 monthly.The other important thing to know about trash is the RECYCLING FACILITY and Buyback Center (entrance to the City of Carlsbad Public Works Maint...
Comments 15
By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
This is a continuation of a series that seeks to help agents improve their home photography.  Part one discusses camera backs, Part two discusses the tilt/shift lens used to take the photos in this article.  You do not have to use an expensive camera to implement most of these suggestions--I use the images from from my primary camera/lens only because that's what I use to take my photos, and I prefer to use real-life examples for these articles.  If you like this post, you might also check out the posts on Photographing Kitchens and another on Photographing Family Rooms.Photographing BathroomsOf all the rooms, baths are often the most neglected in photographs.  However, wonderful pictures of the modern retreat can portray the best in modern conveniences of a newer home.  Older homes may...
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By Jeff Dowler, CRS, The Southern California Relocation Dude
(eXp Realty of California, Inc.)
The surfing culture is a huge part of daily life here in Southern California. It's apparent everywhere you go.And where do Californians go when the surf is up? To the beach.    No one was at work today, it seems. Everyone was either surfing or out watching the surfing. The reason? Predictions of 18 foot waves, which are rare in our area. There were surf advisories last night on the weather channel, and today the surf continues to be significant.     Seems like everyone in Carlsbad, Encinitas and Cardiff was out catching the waves or parked along the beaches and hanging out at every vantage point to watch the surfing. And everyone had a camera, or their camera phone. Quite a few tripods with video cameras, and digital cameras with huge lenses.    Famous Swami's Beach in Encinitas was mob...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
We have been making full motion video home tours for about three years.  From the beginning, we decided to do "reality tv" style tours where the camera follows the agent around the home as the agent points out the important features.  This REALLY shows off the home and the real estate agent, and with remote microphones, there are no wires to trip over.   After making four or five of them, I began to get the knack of it, and now we can complete a tour with about an hour or so of video shooting.The big difficulty with doing this kind of work is stabilizing the camera.  It's one thing to plop the camera on a tripod with video head and pan the room.  It's another to have it following the agent around the home.  The latter means that you have to have some sort of stabilizing technology or th...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
This the fourth in a series about how we take our photos.  The pictures were taken with a Canon 5D, with a Tilt/Shift Lens.  If you are new to architectural photography, you might take a look at the earlier posts, and here's the quick list of the prior posts: Part 1: Camera/Tripod; Part 2: The Tilt/Shift Lens; and Part 3: Taking the photos/Editing.  I have also posted specific pieces about Photographing Bathrooms and another on Photographing Family Rooms.  Kitchen shots can often be a very important photo because of the role that modern tastes have played in making the kitchen a design point.  Special granites and other surfaces, high-end appliances and fixtures, and expensive flooring mean that the real estate agent must take extra care when displaying the kitchen.  Fortunately, there ...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
We went to the California Association of Realtor expo a few months ago where there was a vendor for postage stamps that you can create on your own.  Here's the web site: PictureItPostage.comI had previously mocked up a prototype to send to their competitor (Stamps.com) as I had been a Stamps.com user for years.  However, I decided not to buy the Stamps.com postage as I ultimately concluded that the size of their postage stamp was too small (or at least the size they allocated to the business was too small).Here's the postage example that I mocked up for myself.  This is approximately real size of the actual postage stamp.So, hey, what do you think of the design?   Anyway, here's what I like about this particular vendor and why I ordered from them. 1) You could create horizontal (good fo...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
Part TwoIf you started on this entry, I recommend that you read Part 1 first.  By special request, I have posted this to the General Photography Group and I thought it might also be of interest to the Advanced Group.  I'm relatively new to AR, so if I've mis-posted, please let me know.There are two reasons why I decided to buy Canon rather than other manufacturers for our camera equipment. The first relates to their digital signal processing technology, which is absolutely excellent. Though Canon has had a camera division for a long time, they have been manufacturing DSP (digital signal processing) technologies for a long time. Compare that to Nikon which has been, I think, primarily a camera/optics manufacturer. Here's a good example....did you know that the "engine" that drives a lot ...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
A NOTE ON COST: If you find that the cost of this sort of equipment is too high to justify today, then try to stack up a couple of listings and rent the equipment. Usually you can get a 7 day rental for the price of 3 days, and that will give you plenty of time to get used to the camera. Then, when at the home, take pictures with the rental and with your current camera and compare the results, and you will immediately understand why I posted this series. Good Luck and Happy Home Photos. We take the photography of our listings REALLY seriously, and have found that producing the best photos in the area can really help sell listings and satisfy homeowners with your marketing.  We have often been asked how we do what we do, and so this entry is intended to share some of our equipment secret...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
Recently I decided to upgrade my desktop computer that I have owned for over 2 years.  The old computer had a Pentium chipset (3.2GHz, single processor).  My brand new computer had the next generartion Intel duo-core processor with two 2.6GHz processors.  The old computer had 2GB of 400MHz memory; the new computer has 4GB or 800MHz memory.  Both are running Windows XP.  So, as far as the theoretical computations go...the new machine should absolutely smoke the old machine, right?Well, reality isn't quite what the marketing says it should be.  Overall, I'm OK with the new machine, but it was more of a lateral move to different equipment, not a huge upgrade to a 10,000 sq. ft. luxury manor if you know what I mean.  I've poked around to see what might be going on, and here's what I learned...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
For those of you who read my blog entry on Blackberry phones, you probably saw that my phone had been stolen.  Guess what...I got it back!  The fellow who had it seemed like a fairly decent chap...I don't know how to gauge these things. (Yes, he did buy my phone for a $100 from some unknown guy and he did use it for a month on my service....but he did return it instead of tossing it in a dumpster.)In order to try to track the person down who had been using the phone, we had only ONE thing - the phone records of the phone calls that he made.  So the challenge was to connect these phone numbers to people and people to addresses so that we could investigate and try to find out who had the phone.In the process of doing this, we used several different Internet lookup services: 1) Information...
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By Jeff Dowler, CRS, The Southern California Relocation Dude
(eXp Realty of California, Inc.)
  One of the things that makes a community appealing, and viable as a place to live, work and grow old, is the attention paid to the housing and services provided in that community for a broad range of residents. Towns like Carlsbad are attractive to the residents because they provide a range of housing types (e.g., for rent or purchase) and community services that address the needs of the changing population. Carlsbad, with its Smart Growth plan, is also planning for the future growth of the community and addressing not only housing issues (affordability, senior, rentals) but traffic, the environment, public transportation and much more. Carlsbad has been known for some time as a popular retirement community due to the temperate weather year round, the beaches, services for seniors, g...
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By Jeff Dowler, CRS, The Southern California Relocation Dude
(eXp Realty of California, Inc.)
Carlsbad has a number of new subdivisions, including La Costa Greens, La Costa Ridge, and Bressi Ranch. The newest real estate community, just beginning construction, is Robertson Ranch, just east of El Camino Real at Cannon Road and College Boulevard (the 55+ community of Rancho Carlsbad is across the street). Robertson Ranch is located adjacent to Calavera Hills (to the north/northeast), a recently built master-planned community centered around Carlsbad Village Drive and College Boulevard. Given the terrain, there should be some nice views, at least from some areas of the community. Robertson Ranch is in the Carlsbad Unified School District. Robertson Ranch is being constructed on land that was primarily agricultural, and the plans call for a range of housing types and densities, wit...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
If you or someone you know is thinking about selling their home, it is important to consider the use of full-motion video and DVDs. We have been doing this for years, and have gotten to the point where we own cameras, remote microphones, lights, Avid post-production systems and more.  Here are a few of the reasons we have found that having video and DVDs is so important in selling a home today.   Open House 24/7. The most critical factor in selling a home for top dollar is marketing exposure. By having full-color brochures with DVDs in the flyer box at all times, buyers can take a DVD and watch it on their TV at their convenience. A DVD makes it easy for buyers to preview your home, and, basically, means that your house is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Relieves Burden. For some...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
Thinking about living in Carlsbad, CA?  It's a great place!  That's where we relocated to when we moved from the East Coast.  However, here are some things to think about if you are new to the area. Three School Systems In many areas of the country, the school systems follow the municipal boundaries; this is not the case in Carlsbad, and there are three different school systems within its boundaries.  The Carlsbad Unified School District (“CUSD”) covers most of the city, including Olde Carlsbad, north Carlsbad, and Aviara.  The area east of the La Costa golf course is part of the San Marcos Unified School District, and the area south of La Costa Ave is part of the Encinitas Union Elementary and San Dieguito Union High School Districts.  Because of all the growth, Carlsbad may be issuing...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
Frequently Asked Questions by Investors Q: What is the cost of investor money? A: Compared to an identical loan for purchase as owner occupied, an investor loan will cost approximatley 2% in origination. (That doesn't mean you have to come to closing with 2% because you can raise the interest rate and still have a no-points, no-origination loan.) Q: Is there any relatively easy way to drive that cost down? A: If the property could reasonably be seen as a second home AND you do not require the income from the property to qualify for the loan, then you may want to talk with your loan officer about applying for a second-home loan instead of a straight investment loan. This will save you approximately 1 to 1½% in origination costs. 1031 ExchangesThe IRS passed Section 1031 to permit investo...
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By Chula Dodson
(Century 21 Seacoast)
This comprehensive Carlsbad Real Estate site presents useful information for homebuyers and sellers as well as links to great Carlsbad community information and other real estate internet sites. Find your Carlsbad home quickly by using my Quick Search Links thought out my website http://www.chuladodsonhomes.com .
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
At the NAR national conference we had the good fortune of attending a session by Barbara Nichols.  This speaker has written a book on avoiding legal liability in real estate transactions.  Click here for book info.Probably the key item in her session was the concept of proactively disclosing ALL material facts.  Since material facts are relevant to a buyer's decision, it is important to get them out into the sunshine.  So, if you know that the neighbor is crazy, disclose it to the buyer.  If you know of any water issues, disclose them.  She made a big point out of the fact that afterwards it will look really bad if you knew of a fact and did not disclose it, and it will be very easy for the buyer to say that it was material (i.e., "I wouldn't have bought the house if I had known that.")...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
Here are some thoughts by John about the buyers' needs and what he terms the Old Way and the New Way of addressing those needs. Some of these are a bit strong, but you'll get the idea. NeedOld WayNew Way You want to talk with an experienced agent about the market and the inventory of homes. You walk into a real estate office. Much like a used car lot, the "floor" agent comes over to talk to you. You don't get to pick who you talk to, and you may end up with a rookie agent. You stroll out onto the Internet. You visit a bunch of agents' web sites and get to read about the services they provide. Based on what you read and video you see, you call the agents you think are experienced. You want to see some of the home inventory. The random agent that you talk to runs a search on his/her compu...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
There's a lot of talk these days about foreclosures, reos, and defaults. In an effort to answer our client's questions about what was going on in the market, we implemented Foreclosure maps, where we take the current data and plot it on the map. This allows our clients (and us) to visually see where the foreclosures are occurring to better understand the real estate market. Here's the kind of map that I'm talking about: Note: The numbers on the pushpins show how many bedrooms for the particular property. This map is the current (as of this writing) trustee sale map (i.e., properties scheduled for sale). As soon as you see this data displayed on the map, one thing becomes immediately evident. Notice the lack of trustee sale property along the coastal area. There are a handful, but only a...
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By Margaret Hokkanen, → Carlsbad Real Estate
(SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.)
People hear a lot about the climate in San Diego, but did you know that the west part of San Diego has FOUR climate zones? Depending upon where you buy a house, there can be substantial differences in your climate experience there, and things like air conditioning can matter in one zone and not another. Here's a quick list of the zones that scientists have identified by looking at empirical temperature and humidity data: Zone Coverage Climate 1. Marine Zone The marine zone extends to six or so miles from the coast, but is characterized by being less than 400 feet in elevation. This area is dominated by the ocean, and the ocean conditions pretty much dictate what the Marine Zone is experiencing. Temperature changes are far less day to night than the other zones, there is less seasonal ch...
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