In a Wall Street Journal blog post writer Nick Timiraos throws out some pretty appaling Real Estate statistics from the neighborhood:
In Carlsbad’s 92009 zip code, where Zillow tracks a median home price of more than $500,000, nearly one in 50 homes had received a notice of default in the 12 months ending in February, according to RealtyTrac.
Times are tough indeed.
[Link: Wall Street Journal]
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The first thing we thought of when we heard about the Battle of Aviara was what would it mean for people who owned timeshares at the Four Seasons Resort and were faced now with the possibility that their timeshare was no longer being attached to a The Four Seasons hotel.
In today’s San Diego Union-Tribune writer Lori Weisberg explores the timeshare side of the disagreement between Aviara owners Broadreach Capital and management company the Four Seasons.
“People are definitely concerned, and everyone I’ve heard from is not happy about it,” said Steve Tuttle, who owns a title company in Utah and has at various times bought 25 time shares around the country, including a week at the Four Seasons Residence Club at the Aviara resort. . . “You buy into a lifestyle that now has the potential to be seriously altered. I worry the maintenance fees may go up and access to hotel facilities could be altered.”
According to the story experts don’t exactly agree on what will happen with the timeshares if the Four Seasons leaves the property. Follow the link for the rest of the story.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
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The owners of the Carlsbad-based restaurant chain Pizza Port have reportedly purchased a building at 1956 Bacon St. in San Diego for $1.6 million, according to a story on Costar.com.
The buyers will occupy the building, which was constructed in 1989 in the Point Loma submarket. It was vacant at the time of purchase. Pizza Port has other locations in Solana Beach, San Celemente and Carlsbad.
Looks like the world is getting another Pizza Port. There can never be too many of those.
[Link: Costar.com]
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Things have apparently gotten so bad in the Carlsbadistan real estate game that local Realtors are turning to Catholic mythology for help the sell slow moving properties, according to a story in the LA Times.
Allen Meredith and Ronnie Wilson (pictured right) with the Richard Realty Group prepare to bury a statuette of St. Joseph in the yard of a house they have listed in Carlsbad, CA. . . Real estate agents are snapping up “St. Joseph Home Selling Kits” for would-be clients — in both English and Spanish-language editions. Ronnie Wilson, an agent in Carlsbad, Calif., includes the figurine in her regular marketing kit, along with “For Sale” signs and online advertisements.
Apparently, burying a statuette of St. Joseph “the patron saint of home and employment” will work wonders. Then again, most Realtors would probably take a dump in the middle of the front lawn at midnight if they thought it would help. Wonder if anyone’s tried that yet?
[Link: LA Times]
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A stretch of private land in Calavera Hills that local residents had hoped the City of Carlsbad would buy and turn into a park has been sold to Thompson Co. of Nevada, according to a story in the North County Times. And the new owner plans to subdivide the 60 acre property.
This has made a group of local residents upset enough to launch an anti-developement website called SaveVillageH.com. And they are blaming the Carlsbad City Council for not honoring the wishes of its own Open Space Committee.
For over ten years, residents around Village H and from elsewhere have done everything they can to lobby the Council and City to preserve the property. SaveVillageH.com, in its original incarnation several years ago, was a focal point for this effort (with much work by PreserveCalavera.org as well). . . .As a result, three Council members now serving who served then (Lewis, Kulchin, and Hall) all expressed a willingness to preserve the land. But despite their Open Space Committee ranking the property as tied for #2 in the entire city (as worthy of acquisition) and despite the landowner making two very low offers to the City (one reportedly only $300,000), the Council — in a legally questionable closed-door session last year — declined to buy the property.
While we believe for the most part that private land owners should be able sell their land to whomever they want it is strange that the City would pass on a parcel that they obviously had interest in. For more info, click the link.
[Link: Save Village H]
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Indiana State Attorney General Greg Zoeller today announced that he has filed a lawsuit against the Carlsbadistan based forecloser consultants You Walk Away and four other companies claiming they broke state law, according to a story on Indystar.com.
The state says the companies used deceptive practices. “We recognize there is a foreclosure crisis in the country,” Zoeller said in a news release. “Indiana has the tools in place that can help consumers avoid becoming victims of for-profit foreclosure consultants’ bad intentions.”
You Walk Away has not even received a complaint yet, according to CEO Jon Maddux. “We previously had an inquiry from them and complied with all their requests,” he said in an email to Carlsbadistan. “We believe that we are not violating any laws in Indiana.”
[Link: Indystar.com]
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San Diego Union-Tribune surfing writer Brad Melekian visits Carlsbadistan’s southern most beach in his latest column and considers the rapid changes that are coming to one of his favorite surf breaks.
As things you can park your car on go, I’d always found this particular patch of sand on the south side of the Ponto Jetties in Carlsbad to be fairly remarkable. . . Of course, it was not remarkable. It was a patch of sand. But it existed – until two weeks ago – as a place where you could park your vehicle, step out barefoot with sand between your toes, climb a small dune and check the surf.
Melekian laments (along with many of us) the changes the Ponto Vision Plan will bring and what he’ll soon see when looking back at the beach from the water. It’s not going to be pretty. Click the link to read the rest.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
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We’ve read Carlsbadistan Realtor Jim Klinge’s Bubbleinfo.com real estate blog in the past, but now a lot more people will after Klinge was written up in the LA Times as the “Hunter S. Thompson” of Real Estate.
Rather than downplay the greed and excess that caused the region’s travails, he revels in exposing them. . . . He surveys the wreckage with a pocket video camera, shooting footage of vacant, once-pricey houses turned into eyesores, voiced over with his deadpan narration. Then he posts them on his website, at www.bubbleinfo.com. . . They’re shaky, noisy clips full of coarse images and language. . . “Would you spend a million dollars for that house?” he says in one video, showing a two-story, boxy wreck with the rushing sound of a freeway in the background.
Klinge’s direct approach reportedly allowed him to sell 43 homes last year, most of the customers coming from his blog. While we’re not going to agree with the HST reference, it is refreshing to see a Realtor who at least appears to be involved in the business of selling homes.
[Link: LA Times]
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OC Register real estate blogger Jeff Collins wrote up the Carlsbad-based company Property Tax Adjusters today and mentioned that their recent direct mail piece arrived with the words “2009 Orange County Property Tax Assessment Notice” could be a little misleading.
Crosby Teague of Property Tax Adjusters said “there’s a fine line” between making a mailer that commands attention and claiming you’re from the government. . . “We clearly say we’re not a government agency,” Teague said. “Making a letter look important enough to open and read is a far cry from claiming we’re from the government.”
Collins was also skeptical of the companies ability to represent clients in “13 Bay Area and Southern California Counties.” For the rest of the story follow the link.
[Link: OC Register]
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The City of Carlsbadistan is now getting anti-power plant support from the California Department of Transportation according to a letter sent to the California Energy Commission on February 5, 2009.
As stated in the letter, Caltrans’ flexibility to construct the I-5 North Coast Corridor widening project is severely limited by surrounding land uses. The impetus is on NRG West, the power plant company, to demonstrate how the area can accommodate both a widened freeway and a new power plant. The letter also states that the I-5 widening project will remove existing landscaping and berm, creating significant visual impacts should both projects go forward.
We can’t help but laugh to ourselves at the ecological irony in the letter. This is probably the first time in our lives that we’ve wanted to make sure there was enough room to add more lanes to an already monstrous freeway. It’s almost like the pavers are the good guys if they keep another power plant out of Carlsbadistan.
Follow the jump for the entire release from the City.
[click to continue…]
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