Real Estate News From Jenell Fontes VanDenBos

Homes over 7,000 square feet are being appraised at a lesser amount per square foot than homes that are equally as nice with similar features and finishes. Meaning that there is a devaluation in these extremely large homes per square foot due to their size. The simple fact is that BIGGER is not apprising as more valuable on a per square foot bases. At first I was a bit surprised by this, so I went to my mom Joanna Roskowick, the appraisal expert for some clerification about this. Here is her explaination of diminishing returns in real estate appraisal. “Now, putting on my appraiser hat.... any excess or huge number square footage above the average for the neighborhood or area has what we call diminishing returns. A good example of this is when had four acres in Watsonville with most properties around us were two acres and some one acre parcel selling at $100 k. We wouldn't have been given $400k for land but $100k for one and less for the other three acres. The total m

Jenell Fontes Are the days of the” McMansions” and the prestige of owning the biggest house on the block over?   What about overextended family finances and conspicuous consumption… are they too becoming a thing of the past?   Enter the Tiny House movement…   With international attention on CNN, Guardian, Huffington Post, NBC, Oprah and PBS, the Tiny Home movement may be more than just a trend. What is a Tiny House? Ranging in size from an efficient 160 square feet to a spacious 500 squarefeet, Tiny Houses, or Small Houses, are really more of a social movement, where people are downsizing the space that they live in. The goal of living in one, advocates claim, is a simpler life. To be out of debt, living within your means, and enjoying your job. People are joining this movement for many reasons, for some it is a reality of the recent housing recession, financial and even environmental concerns… but for many, to just find more time and freedom.   Regardless, it is a growin

Jenell Fontes Could this be true and here I am with two REO Listings? Foreclosure filings are on the rise!  How will this affect your homes value?  A   new housing report shows that a  stream of new homes entered foreclosure in August as a backlog of delayed bank repossessions trickled into the desert market. There were 240 foreclosure filings across the Coachella Valley in August, up 10.6% from July, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate information services firm based in Irvine. Foreclosure activity increased 27% from last August. California foreclosures follow three steps: notices of default, scheduled public auctions and finally bank repossessions, if the owner fails to pay what is owed during default. These are called REO, or real estate owned, sales." REO 1189 N Rose Ave Palm Springs, CA 92262 Just because a home is in the foreclosure process does not mean that it will be on the market as a foreclosed  home. The banks are working with homeowners for loan mo

Jenell Fontes Great weather is right around the corner and it’s time to get outside and enjoy it.  A fantastic way to do this is to turn your backyard into a  SUPER fun outdoor space. Designing your back yard or outdoor spaces as an entertainment area will not only enhance your family's quality time together, it will also add value to your home. I'm pretty sure we all like that! To create your fun outdoor space, identify how you want to use it. Treat your outdoors and backyard as an extended living space with a purpose. Imagine how you would like to spend more time outdoors. It might be playing, relaxing, entertaining or a combination of all three. Here are a few ideas that will get you started: •     Set up seating areas with interesting art or water features to create a view.  •     Add a hammock or lounger to small spaces.   •     Add  paving stones  to define areas and pathways.   •     Make sure that your outdoor area is clean and organized and purpose

Jenell Fontes Taking advantage of the power of the sun can reduce your monthly electric bills, increase the value of your home, and make a difference in our ecological footprint.   Due to advances in solar technology and mass production of solar panels solar it is now less expensive and cumbersome to add to any home or business.    So what do you need to know when calculating if going solar is the right decision for you and your home?   It is important to calculate your yearly savings, the cost to lease or purchase the panels and the overall value and curb appeal of your home. Once you have asked the right questions and have the data, you may find that going green is a solid financial and social decision. "There is no doubt that solar adds greatly to the value of a home, as well to the quality of life for those who live there," said Renova Solar CEO/President Vincent Battaglia. "They not only enjoy the considerable savings on their utility bill each month, they

Jenell Fontes Sales across the valley are seeing another adjustment from sales volume last year…  At this point I see us leveling off at these current numbers.  I am however expecting to have a good sales season across the board as buyers realize that “it aint getting much better than this” and sellers realizing that pricing is leveling off with a slow acceleration.    Assets over 1.5M need to be priced competitively as there is a TON of competition and inventory on the market. New home builders are chomping at the bit and getting back into the game with great pricing and product.  Unfortunately, at the end of last year most of our sellers were overconfident in the market and do to a surge of sales with huge price increases they felt this was the NEW norm. Sellers were overzealous in their pricing in January 2014 and that resulted in a lot of overpriced inventory across the valley that sat through the season.   Also, seasonal buyers came in and expected to find prices wher

Jenell Fontes Welcome to my blog…  I have been excited and tentative about starting a blog for over a year now.  The focus of my blog is intended to be real estate and investment principals, “NEW” investment ideas and strategies, enhancing the value of your current asset base, What’s “HOT” and What’s “NOT”,  and keeping a pulse on the REAL ESTATE market. That being said, if every once in a while I go off on a personal rant please forgive me. In my mind having a blog is like having your own mint “soap box” and I might have the urge to pull out the megaphone and shout. I would also occasionally send accolades and kudos to those that are striving to make a difference in our world and local community. I look forward to bringing you the kind of information that I have from being in the trenches. I pride myself in my overall research to make sure that I understand my clients future and long term investment goals. I try to have an overview of their investment port