Jumbo Loans are Back with a Bang to Fuel the Luxury Real Estate Market

by Selena Cowell
Is the luxury real estate market on the mend? Home sales and prices are gradually rising in those places where the wealthy would like to plant their mailboxes–such as Chicago’s North Shore, the San Francisco Bay area, the haute Hamptons and the Rancho Santa Fe and La Jolla areas near San Diego.

According to recent reports,  national sales of properties in the  $75,000 and $1 million range are up by 38.7%  compared to a year ago. Meanwhile,  properties priced over $million are up by 25.7%, according to the National Association of Realtors. The good news is that the luxury real estate market is being driven by another resurgence–the jumbo mortgage loan.

These loans are typically over $417,000, the usual limit for qualifying by agencies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Jumbo mortgage loans are gradually coming back to the market after they all but disappeared in the wake of the credit crisis of 2008. Although most lenders had stopped making new jumbo loans, they’re back in the market again.

Presently, the credit markets are comparatively stable and the lenders who lend such big loans to the most efficient homebuyers now see that jumbos are one of the most profitable ways of making money with the low cost deposits. The secondary market investors are starting to regain their taste for the high-yielding loans. The jumbo mortgage loans are being offered at interest rates that are barely higher than those offered by the conventional mortgage loans.

If you’re about to take out a jumbo mortgage loan, you should first calculate how much you can borrow before striking the final deal. The jumbo mortgage market might fare better than the overall mortgage market throughout 2013. Our preferred lender for jumbo mortgages in San Diego is WJ Bradley Mortgage in La Jolla–and Jenny Nguyen, who can be reached at either 858-877-8008 or858-799-0747, If income and/or assets are no barrier, you should have no diffiulty in finding mortgage loans up to $10 million-or more.

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Making Your Home Look Luxurious Without Breaking the Bank

In new home purchases, these are often called “upgrades,” and they can run into thousands of dollars.

For those who can’t afford a total remodel or who prefer not to spend a ton of money trying to make the home more luxurious, here are a few things that can be done that won’t break the bank.

1. Get rid of clutter and clean
One of the easiest ways to make your home look more luxurious is by getting rid of things that you either do not use or no longer need. Items strewn about make a space look busy, cluttered and dirty. Try organizing and throwing things into boxes and baskets for safe keeping. By removing these unnecessary items you not only tidy the space up and make it look bigger but make the space look more inviting and luxurious. It is also important to keep the room clean by dusting, vacuuming or mopping on a regular basis which not only will make your space look cleanly but will facilitate keeping the clutter at bay.

2. Lighting
This is another simple and inexpensive way to upgrade your home. Harsh lighting can wreak havoc on a room. Switching all lights to dimmers not only softens the light and lets you control the amount of light in a room, but can make the entire home feel richer and luxurious. Also consider pendant lighting over islands for a fresh update. And while at it, you might also change out the white plastic switch plates for something such as brushed nickel or something artistic for a more sophisticated look.

3. Laminate and vinyl flooring
One of the most sought after luxury home features is hardwood or tile flooring. Buying genuine hardwood and tile can be quite expensive. If this is still the look that you are going for then there a couple options that are much cheaper. Laminate and luxury vinyl plank flooring is easy to install and come in a number of synthetic wood stain and tile types. These flooring types are both more resistant to damage and easier to take care of than those of genuine nature.

There are also numerous other relatively inexpensive ways to make your home look more luxurious but these three are some of the best.

Article contributed by Ashley

The post How to Make Your Home Look More Luxurious (Inexpensively) appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

by Roberta Murphy

We have noted a decided uptick in our own luxury real estate market in San Diego.  Home shoppers from Europe, Canada, Mexico, Asia and the United States seem to have collectively decided that now is the best time to invest in coastal San Diego–in communities ranging from Coronado and downtown San Diego to La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe.

Apparently, this is a growing trend, as can be seen by this infographic that shows recent luxury home trends throughout the United States.  Anecdotally, we are hearing the same from luxury real estate brokers in Florida, Colorado, and other states.

As you can see, biggest gains in luxury home sales occurred in the Western states, followed by the Noetheast, the South and trailed by the Midwestern states.

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There may be lots of dismal news about the real estate economy, but there is still lots of interest in the luxury home market–and curiosity about the most expensive zip codes for median home prices.  Ever on top of these things, Forbes.com has compiled a list of the top 500 zip codes in the country and which certainly reach beyond the dominating states of California and New York.

The top 25 most expensive zip codes are controlled by California with 13 and New York with 10. New Jersey and Maryland each have one. Money and wealth, it seems, appear to gravitate toward the West or East coasts.

In the list below, cities are zip code specific and median prices are shown. Note that in some cases ranking may be separated by only a few thousand (or hundred) dollars.

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Most of us appreciate the earthy luxury of a true wine cellar and also see the value of repurposed materials emerging as elements in our homes. But how about a slice from the best of both worlds and have rich wood flooring crafted from old California wine barrels?

I’ve seen serving trays and other novelties emerge from wine barrel tops, but hardwood flooring from the actual wine barrel offers some beautiful possibilities. Fontenay Woods is likely the original source of reclaimed barrel flooring, and handcrafts each plank for custom installation.

Their Vintage Barrel Collection includes three wine barrel sources:

• The Cooperage comes from the outside of the barrel head and displays deep patina, cooper’s stamps and special markings.
• The Wine Infusion represents the inside of the barrel and retains rich infused coloring from aging red wine.
• The Stave displays the outer sides of the barrel where the hoops have been removed–and provides further pattern interest.

Their goal, says Fontenay, is to provide an elegant product that “is guaranteed for life.”

Now, how to recycle all the wine bottles–with least processing possible?

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A couple of years ago we were buzzing about the possibility of Slumburbias–where Baby Boomers were abandoning cul de sacs, suburbs and the McMansions battled for a decade ago. Instead, they wanted something smaller, something in a walkable neighborhood, something that didn’t require 100 square feet devoted to lawn mowers, clippers and tools.

They still long for the freedom to lock and go, the freedom to travel, the freedom from having to care and climatize square footage they don’t even visit for weeks at a time. Kids have either moved on or are hanging on and something without a grand staircase sounds mighty inviting to knees that remember prior injuries.

Today, CNBC reports that the McMansions, Starter Castles, Garage Mahals and Faux Chateaus–or whatever you want to call them —are history. These days, few are seeking 4000 square foot  two-story boxes that sit 15 feet from their neighbor’s Plan II Tuscan with 3800 square feet–each with granite and stainless kitchens, epoxied garage floors and mind-numbing sameness. The article goes on…

Just 9 percent of the people surveyed by Trulia said their ideal home size was over 3,200 square feet. Meanwhile, more than one-third said their ideal size was under 2,000 feet.

“That’s something that would’ve been unbelievable just a few years back,” said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder of Trulia. “Americans are moving away from McMansions.”

We are seeing much the same in our San Diego real estate practice. There is great demand for single story homes, neighborhoods where one can walk to a store, where life can be simpler and more easily managed.  And, of course, it also helps if this downsized San Diego home has the luxury of sitting on the beach–or fronting the golf course at La Costa, Fairbanks Ranch or Rancho Santa Fe.

You may also wish the read:

7 Bargaining Secrets for Luxury Home Buyers

Homes for Baby Boomers: What Do They Want?

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Yesterday, good friend and Sacramento real estate broker Gena Riede declined to take a $2 million listing in Whitney Oaks–located in Rocklin, just outside Sacramento. The home has magnificent views, is in a fine golf course neighborhood, and offers over 7000 square feet of potential living area.

This was a listing appointment that Gena had prepared for in detail. She had reserved space here for an article about the property, had made arrangements for us to leave information about the home with top luxury brokers in Northern Europe when there later this month, and had a professional photographer on stand-by.

Gena leaves little to chance.

The floor plan, unfortunately, turned out to be a bit illogical with unspecified rooms at the entry level and an enormous living room and foyer upstairs.  The master bedroom was surprisingly small with an adjoining bath that was surprisingly large with sink perched on black-lacquered 2×4’s. There were gaps in drywall around electrical outlets and cracks at drywall joints. The general impression was one of an unfinished home.

This, in short, is NOT a luxury home. It is a project-in-process that demands to either be either professionally finished–or sold to someone who can see it to completion. And given that other smaller and finished homes have sold in this fine Sacramento neighborhood for less than $1 million, it is an improbability that this unfinished property will sell at a luxury home price.

Gena Riede is Sacramento’s premier luxury real estate broker–and is willing to professionally represent true luxury homes in the Sacramento real estate market. She can be reached at 916-417-2699 or at gena@genasell.com

Advice to luxury home sellers: Make sure that your home and it finishes match luxury home standards in your community and neighborhood. Don’t expect the potential buyer of your home to finish it for you.

The post Sometimes a Luxury Home Just…Isn’t appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Soak the Rich?

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that millionaires are fleeing their luxury homes in New York to establish residency in less-taxing states. As a result, New York is receiving far less revenue than was expected from the wealthy since these wealth taxes were enacted last April.

Call it the law of unintended consequences.

To be fair, many of these losses come from scaled-back salaries and layoffs on Wall Street, but more than a few may be packing up and moving to more tax-friendly states such as Florida, Nevada and elsewhere–and are taking jobs with them. It is reported that billionaire Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano who was paying $13000 a day in New York income taxes has moved to Florida. With him go 5000 jobs from Paychex, the Rochester, NY payroll processing company he owns. Rush Limbaugh has also given up his Manhattan home to escape excessive taxation.

Donald Trump tells Fox News that a number of his millionaire friends are also thinking of bailing from New York because of excessive taxation. Says AP:

“States also realized that having a higher tax rate than their neighbors would cost them talent, lose jobs and hinder economic growth, the foundation reported in May after Hawaii joined Maryland, New Jersey, California and New York to adopt a “millionaire’s tax.” New York, for example, has been careful not to raise its highest rates above New Jersey‘s, according to the foundation.”

In California, millionaires and job producers are already being heavily courted by Nevada, a state that is seeking to grow its employment base and fortunes with its minimal taxation and business-friendly environment: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pDKoX0uTwM[/youtube]

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Where are the cushiest prisons?

And wouldn’t you know, Forbes.com provides a timely list of the top-rated federal prisons. They looked for such amenities as email, proximity to major airports, weather and internal substance-abuse programs, a sentence-reducing ploy used by non-addicted white collar criminals. Other qualifiers for the luxury prison list include pleasant guards, air-conditioned off-site employment, vocational training and weekend family visits.

Madoff’s first choice (though not at the top of Forbes’ list), was the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, N.Y, which serves Kosher food and is closest to his family.

That was not to be the case, though.

Madoff was instead sentenced to Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, which ranks 9th on Forbes’ list.

Top rated? The Alderson, West Virginia Federal Prison Camp where Martha Stewart served her sentence. Others include:

• Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, Florida

• Federal Prison Camp, Yankton, South Dakota

• Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan, Oregon

• Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis, Tennessee

• Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, CA (women’s facility)

• Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Kentucky

• Federal Correctional Institution, Buttner, North Carolina

• Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, New York

And for what it’s worth, there are a total of 115 federal prisons in the United States.

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Luxury Home Digest is neutral politically and generally focuses on luxury homes and real estate issues.

But with a journalism background, there are several things I abhor–including mean-spirited personal attacks, hackers, shoddy reporting, and abuse of publishing power.

Not that we expect great things from grocery store rags like US Weekly, National Enquirer and Star Magazines, but I think we expect more from the glossy mags than the cheapie newsrags. 

It turns out that Jann Wenner, who also publishes Rolling Stone Magazine and has a decided political bent, approves of misleading headlines and the yellowest of journalism–as long as it targets those with whom he disagrees.

And US Weekly appears to be his latest yellow convertible.

Sure, Sarah Palin has a pregnant daughter–and had some issue with a former brother-in-law and his dismassal from Alaska law enforcement.–or some such thing.  

But lies and scandals?

After intense questioning, the editor of US Weekly acknowledged today that the “Lies” they had headlined dealt with the lies being spread by Sarah Palin’s political opponents–not prevarications being spread by Palin, McCain or anyone close to her.

Shame on US Weekly.

And shame Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine–a former favorite.

Better to protray the truth, that twist your own lies and purposes into attention-grabbing headline$.

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