After 60 days on the market, we sold The Target House last week. We had a flurry of activity right after Christmas and then someone popped up who had actually seen it weeks earlier. Their inspector told me this week he loved the house more even after the inspection and that my quality of work was 2 levels above most renovations he sees even in the nearby pricier Alamo Heights neighborhood. I’m really going to miss this project, its one of our favorite houses. The sale wont close until the end of the month but we’ve got alot of packing to do and loose ends to tie up before we leave town. The 30-day notices were flying last week, one to our tenants in SD and another to our landlord here in SA.
It’s been a great final year for us here in San Antonio but I truly feel we are leaving at the right time. When we first got to S.A. there were tons of other California investors here rehabbing but they fled when the market here slowed and simultaneously CA started to rebound. The San Diego real estate market reached a bottom in Q2 09 and throughout 2010 saw steady home price appreciation up until July where things started to back off a tad. Depending on who’s numbers you are looking at they gained back about 3-8% of the 35% they were down from 2005 peak. I’m sure interest rates will continue to creep up in 2011 and the big lenders will continue to dribble out the REO’s for everyone to fight over but even with the Fall sales decrease I am optimistic that San Diego will hold ground throughout 2011 and then really take off in 2012 if the unemployment situation improves. Of course there is the double dip crowd that sees the opposite and anything is possible. San Diego is on sale right now, and 2011 is going to be a great year there for experienced investors. It’s a perfect storm of higher affordability, low interest rates, tons of bank owned properties that need to be fixed up, decreasing inventory levels, price increases and first time buyers chomping at the bit after waiting nearly a decade to be able to get into the market.
We had tons of fun this year sharing our adventures on the blog and attracted alot of attention doing it. This Spring my blog was voted Top 10 Real Estate Investing Blogs by Biggerpockets.com. This summer I was approached by 2 different production companies to do Real Estate Reality Shows and we completed and sold 2 big rehab high-end projects; The Neighbors House and The Target House. My killer rehab called The Hat Trick House was also featured on the front page of the local newspaper this summer which drew the attention of a local City Councilwoman who called us in to consult on urban redevelopment for the City. Our blog traffic doubled from last years numbers to over 80,000 visitors and my YouTube channel is blowing up. Happy New Year to everyone who’s followed along with us, thanks for all your comments and in less than 4 short weeks you’ll get to see a Great change of House Flipping Scenery from us, San Diego here we come!
Congrats, Tom! Hope to meet you out here in San Diego.
Congrats Tom,
Hope the closing and transition to SD goes smooth for you and your family. Can’t wait to see what future projects you get started.
Jason
Thanks and For sure Jason. We’ll attend the SDCIA meetings again and I also want to check out the new F.I.B.I. group. See you there.
Congrats Tom!!! & Good Luck in SD!!!
hi !!!!! first i want to say thank you for make people happy doing this type of program. i dont speak englesh very well but i want to express what you give me. i wish sombody there speak english because i want to explain my idea. bueno otra vez ahora correctamente, muchas gracias por regalarnos una ilusion al ver su programa, yo vivo en uruguay un pequeño pais en sud america que esta entre brasil y argentina, trabaje muchos años en miami para poder comprar mi casa aqui la cual necesita muchas reparaciones pero esa era la idea inicial, comprar algo asi para poder transformarla, el tema es que todo lo voy a hacer yo y mi presupuesto es pequeño y realmente adoro el buen gusto que tienen ustedes para reciclar las casas por eso este mensaje, necesito pedirles porfavor si me pueden dar alguna idea de como reciclar mi c! asa, le enviaria fotos para que vean de lo que hablo y para mi seria un orgullo que ustedes me ayudaran con esto, simplemente con su buena vision de reciclaje para mi seria un hermoso regalo, se que ustedes podran dibujar algo para cambiarle, les mando un gran abrazo y gracias por leer este mensaje. nos vemos !!!!.
Marcelo,
Excuse mi español… yo entienden que usted compró una casa que necesita reparaciones. Amaría ver un cuadro y darle una idea con respecto cómo proceder. ¡Enhorabuena con su nueva compra!
Hey Tom!
Awesome blog man…..good stuff! Are you a realtor as well? The reason I ask is if you are not how did you get comps from the MLS? In your opinion what is the best way to get comps from a realtor without making them do alot of work? Or get access to the MLS thru them and pull my own comps?
Thanks Tom, good luck in SD!
Pete
Thanks Pete, glad you enjoy it. We have a small family real estate company that only exists for our investing activities. As an investor it’s imperative that you have MLS access. You might want to find a realtor who understands your business and promise them multiple transactions from you and in turn tell them that you’ll need reduced commisssions. You’ll be speanding hours a day on mls not only looking for deals but running comps on non-mls deals, it’ll never work out waiting for someone else to do this for you. Realtors can appoint an assistant that also has mls access under their license number… just an idea: ) Thanks again for the comments!
Tom,
Fan of yours from Jim’s BubbleInfo with a question — who does your design work? I really like how you take old properties and give them a more modern, open feel.
TJ, I do the floorplan reconfiguring to modernize compartmentalized old houses. If I’m adding square footage (new construction) I have an architect draw plans as well. It takes a little experience to be able to walk through and figure out what to do, let me know if you need any help. Thanks for the comments and following, we are back in San Diego now, watch for a SD remodel coming soon!
ps. http://www.bubbleinfo.com and JtR rule!