Todd's Real Estate Blog

Rental Scam in Beach Area

SDAR was notified today of a rental scam taking place in the beach areas including La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach. Someone has obtained the lockbox access codes for combination lockboxes located on vacant rental properties. These are not SentriLock lockboxes, but rather, simple combination lockboxes that can be obtained from retail stores. With a list of properties and lockbox combinations in hand, the scam artists list the properties for rent on Craig's List, show the property, take a deposit and then take off with the deposit money.

Steps that can be taken to limit this type of activity are:

• Use SentriLock lockboxes on your rental properties. They require a keycard and a PIN to access them. Never give out your keycard or PIN to anyone.
• If you must use a combination box, do not share your combinations with anyone and do not put the lockbox combination in your advertising - especially not on Craig's List. Do not use the same lockbox combination on all of your combination lockboxes

By Todd Armstrong

Why are so many home buyers on the fence post?  What are they waiting for?  These and many other questions are racing through the minds of every Real Estate agent right now in San Diego.  This downward trend seems so prevalent in our market and it looks as if there will be no end in sight, but the MLS shows that people are still buying real estate every single day in San Diego.  Just last month in June, the San Diego Metro area had 59 detached homes SOLD and 123 Condos SOLD. Average market time was about 70 days.  What gives?

Buyers are simply worried about the market.  They are waiting for the prices to keep coming down.  In my opinion, prices will continue to decline because sellers refuse to price their home correctly in the first place. Unfortunately, the foreclosure rate and "notice of defaults" are fueling the declining market, but I believe the biggest factor for scared buyers is bad publicity from mainstream media.  All they want to report is negative stories about the market.  Statistics show that when the news reports something positive about the market, the real estate market responds almost immediately with an increase in the number of sales.  The media need to do their research and finally focus on stories that reflect the positive aspects of real estate ownership.

The key to getting your home sold in today's San Diego market is correct PRICING.  Sellers are still under the impression that their home is worth more than it is, even after I show them the FACTS and COMPS in black and white.  Every listing presentation I do, I have to explain that I DO NOT set the price of their home, the market does!  They all still insist that their place is better than everyone in their neighborhood.  

Nothing has changed about selling real estate here in San Diego, if you price your home correctly the first time and it shows well, it will sell quickly.  If you overprice it, it will stagnate on the market, become shop worn and then you end up drastically dropping your price later and GIVE your house away.

Todd is a professional Realtor with 8 years experience in the San Diego area.

I just had to share a great a great new service that blows the "411" info service OUT OF THE WATER!  My friend recently introduced me to a service by GOOGLE to replace 411. The best part it's simple to use and its FREE.

Simply send a text message to GOOGLE at 858-558-0244.  Type in the name of the business or person you are looking for, plus the city and state.  Within several seconds, you will receive a text message back with the Name of the business, phone number and the address.

 Hope this helps you all.  Let me know what you think.

 Regards,

 Todd Armstrong