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Whenever we get out of town, we commonly are faced with a dilemma when people ask where we are from. Most people around America have never heard of San Luis Obispo County. We typically end up telling people that it is halfway between LA and San Francisco. For most, that is a good enough answer. Although SLO County residents know that this is one of the most prized places to live in the world, it is not a well known. Perhaps that is what makes makes it more special than famous counties like Napa County, Santa Barbara County, or San Diego County. Tourism is one of our biggest industries along with government and agurculture, and that is likely to remain true for years to come. It does not hurt when the New York Times does a feature story on the area.
central coast
CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures Ranks as One of Nation’s Top-Producing Brokerage Firms in RISMedia’s Power Broker Report
CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures Ranks as One of Nation’s Top-Producing Brokerage Firms in RISMedia’s Power Broker Report
(RISMedia-Norwalk, CT)— With the record books now closed for 2013, Power Brokers are pleased to weigh in on the real estate market’s second solid year of recovery. In 2013, brokers across the country paid witness to many key indicators of the housing market’s gradual return to normal, heading toward a balance that we haven’t seen since before the boom years.
This welcome balance is reflected in the statistics generated by RISMedia’s 26th Annual Power Broker Survey, the real estate industry’s preeminent report ranking the nation’s top real estate firms. According to survey results, this year’s more than 1,000 responding brokers reported a collective $896,865,166,104 in sales volume for 2013 and a total of 3,165,310 closed transactions—that’s an increase of more than $125 billion in sales volume and more than 175,000 transactions over 2012.
Each April, RISMedia highlights the Top 500 of these firms in its annual Power Broker Survey. Included in this year’s report, CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures, headquartered in Arroyo Grande, CA, ranked number 458 with 1,597 transaction sides closed last year and a total sales volume of $540,221,316.
Now in its 26th year, the Power Broker Survey has long honored the incredible business feats of remarkable real estate leaders—and brokerage firms—who continue to shape our industry.
RISMedia President & CEO John Featherston congratulated CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures for their prestigious ranking in this year’s survey. “The firms represented are the nation’s most elite brokerage firms serving literally millions of consumers with their real estate needs,” Featherston said. “2013 was a turnaround year for real estate firms across the country, as consumer confidence in housing returned and buyers flooded back into the marketplace. But there are many challenges ahead for brokers and agents, from low inventory to lingering economic uncertainty. Discerning real estate consumers will look to proven real estate professionals to help guide them toward the best decision. Being included in the Power Broker Report validates your firm’s reputation as a trusted resource for today’s homebuyers and sellers.”
RISMedia’s Annual Power Broker Report ranks firms by closed transactions and sales volume for 2013. The Top 500 rankings appear in the April 2014 issue of Real Estate magazine and online at rismedia.com. The complete ranking of all firms that meet the criteria will be available in the 2014 Power Broker Report publication, available both digitally and in print this summer.
RISMedia’s 26th Annual Power Broker Report & Survey is based on results garnered from a survey distributed via
Where do Central Coast Home Buyers Come From
Century 21 Hometown has more consumer website traffic (over 600,000 monthly visits) than any other brokerage or franchise website on the Central Coast according to Hitwise. Only Century 21 Hometown partners Realtor.com, Zillow.com, and Trulia.com have more. No other brokerage ranks in the top 10 for the Central Coast DMA, Hitwise reports. The Central Coast DMA or Demographic Market Area is defined as the stretch of the California coastline that includes Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and San Luis Obsipo County. The image to the left explains where consumers are connected to the internet when they access C21Home.com for property information. Our ability to attract buyers from beyond the local market area is a key reason why sellers choose to list their home with a Century 21 Hometown agent.
As you might imagine, most buyers for real estate on the Central Coast are local. San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande, two of the region’s largest cities account for the most significant amount of consumer traffic. Where it gets interesting is looking at the other cities in the top 10. They include, in order of traffic volume: Bakersfield, Los Angles, Santa Maria, Paso Robles, San Francisco, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and Orcutt.
“I am not surprised at all by these results,” says Century 21 Hometown Realty broker Amy Gallagher. “I review every transaction for the company and I routinely see the buyers coming in from the Central Valley, Bay Area, and Los Angles.” Central Coast is known by many to provide one of the best lifestyles in America and real estate here trades at a discount to property closer to the major metropolitan cities.
The Future Looks Bright
The county planning commissions in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obsipo Counties have taken care to manage growth. Every planned development project goes through a careful consideration process to ensure that expansion does not overwhelm community roads, school, or other population sensitive services. We have a condition whereby far more people are trying to move to the Central Coast than move away. This holds property prices stable and drives property value growth. If you would like to see our recent Central Coast Market Trends, here is a sample for the CCRMLS market area for Northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.
Free Credit Scores Abound
As a home buyer, a mortgage may play an important role in your purchase. It is a good idea to check your credit history before starting the home buying process. You will want credit hygiene to enhance your opportunity to negotiate the best possible mortgage program. A handful of credit card issuers are betting that you’d like to see your credit score every month. Discover, Barclaycard US and First Bankcard’s have started offering their 35 million cardholders free access to their credit scores.
The score they’re sharing ? called FICO ? is used by credit card issuers to decide whether to give you a charge account and what interest rate to charge you.
Discover is putting your credit score on your monthly statement. Barclaycard and First Bankcard customers will have to visit their credit card company’s website to see their score.
You don’t have to open a new credit card account to see your credit score. Credit.com, CreditSesame.com and CreditKarma.com will give you a credit score (without making you pay for credit monitoring services as some other sites do).
The score you get on those sites can be different from your FICO score and from the credit scores used by mortgage companies, auto dealers and other types of lenders.
All credit scores are calculated using information from your credit report, but each type of credit score is based on a proprietary formula devised by the company that sells the score. While different scores have different number ranges they all predict how likely you are to repay.
So if you have good credit based on one scale, you should have good credit based on another credit score’s scale, even though the two numbers might be different.
How Long Will It Take To Sell
How long will it take to sell a home is a key question asked by every seller during the listing presentation. The answer usually depends on price. If you price too high, not only will it take longer to sell, but you will typically get less money for the home than it is worth. Listings that languish in an overpriced status typically get “low-ball” offers from buyers. The longer on the market, the lower the offer. The old strategy of pricing high and hoping for the best typically yields the worst results.
The best strategy for pricing a property is pricing low. Not only will you sell the home in a shorter time frame, but the value pricing is likely to attract bidders who over bid the listing price or who will pad their bid with fewer contingencies. It sounds counter productive, but pricing below market attracts far more interested buyers and a higher sale price.
Regardless of your pricing strategy, you should know what to expect.
Most homes sell in 30 to 60 days.
This is followed by 60-90 days, then oddly, 120-180 days. 90-120 is awfully close behind.
Featured Ranch with 30 Acres on Westside of Paso Robles
Century 21 Hometown Realty has one of the most successful Ranch and Ag sales divisions on the Central Coast of California. We are grateful to be able to offer this spectacular 30 acre property. The ranch is located just three miles outside of downton Paso Robles, blending rural living with the convenience of everything that Paso has to offer, including world class dining, shopping, schools, and social activities.
The ranch itself is nestled around many fine vineyards and tasting rooms. The terrain, from level to rolling hills, is fenced and cross-fenced. This is an ideal property for vineyard development with the highly sought after # 152 Linne Colado soil type. There are gorgeous views surrounding the 1800 square foot log home with granite counter tops and Italian porcelain tile flooring. The home features a two-sided fireplace and more than 12” thick, very well insulated walls to help stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Five acres of 4 year old pomegranates are planted on drip and a seasonal creek with a natural spring is adjacent to the southern boundary. There is a barn, a horse shelter, dog run, shed, vegetable garden and plenty of area to park.
This property has its own custom website, full of information http://www.1780nacimiento.com/
To visit the MLS listing for this property with a full listing of property features, Click Here
Most Expensive Properties For Sale in San Luis Obsipo County
Next weekend, the Young President’s Organization will be having an event here is San Luis Obsipo County. It will be hosted by Ed Stevens, CEO of Shopatron, one of the county’s largest private companies with more than 100 employees, and a member of YPO. To be eligible for YPO, you must be under the age of 45 and the CEO of a company that has more than 50 employees, has a payroll that exceeds $1mm, have revenue of at least $8M, and be valued above $10M. In other words, these are the young successful leaders of our nation.
As part of their visit to the coast, they will be learning about the local wine industry and the lifestyle of San Luis Obispo County. They are sure to be inspired by the regions glorious ocean vistas discretely contained backed by mountain backdrops and the rolling hills planted with the worlds best wine, fruit, and vegetables. We are truly blessed to call San Luis Obsipo our home. As part of the tour, these YPO executives will be provided with area real estate information provided by Century 21 Hometown. Here are the 3 most posh properties that are available for sale in San Luis Obsipo County.
1. $21,850,000 – 591 Hi Mountain Road, Arroyo Grande. Rancho Arroyo Grande Vineyards. Stunning vineyard estate with about 230 Acres planted with Vines, Olives. View It here
2. $19,995,000 – 8383 Lone Palm Drive, Cambria, CA. Casa Pacifica – If you want to live like the Hearst family, you may want to consider this ocean front property offering 1000 feet of sandy beach. View It here.
3. $9,000,000 – 5225 Buena Vista Drive, Paso Robles, CA – This ranch offers nearly 350 acres of vineyards and orchards. Nearly 100 acres are planted for wine grapes, about 125 acres planted for pistachios, about 40 acres of pomegranates, and about 50 acres cleared and ready to plant your dream of deliciousness. View it Here.
4. $6,500,000 – 678 Sheehy Road, Nipomo, CA – Spectacular home approx. 8,806 sq.ft. with loads of amenities and features for those seeking the very best. The property is a total of approx. 22.8 acres. There is nearly 20 mile panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, Central Coast and surrounding rolling hills. There is an orchard with approx. 987 avacado and 481 lemon trees room left over for a vineyard! View it here.
Remember, Century 21 Hometown Realty has offices though out the central coast from Ventura County to San Luis Obispo county with more than 300 REALTORS(r) ready to serve you. We also have a Ranch and Vineyard division, a group of agents who offer a depth of understanding on areas of California Tax Law, Water, and other critical areas of these speciality properties that are critical to understand.
Paso Robles Wine of the Month – Syrah
The central coast is among the most outstanding wine regions in the world, offering the prefect conditions for producing a wide range of outstanding varietals. For those who enjoy wine, there are few gastronomic pleasures beyond tasting a wine with your feet planted in the very soil in which it was grown. This may sound somewhat odd, but you can actually smell the vineyard in the wine – it is a rich earthly smell that changes from region to region.
In addition to the bounty of wine, there is a culture of wine that is as diverse as the wines themselves. The community boasts groups of all types of wine enthusiasts. Although there are massive wineries here, producing thousands of cases of wine for international distribution – there are also far more backyard vineyards where property owners embrace their version of the micro-winery. The results are outstanding.
If you would like help selecting a property for your vineyard, we have vineyard specialists in Northern San Luis Obispo County, Southern San Luis Obispo County, and Northern Santa Barbara County to help you.
This month, one of our local wine enthusiasts is celebrating Paso Robles Syrah. Here is a great video to enjoy
Here is a search result from our website that displays some of our favorite properties, Click Here
We need more listings
Our company has grown from 100 agents to more than 300 over the past few years. You have probably see more Century 21 Hometown Yard Signs than any other local company. We have had to open offices in nearly every town on the central coast to support the growth. Century 21 Hometown Realty is currently working with more than 850 buyers company wide. There are only 994 listings available – which means that there is only about a month of inventory available. Please contact one of our offices or agents today if you can refer us to anyone looking to sell their home.
Specifically, we are looking for homes with the following criteria
South County San Luis Obispo: 3 bedroom price from 300,000 to 550,000.
San Luis Obispo: Any property that can be rented. We have investors looking for rental units to fill demand for rental housing.
Atascadero and Paso Robles: Land suitable for new home building.
Santa Maria: Condos, Duplexes, or 2 bedroom starter homes.
Arroyo Grande or Edna Valley: Luxury Homes – 3500 to 6000 sq ft or lots suitable for new homes.
Feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who may have an interest in selling their home.
San Luis Obispo Tribune honors Hometown Realty
Century 21 Hometown Realty is a humble company by nature. Like all people and companies we enjoy accolades, and we appreciate the opportunity to express our gratitude to the customers, managers, staff, and our sales associates that all contribute to our business success. As every homeowner knows all too well, the past three years have been brutal to housing. Families have lost homes. Real Estate brokerages have failed. Lenders have faced government intervention. Everyone has felt economic woe in some way and it is heart wrenching.
When the housing market crashed, our company recognized that to stay vibrant, we needed to accomplish two key strategic goals. The first goal was expansion. We recognized that we needed to diversify our market service areas. Through acquisition and new offices, we now offer 13 locations along the central coast and in Bakersfield. Our agent count expanded from 100 to 300. The second goal was to focus on delivering a wider range of home services to our customers. Hometown Realty is more than a residential real estate company today. We offer our customers access to world class services in commercial real estate, relocation, property management, and have established joint ventures to mortgage and housing related financial services. We are blessed to have so much support from our community in reaching these goals.
Hometown Realty is a Century 21 franchise. Century 21 is largest real estate franchise in the world and is operated by REALOGY, a company that operates franchises for Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Sotheby’s, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and ERA. This year, Century 21 recognized our company as the fastest growing real estate company in the world out of 7500 brokerages. In the past 3 years, the company has become one of the 500 largest brokerages in America across all franchise and independent brands.
We sincerely appreciate the San Luis Obsipo Tribunes’ article about our company which follows below.
A local Century 21 franchise has grown to 13 offices from two in less than three years, earning an award from its parent company for being the fastest growing franchise in the firm’s nationwide system.
Because Century 21 Hometown Realty was a break-even company in 2008, said CEO and Grover Beach resident Jack Hardy, “what we needed to do to survive was attack the market.”
So Hometown Realty, which at the time had offices in Arroyo Grande and Pismo Beach, approached other distressed real estate companies with offers to buy them, pare down the operations and take advantage of economies of scale, Hardy said.
In the process, Hometown Realty acquired Re/Max Ocean West with offices in Pismo Beach and Santa Maria, and South County Realty with two offices in Arroyo Grande.
It also bought other Century 21 franchises, including San Luis Properties in San Luis Obispo and Los Osos; Advantage with an office in Lompoc and two in Santa Maria; and Your Professional Choice in Atascadero.
In 2011, it opened an office in Paso Robles.
Hometown Realty has grown revenue 100 percent and earnings by 200 percent since beginning acquisitions, and is looking at buying realty companies in Ventura and Bakersfield.
Hometown Realty is owned by five partners on the Central Coast and Bakersfield, and has 300 real estate agents.
Century 21 is an international company with more than 7,500 independently owned and operated franchised brokerages in 71 countries and territories.
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/07/18/2148261/century-21-franchise-honored-for.html#storylink=cpy
Your Fair Credit Rights
We’ve all heard that many things in life are not fair. But the process of qualifying for a mortgage shouldn’t be one of them. That doesn’t mean you necessarily get the loan you apply for. It does mean that you have the right to be judged on your financial stability and credit history rather than on biases. Two federal laws, theEqual Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act, prohibit lenders from considering irrelevant information, such as race or gender. And, these laws provide recourse if you suspect lenders have run afoul of the law in rejecting your application. If the Department of Justice suspects housing discrimination, an investigation may be filed under either or both of these laws. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) was originally signed into law in 1974. It prohibits discrimination in any credit transaction, including mortgages, based on:
- race or color
- religion
- national origin
- sex
- marital status
- age (provided the applicant is legally able to form a contract)
- income from public assistance programs
- the applicant’s good faith exercise of any right granted under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, which is the umbrella statute that includes the ECOA.
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) was initially passed in 1968. It is also called Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act, and makes it unlawful to discriminate in residential real estate transactions, including buying, selling, improving, or renting a housing unit. This law prohibits discrimination on bases similar to the ECOA. When the FHA was first signed into law it was specifically to prevent unfair practices based on race or skin color. Although the law also covers other bases for discrimination, nearly four decades after its passage, the majority of FHA violations reported to the Department of Fair Housing still involve race and color.
Municipalities have also been charged with violating the FHA by rejecting building permits or by passing zoning regulations, which result in physical separation of residents by race, color. The FHA also bars direct discrimination based on religion, as well as indirect discrimination such as zoning ordinances designed to prevent the use of private homes as places of worship. In today’s housing market, a rising number of single women are homeowners. Not too many years ago, it was hard for women to get mortgages alone because lenders saw them as financially risky. But the Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to base a decision not to sell housing because of an applicant’s gender.
Discrimination based on an individual’s country of birth, or the country of birth of his ancestors, is also prohibited by the FHA. The Justice Department has taken action against some municipalities which have set up more stringent standards for certain groups to buy or build houses, as a covert way to limit the growth of those populations.
Having children under the age of 18 is not a lawful premise for refusing to approve a mortgage, according to the FHA. However, certain housing facilities may be designated as restricted to those ages 55 and over, under the Housing for Older Persons Act, an amendment to the FHA.
Discrimination based on disability is illegal in all types of housing transactions. This includes physical and mental disabilities, as well as a growing list of specific conditions. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, disability may include conditions such as blindness, hearing impairment, mobility impairment, HIV infection, mental retardation, alcoholism, drug addiction, chronic fatigue, learning disability, head injury, and mental illness. However, the Justice Department adds that “current users of illegal controlled substances, persons convicted for illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance, sex offenders, and juvenile offenders are not considered disabled under the Fair Housing Act, by virtue of that status.” The FHA prevents the use of zoning laws to hinder the residential choices of the disabled. It also demands that new multi-family construction meet the accessibility requirements within the law.
If your income includes public Social Security, pensions, annuities, child support, payments under a separate maintenance agreement, reliable alimony, or public assistance, a lender cannot refuse to include those items in your income calculations. In the case of alimony, lenders do have the right to ask you to prove that the payments are consistent. Lenders can’t require that a co-signor be your spouse. They also cannot require a co-signor if you otherwise meet the standards.
Lenders cannot discourage you from applying for a mortgage or reject your application on any of the bases prohibited by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. They can however, determine your immigration status and your right to remain in the country long enough to repay the debt.
Lenders also cannot refuse a mortgage because of the racial makeup of the neighborhood an applicant wishes to live in. It is unlawful to ask about plans to have children or expand a family. However, lenders do have the right to ask about expenses relating to current dependents.
Your Century 21 Hometown Realty agent can answer any questions that you may have about your fair rights in applying for a mortgage. Additionally, loan officers at Prime Lending are available to help you with your application.