Hadley Home Team Current Real Estate Listings

August 30, 2011 By

Current Hadley Home Team real estate listings are shown at the bottom of this page.  

In June 2011, the Hadley Home Team joined Real Living Lifestyles.  At Prudential California Realty, our team was ranked 4th in number of transactions for the first part of 2011.   Our new office address is as follows: 300 Carlsbad Village Drive #223, Carlsbad, CA 92008.  We are in the Carlsbad Village Faire, right behind the Ocean House at the corner of Carlsbad Village Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard. At the Hadley Home Team we provide our clients with 11 experienced agents to serve you efficiently and competently. We at the Hadley Home Team are enthusiastic, positive and possess the exceptional skills required in listing or selling your home. If you are purchasing or selling property in Carlsbad, La Costa Valley, Encinitas, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Valley Center, Fallbrook, Bonsall and any of the surrounding communities in San Diego North County, make the RIGHT choice and contact the Hadley Home Team. Members of the team include Sandi Hadley, Don Reedy,  Joe Post,   Jim Johnston,  Jean Beck,  Chris Parnell, Bonnie Maloney,  Eileen LaRosa, Nadia Donnelly, Donna Fisher, and yours truly, Gary Harmon.  To buy or sell San Diego North County real estate, contact Gary Harmon.Hadley Home Team current listing are as follows:[idx-listing mlsnumber=”110039426″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110032452″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110035122″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110035767″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110034656″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110045240″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110038416″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110045555″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110032653″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110034687″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110032636″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110013721″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110026168″ showall=”true”][idx-listing mlsnumber=”110032456″ showall=”true”]

[idx-listing mlsnumber=”110037799″ showall=”true”]

[idx-listing mlsnumber=”110041961″ showall=”true”]

Filed Under: Gary's Team Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fasest Growing Real Estate Brand

August 9, 2011 By

Real Living Lifestyles is proud to be a part of the Real Living franchise. Real Living is the fastest-growing real estate brand in the United States in terms of net office growth. Real Living in San Diego North County is expanding, hiring top agents, like the Hadley Home Team, and providing advanced real estate support that is improving our business in a very real way.   Real Living has also put together a top Real Living Lifestyles management team.

Real Living Lifestyles is proud to be a part of the successful franchise system of Real Living Real Estate and parent company Brookfield Residential Property Services.  While many San Diego residential real estate brokerages have been closing offices and losing agents, the Real Living Lifestyles brand stands out as an extreme example of success and progress.

Since 2009 Real Living has opened 265 new offices. We now have 425 real estate offices and 10,000 agents through out the country. “It feels wonderful to be a part of this real estate movement,” said Real Living Lifestyles President Steve Rodgers. “We are making a big impact in the San Diego North County markets and as a global network. It’s about staying positive, staying focused and giving people more than they expect.”

Here in San Diego we have 8 offices and over 450 professionals. My office is located in the Carlsbad Village Faire. For North County real estate information, contact Gary Harmon, your Real Living Lifestyles Realtor.

Filed Under: Real Living Lifestyles Tagged With: , , ,

Quick Facts about Mello-Roos

August 4, 2011 By

How is community funding provided?

Let’s say for example, that plans for a new Carlsbad school are approved in your Community Facilities District. To finance the San Diego school, tax-exempt municipal bonds are issued. These public bonds are repaid (or secured) over an extended time through the levy of a special tax (Mello-Roos) on properties that benefit from the facility. This tax is usually added to the annual San Diego North County property tax bills (over a 20-25 year period) of residences within the CFD.

How Much Will be Assessed?

An adopted formula that relates to the size of the San Diego North County home (square footage or lot size) is used to determine the amount of an individual assessment.  In general, the special taxes and assessments do not exceed 1% to 1.5% of the market value of new new homes. Moreover, the total amount of all annual taxes (including property tax) usually does not exceed 2% to 2.5% of the North County home’s market value.

Can my Mello-Roos increase?

This special tax on your North County home can increase only at a maximum rate of 2% per year over a 25 year period. On the other hand, it’s possible that this tax will decrease.

Can I choose how to pay for Mello-Roos?

Yes. As already mentioned, the special assessment can be added to your San Diego property tax bills until your portion of the tax is paid off. A schedule of maximum special tax payments over a period of 25 years is available to San Diego North County home owners prior to the close of escrow.  Those who purchase a new North Country home also have the option to pay for their Mello-Roos tax in it’s entirety at the time they buy. However, because statistics indicate that the average homeowner in California moves every 7 years, it’s often prudent to spread the payment over time.

Find out more about Mello Roos in San Diego North County by reading “How to Avoid Mello Roos.”  To get more info, contact Gary Harmon, your Real Living Lifestyles real estate agent.

Filed Under: North County Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Carlsbad Mineral Water – Carlsbad Real Estate History

July 14, 2011 By

As mentioned in an earlier blog, just to the west of my Real Living Lifestyles office is the Ocean House.  To the east of the our Carlsbad Village Faire office is the old Carlsbad railroad station.  Probably the most historic site is one block to the north, the home of Carlsbad Mineral Water.  A plack and statue marks the sp0t. 

In 1882 John A. Frazier chose to settle on a farm in the Carlsbad real estate area and named it Frazier’s Station.  Carlsbad Mineral Water was discovered when he drilled a well for his farm near the beach.  He had dug a well for his water supply, but discovered that the  water cured a stomach ailment from which he had suffered for years.   Intrigued, he sent samples of the water to two independent testing laboratories in New York and Chicago.  The results showed his water was chemically very similar to the water from the famous Sprudel Well Number 9, Karlsbad, Bohemia (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic).  To celebrate this fact, the name of the area was changed from Frazier’s Station to Carlsbad, California.

One of San Diego North County’s real estate booms was happening at the time, and Capt. Frazier platted his farm for the new city called Carlsbad, California.  He also started bottling his water and selling it across the nation as (The American) Carlsbad Mineral Water.  He built a huge Victorian hotel beside his original well, and people came from all over the world and included at least two U.S. presidents enjoy the mineral water for drinking and for bathing, just as they would in the European Carlsbad.  Just down the street to the south of the well was one of the famous “Twin Inns”  which is now the Ocean House, another giant piece of Carlsbad Real Estate history.

The real estate boom of the 1880s crashed, but Carlsbad’s mineral water continued to be popular until the Great Depression, when the well was abandoned because the owners lacked the funds for maintenance.

The well was lost until it was rediscovered in 1955 by Kay and “Chris” Christiansen. The Christiansens wanted to restore the well and revive the mineral-water business, but for various reasons they could not do so.  In 1991, Kay met Ludvik Grigoris, who became interested in helping her with her dream. Ludvik had been born in Karlovy Vary, when it was in Czechoslovakia and under Communist rule.

From 1993 to 1995, Ludvik and his wife Veronica worked at restoring and redrilling the well. By this time, Ludvik had been instrumental in forging a sister-city relationship between his birthplace of Karlovy Vary and Carlsbad, Calif. In late 1995, the mayor and city council of Carlsbad, along with an fficial delegation from Karlovy Vary, officiated at the formal re-opening of the Carlsbad Mineral Water Spa. In June 1996, Carlsbad Alkaline Water™ finally, ­after an absence of 60 years, ­once again became available to the public.

I am going to bring me a gallon bottle and two quarters and give it a try.  Drink up, to Carlsbad real estate history.

See Carlsbad real estate and other San Diego North County real estate, contact Gary Harmon, for your best move!

Filed Under: General, North County Tagged With: , , , , ,

Best Time to Invest – San Diego Real Estate

July 14, 2011 By

Don’t Miss Out!

Prices in San Diego North County are low.  Interest rates are low.  Don’t let the poem below describe you.

I hesitate to make a list of all the countless deals I’ve missed;

Bonanzas that were in my grip – I watched them through my fingers slip;

The windfalls which I should have bought, lost because I over thought;

I thought of this, I thought of that, I could have sworn I smelled a rat;

As I thought things over twice, another grabbed them at the price;

It seems I always hesitate, then make my mind up much too late;

A very cautious person I, and that is why I never buy;

At times a tear drowns my eye for all the deals I let pass by;

And now life’s saddest words I pen – If only I’d invested then!

                              Author Unknown

Don’t sit on the sideline in the great San Diego North County real estate market.  Contact Gary Harmon, your North County Realtor.  Let Gary’s 22 years of experience help you get the next great real estate deal.  See  “Homes are currently 24% under priced.”

[idx-listings city=”San Diego” minprice=”300000″ propertytypes=”335″ orderby=”Price” orderdir=”ASC” count=”25″ showlargerphotos=”true”]

Filed Under: North County Tagged With: , , , ,

Homes are Currently 24% Underpriced

July 3, 2011 By

Lowest in Over 35 Years

This summer, qualified San Diego buyers – those with excellent credit and with funds available for down payments – couldn’t be in a better position to buy a North County home.  According to experts, prices have overcorrected to their lowest since 2002. Since 2006, prices have fallen 33%, greater than the 31% decline recorded during the Great Depression. Using historical wages to home prices, Capital Economics’ senior economist Paul Dales says that housing is currently 24% underpriced – the lowest in 35 years. That translates to the best affordability in decades, and an end in sight to the housing malaise, he says.

Across the US

In the latest existing home price survey from the National Association of REALTORS, the national median existing-home price for all housing types was $163,700 in April 2011, 5.0% lower than in April 2010. Distressed homes, which sell at a discount of approximately 20%, were 37% of sales, up from 33% a year ago.  Foreclosures, which have pressured both prices and real estate appraisals for non-distressed homes, are still high but leveling off. RealtyTrac says that U.S. foreclosure filings were down 9% in April 2011 from March, and down 34% from a year ago.

Across California

Like the rest of the nation, California home sales also declined in April 2011 from the previous month, but were up 5% over a year ago. And, unlike the national trend, home prices actually increased.  The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold in California rose 2.5% in April to $293,570, up from a revised $286,510 in March, according to the California Association of REALTORS (C.A.R.).  Yet, despite improving conditions, the Southern California housing market is trending softer, with sales volume the lowest April sales recorded in three years. In Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and Orange counties, sales volume drifted 5.5% lower than March, and 9.2% lower than the previous year, keeping in mind that sales in April 2010 were being heavily stimulated by federal and state tax incentives.

Advice for San Diego North County Buyers

The biggest hurdle for San Diego buyers today is creditworthiness. To compete against cash buyers and to take advantage of unprecedented affordability, North County buyers should get their finances in order quickly. Contact HomeServices Lending, one of Gary’s winning team,  for preapprovals now, so that glitches in credit reports that impact credit scores can quickly be resolved.

Advice for San Diego North County Sellers

With continued competition from distressed North County homes, it’s more challenging for sellers to get top dollar for their San Diego homes.  San Diego North county sellers should carefully analyze their equity position before they price their home for sale. Lenders will work with sellers who are “short” or owe more than their homes will sell for in the current market, but the process may be lengthy. Contact Gary Harmon, your North County real estate expert for a comparable sales analysis before pricing your home for sale.

Filed Under: Market Statistics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

San Diego Beach Safety

July 2, 2011 By

This Fourth of July is  a great time to enjoy San Diego North County beaches.  However, the first rule is to always be safe.  Beach safety can be broken down into water safety and avoiding sunburn. 

Beach and Water Safety

  • Learn to swim before you go to the beach (teach you children)
  • Never go in the water alone
  • Swim near a lifeguard station
  • Supervise children closely, even when lifeguards are present
  • Know which adult is watching
  • Don’t rely on flotation devices, such as rafts or inner-tubes. These can turn over.
  • Call or wave for help if you get in trouble.
  • Do not swim while under the influence of  drugs or alcohols.
  • Swim parallel to shore if you wish to swim long distances.
  • If you get caught in a rip current, swim parallel and with the current until you get out.
  • Report hazardous conditions to lifeguards.
  • Stay clear our coastal bluffs, they can collapse and cause injury.
  • Never turn your back to the ocean.

Safety from the Sun:

Many more San Diegoians will be injured by sunburn than anything else this Fourth of July.  Follow the following safety tips:

  • Limit outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
  • Wear a good pair of sun glasses to ward off the sun from your eyes.
  • Wear a hat to protect your head.
  • Be extra careful on cloudy days, you may receive a “surprise sunburn.” 
  • Some drugs & cosmetics — Tetacycline, diuretics, major tranquilizers — may increase susceptibility to sunburn.
  • If you are among those likely to burn, use a sunblock with a PF of 15 or greater.  I suggest above 40.
  • Apply sunblock at least 15 to 30 minutes before venturing out into the sun and re-apply at least every hour.
  • Re-apply more often if you are perspiring heavily or going in the ocean.
  • Use sunblocks with higher PFs on areas that need extra protection like the tip of your nose, your ears, your collarbone, the tops of your feet, and your shoulders.
  • Do not use sunblock on your lips. Instead, use only sun protection products designed specifically for lips.
  • Always, keep all sunblock and sun medications away from your eyes.

And the most important rule to be safe and have a great time at our San Diego beaches, is always use common sense.

To find great San Diego North County real estate deals, contact Gary Harmon, Real Living Lifestyles.

Filed Under: North County Tagged With: , , , ,

Correct Way to Display the American Flag

July 1, 2011 By

There is a right way and a wrong way to display our country’s flag here in San Diego County, which stands for America and represents the people who risked their lives for it.  Here are some of the correct ways to display the American flag:

  • In the morning, raise the flag quickly. At night time, bring it down slowly.
  • If you’re going to fly it at night it should have a light on it.
  • The flag should not be flown when it’s raining or when the weather is bad.
  • After a tragedy or death, you should fly your flag at “half staff” for 30 days. (Raised halfway up the pole.)
  • The American flag is always on top; any other flag, such as your state flag, are below it.
  • Never put your flag upside down.
  • Never let your flag touch the ground.
  • The flag should be flown from sunrise to sunset.
  • Fold your flag when it is not flying. Don’t throw it in a drawer or box.
  • When your flag is old and worn out, get a new one. Old flags should be burned or buried; never thrown in the trash.

Enjoy flying the American Flag in San Diego North County this July 4th (Fourth of July).  Here are two links to fourth of July things to do in San Diego in 2011:

  1. Happy Independence Day San Diego
  2. San Diego County Fireworks 2011

For great San Diego North County real estate deals, contact Gary Harmon, Real Living Lifestyles.

” Turn on your sound and enjoy Lee Greenwoods “God Bless the USA.”

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hadley Home Team – Real Living Lifestyles

June 15, 2011 By

Gary Harmon joins Hadley Home Team and Real Living Lifestyles

At Real Living LifeStyles Real Estate, the Hadley Home Team is an experienced team made up of 10 professional San Diego North County Realtors who have the unrelenting desire to deliver premium services with market and technological innovation. Gary Harmon, with over 21 years of San Diego North County real estate experience, is the newest addition to the team.

The Hadley Home Team keeps abreast of Carlsbad real estate news and regulations, market knowledge, and the latest technological advances to deliver the best results to their clients.  Whether the Hadley Home Team is your trusted listing agent or your negotiating buyer’s agent, San Diego clients are guaranteed the same commitment to superior service that would be expected of such professionals.

At the Hadley Home Team, we are not just selling homes, we are selling  Real Living LifeStyles that have earned Carlsbad the distinction of being one of the most sought after communities in Southern California time and time again. Whether you are looking for your first Carlsbad home,  vacation home, or a Carlsbad ocean view home, we will vest our clients with all the San Diego home information necessary to  make all real estate decisions. From initial consultation to close of escrow we are there every step of the way.

Today’s clients have an evolving mindset and we pride ourselves in delivering beyond expectations. By understanding current market conditions and anticipating trends, we successfully guide our clients to their real estate goals. We aspire to learn your Carlsbad real estate wants and needs, and share our market knowledge to help you in your goals.

We keep informed of all real estate news and Carlsbad market conditions, see Carlsbad homes for a continuous Altos Research market updates.  We pair that understanding with cutting-edge technology, proven marketing techniques, and the Carlsbad Spirit to deliver beyond your expectations.

To receive updated information on Carlsbad real estate news, community events and developments, or to see great Carlsbad homes for sale, contact Gary Harmon, your new Hadley Home Team Realtor.   Please feel free to surf my main website, HomeInfoSanDiego.com, to search for San Diego homes and learn more about REAL LIVING LIFESTYLES in Carlsbad, California.

 

 



 

Filed Under: Carlsbad Homes Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Pricing Your Carlsbad Home to Sell

June 6, 2011 By

Listing  Carlsbad homes for sale at the right price is crucial to their eventual sale.  Follow the tips below to maximize the chances of selling your Carlsbad propery.

If you want to sell quickly, your asking price should be very near the correct fair market value.

If your Carlsbad home is listed at a price that is above market value, you will miss out on prospective San Diego North County buyers who would otherwise be prime candidates to purchase your Carlsbad home. If you list at a price that is below fair market value, you will ultimately sell for a price that is not the optimum value for your North County home.

By pricing your Carlsbad property at market value, you expose it to a much greater percentage of prospective San Diego buyers. This increases your chances for a sale while ensuring a final sale price that properly reflects the market value of your North County home.  Generally, the price should not exceed the value by more than 5% or potential buyers may not even make offers.

For example, if you price your Carlsbad home at fair market value you will get 60% of Carlsbad buyers looking at your home.  If you price your Carlsbad home 15% below fair market value, you would get a potential of 90% of potential Carlsbad buyers look at your property.

Here are a few things to keep in mind about pricing:

  • Realistic pricing your Carlsbad home will achieve maximum price in a reasonable time.
  • Your cost or profit desire is irrelevant; the San Diego North County real estate market determines the price.
  • The cost of improvements are almost always more than the added value.
  • Carlsbad houses that remain on the market for a long time do not get shown.
  • A Carlsbad house that is priced right from the beginning achieves the highest proceeds.

To price your Carlsbad home correctly you need professional real estate help.  Contact Gary Harmon, your Carlsbad Real Living Lifestyles Realtor.  Gary will provide you with a comparative market analysis of your home.  You will no longer need to guess.  With proper pricing, your Carlsbad home will sell fast and for the most money.

Filed Under: Carlsbad Homes, Sellers Tagged With: , , , ,
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