The Z Team on Ventura County Real Estate

The 42nd Annual Great Auction fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Ventura will be held at the Marriott Ventura Beach on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 4:30pm.  The theme of this year's fundraiser is "Step Up for Kids - Our Stars of Tomorrow".  Attendees will be able to participate in live and silent auctions of great items that have been graciously donated by some great companies.  All proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the five Boys and Girls Clubs in Ventura, Saticoy and Oak View.  You can reserve an individual seat for $150 each or get a whole table for $125 per seat.  Donations for the live and silent auctions as well as sponsorships for the event are still being accepted.  For more information on tickets, answers about the event or donations, please contact Amanda at 805-641-5585 or visit the Boys and Girls Club of Ventura's website. 

Dave and Pat Zumbrun, the Z Team for Ventura real estate

California's Buyer's Choice Act (Assembly Bill 957) was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 12, 2009.  The Buyer's Choice Act prohibits the seller of a property acquired through foreclosure to require a buyer to purchase title and escrow services from a company of the seller's choice as a condition to receive offers or sell the property.  That doesn't mean that the buyer can't accept the seller's recommendations for a company for their title and escrow.  The seller just can't make it a required for the sale.  This new law only applies to residential properties that are improved by four or less units. 

Penalties for violating California's Buyer's Choice Act are that the seller is liable to the buyer for three times the amount of all charges made for the title insurance and/or escrow services.  In addition, the seller will be considered to have violated their licensing law.  However, a sale cannot be set aside solely because this law has been violated.  California's Buyer's Choice Act will remain in effect until January 1, 2015, unless it is extended by the Legislature.

Why was California's Buyer's Choice Act put into place?  The government felt that the troubled real estate market created a situation where the majority of homes available for resale were in the hands of the foreclosing lenders, which created a high potential for unfairness and abuse by sellers on foreclosed homes.

If you have any questions about Ventura County foreclosures or need help with your Ventura real estate, please contact the Z Team.  We are always happy to help.

Dave and Pat Zumbrun, The Z Team for Ventura County real estate

Loan modification gets a modification in California.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 94 on October 11, 2009 that prohibits anyone from charging an advance fee for any loan modification or loan forebearance services in California.  This includes licensed real estate agents and lawyers.  What does this mean for the consumer?  If anyone, and that means ANYONE, is trying to get money up front from you when you try to modify your loan, they are doing so illegally.  If you entered into an agreement with a California-based loan modification company who demanded an advanced fee before October 11, 2009, this law does not apply to you.  However, if you entered into an agreement with a loan modification company in California after October 11, 2009 and had to pay an advance fee, the company is required by law to fully refund the fee.

If you have any questions regarding your Ventura County real estate, please contact the Z Team.  We're always happy to help.

Dave and Pat Zumbrun, The Z Team for Ventura Real Estate

You've heard of blue-collar and white-collar jobs.  Well, Ventura County is embracing green-collar jobs.  With the Governor's Global Climate Summit concluding today in Los Angeles, talk of how to help the economy and the planet at the same time is on everyone's lips.  Ventura County is trying to work with neighboring Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties to create a Green Coast Innovation Zone in an effort to both expand and create "green" jobs.  This is a big undertaking, but one well worth the efforts.  It depends on the cooperation of businesses, government agencies, schools, military and even non-profit organizations to join forces in fostering a green economy and environment.  Thanks in large part to the many universities, military establishments and large agricultural industry, the Ventura County community and the surrounding areas are in a fantastic position to make this a reality.

Dave and Pat Zumbrun, the Z Team for Ventura County real estate

Creating a sustainable Ventura County is the goal of Compact.  Compact is made up of various Ventura County governments and 10 cities, all of which have voluntarily agreed to work towards keeping Ventura County a great place to live.

Ventura County has worked hard in the past to keep a balance between growth and protecting its open spaces and agricultural community.  Compact believes the best way to balance the economy, the environment and growth is to find solutions through grassroots efforts.  Compact will be hosting meetings throughout the county to ask what issues are important to the people of Ventura County and what solutions they think will work.  Some of the questions which will be addressed are present and future economy issues, housing costs, growth issues such as transportation and traffic congestion and environmental issues.

"County residents now have a unique window of opportunity to develop a vision for our future and to
put in place a set of policies and standards for building sustainable communities that minimizes our
climate footprint, increases our food and energy security, promotes a robust economy, enhances social
equity and protects large, contiguous areas of natural habitat, wildlife corridors and working farmland."
Ventura County Star

Your opinion is important and desired.  Compact has developed an online questionnaire to discover what issues are most important to you.  Please take a few moments to participate in creating a sustainable Ventura County.  The questionnaire only takes about 10 minutes to complete.  You can actively take part in the shaping of Ventura County by attending one of the Compact meetings listed below.

Visit the Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County Website to get updates via email and to learn how to share this opportunity to create a sustainable Ventura County with others.

Compact Meeting - September
Sept 21, 1:30-4:00pm – Ventura
Ventura County Government Center
800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009

Sept 21, 6:00-8:30pm – Oxnard
(Traductores Español)
Pacifica High School
600 East Gonzales Road, Oxnard, CA 93036

Sept 22, 6:00-8:30pm – Santa Paula
(Traductores Español)
Santa Paula High School
404 North 6th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060

Sept 26, 9:00-11:30am – Thousand Oaks
California Lutheran University
60 West Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

Sept 28, 6:00-8:30pm – Simi Valley
Simi Valley City Hall
City Council Chambers
2929 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley, CA 93063

Sept 29, 6:00-8:30pm – Camarillo
Camarillo Library
4101 Las Posas Road, Camarillo, CA 93010

Planning for Ventura County
"Ventura County is known throughout California and indeed the entire west as a county that has successfully limited the sprawl-type development that has characterized much of our state, in spite of being perched on the edge of a major and rapidly growing metropolitan area.  By doing so, it has also protected most of the open space and agricultural lands surrounding its cities.  This has been accomplished through a series of policy measures over the last several decades from the Guidelines for Orderly Development in the late 1960s through the SOAR urban-growth boundary initiatives, which were adopted by the county and eight out of 10 cities in the late 1990s.  But Ventura County continues to experience the same growing population and housing pressures as the rest of the state.  (read more)

Dave & Pat Zumbrun, The Z Team, your Ventura County real estate experts

It is time for an update on the real estate market in Ventura.  I am happy to report that the Ventura real estate market is improving.  But before I give you that information, let me tell you what is happening on a national and statewide level.

Nationally, homes sale prices are up by 2 1/2%.

• Standard and Poors reports that 14 of the 20 major market areas have seen sale prices increased.
• Case-Shiller reports price increases for the first time in three years.
• Case-Shiller also reported that, nationally, prices are reversing from the downward trend and that the real estate market has fully turned the corner.
• The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) reports that resale home sales have risen for the past four consecutive months.
• The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that new home sales were also up, increasing by the largest percentage in eight years.

Statewide, the California Association of Realtors® reports that the California real estate market has not seen this much activity since December 2000.

• Home sales have been on a steady increase since late 2008.
• June sales were up by 20.1% over the same period last year.
• New home sales were up by 11%.

Ventura County sales and median sales prices are also on an upswing.

• The California Association of Realtors® (CAR) report shows the number of resale homes sold in Ventura County is up by 14.8% from a year ago.
• CAR also reported that the median sales price increased by 6.8%.

A good indicator of the strength of the real estate market is the average number of days a home is on the market before it sells.  Homes in Ventura County with prices under $600,000 are selling on an average in less than 90 days!  Homes in the $700,000 - $800,000 range are taking slightly longer.  Homes over $800,000 and up to $3,000,000 range are averaging 6 months to over 13 months to sell.

Normally, 90 days on the market would indicate that the Ventura real estate market has moved into to a sellers market.  The truth is we are not quite there yet.  Foreclosures are still affecting the market.  But, sellers are in a much more favorable position than they were just a few months ago.  One final caveat regarding days on market.  The average days a home is on the market is strongly influenced by location, condition and pricing.

Buyers, time is running out!  You need to take advantage of the current market conditions because they will not be there for long.

• If you have been waiting for the bottom of the market, it has come and gone; today's affordable pricing is already changing.
• The historic low interest rate of 4.75% is gone as well.  However, interest rates are still low (5.2%), but for how long is anyone's guess.
• The California Home Buyers Tax Credit has already used all of its allocated funds and is no longer available.
• The Federal First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit program will be ending soon (escrow must be closed by November 30, 2009).
• The inventory of homes is shrinking.  So, the choices you had a few months ago have also passed you by.

Contact us today so we can help you get into the Ventura home of your dreams today!

Dave and Pat Zumbrun - The Z Team, Ventura County real estate