2020 has given us a Pandemic, a few hurricanes and the craziest Housing Market we have seen since 2003-2005. Currently, there are more buyers than homes for sale which is driving the prices up. How much? So far home prices are 7% higher than this same time last year. Here in the Conejo Valley situated just north of Los Angeles is seeing good homes selling in a week and great houses selling in a weekend. Yes even during the pandemic and not just the $700k to $800k homes, we are seeing this in the $1.5mil - $2mil range as well. 

So what's driving this 2020 Real Estate Housing Market? Well, most of the population is now working from home and children are distance learning, so families now need more space in their homes. Most of the latest sales we have seeing are families moving from the city and to the suburbs looking for homes with spaces for a home classroom and office. We have also seen most buyers jump on the homes with amazing outdoor living spaces. This drive of home buying is creating a buying frenzy just like the early 2000's. 

Another factor for this surge is that Mortgage Interest Rates have dropped significantly since the beginning of 2020. Most buyers are being quoted 2.8% and lower right now on a 30 year fixed mortgage. Also, with the lower interest rate it is allowing buyers to either buy a higher priced house, or buy with a much cheaper monthly payment. For example, a $800,000 house with 20% down ($160,000) is a $640,000 mortgage which 3 months ago at 3.75% was $2,963.94, and now at today's rate of 2.8% your monthly payment will be $2,629.72 saving you over $300 a month. 

So now you must be wondering how much house you can afford? Well we have a motto that is "Live in your home and not for your home". There is an amazing article from Money.com that breaks down this question of how much home can you afford to purchase. Check out the article here - https://money.com/how-much-house-can-i-afford/

If rates continue dropping to 2.5% or lower, we could have a surge of sales during the 4th quarter raising values even faster. If you are shopping for a home and thinking, "I'll wait for the market to crash and then buy" well get ready to sit out for at least another 5-6 years. The Federal Reserve stated they want to see 2% inflation while keeping the rates at historical all time lows.  

What does this mean to you? Banks can trade money at a cheaper price and the savings are passed onto the consumer. So if your mortgage rate is higher than 3.5% or you need another bedroom, office or mini classroom, then contact us today to discuss your goals.

Best Christmas Light Displays, Trees for Sale Santa Sightings and Events

All around your local neighborhoods, families are getting ready for the holidays and decorating their homes for Christmas. Here is an interactive map with all the amazing local homes that go over the top with music syncronized lights to displays that Disneyland would be jealous of. Click the map link to see this amazing list of homes, trees for sales and Santa Sightings. 

This list will be repeated every year and we update it with the latest homes, events and sightings. We take away houses that are not active once we are alerted by the homeowner or people touring the area. We do not have dates as to when the homes are lit up each year. If you do not see your home and want it added to the list please contact us. 

Click here for the Interactive Holiday Map

There are several places to take the children to visit Santa and ask him for their wishes. One of the oldest and best is in the Thousand Oaks mall and this cute Santa Cottage is located in the Westlake Commons right near Barnes and Noble.

Getting a good tree and setting it up is when our home starts to feel like Christmas. There are several places throughout the Conejo Valley. Our favorite is still getting a tree at home depot. They will also cut the bottom for you and will trim the bottom branches if you just ask. Costco is also nice but only if you want to be surprised what your tree will look like when you get home. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Click here for the Interactive Holiday Map

Thousand Oaks is an amazing place to live, play and work. This city is the second largest in all of Ventura county and was incorporated in 1964. What makes it so great is the weather, the schools, restaurants, theater and overall community. Why is it called Thousand Oaks? There are over 1,000 Oak Trees throughout the city and are protected from removal or damage and is a legacy for the area.

Schools - Some of the best schools are located here in the Conejo Valley School District from Public to Private schools. Thousand Oaks High School offers Football, Golf, Field Hockey and Water Polo. The middle schools are amazing to and we have a private school La Reina is a private all girls school that excels in an academic program known throughout the world. Almost all the students continue on to top Universities. 

Recreation - do you like to hike? Well this is one of the most amazing areaas to hike in. There is Wildwood where you can hike down to a waterfall or what we call the loop at the top of Moorpark rd. There are several trails that will take you throughout the Santa Monica Mountains. Are you a mountain bike enthusiast? These trails offer mountain biking as well. There is an Ice Rink nearby for all you skaters and hockey players. We have several amazing Martial Arts Dojos, Gyms and indoor Climbing Facilities. 

Golf - If you are a golfer there is Los Robles Golf course which also has an amazing club house where you can enjoy a drink after a long day on the course. The views from the veranda is amazing! Sherwood Country Club is absolutely amazing Jack Nicklaus designed course. There have been several PGA tour events here with Greg Norman and Tiger Woods to name a couple who have played this magnificent course. Originally this land was used back in the day to shoot several tv shows and movies like Early Flynn's 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood

Weather - Personally the climate here is the best. Our winters last about a week, well a month or two and we all byndle up when the temperate goes down in to 50's. My Denver friends laugh at us. Summer time is gorgeous with plenty of sunshine and moderate heat. Only about once a week does the temperatures reach triple digits.

Restaurants - The various restaurants in town are amazing and very diverse. From really expensive Steak Houses like Mastros to simple sandwich shops, Thousand Oaks has it all. There are many great Sushi Bars in town with some hidden gems like Crazy King Kong Sushi that has happy hour almost all the time and $1 sake bombs. We also have several breweries that make their own beer. Whatever type of food you are looking for Italian, Indian, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and even classic Americana you have many options to choose from. 

Homes in Thousand Oaks - homes range from small condos to luxury properties and many have views that are breathtaking! Single family homes start at $450,000 and go up to $16mil for a ranch. There are homes close to town and some out in Hidden Ranch where you feel like you have stepped back into the country. Condos and Townhomes are range from $345k - $2.5mil luxury town home located in Sherwood Country Club.

Lets get together to discuss your move and to schedule a private tour of this magnificent area to find you your dream home!

Its that time of year again. I can hear the screams, the roaring chainsaws and sparks flying off of metal knee pads. If you are like me, you like to go haunted houses, Knotts Scary Farm to feel that adrenaline of being scared. This year was amazing at Knotts Scary Farm. Yes, we already went with our niece who is a Horror fanatic. They had some of the best mazes this year including one that had laser beams at waist level with smoke giving the illusion of walking through water and sea monsters including sharks jumped up to scare you. Here is a list of the best places to go and be scared this October. 

Knotts Scary Farm

Universal Studios

Magic Mountain

Queen Mary Dark Harbor

Reign Of Terror - Janss Mall Thousand Oaks

Backwoods Maze - Burbank

Spooky Hallows - Van Nuys

Rosehill Haunt - Studio City

The Opechee Haunt - Glendale

Los Angeles Haunted Heyride

Freak Show - Simi Valley Town Center

13th Gate Asylum - Oxnard

Zombie Hunter Train - Fillmore

Kid Friendly

Underwood Family Farms

Reign of Terror Lights On - Saturday Oct 19 & 26th

Home Haunts

Simi Valley

2134 Elizondo Ave - "Lost Spirits of the Bayou"

Pumpkin Patches

Stu Miller's Pumpkin Patch - 207 W. Los Angeles Ave #287, Moorpark

Calabasas Pumpkin Festival - Juan Batista De Anza Park Calabasas

Pumpkin Patch at Limoneira Ranch - Foothill Rd, Santa Paula

Big Wave Daves Pumpkin Patch - 3865 State St, Santa Barbara

Prancers Pumpkin Village - 3075 Johnson Ave, Ventura

Mcgrath Family Farms - Camraillo

Pumpkin Patch Field - 22 Los Feliz Dr, Thousand Oaks

So you bought yourself an investment property. Congratulations, you are now playing monopoly for real. Escrow closed, you now have the keys to your new vacation home, now what? First you need to get your new place ready for AirB&B. What do you need to keep your home safe, comfortable and an easy property to take care of? Automation!

Let’s start with automating your Check In system. How will you let people into your vacation home? A property manager can help or you can get Smart Keylocks letting people in and out of your AirB&B. Do you want phone calls at 2am asking for a spare key? Neither do I so put a combo lock on your front door or a key safe somehwhere but I truly feel the key lock will save more time with less keys that are lost. There are a few to choose from.

Key locks for the Home  

Best Overall: Schlage Camelot Keypad at Amazon

"A simple keypad, plus a lever to open the door once access is granted."

Best Budget: Kwikset Keypad Deadbolt Lock at Amazon

"Allows six unique entry codes and one-time access codes for visitors."

Best Smart Homes: Schlage Z-Wave Camelot Deadbolt at Amazon

"Allows you to use the keyless entry system with Amazon Alexa."

Best Fingerprint Access: Ultraloq Fingerprint Lock at Amazon

"Sleek, long battery life, and expansive access capabilities."

Best with No Key Access: Schlage Touch Camelot Lock at Amazon

"Is a reliable, solid choice for keyless home entry."

Temperature Automation    

Next is Automating the temperature to your vacation home. With products like Nest you can control your home from anywhere with the simple to use app. This way you can ensure that the temperature inside the home is always comfortable for your guest. Also, you can turn the system off if the home sits vacant for a day or two saving money. 

Nest - https://amzn.to/2l7qioI

Ecobee - https://amzn.to/2lEMjeN

Honeywell - https://amzn.to/2n57Rl1

Wifi

Your home will need a Wifi router to run all of these products. They are simple to set up and once you have your internet turned on you can hook up a router to control all of your automation products.

Netgear Nighthawk - https://amzn.to/2mAsNjQ - a great router with a long range. This is our personal favorite

Asus - https://amzn.to/2namNhP - this is a nice size router

Google wifi - https://amzn.to/2ncwJre

Cameras

Check with your laws about having cameras in and around your vacation home. At least have a ring facing your entrance or where they pick up the keys. That way you can verify who is coming and going from your Airbnb. 

So far the 2019 Real Estate Market has shown signs of growth, more homes for sale and mortgage rates that keep getting lower. This is the exact opposite of what experts have been saying and the good old media who just loves turmoil. The market has seen more sales and homes being listed. Buyers are still fighting each other over the good homes available.  Interest rates have dropped significantly since the beginning of 2019 and most buyers are getting quoted 3.5% and lower right now on a 30 year fixed mortgage. Also, with the lower interest rate it is allowing buyers to either buy more, or buy at a much cheaper monthly payment. For example a $800,000 house with 20% down ($160,000) is a $640,000 mortgage which 3 months ago was at 4.25% is $3,148.42, and now at today's rate of 3.5% your monthly will be $2,873.89 which is huge savings monthly. 

In other ways the experts were correct about buyers still competing against each other for homes. There are more homes for sale, and most selling within a week or two which is allowing pricing to still climb. The rest of this year will be one to watch. If rates continue dropping to 3% or even lower, we could have a surge of sales during the 4th quarter raising values even faster. If you are shopping for a home and thinking that the market is going to crash soon it doesn't look that way. This is a good indicator that we will be seeing more sales and inventory dropping once again. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell even stated today that the central bank will cut interest rates again as soon as next month.

What does this mean to you? Banks can trade money at a cheaper price and the savings are passed onto the consumer. The fed is trying to stimulate the economy while the Trade war with China continues. This will be an interesting time to watch how the global economy is going to affect our local real estate markets. 

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We can definitely fill you in on details that are not listed on the report and help you determine the best home for you. If you are wondering if now is the time to sell, please try out our INSTANT home value tool. You’ll get an estimate on the value of your property in today’s market. Either way, we hope to hear from you soon as you get to know our neighborhoods and local real estate market better.