Welcome! Don and Leslie have been full time Realtors in Ventura County for over 30 years. It's been fun watching as "little" Victoria Avenue (and many other streets) have morphed into what they are today.

Just as our local communities have evolved, we've seriously considered for the past several years how we could someday "give back" and "finish well" - expressions that can mean a lot of things to different people.

As part of our research into opportunities for service, in early 2013 we contacted a Peace Corps recruiter who helped us start our journey. But our new path wasn't going to be as straight and easy as we thought! And so we began a transition into something completely different from the routines we've known for the past 30 years - and have begun a path that's leading into the exciting unknown. This will be our story!

What’s the interest rate today?

rate_sheetI was in my insurance agent’s office yesterday and in casual conversation he asked where the interest rate was.

Good question, because mortgage interest rates have been volatile over the past number of weeks, but those reasons are for another post.

I told Mike there was no easy answer because it’s a matrix of things that revolve around the specific homebuyer. For example, credit scores, down payment (or loan to value – LTV), back end ratios, loan amount, points paid – the list goes on.

But with a little bit of homework, a serious homebuyer can get a good handle of what rate they should be getting. Take a look at a rate sheet.

Intimidating? A little bit, but Google “how to read a rate sheet” and you’ll quickly figure it out!

 

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Starting our transition – leasing out our office

674_county_square_smallWe knew we’d need to do something with our office.  We’ve owned our office condo for many years, the country’s been in a deep recession but seems to be slowly coming back, so should we sell or lease it?

Initially we thought we’d sell but a number of other building owners encouraged us to lease.  There were pros and cons to both scenarios, but ultimately we leased it last summer to a great attorney – who coincidentally, we’ve known for a long time through various local organizations.

This was our first taste of our transition…

We had all our paper files from all of our real estate transactions going back unpteen years, our computer network with all that data…

So everything got moved back to our home where we set up a home office for the next several months, than began scanning all our flies and ultimately shredding all the paperwork. There were many trips of shredded paper back to the office dumpster!

I’ve loved our office, overlooking the bike path and trees.  Initially I thought I’d miss it, but after we’d turned it over I realized I was now looking ahead and not back.  The years spent working there were great, but new things await!

office-small

A lot of good memories of meeting great friends and clients in our former office!

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Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS housing report for June

chart-iconListed below are the June real estate charts for sold prices and the number of homes sold.

This data is taken from the Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS.

The percentage of single family homes that were distressed sales in the month of June are:

Ventura – 20%      Oxnard – 36%     Camarillo – 16%

Sold prices – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

Sold prices – Condos in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

Numbers sold – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

All data is taken from the Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS.

Filed under article topic: 2013 Pendings,2013 Solds,Homes sold,Housing Market,Market statistics/Trends,Pending home sales
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June newsletter – transitions for Don and Leslie!

ESL-Leslie-smallOur June newsletter covers the current real estate trends we’ve been seeing this summer but also covers the transition Don and I are in the process of starting for next year!

As part of that transition, we’ve begun teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to adult students at the Adult Center on Ventura Avenue on Wednesday evenings.

We also talk about the crazy market where we “only” had about a dozen offers on a recent open house!

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Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS housing report for May

chart-iconListed below are the May real estate charts for sold prices and the number of homes sold.

This data is taken from the Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS.

The percentage of single family homes that were distressed sales in the month of May are:

Ventura – 27%      Oxnard – 33%     Camarillo – 16%

Sold prices – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

Sold prices – Condos in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

Numbers sold – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

All data is taken from the Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS.

Filed under article topic: 2013 Pendings,2013 Solds,Homes sold,Housing Market,Market statistics/Trends,Pending home sales
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Don's building a replica of a 1930s era biplane at Camarillo airport. Over the past several years, he's had numerous students help in building the plane. Track the Tiger Moth progress here!