Kambria’s dedication to serving her clients is very important to her. She is well-known and deeply appreciated for her personal touch used to assist her clients with their toughest real estate transactions. Easy Access, Relevant Market Data, Education, and Networking Support and Title Tuesday's are just a few of the many benefits clients enjoy as a part of Kambria’s all-inclusive service. Kambria’s 9 years of title and escrow experience yields a title & escrow representative that is always one step ahead of the real estate sales process. She is dedicated to SRC YPN and knows that it is bringing like-minded young professionals together to help with the integration of technology, education and wisdom throughout the real estate industry.  Being apart of the SRC YPN has definitely helped her grow business and network

Greg Prudhomme, CPA has signed a lease for ±2,429 square feet at Vista Office Centre located at 43460 Ridge Park Drive, Temecula.  Rob Crisell of Lee & Associates represented the Lessee and Mary Piper & Sheri Shoemaker of Lee & Associates represented the Lessor in this transaction.

University of Redlands has signed a lease for ±8,477 square feet at Jefferson Plaza Office Building located at 27720 Jefferson Avenue, Temecula.  Scott Katcher of Studley Real Estate represented the Lessee and Mary Piper & Sheri Shoemaker of Lee & Associates represented the Lessor in this transaction.

by Rob Crisell and Mary Piper

The good news: As we move into the second half of 2010, developers, brokers, and investors in Southwest Riverside County are cautiously optimistic about commercial real estate.  In 2009, those of us caught up in a miserable commercial real estate market were frantically “looking for the bottom.” Thankfully, around the start of 2010, we found it. The bad news: It is very, very dark at the bottom.

Nationally, the consensus of prognosticators in California and elsewhere has been that, while growth in most sectors of our economy has been slow, it does exist. The current forecast for growth is between 3.5 and 4.2 percent, with unemployment declining from 9.5 to 9.1 percent. This July, a majority of Fed officials announced at its quarterly meeting that it would take “no more than five or six years” to reach national benchmark goals for maximum employment with low inflation. In San Diego and Orange Counties, we have had reports of much stronger leasing and sales over the past six months.

The story is similar here in the Inland Empire. Our unemployment may be higher and our growth may be slower than elsewhere, but the trend is definitely upward. John Husing and others have pointed out recently that our region has seen a slight decline in unemployment numbers and small increases in home values and retail sales. As Husing puts it, we are “transitioning from severe shrinkage to very slow growth.”

by Todd Dorn

As many commercial Landlords are trying anxiously to fill their vacancies with new tenants, offering many concessions, perks, etc., what happens to those tenants that re- sign for an extended term.  Many end up subsidizing the concessions offered to new tenants while they get to just stay for a longer term at a higher price.  Many options negotiated into leases are worthless as the option rates in many cases are higher than market.  How does the established tenant get the same treatment as a new tenant right off the street?  The answer is simple…the Landlord needs to know that his current tenant is looking at alternative space, thus creating competition for the landlord.  There are several ways to accomplish this and the right strategy can yield the renewing tenant thousands of dollars never thought possible.  The process becomes more challenging when the tenant has made substantial improvements to the premises, but still can accomplish this with careful planning and preparation.  It is critical for the tenant to understand the market and their needs in depth before attempting to renew their lease.

When your business is facing the important real estate decision of signing a lease, you may have concerns about several issues; the cost involved, the hidden risks and obligations, the amount of time and money your business spends dealing with commercial real estate problems, and the integrity of the company that advises and represents you.   Your time and resources are extremely valuable. At Dorn and Company, “The Lease Doctor”, we sort through the ever changing market issues and complexities such as, available locations, current rates, concessions, zoning restrictions and other factors to give you as many viable commercial space options as possible, including hidden opportunities that are only known to our firm. We help you to understand your lease and reveal lease concessions you never thought of asking for. Whether you’re starting a new business or already have an existing location, renewing your lease, consolidating or looking to expand and/or relocate, we are committed to exclusively representing the rights of the commercial tenant to help gain more affordable and sensible lease space under superior terms. 

by Gene Wunderlich

The National Home Builders Association has just released their June numbers for new housing starts and it’s not good news. The modest revival they enjoyed the past year ended in May after Federal Tax credits expired. Unsold inventory is only 213,000 units nationwide, the lowest level in nearly 40 years, and even at that it would take more than 8 months to sell off.

The National Association of Realtors® will be releasing their numbers in a day or two and again, if the winks and nods in the media are to be believed, the news will not be good. Housing sales, which had been growing in many markets, appear to have hit a wall in May after the Federal Tax credits expired. Unsold inventory remains at 24 months or longer in some areas of the country.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is bemoaning the fact that in spite of interest rates lower than any time in memorable history, new mortgage applications are way down and refi’s, which should be driving the business, are in the tank.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! (with apologies to Monty Python).

Southwest California must have missed the memo telling us to drive off a cliff. Month over month unit sales in 4 of our 6 markets were up in June after small drops in May. Temecula sales were up briskly in June and both Murrieta and Temecula set new sales volume records in June. This helped drive sales to record levels for the 1^st half of the year – up substantially over 2009 sales and nearly double sales volume from 2008. Murrieta and Lake Elsinore nearly tripled their sales volume over 2007.

Inventories have crept up ever so slightly throughout the region but are still hovering in that 2 – 3 month range, which is less than half of what is considered healthy and less than 10% of some other regions of the country. Demand is still with us. The percentage of listings that sell has crept down slightly but we’re still selling 70+% of inventory across most of our markets. The reason inventory is up and selling percentage is down reflects the product mix – nearly 50% of our market is comprised of short-sales, which are still failing 65% of the time. Standard sales – those old fashioned harbingers of good times, made up 33% of our market last month while bank-owned properties only contributed 21% - down from almost 92% 18 months ago.

Prices continued to stabilize across the market with half our cities up a little, half down a little. The ones that were up this month were down last and the ones down last were up this – we’re bumping along the bottom. Of long term interest, 1^st half comparisons show the price performance from our 2007 peak. Down 50% - 60% across the regions, the chart shows a precipitous decline from 2007 to 2008 and a more moderate drop from 2008 to 2009. The good news is after that unprecedented dive, median prices across the region have stabilized the past two years and shown slight improvement in a couple markets.

What lies ahead? Well, given the fact that loan mods and short-sales are failing at prodigious rates nationwide, Notices of Trustee Sales are creeping up again as a possible prelude to banks taking more properties back. That hasn’t happened yet but there are those who still worry about a shadow inventory as a precursor of a double-dip in pricing, especially if unemployment remains a concern. After all, there are still an estimated 1/3 of homeowners upside-down in their mortgage (11 to 15 million homeowners). People who are upside down can’t take advantage of the interest rates to refi and people who are out of work can’t buy a new home regardless of interest rates or tax credits. We are also seeing some trending among middle and upper income homeowners to exercise strategic defaults to the degree that both Fannie & Freddie have issues new guidelines to dis-incent that practice. 

I’m Billy McDougall and I was raised in neighboring San Diego County.  My family and I moved to the Temecula Valley 6 years ago and started our family.  We now have 3 children and feel we are so blessed to live and work in this wonderful community.

I am an active affiliate member of the Southwest Riverside Co. Association of Realtors, and the Co-Director of Community Outreach for SRC-YPN (Southwest Riverside County Young Professional Network).  This is a unique group of talented, compassionate, and dedicated individuals who are helping to equip real estate professionals so they can better serve the community.  The SRC-YPN focuses on education, technology, networking, and community involvement.

I am often asked, “What is the most important thing I can do to protect my computer network?”  Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.  If you ask ten computer experts the same question, you likely will get ten different responses.  There is no silver bullet to protect your network.  Network security is not about doing one thing; rather it is about creating multiple security layers.  With each additional layer of security, you make it more difficult to penetrate your “shield.”  With that in mind, I offer my opinion of the five most important things to do, in no particular order:

California is in a crushing debt crisis with a $19 billion deficit that looks to get worse in the near future.  Gov. Schwarzenegger outlined the state’s financial woes in his May budget revision speech, recommending deep cuts to welfare, health and other social programs to balance the budget.

To make matters worse, the state’s largest publicly funded pension plan, CalPERS, recently voted to raise the state's annual contribution to the pension fund by $600 million in the upcoming fiscal year. Thankfully, in Riverside County, there’s a business in the private sector poised to bring some financial relief.

Granite Construction, a mining and construction company and industry leader, has proposed a quarry located near the Riverside County-San Diego County line off Interstate 15 specializing in supplying concrete and asphalt materials.

If approved, Liberty Quarry could become a lucrative source of jobs and tax revenue for the region, which is struggling to dig itself out of a financial hole as the state freely raids funds from public agencies to make ends meet.

Southwest Riverside County (Temecula) Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors was presented the Gold Level AWARD for Chapter Excellence Annual Report, 2009 at the WCR Awards Banquet in Washington D.C.

Special thanks given by Sue Moriki, President, WCR 2009/2010 to the Board Members and Committee members:   DJ Oliver, DJ Oliver Realty, Denyse Wilson of C 21 Wright, Steve Eckburg of Keller Williams, Alicia Newman, RAM Home Warranty, Linda Hofstatter of Coldwell Banker Residential Vail Ranch.  Also to standing committees: Vicki Timmins, First American Natural Hazard Disclosure, Corie Maue, Doc Pros Signing, Annette Cervantes, Mortgage Mall, Jan Duran, Commerce Title, Judee Edgerton, American Home Shield.  Special thanks to our sponsors, WIN Home Inspection, Professional Flooring Care, Property ID, Keller Williams Realty, Doc Pros, American Home Shield, RAM Home Warranty.   

Women’s Council of Realtors is a nationwide community of more than 13,000 real estate professionals who include many of the best and brightest in the business.  WCR is an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors and WCR is a non-profit organization.