A local San Diego brokerage, ARG has announced they are the first broker in San Diego to pull out of listing syndication.

I am not going to go into great detail on this site which is consumer orientated.  If you want to know more please visit an excellent article by Lily Leung with the San Diego Union Tribune.  She has also posted some consumer reaction to the announcement here.

Fred Glick makes several important points in the video below about ARG’s announcement which focus on Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com.

First, that the underlying message is to call the listing agent, no one else will know more about the property or represent you better.  Sounds like dual agency to me.

Second, that the seller should be concerned and not allow his or her listing to be syndicated on Zillow Trulia, or Realtor.com, the three largest consumer real estate sites on the Internet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMQm3ZvVRl4

What are your thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4uNu7EicIQ

I often have people ask me how long after a short sale or foreclosure before they can buy.  I will normaly refer them to a reputable lender to discuss individual circumstances since they are the experts.

Yesterday I came across a good article written on The New York Times called The Post Foreclosure Wait which has some good general information that I thought I would share.

Even if you think you never want to own a home again, clean credit is important. Bad credit can make it more expensive to rent. In some fields, especially financial services, it can make it difficult to find or keep a job.

How quickly your credit score improves depends in part on how the problem is reported, said Sarah Davies, a senior vice president of VantageScore in Stamford, Conn., a credit-scoring company that competes with FICO, the dominant scoring system.

In a short sale where the balance is forgiven and no deficiency is recorded in public records, recovery can be quick. “Simply paying all your debts on time could bring your score up to a reasonable range in nine months,” Ms. Davies said. “Reasonable” may not qualify you for a mortgage, but it will help in other situations.

Read Full Article.

Photo courtesy of Jamie Glessal via Flickr

Click photograph for larger view.

Came across what appears to be the Exuma Vitruvius Explorer this morning in San Diego Bay.  I have to say it is a beautiful motor yacht built in Italy by Perini Navi in 2010.  The navel architect was Philippe Briand Ltd. with interior design by Perini Navi and exterior design by Vituvius.

The overall length of the Exuma Vituvius Explorer is 162.40 feet with a beam of 31.17 feet.  It has 1 master guest bedroom, 2 double, 1 twin, and 1 single for a total of 9 guests.  Crew shares the other 4 cabins.  Check out this article on Super Yacht Times including more exterior and interior photographs.

Here is an excerpt from the Vitruvius website.

The Vitruvius 50m “Exuma” designed by Philippe Briand takes home the “Best Motor Yacht of the Year” award at the World Superyacht Awards 2011

Since her launch in July 2010 the efficent Vitruivus 50m “Exuma” has enjoyed enormous success thanks to her striking and innovative design.

Her success continued over the weekend as she was awarded “Best Motor Yacht of the Year”, the highest accolade to be won at the Boat International World Superyacht Awards.

Exuma is the result of a seamless collaboration between Vitruvius Yachts, Philippe Briand and the shipyard Picchiotti/Perini Navi.

Currently there are two more Vitruvius Yachts in prodcution, a 55m Ice Class, due to be launched in July 2011 and a 73m Explorer, due for delivery in 2013.

Under the hands of her owner, Exuma, a true explorer, is midway through her circumnavigation of the globe.

According to the Vituvius website the super yacht has two tenders, two motor scooters, and a wave runner.  Also equipped with a hovercraft and an amphibian vehicle.

Here is a You Tube video of the launch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlVIx4_Sj5o

I love learning about our early days and recently joined a Facebook page called Vintage San Diego. The other day they added a video on the glass elevator that was on the El Cortez Hotel before the renovation which I found really interesting.

Other topics have included San Diego Space and Museum building, Ford Building in Balboa park, Top’s Nightclub (now Fat City), vintage photos from the Library of Congress of Downtown  in 1908, and 1915 exhibition.

The site seems to be picking up members that are sharing other vintage  information and I am excited to see the site grow as new members join and share additional information.  It looks as if Gregory May was the person that started the page after he was inspired by a simular page named Vintage Los Angeles.

So for any readers interested in of our beautiful city I would recommend that you “like” the Vintage San Diego page on Facebook. Also if you know of additional on-line sources please let me know as I am always looking for more and resources.

Here are a few other resources for San Diego.

• Historical resources on City of San Diego.
• Timeline of San Diego History.
• Gaslamp District.

You should also visit the San Diego History Center in Balboa park at 1649 El Pardo, Suite 3.  The phone number is 619-232-6203.  Memberships are available starting at around $40.00 (less for students, senior, and military) and go up – more information here. They have an extensive photograph collection with some on them available for sale.  The Booth Historical Photograph archive  contains over 2.5 million images of regional, national, and international importance.  Copyrights of course apply so be sure to review their policies.

More information, admission fees, and hours can be found here.

There is also the Junipero Sierra Museum in Presidio park in the Mission Hills Area.  Opening hours are limited and more information can be found here.

Yesterday I was at the San Diego Zoo for the Giant Galapagos Tortoise for  a feeding.  Apparently they only do this for only 3 weeks out of the year and it was really a memorable experience.   The feeding was scheduled for 2:15 p.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKks50szsYw

My hope is we will see more of this on consumer sites like Trulia, Realtor.com, and maybe even real estate association websites.  I don’t think you can ever loose by pulling stuff out into the light of day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKG8-t9xD0k

The San Diego Union Tribune produced this great video about San Diego.

With all the negative news regarding real estate in the nation – everyday I get to wake up in San Diego!

Here are some of the highlights about San Diego.

• Dynamic Downtown Area with Gaslamp District
• Find out about San Diego in 25 Museums
• 3 Universities
• Ultimate playground
• 50 Billion spent on cool stuff
• Pacific Rim
• About San Diego – It is a mega region!

Check out more about San Diego on our community page, market statistics, or entertainment.

As the real estate market shifts ask yourself do I need 5,000 square feet?

One of the things that I love about living downtown is space is a premium

The normal sized condo is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1200 to 1300 square foot of living space.  Clients that are coming from traditional style homes tend to learn about down sizing, or as I prefer to call it “right sizing.”

Europe long ago learned to be much more space and energy efficient.  I came across this very interesting video of a company called Resource Furniture offering Italian dual purpose furniture.  We also have a local resource in San Diego called Space San Diego.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAa6bOWB8qY

San Diego, CA.  - Eight Annual Taste of Hope on August 22nd.

City of Hope’s eighth annual Taste of Hope, presented by the Women’s Council of San Diego County.   It will be both a culinary and wine tasting event that will showcase more than 25 top restaurants and wineries – and of course, there will be a silent auction, music and attendee gift bags.  Zoe Mohler, Thyroid cancer survivor and founder of Three Sisters Jewelry Design will be honored with the Ambassador of Hope Award for her commitment in the fight against Cancer.

Details at The City of Hope website and Three Sisters Jewelry.