During the presidential election race, "Joe the Plumber" asked Presidential candidate Obama, "I'm thinking about buying a business that makes over $250,000 per year, would I be taxed more?" The BIG problem with this trick question:  Is the $250,000 GROSS profit or NET profit?  That's a big difference!  And unfortunately most people don't know the difference -- not even many self-employed folks such as real estate agents. It's flattering to go to a party and throw around that you "earned over $200,000 last year" -- but you really know that once you deduct your expenses, you only earned (netted) $50,000.  So it doesn't sound as great as the gross income you bragged about at the party. To simplify it in a nutshell: Your GROSS income is the TOTAL amount of money you earned (and collected). ... 11/24/2008

This morning's brokers' caravan featured a new listing from our office . . . a gorgeous 6000+ square foot home on 20 acres in suburban San Luis Obispo, with a price tag exceeding $2.8 million. In this market, you would expect very little interest. Remember, real estate is in a terrible (possibly terminal) slump, people are losing their homes at a rate only exceeded during the Great Depression, and mortgage money is impossible to find. You would be amazed to discover that over 100 people toured this property, many of whom were private folks, not agents or brokers. The "Open House" signs on the street attracted a huge amount of traffic, so much so that the home had to stay open for over 1.5 hours longer than planned. The savvy buyers are out there right now, making deals. This home is not... 10/28/2008

  REVIEW OF HOME SALES & MEDIAN HOME PRICES ON STICK-BUILT SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES IN CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO (UNDER $1M) JANUARY-JUNE 2008 VS. JANUARY-JUNE 2007   SAN LUIS OBISPO           SALES AVG.DOM HIGH LOW MEDIAN 2007 142 112 $945,000.00 $425,000.00 $638,500.00 2008 89 97 $940,000.00 $357,500.00 $625,000.00 2008/2007 -53 -15     ($13,500.00) %  DIFFERENCE -37% -13%       -2% Like the rest of the County, the city of San Luis Obispo also saw a huge decline in the number of stick-built single-family home sales in the first half of 2008, when compared with the same period last year.  Home sales fell by 37% from 142 in 2007 to 89 in 2008.   The steep decline is offset by the lower decrease of 2% in home sale prices during January-June 2008, versus the same period in 2007.  During the peri... 09/04/2008

  This is the San Luis Golf & Country Club clubhouse.  Awesome restaurant, grill and views! Memberships are very reasonable currently - usually below $10,000 for a full golf membership. 08/12/2008

Local Phone Numbers San Luis Obispo County Airport  Call 781.5205 Cal Cities Water Call 528.1626 Cal Poly (California Polytechnic) University Call 756.1111 Cuesta Community College Call 546.3100 San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce Call 781.2777 Charter Communications (cable) Call 544.2688 San Luis Obispo City Hall Call 781.7000 Community Schools Call 542.0106 Department of Motor Vehicles Call 800.777.0133 Emergency Call 911 French Hospital Call 543.5353 Hunter Ranch Golf Course Call 237.7444 San Luis Obispo City County Library Call 781.5991 Mission College Prep. Call 543.2131 Pacific Bell Telephone Call 800.310.2355 Pacific Gas & Electric Call 800.743.5000 Parks & Recreation Department Call 781.7300 U.S. Post Office Call 800.275.1881 San Luis Garbage Call 543.0875 San Luis Golf & Count... 08/11/2008

Welcome to my BLOG about the area where I live and work...San Luis Obispo County. Let's start with the City of San Luis Obispo. Located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the city of San Luis Obispo is the cultural and commercial hub of California's beautiful Central Coast. San Luis Obispo, or "San Luis" as it is sometimes refered to by the locals, is the county seat and the most populated city at about 45,000. It's award winning downtown is always full of people enjoying the tree cover streets lined with interesting shops and wonderful restaurants. Of course we have the famous Thursday Night Farmer's Market, when Higuera Street is closed to cars and we shop for local produce, listen to bands play, eat great food on the street, visit the local shops that stay open for the oc... 05/13/2008

REVIEW OF THE PAST 5-YEAR  PRICE / SALE TRENDS   SAN LUIS OBISPO    YEAR  Sales   Median   Avg. CDOM   High Low Avg. SP/LP                     2003 363   $500,000   49   $1,699,000 $287,000 98% 2004 337 -7% $599,450 20% 45 -8% $3,610,000 $380,000 99% 2005 399 18% $672,500 12% 63 40% $2,665,000 $225,000 98% 2006 309 -23% $693,750 3% 83 32% $6,050,000 $392,000 97% 2007 289 -6% $655,000 -6% 97 17% $4,561,492 $369,000 97%   Compared to the towns/cities on the North Coast, single-family properties in San Luis Obispo appear to sell faster.  In 2007, homes sold in less than 100 days, despite the increase of 17% in the average marketing time over 2006.  The median sale price improved from $500,000 in 2003 to $655,000.  The 6% decline in 2007 in the median home price versus 2006 prices did not e... 02/05/2008

IS THE AMERICAN DREAM LOST ON THE CENTRAL COAST?Many people are starting to believe that affordable housing on the beautiful Central Coast is not a possibility to them.  With the median price of single family homes approaching $600,000, it is easy see why they feel that way.  The sales prices of single family homes, condos, and manufactured homes has risen drastically the last several years.  Many people who have longed to live here in "OUR PARADISE" have been disappointed in just how expensive it is to buy a home here.  Many families just don't qualify for the mortgage payment it takes to buy a traditional home here.There is an alternative!  Most people do not think "OUT SIDE THE BOX".  Another type of home you may want to consider is "MANUFACTURED HOUSING".  These are homes that have ... 10/15/2007

Real Estate AgenciesAn exciting new feature has been added to my real estate search service for San Luis Obispo County MLS: A list of every brokerage in the CCRMLS and a list of their active listing agents in the area with links to their listings for sale. This will be very helpful for those people looking for a specific agency's or listing agent's listings. As I track my statistics using Google Analytics I see many people coming in to my website searching for a specific brokerage. I know when they get there they must be a little frustrated to only find maybe one or two listings and in different places of my site. So I consolidated an area just for people who are searching that way.Hopefully now when people are searching for Re/Max in Arroyo Grande, Re/Max Park Side in Paso Robles or Ce... 07/12/2007

                                                             Effective July 1st, 2007, residents of San Luis Obispo will face a 13% increase in their water bills. This harsh increase follows a 12% increase that was imposed last year.  The double-digit rise will be continued by another 13% next year.  The city will continue to implement the water-rate increases through 2012, as a way to raise funds for the Nacimento Lake Water Project, and staff seven police and two fire positions.  The Nacimento Lake Water Project is a 45-mile pipeline to bring water from the Nacimento Lake.  Currently, there are 14,400 water bill payers in the city of San Luis Obispo.  The approximate 11% who objected to the rate increase could not prevent the passing of the water-rate increase as 51% of the 14,400 wat... 06/23/2007

Mozart Festival San Luis Obispo The San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival on the Central Coast of California is a season of summer soirees with central coast wine, and music in breathtaking locations around San Luis Obispo County. The 2007 San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival is featuring over 30 events in July of art, music and wine. These events are located at wineries, missions, gardens, and symphony halls such as The Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly. San Luis Obispo County takes pride in its rich artistic culture and events and the Mozart Festival in July is no exception. The communities go all out in their support and participation. Orchestral Activities and the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center: Enjoy this modern orchestra hall and the symphony conducted by Scott Yoo. The PAC is cel... 06/08/2007

All over the United States home prices are continuing to fall as the subprime mortgage mess continues. The National Association of Realtors forecasts that home sales will drop by 100,000 this year; 2% from the 6.48 million homes that sold in 2006. Home prices are also projected to fall .7% this year, which will be the first recorded annual drop in the real estate market EVER! Subprime mortgage companies issue creative financing so people can stretch themselves into a loan while making minimum or interest only payments. After years of strong earning by these large companies the subprime market as a whole has taken a turn for the worst. Over 25 major lenders have left and the rest of the industry is feeling the heat. This has caused all other mortgage companies to tighten up their standa... 05/19/2007

While living in the small town of Cambria is restful and quiet, the down side to owning Cambria real estate is you must drive out of town to go shopping. This actually isn't as bad as one might think. You can choose between two destinations to do most of your shopping; either Paso Robles or San Luis Obispo. The trip to Paso Robles requires a 30 minute drive over the coastal mountain range and offers beautiful views of the rolling hills, wine country, and a spectacular mountain top view of Morro Bay and Morro Rock. In Paso Robles you will find many local retailers and also new shopping centers including a Wal-Mart shopping center on Niblick Road and a Target shopping center on Theatre drive. Restaurants and shopping of most every kind can be found here. These shopping centers are newly ... 05/19/2007

 SAN LUIS OBISPO REVIEW OF SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL SALES: 1ST QUARTER 2007 VS. 2006YEARSALESHIGHLOWMEDIANCDOMAVG SPSP/LP%200660$3,155,000.00 $460,000.00 $695,000.00 78$825,156.00 96.73%200766$1,614,000.00 $450,000.00 $702,000.00 113$781,054.00 95.96%         6  $7,000.00 35($44,102.00)-0.77%        +/-10%  1%45%    SUMMARYUnlike falling prices in many parts of the nation, the median sale price in San Luis Obispo registered at $702,000 for the first quarter of 2007, showing an increase of 1%, over the same period last year.  Also more homes sold.  For the first three months in 2007, 66 properties were sold; a 10% increase over the first three months in 2006.  However, the number of homes for sale has also increased.  As of April 18, 2007, there are 112 single-family residences (stick-b... 04/18/2007