Hi Ida, I have been a active Realtor in the area since 1979. I have been in many market conditions, the aftermath of fires as well. We are recovering from the fires but the mortgage crisis has brought all housing prices down in this country. Fallbrook is a great neighborly community. This is a buyers market like I have never seen before. You will hit the jackpot to buy now. Check out my up-to-the-minute home finding web site and neighborhood information at: http://www.camoves.com/sharon.johnston. It would be best to get pre approved for a loan so you are in good standing when you do locate that dream home. Sellers, whether it is a bank owned property or an owners own home, want a buyer who is ready and qualified to buy when they make the offer. I cannnot stress enough how important it is to be prepared to get a good deal. You can e-mail my lender at jim.gibson@mortgagefamily.com to get that going. He is doing my loan right now, too.

Wishing you Happy Homes

Sharon

Hi Ida,
I am a local realtor here in Fallbrook. The fires have been very unfortunate for our area. The real estate market has been slow here the last couple of months and has almost come to a stand still since the fires. There are almost 500 homes on the market in 92028 alone right now--of course this includes as low as high $200,000 to well over $3 million, but that is a lot of inventory of homes. This means that those sellers that are serious about selling will either be lowering their prices to attract buyers or accepting lower offers than they would have accepted a few months ago. Home prices have dropped considerably and are almost as low as they have been since end 2004 right now. If you are a buyer, it's great. There is a lot to choose from so you will need to really narrow down your search criteria and decide exactly what you are looking for. I would suggest connecting with a realtor to help you with your search. I would say Fallbrook has experienced the most damage to the RE market from the fires for obvious reasons, but the areas of Bonsall, NE Oceanside, Vista are also seeing quite a few price reductions every day. We are anticipating a pick up in home sales in January once the holiday season is over which could mean prices going back up. I am not sure about home owners insurance specific to fallbrook. I dont foresee any difficulty getting insurance, although companies may increase premiums for new accounts, but I havent heard anything about this as of yet. It would pay to shop around for home owners insurance though when you are ready to be sure you are getting the best rate. If you are interested, I will call my insurance broker tomorrow and double check this information and I'll post it on my website.