The 2018 Taste of Leucadia is April 5th  The popular annual Taste of Leucadia takes place on Thursday April 5th in Leucadia (a community in the northern area of Encinitas) from 5:30 until 8:30 pm. Taste of Leucadia 2018 is sponsored by the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association,  as always, and is sure to be a delight for all local foodies.  You will be treated to food tastings from Leucadia’s best restaurants, which will include Solterra Winery and Grill and my favorite Leucadia restaurant, Le Papagayo, and many others - more than 20!  You can also enjoy multiple craft breweries and local wineries, as well as experience local retailers – perhaps a great time to discover one you are not familiar with! Tickets for the 2016 Taste of Leucadia are on sale for $25 (for food tastings plus Sip St... 03/23/2018

 Think It's To Expensive To Live At The Beach? Check our progress. PART TWO  In Part One we previewed a circa 1978 singlewide mobilehome located in the quaint little beach community of Leucadia, Cali. Truth be known we purchased it with the intention of rebuilding it from the frame up right from the start. Remodeling it was not an option as it was far too old, full of dry rot, termites, mold, mildew and myriad structural issues which so many older trailers, mobilehomes and Manufactured homes are nowadays; especially 300 feet from the ocean. Additionally, removing the entire home would have required that we  replace it with a much smaller Park Model RV (under 400sf) as a new HUD Manufactured Home would have had to meet all the setback requirements because the legal nonconforming structur... 05/06/2017

So You Think It's To Expensive To Live At The Beach? Think Again. PART ONE  With a little imagination and a lot of elbow grease the average person can still  afford to enjoy all the splendor the beach & surf culture has to offer.......and afford it. It's true. Most single family homes West of Coast Highway 101, Leucadia, 92024 zip code are in the 7 to 8 figure range. However, there are still those coveted hidden little gems tucked deep within the enclaves of these choice circa '50's & '60's surf towns. And they still offer the average person an opportunity to live among the so called uber elite 1%. But they're growing  more popular as they are scarce and are more in demand than ever.   Why? Simply put, with only 5 little Manufactured Home Communities, west of Coast Highway 101, between ... 05/05/2017

Is There Money To Be Made In 'Mobile Homes' In Today's Market? I am frequently asked if the market is still ripe for investing in old "Mobile Homes". The following post may give you some ideas and suggestions about the viability of investing in older homes.  Cheap does not always translate to a good deal. It's all about the 'PATH of PROGRESS & that's right LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Those looking for new or different ways to provide housing for your clientele or perhaps even enhance your own passive income portfolio may find this interesting. QUESTION:  Need your help BP community. I was looking through Craigslist and came across this mobile home that is located in a MHP near my house. Ideally I wanted my first investment to be a SFH or duplex, but since I am familiar with this park ... 01/18/2017

Thanksgiving As Seen Through The Eyes of My 8 Year Old Granddaughter I think the following speaks for itself. What else can I say. So proud of my Rose. We just spent a delightful Thanksgiving Holiday with my youngest son, Scott, and his wonderful family on San Diego's  Campland On The Bay in Mission Bay. Definitely one of the best Staycations we've ever had.   When I returned home and opened my computer to check my email I received this wonderful message from Rose. I think I'll have to hire her to ghost write, create, edit and place my posts from now on. She's always asking me what she can do to earn a few bucks. What a sweetheart. Janis and I are so blessed. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day Weekend!!   11/27/2016

Do We Have A Failure To Communicate? This is a hoot and was my Thursday morning wake up call as I awoke to a very irate so called REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL who blasted me with one of the most UN PROFESSIONAL yelling fests I have ever received from a colleague.   She started out the conversation by screaching out with a "I was driving through your community yesterday and picked up a flier". "I had a client practically ready to buy this home site unseen" "But when I called you you indicated it was not fee simple but a rental park."  "Why don't you state that you're selling a Manufactured Home in a rental park?"   I politely suggested that she take a closer look at the flier and thanked her for helping me get my day off to such a cheerful start. What on Earth is happening in this World toda... 09/08/2016

$Buying A Manufactured Home & Paying Rent vs Renting An Apartment-Home.$ There has no doubt been lots of controversy over the years about investing in a $Manufactured Home in a Rent/Lease Park Community$ vs. buying or renting an apartmentcondo, townhome or Single Family home (SFH).  There is also no doubt that the ideal goal of entry level home buying/ownership or downsizing ownership for the average person today is the most favored 3/2 with a two car garage, a front and backyard and a white picket fence. Or perhaps even a cozy townhouse or condo. It's all Real Estate right? And you own it!  HOME OWNERSHIP to many is still $"THE AMERICAN DREAM."$  However, not everyone can qualify to own a home at the prices Coastal real estate is going for and that's where the RENTAL MARKET comes into ... 08/17/2016

 Big PlacesOn  Tiny Spaces. The Cubic foot vs Square Foot Really Counts    In Part 1  we showed you how to search for and identify "TINY SPACES"  that have tremendouspotential for gentrification, value enhancement and much "BIGGER PLACES"     In Part 2 we offered up some very creative ways you could remove the old "TRAILER", "MOBILE HOME" or "Pre HUD MANUFACTURED HOME" and with a little imagination recreate that Tiny Little SPACE with a nice new BIG PLACE by utilizing CUBIC FOOT    instead of focusing on the SQUARE FOOT.  Now Get Ready For PART 3?  If your one of the lucky ones fortunate enough to own a home on the bluff over-looking the beautiful blue Pacific you're probably looking at around $2000/sf for a scraper on the North San Diego County waterfront. Or to put in much simpler ter... 04/17/2016

Come Enjoy the 2016 Taste of Leucadia on April 7th  The popular annual Taste of Leucadia, “Food for Thought,” will be held on Thursday April 7th in Leucadia (Encinitas) from 5:30 until 8:30 pm. The 2016 Taste of Leucadia is sponsored by the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association. You will be treated to food tastings more than 20 of Leucadia’s best restaurants, which will include Solterra Winery and Grill and my very favorite Leucadia restaurant, Le Papagayo.  There will also be around 20 craft breweries and local wineries represented! Tickets for the 2016 Taste of Leucadia are on sale for $20 (with Sip Stops – 12 craft beer and/or wine tastings – the price is $35) and may be purchased on-line at the Leucadia 101 website or in person at the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet office at 386 N. Coast Hig... 03/28/2016

  Any meet up investment groups or clubs  in the North San Diego area?    Looking for investor networking groups (cash only) in the North San Diego area for residential, commercial and light industrial RE Investing.   Wiling to consider other San Diego, South OC and South Riverside areas including the Palm Desert/Palm Springs area depending on the investment opportunities.   Looking for multi-family du, tri, four plex, apartment buildings, infills, split lots, commercial and light industrial. Will consider agricultural in some areas or combinations of zoning.   Looking for partners with their own cash that are in a position to match funds with other investors for worthy buy and hold Real Estate and/or business acquisitions.    Feel free to email, surferjohnarendsen@gmail.com or personal... 01/10/2016

Investing in passive income RE out of your immediate farm? Out of State?I'm transitioning out of contracting and Manufactured Home development and into RE investing. I'm curious about building and out of State passive income portfolio with RE rental investing and would like some opinions on the subject.  01/04/2016

Do you think politics will impact RE in your farm this year? How?   01/03/2016

Striving For That 850 FICO Score? Thought You Had Perfect Credit?  NOT! This started out as a mere comment on a thread I previously read and found very relative and interesting to me personally.                  7 secrets of a perfect credit score.  So acting on a suggestion from, Margaret Rome, Baltimore Maryland, an Active Rain member who I respect and have had the privilege of following for the past several years, I decided to heed her advice and turn this answer into a post. While it's not only unusual for seniors who've had years of building credit, paying off mortgages and myriad loans of one type or another to finally achieve that much sought after "RIGHT OF PASSAGE" for that PERFECT FICO SCORE of 850. As much as you thought you arrived and as much as you think you deserve it it ... 09/26/2015

Drainage Issues During El Nino. Connecting The Dots & Peace of Mind. Part 4 In Part 4 we will discuss what you as a Real Estate Professional or Industry Stakeholder and/or Resident/homeowner, can and should do to protect your home and property and mitigate against heavy and in some cases total loss. But first let's briefly review Parts 1-3 in order to give you a refresher course and complete overview of all the steps that need to be taken in order to accomplish this. In Part I, "California Residents! How Seriously Are You Taking El Nino?" "The Things That Hang Above", we discussed the importance of free flowing rain gutters designed to catch the water shed from rain on your roof and escort it to the downspouts positioned around strategic locations on your roof and carry it down to a fre... 09/18/2015

California Residents!How Seriously Are You Taking  El Nino? Part 1  The Things That Hang Above Having been disaster response contractors for the past 3 decades we've seen it all. Be it FIRE, EARTHQUAKE, HURRICANE, TORNADO or FLOODS. We've been there and done it. Believe me it's not fun for us as contractors and it's definitely miserable and extremely costly for HOMEOWNERS. No matter how loud our public emergency providers, cities, states and even federal emergency and disaster responders blow the bugle and sound the alarms there are always those that just don't get it. Or worse don't seem to care. Until it's too late that is and then find themselves totally dependent on first responders and we taxpayers to help bail them out.  As long time Active Rain members and contributors we are onc... 09/11/2015

 WIDOW MAKER! Thank God I Had AProactive and Concerned Doctor. Do You? For those AR members/contributors who are staunch, stick to the subject, nose to the grind stone, die hard Real Estate focused and driven this may be somewhat off topic and incongruous to you.  However, it's something that I really want to share with all the greatl friends and folks I've come to know over the many years I've had the opportunity to pass along my thoughts and ideas on this wonderful platform I know this message will be helpful to a lot of folks and if I can enlighten just one person and get them at least thinking, if not moving, in the right direction I'll consider this post a successful contribution.  SEVERE AORTIC VALVE STENOSIS aka "THE WIDOW MAKER" is a very serious and degenerative disease for whi... 09/01/2015

I Know I KNOW No Joking around On AR. So Let's Get Serious This is the proposed Trump (White) House Resort Hotel & Country Club after he is elected President. He will be living in the Trump Tower in Las Vegas until improvements have been made. According to Trump it will be "The best redevelopment program of all time!" The top three floors will be Trumps private penthouses reserved for family and distinguished guests. The first three will be for Trump's Czars, administration, service staff and Secret Service. The remaining floors will be a wide range of hotel rooms available on a first come first served basis to the public. It will be open to all American Citizens on a first come first served basis for $100 per night plus the customary $1000 daily use and occupancy charges. Plans are als... 08/05/2015

In The Overall Scheme of Things Does Generation Title Really Matter? I've recently been reading a lot of fodder on various posts and news articles about "Generation Identification". But In The Overall Scheme of Things Does Generation Title Really Matter?  It seems as though many Real Estate Professionals as well as other groups, i.e. businesses, organizations, etc. feel the need to characterize or catagorize an individual by the year they were born in. What I'd like to know is whether or not there seems to be any real scientfiic, demographic or even psychographic significance to all this? All I can say is as a Father of 5 beautiful children, 3 girls and 2 boys, 4 of which are Xer's and 1 which is a Millennial (who is our youngest son) who've bestowed upon us 14 beautiful Grandchildren 3... 06/02/2015

Manufactured Home Park rent Communities vs Resident Owned Communities.   With San Diego's diminishing inventory I'm beginning to see a lot more RE Professionals delving into the Manufactured Housing Industry and have been asked by many what I thought of rent/lease vs resident owned communities.   As a Manufactured Home Dealer, General & Manufactured Home Contractor RE Broker and Developer I'm comfortable doing both whereas a RE Professional only tends to be drawn to resident owned because it also involves the dirt.   However, there's money to be made selling in rent/lease communities as well. In fact the commissions in rent/lease are pretty generous compared tothe standard 6% on most resident owned properties.   Many Manufactured Home specialists work with minimums of $3500 regardless o... 01/30/2015

            Where Is All The Shadow Inventory? In Fact Where's All The Inventory?   I've been hearing the drums beating in the distant from many RE Professionals and Stakeholders and from my own experience have even seen a lack of inventory  in our neck of the woods. I've also been hearing that a good amount of our so called "Shadow Inventory" was gobbled up by some big Wall Street hedge funds.       If so is this the reason for the sudden lack of inventory in the mainstream? Where will our next source of inventory come from? Are they building enough new homes today to keep up with demand? Or is the demand really there at all? Where do you think Real Estate is heading in 2015?   Call On Us Anytime To BE Your Go To Guys For   Information & Knowledge About   EARTHQUAKE RETROFITTING & REPA... 01/27/2015