Friday, February 27, 2009

Apple Valley News....for the week ending 2/27/09

Apple Valley Market Report for the week ending 2/27/09



There are 628 homes currently listed.

287 are bank owned,

105 are short sales,



52 houses went pending this week,



22 homes sold this week,

20 homes sold were bank owed.

1 was a short sale.



The low priced was $32k

The high priced was $460k.





The average days on market 79,

Average price per square foot was $71.25.



Happy House Hunting,

From Karen @ Hamilton Landon



This information is gathered from the VVMLS,

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Long and Short of Short Sales

The Long and Short of Short Sales

A client of mine said, “I don’t know why they call them short sales; they should be called long sales. They take so long to let you know.”

What is a short sale?
A short sale is a sale in which the seller is trying to sell the house “short” of what is owed. For example, if the house is currently worth $100k, has a mortgage of $150k, and the seller can’t afford to make up the $50k shortfall, he/she may choose to list the house as a short sale.

Why would a seller make this choice?
Forever and always you will be asked on some applications if you have ever had a foreclosure. If a house is sold as a short sale, the answer is NO. By short selling your home, you will not take the same loss in credit score as a foreclosure. The transaction will instead show up on your credit report as a “short pay.” Credit scores will not be hit as hard with a short sale. Lenders do look at short pays all the same way. Be of good cheer, lenders will be happy to take a look at borrowers that have sold short or foreclosed on their homes again in 2-3 years. Sellers be aware, talk to a tax person this may have tax consequences.

Buyers, what does this mean for you?
Short sale homes are generally in decent condition. They’re not generally trashed. Fortunately for the buyer, there are numerous required disclosures that provide more information than in a typical real estate sale. These disclosures spell out when the roof was repaired, when the new water heater was installed, etc. Some of the house’s mysteries will be revealed in the paperwork. (NOTE: That same paperwork is not filled by the sellers if it is a foreclosed home. The asset manager never lived in the house and can not fill out paperwork about the house’s condition.)

So what happens after the buyer makes an offer on a short sale home.
In a nutshell, WAIT. Meanwhile…

• The homeowner gets the offer from the agent
• If agreeable, the homeowner signs the offer agreement just as in a normal sales transaction.
• In a short sale, signing the offer does not mean a deal has been made. Signing the offer is just one step in the short sale process.
• Next the listing or sellers’ agent presents the offer to the mortgage holding bank or its asset manager. The seller provides a stack of information that makes a typical loan submission look like a short stack.

So how long does everyone have to wait?
It depends. There is no good answer to this question. It takes as long as it takes. In my experience, the time has ranged from 1 to 6 months. At the point the bank makes a decision, escrow can begin.

Other key things to understand about pricing in short sales:
If every house around the short sale is selling for 20% more than the asking price of the short sale house, is the buyer getting a good deal at the asking price?
Again, it depends. The bank will get with several reliable, independent real estate agents to get outside opinions on the house’s value. The process can take so long that the value of the outlying properties has dropped to the asking price range. It is likely the bank will come back and ask for more money, or in other words, counter the buyers’ offer. Can they do this? Sure. The bank did not approve the price; the agent made that determination. The bank doesn’t have to make the deal.

Here are the arguments for the bank to accept a lower price than the going rate in the area.

We listed the house higher and kept dropping the price until we got an offer. So therefore that is what the market will bare.

A few final notes:
• This information is based on this agents experience in a So. California market. Other markets may not follow the same pattern.
• The seller is not in the position to negotiate price. Be respectful to the sellers’. They are letting you in their home.
• Write your best offer. The bank knows what the market is. You can tell yourself over and over again that it’s a buyers’ market, but the bank frankly doesn’t care. In our market we have not seen banks take “half price offers.”
• If you are looking for something drastically under market, try the auctions. (You may want to read my blog about the auctions before you venture into that avenue.)

Happy House Hunting,

Karen @ Hamilton Landon in Apple Valley, CA

Friday, February 20, 2009

Market report for the week ending Feb.20, 2009

Apple Valley Market report for the week ending Feb.20, 2009

Homes sold this week in Apple Valley ~ 8.
They sold in the range of $300k-$45K.
6 were REOs.
1 was a short sale.
They were on the market for an average of 50 days.
The average price per sq ft. $71.18.

The houses sold for an average of 98.53% of selling price.

There are 271 houses pending, 35 of those went pending this week.

There are 626 active on the market,
106 of those are short sales and
300 are bank owned.

Happy House Hunting from your Neighborhood Realtor,

Karen @ Hamilton Landon

Thanks to the VVMLS for the stats.

the auction is coming again....so rerunning the auction info

OK a brief over view of the auctions for all you real estate fans!

There are several auctions that come through the Victor Valley. REDC and Hudson & Marshall seem to be the most frequent. They can be worthwhile and fun - if you do your homework ahead of time. Though every auction is different, following are some general guidelines to help you prepare:

1. Preview the property! REPEAT! VIEW THE PROPERTY! DO Not bid on something you have not seen!

2. Read all the legal stuff online.

3. You can bring an agent to the auction. This will cost you NOTHING! It may help keep things going in the end. We get paid for trouble shooting and making your life less complicated.

4. Do your homework. Decide ahead of time what you are willing to spend on a property. Work with your agent to research the area (go over the comps nearby, look over other houses in the area, etc.)

5. Get your funding together, come with a pre-qual from a lender you choose. Some guidelines that deal with funding include:

a. You will most likely need a cashier check for $5000. This will be your deposit for the first $95K of bidding.

b. The auction will add 5% premium to your last bid.

c. You will need a personal check for 5% of anything you bid over $100K.

d. You will need a second cashiers check for $10K for any 2nd property you present the winning bid on.

e. NOTE!!!!!!!!!!! All bids are subject to seller approval. So if the seller is expecting to sell for $200K and you fall short of $200K and win the bid, they can not accept you offer and you will get your money back. It's like on e-bay when you win but you didn't meet the reserve price.

Read the contract VERY CAREFULLY! It is usually a mean nasty contact written to the sellers' advantage. If you win and the house won't make appraisal or meet some other condition set out by your lender and they won't lend on it. Too bad, so sad for you. Bye bye deposit. No joke! BEWARE! INSPECT! Be careful!

Please be 1000% sure before you go into this.

You can get a great deal, but it's not for the faint of heart, it is a risky way to buy a house.

So before you buy,

·1 Get an agent

·2 Look at the house

·3 Inpect the property thoroughly

·4 Have fun.


By the way....
you can check out the next REDC auction in Victorville Jan. 24.
Open houses Jan 3, 10 and 11.
Or call your favorite realtor (Hopefully that is me!) to see the houses.

Happy House Hunting!

Karen Sanchez

Hamilton Landon GMAC Real Estate

(760) 684-0250

Friday, February 13, 2009

Market Conditions in Apple Valley Feb 13, 2009

Apple Valley, CA Market Report Feb 13, 2009
Hello Real Estate Fans,



As of today according to VVMSL

There are 667 homes for sale in Apple Valley.

318 of those are REOs or bank owned, there are 113 short sales.

There are 252 homes pending. There are 23 new home owners this week.

The highest price home sold for $299,000, the lowest was $40,000. The average price per sq ft, came in just under $69.

They've sold for 96.14% of the sales price.

They were on the market for a average of 65 days.

Happy House Hunting,

Karen @ Hamilton Landon in Apple Valley, CA

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Loan Modifications

Hi all,

There is help out there if you are in looking at loan modifications.
there is hope for home owners,

http://www.hud.gov/hopeforhomeowners/

or if you want to go through a private company

http://www.equityinvestmentcapital.com/StaffProfiles.aspx?ID=527760
tony@equityinvestmentcapital.com


get a hold of Tony and he told me that his company has helped many people.
I don't know anyone personally that has called.
So if you do, let me know.

Thanks,

Karen

Monday, February 9, 2009

Daily Press article about no choice in escrow and title.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/real_10795___article.html/estate_valley.html

Friday, February 6, 2009

Apple Valley News....

Apple Valley, CA Market Report
This week's market report for Apple Valley CA Feb 7, 2008

There are 679 houses listed.

112 of those are short sales, 325 are REOs.

45 went pending this week, there are a total of 238 pending.

20 sold this week, 18 were REOs, and 1 a short sale.

The average house sold was 1853 sq ft, and was $141,550. It was on the market for 55 days and it sold for almost 97% of asking price.

The high sale was $400K the low was $46500.

Just goes to show there is something for everyone in Apple Valley.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Cool Cyber Tips!

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090204_cybertips.htm

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Market Conditions in Apple Valley

Hi Real Estate professionals and fans!

Here is the latest from the Victor Valley MLS.

1/31/09

There are 691 homes listed in Apple Valley.

The number of homes that are short sales are 119.

There are 330 REOs.

There are 232 pending.

Seventeen homes have new owners this last week.

Now here are some unbelievable but true stats about those 17 homes.

Average days on market 32.

The average price per square foot is just under $71.

The selling price was 99.04% of list price.

The average sale price was $124,494.



Happy House Hunting from Apple Valley Realtor,

Karen @ Hamilton Landon