Category

Short Sale

Dec 26
0

Selling a home and your privacy

By | Broker open, ID Theft, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | 2 Comments

One of the blog postings a little over 2 years ago was about Streetview by Google. A great tool to learn more about a neighborhood and a property. As Realtors, when we put a house on the market, we want to feature all the special features about a property. One of the ways we promote a property is by doing an open house. About 8 years ago, open houses were part of the marketing mix but not that important. That has changed, 85% of buyers look at houses online and most of them visit open houses. More so than before, a sale might be the result of an open house.

A Man’s home is his Castle, the old castle had a moat around it. To protect against intruders. Now or moats ate created by voice mail, use of PO boxes, locks and security systems. When you put your house on the market you expose your house and a little of your life style to people you do not know. There is a fine line between marketing a home and your privacy. As Realtor we like to take lots and lots of pictures to show the home… look at the pictures: what do they show about you -not the house-.  When there is a showing… do not leave your credit card statement or your credit card on your desk in your home office: buyers will not go through your drawers but when it’s openly there… To name just a few.

With the increased popularity of Facebook and other networking sites, it is important to think about how much you want the outside world to know. Privacy has taken on a whole different meaning. Houses are being robbed after people stated very clear on Facebook that they were on vacation…

Back to selling your house, some examples: What about that precious collection of priceless art? The large collection of guns? The type and location of the security system? The super collection of kitchen knives?

When I list a house these things are important. Depending on the situation I advise my clients on issues regarding privacy. This is one of the reasons I am a firm believer of Staging a House and do have the ASP designation. Preparing a home for sale, sell the lifestyle that comes with the house/location and paint a picture for prospective buyers, keeping a target market in mind.

With Streetview, Google does things to protect your privacy, you have to think about your specific situation when you put your house on the market. When you decide to sell your house, think about what’s important for you and discuss this with your realtor who can give you great advise for your situation. You want to sell so expose your house as much as possible, it is good to address this beforehand.

Mirjam

Dec 12
0

Foreclosures… How is our market?

By | Buyers, Economy, Foreclosure, Sellers, Short Sale, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry | One Comment

Only articles with spectacular-read bad news- titles sell. Quite often the perception is that every home sold is a foreclosure or a shortsale.  Our MLS keeps track of this and guess what??? In 2010 in Sonoma County,  about 50% of all the sold properties were distressed. While that is still not the way we like it to be, it brings perspective. Other fact to share: we already have a pretty stable real estate market in the last 3 years. Prices have remained fairly stable and it looks like it will stay that way. The higher end might come down some more, but the lower end of the market has been pretty much the same in the last 3 years, as a matter of fact, it has gone up a little bit. Numbers to follow.

Other myth: buying a distressed property is a better deal. While that is true in some situations, a foreclosed property is appraised as to the market value and then put on the market by the bank. And as to short sales: when a seller accepts your short sale offer, the bank needs to approve the loss and guess what? They have the property appraised to make sure it is sold at market value. So with this in mind, a regular sale might up being a ‘better deal’

Coming on the market in JC area in a few weeks fro now: it is a foreclosed property, we are waiting for the valuation -price-. This means that 2 local realtors will do a market

 Foreclosure in JC area

analysis and give the bank their opinion of the market value of the house. I will keep you posted.

2010 is not finished yet, the stats for 2010 will follow in the coming weeks. There are quite a few agents who do not sell distressed properties. Yours truly has specialized in foreclosure alternatives so 80% of the homes I sell are distressed/short sales.

Fun restaurant to try in Santa Rosa: Starks Steakhouse. Great bar area, great ambiance.

Mirjam

Oct 24
0

Judicial or Non-Judicial Foreclosure?

By | Foreclosure, Short Sale | One Comment

OK, all the articles in the papers about home owners in foreclosure, in some states the whole process takes about 2 years minimal while in other states like California, it takes 3 months and 3 weeks minimal. It is relatively simple, but an important and often misunderstood part of the foreclosure process.

Judicial

A “judicial” state requires a judicial review of the foreclosure case before it can be officially processed. The foreclosure process actually begins by filing a Lis Pendens (“a lawsuit pending”) document in a court of law. Following are the states that require judicial review: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont.

Non-Judicial

In “non-judicial” states, lenders or trustees file a Notice of Default with the county recorder’s office to commence the foreclosure process, and the process does not need to go through the courts. These states include Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Utah, Washington D.C., West Virginia.

The remaining 25 states allow both judicial and non-judicial foreclosure, though some have tendencies toward one practice or the other. California is one of them and most foreclosures are non-judicial.

For some additional clarification, Thomas Lawler, former director and senior vice president at Fannie Mae, recently provided this informative explanation in a post for The New York Times:

“Some states allow both judicial and non-judicial foreclosures. … And in some states, judges have enormous discretion as to how to handle a foreclosure. … In many judicial states, foreclosures can be challenged, and such challenges have increased drastically.”

This distinction has become increasingly visible due to the recent “foreclosure freezes” by major lenders nationwide, most of which initially halted foreclosure proceedings in the states requiring judicial review.

At this point none of the major banks has a foreclosure freeze in California.

Mirjam

Oct 03
0

Loan Modification, just in name?

By | Economy, Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

Do you know people  who have been living in their house for a few years now without paying their mortgage? Wondering when something is going to happen? Well I see the trend changing. Recently I have been talking to home owners who have diligently been working on their loan modification,and nothing is happening so far and now all of a sudden a Notice of Default is filed. It seems like investors are getting fed up with loan servicers -the bank you are talking to to get your modification done- who take so long to make a decision. In our area, this means that if you are not careful, the bank will sell your house -foreclose- while you are still under the impression that you are working on a loan modification. Last year, when a homeowner was receiving a Notice of Default, nothing was going to happen within a short period of time. This has changed, now I see it happening more and more that a bank will move forward with the Notice of Trustee sale 3 months after the Notice of Default has been filed. And 3 weeks after the Notice of Trustee sale, the Trustee Sale will take place -> this is what we call the foreclosure.

If you want to avoid a foreclosure, a short sale is a good alternative for a lot of distressed home owners. One of the benefits is that you are more in charge of the situation, you can negotiate the deficiency,

A few months ago, CDEP posted that Freddie Mac reported its short sale volume was up 600%. Today, REOInsider reported that “short sale volume is up more than 150% from volume in 2Q09, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s second quarter government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) ‘Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance Report.’”

Short sales are on the rise nationwide. More and more agents are receiving training in assisting distressed homeowners, and there is a movement to provide solutions to these homeowners facing foreclosure.  Your truly did some extensive training to be able to help distressed home owners with alternatives to foreclosure.

Mirjam