May 01
0

Keep the Gutters Clean

By | Around the house, Sellers | No Comments

Earlier this week we did a pest inspection on a cute older house, built in the early 1920’s. The family had lived there for a very long time. A couple raised 4 daughters in that house, he passed away when he was in his early 70’s and she passed away when she was in her 90’s. But she lived in the house until she died. Now after she died, the daughters are selling the house. There is clearly some deferred maintenance which was clear in the pest inspection performed by Bugbusters in Santa Rosa.

One huge problem was that water had leaked inside one of the walls, the damage on the inside showed clearly that it came from the roof and had intruded the wall all the way from the second story. Guess what the main cause was??? Yes you guessed right: by not cleaning the gutters for over 10 years, the debris that accumulated in the gutters had caused the rain to to flow over into the wall.

When the inspector mentioned the problem they realized that dad had always cleaned the gutters but after he had died, no one had ever thought about doing this.

So next when my dear hubby says that we have to clean our gutters I will help out with more fervor.

Apr 10
0

60% of all Foreclosed Homeowners….

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

On March 29th, Alex Charfen from the CDPE Institute did a webinar with Rick Sharga from RealtyTrac – the leading online market place for foreclosed properties.

Besides the fact that foreclosure activity has increased on a year-over-year basis for 52 consecutive months from January 2006 through April 2010 and 2010 set a new record with 2.9 million home receiving foreclosure notices there was a number that was more disturbing to yours truly…

February 2011 Foreclosure Rate Heat Map:

mappic_000546.png

About 60% of all home owners who were foreclosed on never contacted the bank as to foreclosure alternatives. You might react, well a lot of people never got through to the bank when they called. After thinking about this, I am not so sure about that. Every time you call the loan servicer, the person you talk to asks your loan number, your SS number etc to make sure you are the home owner or person who is either authorized on the loan and they put the call into their system… This means that the 60% should be fairly accurate, give or take some.

About 2.5 years ago this percentage was 62%… So with all the government programs, the advertising etc we only gained 2%… That is disturbing… But then again, everyone responds different to financial distress and a lot of distressed home owners do NOT open the mail sent by the banks to inform them about the help available.

This means that friends and family members need to help… If you have a feeling your friend or family member is in trouble financially, have the courage and share them info about help available and tell them to open the mail from the bank.

As a CDPE trained agent, I am offering help to all the people who are referred to me ad I know of many other great Realtors doing the same.

“It is trouble that “never comes” that causes the loss of sleep.” -Chas. Austin Bates

Mirjam

Mar 27
0

Buyers… and Sellers

By | Buyers, Foreclosure, Sellers, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

Statement for today: when you as a buyer are frustrated with the seller or the sales process, please keep in mind: it’s most likely not your intention to create a life long friendship with that seller, you are interested in the house. It would be nice if everything works out well and amicable. However in today’s market there are so many frustrations, as a buyer it’s important to keep your goal in mind: you like to buy the house, that’s it. Even if the seller is …… that’s should not be a reason to walk away from a sale. It is OK not to like the seller. The same when it is the other way around by the way.

There are many reasons a situation gets tense: a seller is unreasonable as to concessions for repairs, doesn’t accept it when an appraisal comes in lower than the agreement purchase price, in case of a divorce, one party agrees, the other doesn’t… to name a few.

Same is the other way around: lending situations  are changing constantly, what used to be a easy process has become an obstacle course where banks are asking for more and more information while the process is in place: more documentation from a buyer, extra reviews. All these situations will quite often extent a sale.

During the process it’s sometimes good to take a step back and realize that frustrations are the result of expectations that didn’t work out… for both parties. Discuss your frustrations with your Realtor and keep the big picture in mind: the new house, the new neighborhood, the ability to move on with your life.

And don’t forget to smell the roses, or take the afternoon of and do something fun. Sonoma County is a beautiful place to life.

Mirjam

Feb 27
0

Septic Systems

By | Buyers, Disclosures, Sellers, Sonoma County info | No Comments

A lot of people in Sonoma County have septic systems -including yours truly-. There are a lot of vacant parcels, or parcels that need a update on their septic system. Thought enclosed info about how the septic design process works might be interesting.Thank you  Jim Glomb, Geotechnical & Environmental Consultant for sharing this:

When constructing a rural property, or improving an existing property, the septic system is an integral component that requires a septic design professional who is up-to-date with regulations and health and safety requirements.

The first step in the Septic Design process for an undeveloped parcel is a Preliminary Site Evaluation. The Preliminary Site Evaluation evaluates the site?s potential to meet the homeowner?s goals and identifies the best areas for on-site wastewater disposal. The Preliminary Site Evaluation begins with identifying site attributes such as topography, vegetation, drainage and geology.  The Preliminary Site Evaluation also includes exploration of soil deposits to determine subsurface conditions relative to septic system use. This is followed by design level Soil Profiles using a backhoe in the presence of a County Health Inspector, if necessary, groundwater monitoring, percolation testing, and site mapping will also be performed.

The Percolation Test data, Groundwater Monitoring observations, and Soil Profiles are incorporated into a design report with recommendations and specifications for the optimal wastewater treatment for the parcel. This report is submitted  to the county for  review and concurrence.

There are many different septic systems and the requirements for septic systems have recently changed, the permit department of Sonoma County has great information.

When buying distressed property this is something to keep in mind: would you like to remodel that lovely fixer with the great views? Seems like a great buy, do your homework as to the septic system, might prevent you from unpleasant surprises.

Mirjam

Jan 23
0

Loan Fraud and Short Sale Fraud

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

An article in the SF Chronicle caught my attention this morning : 10 indicted in Calif. alleged real-estate scheme.

When money was cheap and pretty much everyone could get  mortgage, the so called ‘golden years’ (they were not golden by the way) some interesting schemes were going around. There were also rumors that special FBI units would go after all those who committed loan fraud in the 2004-2007 market place. Well the article above is proof that they are after the ones who did so…

Rachel Dollar has a great blog as to Mortgage Fraud: www.mortgagefraudblog.com.

Well right now we have new schemes going around, never a dull moment in real estate… I hear wild stories about short sales, interesting ones and even if half is true well it’s still illegal/fraudulent. One of them is short sale ‘flipping’ -> it is like the scheme mentioned in the article above but then with short sales. An other popular one is selling the home to a family member and not disclosing this to the bank. And at this point, in the ‘short sale flurry’ some short sales might be approved based on incorrect information -fraud-…

I discussed this with my broker and her prediction is that in a few years, when short sales are done, the banks will go back in the files and do an audit… Ask your attorney about the statue of limitations on fraud…

Please when you consider a short sale, be upfront with your real estate agent and the bank about your situation, should a real estate agent promise you a quick turn around or some other to good to be true story, be very leery and interview an other Realtor, preferably one that has the CDPE designation.

And READ the short pay approval letter: a Short Sale has to be an arm’s length transaction, you CANNOT financially benefit from the sale -except for cash for keys etc approved by the bank-, your Realtor CANNOT be a family member and there are a few more. If there is a special situation, disclose this to the bank, have their approval : for instance when you rent the house back from the person who bought the house.

And last but not least: selling the house on paper for $450,000 and on the couch selling the couch for $50,000… probably not a good idea either.

Still you can plan short sale carefully and there are many more benefits short sales offer, that is for a later post.

Have a great day, Sonoma County is beautiful this time of the year: the mustard  is starting to bloom!!!

Mirjam