Jan 09
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Short Sales and every changing guidelines

By | Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Sellers, Short Sale, Visit WineCountry, Wine Tasting | One Comment

This week there were 2 interesting updates: BofA is going to announce a major change in the way they work with agents. They are changing their systems to approve short sales within 2 weeks of an offer. Currently I am working on 2 short sales with BofA and am waiting for approval of the authorization letter for 4 days now. CDPE will have an interview with a Short Sale Exec on January 20.

Next, the Making Home Affordable HAFA guidelines are changing per February 1st. The servicer is no longer required to verify any financial information as to monthly income exceeding 31%. The property can be vacant or rented out for up to 12 months prior to the Short Sale application -> still had to be your primary residence. The other changes have to do with release of subordinate liens, timing to respond, timelines and deed-in-lieu programs.

Short Sales are a dignified way to get out of a financial difficult situation, a seller stays in control, also as to the financial consequences, is able to negotiate to a certain degree and able to anticipate the consequences.

In 2010, about 50% of all the sold properties was either a short sale or a foreclosure. It is expected that the coming year will be about the same. It will be interesting to see what will happen this year.

On a  happy note: next week is the 19th Winter Wineland, check out the website. A great event with 140 wineries participating.

Mirjam

Dec 26
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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

Nov 28
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I want to buy your house! But…

By | Buyers, Disclosures, Economy, Mortgage, Sellers, Sonoma County info | One Comment

Ahh the ‘buts’ or the contingencies. As a proud home seller, you received the offer and if everything goes well, you’ll close escrow  in 30 days…

99.9% of all offers are made with contingencies: Inspection contingencies and loan contingencies are the usual mile stones. While inspection contingencies are easy to negotiate, the loan contingency can be a very different story. About 5 years ago, acquiring a mortgage loan was a very easy process and just about anyone could qualify. Today, with more than 1 in 7 mortgages 60 delinquent or worse, banks have begun to tighten lending qualification requirements, making the simple loan approval a thing of the past.

What this means to buyers and sellers is a potentially longer escrow process with more challenges and hurdles to jump through along the way. Many buyers schedule the moving truck and pack their bags, only to come to a sudden and screeching halts days before closing due to additional pre closing lender conditions related to income, credit and appraisal. New last minute lender conditions have become especially prevalent with conforming loan amounts over $417,000 and Jumbo loan amounts over $655,000. Ironically in my personal experience, traditionally difficult FHA loans have become easier and quicker to close.

In our area, just about everything happens on the day of closing.  The loan gets funded on the eve of closing, the escrow closes/records, the sellers moved out and buyers move in. While that has been the traditional picture, sellers might consider a different strategy. One option to consider is to deliver possession to the buyers 1 or 2 weeks after close of escrow. This means that the seller has more latitude in coordinating their packing and moving process, with less pressure to vacate the day of the sale. While this may not be the ideal situation for all buyers and sellers, it does lessen the potential stress that could occur if there were any last minute lending or funding issues that delayed the closing date.

Of course, the above applies to a regular sale, in case of a short sale, the majority of the home owners have stopped paying their mortgage anyway so in their case it would mean that they can stay in a home ‘for free’ longer.

To keep everything in perspective, the above are just hurdles in the sales process, things to expect and opportunities to find good solutions for all parties. In the grand scheme these are minor.

Mirjam