Some things in life are real simple, you pick the flavor you like and off you go; it is better to think about ‘good, better or best', all at a cost to you; not so with real estate and the condition that the real estate market is in, at least in Contra Costa County in California.
For many years, home buyers have been enjoying a boom of appreciation in home values and, everyone knew that at some point, it was going to stop, it's just that no one would know when it was going to happen. You know which word I haven't heard lately? And I'm glad, it's the word ‘bubble', did it burst? Did anyone hear a boom somewhere? How did it happen? What created the bubble? Too many questions, let's get to the point.
The majority of the problem was created by ‘toxic financing', which abruptly stopped during the spring of 2007, as reported by Ramsey Su of the Wall Street Journal on his article aptly named ‘Why Be a Nation of Mortgage Slaves?' on Saturday, December 31st, 2009. no more 100% financing, no more negative amortization option ARMs, no more piggyback seconds and no more NINJA (no income, no job, no assets) loans. These products all worked great as long as the market was going up, up and away...
Foreclosures and short sales now dominate sales. Home prices now are realistic, sales volume is up. F&SS will drive the market for a while, until all the bad loans get rebuilt; home owners who did not have this kind of loan will suffer until most, if not all of these loans get eliminated. This will take a while, because, household balance sheets have been destroyed by taking on too much debt via the purchase power of inflated assets.
Walking away from a mortgage via a foreclosure or short sale immediately repair the balance sheet. Credit may be damaged, but homeowners can rebuild it. The securitization model has proven to be flawed.
‘Households that have been foreclosed upon today are the buyers of tomorrow, when given a chance to recover'; Mr. Su also says that ‘Finally, loan modification is not only ineffective, it is evil. Coercing borrowers to continue paying a mortgage on a home that is hopelessly overvalued and not informing them of alternatives is predatory lending'.
I know individuals who are in the business (Real Estate) always looking for a quick way to make a buck (actually, lots of them), they are always the first ones to find a great new scheme to make money; guess what they are all doing now: you got it, Loan Modifications. Not everyone is a bad seed, but I have yet to see someone who has had their loan modified and is happy about it;
Lastly, since loan modifications are not in the best interest of the home owner, the only two alternatives are the Short Sale and the Foreclosure and the Short Sale, while being harder to execute is the best solution for the lenders, who, in my experience, are beginning to show much more flexibility, as evidenced by my last Short Sale transactions.
Here in this area, specifically in Concord, California, every single one of my clients has been approached about a Loan Modification, they are promised nothing more than the effort that it takes to make a few phone calls, all of them with attorneys involved and of course, there is a retainer's fee up front. With some of them, the marketing approach has been to place a notice on the door in an envelope that looks like an official County filing letter, with a file number and all, then it says to call the convenient 800 number provided to prevent it from going further, well, you know the rest.
Let's get these people in the right track with the proper advice and help they need.
Most of the conversation revolved around making use of the productive tools that are available to Realtors and lenders in order to make their services known. Most of these tools are absolutely free or very low cost; in addition, the increase in productivity, organization and efficiency can't be beat.
From a long list of items that Mike suggested that I use, what he said that I needed to do first was to BLOG, second, he said that I should BLOG and third, to BLOG again. I started BLOGGING in December of 2007, my last BLOG was done on December 12th and I never did it again. Lack of inspiration and time were the most used excuses that I armed myself with, however, the real reason was a lack of discipline on my part. Discipline, easy three syllable word, with the greatest impact on everyone's lives is what sets apart individuals like Michael Phelps, the 8 Gold Medals winner in the Olympics, or Jason Lezak the anchor leg swimmer in the monumental come-from-behind victory for the U.S. 4 X 100 relay team, from the myriad of good athletes that didn't quite make it.
Let's see how I do in the future, I don't want to over complicate this, I just want to BLOG and if I keep it simple enough to begin with, I'll develop the habit and discipline that I need. I have so much that I can share; I am a Realtor and this is a great time to buy Real Estate in Contra Costa County; there are so many opportunities presenting themselves; interest rates are still low enough, FHA loans are becoming the norm again, etc. Bank owned properties (REOs) abound, especially at the lower end of the market.
I received a call from a friend who has a home in a declining value neighborhood in Concord, California.
We discussed her various options, specifically, the pitfalls of a Deed in Lieu. It’s surprising to me how many people are presently in foreclosure, especially in the Bay Area. While she is current on her rising mortgage payments, due to the declining values in her area, she thinks she is currently upside down in her mortgage.
I met with her and listened very carefully to her particular situation. She is expecting a baby and knows that in the very near future, her husband’s income alone is not going to be enough to cover all the anticipated expenses. As a Short Sale Specialist, I carefully explained to her the consequences of a foreclosure, or, as a lot of people do, giving the keys back to the bank.
The negative impact in an individual’s credit is much greater with a foreclosure as opposed to a Pre-Foreclosure Sale, also known as a “Short Sale”. After I assured her that she is not the only person in this situation and that she has no reason to be embarrassed, I proceeded to explain to her the project plan to list her property and to assist her in finding a new home that will allow her to stay at home with the baby without the stress of an unaffordable mortgage payment due to an Adjustable Rate Mortgage.
After my visit and with the information that I had provided her, she and her husband called me two days later and listed their home with me.
The mission of Caring Hands is to create one-on-one matches between caring volunteers and frail, isolated, and disabled seniors over the age of 60. The program helps them to stay in their homes and remain independent as long as safely possible by providing free non-medical in-home assistance.
I am very fortunate to be able to volunteer with senior citizens who need this kind of help. It gives me an opportunity to give back to the community in a way that many times I feel that I am the recipient and the senior is the volunteer.
I have been elected as Chairman of the Hispanic Outreach Sub-Committee for Caring Hands. My job is to extend this wonderful program to the Hispanic community in Contra Costa, both for volunteers and for seniors who need the assistance.
Hi everyone, my pet and companion in life is a beautiful Blue Fronted Amazon parrot named Zoe. She is 26 years old, very loving, funny, friendly and does quite a few tricks. Even though she is a female, she likes ladies a lot. This is her picture with a set of keys in her beak/mouth. The significance of the kets is the fact that I am a Realtor in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, working out of my Walnut Creek office and Zoe, who is very well known to all my clients, holds the keys to my client's next move. All my clients become friends for life and usually invite Zoe and me to their parties. Here is her picture.
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