The Fog Blog

Why Are LENDERS Sooooooo Stupid??? Part II or This Week I HATE Wells Fargo!

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 30 May 2009 23:03:03 -0500

This is an email that I sent to the short sale negotiator with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. It may not do any good but at least I feel a teensy bit better. Carol is my partner on several short sale listings. Without her, I would go insane!!!

Dear _______,

I am sure that Carol informed you but I want to officially notify you that yet another escrow is canceled and the 4th buyer has walked from this property. The first three were due to delays and procrastination from the first lien-holder (you and whoever deleted our file late-January) and the last buyer because the 2nd lien holder would not accept your generous offer of $10,000.

We have put the property back on the market at yet another price reduction as we are still in a declining market. I am really puzzled that neither you nor the second lien-holder seems to know what time is of the essence means in a real estate contract. In this situation, time is money as well as every time that we put the property back on the market; you stand to lose 5-7% of the condo's value. Five months is TOO LONG for a process that should have been done in 4-6 weeks!

In the next HUD-1--if we get another offer before our clients' pending bankruptcy--I will only ask for $3000 for the second lien-holder. I also feel that because we are doing our job for the THIRD time due to yours and the seconds dilatoriness, we are entitled to be paid our commission 3 times and I will ask for this. As I doubt that you would pay Keller Williams 9% and the other agent 3%, we will settle for 3% for Carol, 3% for me and 3% for the buyer's agent.

Believe me, I and every other agent who is working hard to help people in Marina Bay out of their cumbersome loans are getting extremely fed up with the process. Something has to change or you will soon own dozens of homes that you will NEVER sell to owner-occupants as the owner-occupancy rate is less than 60%. Wells Fargo will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to foreclose and then lose even more as investors will be the only ones with cash to purchase and then no one else will be able to sell EVER and the vicious cycle of foreclosure will perpetuate itself until you and the developer and a few investors own the entire complex. Is this what Wells Fargo wants????

If we cannot close our next offer in less than 30 days, you will own this condo. You really need to help us help you.

Warm Regards,
Rebecca White, GRI
415.412.1977

www.RebeccaRealtor.com

Keller Williams San Francisco Properties

The 3rd Largest Real Estate Company in North America

Why Are LENDERS Sooooooo Stupid???

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:55:55 -0500

For the first time in my life (30 years off and on in real estate), I have had a listing for more than a year. Granted, most of this time, it was in escrow, 3 negotiators for the first and 3 negotiators for the second and delay after excuse after delay ad nausea.

After 8 months, the most patient buyer walked away, having paid for an inspection, an appraisal, and waiting above and beyond anyone else I have ever worked with.

I warned the first over and over that if they didn't accept the offer and give $7-8,000 more to the 2nd, they would lose tens of thousands of dollars. This wasn't a threat, merely a statement of fact that we were still in a declining market in this neck of the woods and the longer they took, the less the property would be worth.

With each subsequent CMA, I demonstrated a decrease in value. It fell on deaf ears.

I don't understand why banks are so inflexible with their policies. Chase refused to accept $3000 and was adamant that they would rather have nothing than $3000. Should this property go into foreclosure, they would get nothing. They don't care if these kids lose their home and it is not their job to prevent foreclosure. (I took notes on these conversation but it would infuriate me to read them to go into detail how inconsiderate and unyielding these men in management were.)

Because Bank of America refused to give Chase the $10,000 I had requested, I had no choice but to have the buyer withdraw his above-market value offer, agree to give Chase $8,000 out of his pocket, and we re-wrote the offer to B of A at the current market value. This offer was $65,000 less than the previous offer but backed up by comps, a CMA and 10% above the median price. It was rejected. We came up another $5000 and NEVER heard from B of A.

Now the offer is withdrawn, the house is back on the market for $200,000 ($40,000 less than the previous three offers) and already has significant interest and one offer.

I don't get it. Why are banks wiling to lose money instead of helping people? Everyone knows that banks lose substantially more when they sell an REO rather than accept a short sale. Why won't they "mitigate" their losses and lose $200,000 instead of $300,000. I am, concerned that we are funding the bailout and the banks are being stupid and stubborn with their policies and NOT helping people. People need help-not unwavering policies that benefit no one-ot even the bank.

None of this makes sense and the most frustrating thing is even when I talk to supervisors and management, NO ONE is willing to help, change or bend.

Believe me, I am sick of short sales and if banks do not drastically change their policies immediately, no Realtor is going to want to take on the challenge, futility and insanity of banging their head against a wall to no avail.

Banks, you had better get your act together or you will all be out of business.

Keller Williams R.E.D. Day Volunteering @ GLIDE in San Francisco

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:18:30 -0500

One of the great reasons I love working for Keller Williams San Francisco Properties is that we are involved in our community.

Last Thursday, close to 20 of us went down to GLIDE Memorial United Methodist Church and helped serve over 500 meals to the homeless and the hungry. It was extremely gratifying and we enjoyed ourselves. We have done this a few times before and hope to make a regular habit of it.

In the picture are Charlene Delaney, the owner of our office; Katey Shinn, the Team Leader; and Greg Gamp who is also involved with EARN (helping families buy homes).

Neither a Short Sale nor an REO--Oh MY!

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:37:30 -0500

I was about to rant about which lender was my least favorite but until I get every single short sale that I have in escrow approved, that may not be too wise.

Instead I will focus on something positive: my FIRST listing in quite some time that is NOT a short sale. YES-some do exist.

This is a great 2-bedroom and 2-bath condo in Marina Bay Northshore aka Melville Square. My colleague, Carol, and I had another client Feng Shui the place (is that a verb?), another client paint and repair and through our contacts and networking, the place is nearly immaculate and ready for an impatient person to move right in!

www.1207Melville.com

I say "impatient" as there is no lender to approve the contract and no lender to approve the sale. This means that we need to get cracking on our disclosure package. J

In the meantime, we are OPEN TODAY, Sunday, May 10, 2009, from 2 pm - 4 pm. Take a nice drive out to Marina Bay, enjoy the fabulous water views, eat at Salute and/or feed the geese. See what a mere $200,000 will still buy less than 30 minutes from San Francisco!

~Rebecca White

Rumor Confirmed: Countrywide Outsources Short Sales to India

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:14:26 -0500

I had heard from a title company rep that short sales were being out-sourced. This didn't make any sense to me so I wrote it off as mere speculation or a rumor-until TODAY!!!

One of my short sales is a Greenpoint--now Countrywide--loan. I called to make sure that they had the letter of authorization that I had faxed in a week earlier and to see where to fax the package.

After a few false starts and disconnects, William transferred me to Lavina (sp). She was clueless in our conversation. When I asked if she needed A, B and C; she told me "no", she needed B, C, and A. She called one of the contracts by the wrong name and I had to stop her several times to get her to answer questions. It was as if she were reading a spiel and wanted to get through it as quickly as possible. Understanding her was incredibly difficult and frustrating. Short sales are hard enough without this additional hurdle of language, idiom and jargon barriers.

She called herself a "loan counselor". I politely asked what someone in India knew about a loan in California. After much frustration, she transferred me to Susan who between yawns (they work these people too much) corrected two vital pieces of Lavina's information and was surprised that I had this info and wanted to know where I got it. She seemed a bit surprised as well that I had spoken to someone in India.

So-here is my question: If these companies are receiving US taxpayer money from the "bailout"-why the He** are we supporting the thriving Indian economy instead of our own floundering one???????????

Does Barack Obama know that the money that is supposed to help the American economy is going to India? I am very upset by this.

It is bad enough that I have to deal with India and the Philippines for my phone bills but no one should have to talk to someone so far away for a local-and incredibly sensitive--issue. One of my clients was upset when I shared this information with him as ALL of his financial information could now be compromised. He predicted a huge lawsuit and then maybe Countrywide won't be so penny-wise and pound foolish-can I say stupid?!?!?

Why We Should Care About Short Sales in San Francisco

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:06:23 -0500

As much as I HATE short sales (I'll rant another time about my "run-in" with Chase yesterday), they are here to stay in many neighborhoods in San Francisco.

These are statistics from March of this year. The first two columns are single-family homes and the last one is condos. What is interesting is that whereas the percentage is about the same from early- to late-March, the total number is increasing. In fact, the number of SFR short sales has increased 14% in the past 3-4 months (since early December) and has been as high as 18% of total inventory recently.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions.

~Rebecca White

			MAR. 7						MAR. 24
			2009						2009
			SFR'S				SFR'S				CONDOS
		SHORT	TOTAL #	PER CENT		SHORT	TOTAL #	PER CENT		SHORT	TOTAL #	PER CENT
DISTRICT/
SUB-
DISTRICT

ONE		1				3				0

TWO		2				4				1

THREE		13	50	26%		11	51	22%		6	10	60%
3G	Ingleside Hts	4	11	36%		3	12	25%		6	10	60%
3H	Ingleside	2	7	29%		2	6	33%
3J	Oceanview	5	16	31%		5	15	33%

FOUR		5	65	8%		7	75	9%		4
4H	Miraloma Pk	1
4S	Sunnyside	2	4	50%		3	7	43%


FIVE		3				3				1

SIX		0				0				1

SEVEN		2				2				2

EIGHT		0				0				5
8F	VN/Civic Ctr									1

NINE		3				4				27	388	7%
9D	Mis Bay									6	41	15%
9E	Potrero									2	29	7%
9F	SOMA									9	123	7%
9H	South Beach								4	103

TEN		57	145	39%		56	141	40%		7	39	18%
10A	Bayview	11	32	34%		12	31	39%		2	4	50%
10B	CrockerAm	6	15	40%		4	11	37%
10C	Excelsior	13	21	62%		14	24	58%
10D	Out Mission	4	10	40%		3	11	28%
10E	Vis Valley	8	10	53%		6	15	40%
10F	Portola	3	10			4	15	27%
10G	Silver Ter	4	10			5	16	31%
10H	Mission Ter	2	10			3	9	33%
10J	Hunter's Pt	0				0
10K	Bayvw Hts	6	11	55%		5	9	56%		2	21	9.50%

TOTALS	87	570	15.30%		90	616	15%		52	1055	5%

It's a Love-Hate Relationship with Short Sales--Like the Clients--HATE the Lenders!!!

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:52:50 -0500

Wow-two ratified contracts last week! Six of my nine listings are in escrow in one form or another and I am expecting more offers on 2-3 of these plus on another active listing.

Who said that the market is slow????

Granted these are short sales and take more time but I would rather be busy doing lots of little transactions than be bored waiting for the one big one.

I am aware that many of us do not like short sales. Most agents I know don't like them; many prospective purchasers do not like having to wait for 2-3-4 months (sometimes longer) for lender approval.

I am in one short sale-with B of A and Chase-going on 7 months now. If I didn't care about my clients, I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. Another lender (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage) deleted our package because they claimed that they didn't have something that had been faxed to them three times. I got a timely offer, over asking, and a back-up and their 3-4 weeks to respond has turned into 2 ½ months and we still hear 30 more days every time we speak to them.

I am soooooooooooooo annoyed with these lenders. Why can't they approve these transactions in a timely manner? Van anything be done to compel them to respond? To communicate? I am very frustrated with every lender but one with whom I have dealt-and that was a year ago. If the lenders are so overwhelmed, why don't they use those billions of dollars of bail-out money to hire more staff in their loss mitigation departments????????

In one of three I am now doing with Countrywide, I faxed the package in March 5, again the 13th and yet again March 23. Finally when we followed up on the third submission, a very nice woman gave us her email and Voila! we were in the system the next day.

When we asked her why no one had done this before, she said that we should have asked for an email and to speak with a supervisor. My client and I told her that we had repeatedly asked for an email as the faxes were lost in space and had asked the last guy with whom we spoke for a supervisor and he refused!

Now I have got to go through this two more times with Countrywide.

And what really angers me is that after all of this hard work, they have the gall to not only reduce my commission from 6% to 5%--which I can live with-but then they want me to cut it even more (my deal from H*** with Chase as the second).

There are times I wonder why I bother with all of this aggravation and then I realize it is for two or three reasons. Most importantly, I do care about the people who have lost their wealth in their homes. Concurrent with that is their gratitude provides me with more referrals and future business. Lastly, the reality is that short sales are here and will be here for a while. (If I can figure out how to attach or copy an excel spread sheet, I will provide the San Francisco short sale stats in another post.)

~Rebecca White

Down, Down, Down--When Will It Sell?

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:35:54 -0500

Ouch-the backlash! I am befuddled by some of your comments (to my last blog post). Yes, it is good to get comments but part of being an independent contractor is just that--being able to make choices and some difficult decisions.

I have tracked a number of homes that have gone down, down, down in price. This one on Church was $112,000 when I first saw it. It was marketed by several brokers and went down to $85,000, less, less, $50-something and finally sold for $34,639. OMIGOD-the land or sewer or whatever is worth more than that!! I showed it several times to no avail. In November of 2005, there was a loan amount of $312,000 and it is assessed for over $200,000. Someone got an amazing bargain!!!

Fortunately, when some of these are REOs, the asset manager can offer bonuses and higher commissions to attract a cooperating broker to effect a sale. This is not always the case.

When a property is "controlled" by an attorney and a probate judge and the attorney won't go to the probate judge to do what it takes to sell something-even when the seller is willing to pay more out of her pocket-what can be done?

It is easy to judge unless one walks a mile in someone else's shoes. Sorry, but I work hard enough as it is for small amounts (less than $2000). At times, the short sales, REOs and first-time buyers do not seem worth the aggravation. I like to think that it all averages out but right now, my average list price is less than $300,000 and many of my listings are shared with someone else and/or referrals to boot.

I am not greedy nor a snob, I'd just like to get a paycheck again someday. :(

Yes, Some Houses are Un-SELL-able! (in East Oakland!)

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:45:42 -0500

Wow, it wasn't easy but I canceled my listing of the little house that didn't sell in East Oakland.

Cute house--needed work, but great potential.

It is a sad state of affairs when price becomes irrelevant and some places won't sell no matter how low they are priced. Lowering the price of one acts as a downward spiral on the surrounding home prices.

No showings, no phone calls, nada. All someone would have had to do was buy, fix up with $20-30,000, rent out with cash flow and wait 3-5 years to triple their investment.

Of course, no one can predict the future, but I can be optimistic, right?

Are Some Homes Un-SELL-able???

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:47:50 -0500

Wow, I am so bummed. For the first time, I am unable to sell a normal listing. This is neither a short sale nor an REO—well, it is a probate and according to the attorney, the court won’t allow more than a 6% commission. This means if I were to lower the price again to a mere $75,000—though not convinced that it would sell at this price—my net commission would be less than $700!!!

Since I am now dating my company’s broker, he told the owner and she told me to cancel the listing. The reward isn’t worth the risk to them? Or me?

I find all of this difficult to believe for two reasons. First, when I sold real estate in Oregon 10-12 years ago, I sold many condos and land in the $50-70,000 range. My biggest sale was considerably less than $300,000. Despite the “nickels and dimes”, I was able to garner $3 million in volume to be an MMDP (the successor to the “Million Dollar Club, stands for Multi-Million Dollar Producer). At one time, selling a million dollars in real estate was a big deal. Now it’s not enough (volume and resulting commission) to rent a studio in the City.

The second reason is that this is a cute house. The land was worth more than $100,000 at one time. Yes, it needs work but the potential!!! This is a solid working class East Oakland neighborhood. Some original details are intact. The lot is deep.

Do I regret taking this listing? (You may recall my ambivalence in a previous post or two?

I know that with some REO’s—and desperate sellers—commissions are 3.5 to 5%--and sometimes a bonus--to the Buyer’s Agent. Somehow the probate court won’t allow this—despite the trustee and beneficiary being the same person? (I have a buddy who specializes in probate—maybe he can do battle with the judge and attorney better than I can.)

I guess that all of this begs the question: Are there really homes that will NOT sell in today’s market regardless of price???? It appears that way to me—what do you think?

P.S. In checking the recent MLS comps, two houses are pending under $50,000 and four recent sales were under $50,000. If my soon-to-former listing sold at this price, I would make $210. I am glad that that I didn’t waste $100 on a sign!

Open Houses Can Be FUN!!! (when shared with Friends!)

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:06:39 -0500

Last Sunday, my colleague Carol, my buyer’s agent Arthur, and I held open two listings at the same time in the Marina Bay complex in Richmond.

One was an upper level, 2-bedroom, 2-bath for $250,000 and the other has one bedroom and is a ground level condo with a large patio.

It was sooooo much fun. We went back and forth and shuttled prospects from one to the other. The one-bedroom is more affordable. Some people want more space. Some like a view while others like privacy. The two condos complemented each other so well.

We had over a dozen of our RED Keller Williams signs up so people knew that something was going on.

Coincidentally, Carol and I will be there again today. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by!

We’re looking forward to doing this again in May when we anticipate another Marina Bay and a Melville Square listing at the same time. I told Arthur yesterday that he will shuttle people back and forth in his car and he is looking forward to it.

Feeling Overwhelmed but Grateful for My Colleagues

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:10:33 -0500

The Power of Intention is AMAZING!!! A few weeks ago, I was telling Tim (Charlene's husband-they own the building and Charlene owns the company) that I was going to get 10 listings. I was not so sure that I believed myself but I boldly put it out there. Of course, Tim goes running to Charlene and she asks me about it. So I thought about the six or seven in hand and the birds in the tree-and I said "yes, I am working on 10 listings". And sure enough, I now have-for the FIRST TIME EVER in my life-TEN LISTINGS!!! (And part of the amazing aspect of this is that these are not even the 10 I thought-a few came out of the blue!)

Heck, I got three this past week. Now, I know that REO agents have dozens-if not scores of listings-and many "Mega Agents" as we call them at Keller Williams have 20-30 at a time. And many of these have top agents have teams. I do not have a team per se, but I have started teaming up with different people for different things. My colleague, Carol, helps me with short sales in Marina Bay where we currently have 2 active listings and one pending (see How to LOSE $200,000 in 18 Months?!? (Or WHAT Bailout????) and my broker, Dennis, helps with listings that are tenant-occupied.

What is nice about these arrangements is that they are flexible and we agree on the terms and conditions under we will work together. I have somehow developed a knack for getting listings and being knowledgeable about short sales (7 out of 10 are short sales). I can sell a short sale. I hear more and more negative comments about short sales from friends and other agents. Are short sales my favorite type of listing? Honestly-No. But I like the idea of helping someone out of a bad situation and I know that when their situation improves, they will remember me. Three of my current listings are directly or indirectly due to a satisfied short sale client last year.

I am grateful for people's trust in me and the opportunity to be productive when many agents are high-tailing it out of real estate. I am especially happy to be with a company like Keller Williams.

Bottom line, I am a hard-working agent who is well-supported by a great company or I would not have the success that I am having. Short sales are not easy nor fun but they are an ever-increasing part of the Bay Area real estate market. Even in San Francisco, short sales account for 15-20% of the housing inventory with over 100 short sales currently available. (More short sale info available at my website: www.ShortSaleSF.com .)

Buckingham Palace??? (in the Claremont Hills)

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:40:26 -0600

I am amazed--sellers are coming out of the woodwork--I have never been so busy nor had such a variety of listings.

I wanted to share a unique opportunity in the Claremont Hills. The opportunity to finish the job someone else started and turn his financial disaster into your dream home with a million$$-plus view.

Here is my new listing on Buckingham Blvd.

The dream was to build a $2 million home. The reality: over $1 million in debt and currently listed as a short sale for $500,000.

I do have a lot of interest as there are investors with money and imagination out there. Where else could you make a million dollars just by waiting 5? or 10? years for the market to turn around???

To misquote Warren Buffet, it's OK to be greedy.

A Tale of (Short Sale Condos) in Two Cities

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:50:57 -0600

It is a mixed blessing to have SEVEN listings currently. Four are short sales-luckily two are in escrow-one should close soon; one in East Oakland may never sell as despite a massive price reduction (see previous post: http://activerain.com/blogsview/922619/A-House-in-the-Bay-Area-for-less-than-25000-And-one-for-85000 ) it has yet to be shown; and the others may be over-priced for today's market despite major price reductions.

I am pondering why some properties-specifically large condo complexes-are more prone to short sales than others. I have (or will have) several listings in two complexes: Marina Bay in Richmond and OceanView Village in San Francisco. The similarities: affordability, attractive to first-time buyers, new or newly remodeled and attractive grounds. The differences: OceanView Village is built in to a commercial shopping center so amenities are right there, it is close to BART but some units overlook the 280 freeway, some units have "apartment-like" interior access and there are no amenities. Marina Bay is isolated from stores and restaurants-save one-but close to parks, the Bay Trail, has amenities (pools, gym, and tennis courts) and lovely grounds replete with "lakes" and fountains.

Both complexes were similarly priced at the beginning-maybe OceanView was a bit higher-but the prices today are very different-not only from each other but in the case of OceanView Village-from similar properties.

I can comprehend why Marina Bay failed its homeowners. The prices escalated artificially in the beginning. People were sold on the lifestyle there rather than looking around more in the area. (To clarify, I am not being critical as I came very close to purchasing a unit here myself and sold one to a very close friend.) Where the problem really began comes down to two things: first, of course, no one had a crystal ball and could foresee the mortgage crisis and second, the developer commenced sales of not one-BUT TWO!-other projects prior to selling out Marina Bay. Other developers built condos and there was a glut of inventory on the market.

So now, people are being forced out of their homes and having great difficulty "wrapping their heads" around the fact that a home they may have paid $450,000 to $525,000 for-and were told that it would be worth $600,000 in the future-has fallen in value by 50%. I am grateful that I didn't make the same mistake (?), but sad that these people can't stay in their homes and someone else will reap the benefit and purchase a beautiful 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom home in the mid $200,000s (or a one-bedroom for less than $200,000).

I am not really sure what caused the problem with OceanView Terrace: the location?, the enormity of the complex?, lack of amenities? Yes, the newer condos south of Market are having their fair share of foreclosures and short sales but prices there have fallen maybe 20-25%, not the 50% we are witnessing on the far south side of our City.

I am not sure if it comes down to location, developer greed or bad timing and broken dreams. I just wish that the stimulus package helped more with debt reduction for existing homeowners rather than rewarding those who waited who stand to benefit in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for their procrastination. No, I don't really mean that as I am glad that many people who couldn't afford to buy when things were crazy can now afford to make their dream of home ownership come true. But it is sad to see so many-especially investors-benefit from the broken dreams of others.

At Keller Williams Realty, we believe in a "win-win" philosophy and it is hard for me to "wrap my head around" this "win-lose" reality.

How LOW Can We Go (in San Francisco)????

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:07:29 -0600

Frequently I get "buyer/investor" leads who want a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in a nice north end neighborhood such as Nob Hill (where I live), Russian Hill (a few blocks away) or Pacific Heights (close to my office) for some ridiculous price of $300,000 or $400,000 or maybe even $600,000. It is all I can do to not be rude and query if they forgot a ZERO??

I politely say that nothing meets their criteria, what the least expensive property that does is priced at and suggest other neighborhoods where they may get what they want in their price range.

Yes, our median price fell 20% last year but not in all neighborhoods. Some statistics that I received for November showed a median price of $765,000. I just checked for January of this year. There were 82 sales of single-family residences and the median price was a surprising-to me--$609,000. But when a house sells for less than $200,000; perhaps this could be expected?

Ever curious, I decided to separate our real estate districts to roughly north and west (Districts 1, 2, and 4-8) and south and east (Districts 3, 9 and 10-see map: http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/areamaps.htm ).

An entirely different story emerges. Looking at the northern and western districts, the median price was $797,500 and the average price was over $1million (for 34 sales)

For the other neighborhoods, the median price (for the 48 sales in January) was $529,950 and the average was a tad higher at $545,881.

Let's get really real. The district with the most distressed properties-short sales and foreclosures-is District 10-and the sub district of the Bayview What is the story here? For District 10, the median sales price was $525,900 for last month (and average a tad lower at $503,911). The Bayview had a median price of $390,000 and an average of $352,300. The lowest sale ($196,500) was in this area as well.

What does of this mean? Yes, there are houses to be had for less than $300- 400- or 500,000 but only in one or two of our 96 districts and sub districts.

There are TWO homes on the market RIGHT NOW for less than $200,000-and yes-you guessed it-BOTH in the Bayview. Of 571 active single-family residences currently on the market, ONLY 11 are $300,000 or less.

So people, PLEASE get real, San Francisco is still a strong market. Most neighborhoods are holding their own. Don't let the national economy or the Bay Area doom and gloom mislead you into believing that this is also the situation in the City by the Bay. We are not immune, just better inoculated by a beautiful location where everyone would like to live at some point in their lives.

A House in the Bay Area for less than $25,000?--And one for $85,000!!!

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:53:00 -0600

I was running comps today as I needed to reduce the price of my East Oakland listing. It has been on the market a few months with nary a peep from any of my colleagues. Interestingly enough, when I checked the Oakland crime statistics, this address had less crime than other recent sales and listings (of mine) in North Oakland, West Oakland and neighborhoods around 30^th, Market and MLK. Yet some guy delayed me at my Open House for an hour so he could come by to see it and he got scared off by a memorial down the street. According to a neighbor boy, some kid was in a car accident-NOT a gang-related incident (according to my "source").

People judge; it's sad. These nice young men hanging out at the corner even helped me put my signs away. Or maybe I am naïve?

When I was young, we hung out in our neighborhood and no one thought much of it. (But then we didn't have music blaring or pants that showed our cracks. J ) I am not sure of the differences between now and when I was young, I just know that no one likes to see a group of teenagers hanging out on their street corner.

As usual, I digress. As I checking out the comparable sales, pending and active listings near 1031 89th , I was surprised to notice that the median price of all of these types of listings had dropped below $90,000. Recent sales were closer to $80,000. I saw cute houses-one even had a white picket fence-in the $50-60,000 price range. I was flabbergasted! Especially when I saw a pending sale that had a list price of $24,900. Yes, it was an REO and was seriously fire-damaged, but the lot and foundation are worth more than this!!!!

It is very sad that people re losing their homes and neighborhoods are losing homeowners. I don't have a solution; this is yet another lament. I am merely saddened that my seller has fierce competition to sell what was supposed to be a "gift" from the elderly aunt for whom she cared for many years. This bequest has become a burden.

It is on lock-box and it has some redeeming qualities. Go show and sell-PLEASE!!! See how cute it is:

4-Unit Building in Oakland near Emeryville/Berkeley Border $600,000

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:22:50 -0600

Well-maintained four-plex in north Oakland between Emeryville and Berkeley. Four townhouse-style 2-story units consisting of three 3BR apartments & one Studio. 5757 & 5759 have private backyards, 5755 & 5753 share a larger backyard. Three-car garage was converted to storage and is currently used by owner; could be converted back to a 3-car garage. GRM of 9.3.

What Do YOU Do When Someone is Trying to Scam YOU? Where DO I Report BLATANT ABUSE????

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:00:46 -0600

I got this lovely message and have no idea how to report the a**hole who is abusing this forum as a scamming ground.

PLEASE ADVISE!
Rebecca

Name: Email Address: Subject: IP: Message:

Rubel Ousmane

rubel_ousmane1@yahoo.fr

Business relationship

41.202.85.204

Dearest one,

Please I would like to enquire your advise if you can be of my help. I want you to help me in the investment which I want to do in your country, though I have not meet you before, but I am fully convinced that you are the right person to help me. Some times in life one need to confide in another to succeed in life. My name is Rubel Ousmane, I am from Sierra Leone and I am 19 years and I was in the higher school when my father died and I could not continue with my education. I am single and living all alone here in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire as both my father and mother are dead and there is no body to take care of me and my education.

I have USD$9.2m which was deposited in the bank here by my late father Dr. Leoard A. Ousmane and all the deposit documents are all with me as my late father gave them to me before he died. The name of the bank is; Bank of Africa (BOA), Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. As you know the transaction involves a lot of money and I will like you to confirm to me your sincere willingness and your capability to handle the investment of the money in your country because I have no experience of business investment. I will want us to invest the money in real estate and five star hotels or any other investment you will introduce in your country.

Secondly, I will need to introduce your name to the bank as my late father foreign business partner who is to receive and invest the money in his country so that the bank will contact you and transfer the money to you. As soon as the bank transfers the money to your country you will help me to come over to your country to continue my education why you invest my own share of the money on my behalf. At this point I will like you to tell me as soon as you received this message the percentage which you will take for helping me in this transaction.

In case you want to see and read the deposit documents of the money in the bank; you let me know in your reply mail so that I will scan them and send to you through email attachment.
I will stop here so far until I hear back from you as soon as possible you receive this mail.
Please contact me with this email address: (rubel_ousmane1@yahoo.fr)
Thanks and my greetings to you and your family.

Yours sincerely,
Rubel Ousmane

SHORT SALE Condo in Oeeanview for $300,000

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:55:07 -0600

SHORT SALE Condo in Oeeanview for $300,000

Large one-bedroom with den/office (currently used as storage).

Open kitchen with breakfast counter, granite counters and all appliances.

Large master suite with continental bath, several closets and washer/dryer.

Other upgrades as well including Pergo floors, carpet and track lights.

Deeded parking. HOA $403/month.

Newer construction with lovely landscaping

Sellers paid over $400,000. Their loss is YOUR gain.

Please visit www.8300Oceanview.com for photos.

Not open until next Sunday, February 15, from 2- 4pm. In the meantime, call me at 415.412.1977 for more info and/or to arrange a showing.

Hope is STILL Alive! (Or My Short Sale SOLD!!)

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:51:04 -0600

Great news!! Remember I mentioned the new short sale listing that I was working on? Where the couple's home declined $200,000 in value in 18 months?

Within a few days of obtaining the listing-Boom! an offer-quickly followed by two more. We ratified one over asking a mere 10 days after the place hit the market.

My point: Buyers are out there and will jump on a good deal when and if they see one.

Now I just need to get the package to the banks. I am optimistic about working with Wells Fargo again as I hate B if A when it comes to short sales. I am four months into a transaction with B of A and on my THIRD negotiator--who she has yet to contact me--nor did Guy #2 respond to any emails nor tell me that he was abandoning my offer.

Maybe Bank of America prefers trashed REOs to above-asking offers on pre-foreclosures?

San Francisco SHORT SALES Statistics Update

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:48:51 -0600

It has been a month since I last did an analysis of the short sale listings in San Francisco.

Let me share how these numbers—or percentages—are changing…

The percentage of short sale single-family residences (SFRs) has increased from 13% to 18% in the past four weeks. Should we worry about this? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The net increase is ONE new listing. The percent of short sale SFR listings is up because the inventory is down. The first week of December, there were nearly 600 homes on the market; by the first week of January, the inventory dropped dramatically--by nearly one-third--to only 438 homes.

As far as condos, I realized an error in my previous analysis that diluted the numbers. In San Francisco, all type 2 properties are lumped together despite there never being—to the best of my knowledge—any foreclosures of TIC interests. (I also doubt as most co-ops require hefty down-payments and interviews that they have distress issues either.) So I eliminated tenancies-in-common and cooperatives from my statistics. By only looking at condominiums (including lofts), the amount of inventory was less with a corresponding increase in the percentage of short sale condos.

Whereas four weeks ago, I considered a 4% short sale ratio to be not of much consequence, this number is now 7% sans TICs (and coops)—more significant in my opinion.

FYI, the neighborhoods with the highest ratios of short sale condo listings are Ingleside Heights, Potrero, Bayview, Crocker Amazon and Hunter’s Point (67% of the condos on the market are short sales).

After I look at the REO trends, I will report back.

California is Number 4!!!!--and this is NOT a Good Thing--and SF REO Update

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:51:20 -0600

I was reading an article by RealtyTrac (or using their data--not a plug as I am NOT a fan--just giving credit where it might be due) and it talked about the "Top Ten Foreclosure States (as of October)".

Number 1 on the list was Nevada with 1 in 74 homes. Guess too many people gambled on Vegas instead of in Vegas? J

Arizona was close behind with half the number or 1 in 149 homes; then Florida close with 1 in 157.

And...drum roll please...California was number 4 with 1 in 231 homes in foreclosure.

And where does my hometown of San Francisco fit into this? I don't know exactly how many homes there are in the entire city of San Francisco but we can look at this a couple of ways. As of today, January 3, 2009, we have 41 REO SFRs (single-family residences). If this would be 1 in 231, we should have a mere 9471 residences-we have far more than that.

Another way of looking at this, is by calculating the percentage of houses listed that have been foreclosed upon. 41 is 9.4 % of 438.

If you have been following my SF REO Stats, you will notice two things-first: this is a higher percentage in the past but second: only because the number of homes on the market has fallen by nearly a third over the Holidays.

So overall, I would say that we are still pretty lucky in San Francisco. The foreclosed homes are non-existent in 3 of our 10 real estate "districts" and over half are in one district-District 10-the southeast part of the City.

P.S. The other "Top Ten" states were Colorado (1 in 390), Georgia (1 in 391) Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio (1 in 417).

How to LOSE $200,000 in 18 Months?!? (Or WHAT Bailout????)

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:23:53 -0600

Wow, gotta know that I love referrals as that means my clients love me, right?

So I completed a successful short sale transaction in April for a couple. Last week, they referred me to another couple who owned a condominium in an adjacent town. Coincidentally, I had sold a condo in the same complex (and liked the area so well, I considered making the move across the Bay myself.) [To digress, I regrettably invested in a TIC in San Francisco (more later) and was fearful for my cat's safety (he might have chased a goose into a pond!) and truly loved San Francisco too much to move. (The affordability of the East Bay is still enticing, hence my vicarious thrills with many first-time buyers.)]

Back to my story...I asked some questions and ran some quick comps. These young ladies had paid $450,000 for their two-bedroom, two-bath condo in July of 2007 and the most recent sale was for $240,000. Can we all say YIKES!?!!?!!?!??

The good? news is that their mortgage will not adjust for 6 more years and they did get 100% financing. I say that this is "good" news as unlike my other Richmond short sale (still in escrow 3 months later), they are NOT losing any down-payment money. The reason for the short sale is that shortly after the purchase, one of them became pregnant--and they had TWINS!! More yikes! A mortgage is tough enough for two incomes but when that becomes one income and the family doubles, it is even tougher.

What I am continually learning as I meet more short sale clients is that each one has a tragic story of a job loss, savings lost, family issues, etc. It is sad that good people--and maybe even some not so good--are LOSING their homes. (So far, all of my clients are good people with big dreams and bad timing)

And where is the help that these people are supposed to get? I don't get the "bailout". Let's give the banks more money to loan people who maybe should or should NOT buy a home. (WHAT?) Banks get money--does anyone else see what is wrong with this????? (And then of course, there is the fact that no one equates spending $3000 a SECOND in Iraq with our failing economy here. My Dad told me that each American's share of the national debt is $450,000!!!. Ooops, digressing again.)

Why doesn't the government BUY DOWN the interest rates of each person who has a mortgage? Or pay off 10-20% of their loans--NOT re-finances--but purchase money loans--so that people can afford the mortgage that they have AND keep their homes!!!! I don't get why we are trying to get more loans in our economy--yes I DO want to sell you a home--but what about the people who are being foreclosed on right now--the people with the financial problems? Why is nothing being done DIRECTLY to help these people?????

I could go on but I would only be getting more pissed off so I will rant again sometime!

Answers to San Francisco REO & Short Sale Quiz (and some Thoughts about OCEANVIEW)

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:17:57 -0600

Keeping in mind that this quiz was from a few weeks ago--but also doubtful that much has changed--here are the first few answers to the True and False questions in the San Francisco short sale and REO quiz that I posted recently. Also bearing in mind that this was aimed at Realtors, let me share with you the link to our San Francisco Association of Realtors real estate district map so that you will know what the "district numbers" refer to: http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/areamaps.htm

Let me repeat the first few questions, ponder a moment--and then I will give you the answers--along with some commentary/explanation. Some may surprise you!!

1. Every district in San Francisco has at least one distressed property. T ___ F ___

2. One in 10 homes in America is in danger of foreclosure. T ___ F ___

3. There are more than 100 short sale listings currently on the market. T ___ F ___

4. There are no short sales or REOs in Districts 6, 7, and 8. T ___ F ___

There are 10 real estate districts in San Francisco. All but district 5 (Noe, Glen Park etc. http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/central.htm have some type of distressed property. The answer to #1 is FALSE.

Not sure where I heard this--I think on ABC News, but this is TRUE.

There are around 80 short sale homes and enough short sale condos currently on the market--and this number is steadily increasing--so that #3 is TRUE as well.

Now that you know #1 is false, it logically follows that #4 is FALSE as well. We in the North End like to think that we are immune but even Presidio and Pacific Heights have their muti-million dollar foreclosures! District 8 (Nob hill, North Beach and Russian Hill http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/northeast.htm ) would be immune if not for some Civic Center condos.

The onslaught of distressed properties is steadily creeping northward. Could your neighborhood be next? Somewhat kidding as you will NOT find a $500,000 single-family distressed property in the northerly neighborhoods. Get real! MOST of the single-family distressed homes are in the southern reaches of districts 3 (http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/southwest.htm) and 10 (http://www.sfarmls.com/docs/southeast.htm ).

I was pleasantly surprised at the nice-sized homes with lawns, hardwood floors and the occasional view that Oceaview has to offer when showing property there recently Oh, and did I mention the prices?!?!?? Nine homes are under $500,000 and four under $400,000!!!! At well-below median price, I think that this neighborhood has exciting potential!

I will update my statistics and return to answer more questions again soon.

What are Your Options When You Can No Longer Afford Your Mortgage??

Rebecca White (Keller Williams San Francisco Properties) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:32:16 -0600

Maybe you have received a notice of default on your mortgage? Lost your job? Had an unexpected financial setback? Worried about your mortgage adjusting in a few months? And even more worried that you won't be able to afford a higher payment? Or even your current one?

If you click on the link "Ed and Allison's Options", I have a report that explains about re-structuring your mortgage, short sales and short pays as alternatives to foreclosure.

Either click on the link or go directly to our new website that has this info: http://www.homeownershelpishere.com/