Do you use Docusign? Have you responded to their call to address the FHA to accept Docusign, or any electronic signature on our transaction documents.
Please do so if you have not already, electronic signatures save time, money, and are Green - you do not need to print multiple copies of offers, counters, addendums, etc., for each party involved. Electronic signatures are so convenient for clients who actually work! There's no driving all around to gather signatures, waiting until they are off work, at home, on a lunch break, just a quick email to them which returns to you as soon as all parties have completed their signatures (which usually take less than 5 minutes to do online).
Unite fellow Realtors, and if you don't use electronic signatures yet, give it a try, you'll be amazed at how convenient it is! And if you are wondering, yes, you still go through the contract with your buyers and sellers, there is no shortage of customer service, just convenience all around!
Yes we do have good local beers here in San Diego but there is not a problem with our beers, our problem is with housing prices at the lower end of the scale. Want a cheap beer - no problem, want a cheap home - big problem. It's not good news...
I have written about this in indirect ways before but we are definitely seeing a big issue with first time homebuyers who are desperately trying to get into their first house before the $8,000 tax credit ends November 30th. The issue is the shortage of homes available in the right price range.
For example, looking for a single family home under $200,000 that will qualify for an FHA loan - 3.5% down and all the regulations that go with the loan, it is nearly, actually almost impossible in San Diego. Wanting to do a VA loan with zero down and closing costs paid by the seller, not really an option when you are competing with offers that do not ask for any costs back to the buyer or a cash investor (and there are plenty out there).
Wanting a house that qualifies for any other State or government loan, the same - almost too difficult to achieve.
WHY?
There are too many buyers, too little inventory (homes for sale) and too much competition with multiple offers for all lower priced properties.
Even in the condo market we are seeing the same situation, if it's a deal, a steal, then be prepared to compete with everyone else thinking the same. Even cash offers are often beaten by investors with higher cash offers and nothing, absolutely nothing, priced under $350,000 goes for asking or lower than asking price today.
What are we to do? I'm not sure, the bottom hit a few months ago, it's a seller's market and even with foreclosures about to be released after a moratorium, their low prices increases the bidding wars and invariably they sell for 20 - 30% over list price.
It's not fair, it's frustrating, ask any Realtor who works with first-time homebuyers and ask how many offers they are submitting for each client - I can guarantee it's more than at least 4 or 5, more like 10 - 12 or more.
So the answer, there is none, try and find a seller willing to accept your offer, or keep saving and keep fingers crossed for that one home that you can qualify for.
Back to a good cheap beer, relax, take a deep breath and know your Realtor is really, really trying their best to help YOU!
For the latest on the housing market check this article published this week:
Looking back on my past blogs, whether it was on MySpace 2 - 3 years ago, other social network sites and here within the past year, I never anticipated having too many buyers and not enough suitable properties.
Well here we are in San Diego, and finally the word has sunk in, 'buy now before it's too late' - a subject I tried to promote throughout last year and thankfully a lot of buyers realised at the beginning of this year.
However, now it's August, there's a complete dearth of foreclosures, a ton of short sales and hardly any regular sales suitable for first time homebuyers.
Feeding frenzy has begun, but with the majority of homes available being short sales, all with multiple offers over asking, what's a buyer to do? Especially at the lower end of our market. Just within the past 3 months what could be purchased then, is gone now, and frustration is met not only by the buyers, but me too.
With the pricing of short sales/foreclosures at unrealistically low prices, I mean, believe me, a home that was foreclosed on this year for $430k and is priced now at $171k simply to attract a tidal wave of interest, sends out the message that lenders are the sharks out there and buyers are the chum.
Seller's market here we come, oh no, it is already here, let's hope the next 'wave' or splash of foreclosures will help because my buyers who are trying to buy their first homes are swimming in a whirlpool and not getting to the top anytime soon.
Follow me at http://twitter.com/SDRealEstate
Did you know you can claim your $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit NOW, before you file your 2009 returns! If you have completed your home purchase, all you need to do is file an amendment to your 2008 return, have a copy of your W2, last year's tax return, your final closing statement and IRS Tax Form 5405 found here - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5405.pdf More information can be found at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html?portlet=7 or you can contact your tax advisor!
If you used some of your $8,000 tax credit toward closing costs, you may still be able to claim the balance, but I would definitely consult a tax professional to ascertain whether you may owe at the end of this year!
Good luck, and congratulations on buying your first home this year!
I have written about this before but now is the time to put pen to paper, the cart before the horse, finish the race before it starts and so on..... It has definitely become a sellers' market here in San Diego - every offer submitted is one of multiple multiples and even within the hour you are too late.
Therefore, my buyers' new strategy is one of make an offer, sight unseen, go see and at least we may be within the first 10 offers received. WHY do this? Because we have to. To wait until you see the homes and write the offers we are more often than not too late. It's truly a crazy market here, and with the banks holding the release of foreclosures for another 90 days, we also ask ourselves why?
Why?
Because prices are going up, up and up, not fast like in 2005 but definitely up. Areas where you could find a home between $250k and $300k last year are now untouchable unless you have at least $350k to put on the table, regardless of lower appraisals. So the banks are being somewhat savvy and waiting until the prices have risen, then the appraisals will match new prices, which will equal a little more return for them.
That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it, nothing else makes any sense right now especially when you have buyers who are losing out on every single offer they make because higher ones are coming in - and we are NOT under-bidding by any means, for homes priced in the $275k range, we are offering $350k and not getting them......
This past week has been somewhat unusual. Here in San Diego we are having a repeat of the multiple offer situation we last saw back in 2005. We submitted an offer on a home, an REO, only to find out we were one of 63 - yes 63 - offers. Nothing unusual about the home, priced in the mid $300,000's, in a suburban neighborhood, no outstanding features, no pool, just a 3 bed, 2 bath 1200 square foot house.
Later in the week I was in the middle of writing an offer on another listing, just 2 days on the market, only to be called by the listing agent that there was already a verbal acceptance, we submitted the offer nonetheless as a back-up.
Over the past week I have shown over 30 properties to 3 different clients, written 6 offers, every single one of which was one of multiple already submitted on the properties.
Is the market picking up? That's a silly question now. It's not even pricing strategy, the condition of these homes, or location. Just simply that buyers know when it is a good time, along with everyone else thinking of owning their own home.
If you are not using electronic signatures for your offers - can we say multiple submitted for short sales on behalf of our buyers, then your fax machine is working overtime and the paperwork is getting more and more distorted as it is received.
Now, obviously with foreclosures/REO's the banks probably need a real life signature which forgives us all back to the old days, but with electronic signature the client can keep the whole file to review with which you can go over with them, if you have not done so before (which I highly recommend by the way).
But, if your client is at work, at home, on vacation, out of state, they no longer need to access a fax machine to get your paperwork back to you, which could mean acceptance or not, especially with REO's or a final short sale acceptance if time is of the essence.
Electronic signatures are not the be all and end all, but they do make life simpler for you, for your client, and for the agent on the other side as the paperwork now comes through clear enough to read, decipher and pass along to their client for any signatures needed - no more smudging of ink, hard to read requests, etc., etc.,
Are your buyers working full time? Do they work after 5pm? YES!
How many times do you turn your phone off to have dinner, relax with your family? In this day of internet marketing your answer should be NEVER. Most buyers spend their day at work searching for homes (yes they do!). And when they can make phone calles about homes, have questions, when are they going to call you? IN THE EVENING!
It is optimal to work FOR your buyers and sellers, no matter the olde days when it was usual for everyone to finish at 5pm or 6pm, now it is up to us to be available at all times (up to a certain point, I am not going to answer my phone at 1am) but to work until a certain time point that is convenient to our clients is a MUST.
Most buyers are wanting information yesterday, and if it takes you until tomorrow to answer their questions it could be too late, they may have found the agent who will respond in real time - I know I am working in the evenings and even though I may not like it, my clients love the fact I can respond immediately. And being able to text is A MUST - that's another blog!
When the housing inventory (for sale homes) drops below the 6-month mark here in San Diego it becomes a "sellers" market. We now have under a 5 month supply.
What that means is, if all homes currently for sale are sold, we will have none left after 4 ½ months. Even if banks decide to unload more foreclosed homes, it will not affect this by much at all.
With new regulations on listing a home on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) here in San Diego coming into affect at the end of May, we will only have a 2 month supply.
For homes priced under $500,000, there is the situation of multiple offers (my client just won out from 11 other offers) which means property is moving quickly, even with short sales. And talking of which, the new regulations mentioned above now require that short sales are placed into a ‘contingent' status, between for sale and pending, as many of the short sales already have offers submitted to the lenders, with back-up offers being accepted only.
Is the bottom of the market here? What do you think .... If you are waiting for prices to drop further, look no more, they will be dictated by the sellers now, it's a cycle, and we enjoyed the buyers market up until earlier this year, the wheels have turned.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
;)
;)
