I am amazed by how surprised prospects are when I advise them I will provide references from past clients who have used my services, particularly, short sale clients.  Yes, in the case of short sale clients, it is understandable that clients do not want to bring up and discuss the unpleasant hardships of  the past with complete strangers.  But as consumers of services you should have the right to see what you agree to buy.

Unfortunately in our changing business environment, there are too many people out there claiming to be “experts” in certain areas of our profession without providing any proof of their adequacy, let alone expertise.  One simply is not an expert because one declares oneself as such.

Under normal circumstances, selling a house is important but does not have long term implications if the house cannot be sold.   It simply means the homeowners stay in the house until a better time to sell comes along.  However, in a foreclosure situation, if the house cannot be sold or if the terms cannot be negotiated with the lenders to get the approval for the sale, people not only lose houses, but they lose that important sense of “home” and go through an emotional roller coaster ride that comes along with being foreclosed.  Houses can be replaced, but the emotional scars can remain for a long time…...

Ask for references. When you are talking to a Realtor, you are essentially interviewing him/her for a job.  And what job interview does not involve providing references from past employers?   If a Realtor does a good job for their clients, it is not difficult to get the latter to share their experiences with potential clients; as a matter of facts some become your evangelists if they had a good experience with you.

Some Realtors belong to an organization that rates the service via independent surveys and post those scores on the web.  I belong to the QSC organization  because I believe in its philosophy and strive to provide the best service I am able to provide and believe if I were on the opposite side, I would want to know how that person's past clients rated their service before engaging them.   These are difficult times and you should get the best quality service available  out there.   After all, don't you deserve it?

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, foreclosures are no longer reserved for the sub prime borrowers. Now it has spread to the mainstream. All too often, it takes a few of bad months before the borrower falls so far behind, they are unable to catch up.

Besides job loss, catastrophic medical expenses is another common reason why homeowners are unable to make their mortgage payments. This is a why we should have health care overhaul to make sure people are not forced into foreclosures or bankruptcies because of medical expenses. The saga this family is living is being repeated by many other families here in Silicon Valley. It is a shame on us all as a nation, that a soldier who served us has to endure this crisis.

What percentage of the properties currently on the market are distressed (either short sales or REOs)?  As a San Jose Short Sale Agent,  I’m always curious about this answer as a barometer of what is happening in Silicon Valley and specifically with distressed properties.

I went to the MLS and pulled all of the active listings on one hand and pulled all of those same properties which were listed as either “short sales” or “REO”s.    The data below are for all Single Family and Condo/Townhomes in Santa Clara County that are active as of today, November 11, 2009.

The answer to  the question I posed above is 30%. The ratio for distressed properties to all active properties is 838/2780 or 30% by my calculation.  It will be interesting to see if this percentage increases or decreases in the coming months.

 

Distressed

 

 

All Active

 

It's official now, Mr. President has signed it.   So how is the newer version compared to the older version?  Here is a chart comparing the two.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33522046/ns/business-real_estate/

 

AP announced that the Senate agreed to extend the tax credit. 

 

Yes, it looks like first time buyers and even repeat buyers get upto $6500 and can can continue to purchase throught the spring.

 

 

 

I was reading over CAR’s 2010 Housing Market Forecast Presentation today and came across some interesting data I wanted to share.

 

When did the housing market peak?   In the San Francisco Bay area, it peaked in the summer of 2007, specifically, May 2007, when the median home price reached $853,910!  As of August 2009, it decreased to $531,580 or a reduction of 37.7%.

 

Fig. A

 

 

 

Anecdotally, many of us who list homes see a lot of cash offers being made recently, especially towards the lower end of the price spectrum.   What percentage of buyers are actually making all cash offers?  In California, in 2009. 19.6% of buyers are coming in with all cash. 

 

Figure B

 

 Why are buyers purchasing now rather than at other times?  67% of buyers said it was due to lower prices while 39% attributed lower interest rates.

 

 

Figure C

 

 

 

Directly related to the notion of “lower prices” is the Housing Affordability Index which measures the percentage of buyers who can afford to purchase an average home in California.     It just fell shy 70%  in August of 2009.  This means for the first time in this decade, approximately 70% of Californians can afford to purchase an average home.  This figure corresponds almost exactly with the 67% of those who purchased homes this year believing low prices prompted them to bite the bullet. 

 

Fig. D

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good friend of mine and I like to meet up occasionally and go to a little hole in the wall restaurant which serves a wide array of Chinese food.  The menu has literally a hundred items but we both eat the same thing and have for a few years now.  We get together to have some good food and chat and catch up on things.

The other day, we were doing our usual routine of chatting and eating our same ole food.   Suddenly, a foul, putrid smell overwhelmed and enveloped me.  It literally stopped me in my tracks.  I cautiously looked around to  see what could be the problem,  I was puzzled because I had never smelled such  powerful stench in a  restaurant and could only  reach the conclusion  that my friend had  an episode of bad gas......  I tried not to  make  eye contact for fear that it would make him feel uncomfortable; after all, he did it, so  he must be feeling really bad at that point anyway.....   

I can't remember the exact details, but there was what seemed to be a long pause with no one saying anything and me not trying to make eye contact.  The problem was the stench lingered; it would not go away.  I quickly decided it was not him; it wasn't me, so it was ok to gather intelligence and talk.

So in my delicate manner, I ask: "Leland, what is that smell?"  His reply was rather quick: "stinky tofu, I think."  My mind instantly filled with images of Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Food  and other Travel Channel celebrities discussing the stench of this peculiarly but accurately named food product.   

For those who have not smelled it before, you cannot imagine such an odor emanating from something sold at a restaurant is all I can say.  I’ve been to my fair share of Chinese restaurants, but I’ve never seen or certainly smelled this delicacy before that day.    

The table to my left had ordered a small plate of this harmless looking, but nose hair burning soy product.  And rather than quickly eating them and relieving the rest of the restaurant from the agony, they left it there and ate other food while they were talking.  I guess one gets immune from the smell, but obviously neither of us was accustomed to it. Rather than continuing to chat and catch up, we got our checks and left in a hurry.  That was my first encounter with stinky tofu and I feel bad for thinking my buddy Leland's accidental gaseous tendenacies were the source of that smell.

And you are wondering how this is related to Real Estate?  My buddy Leland is a Realtor too……..

 

 

 

I had some things to say about a recent encounter with an appraiser who was sent out to my listing to place a value on it.  The  problem I had was that the appraiser was not local but from a suburb of Modesto, about two hours  away.  I was hot an bothered not only because he was non-local, but he also sent a trainee without accompanying him.  Everyone hears about these non-local appraisers swooping in and killing the deal because they don't know the market.  I was facing  that scenario as well.

 

I promised to report back because some people wanted to see what would happen and follow the results.   

 

The good thing is that the appraiser was smart enough to use the comps I handed him, so the appraisal value was exactly what I thought he should come out with; no drama there.  Almost anti-climactic, because I  almost wanted him to not use my comps, so I could challenge him and make a big deal of it.  But that was it, no drama.