The Home Inspection has always been pivotal point when buying a home in Big Bear Lake, CA. The importance of this fairly inexpensive inspection has become even more important with the influx of the bank owned, REO properties. When you buy a home in the Big Bear valley from a home owner, you normally get a set of disclosures. But, when you buy a bank owned, REO home in Big Bear, you get very few, if any disclosure regarding the property. This makes it even more important for buyer to do his investigations and to get a home inspection.
So, what do you do when the buyer doesn't want to spend the money for the home inspection? Here in Big Bear, the home inspection is not a required inspection, so how do you encourage the buyer to spend the money and get the inspection? Perhaps the story that I'm about to tell you will help.
I am currently involved in an escrow with a buyer who didn't want to spend the money for the home inspection. After explaining the importance of getting this inspection, especially as he was buying a bank owned, REO property, he still said no. That was ok, but I told him that I would need him to sign something stating that I had advised him to get the home inspection and he refused. The thought of having to sign this paper was more than he was willing to do, so he agreed to come back up to Big Bear and do the inspection. He is now very happy that he took the day off and came to Big Bear!
While the buyer was working with the Home inspector, I took a look at the plot map. The way that the manufactured home sat on the lot compared to the other homes didn't look right to me so I started looking into it. It wasn't long before I discovered that half of the house sat on the next door neighbors land. Had I not noticed this problem and the escrow had closed, the problems that this would have created would have been unimaginable.
Needless to say, the buyer is disappointed that this deal won't go together. But he is very happy that we found the problem while he still had time to back out of the deal without losing his deposit. None of this would have happened had we not done a home inspection.
I have been out of the office for over a week, laid up with health issues but was able to go in and work for a few hours yesterday. I was just finishing up and getting ready to head home when I checked one last correspondence. What I learned at that point made me the happiest Realtor in Big Bear. I had just learned that one of the Short Sales that I've worked so hard on was approved! Now, normally this would make me happy as it means another escrow, but this one has some special significance. Here is why.
About four months ago, I received an email from a lady who I had never met stating that she had heard that I was the best person to help her sell her house as a short sale in Big Bear Lake, CA. I emailed her back and asked for a phone number so that I could interview her as too determine ifshe qualified for a Short Sale. We spoke at great length and after listening to her hardship and the answers to so many of my questions, I was convinced that she more than qualified for the short sale. She came in to my office to sign the paperwork. She was very open with me in telling me that all she needed from me was the house to be on the market for 90 days and at that point she would deed the property back to the bank in lieu of foreclosure. After she left, my heart went out to her and her situation and I was determined that I would get her house sold and help her avoid the foreclosure.
I priced the house based off of it's value and in just a short time, I had an offer that was about $10,000.00 below what I was asking for it. As I had the short sale package all together, I send the offer in tho the lender. In most short sales that I've done, you send the short sale package in and then you wait. You have no one person to speak with until it has been assigned to the negotiator, so you call the coustomer service number and someone reads you the notes from the file. That didn't happen in this case!
In less than five days after sending in the complete Short Sale package, I received a phone call from someone at the bank telling me that she would be my contact. I was given her direct phone line and email and every time that I called, she was there and able to help me. To make a long story short, we were unable to put the first deal together as the value placed on this Big Bear home was greater than the offer and the buyer would not come up. The bank was willing to foreclose on this property before it would sell the place for $5000.00 under value! This is a great example that you are not going to steal the house from the bank by trying to buy a short sale. The banks are not going to sell the homes below their value.
The good thing about this house is I had back up offers, so when the first one failed, I simply started over with the next in line. When that buyer bailed out, I turned to offer number 3. Offer number 3 was submitted and within ten working days, I had an acceptance. It took me 138 days to sell this Big Bear home, but that's OK because I got it sold.
Yesterday I had the honor of calling my client and telling her that we had the bank approval and that she was not going to have to deed the house back to the bank or face foreclosure. Needless to say, she was thrilled to find out that we sold the house for her.
The help is out there for the distressed home owner in Big Bear Lake, CA as long as you don't wait until the last minute to ask for it. Once you know that you're in trouble, give me a call and let's see if I can help you with the same success as I was able to give to this client.
This past weekend, I had clients come to see me who wanted to buy a cabin in the Fawnskin area. For you who are not familiar with the Big Bear Valley, Fawnskin is a quite little community that sits on the north side of the lake. After listening to what this couple wanted, I knew exactly what to show them. There were a number of cabins that fit what they were looking for, but there was one in particular that I thought they would especially like. I was right! As soon as they walked in to this cabin, it was obvious that this was the cabin for them. After some back and forth with the seller's agent, we put the deal together and we are now in escrow.
These clients are more than qualified to purchase this cabin. Their lender has given me an approval letter, they are putting plenty of cash to put down and their FICO scores are through the roof. Based off of comparable sales in Fawnskin, there should be no problem with the appraisal. So, why am I so worried about this escrow closing? The answer is "The Appraisal"
In the 5 + years that I've been selling Real Estate in Big Bear Lake, the loan process was basically the same. Once the escrow was opened, I would always ask the mortgage broker to use a local appraiser for the appraisal. The reason for this was quite simple. The Big Bear Valley is made up of a number of smaller diverse communities. Because the value of cabins in these smaller communities vary considerably depending on a number of factors, it would be necessary that the appraiser have a good working knowledge of the Big Bear Valley. In other words, he needed to be Geographically Competent.
As of May 1, 2009 the way appraisers are selected has changed. In most cases, the mortgage broker can no longer select the appraiser. They must submit the request for the appraiser to an Appraiser Management Company (AMC) and it is the AMC who assigns the appraiser based off of the Home Valuation Code Of Conduct (HVCC). The problem that we are seeing in Big Bear is that we are getting appraisers from places like Moreno Valley or Temecula. Now I'm sure that these people do a great job in their local areas. But bringing an appraiser to Big Bear who is not Geographically Competent is only going to spell disaster. Time and time again, we are seeing appraisals come in low. In each case, there are a number of recent comparable sales to support the sales price, yet the appraisal is low. How can that be? Quite simply, these appraisers coming to Big Bear are not Geographically Competent. They don't know enough about the Big Bear Valley to be able to do their job competently. The Mortgage broker can ask the AMC to send an Appraiser who is Geographically Competent but there is no guarantee that this is going to happen.
All good things must come to an end and the days of not having to worrying about the appraisal is a thing of the past. Is it too much to ask for something as simple as an appraiser who is Geographically Competent?
This past week I received multiple offers on one of my bank owned, REO properties in Big Bear. The first offer to arrive was a full price offer with the buyer getting a loan. The buyer was putting 20% down, was pre approved by a local lender in Big Bear, and showed proof of funds for the amount of money he was going to put down. Generally speaking, that's a pretty strong offer. The next offer to arrive was a cash offer for far less than the asking price. If you were the asset manager of this REO property, what offer would you take?
To make a long story short, the asset manager was much more interested in the cash offer than she was the offer with a loan. After going back and forth with a couple of counter offers, the cash offer was accepted. The asset manager could have received more money had she gone with the offer with a loan, but she chose to take cash. Why do you think she did that?
Most buyers and sellers are not aware of the changes put into place for appraisers. As of May 1, 2009 most appraisers must comply with the rules and regulations put forth by the Home Valuation Code of Conduct or HVCC. In the past, the mortgage broker would simply call his or her favorite appraiser to do the appraisal for the new loan. With the new rules put into place by the HVCC, the mortgage broker must now submit the appraisal order to an Appraisal Management Company (AMC). It is the AMC that then orders the appraisal from a pool of appraisers. Now this idea may work well in Victorville or San Bernardino where you have blocks and blocks of tract homes. But when you try to this in Big Bear, it doesn't work. To start with, you want an appraiser who has Geographic Competence for the area that he is working. Bring up an appraiser from Moreno Valley who does not have Geographic Competence for Big Bear is a disaster waiting to happen.
The COMPETENCY RULE requires an appraiser to have both the knowledge and the experience required to perform a specific appraisal service competently. Geographic Competence means knowing the difference between a cabin in Sugarloaf and a cabin in Big Bear Lake. Geographic Competence means you know the difference in value between a cabin in Erwin Lake and Big Bear City. After all, they have the same zip code! Every day I hear stories from Realtors in Big Bear telling me how the appraisal came in low on properties. These are homes that the realtor has multiple comps to support the value of the listing. These appraisals are coming in low because the appraiser doesn't have Geographic Competence.
With the new rules put into place by the HVCC, it is no wonder that sellers are more inclined to take a cash offer for less than the listing price over a full price offer with a loan.
In closing I want to state this as simply as I can. CASH IS KING in Big Bear!
Just recently, I wrote an offer on a bank owned property in the Big Bear valley for a client of mine. When I first me these clients, they were already pre-approved and ready to move forward once they found the home that they wanted. Well, it didn't take long for my clients to find the perfect cabin and we sat down to write an offer. One of the requirements from the bank that was offering the property for sale was that the potential buyer needed to be pre-qualified through the listing bank. My clients were not very happy with the idea of having to go through the pre-qualification process once again, especially as they were pre-approved for far more than they were looking to spend. Can the bank really require you to pre-qualify with them before they'll look at the offer? The answer is Yes!
I've been asked by a number of people if the banks can make you pre-qualify through their lender, even when you plan to use your lender of choice. The answer to this question is simply yes. Not only can the bank ask you to pre-qualify with their lenders, a lot of them won't look at your offer unless you are pre qualified with them. If you want to buy a bank owned home, you're going to learn very quickly that the bank is in the driver seat. If you want to buy a bank owned property, be prepared to jump through hoops that you may feel are a little odd.
2096 Cedar Lane is cute 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home located on a 8,000 square foot street to street lot. With the large lot, there is no problem with parking. Bring your boat or RV and you will have no trouble finding parking.
The entire 1400 square foot home has quality wood flooring throughout. The only exceptions are the bedrooms. The bedrooms have been carpeted with a top quality carpet.
For more information on this home or any of my other listings, please email me at tony@tonycard.com or call me at 909 436 8043
I was reading through a Real Estate forum yesterday when I came across a consumer asking the question, "How Much Should I offer On a House?" The majority of the responses were statements like, Offer 80% of asking price, or my all time favorite answer was LOWBALL the seller. I'm sorry, but in my opinion, this is not giving a potential buyer in any market good advice! Real Estate is just like the weather, it's local. If you want to know what the weather is like in San Francisco, you are not going to listen to the weather reports for Boston. What is happening in the Real Estate market in Rancho Cucamonga has nothing to do with what the Real Estate market is doing in Big Bear. Just because you might be able to low ball a seller in San Bernardino doesn't mean that the same tactic will work in Big Bear. As I said earlier, just like the weather, every market is different and must be looked at from that point of view.
You may live in a market where the percentage of bank owned, REO properties accounts for 50% of the inventory. Or, you could live in Big Bear where the number of bank owned, REO properties accounts for less than 10% of the inventory. If you're trying to buy in a market where just about every other home is a bank owned property, you may be able to get away with offering far less than the asking price. But, if you are trying to buy a bank owned property in a market where only 1 in 10 homes are bank owned, and the banks are pricing the homes aggressively, then any offer made at 80% of list price is marked for failure. It drives me crazy when these Realtor's make these blanket statements like you should low ball the seller, or hey, it's a Buyer's market. They don't know what they're talking about!
Here is an example about why you need to look at each market separately. As I mentioned earlier, Big Bear has an inventory where less than 10% of the homes listed for sale are bank owned. Yet, those 10% of homes make up for more than 60% of the sales. With those kinds of numbers, the bank owned property not only sells quickly, but it sells for asking price or more in many cases. It's not uncommon to see multiple offers on bank owned properties and bidding wars develop over the property.
So, when you start looking to buy Real Estate, don't go into it the deal thinking that what worked the last time you bought a home is going to work now. Don't go into it with the idea that I am the buyer and the seller should be lucky to that I'm looking at his property. Just remember this. You are not the only buyer!
For more information on the Real Estate market in Big Bear, contact Tony Card and tony@tonycard.com
While previewing property in Big Bear today and looked at some really good listings as well as some that I thought were overpriced. Some of these well priced listings were homes being sold as short sales. Whenever I see a home being sold as a short sale, I start to wonder if this is a property that can be sold as a short sale. You see, many agents in Big Bear take these listings without ever checking to see if the home qualifies for the short sale. When they speak to the home owner, they tell them what the house is worth. When they find out that the person owes more than the current market value; they automatically suggest a short sale. There are others who decide that because they now owe more on the home than it's worth, they will simply short sale it and get rid of it. It's not quite that simple!
What does it take to qualify a home for a short sale?
The first thing piece of the short sale puzzle is that the property owner must be in a financial hardship if he keeps the property. The property owner will be asked to document in writing what the hardship is. The next piece of the puzzle is the banks willingness to work with the home owner on a short sale. A call needs to be made to your lenders loss mitigation dept. to see what options are available for you. Lenders have different trigger points that they must explore before selling the property short or foreclosing on it. Once the decision is made that you are going to sell the home as a short sale, you will need to gather some financial documentation that is going to be required. For example, the bank will normally ask for two years of tax statements, you're last two months bank statements, two months of paystubs, your financial statement and our hardship letter.
Picking your Realtor to sell your Short Sale.
Once you have the bank's blessing to sell the property short and you have all of your documentation in place, the next step is to find a qualified Realtor who is experienced in Short Sales. You want to find a Realtor who is experienced in listing and selling short sale homes. The last thing you want is a Realtor with no experience in short sales. When you interview your Realtor, don't be afraid to ask them how many Short Sales they have closed. The Realtor should be asking you questions about your hardship, contacts with the bank, and they should be asking about how many loans you have against the property. If they are not asking questions like this, then be careful about hiring him as your Realtor. Once you have chosen your Realtor, let him do his job. He is going to list the property for what it's worth and not what you owe. The value that your Realtor is going to put on the property is a value that he can substantiate with comparable sales. There may be a large difference between what you owe and what the Realtor is suggesting that you sell for. Again, listen to him and follow his advice.
I'm a Realtor who specializes in Short Sales and Bank Owned properties in the Big Bear Valley in Southern California. If you are interested in buying a Short Sale, or need to sell a cabin the Big Bear Valley, please let me know. I am happy to answer any of your questions and help you in any way that I can
If you're in the market for a Short Sale property in the Big Bear area, finding the right agent to help you is going to be paramount in being successful in your endeavor.
I was out on the Big Bear Multiple Listing Tour today and all I could hear were agents complaining about short sales. Many of these agents I spoke with today feel that the quickest way to lose a client is to make an offer on short sale. Others flat out said that they won't make an offer on a short sale, regardless of what the client wants.
I completely disagree with the agents who have this mind set. There are reasons why these agents aren't getting short sales accepted. Either, they're not asking the right questions of the seller's agent, or they simply don't know what they're doing. Short Sales are not hard to negotiate as long as you know what you're doing.
Before I write an offer on Short Sale, I am asking the listing agent if the seller has contacted the bank and I want to know if the bank is willing to work with a short sale. I want to know if the seller submitted his Short Sale package to the bank. I also want to know if the listing agent has been in contact with the loss mitigation department. If the answer back from the listing agent to these questions is no, then I will be cautioning my buyer against that house. The reason for this is that so many agents list a home as a short sale with no idea as to what they are doing. Waiting for an offer to come in is not the time to see if the bank is interested in doing a short sale. Waiting for an offer to come in is not the time to see if the seller qualifies for a short sale. Waiting for the offer to arrive is not the best time to start putting the short sale package together. To be successful in selling a home as a short sale, there is work that the listing agent needs to do before he lists the property.
As the buyer, you need to be ready to act once the short sale is approved. In every short sale that I've closed so far, I am seeing that the bank wants the escrow to close as soon as possible once they approve it. Most banks want to see the escrow closed within fourteen days after they have accept the offer. What this means to the buyer is he may need to do his home inspection before the bank has approved the short sale. H may need to spend the money on the appraisal and get the loan ready for loan approval before the bank approves the deal. The worst case is that the buyer could be out of pocket a few hundred dollars if the deal doesn't go through. But if it all works out, you are most likely going to be getting a great deal on a house and the risk is worth taking.
If you're interested in buying a short sale property in Big Bear, give me a call or send me an email. I am happy to help you!
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.
importance of this fairly inexpensive inspection has become even more important with the influx of the bank owned, REO properties. When you buy a home in the Big Bear valley from a home owner, you normally get a set of disclosures. But, when you buy a bank owned, REO home in Big Bear, you get very few, if any disclosure regarding the property. This makes it even more important for buyer to do his investigations and to get a home inspection.
side of the lake. After listening to what this couple wanted, I knew exactly what to show them. There were a number of cabins that fit what they were looking for, but there was one in particular that I thought they would especially like. I was right! As soon as they walked in to this cabin, it was obvious that this was the cabin for them. After some back and forth with the seller's agent, we put the deal together and we are now in escrow. 
As of May 1, 2009 the way appraisers are selected has changed. In most cases, the mortgage broker can no longer select the appraiser. They must submit the request for the appraiser to an Appraiser Management Company (AMC) and it is the AMC who assigns the appraiser based off of the Home Valuation Code Of Conduct (HVCC). The problem that we are seeing in Big Bear is that we are getting appraisers from places like Moreno Valley or Temecula. Now I'm sure that these people do a great job in their local areas. But bringing an appraiser to Big Bear who is not Geographically Competent is only going to spell disaster. Time and time again, we are seeing appraisals come in low. In each case, there are a number of recent comparable sales to support the sales price, yet the appraisal is low. How can that be? Quite simply, these appraisers coming to Big Bear are not Geographically Competent. They don't know enough about the Big Bear Valley to be able to do their job competently. The Mortgage broker can ask the AMC to send an Appraiser who is Geographically Competent but there is no guarantee that this is going to happen.
the offer with a loan. After going back and forth with a couple of counter offers, the cash offer was accepted. The asset manager could have received more money had she gone with the offer with a loan, but she chose to take cash. Why do you think she did that?
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