Happy Holidays to All. The cold weather outside does not reflect what is happening in the Real Estate Market !! The market is hot, hot hot... This phenomena is taking place all across the board in almost all cities across The Bay Area.

Since I sell homes primarily in the Tri Valley area, specializing in San Ramon- I see tremendous activity which is extremely unusual for this time of year when I am out shopping or enjoying relaxed time with family and friends ! Open Houses have been packed with people, multiple offers are back with a vengeance and prices climbing up steadily over the past 3 months.

The REO Market

For some very odd reason, buyers are still hitting up REO's like they were going out of fashion. Folks, when an REO gets listed, please be aware of the many pitfalls you will face.

1. Atleast 50-60 offers from your competitors, an dthere may have been more but the listing agent got his/her ego trip out of 60 offers !

2. All cash Buyers are "King". The banks will even take lower offers if they are All cash, so you may land up offering more for the house but the Asset Manager is on their own trip to recover the money fast and quick.

3. No disclosures available- you will buy the property As Is.

4. If you are an FHA buyer, do not even consider writing an offer on REO's. This is out of ethics for me to say but it is the grim truth. With the higher offers coming in, and most of the time the desperate FHA buyer is the highest in their bid, the banks know very well that their property will not appraise for that high ! Hence FHA buyers with 2 appraisals on the table, stand slim to none chance of having a winning bid !

Short Sale Nightmares

If you do not have the heart of steel, do not enter this arena. Agents do not like selling short sales because their commissions get cut. I have personally closed a 760K short sale with a $1500 commission check, after waiting for 6 months for Bank of America to decide what treatment they wanted to mete out to all parties !!

Short Sales are 50:50 game if you are working with agents who have no clue as to what they are doing. 90% of agents who list or sell short sales just wade through the waters, blindly- hoping to hit land ! And I used to be one of them till I realised that these kind of distressed homes will become the staple of our business.

I decided to educate myself, to be the knowledgeable professional who is there is to help clients navigate this difficult situation. I have recently acquired the Pre Foreclosure Specialist and Certified Distressed Property Designations. I am not God that can make miracles happen, but my training has armed me with strategies and knowledge that will help my sellers and buyers close on these homes faster.

If you or someone you know who is in distress and needs to understand their options, please contact me at 925-698-1815 or email me to set up a confidential consultation to discuss exit strategies. Foreclosure should be the last option on the list.

For buyers, I will guide you on how to get your offer accpeted, navigate you to keep you away from trouble that listing agents might get you into and avoid some legal pitfalls that may land up in your plate.

Below is a Market Snapshot of San Ramon Detached and Attached Homes. Thank you for taking the time to read my email and truly from my heart- Have a Happy Holiday Season and May God Bless you and your families.