san jose: Get The Right Home Loan First
- 06/14/10 02:21 PM
This is the first step in shopping for a home, and maybe the most important. If you have the right loan, it will save you untold frustration after you have your offer accepted. If you wait until after you’re in contract, there’s too much pressure and not enough time to make a thoughtful choice. I just finished reading this article in the LA Times, recently summarized by the California Association of Realtors: "After shopping for a home, tired buyers often make poor mortgage choices" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lew-20100606,0,1809394.story This is so true. Not all loans are equal, neither are they always what they … (0 comments)
san jose: Beware The Craigslist Rent Scam
- 03/13/10 05:21 AM
Regretfully, all is not what it seems on Craigslist. On a recent REO listing we received numerous calls inquiring whether the property was for rent or for sale. Shortly after we posted the home on the multiple listing service someone posted a Craigslist ad offering the property for rent at a ridiculously low price. The ad actually copied our MLS headline and verbiage word-for-word. This was an upscale property in remarkably good condition for an REO. We expected a lot of inquiries, but not from renters. Some of the callers had driven by the property, noticed our lawn sign, figured the … (11 comments)
san jose: The Ethical Dilemma of Strategic Walk-Aways
- 02/03/10 12:54 PM
Owners that can actually make their loan payments, but choose to walk away, accounted for 1 in 4, or 25% of all foreclosures as of June 2009. That was over six months ago, and the numbers have probably gone up since the initial studies (these data can be easily verified via a quick Google search). Strategic default is an ethical dilemma, and the discussion is burning up cyberspace. On one hand, there is a moral obligation to honor your contract. If you owe more than your house is worth, one way or other you gambled on your equity and came … (164 comments)
san jose: Is There Really A Shadow REO Inventory, Part Two?
- 12/19/09 08:06 AM
No doubt there is a shadow inventory. In fact, our sources indicate a substantial, almost incredible number of foreclosed homes in the national bottleneck. Our original post on this topic was “Shadow Inventory, yes. Banks holding back, not likely”. As indicated, this was posted in rebuttal to the referenced WSJ article, last July.
Of course a lot can change in 6 months. Since then we have come to believe that Fannie Mae is, in fact, deliberately holding back inventory, a probable attempt to stabilize or stimulate values, another ill-fated artificial manipulation of the marketplace. Only government-sponsored entities (GSE) can … (18 comments)
san jose: Did You Really Squeeze Super-glue Into The Keyhole?
- 10/10/09 10:05 AM
Unbelievable. The old adage is true: “if you come to the ballpark every day, you’ll see something you’ve never seen before.” Agent behavior never ceases to disappoint me, like vandalizing listings. Have you heard the one about agents that steal keys from lockboxes to discourage competing offers on hot listings? Well, today my Realty World colleague, Derek Miller, told me a real whopper. This takes the prize (to date, anyway) for the most classless act I’ve ever heard of. To my shame, it made me belly-laugh. Derek took some clients to look at an aggressively priced bank-owned listing and couldn’t get … (8 comments)
san jose: What Is The FED?, Part Two, or The Wolf Is In The Henhouse
- 10/06/09 02:13 PM
The Federal Reserve Board controls the Federal Reserve system: an elaborate depository chain which guarantees the value of money, determines the cost of money, and controls the flow of money. Natural economy is based on supply and demand of goods and services. Contrarily, the American economy is based on the supply and demand of money, controlled entirely by the FED. Basically, the FED, a private organization; autonomous and accountable to no one, controls and manipulates the American economy. Why? Profit. Private profit. As long as money is moving, or changing hands, bankers make a profit. When the money stops moving, they … (1 comments)
This is the first step in shopping for a home, and maybe the most important. If you have the right loan, it will save you untold frustration after you have your offer accepted. If you wait until after you’re in contract, there’s too much pressure and not enough time to make a thoughtful choice.
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