4-17-08
Good morning and welcome to Beverly Hills Real Estate blog.
It's Thursday and there will be a little warming trend. The weatherman calls for mid 80's downtown. It's clear and beautiful! It's Southern California.
The state of the real estate business on the Westside is very interesting. There are buyers and plenty of sellers that's for sure but... the business end of the deals seem to be slowing with the lenders.
It appears the problems that brought us to this point - dubious loans, loan applications, etc, are having a residual effect on the market.
We recently sold a house in 5 days. The seller was reasonable, the buyer was "in love" with the property. The offer was accompanied with a pre approval letter... everything was in place and in good order. The mortgage broker assured us; his borrowers were solid. All contingencies have been removed except, the loan and appraisal.
We are told by the mortgage broker... this is the way it's being done now - - time periods for contingency removal are ignored. The reason; the buyers are caught in the lender Catch 22 themselves. They are powerless while the lenders re write the lending rules as they go along.
This causes great stress for the sellers who must organize their move. Stress on the buyers too... not to mention to the real estate agents as well.
The irony is this; the greedy lenders who made the dubious loans in the first place have knee-jerked in their reaction to this crisis. By being overly cautious, re writing the rules as they go along and so on... they are again affecting the business in a negative way.
Our advice is simle... do not plan on a 30 day escrow if there is a lender involved. Advise your clients as to the state of the business currently. And be patient while this period of adjustment carries on.
This, I know, is easier to say than do but... it's the best we can do currently.
Being aware and upfront with your clients is the best medicine for this latest problem which too shall pass.
If you'd like to make a comment go to http://www.patandmelody.com/ and click on the "Contact Me" button at the top of the page. We're here to help!
Have a great day and talk with you tomorrow.
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