Bill McCord's Blog

I won’t try to explain the pro’s and con’s of any of these options, but will strongly suggest that whichever of them you choose, you consider working with a REALTOR. My reason for this specific advice is as follows:

 

1. There are more than Half a Million Licensed Real Estate Agents in California. This is the minimum required qualification for the job.

2. Only 165,000 of them are REALTORS who have voluntarily agreed to subscribe to a strict Code of Ethics, and are paying members of their Local, State, and National Associations of Realtors.

Amongst many other services Realtors provide to the public is the web site Realtor.com. the most popular of all on-line Real Estate sites. Check out http://www.realtor.com/.

Here we are at the start of the annual self flagellation period otherwise know as Tax Preperation Time.
Given the amount of bad/wrong advice freely floating around on this topic you might find it helpfull to see what the rules really are as the I.R.S. sees it.
Check out this link: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p936.pdf

The Administrations well meant efforts to make it possible for many homeowners to avoid foreclosure has stirred up a hornet’s nest among some media commentators.

The Plan described at http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/ uses up to $75 billion to provide incentives to holders of FANIE MAE and FREDDY MAC loans to work with Borrowers to refinance, or modify existing problem loans, rather than simply go ahead and foreclose.

This is a classic version of the glass ½ full, or ½ empty. Typically, in our current exclusively partisan media, the answer is dictated solely by political affiliation regardless of the facts.

This is unfortunate because there are legitimate reasons for supporting, opposing, or, better still, improving the current process.

One the one hand it is a legitimate effort to try to help Joe Public get through a situation brought about by failures in our economic systems. Given the Trillions of dollars being ploughed back to the very people who caused this situation, the $75 Billion allocated to this program is peanuts.

On the other hand there is a valid argument to be made that subsidizing refinances, or modifying problem loans, is simply putting off an inevitable final default. This can often hurt the very people it purports to help by having them use up scarce funds in a doomed attempt to save an impossible situation, rather than simply give the property back to the Lender and getting  on with life.

The December report on the status of this program provides ample ammunition for both schools of thought, and the regulators have shifted emphasis to try to deal with the problems showing up.

The summary shows that 728,000 loan modifications are already in the required trial phase. Unfortunately only 31,382 have completed that phase and have become permanent, saving homeowners an average of $550 per month. The low rate at which Trials become Permanent  is a serious problem raising concerns that a significant number of these modifications are simply allowing the Banks to delay acknowledging the number of bad loans on their books and to avoid taking the losses on to their Balance Sheets.

If that is true then the inevitable result will be a longer period of foreclosed properties coming to market as these failed modifications fall apart.

As with most things there is not a simple answer, but on balance I come down on the side of giving the program a fair shot. This is based mostly on my view that given the countless billions we have poured into supporting the financial institutions that caused the problems,  a little effort to give similar assistance to the victims is not unreasonable.

An increasing number of Listings are stating that they will not accept offers from FHA or V/A Buyers.

When questioned the Agents usually claim that these loans impose additional costs on the Seller. This was true up till a few years ago, but no longer. In fact, they have a huge advantage in today’s world.

 When questioned they claim that these loan impose additional costs on the Seller. This was true up till a few years ago, but no longer. In fact, these loans have a huge advantage in today’s world.

The following explains why this is so:

First a little clarification regarding current appraisal procedures is required.

1. As of July 2009,  for all Conventional loans, the selection of the appraiser is governed by the much despised HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) guidelines from Fannie Mae. These require that no-one involved in the transaction has any control over the appraiser chosen. This must be done by a 3rd party Appraisal Management Company (A.M.A.) who will collect the full cost of the appraisal plus some profit for themselves. There are no requirements regarding the qualifications of the chosen appraiser except for having the required state license. As the A.M.A. gets to keep the full amount of the appraisal fee, they have a strong interest in giving the job to the lowest bidder regardless of where they live and work, or whether they have any knowledge of the market conditions where the property is located. In recent times I have had one appraiser come from Tracy to value a property in the Hayward Hills, and another come in from Benicia to Tracy. In both cases they brought in a valuation 20% lower than the agreed purchase price and blew the deal away. Both prpoerties went back on the market and closed with FHA Loans using a local appraisor.

2. For Government Loans (FHA, V/A) the appraiser can still be selected by the Lender, The agent, or the Buyer as has always been the case. This ensures that the appraiser will be local to the property and therefore have current knowledge of the neighborhood in which the property is located.

Result is that the appraiser can be selected on their merits and qualifications, rather than based on how cheaply they agree to do the job.

NOTE: There are a limited number of circumstance where FHA & V/A loans cannot be used due to the short time between the last time the property sold and the current date. These a typically “Flippers” bought at foreclosure sales, quickly updated, and put back on the market for an easy profit.

This situation is currently the subject of Bills in both houses of Congress and will most certainly result in new guidelines resulting from law, not in response to pressure from one politicslly motivated State Attorney running for Govenor.

Why do I make more money in December than any other Month of the Year? and why do I expect this year to be even better.
Here’s why.

1. Most Realtors think this is a slow time and choose to take more time off. RESULT; less competition.

2. There are fewer Listings and fewer Buyers, but those who are active  are serious. RESULT; more productive use of time.

But this year things are very different. There will still be fewer Agents working and fewer Buyers looking, BUT there will be many more Listings to choose from.

WHY? Because we will still have all the normal Sellers who are serious, PLUS a large number of REO Properties which are not affected by the holidays. Banks know that each day they own a property costs them a lot of money so they will be putting them on the market as soon as they can regardless of the time of year.

So why be a Buyer now? Because you will have less competition but more properties to choose from. (Not to mention the extended and improved Tax Credit Program).

The rumours and speculation surrounding this Bill are getting increasingly shrill and uninformed ranging from:

1. Extension of the credit is a done deal and will possibly even increase the amount to $15,000.

2. It will be changed to apply to deals that are in escrow before the current Nov 31st deadline and close within 60 days more.

3. It’s dead as of Nov 31st.

4. Etc, etc,etc.

The best site i’ve found for intelligent discussion of this is http://www.californiateachersandemployeeshomeloanprograms.com/update-8000-homebuyer-tax-credit-extension-october-2009/

Scott is a very diligent researcher and reporter on this and more generally 1st time buyer programs.

At the low end of the Santa Clara and Alameda Counties single family home market ($300-$400k) I’ve got used to having to make multiple offers ror each Buyer before getting a deal

I’ve also noticed this creeping up to the $400-$450k market.

However, until last week there was no sign of the same thing happening at higher price levels in the more “up scale” neighborhoods.

Here’s what just happened just 10 days ago

Fri 9:30 I enter a nice new Cambrian listing for $665,000 and schedule for the following weeks Campbell/Cambrian Broker Tour.

Sat Open House has 35 groups of people through.

Sun Open House had 29 more.

By noon Monday I’d received 3 excellent offers and we had accepted a full price clean one.

Early afternoon I get a call from the organizer of the Brokers Tour telling me that the tour had been canceled as all the scheduled properties had sold over the weekend and I would have been the only property to tour. I was actually sitting at my keyboard to update to a Pending Status, so in fact there were no new listings left to tour.

Is this a onetime situation, or a harbinger of calmer waters coming fast?

It’s all about meeting new people and helping them realize their dreams.

From the 1st meeting to the close of escrow, maybe 3-6 months, you go through the equivalent of 20 years of getting to know people well, and developing the ability to work toward a common goal.

 Then you may do nothing more than exchange xmas cards and sending out occasional marketting info. However, if the result of your initial business experience was positive, you will be hearing from their friends and family.

 Then, about 5 years later you will be renewing close aquaintance helping them with their next move.

There is nothing more gratifying than that phone call regarding new business coming from a past client or a referral from them. That is a FUN call.

Based in Berkley Ca, that bastion of Free Thought, The NOLO PRESS is one of the jewels of California. For those who have never heard of it give yourself a treat and see just how much Legal information and advice is freely available at this web site. http://www.nolo.com/index.cfm.

It’s sections relating to landlords and tenants and relevant paperwork are a major resource to myself and many of my clients.

Here is their “Mission Statement”:

Since 1971, Nolo’s goal has been simple:
To make America’s legal system accessible to everyone. With hundreds of top quality, plain-English legal products, we’ve helped make that happen. Every year, over 10 million people turn to Nolo to save billions of dollars. Thank you for your support.

Ralph Warner, co-founder

This is does not allow you dispense with the services of an attorney, but it can help decide if you need one, and to work more productively with them should that need occur.

Be advised that I am not an attorney and do not intend this as Legal Advice.