What a Trying Real Estate Market This Is!

Each day I start to work with great expections, and about 4 in the afternoon they are depleated once more!! Buyers really do want to buy, and out of desperation they write an offer on a short sale, and I mean complete desperation, offer accepted by the seller, Great News, no not really now the waiting starts.  After a month or so I start getting calls, can I please see this house or that house, just in case, so we look.  Now 60 days later I really need to find a home have we heard anything on the short sale??  No, sorry not yet, but there is a new listing lets look at it, no doesnt work for me, I really want the one I put an offer in on..  Check in with the listing agent any news, no not a thing!!  What does it really take to approve a short sale, my opinion, first appraisal of the property, well priced right should be no problem, does the seller have a hardship, well yes military transfer, I call that a problem!!  So, why does it take 6 months to approve the sale of this home that is sitting there vacant and lawns are dying and could probably get vandalized.  I do wish someone would please tell me what is so hard about it..  Foreclose on the property, and then take considerable less for the property than they would have received on the short sale. 

Time To Buy!!!

It really is a great time to purchase a home, it does not matter what type of home you are looking for, be it your first home or your last, why wait. Interest rates are the lowest they have been since the 50's, the price of single family homes are actually affordable. Purchase a home for $150,000 with 3.5% down payment and have a payment of $1050 a month, and this is a PITI payment. I have tenants paying $1200 a month for homes that are worth $90,000. So, what I am trying to say is you can purchase your own home and get a great tax deduction and pay less monthly than you would for a rental. Stop waiting, call me and lets start the process......

To Shortsale or Not to!!!

The following article was in REO Insider and written by Jon Prior, it sounds great but not sure that it is completly accurate!!  As a active Real Estate Agent currently working short sales, in the past month I have banks give us riduclous counter offers to our short sale offers.  When I say riduclous they really were I am talking from $50,000 to $75,000 over the listed price and there is no way these homes would ever appraise at the value the banks are asking for.  We will keep submitting short sale requests but our overall feeling is that maybe 50% will be approved.

It seems that an increasing number of foreclosures in California are being cancelled, and the reasons for this spate of cancellations can be attributed largely to programs such as HAFA, which is intended to encourage lenders to allow short sales as opposed to foreclosures.

HAFA encourages short sales by providing cash incentives to lenders who allow short sales, especially those who hold subordinate mortgages, which can effectively cause the short sale process to grind to a halt.


According to the article, 22,000 foreclosures sales were cancelled in June in California alone. Many of these cancellations can be attributed to a rise in short sales. In southern California alone short sales are up nearly 75 percent in 2010. It appears that many lenders would prefer a short sale to a foreclosure, especially once the HAFA incentives are taken into consideration.



It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue, or if this is some sort of temporary aberration, but this could be evidence that the HAFA program is having a net positive effect in some places, which is more than we can say for other foreclosure prevention initiatives

Yet another week has passed and the market remains the same, great buyers and no properties to show.  The Antelope Valley Press reported this week that sales are down due to the low inventory, buyers are getting discouraged after writing multiple offers!  Property prices continue to creep up slowly but they are moving the right direction. What is the first time home buyer to do, the only advice that I can give is to be persistent, do not get discouraged write your offers one after the other and you will sooner of later get your offer accepted. My best advise is simple find the one that you really like and write a good offer, don't try to cut the price for chances are you are one in three or four offers, make your offer strong if it is the home you really want. From there remember the old fallacy try, try again, and it stands ever so true today!!!! Need help give me a call 661/803-8015

Great Properties!!

Still looking for sellers, for have terrific buyers and nothing to show them, in this market that is just amazing. I do have two great properties coming this week, higher end but spectacular homes. First one is a 3100 sq ft home on 2.5 acres, and it is custom throughout, really custom, the seller helped with the design and the upgrades and had it built to his specifications. I will have it on my web site www.avfamilyhomes.com the evening of June 15th!! Second home is awesome but a unique property fabulous working horse ranch, with 80 acres, thats right i said 80 acres, private commercial well pumping 360 gallons a minute, barns, electric walkers, round pens, so much more, and the home is beautiful also, again both of these are higher end properties and will be posted soon, so watch for us.

Urgently Need Sellers

Are you a homeowner that needs to sell or better yet just wants to and not sure if there is a market for your home!! Trust me the market is here the Antelope Valley needs more homes on the market. Although it is not a great time to sell it is a great time to buy so if you have thought of moving up, give me a call and we will discuss your options. In a bind and find that selling is your only option call me and I will explain the short sale process to you.

Buyers Purchase Power

A homebuyer’s maximum financial ability to purchase property depends entirely upon his down payment and the amount he qualifies to borrow from a lender. The amount a homebuyer can borrow is initially based on two factors:           

the buyer’s income, which generally changes annually at the rate of inflation; and

current mortgage rates, which change constantly.

Lenders know that by one standard, homebuyers are less likely to default if they allocate no more than 31% of their monthly gross income to monthly mortgage payments. Accordingly, mortgage lenders now refuse to lend more money than the buyer can repay at that 31% gross income ratio amortized over 30 years based on a fixed rate of interest.



Sellers, on the other hand, demand the highest possible sale price, but can only sell at a price comprised of the loan amount homebuyers are qualified to borrow based on their 31% income ratio and the down payment they have saved.