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.

Interesting Bloomberg Article

Bank repossessions climbed 44 percent from May 2009 to 93,777, the Irvine, California-based data company said today in a statement. Foreclosure filings, including default and auction notices, rose about 1 percent to 322,920. One out of every 400 U.S. households received a filing.

REO Inventory Increasing

In a new report from the California Association of Realtors, the number of homeowners that are behind in their mortgage declined in April, well that is good news!! Unfortunately the REO inventory rose 20.7 percent, a new high. Keeping that is mind why is our inventory at an all time low. Properties are still seeing multiple offers after being on the market for 2 days, driving the prices up. Potential home buyers are getting discouraged after writing 6,7, or even 8 offers prior to finally getting one accepted!!! In short REO inventory rises and available inventory continues to decline.

Sell your home AS-IS or Do repairs??

This is a question asked buy a lot of sellers.  The easy way out is to pop a sign out in the front lawn and sell it without lifting a finger or spending a dime.  But is that the best way to get the best return on your investment??

I am sure a lot of you have seen shows on TLC about home staging and prepping homes for sale.  This is a great idea that can be in expensive and really add to the sell of your home.

Low Cost Suggestion to Sell YOUR home::

Home staging. 

This is something you can do yourself, you can hire a professional home stager, or just has your real estate agent.  Home staging is preparing the inside of your home for sale.  What a stager will do is take a look at your home and suggest certain things that will help the sale. 

Take a look at this photo::

This is an example from a company that does home staging. They simply clean up the clutter... stage the home as if it were 'perfect'.  For a dining room, you may set a place setting with flowers, and an elegant dinner.

There might be simple changes like paint.  Maybe the corner of your walls are dirty.. CLEAN THEM!  Or if they can not be cleaned spend twenty bucks at the hardware store for paint and touch them up.  Having a home appear clean is such a large aspect when buyers look for a home.  It will encourage them to offer a higher price because they wont feel like there is a lot of repairs to do upon their arrival!

Also there is the issue of bathrooms and kitchens!  Have you ever gone over to someones home and used the bathroom and felt like you needed a toilet seat cover???  That is exactly what you want to try to avoid!!!  Spend time on your bathrooms to make them look spic n span!  That will help the buyer feel more comfortable! 

And the kitchen... people do not want to know what you ate for dinner last week... make sure the stove is clear of food droppings, the floor is shinny, and the counter tops are clean and clear of clutter!

Now the outside...  Do little things, pick up a few flowers to plant either in the ground or in a pot to bring color to your home.  Pick up kids toys and trash that may have accumulated over the years!  The front yard is the VERY FIRST THING the buyer will see... make sure they remember it... in a GOOD way!

One of my pet peeves is the front door!  The door is used daily and is DIRTY.  But yet this is the threshold you are walking perspective buyers threw!  Again...clean it... wipe down the door, the nob... everything.  Or paint it if needed!!!

So... to wrap things up you can sell your home AS IS... But expect low ball offers.  Spending a couple hundred dollars will really help your investment.  If you do not have the up front money, see if the contractor will put the bill in escrow and get paid when the house sells...

Inventory Remains Low!!

The inventory in the Antelope Valley remains at an all time low!! Buyers are having difficulty getting an offer accepted due to multiple offers, as a buyer you need to be prepared to move quickly and to be ready to write your offer over the listed price. Many buyers in our market have written as many as 12 to 15 offers on properties and still have not gotten theirs accepted.

Now, we have the sellers wanting the properties to remain on the market for 7 to 10 days before accepting the highest and best offer, so in this time the listing agent has received numerous offers. The next problem is if you are writing an offer over the listed price (which you need to do for there is multiple offers) you will be asked to remove your appraisal contingency! Well this is really difficult for the average home buyer for now if the property does not appraise at your offer price buyer has to bring in the differance in cash. That could be another $10,000 to $20,000 out of pocket expense.

WITH THE INVENTORY THAT THE BANKS HAVE WHY HAS IT BECOME SO DIFFICULT TO PURCHASE A HOME.

What is the best way to find a home in today's market?

We get this question a lot, buyers on the search to buy a new home, but they are unsure of the "right" way!  I am sure there are many answers to that question, and honestly there is no RIGHT way... but there is a way that will give you the best opportunity you can have.

Here are a few steps that will help.

1.  Find a local agent.  Let me explain.  In every market there are going to be agents outside the town you are looking in that will want to represent you.  You need to find an agent that knows the market, lives in that town, understands the way the other local agents work, and someone who is out for your best interest.  An agent from another town will not know all the ins and outs they need to represent you fully.  

It is VERY important that you do find an agent.  It is not to your advantage to just drive around and call on the signs.  By having your own agent they will find you everything available on the market in the criteria you give them.  Your agent is not out to waste your time, or theirs. 

2.  Make sure you TRUST your agent.  This is very important... the last thing you want in the back of your mind while you are trying to find a home for your family or a home to invest your money in is wondering if your agent is on YOUR side or the opposite. In today's market in the Antelope Valley, the chances are that you will make one or more offers on a house before you get one accepted.  This is very challenging for you and your agent.  If you have trust in your agent then you will know that she or he is doing everything possible to get YOUR offer accepted.  If you do not trust them and you do not get your offer accepted chances are you will want to blame your agent.  We are living in a very challenging market, and your agent can not MAKE your offer be accepted, we are dealing with banks more often than actual home owners.

3.  Keep your communication with your agent open.  During the process of finding your home your mind may change on several things....  your agent can not read your mind if you do not tell them.  Let your agent know what you are thinking so they can help you get exactly what you want.

Those are few tips in finding a home for you in Today's challenging market.  Here is one last bit of advice for you.  As a buyer, you are not paying your agent, your agent is paid by the seller, no matter what home you choose.  Your agent is NOT swayed by money when it comes to finding you the right home, I believe this is an awful rumor that has spread around throughout the Real Estate Industry.  

Last of all... Good luck!

Welcome!

This is apparently your first time visiting our blog because this is the first post!  My name is Sue Koett and I have been a Real Estate Broker for... well about 15 years.  I was in the business in the 90's we the Antelope Valley saw its first wave of foreclosures, repo's, short sales, and abandoned homes.  If you were in the AV at that time maybe you remember when an entire housing tract was burned for a Lethal Weapon movie because the builder went bankrupted. 

Maybe houses are not being burned right now, but  was are definitely in the same market.  This one may even seem a little worse because the high of the market five years ago was really high, which made the fall down hurt that much more!

So what is going on today???  

California was offering an 8,000 dollar first time buyer incentive... well... its all over now :(

But, in return on March 25th $100 million dollars were allocated to California first time buyers - ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS!!!  What does this mean... if your thinking of buying a home, do it quick!  The guess is that this money will only last 10 - 20 days before the funds are depleted. 

Fun Facts - 

Housing has begun to rise now for three months in a row.

Mortgage fraud rose 7% in 2009

Current number of properties in Lancaster right now is approximately 672 homes

The median priced home in Lancaster is about $140,000

Well, stick with us, our goal is to provide daily news about the Real Estate market in the Antelope Valley and give you resources and lots of good information!