California Short Sale Law Protects Homeowners From 2nd Mortgage

BEFORE: SHORT SALE BANKS COULD "GO AFTER SHORT SALE HOME OWNERS" AFTER ESCROW CLOSES

When a short sale scenario is in place, most people think that they can wash their hands free of the whole house headache. Normally, I tell my clients that it is not 100% true, because banks are gonna do what is in their best interests, which is to make money, or minimize financial loss.

How Long Will It Take To Buy A Short Sale?

http://www.vahomeloancenters.org/real-estate-news/how-long-will-it-take-to-buy-a-short-sale/

What Does my VA Benefit Get Me in San Diego for 2012? (blog)

What Does My VA Benefit Get Me in San Diego 2012?

Where is the Foreclosure Tsunami?

(HISTORICAL BLOG ENTRY, WRITTEN AUGUST 31, 2009)

Where is the Foreclosure Tsunami? Apparently myself, my clients, my blog readers, and pretty much all of San Diego county is waiting for this flood of foreclosed homes to hit the market. I have not seen it.

 Earlier this year, there was a Federal mandate putting a stop to foreclosures for about 3 months, during the spring. When that ended, banks started processing foreclosures again. It usually takes about 3 months for them to go through the whole process. If we assume that the end of the foreclosure moratorium was May 31, then we should see inventories off foreclosed homes pop up about the middle of August 2009. Again, no such scenario.

Why you ask. I have a theory.

A bank's primary purpose is the make money. If they are trying to liquidate their foreclosure property for maximum dollar, although highly discounted, why would the banks shoot themselves in the foot by flooding the real estate market. If foreclosure banks dumped all their property into the market, basic economic rules apply regarding the supply versus demand rule. If there are lots of supply in houses and the demand is still the same, then the current houses must compete for the same buyer supply of owners. If you double or triple the size of the inventory, then competition heats up and home prices are the only thing to differentiate homes from one another. In the end banks would get less money. Banks don't want that to happen.

Perhaps, the banks are slowly trickling in their foreclosure inventory into the housing market so that they can still maintain the current price competition and reduce their bad debt (foreclosed property) inventory. It's a theory of mine and since I don't work for a foreclosure bank, I don't have the reasoning of those people.

Why else would banks not be unloading their foreclosure inventory? I invite your comment, insight, and opinion as always.

Keep Out the Light!

As a real estate agent, it's my job to make homes look sexy and cool. I think this seller/agent was looking to do the opposite. 

So let me get this straight, you have french door window blinds, but you want the light to come in from some random bedsheets? Did you want to keep the light out or did you not? A little advice, go to Home Depot or Amazon and buy some temporary paper blinds that is cheap but still looks somewhat good. 

Too late for these people, but Agent619.com fans can check out these blinds at Amazon:  Temporary Window Shade

From OMG-realty-pix

Kitchens are supposed to create a feeling of cleanliness and function. Well that was the plan, but this picture only says "FUNCTION". How much clutter can we stuff into this space so that buyers say, "I want a kitchen where I can pack as much useless kitchen utensils as possible." Ummmmmmmm...none of my clients have ever asked that (thank God!).

From OMG-realty-pix

What does a circular polarizer do?

If you've ever wondered what a circular polarizer does, and what it looks like before and after, then please read.

Combining Filters

1. No filter attached, no image editing.

How to Avoid 1st Time Buyer Mistakes, Top 10

FIRST TIME BUYER'S TIPS

photo credit: Giulia Torra/Flickr

We've all heard that, "Buying your first home is like a roaller coaster." Yeah, but does it have to be that way for me? Now if I were in your shoes, I'd want to minimize the roller coaster. And, why can't my home buying process be more like Disney's "It's a small world" where the whole world is really small, people singing everywhere, and the ride is very, very smooth? Let's see if we can be more of a boat ride rather than a roller coaster by giving you the top 10 tips when buying a home for the first time.

Before we give you the "deets", let me first say that buying a home is probably going to be your largest investment. But the initial problem with most first timer buyers is that they don't do enought research. Sure, they'll study every home in their perfect zip code and site homes that sold 5 years ago (thank you Internet!), but ask them about what to expect during escrow, and they look like a deer in headlights. More than often, they'll just give me a blank stare about the word "ESCROW", but I digress. Bottom line, please understand what the process is like when we do go home shopping together, then be sure to bring your excitement, your homework, your documents, and then we can start singing "It's a small world" on our buyer tours.

How to Stop a Foreclosure in San Diego

List of Common Short Sale Questions

1. What is a short sale?

2. What type of situation is the short sale best for?

3. Does a homeowner benefit from a short sale?

Military Home Selling Program

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SELLING PROGRAM  

Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP)

The main purpose of the HAP is to assist eligible service members who face financial loss when selling their primary residence homes in areas where real estate values have declined because of a base closure or realignment announcement. The HAP Program also has provisions for Permanent Change of Stations (PCS) with the following: