Unrecoverable

A stone —– once it’s thrown.

A word —– after it’s said.

An occasion —– that’s been missed.

Time —– wasted.

We can try our very best to make amends for the first three.

We cannot ever make amends for wasting someone’s time. Time that would have been better spent with loved ones or making a better living.

None of us know if today is our last day and we’ve let someone waste it. We don’t know if the person’s time we are wasting was taken from someone who’s time would have been much better spent with a loved one, possibly in need.

We just don’t know what wonderful joy may have happened in another person’s life had we not been wasting their time. Nor do we know the opportunities that we’ve missed when we allow others to waste our time.

We should all have a great deal of respect for each others time, including our own.

Sometimes I Forget To Let Buyers and Sellers Know Part … 3

Sometimes I forget to tell my buyers and sellers that if they decide to move out of the area, county, or state, I can help them by doing some research to help find them a really good Realtor.

I look for someone who has more than a flashy website. Someone with a lot of experience in a particular area or type of real estate. I often speak with brokers or managers to ask about personalities and if an agent is part-time or full-time. I find out if they are a Realtor or just a sales agent. If they have time or even desire to take on a new buyer or will they pass a new buyer on to an assistant or member of their team (which isn’t always bad, but I want to know ahead of time). I find out if they have ever had their licence suspended.

Buyers often just call a listing agent on a particular home that appeals to them. This can often be a big mistake but more about that in another blog.

I look at a lot of information and ask a lot of questions before I take a chance in referring a buyer or seller to another Realtor.

The Famous Real Estate Crystal Ball

Everyone has a crystal ball/prediction that tells the future for all of us in the real estate market. The only problem is that each one tells us something different.

On just about any given day I can read three conflicting reports on the current & future real estate market.

A very big problem is that even within a single state, what is going on in one town and what’s going on in a town less than 50 miles away can be very different. The home prices in one town may not have fluctuated as high or low like many others. In one town prices may be on the rise and in another not so much.

To top it off, these reports are reported after the fact. What happened any particular quarter or month can obviously not be reported until that quarter or month is over and all the data is collected. By the time the reports are out the real estate market can and often has changed or is well into changing.

Lender guidelines are changing so fast it’s hard to keep up. The prices have been going up but they may come back down. You qualified for a loan but by the time you are able to get an offer accepted you no longer qualify for that same loan. Interest rates are up. Interest rates are down. Interest rates are projected to go up 1% over the next 9 months if…

The only facts I care about are what’s happening in the Riverside area today. In three weeks from now things could be very different. But I do know what I am in the midst of now. I am seeing it, feeling it, and experiencing todays market – today. Waiting until a report for the Country, Region, State or County comes out that includes other areas so is not very accurate for us and is months or weeks old – will not help either of us.

Forget about what may or may not happen (I will go into that more in a future blog). Forget about conflicting reports of recent history. Just give me a call and we will join up together and as members of the same team we’ll get your goals accomplished.

951-756-4051

Today in Riverside’s Real Estate Market

Sunday November 22, 2009

Today there are 939 single family homes for sale in Riverside. Of these 428 are short sales, 342 are Standard, and 157 are REO, 11 Probate, and 1 is an Auction listing. And about half of the active listings are over priced which leaves us with less than 500 to choose from and most of those are short sales.

The homes in decent condition and priced correctly have an offer if not multiple offers on them.

We need some better inventory!

1,094 are currently accepting Back Up Offers or Pending.

345 homes are listed as on Hold. In this market Hold usually means they haven’t opened escrow yet but they have so many offers they don’t want to see anymore. Some may be on Hold for any number of other reasons also.

642 homes are listed as Sold since 10/01/09.

Deed for Lease Program – FAQs

Fannie Mae, recently announced the Deed for Lease program designed to keep mortgage-challenged borrowers in their homes. As you can imagine, thousands of homeowners around the country are potentially eligible for the Deed for Lease program.

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions:

Who is eligible? In order to be considered for the Deed for Lease program, a borrower must meet these requirements: Have a Fannie Mae mortgage that is in a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure agreement; Requested a loan modification and been turned down; Show proof of income that the rental rate will not exceed 31 percent of the homeowner’s monthly income (e.g., If the rental rate is determined to be $1,500 a month, the borrower must show proof of a monthly gross income of at least $4,838) The homeowner can’t be involved in bankruptcy proceedings At least three payments have been made on the property from the time the loan started or since the last modification. The homeowner also cannot be more than 12 months past due on their payments.

What about the property? In addition to the requirements for the borrower, the property itself must also meet certain requirements: Be in good condition; The property in question must be a primary residence (not a second home or a investment property); In compliance with local rules and laws and Not targeted for any corporate, government or community plan that will need the property for non-residential use. The property manager hired by Fannie Mae will determine if the property meets these requirements.

What about properties that are already being rented out by their owners? Fannie Mae will work with the borrower to determine if the tenants are interested in renting through the Deed for Lease program. If they are, the property manager assigned to the property will work with the tenants to execute a lease. The property owner will give up his or her property and the property manager assigned by Fannie Mae will become the tenants’ landlord. If either the tenants don’t want to work within the Deed for Lease program or a tenant does not qualify for the program, the property will not be eligible for the D4L program. Basically, the tenants, not the owner, must agree to the program for it to move forward.

How much immediate relief can someone who enters the D4L program expect to get by renting? Since housing prices vary greatly from one region to the next, it would be difficult to pin down a single set of numbers that describes the potential savings of moving from renting to owning across the country. However, hypothetically current owners could save money each month by trading in the deed to their property and becoming tenants. Yes, you still have to give up your property to Fannie Mae and lose the equity (if any) in your home. But you wouldn’t have to move during an undoubtedly rough transitional period and would avoid hefty security deposits if you were to move to a new rental unit. It’s a desirable solution relative to immediately foreclosing on a home and having to search for a new place to live.

“This post used information from this article by Chris Thorman, who blogs at Software Advice.”

This Month in Real Estate – Special Edition

I Am So Very Proud of My Family’s Veterans and Yours Too!

Grandpa – Army – World War I, Dad – Army – World War II, Brother – Army – Vietnam.

I pray that all Veterans - past and present – truly understand and know in their hearts how very much we appreciate what they have done to protect America and keep us safe and free during war times and not. Thank You.

Happy Veterans Day!

 

 

11/06/09 Riverside Real Estate Market Matrics

Riverside Real Estate Market Metrics

 I mentioned the 50% of homes on the market that were over priced, skewing the numbers of active listings on the MLS, and not going to sell, in a previous blog. Well there they are – in Red. We still have lots of buyers in every price range but the vast majority of them will not pay over market value for a home.

Why would a buyer put a fair offer on an over priced home? Most would not risk their time and money. Besides the buyer wasting their time they would then need to pay approximately $500 for an appraisal, and may still find out that a seller that appeared to be unreasonable in the beginning is… in fact… unreasonable, and will not sell their pride and joy for appraised value.

 

 

The NEW and Improved Homebuyer’s Tax Break

11/05/09 Congress approved a bill today to extend and improve the tax break for homebuyers;

Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible, subject to income limits, for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers — or people who haven’t owned homes in the previous three years — could get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers have to sign purchase agreements before May 1 and close before July 1.

Now all we need are some available homes for sale that are not over priced or already have 20 offers on them.

Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency

Everyone is talking about Green. Well I think you should have some Green in Your pocket.
Copy and paste the link below or just click on the link under Blogroll.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index