805 Local

Sometimes we think we have ‘seen it all’ until the next thing happens and that happened just this past week.  You might think that an appraisal should be “black and white” meaning pretty straight forward — right?  Guess that is not the case any longer. 

All conditions for the buyers have been signed off except for the comments of the appraiser.  The appraisal came in at value — so there’s no problem with the value. 

It appears the issue is the appraiser is having some issues with the condition of the property.  Looks like he cannot decide if the property is fair, average or good.   Here’s a bit of the appraiser’s comments:  “there are items of the house that are ‘average’ condition.  Nothing is worthy of being called ‘good’ condition. Several items are ‘fair’ but nothing is really ‘poor’ condition.  In my estimation the final analysis of the property is somewhere between ‘fair’ and ‘average’ certainly not ‘average.’  So without the possibility of calling it like it is moderately less than ‘average’ but somewhat better than ‘fair’ it will have to be ‘fair.’ 

Kinda sounds like a politican.  I guess that is ‘fair’ to say….

It seems like we get the same questions daily about SHORT SALES.  It is confusing to people; it’s confusing the agents.  We even had a friend refer their employee to us who had written an offer on a short sale listing and thought he had purchased the property and would be moving soon.  Unfortunately his agent did not explain (maybe did not even know) what the process was in dealing with a short sale.

With that being said, Greg and I have put together the “Top Ten Things You Need to Know about Short Sales” to hopefully clarify the many misgivings of short sales.

1.  Don’t assume anything!  There are no guarantees that the sale will ever close even though the seller has agreed to your offer. 

2.  The seller/homeowner might not ‘qualify’ for a short sale.  If this is the case, the short sale will not be successful.  Period.

3. Even if the seller’s lender does agree to the short sale, the lender could come back with a higher purchase price.

4.  The transaction requires great patience due to the length of time and the uncertainty of the whole process.  It is a very long and complex maze; it’s a big “maybe.”

5.  The bank who is accepting/not accepting the short sale does not own the house; the homeowner still owns the house.

6.  Many short sale sellers just don’t care; when their house sells, they are out of a place to live.  The seller’s motivation can be minimal.

7.  The property might need extensive repairs.  Count on it.

8.  It is often the second or third lien holder that refuses to cooperate unless they receive part of the sale proceeds which can hold up the whole process — even if it is the same lender.

9.  The homeowner’s lender may ask the homeowner to sign a promissory note for the shortfall amount of the short sale.  If the homeowner refuses, the short sale is unsuccessful.

10.Each lender and situation is different.  Federal guidelines have been introduced but are not mandatory.  There is no way of knowing what the various requirements will be with the various lender involved. 

 We could probably “write a book” about our collective experiences on short sales but who would want to read it??  If you have more that you would like to add to the list, please make a comment. 

One more item — both of us recently completed the designation of SFR which is the only Short Sale and Foreclosure designation sanctioned by the National Association of Realtors.  If you need help with either a short sale or a foreclosure property, we are the Realtors to call throughout Ventura County, CA. 

Somewhere between short sales and foreclosures —– that’s where the start of 2010 seems to be……….

Many of you know that I have been out of town and upon my return wanted to play catch up with what the local Camarillo real estate market has been doing.  I love stats!  Numbers are black and white.  The numbers show what  is happening.  So with that being said before Greg and I started showing property to our Camarillo buyers, I ran some numbers. 

Here’s what I found out:

Camarillo currently has 88 detached  three or more bedroom single family homes in escrow with a list price below $500,000.   Mmmmm – that’s pretty good.  A closer look revealed that 66% of those homes are either a short sale or a bank-owned property.  A mere 34% of those Camarillo homes in escrow below $500,000 were ‘traditional’ sellers!!

What does mean to a prospective home buyer in Camarillo looking for a home priced below $500,000?  First of all it means that the majority of homes that a Camarillo home buyer has looked at has been a distressed homeowner.  Typically the home has ‘issues’ which means that the home needs extensive repairs.  It also means that there is a lot of pent up demand for homes priced below $500,000 in Camarillo. 

If a good ‘traditional’ homeseller came on the market, don’t you think these prospective homebuyers would leave wave bye-bye to the short sale and jump over to a stable, traditional sale instead of waiting around for a ‘maybe’ on a short sale?  Hint – yes! 

So if you are a Camarillo homeowner thinking about making a move, the time is now.  Repeat — now.  Your house is in great demand!  The housing inventory in this price range is minimal. 

Those same prospective Camarillo home buyers today  have less than 30 homes priced below $500,000 to select from and nearly half of those homes are either a short sale or a bank-owned house.   Not good. 

Do you want more information, call us at (805) 340-5811 — Greg — or me at  (805) 377-7172.   Or shoot us an email at info@805Local.com.

Today both of us are suffering from lack of a better term — a “house” hangover.  Granted, personally, I have only had one alcohol related hangover in my entire life.  I’m sure my partner, Greg, is in the same boat when it comes to hangovers.

Last night – though – well took the cake.  This morning we have kept talking about this house…….

We showed a newly listed short sale property it  typically a “Leave it to Beaver” neighborhood here in Ventura County but the Beav no longer lived here.  The house was a floor plan that we had been in many times but neither one of us recognized it since the listing stated that the property had 2.5 baths.  Very different for the neighborhood.   The house had been literally separated down the middle creating two kitchens, two living rooms, two this, two that — you got it — and a half bath had been added.  There’s the half bath that neither of us recognized. 

Needless to say the house was occupied by at least two families.  This would not have been so bad but the place was disgustingly dirty.  The kids were telling us about rats.  The water  was standing in the sinks and tubs. Beds were everywhere.  Music blarring and televisions on.  Help!   Thank God this is not our listing!!

What a mess — it is truly difficult to describe.  We are having a house hangover!!!  With all of our many years of real estate, neither one of us had ever seen anything like this!   

And only hope that we don’t again…….

 What are these people in the picture to the left doing?

A.  Waiting to use the pay telephone.  (Can you see the group of phones on the wall?)

B.  Watching beige paint dry.

C.  Checking their Lotto numbers.

D.  Attending a trustee sale at ‘the courthouse steps.’

If you answered “D” you were right!  (Guess the name of the post gave away the answer)   Good thing we gave you a hint – this picture is not what people picture when they think of a trustee’s sale.

We have sold enough bank-owned homes so we thought it was time that we actually went to see a so-called auction.  When we arrived at the Ventura County Government center, we had no idea where to find the location of the proceedings.  Initially we went to one of the many buildings and asked several people for directions to the sale.  They looked at us with a puzzled look.  Greg and I both wondered if we were at the right place or the wrong date. 

We kept investigating and finally came upon this small group of people gathered outside,  in a corner, next to the pay phones and bicycle racks.  We had arrived.  It was obvious that there were ‘regulars’ and so many of the people knew each other.   It appeared that attending trustee sales what they did on a regular, if not daily, basis.   (See their fold-up chairs?)  These folks knew the program and were ready with their cashier’s checks in hand. 

This day only one property actually sold to an individual.  Why did only one property sell to an individual?  Probably because of the obvious reason – the dollar amount that was owed on the property was more than the property was currently worth.  The remaining properties “went back to the bank.”  We will see those properties soon listed  in our Multiple Listing Service. 

Are you interested in buying a bank-owned property?  Call us (805-340-5811) or email us at info@805Local.com.  We can update you on a regular basis on all Ventura County bank-owned properties.

Many of our readers know that 805Local answers questions on Trulia.com.  Recently we received a Two Thumbs Up BEST  ANSWER on Trulia for the answer to a question dealing with multiple offers. 

Here’s the question from a home seller in San Jose, CA –

“After my home was on the market for four months, I suddenly received 3 offers over the holiday weekend. None are quite what I want, so I’d like to counter-offer all three with the same terms. My real estate agent says that’s okay. But, I’m concerned about the legality and risk of this. What happens if more than one accepts our terms? My agent says that we just pick the first one. But, aren’t we forming a contract to sell once the buyer signs the document regardless of the time/order?”

Below is the 805Local Two Thumbs Up answer on Trulia.com:

San Jose Seller,

Lucky you!! Three offers is a great place to be for a seller!

Fortunately you are in California and your agent is using the CAR (California Association of Realtors) counter offer form. This form has a section for Multiple Offers. If this box is checked, the three buyers and their agents are put on alert that they are in a multiple counter offer situation. In addition the three buyers are given a date and time to respond to your counter offer.

Even if all three buyers agree to the terms of the counter offer, it is you that decides which counter offer to put your approval on. You must initail in the appropriate place for your acceptance.

Don’t let it become a ‘foot race’ to get the counter offer back to you. Consider each offer for their individual merits. Have your agent check with each buyer’s lender while you are waiting for the response to the counter offer.

Michael Jackson did not call Ventura County his home but  he did own an infamous home in the 805 area code called Neverland.  This 2,800 acre ranch is located north of Ventura County in Santa Barbara County.  

Although Jackson transferred title to the Sycamore Valley Ranch Company in November of 2008, so much media attention has centered around the Neverland ranch.  We thought it would be fun just to take a peek inside. 

We found a short video of pictures inside the infamous Neverland.  Check it out.

The Ojai Valley Lavender festival is this weekend Saturday, June 27.  The festival goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Ojai.  Admission is FREE. 

There will be demonstrations, music, crafts, food and lots of lavender.  Savor the smell…..

Many of us living in Ventura County are ‘transplants.’  We were born some place else and luck enough now to call Ventura County our Home. 

This is the case for both of us.  Greg was born in New Jersey and his family moved to Ventura County (specifically Thousand Oaks – the Conejo Oaks tract before it was a tract) when he was a small child.  So he really did not know what it was like to live any where else.  He did do approximately a five year stint in  Washington, D. C. ‘in another life’ when he worked in the environmental field. 

I, on the other hand, have now officially lived half of my life in Ventura County being transplanted from Louisville, Kentucky. 

This past week I travelled back east to the Washington, D. C. area where my son and his family lives.  

Did I ever forget what it is like to live back there in the summer! 

• Humidity -  yuck is the best word to describe
• Air conditioning – blasts of cold air
• Thunderstorms – nearly every day
• Lighting – my son’s house was hit by lighting
• Mosquitoes – don’t forget to spray Off
• Traffic – you think the 101 is bad – nope.

We always inform new ‘transplants’ to Ventura County that we might pay alot for our blue skies here but it is so worth it. 

It’s good to travel.  In my case it was great seeing my son and his family.  Traveling also makes you aware of the little things that many of us take for granted at home. 

We are happy to call Ventura County home.  There’s no place like home….especially a Ventura County home.

Are you ready to purchase a Ventura County home?  Let us help you make Ventura County your home, too.  Email us at info@805Local.com or call us at (805) 340-5811. 

May 2009 closed sales of detached homesin the Conejo Valley totaled 111 with a median sales price of $665,000.  The previous month, April 2009, had 116 detached homesin the Conejo Valley close escrow with a median sales price of $547,5000.

One year ago, May 2008, closed sales of detached homes in the Conejo Valley totaled 112 with a median sales price of $677,450.

Currently the Conejo Valley had 525 detached homes listed for sale with a median list price of $1,080,000. 

May 2009 closed sales of attached homesin the Conejo Valley totaled 46 units with a median sales price of $300,000.  The previous month, April 2009, had 35 units close escrow with a median sales price of $337,000.

One year ago, May 2008, closed sales of attached homesin the Conejo Valley totaled 45 with a median sales price of $410,000.

Currently in the Conejo Valley there are 137 attached homes listed for sale with a median list price of $424,900.

The median price is the point where half of the units sold (or listed) for more and half for less.  This information is formulated from the Ventura County Regional Data Share.  All information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

The most active price range tier this month in the Conejo Valley is tied between homes that sold $550,000 thru $599,999 and homes that sold  $750,000 thru $799,999.  Each of those price tiers accounted for approximately 10% of the closed sales in May 2009.

Check out the following:

• Camarillo Housing Market report May 2009
• $8,000 Tax Credit explained
• Multiple offer are back….
• FHA/VA appraisals