805 Local

Short sale.  Short sale.  Short sale.  They seem to be everywhere these days.  What does short sale mean?  What’s it all about? 
What is a Short Sale?
A short sale happens when a lender agrees to accept a discounted loan amount in order to facilitate the sale of a property.  In other words, the seller is trying [...]

So here we were were — sitting in the client’s dining room completing the stacks of listing paperwork along with the necessary California disclosure requirements.  Mrs. Seller starts telling us about the wallpaper she recently had installed.  In order to get the full view of the wallpaper, we move to the entry with 12 foot ceilings which [...]

Thursday morning: “Sounds good. Let’s meet at the office at 10:00 a.m Saturday to look at homes.”
Better check the MLS to see how many properties suit this buyer’s criteria.  Wow!  There is a total of 46 just in Camarillo plus there is an additional 55 homes that meets the criteria in Thousand Oaks.  That’s a [...]

As a loan officer who has worked in Ventura County for over 27 years, I’ve seen the processing and underwriting of home loans change dramatically.  Before it all went to “tighter guidelines” (that’s an understatement), the loan officer could be nothing more than an order taker.  “Yes, sir.  May I interest you in a Home Equity Line of [...]

If you live in Southern California, you know what a ‘red flag’ warning is – it means high temperatures, Santa Ana winds, low humidity.  Close the windows, stay inside and secure the lawn furniture.  Get ready for Mother Nature to do her house cleaning……
If you are like us and sell real estate in Ventura County, a red flag means [...]

Here’s the latest in what is on the market with bank-owned properties in Camarillo and the Conejo Valley.
Two weeks ago Camarillo had 23 properties currently on the market that were bank owned.  This week that total now registers 20 REOs for sale in Camarillo.
Click here to get the list of bank-owned properties for sale in Camarillo,  [...]

 
You are thinking about buying a bank-owned house which are also known as a REO or a foreclosed house.   Buying from a bank demands guidelines which are different than buying from a traditional homeowner.  Each bank/lender differs but there are similarities to each transaction.  
Here are lessons that we have learned by writing offers on bank-owned homes with our buyers:

Get [...]

So you want to buy a house, but you don’t know what you qualify for.  You know how much you want your total payments to be, but you don’t know how much house that will buy.  What about property taxes and homeowner’s insurance?  How much would that be?  How much do you need for a down [...]

Neil Cavuto gives simple answers to the housing market in this two minute video.  It’s worthwhile!

SEVEN SECRETS —what you need to know before putting an offer on a short sale:

Length of time to get an answer.  It could take anywhere from two weeks (doubtful) to well over two months (more likely) to get any type of response from the lender.  If there are two loans on the property, it could even take longer.
Qualifications.  Not [...]