Mike’s Real Estate Show

  I was alerted to the following web site from a listener to the show, Michael Houlihan, Managing Member for Foss Creek Villas, LLC. Mike, who will be on the show later in July, was boasting of the “walkability” of the Foss Creek Villas in Healdsburg (www.fosscreekvillas.com). His community was in the “90’s” for “walkability” which means one living in Foss Creek Villas could get by WITHOUT A CAR!! Here is an explanation of the “walkscore” system and the web site. http://www.walkscore.com Read the rest of this entry »

Last Week in the News
——————————————————————————–Sales of existing homes rose 2% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual level of 4.99 million units, the National Association of REALTORS® said June 26. It was only the second increase in the last 10 months. The inventory of unsold homes shrank 1.4% to 4.49 million units, representing a 10.8-month supply at the May sales pace, down from an 11.2-month supply in April. Meanwhile, the median price of an existing home sold in May dropped to $208,600, a decline of 6.3% from a year ago. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to get involved in the foreclosure market? Think your neighbor might be in default? Just plain curious about how many foreclosures are in your zip code?
Check out this web site. My critique of this site is its reliance on “Zillow” and there oft wrong “Zestimates” which on one property gave a price range of over
$130,000!! If I did that I’d get run out of the house. And there mission statement refers to giving the public foreclosure information for free  but if you want the Parcel Number,Grantor/Borrower, original auction date and current status you’ll have to pay $79.00 per month for this info!! That’s pretty pricey.  But if you’re just curious about what’s going on check it out for free. Even the “Free” information is pretty telling. Here is the Link: http://www.foreclosurepoint.com/fp/root/home.do

O.K. here’s the deal–whine, stomp your feet, start a blog and svetch like crazy about how you can’t get a response in your agreed upon SLA–I’m sure you’ll feel much better for it. However, you’ll NOT get the property you wish! Conversely, you can grit your teeth, be paitient and try to truly understand the nature of the market.

Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to “Short-Sales” we are in the Wild, Wild West! Our “best practices” line of thinking is to present all offers to the Seller, they inturn sign “subject to lender approval”, as you might have with any other contingency in a contract (pysical inspections, loan or appraisal approval) and you have ONE accepted offer with perhaps a “back-up”. Now, does that happen? NOPE! Read the rest of this entry »

Last Week in the News

The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators inched ahead 0.1% in May, matching April’s increase and equaling analysts’ expectations. The index, released June 19, is designed to forecast economic activity in the next three to six months based on 10 components, including stock prices, building permits and initial claims for unemployment benefits.

The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the cost of goods before they reach store shelves, rose 1.4% in May, the biggest increase since November, the Labor Department said June 17. However, core PPI, which strips out energy and food prices, increased 0.2% in May, an improvement from a 0.4% rise in April.

Housing starts slumped 3.3% in May to an annual pace of 975,000 units, a level not seen since March 1991, the Commerce Department reported June 17. Although May housing starts were down 25% in the Midwest, 10.3% in the West and 4.4% in the South, the Northeast saw a 61.5% jump, led by a rebound in multifamily projects. Meanwhile, building permits in May fell to an annual rate of 969,000, slightly better than the 960,000 rate that economists expected.

Pressured by rising mortgage rates, mortgage application volume fell 8.7% for the week ending June 13, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. For the week ending June 18, Freddie Mac said rates on 30-year mortgages continued climbing, reaching their highest level in nine months, reflecting more concerns about what the Federal Reserve will do to combat a growing inflation threat.

The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits for the week ending June 13 fell by 5,000 to 381,000, the Labor Department reported June 19. The biggest increases for jobless benefits came from California (10,778) and Florida (6,164).

Economic news due out this week includes reports on new home sales on June 25 and existing home sales on June 26.

Economic data compiled from government reports and news services Bloomberg.com, msnbc.com, cnbc.com, cnn.money.com and Yahoo Economic Calendar.
 
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 www.pphillippe.imbhomelending.com
 

Proposition 8 which allows for a reduction of your property taxes due to market values going DOWN. This is a nightmare for every county government budget! This is happening throughout the state with the major areas being Sacramento, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton and many, many other communities. Here in Sonoma County I have seen property values drop 30-50% over prices sold in 2004,2005. But here’s the issue–you have to get the County to re-appraise your property and get your valuation down. They have rules for this.  The biggie is they need to see a major downward “trend” in your neighborhood. We have areas of the Southwest/Northwest of Santa Rosa which took major hits and are ground zero for foreclosure activity. The assessor is finally acknowledging this and is accepting the wide price adjustments. However, one foreclosure on the Eastside in a neighborhood will NOT be used as a comparable for the assessor in re-appraising a property. You need to show a thread of sales at lesser prices than the subject property. Read the rest of this entry »