December 12- Short Sale Informational Seminar!

Announcing our Short Sale Informational Seminar! Come and learn the benefits and options with doing a short sale for your home. Ask any questions you may have to decide if this is the best option for you!

Topics that will be covered include:

-The freedom that comes from doing a short sale

-Why 54% of Loan Modifications DO NOT WORK

-What to watch out for- Loan Modification SCAM ARTISTS

-How a short sale works for YOUR BENEFIT

-Why it is important to have the

RIGHT agent doing your short sale

-Why prices are NOT getting better

anytime soon (and probably for years)

-How you can short sale your home, in as little time as possible, as easily as possible, for FREE

Our next Short Sale Informational Seminar will be:

Saturday, December 12th, from 10am - Noon

Call 661-616-3601 to reserve your seat today!

Market Review: October 2009

As of November, 2009, there are 2,646 residential properties for sale on the market in Kern County.
In October, 771 homes sold.
That is a 3 1/2 month supply of homes if no other homes come on the market.
During October 1126 homes were listed.

Of the homes currently for sale...

108 of these homes are priced above $500,000.
During October 8 of these homes sold.
That’s a 13 1/2 month supply in this price range if no others come on the market.
During October 24 additional homes in this price range were listed.

343 of these homes are priced $250,001-$500,000.
During October 67 of these homes sold.
That’s a 5 month supply in this price range if no others come on the market.
During October 114 additional homes in this price range were listed.

770 of these homes are priced $150,001-$250,000.
During October 215 of these homes sold.
That’s a 3 1/2 month supply in this price range if no others come on the market.
During October 311 additional homes in this price range were listed.

1426 of these homes are priced under $150,000.
During October 484 of these homes sold.
That’s a 3 month supply in this price range if no others come on the market.
During October 676 additional homes in this price range were listed.

Number of homes sold in Kern County per month:
January – 671
February – 682
March – 845
April – 884
May – 665
June – 828
July – 508
August – 459
September - 487
October - 771

Note: The "month supply" means the number of months it would take to sell the current number of homes at the current rate, with no change in factors. The month supply for EVERY category increased since last checked (for June), meaning it now takes longer to get through our inventory of homes than it did in June. We also now have slightly more homes currently on the market than since last checked (early July).

Coldwell Banker Preferred Now Has A Youtube Channel!

The real estate company I work for is at it again. This new endeavor only increases the success of my clients in getting their homes sold!

http://www.youtube.com/cbpreferred

Short Sale Testimony

"Mike sold our home for us as we needed to do a short sale. His system for short sales helped us to get a buyer quickly. Thanks to Mike, the bank approved the sale of our home, and he even negotiated on our behalf when the bank asked us to pay out of pocket to accept the deal, making sure we didn't have to pay anything to the bank! We are grateful for Mike's hard work."

-Mr. & Mrs. B.

Today's Mortgage Rates

15 year fixed - 4.375%
30 year fixed - 4.875%
30 year 5/1 ARM - 3.75%
30 year 7/1 ARM - 4.125%
FHA - 4.875%
VA - 5.0%
Cal PERS - 5.375%

All of these rates assume loan amounts $417,000 or less ($368,750 for FHA in Kern County), 720 credit score (640 on FHA), 20% down payment (3 1/2% for FHA) and a 15 day lock on owner occupied properties.

Sniff a Scam - Is the guy doing your Loan Mod a Scam Artist?

If you want to do a loan modification, I strongly recommend going straight through the bank itself. Not only can you do it yourself, it is also free.

If you must use a third party to do it for you, here is what to watch out for:

1. Third parties that want to charge you an up-front, non-refundable fee to do a loan modification for you. The usual price is $3000 or $3500. Not only is this poor practice, it borders on mortgage fraud (article here).

2. Third parties that encourage you to intentionally MISS a payment. Some banks previously wouldn't work a loan modification with you unless you were already in a form of default (i.e.- a missed payment). However that is no longer the case. Loan modifications and short sales are available to people who have NEVER missed a payment.

3. Third parties that are IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of after you pay them. Or, when they do call you back, they always tell you "I'm working on it. " You can always call the bank and ask them what the progress is. Customer service reps will type in notes for EVERY single call. The third party should keep a call log of the date and time of his calls, who he spoke to, and what was discussed.

Make sure the third party clearly indicates to you if your modification is an actual loan modification or simply a forebearance. A forebearance is nothing more than a partial payment that keeps the default status in "limbo." As soon as you miss one of these payments, the default process continues where it left off.

Good luck. For more information on the benefits of short sales, please call us at 661-616-3601.

54% of Loan Modifications DON'T Work

From the article:

"The latest data from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows that over 50% of homeowners who had their loans previously modified in order to avoid foreclosure have re-defaulted. This seems like an awfully high failure rate."

Full article here.

50% of All Homeowners "Upside Down"

This is why doing a short sale right now is so important! It will probably be YEARS before home values go back up!

From the article:

"More than 50 percent of the mortgages in Kern County are now reportedly "upside down," with the house worth less than the loan."

Full article here.