Short Sales-A Very Long Process

In the past 2 months, I have been asked over and over about short sales, what happens, what they’re all about, etc.  So I figured,  it’s time to fill you in on what these things are all about, and what you can expect if you plan on purchasing a home that’s being sold as a short sale. 

A short sale is the step before foreclosure.   In most circumstances, the homeowner is unable to continue paying their mortgage (not to mention HOA fees, if any, and property taxes), and the value of the home is worth less than what the owners owe on it.  For example, if you purchased a $1,000,000 home in June of 2005, today the home may be worth $900,000.  In order to sell the house, the bank has to approve any offer recieved on it, in other words, the bank comes up “short” when they get their payoff.

Short sales require a lot of patience, as most banks have multiple short sale cases on their books, and are not adequately staffed to handle them.  They alsotake a long time to  approve or disapprove the offer.  Although the seller is still on title, it’s the bank that ultimately decides exactly how much of a loss they are willing to take.  Often times, the buyers end up backing out of the transaction for various reasons, but often times, they get fed up with waiting or locate another property that works for them.

As a seller, the benefits of doing a short sale is that it’s better than having a foreclosure on your credit, and in the meantime, you can still live in the property.  For a buyer, you can sometimes make out with a pretty sweet deal, but it requires a lot of patience.  The downside is that you don’t know what interest rates are going to do, and by the time the bank makes a decision, you may no longer qualify for the loan you originally qualified for. 

So what do you do?  You’ve located a property that suits your needs, is in your price range, but it’s a short sale.  I’d say put in an offer, but don’t stop looking or pass up another house that may suit your needs.  A good agent will structure your offer so that you can back out at anytime and not risk losing your deposit.  Now, of course, this is just a brief summary and my experience with short sales.  I’d love to know what you think or hear about your experiences.

Belmont Sales for January 2009

2501 Sherbourne-Listed by Carol Rodinsky of Alain Pinel Realtors. This home was listed for $1,195,000 and  sold in 6 days for $1,195,000, full asking price.  Home needed updating.

2408 Palmer Ave.- Listed by Sandi Paoli of Remax Today.  This home was listed for $749,950, and sold in 8 days for $719,000.  This home also needed upsating. 

2827 San Juan Blvd-Listed by Maureen Conner of Equity Capital.  This home was listed for $479,900 and sold for $400,000.  This home was a bank owned property and was red-flagged by the City of Belmont.  Great lot, great potential, but a huge project.  Good luck to the new owner!

Condominium/Townhouse Sales

There were no  condo/towhhouse sales for the month of January.

Belmont Named Tree City USA for the Second Time!

The Arbor  Day Foundation has named Belmont “Tree City USA” for the second time now.   The “Tree City USA” program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, who set the standards for becoming a “Tree City USA” community.  So, what makes Belmont a “Tree City USA” winner?

 1.  The city of Belmont has a tree board or department.

 2.  The city of Belmont has a tree care ordinance.

 3.  Belmont has a comprehensive community forestry program.

 4.  Belmont also has an Arbor Day observance and proclomation. 

While I have talked to a number of people that are at times frustrated with all the restrictions the city has regarding trees, they do keep our community beautiful, improve our air quality, and help keep property values stable.

New Listings for the Week of 4/29/08

As of Tuesday, April 29, 2008, there are currently 51 Active Listings on the market in Belmont.  Here are the new listings that hit the market over the past week.

• 2406 Coronet Blvd.  Listed with Sheila Johnston and Kathy Banks of Coldwell Banker for $2,500,000.  This home is still being built.
• 1665 Sunnyslope Ave. listted with Dzovig Derounian and Sandy Camaroto of Coldwell Banker for $1,995,000.
• 1500 El Verano Way listed with Chuck Gillooley of Remax Today for $1,325,000.
• 2319 Coronet Blvd. listed with Mary Duvall of Coldwell Banker for $1,175,000.  This home was already on the market originally listed for $1,225,000.
• 2524 Dekoven Ave. listed with Jon Celliti of Jon Dolores Celliti, Broker, listed for $1,139,000.
• 140 Virginia Ave. listed with Deborah Wilhelm of Coldwell Banker for $1,139,000.  This home was recently on the market for $1,188,000.
• 721 Alameda de las Pulgas, listed with Alex Palen of Alain Pinel Realtors, for $1,081,000.  This home is a fixer upper. 
• 116 Clipper Dr. listed with Anne Pearson of Equus Realty, listed for $879,000.
• 328 Chesterton listed with Arena P. Cho of Prudential California Realty. listed for $718,000.

Pending Sales for the week of 4/29/08

• There are no new homes that went pending this week.

Sold Homes for the week of 4/29/08.

• No homes have closed escrow within the past week.

 

Home Sales and Pendings From 04/01/08 to 04/22/08

Sold Homes

• 1040 Judson St. listed with Charles Rauch of CR properties was listed for $769,500 and sold for $790, 000 in one day.  This home was completely remodeled. 

Homes Pending the Close of Escrow.

• 2109 Arthur Ave. listed with Erica Damelio of Alain Pinel Realtors was listed at $1,299,950, recieved an offer after being on the market for 12 days. 
• 1802 Oak Knoll Dr Listed with Janet Pepe Davis from Carlmont Associates, at $1,150.000 recieved an offer withing 5 days.
• 1303 Notre Dame Ave listed with Joyce & Tatum of Intero was listed at $1,049,000 and recieved an offer within 7 days.
• 2205 Bettina Ave. listed with Fred Eftekari of Remax Today was listed at $989,000 and recieved an offer within 8 days.
• 2118 Coronet Blvd. listed with Patrick Ryan of Alain Pinel Realtors was listed at $750,000 and recieved an offer within 10 days.
• 417 Yorkshire Way listed with Stephanie Lashkoff of Ace Real Estate was listed at $599,000 and recieved an offer within 10 days.

Clearely, the market is not as slow as the media leads us to believe, and properties are still selling with sitting on the market for too long. 

New Listings for the week of April 22, 2008

As of Tuesday, April 22, 2008, there are 50 active listings on the market in Belmont. 

The following homes came on the market within the past week.

• 1649 Sunnyslope Ave listed with Omer Tamturk of Century 21,  asking price of  $1,468,500.
• 2717 Sequoia Way listed with Emily Lim of Remax Star- asking price of  $1,398,000. 
• 1726 Terrace Dr. listed with Penelope Huang of Taylor & Huang properties- asking price of $1,299,000.
• 2411 Lincoln Ave. listed with Corina Colby of Coldwell Banker- asking price of $1,128,000.
• 1132 Lassen Dr. listed with Michael Haywood of Keller Williams- asking price of $1,098,000.

Why Conduct Property Inspections Before Putting Your House on the Market.

We have been asked time and time again by our clients about why we need to do a property inspection and pest inspection before putting their home on the market.   Let’s look at why this has become a common practice among agents.  Suppose you recieve an offer on a property, then get the pest inspection, and the inspection shows about $20,000 worth of suggested repairs.  The prospective buyers will most likely ask for a price reduction, therefore bringing all parties back to the negotiating table, and possibly risk closing the sale.  The other reason property inspections are reccomended to be done up front is for the purpose of pricing the home appropriately.  Suppose a home is priced at a $1,000,000, but there is a severe foundation issue, or drainage issues that may cost about $50, 000 to repair.  Once inspections are done, again, the prospective buyers will likely ask for a price reduction, have the sellers make the repairs, or walk away.  Should they walk away, the risk is that the property will sit on the market for a longer period of time, possibly face a price reduction greater than the cost of the repairs, therefore affecting the sellers net proceeds.  It is also imperative to work with inspectors that are reputable and thorough, and always get additional inspectors out to the property if there are any items in question.  Furthermore, should you want to fix something on the inspection report prior to putting the home on the market, you can.  If you want to fix something once you have an offer, you are obligated to hire a licensed contractor, even if it’s a job that you can do yourself.  That being said, the few hundred dollars shelled out for an inspection is money well spent and can save you thousands of dollars should the property have a major defect that can only be detected by hiring the appropriate experts. 

Belmont Real Estate Market Ending March 31, 2008

As of March 31^st there are 39 single family homes on the market ranging in price from $699,888-$2,295.000.

 

There are 30 homes pending the close of escrow. While some of these homes were on the market for a long time and some sold very quickly.

 

816 Holly Road is a beautiful home on a spectacular lot, listed with Lorelei Kleim of Coldwell Banker, $1,748.888 sold within 11 days.

 

22 Korbel Way listed with Diane & Quetzal from Alain Pinel at $1,299.000 sold within 13 days.

 

2516 Somerset Drive Listed with Lin Storer from Prudential Realty at $1,288.000 (I feel it is under priced) sold within 7 days.

 

1802 Oak Knoll Dr Listed with Janet Pepe Davis from Carlmont Associates, at $1,150.000 sold within 5 days.

 

2903 San Juan listed with Monica Bellard from Coldwell Banker Listed at $1,100.000 sold within 6 days.

 

15 Kittie Ln. Listed with Artur Urbanski from Cimpler listed at $999,000.sold within 13 days.

 

3416 Lodge Dr listed with Melanie Smith and Dieter Hartman from Coldwell Banker listed at $989,000 sold within13 Days.

 

1819 Bayview Ave Listed with John Nelson of Coldwell Banker listed at $984,725 Sold within 11 Days

 

2109 Forest Ave Listed with Val Vandervort & Debbie Wilhelm of Coldwell Banker sold within 8 Days

 

1673 Molitor Rd listed with MollyWestrate from Coldwell Banker Woodside sold within 3 days

 

24 Cobblestone Lin listed with Brandon Rover from Cashin Company listed at $869,000 sold within 14 days

 

1040 Judson listed with Charles Rauch of CR Properties listed at $769,500 sold in 1 day

 

2632 Monserat Ave Listed with Dave Blewett of Intero Real Estate services listed at $749,950 sold within 12 days.

 

606 Hiller listed with Tom Huff of Cashin Company listed at $749,000 sold within 13 days.

 

1924 Notre dame Ave Listed with Jaci Rienecker of Coldwell Banker listed at $749,000 sold within 14 days

 

1222 North Rd listed with Vali Hashemian of S & T properties listed at $699,000 sold within 6 days.

 

17 out 30 homes in escrow sold within 14 days. That is great.

 

Homes that show well and are priced right or slightly under will sell fast and may attract multiple offers.

Carlmont High School

This section is for parents and students of Carlmont High School.  Please feel free to comment. 

http://carlmont.seq.org/

Sandpiper Elementary School

This section is for parents and students of Sandpiper Elementary School.  Please feel free to comment.

 http://www.belmont.k12.ca.us/main/sandpiper/