Well, here goes that real estate roller coaster again. Inventories of available homes have dropped drastically in most markets from a year ago, For example, Oakland homes for sale have dropped nearly 52% from a year ago. Currently, the entire City of Pleasant Hill has only 25 available single family homes for sale. Prior to the crash in 1996 of home values, we got down to only 13 available listings in Pleasant Hill. I blogged at the time that we had almost sold them all! I expect some needed relief in improving home values. Expect values to start rising in the next 6 months as improving values lag the market 3 to 6 months as people make buying decisions and they then go through the escrow process. Read More: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2012/04/17/inventory-for-sale-homes-posts-big-drop

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right now. One of them the bank is allowing the seller to receive $25,000!  If you know somebody who is in distress with their property and would like to learn what options they have, please send me their name and contact info to steve@realtyworldpcp.com or direct them to www.morethanashortsale. To learn more about associating with our fine company go to:

info. http://careersrwpcp.com/

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Nearly two years ago the State’s Attorneys General across the country along with Federal Officials collectively began to investigate the largest lenders regarding the foreclosure practices of the banks. This led to the “Robo-Signer Scandal”, the discovery that many lenders were just ramming foreclosures through with falsified and fraudulent documentation.

In response, the Attorneys General of many States filed lawsuits against the five largest banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC). Yesterday they reached a Settlement. Although the details of the Settlement are still being worked out, here is what we know so far:

1. The Banks will pay $25 Billion – While this sounds like a large amount of money, the allocation of these funds to solving the nation’s housing problems will be what matters. Here are the designated allocations:

(1) $10 Billion for Loan Modifications & Principal Reduction for up to 1 Million Homeowners – if evenly allocated, this would provide at best a principal reduction of $10,000 per homeowner. California will receive $430 Million of these funds. But with California alone having 2 million homeowners upside-down an average of $50,000 or more, this is unlikely to enable very many people to keep their homes.

(2) $3 Billion for Refinancing of Loans – for those who can qualify for loan refinancing, these funds will effectively result in principal reduction of existing balances. It is unclear how this will be handled.

(3) $1.5 Billion for People who were by Robo-Signer Foreclosure Abuse – this fund will provide a payment on $2,000 to up to 750,000 homeowners who were improperly foreclosed upon.

(4) $10.5 Billion to the States and Federal Government – the highest portion of Settlement funds will go to Government agencies – not homeowners – to compensate for loss of public funds related to servicer misconduct. It is unclear what these “losses” are but they may include loss of property tax revenue, legal costs, public housing, etc.

2. The Settlement Does Not Apply to Loans Owned by FNMA and Freddie Mac – These two Government Sponsored Agencies (GSE’s) agencies now own approx. 50% of all loans in the U.S. and up to 80% of all the subprime loans that are in the most trouble. This Settlement will provide no help for these homeowners. Even though FNMA is under a Government Conservatorship, FNMA actively opposes any principal reduction of its loans.

3. The Settlement Money will NOT be Available Immediately – While the website touting the Settlement talks about “Immediate Aid” and “Immediate Payments”, that will not be the case. It will be 30-60 days before anyone is designated to Administer the Settlement and start working out the details. After that, it will be 6-9 months to somehow identify those homeowners who were affected by the lending abuses and contact them with details on how they might apply for benefits through the Settlement. The Banks have 3 years to perform their obligations in paying the Settlement Money.

4. The Banks Will Gain Immunity from Government Prosecution for Robo-Signer Abuse – The biggest beneficiary of the Settlement may well be the Banks who for a relatively small sum of $25 Billion (they earned $317 Billion last year) will end the existing litigation and be protected from any more State or Federal claims related to the Robo-Signer scandal. This will not stop any individual claims by homeowners nor will it stop any claims for other lending abuses.

The bottom-line: This Settlement is only a drop in the bucket of the monetary relief that is truly needed to enable upside-down owners to keep their homes and get our nation’s real estate and economy back on track. It will have no real or lasting effect except for the few lucky homeowners that get enough funds to make a difference. For the lenders, this relatively small penalty will not be likely to punish them for their abuses nor deter them from such conduct in the future. So, who wins from this Settlement? Once again, it’s not the homeowners.

Meanwhile, if you or someone you know is struggling with an upside-down property and don’t know what to do, our Consultation Program can offer knowledge of what to expect and form strategies to either keep the property or move on with as little financial risk as possible. To schedule a Consultation, please contact our office at 916 966-2260.

The information presented in this Article is not to be taken as legal advice. Every person’s situation is different. If you are upside-down on your loan(s), especially if you’re facing a lender lawsuit, get competent legal advice in your State immediately so that you can determine your best options.

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Did you know that if you are upside down on your home and process a short sale, that the amount that the bank forgives is scheduled to become taxable in 2013?  That means that, for example, if the bank forgives say, $100,000 in order for you to sell you home, that $100,000 would be taxed at your tax rate.  For a person in the 25% tax bracket that means they would owe $25,000 to Uncle Sam.  If you are having trouble making your payments, I can think of no better reason to do a short sale in 2012.  Contact us today.  You do have options!

Here’s a great article that is well worth your attention as you face the new year.  Banks are embracing and staffing up for the coming short sale boom. The banks are embracing the short sale as a way for them to save money as they have found that they lose significantly less on a short sale vs a foreclosure.  There will be more short sale opportunities 2012 than there were in 2011.  Read more about it here:  Short sales set to explode in 2012.  If you know anybody who is upside down on their home and can’t afford their payment, there is hope for them.  Do to www.morethanashortsale.info or call us at 925-408-2911.  People who are underwater in terms of their mortgage vs value do have options.  Contact us and let us help.  Collectively we have successfully packgae over 500 short sales.  Our broker, Steve Holderfield, has received a certification a CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert and has personally packaged over 500 short sales.  The sooner we are contacted the more options we can pursue for you.  So don’t delay.  Contact us today.

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For the fifth consecutive year, Nevada continues to have the highest foreclosure rate in the country, despite a 31 percent drop in the state’s foreclosure activity from 2010 to 2011, RealtyTrac reports.

Several states continue to see a large amount of foreclosures, which are putting downward pressure on overall home prices.

The states with the highest foreclosure rates for 2011 are:

1. Nevada: 6 percent (1 in 16 housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2011)

2. Arizona: 4.14 percent (or 1 in 24)

3. California: 3.19 percent (or 1 in 31)

4. Georgia: 2.71 percent (or 1 in 37)

5. Utah: 2.32 percent (or 1 in 43)

6. Michigan: 2.21 percent

7. Florida: 2.06 percent

8. Illinois: 1.95 percent

9. Colorado: 1.78 percent

10. Idaho: 1.77 percent

Nationwide, 1 in 69 housing units or 1.45 percent of home owners received at least one foreclosure filing during 2011, which is down from 2.23 percent in 2010, RealtyTrac reports.

Source: RealtyTrac

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There are 2 answers to this question. 1. Home values are likely to fall another 4 to 5%. 2. It depends on many factors. Most economists seem to agree that 2012 is likely to be a flat to slightly down market in terms of values. However, we do seem to be hitting the bottom in terms of the the dropping values. Also, the number of foreclosures in the California has dropped over 14% in the last year. The number of successful short sales rose 25% of all sales in California last year from 18% in 2010. It is expected that the number of short sales to continue to rise in 2012. The other wild card is next year’s Presidential election which could bring much needed certainty back to businesses and the financial markets which could positively affect job growth. So 2012 will be fun to see unfold. If you or somebody you know needs to buy or sell any Real Estate, please contact me with a name and phone number. I’d be happy to bring my over 30 years of real estate experience to the effort. Have a great New Year!  More info here: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/28/what-s-in-store-for-housing-in-2012

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I’ve been in the real estate business for some 33 years.  Over that tenure I have endured some pretty daunting markets.  In the past I could always point to one or two problems that, once overcome or fixed in some way, would improve the market.  It always felt as though it was just a matter of time before things got better.  I have to be honest and say this recession has been different.  I have been unable to identify the one or two problems that need to be overcome that will make tings start moving again.  I just read this article and it is quite obvious that our problem is jobs:  http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2011/10/07/job-growth/.

For me, jobs, are not some dead end, temporary government funded stimulus attempt by some Washington bureaucrat, but real, career building, long term employment that an employee can strive at and achieve the rewards that we all desire.  Until we see that kind of change in the job market, we are in for more of the same… falling incomes, high unemployment, more foreclosures, etc.  The jobs are out there and will be created once our Government gets out of the way and empowers our job creators with lower taxes, certainty about the future costs of running a business, less government regulations, etc.  At least that is my opinion.

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http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2011/09/28/financial-industry-corporate-profits/

Why? Uncertain regulation by the Feds. Our current administration needs to, in my opinion, find ways to provide confidence in our markets and the future. Unfortunately, I think this means the need to cut the government spending back to the Clinton levels. We just cannot sustain the current spending levels. Another thing that could be done is to get rid of all this overregulation and red tape… Let’s start bt appealing Obama Care!

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