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Recently I had some buyers looking at a home that was listed as a short sale, but I knew we could get a better deal…

I knew sooner than later, I would be seeing the home again as a bank owned listing. I told my clients to hang tight and that I would check the MLS everyday until it appeared. Sure enough, a week and a half later it came on The MLS for $130,000 as a bank owned property. I called my clients the minute I saw it and we wrote an offer for $115,000 cash.

The bank came back the next day at $117,000 cash and we snatched it up. Not only that, but the bank repaired some broken pipes under the house that the original owner most likely would not have been able to afford to do. Basically, the bank took a month and a half and did nothing when it was a short sale.

Once it was a bank owned, we bought it in two days for less money and had repairs thrown in as a bonus. Bank owned One, Short sales Zero. The second situation is very similar. My clients put in an offer of $340,000 on a short sale listed at $389,000. Again, we waited patiently for almost two months while the bank had the home reappraised and numerous BPO’s done.

In the end, after two months, they rejected our offer and let the home go into foreclosure. Like the last time, I watched the MLS and saw the home come up as a bank owned property for $390,000. My clients and I both felt the home was overpriced and we should wait and watch it to see if it would reduce. After two weeks, it hadn’t sold and we decided to make our move.

We came in at $333,000, and waited for a response from the bank. This time it took one day to get their answer, which was no. After a week of wrangling, we put the home into escrow for $339,000. So, we got a lower price in only a week when it was bank owned. Bank Owned Two, Short Sales Zero.

Article submitter S. Miller knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures and Big Bear, CA houses overall. Check out more of her posts online.

Stephanie Miller Finance big bear, Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

A question I seem to get quite a bit these days from my clients is ” What is the difference between short sales and REO’s?” I then , usually, go into a whole explanation of the pro’s and con’s of each, and end up telling them that REO’s are superior in every way. I have a couple of dealings over the past couple of months that really bring this point home.

For over a year now, I have had the pleasure of dealing with a wonderful family. They in North Hollywood, and have been searching for their perfect house in this area for quite awhile now. The first few times we looked around, we didn’t find anything that would have benefited their situation. The family had decided to take about a year, waiting for prices to drop, before they wanted to search again.

So, I took them out a couple of months ago and found a cabin that was perfect for them. The cabin is super clean and situated on a great lot with a ton of beautiful oak trees. Even at the $149,900 price tag, it was a great deal. The one big problem with it was it being a short sale listing. I warned them of the major hassles that usually accompany buying a short sale, but they liked the house enough to risk it.

Over a month into the process, and we still hadn’t heard a response back. It was around this time that I had come to the conclusion that the selling agent hadn’t done his part in filing the short sale paperwork. I informed my clients that the only option we had now was to wait until the bank responded. The selling agent contacted me over a month later to inform me that the bank had snatched this property from him, and didn’t respond to our offer.

It is obvious why I have such a disdain for short sales. I am sure this won’t be the end of it…

Article submitter Marie Strahg has much experience shopping a Big Bear, CA foreclosure plus Big Bear realty overall. Check out more of her posts online.

Marie Strahg Finance big bear, Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

Recently, my clients and I threw a hat in the ring for a bank-owned property. Form my previous experience, it seemed like everything was going smoothly.

So, after a week went by I wasn’t too concerned. After almost two weeks went by, I became alarmed. I called and emailed the listing agent two or three times a day for three days without receiving a response. I finally had to call his broker and demand that someone who was competent be put in charge of the deal. I was given an assistant who seemed to have some idea of how things worked.

Finally, after almost three weeks, I was emailed an extension agreement that stated we were requesting an extension due to the listing office opening escrow with the wrong company and not realizing it for two weeks. Two weeks? If I hadn’t called the broker with my concerns the listing agent would have just coasted along obliviously and incompetently until our deal crashed and burned.

Luckily I also have had some good experiences with bank owned properties. I did recently sell one of these properties for a property listed by an agent from Lake Arrowhead. Like before, it did take the bank quite awhile to open the escrow, but everything else was top notch. The agent I was working with was very good about keeping me updating, and her assistant was on top of it as well. I was then able to file all my paperwork in a timely fashion.

Because of this, I was able to deliver excellent customer service to my client. Please be aware when you are hiring an agent, and make sure you are asking plenty of questions to make sure they are on the up and up. It is important to make sure that your Realtor is a fulltime agent and can devote all his time to you. Always make sure they are knowledgeable about how the of your local housing market.

If you do plan on buying a property in the Big Bear area, I would not suggest hiring an agent from L.A or Orange County. If your intentions are to purchase a bank owned property, it is very beneficial to hire an agent that is familiar in that field. It is a sad fact how differently banks can operate, and if you don’t have an agent that is proficient in the bank owned property, they could cost you lots of money, and even possibly the property.

Author Info: Marcus Fetzer knows all about researching Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals plus Big Bear realty in general. Check out his other posts online.

Marcus Fetzer Finance big bear, Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, realty, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

You may not be aware that buying an REO, a bank owned property, is quite a different process then buying a property the old fashioned way, and it is extremely important that your Realtor understands the difference. Let me tell you why if your Realtor doesn’t know the vast difference between the two, how it can cost you a lot of money, and possibly cause you to all together lose your property.

When a bank owns a property, they have complete control over the situation. They have the ability to make the rules and do not have to follow any disclosure requirements. The bank will typically have you, the buyer, sign an addendum which will give them full disclosure to the process, and leave you with no protections.

The bank will set a timeline that they demand you stay on top of, or they will enforce consequences on you. The odd thing is that they can take all the time they need before they deliver any type of response to you. Almost a month ago, I was approved and have been holding money in escrow for a bank owned property. It took the bank three weeks into the thirty-day period before they even opened my escrow.

We didn’t get a copy of the signed contract or bank addendum until three weeks into the deal. Of course, the bank addendum we signed at the beginning of the transaction had us agree to pay a $100.00 per day per Diem for every day we went over the 30 days agreed upon in the contract.

Then they did nothing on time to make it possible for us to make the deadline. As many of you know, the majority of short sales do not close successfully. This is usually due to the listing agent not knowing how to do them, but taking the listing anyways. If the listing agent doesn’t put in all the work ahead of time, a short sale is a nightmare. REO’s can be the same. In this case, the listing agent assured me that he had done all the footwork and the bank was ready to move.

Article submitter Allen Fulton knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures plus Big Bear, CA houses in general. Check out his other articles on the internet.

Allen Fulton Finance bank owned property, big bear, Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, reo, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

I just had the REO from heck nightmare with some insane per diem issues. I anted to spread the word of caution around to anyone who is listening.

Obviously, we decided to proceed with our offer on the cabin, knowing it would probably be a prolem if we did not. This is where my experience came into play. I have had this happen to me numerous times on bank owned purchases and I have learned that my buyer just needs to forget about the bank and make sure he does everything he needs to do to stay on track.

As long as we can prove that the delay was not of our doing, we can get out of having to pay the per Diem. I made for sure that all inspections, including the termite inspection, was done by the listing agent, and done in a timely manner. Fortunately, since my client is paying for this property in cash, we needn’t worry about the appraisal. If a client were to be purchasing a home from a loan, you need to be in direct contact with the lender throughout the process, making sure the appraisal is completed in time.

If at all possible, you do not want any last minute situations popping up during the closing period. More then likely not everything is going to go your way, but if you follow the steps you need to take throughout the process, things will turn out just fine. I find myself always telling my clients that the banks really don’t have an idea of what may be happening at every moment throughout the process. It seems as though they just kind of float through just waiting for something to happen.

It hasn’t been uncommon for me in the last few years to witness banks doing something that is just out of sorts. You will rarely find a bank transaction that actually goes all the way through the process without a glitch. The key it to hire a bright, informed realtor to help you have a successful experience.

Author Info: D. Thuster knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals plus Big Bear realty overall. Check out his other posts online.

Daniel Thuster Finance bank owned property, big bear, Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, reo, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

While investors and first-time buyers have been eating up all the homes for sale in lower price ranges, very little has been going on in the luxury markets around town. We are now starting to see: increasing numbers of active homes for sale, decreasing numbers of sales, decreasing property values, more failed listings, and an increase in bank-driven sales.

The number of homes for sale over $2million has increased significantly. With prices in lower price ranges having dropped considerably over recent years, the gap between the first-time buyer areas and the luxury market has become huge. Search San Diego homes for sale to see for yourself.

In another CMA that I did for Mission Hills, I found similar trends. What?s causing the buildup of homes for sale is that nothing is selling. I was amazed to find that only 2 homes have sold in Mission Hills for more than $1.4 million this year. This is in stark contrast to the last 5 years. You can view more stats on this at my Mission Hills real estate site.

Due to the buildup of inventory and lack of sales, we are seeing a resulting drop in home values in luxury markets. It’s a very simple supply vs. demand curve.

A large percentage of all expired & cancelled listings this year has been in the upper price ranges. We are seeing more and more expired luxury homes in San Diego that didn’t sell. Some come back on market and some just give up.

With such a bad economy and dwindling demand from buyers in the San Diego luxury market, we are seeing the occasional short-sale or foreclosure, which we never saw before this year. While this has been common in the lower price ranges, it is rare in the upper prices. As foreclosures, short-sales and other must sell listings (i.e. trust sales) enter the market, they will drive prices & home values down to the point at which buyers agree that the price is a fair value.

All in all, due to all these issues with San Diego luxury homes and the economy as a whole, I fully expect continued drops in home values for this market segment over the next 6-12 months. I think it is a part of the natural cycle, which began with the lower-price ranges and is now working its way up to the segment that was relatively unaffected a year ago, but is now feeling the pain…

Adam Pascu is a local luxury specialist & marketing master. View a complete list of all San Diego homes for sale at his website or contact Adam for all your real estate needs.

Adam Pascu Finance Finance, luxury homes, luxury real estate, san diego homes, san diego luxury homes, san diego real estate

Buying and selling luxury properties presents one of the smallest niches in the real estate market. However, it is a sector which hasn’t really changed over a long period of time and is not so adversely affected by the credit crisis. The sort of people who can afford to buy and sell luxury real estate represent the wealthiest of the social economic groups.

Representing the higher socio economic group of consumers, luxury houses are something that people with a lot of money want but they can be difficult to sell. This is because there is always a very small minority of people in the higher socio economic group, pretty much regardless of current economic conditions.

There are various estate agent companies and various Internet based ones which specialise specifically in luxury properties. These often work on an international level, simply because they get far more customers that way. Normal estate agents typically where the local area, working within just a few towns.

Of course, a luxury real estate is relatively few and far between, and the amount of people who can afford luxury real estate is even fewer. Because of this, it is very important for the real estate agency to operate on a much wider level. For example, if you go to your nearest estate agent which specialise in luxury real estate, you will no doubt find that they advertise home the other side of the country or even elsewhere in the world itself.

Things are a little bit different elsewhere in the country however, an definitely elsewhere in the world. For example, in Europe, luxury houses are often considered to be historical buildings which are of great and inherent value. Examples include castles and historic mansions, and these have always been extremely difficult and often impossible to sell, and because of this, they have often been simply donated to charitable preservation of some type.

In these sort of cases, the sort of properties are often donated to the National Trust or something similar. It depends on the country, and how things work there, but in certain places, it is impossible to sell luxury real estate. However, these things are slowly changing.

If anything, although it is still the smallest market segment in the real estate market, the luxury real estate market is definitely slowly growing. Even in times of economic hardship, there are still many very wealthy people out there, who can afford the sort of properties and are willing to relocate to find exactly what they want.

There are also various characteristics about luxury houses which vary depending on the country and the area way you live. For example, in Europe luxury properties are often considered to be older and more historic buildings such as historic mansions and castles for example. In the United States, by comparison, things are quite different.

Don’t underestimate the importance of location are stated before, bear in mind that this is the most important factor and you may need to relocate to a location that you wouldn’t normally go for if you are set on buying a stately home and making a good investment.

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There is a plus side to the housing market being in a decline, and that would be the limited amount of bad agents out there. This is a great benefit if you are in the market to buy or sell a home, because chances are you will find a more reliable, up-to-date realtor. In the past a lot of agents did a lot of their work from their offices, but now they really do need to be out in the field in order to be successful. With that information though, you do still need to be careful in choosing your agent.

There are still people out there looking to make an extra buck, and are only part time agents. The clerk at the gas station may take on a client or two for some extra money. Even the utility worker can claim he is a full time agent, when he’s not. When this type of deception is going on, it is not beneficial for the buyer or seller at all.

The market has undergone a massive upheaval and you can not do business the same way as five years ago. In Big Bear, bank owned properties make up 10% of the inventory and 40% of the sales. If your realtor is not proficient in dealing with REO’s, Short Sales, etc, you are asking for trouble.

Here is an example of a predicament one of my clients was recently involved in. The clients I had been working with made an offer in escrow with a bank that was out of our area. We held up our part and followed all instructions that we were supposed to, while waiting for the escrow to be opened. With the last 20 sales that I have worked on with bank owned properties, there has always been an issue opening the escrow.

To make a long story short, after weeks of no response to my pressings, the bank finally admitted to me that they had accidentally filed the paperwork with the wrong office. And to add insult, they suggested that we could still be liable for the delay. I turned it all around, but some people are just gone terrible with details. I think I am getting too old for this business!

If I had not had any experience with this sort of scenario, I might not have caught the mix up in time. Someone who works in the industry part-time can cost their client a lot of money in these situations. Be sure you enlist the services of someone who has worked in their field for quite some time and can offer you added protection in your home-buying.

Bryan Cole Finance Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, realty, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

A very common question that I am asked these days is ” What exactly is the difference between a short sale and a REO?” Typically I then go into a detailed explanation of the negatives and positives and eventually make then understand that REO’s are for sure the way to go. I’ve had a few deals in the last couple of months that really bring that realization to light.

The first family I had been dealing with for a little of a year. They were from North Hollywood and had been in search of a place in my area for quite awhile. When we first began our search, we couldn’t find anything that sparked their interests. They had made the decision to wait about a year or so in the hopes that the prices of homes would eventually fall.

Finally, a few months ago I took them out again, and we found a cabin that was exactly what they were looking. The scenery of Oak Trees and the spic and span cabin was definitely a plus. The cabin was priced at $149,000, but still a steal of a deal. The only problem I had anticipated we would have, was that the cabin was listed as a short sale. Even after explaining to the family the complications and time that can come along with a short sale, they loved the cabin so much they didn’t want to give it up.

Over a month into the process, and we still hadn’t heard a response back. It was around this time that I had come to the conclusion that the selling agent hadn’t done his part in filing the short sale paperwork. I informed my clients that the only option we had now was to wait until the bank responded. The selling agent contacted me over a month later to inform me that the bank had snatched this property from him, and didn’t respond to our offer.

Which just goes to show you that short sales can be very unpredictable. I am sure this saga will continue…

Mike Kohn Finance Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, realty, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes

Recently I had some buyers looking at a home that was listed as a short sale, but I knew we could get a better deal…

I was sure that fairly soon I would see the listing again, but now being sold by the bank. I informed my clients that I would check for the cabin everyday in hopes to see it back on the market again. A little over a week later, the cabin was again listed, but now for $130,000 and being sold by the bank. I immediately contacted my clients with the great news, and we wrote an offer that day for $115,000.

The bank responded rather quickly with an offer of $117,000, and my clients joyously took them up on it. We also got lucky in the fact that the bank repaired the broken pipes underneath the house, and more then likely the original owner wouldn’t have done the same. All in all, the bank did not follow through on the offer when it was listed as a short sale.

Once it was a bank owned, we bought it in two days for less money and had repairs thrown in as a bonus. Bank owned One, Short sales Zero. The second situation is very similar. My clients put in an offer of $340,000 on a short sale listed at $389,000. Again, we waited patiently for almost two months while the bank had the home reappraised and numerous BPO’s done.

The end result was the bank declining our offer and allowing the house to go into the foreclosure stage. Again, I patiently watched and search the MLS listings until I came across the house listed as a bank owned property, and priced at 390,000. I agreed with my clients that the house was extremely over priced, and thought we should wait with the hopes of the price dropping. After we waited two weeks and the house still hadn’t been sold, we decided it was the perfect time to make another offer.

We offered the bank $333,000, and then patiently waited for a response. After only one day the bank declined our offer. It took about one going back and forth before we settled at $339,000. Again, bank owned, and a shorter time frame and a better price. So, if you’re keeping score, that would be bank-owned 2 and short sale at a big 0.

Dan Troy Finance Finance, home buying, home for sale, house for sale, luxury homes, new homes, property, property listings, real estate, realty, resort homes, single family homes, vacation homes