The stores are all dressed up for the holidays and ready for the crowd of holiday shoppers.  But just because they built them (displays), will they come?

With the constant reminder of a downward Stockton area real estate market, and upward unemployment, will the hoards of holiday shoppers still rush out, stand in long lines, and hand over their hard-earned cash (or credit cards) on purchases they may not need or even want, but want to buy anyways out of obligation or sheer joy of holiday shopping?

I’m thinking YES!

People, myself included, usually enjoy the magic of the winter holidays and all the dressings in the windows, and the sparkling lights at night.  It kind of puts us in the mood to share what our current emotions are with the ones we love and care for.  Sometimes even for the ones we just like. 

What I’d really love to see this year is more thought put into gift-giving by not having someone get me whatever was new or on sale, but actually what our relationship means to each other.  I love homemade cards and gifts.  To me that’s putting some real thought into what our relationship is.

We don’t always have the time, or the talent, to make elaborate handmade gifts, but an individual card with a personal message may be all it takes to make someone’s holiday just that much more special and enjoyable.

With all the stress of the holidays, even Santa needs therapy.

Happy Holidays to all of us!

We all know that the Lodi, CA and Stockton, CA area property values have been affected by the current real estate market due to all the foreclosures and short sales.  How the upcoming wave of foreclosures and short sales will impact home prices in our area is something that is being reported on daily basis now.

The housing market is facing swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but have yet to lose their homes, and this is threatening a new wave of foreclosures that could hit just as the real estate market has begun to stabilize.

For the rest of this interesting article… CLICK HERE

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• Shadow Housing Inventory Still Looming (seekingalpha.com)

This video shares some insight as to why homeowners are having such a hard time trying to get their lenders to do a loan modification on their current mortgage.

Feel free to post any comments that you may have on this subject.

CLICK HERE to view the video

Increasingly aggressive mortgage lenders are seeking to collect deficiencies from former home owners who walked away from their properties or sold them in short sales.

Many states, including Florida, give mortgage holders as long as five years to seek a deficiency judgment. If granted, the bank gets up to 20 years to collect and the option to renew for another 20 years if the debt isn’t paid.

About one-third of U.S. states, including California and Arizona, prohibit collection efforts after foreclosure, but home owners usually waive that protection in a refinance.

Most states allow collection on unpaid home-equity loans.

Banks are most likely to try to collect from people who walk away from a property in which they are still making payments.

“The bank is going to pull your credit report, and if you’re current on your other bills they are going to come after you and potentially ruin you,” says Larry Tolchinsky, a Florida real estate attorney.

Hey dad, are we there yet?  No, I’m not referring to the camping trip.  I’m talking about the ‘bottom’ of the real estate market.

Sometimes I think what I see and read from the so-called ‘experts’ is all smoke and mirrors.  Personally, I feel that we’re pretty much there, but for sure we’re a lot closer to the bottom than we are from the top.

Once again, Stockton, CA has made it on the national news, but at least the news is not as bad for Stockton as it is for some other cities.

Take a look at this article and short CNBC video that talks about the current state of real estate foreclosures and what we can look forward to.

The wait is over!  Yesterday, President Obama signed into law to extend the home buyer $8,000 tax credit until April 30,2010.  This is expected to contribute nearly $22 billion to our economy.

Originally, the tax credit was designed for first-time home buyers, but this new plan will now make it possible for more people to participate.  Current home owners who have lived in their home for five of the last eight years will be eligible for a tax credit of $6,500.

The income limits have been increased to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples.  There is a cap on the price of the home at $800,000.

I am hopeful that this extension in the tax credit will help keep the real estate market growing in the right direction.  Especially in the Stockton, CA area where we have an abundance of great deals on homes just waiting for a buyer.

If you’ve already purchased a home this year (Congrats!) and would like a copy of the IRS Form 5405 for the tax credit, you can obtain one at www.IRS.gov

Make it a great day!

Randy

There are many opportunities out there in the areas of real estate, business opportunities, job openings, investments of all kinds, etc.  If you start looking to see what you can do that will affect YOU and your family, and stay focused on those goals and efforts, then there is a LOT more you can do for yourself than sit idly by from a safe distance and just “see what happens”.

However you see what’s happening in our current state of affairs with the economy, there is good information and there is just information in general.  We all need to stay on top of our national as well as our local news for what will affect us individually and as a community.

Here is a link to an article that you can check out about real estate, unemployment, the economy, etc, and leave a comment about you’ve read and how you feel about it… Click Here.

Article source: www.RISmedia.com