For several months last year I heard a lot that banks were not too willing to jump on the Short Sale wagon due to they were making more money on a home once they foreclosed on it and then sold it as an REO.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife
I’ve been hearing a lot more lately that banks are actually starting to work more easily with Sellers and Realtors® in order to get the process to go more smoothly with the short sale of the home
because it’s less costly to the banks than a foreclosure and they are starting to learn how to streamline the process a little better.
Here is a great that I came across that explains just that…CLICK HERE
I am beginning to see more and more Short Sales listed and being SOLD in the Lodi and Stockton, CA areas. Here at Realty World-Davis Homes & Properties, we are taking the necessary steps to help homeowners that may be facing the decision to have to do a Short Sale on their home and assist in this process to help make it as less stressful as possible.
READ THIS ARTICLE, then contact us to get your questions answered and see if a Short Sale is right for you.
Randy
Well, we’re getting down to the wire on the deadline for the tax credits. If you purcase your home last year and haven’t filed your taxes, then here is the much needed info on how to get your benefit:
http://bit.ly/b0P8CP
The tax deductions you’re eligible to take for mortgage interest and property taxes greatly increase the financial benefits of homeownership. Here’s how it works.
Assume:
$9,877 = Mortgage interest paid (a loan of $150,000 for 30 years, at 7 percent, using year-five interest)
$2,700 = Property taxes (at 1.5 percent on $180,000 assessed value)
______
$12,577 = Total deduction
Then, multiply your total deduction by your tax rate.
For example, at a 28 percent tax rate: 12,577 x 0.28 = $3,521.56
$3,521.56 = Amount you have lowered your federal income tax (at 28 percent tax rate)
It’s never been a better time to purchase a home. Low home prices and low interest rates. At Realty World-Davis Homes & Properties we specialize in making the dream of owning a home become a reality. If you’ve got any questions, we’ll have the answers.
With only weeks left to get your new purchase under contract before the deadline of the $8,000 and $6,500 tax credits end, time is of the essence.
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
Sales activity for the Lodi and Stockton CA area have been down the last couple of months. Was it due to the bad weather? No, it wasn’t that bad. Was it due to no incentives to purchase? No, we still have the extended $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.
So, what’s the real reason for the lack of sales going on right now in the San Joaquin Valley? Are people still afraid of falling home prices? Could it be the inventory of homes that the banks are holding on to after foreclosure?
I’d like to hear from you out there…the public. What are YOUR thoughts on this and what do you think it will look like in th upcoming months?
Here are the stats for the San Joaquin County, CA…
| Single Family Residence |
| Time Period |
Number of Sales |
Median Sale Price |
| Jan 2010 |
691 |
$179,000 |
| Jan 2009 |
1,032 |
$165,750 |
| Dec 2009 |
890 |
$182,500 |
| Dec 2008 |
1,231 |
$177,500 |
| 2010 YTD |
1,144 |
$171,750 |
| 2009 |
11,706 |
$170,000 |
| Condominium |
| Time Period |
Number of Sales |
Median Sale Price |
| Jan 2010 |
23 |
$61,000 |
| Jan 2009 |
33 |
$61,000 |
| Dec 2009 |
29 |
$125,000 |
| Dec 2008 |
34 |
$89,000 |
| 2010 YTD |
32 |
$60,000 |
| 2009 |
369 |
$65,000 |
I read a very interesting article about the Bankers wanting to change Florida to a Non-judicial Foreclosure state. When bankers want to make a change they are looking out for their own paycheck – not for the homeowner.
Click Here for the article. It will give you some insight to the way bankers think and the protections that we do not have here in California.
Steve Davis, Broker

Image via Wikipedia
The pressure is increasing on Congress to renew the homebuyer tax credits for a third time.
The first $7,500 tax credit was passed in 2008 and required first-time buyers to repay the credit over 15 years. A few months later in 2009, Congress expanded the credit to a maximum of $8,000 that didn’t have to be paid back.
At the end of last year, Congress extended the benefit again until April 30 with an extra two months on top of that to close. A new credit of $6,500 was added for move-up buyers, too.
Now representatives of the housing industry are lobbying for another extension. Some experts, including Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who supported the earlier credits, think the time has come to let it go.
“It’s worn out its benefit,” he says. “If you extend it again, it isn’t going to do much, and what you’re doing is providing a tax break to folks who bought anyway.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos
According to Bloomberg’s Kathleen M. Howley…
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.
2009 was an interesting year for real estate to say the least. Housing prices in the central valley went up and down, and up and down, but mostly down.
Here are a couple of lists that show the monthly numbers in sales and pricing differences during 2008 compared to 2009 for the cities of Lodi, Galt and Stockton.

Market Data for 2008 – 2009

Average home prices sold 2008 – 2009