You don't love me anymore?

This sectional, baby’s playpen, and MANY other items were just left behind at this home and I feel like holding a yard sale and donating all the proceeds to charity.  The thing is that it all still belongs to the current homeowner even though they seemingly have abandoned the home and all it’s contents.

Another thing they didn’t take with them was the awful odor that is lingering on throughout the home.  Especially in the garage where I believe they housed a cat or two.  :-/

It’s difficult sometimes to get clients to look beyond a home in such disarray to picture what it would look like in its cleaned up state.

I really feel for the homeowners that are being forced to make such drastic changes in their lives due to the current situation in the Stockton real estate market.  The number of Short Sales in Stockton seem to be increasing, but leaving behind so much furniture, exercise equipment, personal appliances, clothing, toys, etc., when a Short Sale is the option, is still a mystery to me.

If you’ve made an Offer to Purchase a home recently, especially a Short Sale in Stockton, Lodi, Modesto, CA or anywhere for that matter, then you know what I’m talking about.

To receive the home-buyer’s tax credit you had to have been “under contract” (meaning, accepted by the seller) by April 30th and have your deal “close escrow” by June 30th.  But since some banks are extremely slow to approve short sales, a lot of these deals haven’t closed escrow yet, and may not be able to by June 30.

It was put to a vote, and the Senate said YES to an extension until Sept 30th to get these deals closed.  Now it’s up before the House to approve this extension as well.

Here’s a quick read on this story… http://bit.ly/9fr0ru

Good luck Brandon!  I’m bettin’ on the House for you!

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• Senate votes to extend home tax credit deadline  reuters.com)

The first-time homebuyer tax credit had two deadlines.  One was to be “under contract” by April 3o, and the other is to have closed escrow by June 3o, which is just around the corner.

So, if you’re dealing with a Short Sale, like a lot of people are, and you haven’t received your approval from the lender yet, or you have and you just haven’t closed escrow yet, then this is making for some nail-biting times right now.

This extension is up before the Senate for approval.  Here is an article explaining more info…READ HERE.

At Realty World – Davis Homes & Properties, we help a lot of people with Short Sales in Stockton and the Lodi areas.  Whether looking to buy or sell a Short Sale it can sometimes be a very confusing and time-consuming task.  It helps to have someone in your corner helping you along the way.

Let’s all focus our thoughts and energy on getting this extension to pass.

Again – we are looking at one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. We are making progress and I am hopeful that we will get a decision from Chase this month to accept the great offer that we have on the property.

Stay tuned – and I will update you more tomorrow.

Monday - Day 12 – I received a call from Chase’s Justin ask me if we were doing a short sale on the property. Duh! He wanted to know if we had a buyer already. Duh. Then he proceeded to tell me all the paperwork that I would need to send in – the paperwork that I had sent in almost 2 weeks ago. He gave me the special short sale fax line – 866-220-4130. The one that I had already sent all the forms into 13 days ago.

Justin said that when I got all the forms into him he could order the BPO. This is different from what Elizabeth in New York had told me on Day 2. Elizabeth had said that they would order the BPO and it would take 7-10 days. We are on day 13 and Justin says they have not ordered it yet.

Prices in Lodi are still falling. The longer it takes to complete this short sale, the lower the value of the home. Banks like Chase (WaMu) started this real estate mess and they seem to be doing all they can to continue it.

Hopefully we will have some good news – and some quicker response soon. Don’t hold your breath.

Kelly could not talk to me as the “legal department” of Chase had not cleared me to talk with the bank. My clients had signed the Chase short sale form “Authorization to Provide and Release Information”. Kelly confirmed that I was indeed listed on the form but the time frame for the “legal department” to review the form and give their blessing for me to talk to the bank is 7 to 14 days.

We have a fantastic offer for the bank – over the appraised value. Every day the bank delays the value of the house drops in the San Joaquin valley and the buyer becomes more frustrated at waiting for the bank to get off their duff and approve their great offer. Could the legal department of Chase hire a few more people to review that the form was filled out correctly and signed by the borrowers???

JP Morgan Chase’s profits for the first quarter of 2010 rose 57%.  How about hiring people to handle the short sales with that profit. $3.3 Billion would hire many people! The bank loses money every day they do not close a short sale. AS usual – this does not make sense to me. Does it make sense to you??

Friday I called the number on the Short Sale package for Assistance – 800-848-9380. I talked with Elizabeth in New York. Elizabeth looked up the Chase loan by the number I gave her and told me that Chase had received both my FAXes – Thursday and Friday morning. I have heard horror stories from other Realtors on Short Sales where the bank claims to never have received the Short Sale package.

I ask Elizabeth if Chase was recording our phone and she said “yes”. I ask if it would be OK if I recorded the call also?  She said “It is against company policy for anyone else to record the call”!

I ask Elizabeth the time frames for approval from Chase on a Short Sale. Elizabeth said that the Chase would order a BPO – a Broker Opinion of Value – within the next 7 to 10 days. Then someone in Chase would review the BPO and produce a Reconciled Market Value report with the next three to four weeks.

So now we are out 4 to 6 weeks. Next Elizabeth said that the bank would assign a Negotiator to the file. That person would contact me three to four weeks after they were assigned the file. Now we are talking 7 to 10 weeks before we might receive an answer from Chase.

Cash buyer. More than the value. Wait 7 to 10 weeks?

What are your stories about Chase Short Sales?  Do you think Elizabeth is giving me the straight story on the time frames?  Let us hear from you in the comment section at the top of this post.

On this blog I will be updating you daily as to the response I receive from Chase. We will see if they really want to serve the citizens of the United States – which Chase as taken billions of dollars from – or is the bank so understaffed and unwilling to work with the public that it is a total mess.

So – here is my first installment! On Thursday May 6 I received the accepted offer back from my seller. The seller also gave me the completed Short Sale package from Chase. I did my part as the listing agent – provided three For Sale homes that we similar to the one we are selling. I also provided three Sold homes that are comparable.

I wrote a two page cover letter pointing out to Chase that the offer that another good agent in Lodi brought to me was more than the house was worth. That Chase would be fools not to accept this offer ASAP. But from all we hear Chase is fools anyway. I am giving them a chance to publicly show that they are serious about the housing crisis and willing to move quickly.

I FAXed the completed Short Sale package to the bank at 800-446-8939. The package was 60 pages long.  I will update this post tomorrow with the results of submitting the complete Short Sale package to them.

Please comment about the pro’s and con’s of dealing with Chase on a Short Sale. Any tips you have for me will be appreciated. Thank You.

If you set the correct price, you’ll notice a much faster sale.  Setting the right listing price will also attract more potential buyers to your property as well.  You’ll also notice an increase in response from Realtors, and receive more calls about the property.  The listing price is very important – and it can ultimately determine whether or not you even sell your property.

A home can be overpriced due to several reasons.  Overpricing is something you want to avoid, as buyers tend to steer clear of homes that have been overpriced.  Normally, this happens when a buyer asks a lot more than the home is worth or valued at due to emotional reasons.  Some sellers ask a lot more than the value of the home due to location.  Although the location is very important, most potential buyers won’t give the home a second look if they think the price is too high – and more importantly out of their price range.

When you put your home up for sale, most activity will happen within the first couple of weeks.  If you put the right price on your home, you’ll notice immediate interest.  There are always buyers looking for homes in their price range, waiting for new homes to be listed or homes to be reduced in price.  Buyers who are waiting to purchase may miss seeing your home completely if the price is too high.

To determine the listing price of your home, you should always have your Realtor go over the comparable recent sales.  This way, you’ll know the possible value of your home.  You can sell it for market value or go a little under, although you should never attempt to go way over the value.  In doing so, you’ll miss out on a lot of potential buyers.  The home market is very competitive these days, which is why you want your home to draw as much interest as possible, as soon as possible.

Keep in mind that Realtors really have no control at all over the real estate market, only the plan behind the marketing.  Realtors don’t determine the asking price – the seller does through the assistance of their Realtor.  If you do things right and take each process step by step, you’ll set the listing price in the right area and have no problems selling your property, or at least getting offers for it.

Short Sales in Stockton and Lodi, CA areas are what’s fueling the market right now and will stay that way for the near future.  The main thing is to get a good solid offer on your home and then the lender(s) will determine if you get the ‘green light’ or not.  That will most likely only happen if you price it right from the start.

First American CoreLogic reports that distressed properties accounted for 29% of all U.S. home sales in January. Also, real estate-owned sales rose to 22% of homes sales from 19% in December, and short sales rose to 8% from 7%.

National average sale prices in January were $161,600 for distressed homes, compared to the average non-distressed sale price of $247,700, $141,900 for REO properties, and $215,300 for short sales.

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• Distressed Sales Reach 29% of Entire Market: First American  housingwire.com)