How to Delay a San Diego Foreclosure
June 7th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego, San Diego Market Trends, San Diego Real Estate
A looming foreclosure weighed heavily on our North San Diego County clients. Their custom home, purchased at the height of the San Diego real estate market in 2005, had plummeted in value.
Unable to pay mortgage payments of $8000 per month, they threw up their hands and asked for our assistance. We listed the home as a short sale, and dropped the asking price regularly. We hired a professional photographer, advertised heavily both off and online, and whispered the situation and opportunity to countless agents. We procured one lowball offer, which the lender rejected after reviewing their own BPO (Broker Price Opinion).
With payments in arrears since last November, their home was to be sold at foreclosure just yesterday, June 6, 2008. Though the family had located a new home out of state, they were not scheduled to move in until mid-July.
Their worst nightmare was not just the foreclosure, but the fear of a Sheriff showing up at their front door to physically remove them and their possessions out to the street.
And they had no place to go in the meantime.
We had called the lender repeatedly to try and stall the sale–and failed. We tried to procure a legitimate offer that would halt the sale–and even considered (momentarily) writing one ourselves to help these clients. At the eleventh hour, we located a bulk buyer of real estate who apparently has the cell phone number of key asset managers and lending vice presidents.
A magical call and verbal offer from this heavy-duty buyer on Thursday was enough for this lender to cancel the foreclosure that was to take place the next day. The sellers are beyond caring about their home’s sale price; they just want to be sure they have a roof over their heads for the next few weeks until they can make an orderly move with their belongings and pets.
And equally important, they are not paying one red cent to have this issue resolved. Beware the scammers who charge thousands to handle these matters.
We are re-listing the home with the bulk buyer (via a trust agreement) and will have the home back on the market next week–at a price we would never have dreamed possible. Our clients will be able to remain in the home, will keep the lawn and gardens watered and be able to relocate on their own schedule.
And buyers who are seeking a magnificent ocean view custom home in North San Diego County will delight at the pre-negotiated bargain we will be offering next week!
Note: If you are facing foreclosure and perhaps owe more than what your San Diego home is worth, please give us a call at either 877-818-8197 or 760-402-9101. At no charge, we may be able to delay the sale and perhaps even find a way for you to remain in your home.
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5 Little Economies for San Diego Real Estate
May 28th, 2008 Categories: Encinitas, San Diego, San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Relocation
I traded the Mercedes for a Camry Hybrid almost two years ago, mostly because I like its tight turning radius (I make lots of u-turns), its fuel economy (I hate stopping for gas) and the fun questions I got from just about everybody (back then).
And I still love the car.
Last weekend, on my way to a home inspection in San Diego, I had to stop for gas in Encinitas (where it was selling for just $4.03 a gallon), paid $60 to fill the tank–and was grateful for the hybrid’s fuel economy. It also makes us wonder how rising fuel costs are already impacting the way we search for real estate in San Diego County.
Some observations:
1. The internet becomes more valuable than ever for searching San Diego real estate. Let your keyboard do the driving makes lots of sense these days. Search San Diego real estate with a simple click.
2. We’ll likely all become more efficient when we go out to see properties, and will see more on each trip compared to last year (increased inventory also helps).
3. Real estate agents’ business may become more local. Will we still see Temecula and Orange County agents showing widespread San Diego homes for sale? Wouldn’t a referral to a local agent (and vice versa) make more sense?
4, More than ever, smart real estate agents will prequalify their clients before investing so much time and money in them. This may require more time up front, but will provide huge savings for both the client and the agent.
5. I have resolved to clear stuff from the back seat of my car, so that clients might ride with me instead of fueling gas prices by following me around (which happens all too often). Children’s car seats, though, sometimes present seating problems.
None of these ideas will win prizes for originality, but if we all practice them the cumulative savings could be huge.
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Mortgage Trouble in San Diego? Beware the Scammers
May 24th, 2008 Categories: Mortgage News, San Diego, San Diego Real Estate, San Marcos
I am just now cooling down after spending a good part of this afternoon trying to help a San Diego area homeowner saddled with the unpleasant results of churned mortgages.
This particular property in rural San Marcos has been refinanced by the same lender with a total of nine loans over a couple of years. In one instance, only 28 days elapsed between refinancings. With total debt now approaching $2 million, this distraught owner is seeking a way to keep her home and not be forced to sell it.
Sometimes, keeping people in their San Diego homes is just part of our job–and one of the most rewarding ones.
But the ordeal got me thinking of all the scams surrounding (and invading) San Diego real estate. Mortgage scams certainly contributed to the rise in San Diego foreclosures and short sales, but it is the buzzards circling over and divebombing distressed homeowners that infuriates this Realtor.
Some of the current San Diego scams:
1. The mortgage buzzard persuades the distressed homeowner to sign over the deed to their San Diego home–and then offers to rent it back at a rate that may exceed the original mortgage payment. If the homeowner-turned-tenant falls behind, they are not only evicted but have also lost any equity they may have had in their property.
2. Beware of what you sign: Many homeowners have inadvertently signed over the deed to their San Diego real estate, believing they are simply signing mortgage documents. I have spoken with several homeowners who have been near-victims of this real estate scam.
3. Watch out for hefty upfront fees charged by those who offer to stop your San Diego foreclosure. All too often, these scammers generate lots of paperwork, get some signatures, collect a check (for up to three month’s payments)– and disappear. Far better to call a San Diego Realtor who can help negotiate with lenders on your behalf–and is paid only when and if your property actually sells or is leased.
If you have any questions about these scams, please feel free to give me a call at 760-402-9101 or contact me via this site. I’ll try to answer your questions.
PS: No offense intended to California vultures.
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Downtown San Diego Blast
May 19th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, San Diego, San Diego Events, San Diego Real Estate
Upon hearing of this afternoon’s blast at the new Hilton Hotel under construction in downtown San Diego near Petco Park, we immediately worried about the injured.
Apparently 14 workers were maimed in the unexplained blast, which occurred at around 2 p.m. this afternoon. It appears that four lower floors of the waterfront skyscraper were badly damaged and that debris is littering the ground below.
San Diego Police and San Diego firefighters are still surrounding the site near the San Diego Convention Center, and the entire scene is being investigated.
Fortunately for all (except for the intent of the bad guys), there was no fire. And that is a blessing for all.
Will this affect downtown San Diego real estate and home values?
I am inclined to think not, as long as this is an isolated event.
In the meantime (and quickly), I hope San Diego Police and Fire personnel nab those who set off this blast–and that the innocents who were seriously injured recover quickly and completely.
UPDATE: It appears this San Diego blast occurred as a result of a gas leak that occurred in a fifth-floor boiler room. The main concrete and steel structure sustained no real damage. Most of the destruction was limited to the northwest corner of the hotel building–along with the mechanical room on the fifth floor.
As we wrote last night, this should have no impact on urban San Diego real estate values.
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San Diego REO Listings Offered by Ghosts
May 12th, 2008 Categories: Mortgage News, Real Estate News, San Diego, San Diego Market Trends
I’ll never understand the process by which lenders choose to list their
San Diego REO’s and foreclosures. Some are listed by normal real estate agents, but more and more these REO’s (bank-owned properties) are listed by unknown companies with agents who rarely respond to phone calls or emails.
Should we be looking for some logic in the lender’s decisions to list with these phantoms?
There again, these may be the same folk who lent mortgage funds to ghosts in the first place. I mean, they loaned hundreds of millions to phantom borrowers who said they earned $20,000 a week working as a gardner or car salesman– or whatever suited their imaginations. Their homes, haunted by unsustainable debt and a declining San Diego real estate market, floated back to the lender…who then turned to eidolon agents to market their foreclosed properties.
I guess if lenders didn’t bother to check the reality of their borrowers in the first place, why should they now take to time to check the substance of their real estate representation for their REO’s?
We have worked with several buyers of San Diego foreclosures, and are appalled at the low level of representation a number of these foreclosed properties receive. In several cases, we have ended up faxing offers to the agent’s number listed in the MLS, and waited for a response from…someone or anyone. No reply was forthcoming, even though our offers were at and above the listed price.
We have an offer in on one foreclosure near San DIego State University now, and it cannot be presented to the lender because the agent is on a two week vacation. (Uh…isn’t there an assistant, or another agent who is taking care of this absentee’s business?)
Are the banks/lenders aware of this non-representation?
And why am I feeling that we are in deja-vu all over again? I hoped thought most of the dingbat agents had left the business after the crash of the 2003-2006 real estate market.
Regrettably, those San Diego agents seem to have taken another get-rich course and are now in the foreclosure business.
And it seems many lenders have ended up with the same folk who helped get them into trouble in the first place.
I am wondering if this is a phenomenon that is isolated to the San Diego real estate market–or is it more widespread?
For the sake of our national economy, I hope not.
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