Status Definitions

Active:

The seller is soliciting offers through the MLS.  No offers have been accepted. This applies to traditional sales, as well as bank owned properties.

Active Short Sale:

A listing that if sold at list price, would not generate enough revenue to pay off all existing mortgages and expenses from the sale. 
Requires an agreement from the lender carrying the note to accept less than what was originally owed.

Active Short Sale Contingent:

The seller has accepted an offer from a qualified buyer; this offer has been sent to the bank for approval.  The seller has the option of choosing back up offers.

Pending:

Seller has an accepted an offer from a buyer with a fully executed contract agreed upon by both…

If you are a buyer involved in the current market, chances are you have come across at least one REO property.  REO stands for Real estate Owned and it means that the property was acquired through foreclosure by the lienholder, and is now being sold in an effort to recover that lienholders losses.  While there can be some disadvantages of buying a bank owned home, one thing is for certain:  If you can handle the risk, there is a potential for some incredible deals. 

Our company has been on both sides of the transaction when it comes to bank owned homes.  We have represented many buyers, as well as had the experience of being on the listing side too.  As you know, bank owned homes continue to flood the nation’s real estate market, and if you are…

What is a short sale?

Short sales occur when property values have dropped, and the homeowner is unable to sell the property for enough to pay off the debt owed.  A short sale is when a lender allows the homeowner to sell the home for less than what is owed on the mortgage note.  Typically, a lender would rather pursue a short sale and lose less money, as opposed to taking the property back through foreclosure.

FOR BUYERS: Advantages of a short sale

• A buyer may have an opportunity to purchase a property below current market value (Not guaranteed).  Most lenders require at least 90% of the current market value for the home, so buyers have a chance to purchase a property at a discount of up to 10%.

• The condition of the home…

Foreclosure filings and repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007 last year.

Totalfilings, including default notices and bank repossessions were down 33% for the
year to 2.7 million, according to RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed
properties.

Onein every 69 homes had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, while 804,000
homes were repossessed. That's a significant improvement from the peaks reached
in 2010 -- when 1.05 million homes were repossessed -- and the lowest levels
seen since 2007.

More than 4 million homes have been lost to foreclosure over the past five years.

While the declines seem like good news for the housing market, where a flood of
foreclosed homes has depressed home prices, much of it is due to…

Sales of existing single-family homes in California fell 5.8 percent from April to May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 471,480 units, according to statistics collected by the California Association of Realtors from 90 Realtor associations and multiple listing services.

That's a 14.4 percent decline in sales from the same time a year ago, when federal homebuyer tax credits were still in effect.

At $291,760, the median sale price of existing single-family homes in California during May was down 0.7 percent from April and 10.9 percent from a year ago.

"The monthly decline in sales and the median home price reflect the slowdown in the economic recovery over the past couple of months, which has affected virtually all aspects of consumer…