All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Real Estate

Many Mortgage Holders Underwater

In what could be another sign that the housing crisis is far from over, the percent of mortgage holders who are underwater on their homes continued to rise in the third quarter–and some say it could be another eight to 10 months before that trend turns around.

In the U.S., 23.2% of U.S. mortgage holders were underwater, owing more money than the house is worth. That’s up from 21.7% from a year ago, according to Q03 data out Wednesday from Zillow.com. Roughly 13.9 million homes now have negative equity. Many of these homes could end up in foreclosure should borrowers give up making payments on homes that aren’t worth what they owe—let alone building equity. (See “The Great Mortgage Mystery“)

In the latest report, the worst hit areas of the housing bust show small signs of improvement, while new locales saw growth in underwater real estate. In Miami, for example, 42% of homes have negative equity, compared to 45.1% in the third quarter 2009, according to Zillow. That’s in part because many of these underwater homes have been foreclosed on.

In San Francisco, the number of underwater homes has dropped from 24.9% to 20.2%, mainly due to stabilizing home values that are pulling more people out of negative equity, says Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. The median sales price of existing single-family homes in the San Francisco metropolitan area is up about 25% since last year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Real Estate

Foreclosed Nicolas Cage $30 Million Home Sells for $10.5 Millon

In 1940, the property was built for $110,000. Years later, Nicolas Cage bought it for millions, and then lost it to foreclosure on the county courthouse steps. Recently, it sold to an anonymous buyer listed only as a limited liability corporation for about a third of its last listing price: $10.5 million dollars.

The 1940 Tudor had failed to generate any bids in April when it was offered at the county courthouse steps in Pomona. Six loans totaling $18 million encumbered the house, which the actor had decorated in a style one local real estate agent dubbed “frat-house bordello.” Among personalized touches were garish room colors, three dozen bronze wall sconce holders made from a cast of the Oscar winner’s arm and hundreds of elaborately framed comic-book covers lining the walls.

The mansion, which one local real estate agent described as a “frat-house bordello,” had been highly customized over the years not only by Cage, who painted the rooms in “garish colors,” hung bronze wall sconces made to look like the arms of the Oscar statue, and lined the walls with more than 300 “elaborately framed comic book covers,” but also by singer Dean Martin, who commissioned a 2,500 square foot entertainment complex and by singer Tom Jones, who erected a $60,000 wall to “keep adoring fans at bay”. Other unique design elements included model trains on raised tracks circling the breakfast room and two bedrooms, an Olympic-sized pool and a central tower.

The sale of the house also left five of the six lenders holding liens against the house hanging, since when the foreclosure failed ownership reverted to the foreclosing lender. There were a total of six liens in the sum of $18 million against the property. Bob Baker, a local foreclosure data analyst, described the situation as “a microcosm of what’s going on in our state [California].” He added that people are still taking out loans as a “survival tactic” to pay other loans and meet expenses, and that he has seen as many as 13 loans on a single property. The buyer ultimately was able to get such a low price on the property because once the courthouse event eliminated the other lenders from the collections process, the primary lender was able to sell for much less than the sum of all the liens on the property.

Interested in buying or selling real estate?

Call John J. O’Dell
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DRE#00669941

Bits & Pieces

Ever See a Cat Skeleton in a Tree?

By Lisa J. Lehr

This sarcastic question is usually intended to “prove” that cats never get stuck in trees. When they feel like coming down, they will, goes this misguided thinking. The premise of the lame joke, however, is utter nonsense. Cats do get stuck in trees. They do die. Here’s why, and what to do if your cat (or a cat you know) ever gets stuck in a tree.

A cat usually climbs a tree for one of two or three reasons: she’s chasing something (like a squirrel), she’s running away from something (like a dog), or perhaps she just wants to see what’s up there. Okay, so Kitty is way-high-up in a tree, the danger (or the fun or the mystery) is gone, and it’s time to come down. Why doesn’t she come down on her own?

A cat’s claws are designed for climbing up. A cat is not a squirrel; squirrels can climb up, down, and sideways, always headfirst, no problem. But a cat must climb with her head up to avoid falling, and once she’s up, the only way down is to back down. (The margay, or tree ocelot, a rare cat found in the rain forests of Mexico, Central America, and South America, is the only cat that can climb down a tree headfirst.)

Once she’s close enough to the ground, she’ll turn around and jump down; the biggest challenge is a tree that has no low branches, like a pine tree. By the time the immediate danger or curiosity has passed, Kitty has used her burst of adrenaline and does not have enough energy left for the time-consuming, frightening task of descent. This is especially true of an indoor cat with little or no climbing experience.

The good news is, cats have been known to survive over a week in a tree and have sustained falls of over a hundred feet without serious injury. The bad news is, a panicked cat will continue to go…up. Worse, a cat may eventually become too weak to climb down, and after a point, even if rescued, may die later of starvation, dehydration, or exposure.

We don’t see cat skeletons in trees because of a well-known law of nature called gravity: Kitty becomes too weak to hold on, lets go, and falls.
What do you do?
If the cat is not too high—a distance you feel confident climbing yourself—wear gloves, long sleeves, and long pants. Take a pillowcase and rope with you. Make the first grab count; if you only succeed in scaring Kitty, she may go higher. Grab her by the scruff of the neck and stuff her into the pillowcase; secure it with the rope and lower it carefully to someone on the ground. Take the bagged kitty indoors before opening the pillowcase.

If you can’t manage the rescue yourself, wait no more than a couple days. That’s about the longest it will take Kitty to decide to come down if she can. Call your cat. If it doesn’t encourage her to come down, it will at least let her know she’s not forgotten. Keep dogs and other unnecessary commotion away. Try tempting her with food.

If your cat does not meow, it means one of two things: she’s too weak to do so (bad) or she doesn’t feel she is in trouble (good). Unfortunately, you can’t tell which it is.
Get help sooner rather than later if:

  • It’s a kitten. Kittens do not have the weight or strength to hang on.
  • It’s an indoor cat. She’s not used to being exposed, and she has no climbing skills.
  • She’s declawed. A declawed cat has virtually no chance of climbing down without help.
  • The cat has been up there for more than two days. After this, her chance of getting down on her own declines sharply, especially considering she’s becoming weaker as time passes.
  • Wet, cold, or windy weather is forecast.
  • An electrical storm is forecast. If you do decide to call someone, he may decline to come, out of concern for his own safety.
  • She’s injured or literally stuck—wedged or (worse) impaled.
  • The stranded kitty’s plight is causing stress to you or another family member.
  • There’s a reasonable fear of attack by wild animals.
  • Her meowing is bothering someone. You don’t want a grouchy, cat-hating neighbor to shoot your cat down.

Who’re you gonna call?
Surprise! Not the fire department. Contrary to folk tradition, most fire departments no longer do cat rescues. Understandably, they do not want to commit their resources to animal rescues when a human rescue may be at stake. Sometimes off-duty firefighters do cat rescues on the side.

Your best bet is a professional tree climbing service. Try these resources for a referral: your vet, pet stores, the Humane Society, Animal Control, the Yellow Pages, the local media, the classified ads.

Tree climbers usually charge for their services, naturally; fees vary, and if travel or hazard duty is involved, will tend to be more. Hazard duty situations include night climbs, dead trees, and inclement weather. Remember, the tree climber’s life is valuable, too, and be understanding about the cost.

He might trade some of his fee for a promise of future work (in trees without cats) and/or some free publicity. Hand out his business cards to your neighbors after the rescue. Animal rescues make great human-interest stories, so be sure to alert the media. Always be polite and respectful with tree climbers, whether they come through for your cat or not. We don’t want to discourage these heroes from future cat rescues.

Some animal behaviorists say you can teach a cat how to climb down from a tree. If you decide to explore this option, please find an expert.

The best option, of course, is to keep all your cats indoors. Cats can be taught to explore outdoors for brief periods under human supervision and come in when called. Some cats will walk on a leash. And if you have the resources and the skills, you can build a “cat sanctuary”—a fenced-in outdoor area your cats can access from indoors. Don’t forget that cats can climb, and put a top on it—which keeps out intruders as well.

Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter as well as animal lover living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for a message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.

—
Lisa J. Lehr
I write words that make you money–just ask me how.
www.justrightcopy.com
Visit my website and sign up for my fr~ee marketing tips.
New! No~cost Marketing Guide now available at my website.

Real Estate

Home Sales Slow in September Due to Foreclosure Moratoriums

U.S. pending home sales slipped for the first time in three months in September as foreclosure moratoriums  slowed sales.

The National Association of Realtors’ index for pending sales of existing homes fell 1.8% to 80.9, the industry group said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected pending home sales would increase by 3% in September.

Year over year, the pending-home-sales index is 24.9% below its level of 107.8 in September 2009. The NAR on Friday also revised its August index upward slightly to 82.4 from the previously estimated 82.3.

The NAR index is based on pending sales of existing homes, including single-family homes and condominiums. A home sale is pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction hasn’t closed. Pending sales typically close within one or two months of signing.

Pending home sales plummeted in May after the expiration of a government tax credit program but had been on the rise in July and August as rock-bottom mortgage rates and distressed property sales enticed buyers.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Community Events

Animal Save of Nevada County 10th Annual Silent Auction and Wine Tasting This Saturday

Animal Save is having their 10th Annual Silent Auction and Wine Tasting this Saturday, November 13th, 6-10pm.  Wine tasting is from 6-7:30pm.  This year it will be at the Miners Foundry in Nevada City.

A great night of food, wine, music, and holiday shopping all to benefit the animals!

Tickets $25 includes a commemorative wine glass

For more information visit their newly launched website www.animalsave.org

This is for a great cause and they are a dedicated group working hard to save our animals that need help  in Nevada County

Real Estate

Beware of Foreclosure Scams

  • A company/person asks for a fee in advance to work with your lender to modify, refinance or reinstate your mortgage. They may pocket your money and do nothing to help you save your home from foreclosure.
  • A company/person guarantees they can stop a foreclosure or get your loan modified. NO ONE can make this guarantee to stop foreclosure or modify your loan. Legitimate, trustworthy HUD-approved counseling agencies can assist you with options and facilitate communication with your mortgage company.
  • A company/person advises you to stop paying your mortgage company and pay them instead. Despite what a scammer will tell you, you should never send a mortgage payment to anyone other than your mortgage lender. If you have trouble making your monthly payment, contact your mortgage lender.
  • A company pressures you to sign over the deed to your home or sign any paperwork that you haven’t read or you don’t fully understand. A legitimate housing counselor should not and will not pressure you to sign a document of any kind.
  • A company claims to offer “government-approved” or “official government” loan modifications. These may be scam artists pretending to be legitimate organizations approved by, or affiliated with the government. Check to be sure by contacting your mortgage lender directly  to learn more about government programs for which you may qualify.
  • A company/person you don’t know asks you to release personal financial information. Check to be sure you are speaking with a legitimate company/person by contacting your mortgage lender directly

    • If you are facing foreclosure go online to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Click Here

    Need Help?
    Call John J. O’Dell
    Real Estate Broker
    530-263-1091

    Real Estate

    Are Banks Just Too Lazy To Make Short Sales Work?

    Mike Parker
    Mike Parker

    By Mike Parker

    When the New York Times can’t suggest a logical reason for widespread banking practices that’s a sure indicator that something is horribly broken and that something seems to be much of the entire banking industry’s mismanagement of short sales.

    In an excellent article by Michael Powell published October 24, 2010 entitled “Short Sales Resisted as Foreclosures are Revived,” Mr. Powell sheds light on numerous actual banking decisions that just do not make financial sense in any marketplace. The cases he cites, however, are in Maricopa County, Arizona.

    For example, he cites the case of one Ms. Lydia Sweetland. Having lost her job, drained her savings and retirement funds, she applied for a mortgage modification and (surprise?) was summarily rejected by GMAC bank. Ms. Sweetland reluctantly realized (after seven months of being unable to pay that mortgage) that perhaps a short sale would bring this awful situation to an acceptable conclusion for all concerned. Her mortgage balance was $206,000. She found a buyer willing to pay $200,000 for the property. That offer was rejected and she was notified that GMAC would foreclose on her within seven days, losing about $19,000 in the process that the bank would not have lost had they accepted the short sale proposal.

    There’s no need for logic and fairness when all your bad decisions are bailed out

    In a half dozen more cases examined by the New York Times, Bank of America rejected short sale offers and foreclosed at lower prices. Brilliant! Having received Billions of dollars in federal bailouts (paid for, as we all know, buy US, the little guy federal taxpayers) Bank of America and other large banks can apparently perpetuate an economically disastrous practice that wrecks individual lives with nary a thought of logic or equity.

    Holding 31 per cent of pending foreclosures in Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix and Scottsdale), this one bank is set up to lose hundreds of millions more than necessary by rejecting short sales and proceeding to foreclosure. I wonder, is Marie Antoinette the CEO of the bank? “Let them eat cake” has never resonated so strongly in the country as this economically destructive attitude does, now. Having never adopted the guillotine, we have no instant remedy to snap bank management out of this arrogant and financially stupid policy so the consumer rightfully feels disrespected and abused. That’s NOT a good thing. If the banking business thinks nothing of losing an unnecessary extra 10% of the principal balance rather than work with a buyer, they best not be surprised when the sanctity of the contract becomes invalid among most consumers. It’s a prescription for economic chaos.

    “The dog ate my homework”

    When it comes to ludicrous “justifications” for indefensible policies, it’s hard to top the excuse that kids sometimes use to “justify” not having their homework done. Listen, however, to the “justifications” for the banks’ reluctance to engage in short sales offered by those in the know, and quoted in the article:

    ·         “Banks are historically reluctant to do short sales, fearing that somehow the homeowner is getting an advantage on them”;

    ·         “{Banks} have this irrational belief that if you foreclose and hold on to the property for six months, somehow prices will rebound;”

    ·         “banks computer systems repeatedly asked for and lost the same information and generated inaccurate responses:”

    ·         “Servicers can reap high fees from foreclosures:”

    ·         In a reversal of previous regulatory policy (changed April 2009), “banks can foreclose on a home and avoid writing down the loan until the home is sold, as opposed to taking the write-down immediately on a short sale;”

    Sounds an awful lot like “Let them eat cake” to me.

    But it’s hard for even these mercenary heartless bureaucrats to justify this one: A Mr. Nicholas Yannuzzi put 20% down and bought a one-story home for his wife, who had been diagnosed with bone cancer, so she would not have to climb stairs. Sadly, his wife later died, he lost his job and used his retirement funds to pay the mortgage for the past five months. Didn’t make any difference to Wells Fargo Bank, his mortgage holder: they rejected his request for a mortgage modification and then for a short sale.

    So, after working diligently all of his life, never having a financial problem before, owning five homes and in the sunset of his life, he is now waiting to be locked out of his home.

    Perhaps you may remember the movie “Network,” starring Peter Finch and written by Paddy Chayefsky, that won four Academy Awards, released in 1976 and now rated as one of the top ten films of all time. It was satire, but the protagonist’s mantra was this screaming phrase” “I’m sick and tired and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”

    That’s what happens when you ‘let them eat cake’: chaos ensues.

    Conclusion: They’re lazy AND it’s the money

    Let’s all pretend that if we postpone the write-downs, it will all turn out okay in six months. Let’s all ignore the human toll this crisis is taking and “just follow orders.” Let’s all realize that in this dysfunctional political system we are now in, it’s every man and woman for themselves. Fee income considerations and the timing of balance sheet losses are now trumping the need to treat people fairly. It’s easier to “just follow procedure” than invent solutions.

    **************

    Published with permission from © Mike Parker 2010 Mike Parker mparker@theblackwatercg.com

    Real Estate

    First Billion Dollar Home Built in India

    1 Comment

    The wealthiest man in India has built a new estate that sets the bar for opulence and ostentation. Mukesh Ambani’s $1 billion home in Mumbai, named “Antilia” after a mythical island, requires a staff of 600 to man its gym, dance studio, ballroom, guest rooms, movie theater, lounges, garden, 160-car parking lot, and three helicopter pads, the Telegraph reports. All that in only 27 stories. Ambani is chairman of Reliance Industries, a conglomerate with oil, retail, and biomedical divisions. He’s the fourth richest man in the world.

    Antilia Mukesh is the largest home in the world. Antilla is situated on a 4,532 square metres (48,780 sq ft) plot at Altamount Road on the famed Cumballa Hill South Mumbai, India, where land prices are upward of US$10,000 per square meter. It has been reported in the media to have cost between US$1 billion and $2 billion, making Antilia the most expensive residential building in the world. Reliance, however, said it cost U$50-70 million.


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    Bits & Pieces, Business

    You Don’t Have to Be a Helpless Victim of “This Economy”



    by Lisa J. Lehr

    I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of hearing the phrase “in this economy.” As in: “Everyone’s trying to save money…in this economy.” “Who can afford this, that, or the other thing…in this economy?” “Good luck getting a job, making a profit, running a business…in this economy.”

    It’s as if “this economy” is a catch-all excuse for failure, inaction, and stuck-ness. Okay, certain things are out of our control. But let’s not throw everything that is within our control into the same hopeless bag. If you’re a business owner, there’s a lot you can do to secure an advantage over your competition who’s given in to the doom-and-gloom mentality of “this economy.”

    Here are some starters:

    1.      Figure out your USP, and tell everybody what it is. If you’re not sure if you even have a USP, it means “unique selling proposition.” So what makes you so special? If you’re not the biggest, the oldest, or the closest, you must have something else that no one else has. Dig it out, polish it up, show it off. Hint: what do your best customers say about you?

    2.      Make sure your website is as good as it can be. Please don’t tell me you don’t have a website! (Okay, do tell me…I can help.) Forget the flash and snazzy graphics. You need a clean, easily navigable, informative website. The more content, the better—both for getting more web traffic and for making your readers know, like, and trust you. People who know, like, and trust you will buy from you! And on that website…

    3.      Put an opt-in form in a prominent place. This simple tool can literally bring in 90% of your sales. If you’re not sure what this is, I’m sure you’ve seen them on other websites: people enter their name and e-mail address and give you permission to keep in touch with them. Voila, when they need the product or service you offer, guess who’s top-of-mind—you!

    4.      Be famous. Not celebrity-famous—but establishing yourself as an expert in your field will put you light-years ahead of your competitors. This means you offer articles, news releases, blog posts, case studies, white papers, even an informative Yellow Pages ad—all kinds of free, no-obligation content that gets your name “out there” and convinces people you know your stuff. Secondary benefit: all that “free stuff” makes people feel indebted to you—and more likely to choose you over your competitors.

    5.      Have materials to hand out. Called “marketing collateral,” these are all the print pieces that support any sales messages you have: brochures, free articles, point-of-sale take-home pieces, catalogs, magalogs, white papers, and so on. These offline pieces have a “stickiness” that online content doesn’t have: people will keep, re-read, and pass along to others informative reading material. Make sure your contact info (including your web address!) is on everything.

    Advertising can be expensive. And that “I can’t afford to advertise…in this economy” mentality has led to the failure of many businesses…especially in this economy. But the above relatively simple and inexpensive strategies will give you the visibility, authority, and distinction you need to remain competitive in your field. Even in this economy. Especially in this economy.

    Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for a message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.