What, I was Just Having a Drink?

February 24, 2009 jd 1 Comment

You might have heard of the real estate agent in Hillsboro, Oregon who used his lock box key to enter into homes and burglarize them. A homeowner returning from a business trip, walked into his house to find Michael Troy Messmer drinking a White Russian. It seemed obvious that Messmer had been in his liquor cabinet.

The homeowner asked Messmer what he was doing and Messmer replys, “I’m a Realtor” with that, him and his girlfriend walk out with a box full of the homeowner’s personal property worth about $260. That was on February 1.

On February 5, this genius was found to have taken some minor items, toiletry and liqueur from a Cornelius home. The items were worth about $250. In both cases, he used his lock box key to enter the homes.

Of course Messner was caught in short order. This is because every time a Realtor uses his lock box key to open a lock box, (where the key to enter the house is located), a code is entered into the lock box leaving behind the agent’s name and the time that the house was entered. It’s too bad that in every profession there is always somebody who is dishonest. Not only was this guy dishonest, but I think he makes the grade for the dumbest criminal of the year.

I don’t know if they do a background check on real estate agents in Oregon, but in California every licensed real estate agent and broker has to have background check prior to obtaining their license, giving assurances that people with criminal records do not get a license.

For Some, Foreclosed Homes Equals Gold.

February 23, 2009 jd 1 Comment

gold

Foreclosed homes are a buying opportunity if you have the cash. For some investors, speculators and first time home buyers are thinking big and finding opportunities in plummeting home prices. A gold lining in the Golden State’s housing crash.

According to the The News

“For many young couples, plummeting prices and near record-low interest rates make it possible to own a home in California for the first time.

Investors and real estate speculators, meanwhile, can snap up foreclosed properties on the cheap to sell during the next boom in California’s boom and bust real estate cycle, a boom they believe is inevitable and possibly not far off”

“This is a buying opportunity of our lifetime,” said Bruce Norris, who heads an investment group that expects to purchase 100 homes in Southern California.”

The article mentions the group buying a home for $55,000 that originally was worth $360,000 at the top of the market, putting $30,000 into it for repairs and renting it $1,200 a month. I would say that’s a fantastic investment.

I know an investor who bought homes during the last real estate downturn. He bought thirteen homes and turned them all into rentals. When his company told him three years ago that they were moving to Texas and if he wanted a job, he would have to move there. He’s still here, doing well living off of the income from his rentals and building a new home in Lake Tahoe.

Yes, now is the time to buy, if you have a secure job or money to invest, if you want an investment that has proven time and again that you can become wealthy buying real estate.

Nevada County, Nevada County Information

Angel & I on Nevada County

February 22, 2009 jd

Angel, she does not like her picture taken.

Angel asked me the other day why I liked Nevada County so much. She said she’s 49 now and we have always lived here. (Angel’s seven, but dogs age seven times faster then humans, although some times I think I’m keeping up with her)

I said Angel, it’s like this, to give you an example, I was a construction project manager for a large land development company that developed subdivisions in Truckee and North Shore. Once a month I had to go to San Francisco and attend a committee meeting. Thats where a bunch of people get together for hours to talk about nothing and what a single line text message could have taken care without all that waste of time.

Anyhow, I would get to the company’s office right in the heart of the financial business district on California Street. I’d stand outside and watch people who would seem to be in high gear, walking like they were all late for a committee meeting or something. You can’t believe the traffic there either, I think they have more cars in one block then all the cars we have in Nevada County and the buildings are so tall, they had to calculate the orbit of the moon before they built them.

Coming back from all the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area, I would come up Highway 49 and as soon as I crossed the county line at Bear River, I would start getting calm, a feeling of coming back to nature. Driving along the highway, first there were and still are the large oaks to greet you, then continuing on you are surrounded by large pines on both sides of the highway, tall sentinels welcoming you back, bringing you back to a true reality of life.

That’s the way Nevada County is, an abundance of forest and terrain, having different eco-systems, from Penn Valley where you can raise horses and is more open, fewer trees, to areas around Nevada City higher in elevation, where you are surrounded by a canopy of trees and forest environment. You can live below the snow belt or above it. It’s an amazing County, where in just a few minutes you can be in completely different worlds. It’s a much slower pace here, more peaceful and more like life should be.

So Angel, that’s why I like Nevada County, the pace of life is much slower, more real and people are not in a rush to go to committee meetings.

Do you understand Angel? Angel; yes and now can I have a cookie?

Real Estate

Facing Foreclosure, Hire an Attorney?

February 20, 2009 jd 1 Comment

The Golden Rule, He who has the gold Rules

Hiring an attorney is usually the last thing I tell a client to do. It’s expensive and normally you can work things out with the party in question if both sides are willing to talk and negotiate.

However, the more I hear from friends and clients, it seems that the only way to get a bank or mortgage company to listen to you is to hire an attorney.

I just heard two more stories of people approaching their bank and was told, you’re making the payments, we don’t want to talk to you until you quit making your payments. In another case, the person tried for two months to modify their loan and finally gave up.

However, the person then hired an attorney and the bank immediately started modifying the loan. I don’t get it, why force a home owner who is under stress to spend an additional $1,500 to $5,000 to get their attention.

In spite of article I recently read, the banks are not cooperating. The article went on to say that a client hired an attorney to represent them and the bank insisted on having a three way conversation with the bank, the client and the attorney. The bank said there was no need for legal representation; they would do all the work for free. Right, maybe you just need to hit the banks over the head to get their attention.

Real Estate

Angel & I on Real Estate

February 19, 2009 jd 2 Comments

Angel, she hates to have her picture taken.

If Angel and I could talk to each other, the conversation might go something like this.

Angel to me, why are people so upset because the government might save their neighbors house who is facing foreclosure. After all, they’re saying I make my payments on time, I don’t want or need a government handout, why should they get one?

Well, Angel, it’s not that simple. I remember when I took a law class, the instructor (who was an attorney) said, there is right and wrong, then there’s the law. Now I say, in these times there is right and wrong and then there is real estate. Real estate needs help now, and it may not be exactly the right or wrong way to do it, but something has to be done.

Helping our neighbor to avoid foreclosure helps all of us. It keeps housing inventory from increasing, it helps prevent our home values from dropping and it keeps the neighborhood from deteriorating. There are vast neighborhoods that have just fallen apart, one home after another being foreclose on, vandals tearing the house apart, or homeowners selling parts of their home before they move. (See my previous blog “Rip off a House, Go to Jail”)

Now some people have further said, what kind of an example are we giving our children? Are we teaching them that if they get in trouble the government will bail them out. I don’t think so; I think you need to educate your children as to the realities of the times. Sometimes, government just has to get involved for the good of the Nation.

What do you think Angel? I think that makes a lot of sense, can I have a cookie now?

Real Estate

President Obama’s Help For Homeowners

February 18, 2009 jd

: The White House

President Obama will be in Phoenix today, to unveil his “Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan” to help bring relief to homeowners and bring some order to the housing market.

A portion of his blog reads:

“The President’s strategy for economic recovery is a stool with several legs, as he’s said, and one of them is solving the foreclosure crisis.

“We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes,” he said yesterday as he signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law

To read the full text and explanation of what is proposed read the White House Blog at The Briefing Room

Real Estate

Nevada County Sales January 2009

February 17, 2009 jd

1sold

I’m comparing the month of January 2008 to the month of January 2009. It is not really a good comparison in some ways, as a large sale can skew the results. But it is a brief snap shot of what’s happening. As the year goes, by, I’ll start comparing the combined months of the year. For example, the next blog will be a comparison of January and February and so on.

Residential sales for the month of January 2009 increased five percent over January 2008. The average sales price declined eighteen percent from an average sales price of $449,358 to $370,351 from 2008 to 2009. However, in January of 2008 there was one sale of $1,950,000 which really skews the average sales price. Taking that out of the equation, the average sales price for January 2008 drops to an average sales price of $372,155 which is about what the sales price is this year.

Average days on the market remained almost the same, 140 days in 2008 compared to 138 days in 2009. To make a long story short, sales in January of this year compared to sales in January of last year are about the same.

Let’s see how the rest of the year goes. I believe the market is picking up and I expect there is going to be a lot of help from the Federal Government in the coming months. A lot of investors are jumping into the market realizing that this is a great time to buy.

Government

In Government, Two minus Two equals Two!

February 16, 2009 jd

The Legislators Budget Process, somewhere there's an answer.

It seems that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has negotiated with Service Employees International Employees Union (SEIU) Local 1000, representing 95,000 state workers to eliminate two paid holidays, Lincoln’s Birthday and Columbus Day. However, if you think that’s going to help the budget, it will not because in lieu of the paid holidays, the state workers will get two “floating” personal days off with pay instead (read vacation)! Then there’s “Furlough Fridays”, going from two mandated days off per month to one day off.

According to the Sacramento Bee , in further talks the two days mandated to be taken off, popularly known as the “Furlough Fridays” (approximately a 10% cut in pay) for state workers has been changed to eight hours of unpaid “flex time”off per month. This is good, because it will not dock the pay of the state workers so much (only a 5% cut in pay, and it will keep the state offices open through out the work week. Closing the state offices on two set Fridays has been a terrible burden on the small businesses and particularly restaurants around the capitol area.

The bad news is there are still eleven more other state bargaining units left to negotiate with! Let’s hope the Gov. uses a little different logic in his negotiations when it comes to eliminating holidays. Let’s see how this turns out.

The most telling information to come out recently is that the State Legislators themselves are not suffering during the budget crisis. They are still getting their $116,000 annual salary, their $173 per day for food and lodging and $400 a month for auto expense. Why should they be in a hurry to balance a budget?

Environment, Weather

Scotts Flat Lake Winter 2009

February 13, 2009 jd

There was a nice blanket of snow which fell last night at my house. I would guess that there was a little over one foot of snow which made everything outside look like a winter wonder land. My house is located in Cascade Shores about 11 miles from Nevada City and at an elevation of 3,700 feet.

From my house you can overlook Scotts Flat Lake and notice that the water level is very low. It is normal for the lake not to be full this time of the year, but it is lower then normal. In January according to Susan Sindt, of the Nevada Irrigation District, the level of the lake was 31,000 acre feet. (An acre foot is one acre filled one with water one foot deep). We have gained some benefits from the recent rains, since the water level has gone from 31,000 acre feet in January to 32,200 acre feet as of today, according to Susan.

The last time the lake was lower was in the 1988-89 season at which time the water level was at 30,000 acre feet. Susan also said that NID’s overall water supply for the district is at 87 percent of normal for this time of the year. Hopefully we’ll get a lot rain this winter-spring season and the water supply will get back to normal.

By the way, if you are interested in camping, boating or fishing at Scotts Flat Lake go to the website of the Scotts Flat Lake Resort

Real Estate

Rip off a House, go to Jail

February 12, 2009 jd

Just as we get a high when we purchase a new home, it must be an equal low when you are losing your home to foreclosure and for some people it brings out their dark side.

For example, browsing on the Internet, I read where someone was having a “Demolition Sale” on their soon-to-be foreclosed home. According to the article anything and everything in the house was for sale!

Here’s another one from a house that once sold for $630,000 that was published on Voice of Sandiego.org

“The kitchen cabinets were gone from the yellow, 1960s-era four-bedroom, two-bathroom house. So were ceiling fans, blinds, light switches, outlet covers, interior doors, closet doors, the toilet, a vanity, the stove and marble counters. The kitchen walls had jagged lines of marble tile, marking the perimeter where the cabinets once were. Gaps showed in the paint, inside and out, the job stopped in mid-refurbishment. The former owner had stripped the house and taken nearly everything with her.”

According to an article from the California Association of Realtor®

“The report said, in summary, damages intentionally caused by the mortgage holder can be subject to criminal and civil penalties. In fact, removal of fixtures valued more than $100 constitutes a felony in the State of California and can result in a state prison sentence for a year or more.

“Even fixtures totaling less than $100 can result in a misdemeanor and could include county jail up to one year and/or a fine up to $1,000.”

The problem of course is that the foreclosed owner of the house has no assets. So pursuing them would not get the banks any money. However, I think they should pursue them. Why? Because twenty percent of the people foreclosed on do just that, rip the house apart. This hurts you and I, because it reduces the value of the home when it goes back on the market and it lowers the value of your home and everyone else’s too.