Oakland, CA

If you haven't seen the 2007 movie "Once," and you really love a romantic story, coupled with an unbelievable soundtrack, you might want to do yourself a favor and rent the DVD. Notwithstanding the fact it won an Oscar in 2008 for Best Original Song, the movie has an almost documentary feel to it, yet it's the music that pulls you in tight and doesn't let go.

Because of this movie, my husband and I have been wishing we could see the then-unknown stars, Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard and the classic-trained Czech pianist Marketa Irglova, perform in person. We hit the jackpot yesterday by scoring tickets to the Paramount Oakland Theatre to see The Swell Season, a band formed by these two remarkable musicians.

We hopped on the Capitol Corrider train out of Sacramento Friday afternoon, which dropped us but a few blocks from The Waterfront Hotel in Oakland at Jack London Square. The Paramount is about 18 blocks up Broadway from there.

Even though the show didn't really get started until about 8:30 and ran until after 11 PM, I managed to stay awake, way past my bedtime, because it was so riveting. You should see Glen play guitar. He's like a madman on steroids. He strums lightening-bug fast. So fast you'd think his guitar would catch on fire. He can put Pete Townsend to shame.

I know a thing or two about Pete Townsend. I grew up in the 1960s. When I was 12 and entering 7th grade, I begged my parents for a piano. I used to go across the street to teach myself how to play my neighbor's basement piano. I taught myself to play Christmas carols by writing the notes on the keys in magic marker. Instead of a piano, though, my parents bought me a guitar and sent me to take lessons. I was told that until I could play a song 6 times in a row without making a mistake, I had not mastered the tune.

Grasshopper.

So much for Red River Valley and Old Black Joe. That was enough to make me want to tear out my hair. I wanted to play the Beatles.

Glen's vocal range is amazing. The music is raw, emotionally charged, sweet and bittersweet, raging, rip-roaring passionate and brutally honest. Mar, who truly must have fallen from the heavens, lends the duo balance and clarity through the voice of an angel. The sound of The Swell Season is absolute perfection, on par with the reflection of mountain tops mirrored in the still water of an Alpine lake.

Here's a link to Falling Slowly and another to a free MP3 of Low Rising. Glen and Mar are simply magical. There are no other words to describe these guys. They have a new album out, Strict Joy. I encourage you to buy it. And if you have a chance to catch their North American tour, I promise you, you won't regret it.

But I don't recommend that you ever stay at The Waterfront Hotel at Jack London Square. Not if you want to sleep at night. The train goes by, the horn sounds and you'll wake up. Plus, there are no honor bars in the rooms nor bathtubs, and you have to walk outside to go around the hotel to reach its restaurant, Miss Pearl's. But that was a small price to pay to see The Swell Season in person.

Click here for Day Two in San Francisco and the King Tut Exhibit.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub

There are a lot of streamlined k's going on around us wow. I had no idea. As busy as we are on the full 203k doesn't come close to the activity in the full 203k. I appreciate all the plan reviews for the lenders who want to keep their deals in the Streamlined k mode.

Just a reminder. The k can start out a streamlined k but if you fail to disclose all of the issues with the home you may find it becomes a full 203k. I had one the other day that went up to closing when they received the appraisers report that disclosed some of the work as "structural". The lender called me in a panic as they now had to have a full 203k.

Some lenders only do the Streamlined k and they for the most part have discovered it is cheap insurance to have a plan review. It just makes good sense. There are no surprises. Luckly for the lender situation above that they do the full 203k as well. Imagine if they only did the streamlined and this situation came up... the deal would have gone to another lender and the entire process would start all over again delaying the closing.

What I'm finding in my own business is quite often a borrower who has a trade fails to disclose problems in his own trade with the idea of fixing those things himself and saving money... he/she borrows less money. Then the appraiser gets out there and sees that these issues weren't addressed and has no choice but to turn it in... it becomes a full 203k. By having a Plan Review prior to the appraiser's visit will put those new items into the scope of work and the streamlined k will remain a streamlined k.

...by the way we were able to turn the full 203k around in a day for them. That is the other myth about the full 203k. They don't have to delay closings. In fact if you use one of our group of consultants the inspection and subsequent report will NEVER be the reason for delaying the closing. Good luck with your next k.

M

Market observers think that the bottom of the market was three months ago. In Oakland CA, this may be the case.

GET THE PICTURE!

Months supply of inventory

Some seasoned real estate professionals and observers say that when the months inventory is less than six (6) months, it is a seller's market. In Oakland, that inventory is less than two months, and is the lowest it's been in two years. Are we there yet?

Median sold price

Astute investors always advise "Buy low, sell high." In Oakland, for data on detached single family homes, the median price saw a drop of 69% from $616K in Sept 2007 to $191K in Sept 2009.

Supply and demand

Supply of homes for sale declined by 52% from Sept 2007 to Sept 2009, while the number of properties for sale showed an upward movement by 156% during the same period of time.

If buyers are waiting for the price to drop, they should keep a close look at the dwindling number of homes for sale compared to an increasing number of buyers. They may NOT see the price dropping much more than they have already since a sellers market may be emerging.

https://www.naca.com/index_main.jsp

OK ,This is who just helped my clients get a loan mod and slashed their payment in half!! No joke, they will only be at the Cow Palace until the 20th so I am getting the word out... My clients had one of the worst banks.... They were going to lose their house in two weeks and we were hired with offers waiting on a short sale. Even though we have to take the home off the market we are very happy for them and hope we can help someone else by haring our story... Good Luck........ Nancy & Larry

A couple of people have asked what's better to buy: houses that are foreclosures (REO, Real Estate Owned, Bank Owned) or short sales?

Well, first off, what is meant by better? Cheaper, easier, surer? Let's address all three.

Foreclosures are generally priced very low, because banks want them sold fast. Houses are usually vacant and in poor conditions. Almost always there is only one lender, the second lender having been wiped out. But as the market is showing, bank owned properties are selling for more than asking price with multiple offers. A house listed at $119,000 sold for $155,000, with 15 offers.

On the other hand, short sales are usually owner occupied; in poor to fair conditions; banks act like they don't want them sold; and there are usually two lenders. Listing agents and sellers want to get an offer that will satisfy the first and second lender but this is usually not possible. A house that was a short sale for $275,000 went into foreclosure, and came back on the market as an REO for $175,000. There was no second to worry about, and the bank priced it low to generate offers, which it did, and got more than asking price.

Generally speaking, a foreclosure sale will be cheaper than a short sale. However, it could take somewhere between 6 to 9 months from the date of foreclosure until the bank puts it on the market. Most buyers can't wait that long for something that may or may not be. Also note that a low price draws more buyers, thus a higher sale price. At this time, short sales are very competitive.

Next, are bank owned properties easier to buy? Or rather, less difficult to buy? Right now, multiple offers are making it very hard to get an offer accepted. Also, banks come out with their own purchase contract; their very own submission procedures; and they want to dictate and control the process. Banks most always stipulate that the sale is As-Is; and they threaten per diem late fees. And worst, they claim the right to cancel the contract at any time for any reason. So, they too are difficult transactions.

Short sales are very difficult because banks take a long time to go over the owner's information and the offer. It's not uncommon for banks to approve in four to six weeks, even if there some agreement between the first lender and second lender. A first may give a second only $3000 to release, and the second may accept. Or the second, may want 10 to 20% of their money. If there is only one bank it's less difficult. The lengthy process becomes irritating, annoying, and frustrating to the point that most buyers quit and move on.

Are foreclosures more of a sure thing? Yes. The bank has done a Broker Price Opinion (BPO), set a price, done a few repairs, and put it on the market.

A short sale is less, less certain. If there is only one bank, the odds of getting the offer approved are 50-50; two lenders 25-75, a 75% chance against the buyer. With three lenders, it's nearly impossible. This is why many buyers avoid or try to avoid short sales. That with the fact, that a lender may entertain other offers coming in later. Buyers don't want to wait two to three months only to be told sorry this offer isn't going to work for the bank.

So taking everything into consideration, i.e. price, difficulty, and certainty, bank owned sales (REO) are ‘better' than short sales.

My advice to buyers is go with a regular sale first, an equity sale, and a foreclosure second. If there's a house that buyers really, really, really got to have, and it's a short sale, then so be it. Go for it. This is the third option. There was a fellow who wanted to expand his business space; when a house adjacent to his business came up as a short sale, he bought it because it made sense. (Of course, price should be attractive.)