Alameda, CA

Alameda, with our rich heritage and collection of Victorians and Tudors and Craftsman bunglows, fabulous shorelines, evolving and thriving downtown, and wonderfully temperate climate, has seen our own ups and downs in the real estate market.

Here's a quick review of where we are as of September 2, 2009 in terms of ALL types of properties in Alameda, compared to where we were just two months ago

ALL LISTINGS

ACTIVE LISTINGS- 109. Today's inventory is even lower than 134 just two months ago.

• Median price - $662,315, up from $594K
• Average days on market - 72 days, compared to 60
  

PENDING OR UNDER CONTRACT - 106, up from 96

• Median price - $508,872, up from $479,450
• Average days on market - 44, just 2 days faster to get in contract

SOLD since January 1, 2009 - 246 or 44 more sales

• Median price - $409,759 which is lower than $555,000
• Average days on market - 58 days compared to 50
  

FORECLOSURES In spite of what some Alamedans think, Alameda CA has been affected by the economic downturn, albeit not quite as badly as other cities. Nonetheless, we have our share of foreclosures and short sales.

Active listings - 10, just 2 homes fewer than two months ago

• Median price - $466,200 now compared to $338,500 then. a distinct improvement!
• Average days on market - 25 which is so much quicker than 61 days then
  

Listings under contract - 13 compared to 11

• Median price - $407,000 compared to 338,500
• Average days on market - 40 unchanged
  

Listings sold - 45 compared 30. This 18% of total sales to date ---- a bit of increase here

• Median price - $450,000 compared to $466,625. Are prices inching up?
• Average days on market - 45 days compared to 41
  

SHORT SALES Are short sales moving? Some are moving very slowly, and very painfully. Properties that have more than one loan may be ignored unless the lender is the same.

We hear horror stories of properties in contract for nearly 90 days on short sales with 2 loans. The junior lien holders dig in their heels and don't approve the short sales, which leads to foreclosures and trashed credit scores.

• Active listings - 10, compared to 15 two months ago
• Pending - 27 compared to 25
• Sold - 18, just a tad better than 14 two months ago; or 7% of total. At least they're closing!
  Average days on market for sold short sales - 78 days, a sight improvement over 83 days

This short sale property went on the MLS Saturday. Open house on Sunday. by Monday, we had 5 offers. Wednesday, 7. Friday, 9. And we continued to receive calls inquiring about writing offers.

Multiple offers

By the following Sunday, and after reviewing the matrix that shows the various terms and conditions of the multiple offers, the sellers countered four. Two of the counter offers came back, and countered at higher prices at almost $100,000 over list price --- and they were only $1,000 apart!

The sellers are overjoyed. And so am I. The offers are over what they paid for it in 2004, and they are 95% of balances owed (when sellers refinanced, with two loans). This bodes well for getting the short sale approved and accepted.

Things seem to be working out. The buyers and their agents are all well-versed with short sales and know what to expect (and for how long).

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out.

Key factors that I think helped tremendously in marketing this property:

• LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION - in the most desirable east end of Alameda
• Aggressive list price at below market
• Property was thoroughly cleaned --- looked good, smelled good
• Property was staged --- even minimally, it evoked a warm and fuzzy feeling
• Pictures --- lots of it
• Tour --- VisualTour and YouTube. Prospective buyers said they were attracted enough to want to see it
• Featured tour as well as showcased on REALTOR.com that in turn was picked up by the other sites
• Posted on various sites of the internet: Trulia, Zillow, Craigslist, personal and company website, ActiveRain --- to get massive internet exposure
• Open house --- massive turnout
• Ability for sellers to sign electronically via DocuSign (extremely helpful to get the parties together since the sellers are in two separate states and time zones)
• Third-party short sale negotiator such as Short Sale Advantage -- buyers like the idea of professionals handling the negotiation with the short sale lenders

Keeping my fingers crossed that this short sale goes smoothly.

Showing a buyer the "what ifs" when thinking of how much to offer, etc. has never been easier once I got the hang of using Fidelity Agent software to do the estimates.

Yesterday, I was showing my client a house....and he was wondering what his options are in terms of down payment, what his monthly payments would be, how much he can offer.

I whipped out my iphone to show him some scenarios. I followed up by sending him emails of some estimates, using Fidelity Agent software which cost me $27 to upload on my computer AND on my iphone.

Yes, these are estimates, and final figures will be different...but this is a good way to illustrate the differences in buying scenarios. This is what I shared with him --- it didn't take too long to come up with these estimates. But oh, the value of matrices!

SCENARIOS and ESTIMATES - when buying a house in Alameda CA

Assume interest rates of 5.75% for 30 years, 1% loan origination or discount fees, with a purchase price of $525,000

	5% down	10% down	15% down	20% down
Down payment	$26,250	52,500	78,750	105,000
Closing costs	$28,085	17,734	17,384	17,027
Total cash needed for down payment and closing costs	$44,335	70,234	96,134	122,027
PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance)	$3,939	3,666	3,453	3,131
Income needed to qualify	$127,748	118,899	111,987	102,194

Assume interest rate of 5.75% for 30 years, 1% loan origination or discount fees, with 10% down

Sales Price	$520,000	$525,000	$530,000	$535,000
10% down payment	$52,000	$52,500	$53,000	$53,500
Closing costs	$17,593	$17,734	$17,875	$18,014
Total cash needed for down payment and closing costs	$69,593	$70,234	$70,875	$71,514
PITI (principal, interest taxes and insurance)	$3,631	$3,666	$3,701	$3,736
Income needed to qualify	$117,767	$118,899	$120,031	$121,165

Assume interest rate of 5.75% for 30 years, 1% loan origination or discount fees, with 20% down

Sales Price	$520,000	$525,000	$530,000	$535,000
10% down payment	$104,000	$105,000	$106,000	$107,000
Closing costs	$16,898	$17,027	$17,161	$17,296
Total cash needed for down payment and closing costs	$120,898	$122,027	$123,161	$124,296
PITI (principal, interest taxes and insurance)	$3,121	$3,151	$3,181	$3,211
Income needed to qualify	$101,221	$102,194	$103,167	$104,141

My client was appreciative of the "paint by numbers" picture I prepared for him. I think being able to do this on the spot opened his eyes to other possibilities.

RELATED POSTS

Fidelity Agent: A WOW tool for quick answers for real estate calculations --- for your computer and your PDA!

First Time Buyers need CMA and PITI calculations ---and good photos for a good first impression

Don't know how to estimate PITI? Closing Costs? Copping out by deferring estimates to escrow officer?

WHAM! I must have had 70-80 groups of people who came through my open house this past Sunday. So I did an impromptu survey to ask them how they heard about the open house.

ONLINE MARKETING RULES!

The numbers validate why it's so important to get your listing online:

80-85% said they saw my listing on the internet Some were sent by their agents. And the rest are curious neighbors.

Pictures. Videos. When I asked why they picked this particular house to visit, all of them said they liked the pictures. Others said they liked the fact that there was a YouTube video (created from my visualtour) so they have an even better idea of what to expect. It works!

Details about the open house. Many said they came because the information said that there would be a Sunday open house. Aahhh....that's also very important to put in the MLS, etc. when the first open house will be. It isn't enough just to put details about the house.

Signs. A few staggered in when they saw my signs --- signs that had fluttering metallic ribbons, and placed in strategic locations where the western sun will shine on them (my signs are hardly ever in the shade, or blocked by parked cars)

Other positive feedback.

• They liked how clean the house looks and smells. the importance of cleaning, decluttering!
• They liked how the house is staged. Even the most minimalist staging can make a difference in ambience
• Handouts. I had local maps, copies of the local magazine, copies of my latest REALTYTIMES newsletter, and my magnetic memo board with my name/number on it. People like handouts!

MARATHON

It wasn't easy getting this all done in a very short time. It was like a marathon week --- getting professional housecleaners, bringing in my own staging stuff, taking a lot of pictures, creating a visual tour, converting to video, posting on a lot of sites, creating a brochure, preparing all the handouts, etc.

OFFERS!

But now, I have five offers in hand, and more expected before the week is over. Not bad...for a SHORT SALE!

RELATED POSTS

What I did to get 70-80 groups to come to my open house

You must be on YouTube! How to do with what you have now

Convert Visual tour to Video then post on YouTube and Facebook

10 things to do when posting on craigslist

This is one of those times when I wish I have an assistant who can do all of these things....shoot pictures, create video tour, post on various websites. It's late at night, and while I'm watching TV, I'm posting this on as many sites as I can.


What I am happy about, is that I know how to do these things. And at a time when budget constraints are necessary, I know that I can continue to serve my clients and not sacrifice or give up any of the services I provide.


In the meantime, I am just happy I have a video of this listing.