Crescent City, CA

It's been an amazingly mild winter here in Del Norte County and that translates into phone calls from buyers out and about looking at properties. Or can it be that we've turned the corner on the real estate market?

With properties listed at lows not seen in a decade, buyers don't even ask me to find "a deal", they assume that everything is priced low. And those that are not? I don't even recommend them knowing that they won't appraise.

And sellers who had been holding out about lowering their sales price, have finally realized that if they don't, they might as well take it off the market. And that is what I recommended to several of them this past year. None did.

Now it is 2012, and I won't take on overpriced listings. It's just too hard for everyone, the seller trying to be optimistic, the buyer being disappointed when he falls in love with a property that won't appraise.

And when a buyer show up with cash, another dynamic comes into play. The buyer is looking for a deal! That can be tough if the property he wants has a loan, because the "short sale" aspect is pretty much the only option. And, in every case, I can't make that decision for the seller, or even attempt to sway him. PLEASE TALK TO YOUR LAWYER MR. SELLER.

Much easier to negotiate, obviously, is for a property that has a low or no loan on it. Then the seller has to make the decision to accept, usually, a very low offer and just get out from under. This seller usually has already moved somewhere else and the property is empty or rented. It sounds easy to say "well, it's paid for so keep it until etc...". But when you consider property taxes, insurance, problem tenants, repairs, etc. is it really such a good idea to keep it. Maybe get your cash out and invest in other opportunities.

Whether buying or selling, let me help you navigate the rocky waters of the real estate market this spring.

 3 Bedroom Home For Sale In Crescent City California 95531 features 3 Bedrooms and 2 Bathrooms with 1,732 Square fee and the lot size is 15,000.  The front of this 3 Bedroom Home For Sale near Pine Grove Elementary School lies on a quiet street with nice yard and a 2 car garage.  The back of this 3 Bedroom Home For Sale near Pine Grove Elementary School has a large yard, gazzebo with jacuzzi, deck, storage shed and wood shed.  955 Vipond Drive is located in Crescent City which is in the Del Norte County Unified School District, the High School is Sunset High School and the Elementary School is Pine Grove Elementary School.  To view this 3 Bedroom For Sale near Pine Grove Elementary School home please click the “Find Out More” link.   To schedule a private showing, or to get more information I am available right now by calling me at (707) 218-5149 or Start Your Home Search Today!  “Click Here”

 

Get Pre-Approved for this wonderful 3 Bedroom Home For Sale near Pine Grove Elementary School property with our FHA, Conventional and NoMI Pay Mortgage Expert, Mike Bjork, at First California Mortgage in Redondo Beach at www.CaliforniaMortgageTips.com or call at (310) 694-3544

For More Information Or To See This Property’s Website Click Here Now

 

 

955 Vipond Drive Crescent City, CA 95531 3 Bedroom Home For Sale in Crescent City

Price : $249,000 Bedrooms : 3 Bathrooms : 2 Square Foot : 1,732 Lot Size : 15,000 County : Del Norte Property Type : Detached Year Built : 1973 MLS Number : 63699 click for more information and pictures Property Description Newly painted inside and outside. Parquet , carpeting and laminate floors. Crown molding throughout. New kitchen with breakfast bar, granite counters, butcher block carving station, walk-in pantry, wine and plate rack, combination stove and microwave. Two full baths, one with pedestal sink, floor-to-ceiling medicine cabinet, one with unique vanity with vessel sink. Yards are a gardners dream with variety of flowering and fruit bearing plants, herbs, small pond with flowering plants, deck with SPA, FIRE-PIT. Get Pre-Approved today with our FHA, NoMI Pay and Conventional Loan Expert Mike Bjork, from First Cal Mortgage, through his website at www.CaliforniaMortgageTips.com

Equal Housing Opportunity.

Don't change a thing until your escrow closes.

What does that mean exactly?

• Don't charge anything on your credit cards
  
  
• Don't get married
  
  
• Don't get a divorce
  
  
• Don't purchase a car
  
  
• Don't change jobs
  
  
• Don't start attending school
  
  
• If you're attending school already, don't take out additional student loans
  
  
• Don't borrow any money
  
  
• Don't retire

In short...DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING.

Why not? Underwriters are checking their list and checking it twice. It is becoming common for an underwriter to rerun credit and do additional verification of facts right up to funding. A little change, like deciding to retire or purchasing a car could send your underwriter into paroxysms and bring your escrow to an untimely death. In order to keep your purchase from becoming a dead escrow, keep your situation, not just financial but everything, the same as it was the day you completed your loan app. If you HAVE to change something, call your lender and ask how it will effect the loan BEFORE you actually make the change.

Please take this to heart. The loan process has become a mine field. Lenders and banks, once a permissive lot who gave out money to anyone who could fog a mirror have gone to the other extreme and now want documentation, verification, attestation, authentication, certification, confirmation, information and substantiation and they may want it more than once during the loan process.

To repeat, don't change anything with your life situation during your escrow. Keep your situation the same throughout the escrow process and things should go relatively smooth at least as far as your qualifying for the loan goes.

There are other mountains to scale during the escrow process for instance the appraisal...the grand Pooh-Ba of the escrow process. We'll save appraisal pitfalls for another day.

Crescent City/Del Norte County Real Estate Market Report - May 2010

Number of residential sales improved over April 2010 and May 2009 sales, however the median price has dropped 21% from the May 2009 median of $180,000.

The effect of foreclosures, declining prices, can not be denied. REO (foreclosure) sales comprised 56% of May 2010 sales and 37% of sales so far for 2010.

Upper end sales continue to remain stagnant with only two homes closing in May over $300k and one of those sales was an REO. So far in 2010 homes $300,000 and over were 11% of total residential sales.

What does it mean? It's a buyers market and there aren't a lot of buyers. The buyers that are out there are experiencing a difficult time getting pre-approved (even with the best of credit) and escrows are taking longer than usual to close, upwards of 60 days or more, as well as having to overcome many hurdles along the way, appraisals just to name one.

If you must sell at this point in time, your home needs to be priced competitively for your price range. Buyers who do make it successfully through the mine field of pre-qualification expect nothing less than an all out bargain. If you don't have the stomach for that, you best wait until the market picks up a bit for sellers. That may be awhile though and prices, in my humble opinion, are going to continue to decline so you better take that into consideration.

I work with quite a few asset managers, the folks banks contract with to liquidate their foreclosures, and they all agree that we have not yet seen even half of the foreclosure inventory hit the market. Banks seem to be holding onto a great deal of inventory for whatever reason and when these homes do enter the market, they will have a negative effect on home values in their neighborhoods.

Here is the market at a glance for May, 2010:

• May 2010 median price - $142,500, median price for May 2009 - $180,000
• May average price - $162,306
• Average days on market - 156
• 2 homes sold over $300,000, one of those was an REO
• 56% of May's sales were REO's
• 37% of all 2010 residential sales were REO's
• 2010 average sale - $169,689
• 2010 median sale - $161,000
• 2010 average days on market - 177

If you have questions about pricing your home in this market, please give me a call. I would be happy to give you current market data for competitively pricing your home.

I have sold more homes, both in volume and number of sales so far in 2010 than any other agent in my market. The reason, I work full-time, market my properties extensively on the internet and return prospective buyers phone calls and emails quickly. My goal is to give the best customer service available in Del Norte County. Please give me a call with your Del Norte County real estate questions.