Hayward, CA

Checking various cities in the East Bay CA, to see market activity --- Alameda, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward. And thus far, the cities I've looked into all have low inventories of homes for sale. And this partially explains why we're in multiple offers/over-bidding situations.

Here's what's happening in Hayward where we've seen 60-80 offers on bank-owned properties, and where cash is definitely king. Some buyers are actually consortiums of buyers who pooled their resources to buy properties.

Time and time again, we have found ourselves in multiple offer situations. It's almost unbelievable to conceive of this kind of buying frenzy. It's like the early 2000s all over again, albeit at lower prices.

Offer dates are set. Contingencies are being waived. Offers are for significantly over list price. Not only is preapproval letter required, but proof of funds and FICO scores are also mandated in many cases.

Buyers are stunned....they had expected a buyer's market. They expected prices to go even lower. They expected to be able to write offers for much less than the listed price.

Some local market analysts have said: the bottom of the market was three months ago. Take a close look at the chart showing the median sold price ---- the upward movement started in June 2009.

These charts tell quite story. Brace yourself for the next wave of foreclosures.

ATTENTION: SELLERS! This is why it's important for you to choose your agent carefully, and to check out how your property is promoted for sale. If you're selling your property as a short sale, all the more important that the listing reaches the widest possible market.

For two days, I tried to get hold of several listing agents of separate properties in downtown Hayward CA. Because I wanted to group similar properties to show to my clients, I tried to line up all the listings in which they may be interested.

RANT #1. Out-of-area listing agent. The listing showed up on REALTOR.com, but not on our local MLS, or in the MLS Alliance of different area boards. Tried to track down the listing agent by typing in the address of the property. It shows up on Redfin as listed by a company called San Felipe Realty and Mortgage --- in Sacramento ---- 100 miles away! Tried to locate the listing on their website --- no listings featured. Tried to call. No answer. There's no fax or email either. No remarks on REALTOR.com regarding special instructions to make appointment or for submitting offers, or what type of listing this is (short sale? REO?)

RANT #2. Assistant Realtor? Called the listing office. Was transferred to a cell phone. At 2:00 pm, after speaking with listing agent who said he has someone else handling the listing, I called the number he gave me, left message that I want to show the listing the following day. The next morning, at 11 am, I called again. As of 11 pm that evening, still no response. I emailed the listing agent that my clients are writing an offer on another property since this listing agent and his "assistant" were unresponsive.

RANT #3. No call back. NADA. Called two other agents on two other properties. Left messages that I would like to show the properties. Two follow up calls later, still no response.

RANT #4. More out-of-area listing agents. Their listings don't show up on the local MLS. Their MLS isn't affiliated with ours. And when their listings show up on REALTOR.com, there are no pictures, no instructions. And contact info is incomplete: no email, no fax, no website.

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THESE PEOPLE? They're some of the reasons REALTORs get a bad name!

If they can't service their listings, refer them to local realtors who can!

UPDATE: Was shocked to find out that one of this unresponsive and irresponsible agents is the broker himself!

The issue is: if inspection reports are available, these inspections are material fact. They're relevant to the property. And if they are available, disclose them.

So why won't the REO agent mention this in the MLS, or offer them to prospective buyers?

My clients finally got accepted on an REO on which they overbid against other buyers. Because we had only 7 days to do our inspections, the buyers ordered the following inspections: home, pest, roof, chimney.

During the inspections, we were told that the much-needed repairs are more severe and more extensive than what the buyers were willing to undertake. So although it cost them $750 for all the inspections, they thought it was money well spent in the sense that it prevented them from falling into a "Money Pit".

So they backed out.

Since the inspections are no longer of use to them, they agreed to release the inspection to the listing agent and the REO bank for them to include in their disclosure.

Imagine my surprise when the existence of these disclosures aren't mentioned at all in the MLS. Not a word!

The only document they wanted to share is the offer instructions.

Since these inspections are available, and since we gave them to the listing agent, it seemed to us that they would be happy to share these reports with prospective buyers. I know that if I were submitting an offer on an REO, that this would be a huge help.

Granted they want to sell and they don't want to discourage any buyers...nonetheless, making these inspections available from the beginning means no surprises, and the less chance that a buyer would back out later.

Special note: this post was precipitated by Cathy McAlister's post

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1169997/reo-disclosures-are-banks-really-exempt-

In this sea of REOS and short sales, where it is extremely competitive in specific price brackets and locations. it is not unusual to write several offers for a client although we are discouraged from the practice of writing multiple offers.

Back in February, I had written an offer on a short sale with two lenders....as of mid-July, the second lender is still in negotiations. It is looking very unlikely that this short sale will ever be approved. At the time we wrote the offer, the listing agent said the property was under contract before but the buyer backed out. She was so sure she'd get a response right away.

So we waited...and waited...and waited.

Finally, we decided to keep looking. Because of the waiting periods for short sale, we also looked at REOS. Several offers later, after being outbid numerous times, we finally got an offer accepted on an REO (aggressive price, aggressive terms).

Interestingly enough, on the same day, we heard from an agent that our offer on a short sale was selected to be submitted to the lenders.

As a courtesy to the short sale listing agent, and to give the other buyer a fighting chance, we withdrew our offer on this short sale.

The question is: should we have kept the short sale offer in play until after we remove our contingencies on the accepted REO? My buyers are so sure and so happy about moving forward on the REO after months of looking. It seemed like withdrawing the short sale offer was the right thing to do.

Also... I remembered Broker Bryant had something to say about writing multiple offers (on REOs). Seems like a good place to post that link here, too.

So on Friday, I was posting a blog of all new listings that came on the market. When I got to Kay Sherwood's listing in Hayward, it wasn't pulling up on our website. When I looked to see what the "problem" was - I discovered it had already gone pending!!

So I emailed Kay today to ask her what were 3 things that made a difference in getting this listing pending literally within days of going on MLS.

This is what she said:

"First of all, the property was merchandised. I actually had an agent call to thank me for presenting a property that was clean and in 'presentable' condition. She said that that was a rarity. The property was a dump - we had it cleaned; painted; replaced appliances, the garage door, furnace, water heater, carpeting, etc., to the tune of over $20K. I think it would have sold for over $50K less if the improvements had not been done. Secondly, pricing was a key factor. It was not over-priced. It sold for full-price and my client is very happy. Last but not least - the location is good. A cul-de-sac in a well-kept neighborhood is always desirable."

Kay goes on to say, "I received several offers without the agents ever calling me. They just came in. The offer that was accepted was from the only agent who actually called me before writing the offer. One thing we can't counter-offer is the agent. Working with a true professional is key!"

Well said Kay! Congrats Kay!

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