Riverside, CA

In Riverside and Corona real estate and throughout the Inland Empire, the biggest share of homes for sale is short sales. In fact today, Feb 5, 2010, there are 466 short sales in Riverside. Compare that to 361 standard sales and 147 bank-owned houses.

A short sale is one option for a seller who needs to sell but owes more on their house than it can be sold for. You should know up front that there is no guarantee that your short sale (should you choose to do one) will go through and there is a guarantee that it will hurt your credit report. Get all the information you can on short sales – do your research – and find a good Realtor with experiece doing short sales. So, how do you know if you are a good candidate for a short sale? Do you have a legitimate hardship?

In order for the bank to consider accepting less than what is owed for a home, there must be a real reason why you cannot afford your home anymore or must sell it, i.e. job loss/layoff/relocation, death in the family, sudden and large medical bills, divorce. You will be required to provide to your lender pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, letters of hardship, etc. and they will actually carefully review and scrutinize these.

You will have to prove that there is a true financial hardship and that you are not one of the many homeowners who are simply tired of being upside down on your home. If you really are facing a hardship and have pursued other workout options with your lender to no avail, short selling your home may be the best way out of a very difficult situation. Before making the determination as to whether to do a short sale or not, I strongly recommend that you contact your tax advisor and/or attorney. There may be financial and/or tax ramifications that you must be aware of. Once you have explored all options, talked to your tax advisor and feel that you are ready to move forward with a short sale, call me and let’s get the short sale process moving. It is “short” in name only – shorts sales generally take a long time and patience on the part of the buyers and sellers is needed.

There are lots of home buyers in the market for a home in the Riverside and Corona real estate market now and hopefully that will continue as long as interest rates remain low.

If you would like to learn more about selling or buying real estate in Riverside or Corona, California, contact me at vicki@pedersen-team.com or go to my website, http://Pedersen-Team.com

Are you considering selling your home but not sure what to do? Here are some steps to follow. Depending on how much equity you have in your home, now may be a very good time to sell. In Riverside and Corona CA and throughout the Inland Empire, there are lots of buyers and investors anxious to purchase homes. The timing is right for many buyers because of low housing costs and low interest rates. The inventory of houses available currently is quite low which is great news for home sellers.

1. Evaluate your situation first. Do you really need to sell? Or can you remodel your home to meet your needs? Can you afford to purchase another home, keep your existing home and rent it out until the prices of houses in your area go up?
2. Find a good Realtor. Interview two or three agents in your area. Don't use your cousin Bob who lives outside of the area or your mom's best friend. I can't tell you how many times I've heard of sellers in bad situations that they can't seem to get out of because they are using a family friend or family member to sell their home - particularly when your area is not in that agent's regular area of expertise. Your Realtor will market your home and will walk you through all of the steps in selling your home. That's only a small part of what a good Realtor will do for you - but that will suffice for this post.

3. Prepare your home to show. Your home should be spotless, have great curb appeal and evoke a warm welcoming feeling. A good Realtor will help you with home staging recommendations to make your home more appealing to buyers. People want to be able to picture their family in the home not yours so a home full of personal clutter will not show off the potential of the home.

4. Set a price to list your home. In selling your home, there is nothing more important than the price. The value of your home is based on your home's condition, market trends, and current competition. The market determines the value of your home - not you - what ready and able buyers are willing to pay for your home.

5. Make your house accessible to agents and potential buyers. It will be more difficult to sell your house if it is hard for people to be able to see it.

Selling your home can be a stressful time, but you can be successful in selling your home if you are patient, reasonable and flexible. There are lots of buyers out there and the key is to get them to fall in love with your home.

If you would like to learn more about selling or buying real estate in Riverside or Corona, California, contact me at vicki@pedersen-team.com or go to my website, http://Pedersen-Team.com

Written and posted by: Vicki Pedersen, ABR, Pedersen Real Estate, Riverside/Corona, California, DRE# 01435715, Phone: 951-840-5212

This is a snap-shot of residential real estate in Corona, CA for January 2010. The number of houses for sale and that are in escrow is as of February 2, 2010. During December real estate activity dropped but it looks to be going back up. You can see this by looking at the number of houses in escrow. Some zip codes have lower and some have higher sold prices. One thing I think is interesting is that in all but one zip code the average sold prices were higher than the list prices. Let me know if you have any questions about these numbers.

Read my blog with the same information for Riverside.

If you would like to learn more about selling or buying real estate in Riverside or Corona, California, contact me at vicki@pedersen-team.com or go to my website, http://Pedersen-Team.com

Written and posted by: Vicki Pedersen, ABR, Pedersen Real Estate, Riverside/Corona, California, DRE# 01435715, Phone: 951-840-5212

Riverside CA residential real estate is still moving up and down. The prices in five out of the eight zip codes are down from Dec 2009. I think that we see some larger variances in sold prices due to bank-owned houses. Increased numbers of bank- owned houses that go on the market in a particular zip code will drive the prices in that zip code down. Some good news that I see this month is that in all zip codes, number of houses in escrow is going back up after the slow-down in December. The number of active homes and homes in escrow is as of February 2, 2010.

Real estate in Riverside continues to be ever-changing and ever-exciting - at least for me it is. It is still a great time to buy - with the low housing prices and very low interest rates. Depending on how much equity a person has, it can also be a good time to sell as there are more buyers right now and the inventory of available houses is pretty small.

Read by blog with the same information for Corona.

If you would like to learn more about selling or buying real estate in Riverside or Corona, California, contact me at vicki@pedersen-team.com or go to my website, http://Pedersen-Team.com

Written and posted by: Vicki Pedersen, ABR, Pedersen Real Estate, Riverside/Corona, California, DRE# 01435715, Phone: 951-840-5212

I am a HUGE fan of movies, architecture and history.  When you put all three together, I am in heaven.  Last weekend, we were fortunate enough to take a tour of the newly renovated Fox Theater in downtown Riverside.  I have wanted to see the inside of this building since I moved to Riverside in December of 1985.  I even wanted to see it when it was all boarded up.  I didn't care.  This is where they showed the first screening of Gone With the Wind in 1939.  This building has been around for decades and has seen Riverside change from a field of oranges to the bustling city that it is today.

I felt very underdressed for an occassion such as this.  Even though everybody was in jeans and it wasn't a black tie affair, I felt like I should have been wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown with my hair in a chic chignon and diamonds dripping from my neck.  You were brought back to when the Fox Theater was first erected in 1929 when you saw the classic Ford vehicles from the era lined up on the street outside.

Of course, I was prepared and brought both my still and my Flip cameras to capture the action:

I'll be seeing something here and soon, I promise.  Broadway has come to Riverside via the newly renovated Fox Theater in downtown Riverside.  I'm in heaven!

Heather Chavez, Real Estate Virtual Assistant - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!