Benny Chavez (Prudential California Realty)

Your first thought is probably well did you have a good offer to begin with? The answer is YESSSS

guaranteed! Mr. Veteran even agreed to pay for Lender required repairs if necessary, increased his

deposit, agreed to the Bank's limited inspection and appraisal timeframes, and cross qualification, plus

agreed to pay for all of his closing costs to get the Home for his family. The condition of the property on a

scale from 1-10 was a 7 and I saw only one item that could get called by the appraiser and that was the

covered patio that seemed to need replacement. The response I received from the listing agent was, "The

Bank is looking for an offer with a minimum of 10% down!" Mr. Veteran didn't have this 10% and even if

he did doesn't it just make sense to use a VA loan when you earned it by giving freedom to not only our

great country but also countries around the world? It really upsets me that Mr. Veteran has checked off all

of the items that could make this transaction drag or become an expense to the bank! Had Mr. Veteran

not agreed to the bank's terms or possibly not been able to afford the terms, or repairs the property

needed would be one thing but when you have someone like Mr. Veteran being this flexible it makes me

want to go through the computer monitor into the listing agents office and saying hey aren't you human?

Isn't the asset manager human? Aren't bank executives human? Our world is not ran by computer server

portals through which the terms of these transactions are inputed. At the end of the day there is someone

saying YAY or NAY to the best offer. Now do I consider an offer like Mr. Veteran's terms but 20% down a

better offer? Yes of course but sometimes it's not about that, sometimes it's about doing something good

and by saying that I'm not even asking the listing agent or asset manager to go Pro Bono or Volunteer!

Next time you see an offer from one of our service men or women take a minute to think about what

these people have been through! If we continue to turn these people down someday we just might be

turning down our Country's own safety!

Thank you to all the Service Men and Women for providing peace for our great country and countries

around the world! We salute you!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CASH

1. CASH IS GOOD WHEN GOING UP AGAINST OTHER OFFERS BUT ONLY WHEN IT IS THE BEST OFFER

2. MOST SELLERS DON'T UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE UNLESS THE REALTOR EXPLAINS IT TO THEM

3. IT WILL NOT EXPEDITE A SHORT SALE APPROVAL ONE BIT, THE BANK COULD CARE LESS

4. IF THE CONDITION OF THE HOME IS TURN-KEY AN FHA FULL PRICE OFFER WILL BEAT YOU

5. IF THE LISTING AGENT IS ALREADY DOUBLE ENDING THE DEAL WITH A POCKET BUYER YOU HAVE NO CHANCE

What I must explain is that most sellers want to net as much money as possible from a sale. With that said if

the subject property needs many lender required repairs, CASH will take first position when the difference in net

proceeds is small in comparison to repairing the property. For example if it will cost $20,000 to repair a property

but only give a seller $5000 more in net proceeds the seller will most often take the cash offer.

In a property that will qualify for Conventional financing the highest amount I feel the sellers are willing to lose

to take a cash offer is 10% off fair market or the highest offer. In most cases I have seen the seller accept

offers that are within 5% off fair market or the highest offer.

In the case of purchasing homes that are being flipped you will need to look at what the property was recently

purchased for and calculate the cost of the repairs made and then finally determine the investors net

proceeds after all expenses. In my market I submitted a full price offer on a listing of $450,000 you would

think that my client would have been a proud homeowner able to move in on the 16th day after

acceptance..........well that's not what happened. Instead the Investor/Seller called me to ask what my clients

final offer was. I calculated the expenses including the investors costs to purchase the property and with my

clients offer at $450k the investor would net $29,000 apparently this was not enough profit for 3 weeks work

for this investor. The home ended up selling to someone with 20% down and an offer at $480,000. In my

opinion I certainly agree with the investor/seller I would mind waiting an extra 20 days to make another

$30,000.

In the end yes CASH is still strong but your offer has to meet the sellers net proceeds expectations!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL YOU CASH RICH PEOPLE OUT THERE!

CHEERS!

Well here's the truth America! Your favourite realtor hasn't been in the real estate business long! To be truthful it's only been about 2 years and a few months...that little time span is enough to tell you that it's been a struggle and I have learned so much in such little time. I recently took a regular sale, yes that's right I didn't stutter a regular seller who can choose to sell his home if the price is right without have a bank tell him what's right or wrong. Well before I took this listing, I was working and still continue working with buyers. These buyers were overly qualified in the sense that they were definetely able, ready, and willing! With 20% down payment, and making offers based on comparative market analysis with criteria like 3 months solds, 1/2 mile radius, and the best comparables for the property and financing. One of my clients wrote 7 offers over the course of four months till we got one accepted. Another wrote 5 offers in one month and got accepted the 5th time. Here's where it get's fun the most recent client wrote a total of 17 offers over the course of 7 months, of the 17 offers we made 2 offers got accepted but we cancelled on one due to vandalism on the property and the bank not wanting to pay for the repairs. Now I have a regular sale listing and within 4 days of being on the market I have a total of 24 offers! I listed the property at $299,000 and have received offers at over 10% of the asking price. This home will go into escrwo after only being 10 days on the market! A lot of the agents are telling me that they hate this game that they keep getting into, which is multiple offers on one listing. Not only are the offers good and highly qualified but the main problem is there is a lot of dual agent representation going on. I have heard agents tell me of a time when you would just write an offer for the list price and then open escrow. Well the only buyers market I know is multiple offers, no return calls from agents, weird requirements from listing agents in regards to financing. At the end I am a surviving real estate agent but surviving of what? I guess a false belief or mystery that was once flashy cars, expensive suits, and lavish lifestlyles...... till that market comes, don't expect me to cry cause you have 7,825 offers on the second day you listed your cash only bank owned property, the only thing you can expect is a greatly written offer by an agent who has never seen those brighter days you all talk about! Happy to be in a thriving real estate market!

-Benny Chavez

Without taking much time out of your day I would like to give an update of my local market here in Sunny Southern California. Buyers are off and running especially since prices were slashed last month. We went from $390,000 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath in March to $373,000 in April. With only 50 homes sold in March and 77 being sold in April, I guess you could say that inventory is getting bought up. I would also like to add that I am seeing more regular sales (not distress) and also less bank owned homes. That is not to say that some home owners are not facing foreclosure, we have buyers in the city of La Puente and we are seeing 80 short sales for every 20 bank owned properties. I expect to see more success on short sales= meaning banks are going to aid sellers in distress in getting their homes sold. So to keep it simple STEADY is more the kind of market we are in. It is definetly not going down and not going up just a steady tide till inventory is deplet

Turns out prices are dropping! Yes they have definetely dropped..... but sales have drastically increased

take a look for yourself!

DOWNEY HOME SALES REPORT FEBRUARY 2009

DOWNEY HOME SALES REPORT MARCH 2009

THINKING OF BUYING? DON'T THINK TOO LONG..... RIGHT NOW YOU KNOW PRICES ARE LOW WHY NOT

BUY WHEN YOU KNOW INSTEAD OF RUSHING TO BUY WHEN YOU DON'T!