Mike Nolan, a fellow real estate agent in my office, loves to fish the off the Del Norte county and Curry county coastline. Mike is a prolific fisherman and is recognized by many for his skill and knowledge regarding the sport. I get to eat what he catches and am most grateful for his abilities. Here is Mike with a ling cod.
This is Mike's son Jesse with a steelhead caught in the Smith River.
Mike says these razor clams make the best eating meal in the Pacific Ocean.
John Evans with Pacific Halibut taken off Point St. George.
Sunset over the Pacific off the Brookings, Oregon coast.
Follow Mike's fishing adventures on my blog.
Selling your Crescent City Home - Part 3 - You're in Escrow
Congratulations! You've made it. Your Crescent City home is in escrow. Don't make moving plans just yet. You have SEVERAL HURDLES to overcome.
First, if your agent didn't get a preapproval letter from the buyer when negotiating the offer, you will definitely want to see one now. Why let one more minute go by without knowing your buyer is truly qualified to purchase your home. If that's a go then start praying your home appraises for the purchase price.
The lending industry is in CYA mode big time. Underwriter's, account executives, mortgage brokers and yes, appraisers, have all been made out to be the bad guys in the subprime fiasco to varying degrees depending on who you talk to. This has caused the lending industry to become VERY conservative, overly so. Lending went from, "Just state your income, no verifciation is needed," to the buyer needing to have a rectal exam to qualify.
All that to say that appraisals sometimes come in under the purchase price, even when your agent did their job diligently in pricing your home. Thanks to HVCC there are appraiser's who are now doing appraisals outside of their preferred niche or area of expertise. You don't have to look far to find blog fodder about this topic.
I prepare my clients when we are listing their Crescent City home, especially if they are listing above my recommended price range, that the appraisal may be an issue. If you price your home high and are blessed to get a full price offer, but the appraised value comes in lower than the purchase price, you generally have a problem. If the buyer is financing the home, the bank will not loan above the appraised value. Even if a buyer has cash to bring to the transaction, my experience has been that a buyer is not willing to pay more than the appraised value and who can blame them? Would you pay more for a home than it is worth with prices projected to continue to decline?
If this happens to you then you can, A) Renegotiate, B) Cancel the escrow, C) Hope the buyer doesn't care and will bring the additional cash to close the deal (do not hold your breath on option C). In my humble opinion, renegotiating is the best option as all experts point to increased foreclosures in 2010 which will further decline list prices. If you were breaking even at the originally negotiated purchase price talk to your agent about ways to negotiate other aspects of the offer, i.e. inspections costs, commissions, title/escrow fees, etc. to keep your escrow moving forward.
So your home came in at the appraised value. That's great. What else can go wrong? Don't even ask.
The pest inspection came back with $3000 in section 1 repairs. Holy cow, now you're done for. The buyer has 17 days from the date the contract is fully executed to back out and retain their deposit if they find out anything adverse about your home (the due diligence period). $3000 in pest work would qualify for adverse. This is one example but there are dozens of pitfalls and hurdles to overcome in an escrow even if the home is in perfect condition. Use a full-time agent with a proven track record that sells a lot of volume. If the agent sells a lot of volume, the agents escrows MAKE IT TO CLOSING! No small feet in the current Crescent City real estate market.
If you would like to talk to an experienced, full-time agent regarding selling your Crescent City home, give me a call and I would be happy to do a free market analysis for you using up-to-the-minute market data. Please subscribe to my monthly market report for an indepth look at the Crescent City/Del Norte County real estate market and how it affects you.
Be sure to check out:
Selling your Crescent City Home - Part 1 - Proper Pricing
Selling your Crescent City Home - Part 2 - Negotiating an Offer
Selling Your Crescent City Home - Part 1 - Proper Pricing
Proper pricing, how important is it? In the current Crescent City real estate market; it's everything.
Unless you have been living in a cave for the last year or so, you are highly aware that the Crescent City real estate marketis a buyer's market. There are a plethora (oversupply) of listings for sale versus the supply of ready, willing and able buyer's.
What that means for you the seller is that you have a lot of competition in selling your home. The number one factor in getting your home sold in this current buyer's market is to price your home below the mid range of the competing listings (or lower if the home is in worse condition than most of the competing listings). Foreclosed listings are coming onto the market at the bottom of their price range and getting snapped up, so in order to compete, you have to price accordingly. If you don't have the stomach for this and plenty of seller's don't, you more than likely will not sell in a timely manner.
Your full-time real estate agent should be a huge help in this regard. A full-time real estate agent who sells a lot of volume does so because they work hard, KNOW THEIR MARKET, and have competitively priced listings. A good agent is worth their weight in gold in this market, so choose wisely.
Statistics show that homes that sell in the first few weeks, sell for more than if they languish on the market for many months and if you think about it, that just makes sense. Why? Anything, whether it be a movie, a new brand of clothing or new listing has a "newness excitement factor" attached to it that doesn't last long. If the item proves to be genuinely excitining, like a really good movie, then large crowds attend for many weeks and people go see the movie more than once (think of Star Wars when it first came out). However, if the first wave of lookers spread, through word of mouth, that the movie is a dud...well, that's usually the end of it and it gets sent to the DVD rental store.
Same thing with a house for sale. It comes on the market--especially in a small market like Crescent City-- and it gets a flurry of showings. This is the time when a home has the greatest chance of getting competing offers and therefore higher offers. The old adage that, "Your first offer is usually your best" is so true most of the time. The longer a home is on the market, the more shop worn or stigmatized it becomes. I know you don't want to give your house away but remember, a home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay IN THE CURRENT MARKET, not what a buyer would have paid in 2005. I know that's painful, but unfortunately it's a fact.
What if, by chance, you do price high and a buyer that just has to have your home offers full price? You better read Part 2, because having an accepted offer is not the end of the story, it is only the beginning.
If you would like to talk to an experienced, full-time agent regarding selling your Crescent City home, give me a call and I would be happy to do a free market analysis for you using up-to-the-minute market data. Please subscribe to my monthly market report for an indepth look at the Crescent City/Del Norte County real estate market and how it affects you.
Don't miss:
Selling your Crescent City Home - Part 2 - Negotiating an Offer
Selling your Crescent City Home - Part 3 - You're in Escrow
Crescent City/Del Norte County Real Estate Market Report for September 2009 - Number of sales were down.
Sales were down for September, however I expect a sizable increase in number of sales closing in October (keep reading for the reasons for this optimism).
The median price home that sold in September was $145,000. This supports my statement I have made 100 times or more over the past few weeks that, "What is selling is $200,000 and under."
Why? This segment of the market was shut-out for years because of skyrocketing housing prices and now, these home buyers are taking advantage of falling prices, awesome interest rates and the federal income tax credit of $8000 which goes away on December 1, 2009. I've heard rumor the tax credit will be extended, but I have not seen anything official as yet. If anyone can provide a link to an official statement on the subject in a comment on this post, I would be grateful.
What does it all mean? It is a buyer's market and will continue to be, in my humble opinion, until foreclosures level off and decline to levels prior to 2008. Everything I have read (that I trust) says foreclosures have not peaked yet and are expected to do so sometime in late 2010.
If you NEED TO SELL YOUR HOME, now may be the time to get serious about what comparables say is the true value of your home in THIS market. Ask your agent to pull up comps from the last 30-60 days if they are available and price your home in the bottom half of that range or at least close to the halfway mark if you need to sell. The Crescent City/Del Norte County real estate market historically slows way down November through February, so price your home to sell now if you need to sell. If you don't, don't worry about it. Springtime will come, the flowers will bloom, buyers will come back, but prices will more than likely be lower due to a continued influx of foreclosures.
Here is the market at a glance:
|
|
9/09 # Sold |
9/09 Median |
9/09 Average |
|
Residential Sold Listings |
|
|
|
|
Price Range |
% Active listings |
% of Sept. 2009 Sales |
% of 2009 Sales |
|
$199,000 and under |
39% |
73% |
62% |
|
$200,000 - $299,000 |
29% |
20% |
22% |
|
$300,000 - $399,000 |
13% |
- |
9% |
|
$400,000 - $499,000 |
6% |
7% |
5% |
|
$500,000 - $599,000 |
2% |
- |
2% |
|
$600,000 - $699,000 |
2% |
- |
- |
|
$700,000 and up |
9% |
- |
Less than 1% |
|
|
|
|
|
There was 1 commercial sale in Sept., no land sales.
And August's figures:
|
|
8/09 # Sold |
8/09 Median |
8/09 Average |
|
Residential Sold Listings |
19 |
$195,000 |
$217,460 |
|
Price Range |
% Active listings |
% of June 2009 Sales |
% of 2009 Sales |
|
$199,000 and under |
41% |
55% |
63% |
|
$200,000 - $299,000 |
27% |
27% |
23% |
|
$300,000 - $399,000 |
11% |
11% |
9% |
|
$400,000 - $499,000 |
8% |
6% |
6% |
|
$500,000 - $599,000 |
3% |
6% |
2.5% |
|
$600,000 - $699,000 |
1% |
0 |
0 |
|
$700,000 and up |
9% |
0 |
Less than 1% |
|
|
Seller's, don't get discouraged just yet. Only one of the September sales in the Crescent City/Del Norte County real estate market was a foreclosure versus 21% of sales in August. The seller's who are pricing to compete with foreclosures are selling! I have several clients who have priced their homes for THE CURRENT MARKET with good results. Call your agent and ask for a CURRENT market analysis; using current market data to price your home may bring you the sale you've been looking for.
Have you experienced a "Reprice Rate" on your credit card? If so, you may be entitled to a refund from your credit card issuer.
I wrote a post almost a year ago about my personal experience with one of my credit card issuers. Here is the link if you would like to read it.
The short version is my credit card issuer more than tripled my interest rate (Rate Repricing). I had never made a late payment and always paid AT LEAST the minimum amount due and my reward for being an excellent customer, they raised my interest rate to 33%. I closed my account and paid it off saying good riddance and watch out for that karma thing, BTW.
Well, today I received a letter from the credit card company, Advanta regarding credit card Rate Repricing:
Dear Sir/Madame,
The enclosed check in the amount of $134.15 is a reimbursement relating to certain changes(s) in terms that resulted in an increased interest rate ("Reprice Rate") on your Advanta Business Card account between June 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008 ("Reprice Event(s)"). Please cash this check as soon as possible. It will be void after 180 days from the date of the check.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is the primary federal regulator of Advanta Bank Corp. The FDIC has determined that the Repricing Events may have constituted an unfair practice under Section 5 of the Federal Trace Commission Act. Advanta disputes this, but it has entered into a Consent Agreement with the FDIC as part of a settlement with the FDIC in connection with their determination regarding the Repricing Events. As a part of the settlement, Advanta agreed to reimburse certain credit card customers impacted by a Repricing Event. Under the terms of the Agreement and Order issued pursuant to the Agreement, you were identified as one of the customers the Bank is required to reimburse.
The amount of your reimbursement check equals the difference between (a) the full amount of interest that accrued on your account from the effective date of the Repricing Event(or, if you received a downward interest rate adjustment after the Reprice Event, then instead, the lower interest rate) and (b) the amount of interest that would have accrued using the APR that would have applied had there been no Reprice Event, for the two billing cycles immediately following the Reprice Event. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us toll free at (800) 503-7510 Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time.
Upon accepting and cashing the enclosed check, you agree to release Advanta Bank Corp. and its parent and subsidiaries from any and all claims or actions that might exist, or might have existed, on the date of this letter that involve any Reprice Event.
Sincerely,
John F. Moore
President
Advanta Bank Copr.
Has anyone else received a Repricing Rate reimbursement from Advanta Bank Corp. or any other bank and if so are you going to cash the check? I'm thinking I should receive ALL the interest back, not just 2 months worth. Your opinion is welcome.
Here are some links with more information on this issue:
Advanta customers next option: Small Claims Court
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Crescent City/Del Norte County full-time real estate agent assisting first time, move-up & relocating buyers & sellers of residential, land, commercial & REO's, RDCPro® certified.
Fran Gatti is a REO Default Certified Professional. What does that mean for you? Your asset will be handled in a prompt, professional manner. You will receive a timely occupancy status, monthly status reports, initial BPO done in a professional manner, and reliable communications that will get your asset moved quickly and for top dollar. Fran is experienced in Cash For Keys, property preservation and all aspects of the REO process. Fran is a Top 500 blogger and Ambassador with the Active Rain Network and blogs extensively about her REO listings, produces a widely read monthly market report and reports on local happenings in Del Norte County. Call Fran for your REO listings in Crescent City/Del Norte County and work with a proven professional. Give Fran a call today at 707-218-8162 or email frangatti@remax.net. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for real estate in Crescent City/Del Norte County or to sell your Crescent City/Del Norte County real estate?
Fran gives prompt and professional service with superior market knowledge. Check out Fran's Monthly Market Report for the most up-to-date assessment of the Crescent City/Del Norte County real estate market BASED ON STATISTICS, DATA and Fran's insight.
Fran puts her market knowledge, use of technology and professionalism to work for you.
Fran is experienced in buying and listing REO properties, including all facets of the process, working with property preservation, Cash For Keys, reimbursement, Asset Management software, BPO's and more.
Why move to Crescent City/Del NorteCounty ~
Although Del Norte County is one of California's smaller county's, it's big in what it has to offer. The home of where the Redwoods meet the sea is where you want to relocate. Let me give you a tour of our county and I'll show you why. The Del Norte Chamber of Commerce website is definitely worth a look. A Little About My Client First Philosophy What this means is I am all about customer service and meeting your needs. Please take a look at my testimonial page to see what my clients have to say about my service. From beginning to end of each and every transaction, your confidence that your home purchase or sale is being handled professionally and with the greatest of care is my number one concern. Why relocate to Del Norte County: No traffic, no smog, nice people, affordable housing, relaxing commute, fishing, surfing, hiking, bird watching, laying on the beach, kayaking, wind surfing, boating, hunting, yachting, rafting, no drought, fresh tuna, fresh salmon, Warrior's football, fresh crab and so much more...
Del Norte County's traffic is minimal with an easy commute from home to office. The weather is incomparable for folks who enjoy a mild climate. Del Norte's temperature for the month of September hovered at approximately 65-70 degrees and Crescent City/Del Norte County does not have smog and so many of the other maladies that effect larger, more populated areas.
Take a look at my website and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding relocating to the magnificent Del Norte County area. I urge you to go to my links page and my blog on the Active Rain network where you will find a wide variety of useful information and resources about Crescent City and all of Del Norte County as well as a list of Upcoming Events.
From information on the local community, to advice about finding a mortgage or preparing your home to sell, it's all available here on my web site.
Virtual Tour of Del Norte County
My Bio ~
I have been married to my husband Garry since 1980. We have five children of whom we are very proud. Garry and I have attended Foursquare Church in Crescent City since moving here in 1991. We have also been lead couple for over 10 Married For Life classes and have been involved in other community minded endeavors. Garry teaches 6th grade at a local school and is a California licensed general contractor.
My husband and I have bought numerous "fixers" and we are currently living in a home that we built ourselves. Being involved in onstruction on a personal level and working as a real estate agent has given me an enthusiasm for real estate that is genuine. Real Estate is a fabulous investment for the investor and individuals seeking the American Dream.
Thank you for your interest in relocating to Del Norte County. I hope to hear from you.
You already have a friend in Del Norte County. I am here to help your relocation be a smooth one. I will assist you every step of the way, from finding your home, to purchasing your home, and finally, in getting settled in. Please read my testimonial section to see how I have assisted other clients in their relocation to Del Norte County.
I am knowledgable in purchasing vacant land for building your custom home and the building process. Through personal experience with new home construction and assisting my clients, I have accumulated knowledge that my clients find both useful and time-saving. Not every agent has hands-on experience with this process, If you are going to build in Del Norte County, I would be happy to put my experience in this area to work for you.
Professional Designations, Affiliations and Accomplishments:
For more information about all that Del Norte County has to offer, please check out my website.
I am honored to write this testimonial to thank Fran Gatti for the superb job she did for us in selling our home. Everyone, including our CPA, said 2008 wouldn't be a good time to sell a home, but we were ready to move to Arizona following my husband's retirement. We did everything we could to make our home and then set out to find the best agent we could. After a few weeks of web surfing, and reading agents bios and blogs, I learned that not only was Fran Gatti the number one buyer's agent of 2007, but in the past year she was in on 25% of all the sales in the county. I was excited. I knew Fran. She had done clerical work for me some years back when I taught school and I had always admired her competence, professionalism and work ethic. Her soaring success in a new profession didn't surprise me This is a letter to the editor in The Daily Triplicate, our local newspaper Fran Gatti is awesome!!!!! I started saving for my first home three years ago. I patiently watched the market and during that time I "worked" with other real estate agents. One agent was more than eager to show me property if I found it and called him; he never notified me of any listings. I found another real estate agent who said she would work for me; she emailed me a few listings. When I was not interested in the listings she sent me; she just "disappeared". Enter Fran Gatti. I could not believe how hard she worked for me. She sent me listing after listing and took me to see several properties. They were just not right for me; she did not give up. I found a home online that I liked and drove by to look at it. When I emailed Fran she told me the disappointing news that it was already in escrow. But Fran talked to the other real estate agent and found that the seller wanted a back up offer. Just a few days later she called and said the house was "mine". Then the hard work really started; the inspections, reports and all the paperwork. I could not believe how relatively easy it was for me because Fran did most of the work. And her husband did the foundation work that was required; everything was done in time. After escrow closed, there was cleanup to be done on the property after the seller moved; she took care of that also. If you are buying or selling; I recommend Fran Gatti ... she is awesome!!!!! FRAN GATTI - DOES SHE HAVE WINGS? NO...BUT MAYBE A HALO! Fran Gatti was a true professional and competent representative of her field. Throughout the process she was responsive and helpful and made buying the property a stress free proposition.
We set up a meeting and Fran pleasantly assessed our property, took pictures and talked with us about our goals. We told her we wanted to be in Arizona by summer. She returned to her office pulled comps and provided us with a market analysis that gave us a price range where we could successfully market our home. Within a week of listing our property, not only was our house showing on the MLS that all the real estate agents use, but it was listed on a number of websites advertising our home across the nation. On these sites she provided both a slide show of our home and a video of the nature trails around the property. Her marketing expertise was another factor in choosing Fran.
Success!! We were in escrow in fifty-one days. Around here, in 2008, that is extraordinary. Fran negotiated for us, educated us, kept us informed every step of the way and eased my worried mind. "Arizona here we come!" Thanks Fran.
The Bowling Family
Published: May 1, 2008
Four independent gray-haired old women who have been friends for many years decided to move from their individual homes in Southern California to share one big home in Crescent City. This letter is to publically thank those professional people who along with their staff, made this move possible. I know I can't mention the names of the businesses involved, but I will tell you the names of the people involved. Shirley Selman, Fran Gatti, Jamie O'Brien, Susan Muhler and Maryann Allman. Sharing this one house will be a unique adventure for the four of us. It was made possible only by the sincere caring of the above mentioned people, who truly believed that failure was not an option.
Rose Afflick
Teresa T.
Dear Fran - Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the hard work and dedication with regrads to making my dream of owning a home here in Crescent City a reality. I feel so lucky and blessed to have had you on my side throughout this process. It's exactly what I needed to make my dreams come through!
Love,
Judy Baker
We wanted to relocate from the San Francisco Bay area to Crescent City, but the scope of such a move was daunting. We have small children, work, and busy lives...how would we house hunt, then buy and sell, and also go through all the paperwork and physical inspection stuff remotely? How could it ever work? Enter Fran Gatti. We found our dream house in one day with Fran's guidance. The offer and subsequent endless trickle of paperwork, inspections, and negotiations that followed were all handled by Fran expertly. Though we were four hundred miles away, she made sure we were informed, involved and consulted at every moment. She returned endless emails and frantic phone calls. We closed on time despite numerous obstacles. Even after we closed, Fran continued to look after our needs by helping us with unexpected issues like pets abandoned at the house, getting piles of debris disposed of, and finding quick medical care. Fran is a treasure, and if you ever buy or sell your property let her handle it...because she will. And well, incredibly well, trust us on that.
The Crabtrees of Crescent City
Phillip Knight
I have the highest regard for Real Estate Agent Fran Gatti from Ming Tree Realty. Fran helped to find the "perfect" house for my real estate investment, and also helped me negotiate a great price for this home. Fran made valuable suggestions in creating inexpensive home improvements to increase the property value and to make the property desirable for a rental home. Throughout this process, she was inspiring, friendly and comforting. Fran is a very wise and hardworking realtor and I would never use another. Best of all, she listens carefully to my desires and my needs, and never pushes me in directions I don''t want to go. I am forever grateful for her professional guidance!
J. Hoffard
I would definitely rate your support all high marks. You were very helpful during the sales process. You supported us during a slow sales market with telephone calls encouraging us. We had a specialized piece of property with 3 acres, which can be difficult to market. We believe the marketing process provided by you and Dan sold our property. Your help during the escrow process was especially supportive. You found us a much needed plumber to assist with the well requirements. Fran Gatti is the consummate real estate professional. Fran took the time to listen to our needs, help us direct our search, and arrive at the perfect decision for us. Without her caring, thoughtful and patient guidance we would not have been able to live, finally, in the home (and town) of our dreams. It took me almost three years to decide to buy a home in Crescent City. In that time I watched the market, compared homes online and figured out which areas would be best for my family. When I first met Fran I was in no hurry to buy a home. I was willing to wait for the right deal and the right house. Fran asked what I was looking for and I gave her my conditions and patiently searched for the right home for us. I would even go so far as to say that Fran knew what I needed better that I did! After months of sending me email listings of homes and showing me a lot of houses, we found the one I bought. I knew it right away and so did she. It was a pretty cool experience. Fran was patient with me, but didn't neglect me because I wasn't ready to buy right away. She has even been helpful after the sale. Apparently, the garage door was damaged as the seller was moving. Fran followed up and made sure that everything was done to get the door replaced. Without reservation, I would recommend Fran Gatti to anyone who is looking for a home in Crescent City or Del Norte County.
Again, thank you for your professionalism and support during this long process.
Hilary
Mike and Lorie Carter
Grant Scholes
Crescent City, California
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