Sherry Kotvis

MAKING HOMES AFFORDABLE WEB-SITE NEWS!

I recently found a fantastic web-site posted by Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The web-site is a direct result of the Obama Administration as it addresses basic information for troubled homeowners.

The site is WWW.MakingHomesAffordable.gov. There are 2 sections to the web-site. One section addresses homeowners that have mortgages, make their payments on time but have no equity. An opportunity to refinance may not be impossible if the loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The second section addresses homeowners who are struggling in making their payments for various reasons. The site offers loan modification options.

This is a great site where you can find a financial calculator which walks you through estimating your loan modification payment based on your specific situation.

MENIFEE HOMEOWNERS TAKE ADVANTAGE!

Seeing as I specialize as a Short Sale Consultant, listing and selling homes is not my main motive. My number 1 goal is to help homeowners stay in their homes if I can. I have recently referred some clients to this site and they found that they did have options! Everyone's situation is different. If you are a homeowner experiencing financial hardship, I suggest you check out this web-site to see what your options are!

You can also check out my web-site at www.SherryKHomes.com if you are interested in learning more about the Short Sale process and how I might be able to help.

All Short Sales ARE NOT created equal!

This is the first thing I tell my buyers when it comes to buying a short sale. Not all short sales will sell! Be selective when looking at short sale properties. Just because the property is priced at $100K where all other homes are priced at $200K doesn't mean you found yourself a steal of a deal! In fact, the likliehood of that home actually being sold for $100K is not likely at all!

This is a confusing market. I'm the first to agree. But when a buyer works with an Agent that has taken the time to get educated in the Short Sale process, it can prove to be a very pleasant experience. Yes. I said 'pleasant.'

ANOTHER SHORT SALE SUCCESS STORY!

Recently I closed on another short sale property in the Menifee Valley. and this is an example of a pleasant and successful transaction.

The buyer had been looking for months with another agent and had put in multiple offers on multiple properties. A good three months had gone by and the buyer was getting frustrated. It was a very nice young couple with 2 small children and one on the way.

After multiple disappointments, they gave up but in the interim decided to do some research on the Internet and found my web-site (WWW.SherryKHomes.com) where I market myself as a Short Sale Specialist in the Menifee and Temecula Valley's. They called me but by the time they got to me they had already given up. They seemed exhausted and hopeless from the entire process.

After consoling in them, we set up a consultation meeting and I asked them a series of questions that I have put together in the form of a checklist. This checklist of questions helps me understand exactly why their offers were not either being accepted, rejected or not even acknowledged.

SETTING UP THE EXPECTATIONS IN THE SHORT SALE PROCESS

Like they say, knowledge is power. As a professional realtor in the business of selling and listing short sales, I have made a conscious decision to gain as much knowledge in the area so that I can best inform my clients on what to expect. This goes the same with a client when buying a short sale property. The more knowledge the client has, the better they understand what to expect (and not expect). This is how I work with all my clients, whether they are buying or selling.

I sat down and explained to the nice couple exactly how the short sale process works. There were alot of 'AHA' moments for them. They felt better because they had a clearer understanding of what properties to look at and what properties to stay away from.

One very interesting thing I found out was that they were not working with one Realtor, but several. When they saw a house they liked, they called the name on the sign in the yard. The first thing I told them is that you need to work with one Realtor that represents only you as the buyer. As a buyer agent with experience in short sales, you will get the best representation vs. working with many many Agents that represent the sellers.

We spent 2 weekends together and looked at a total of 10 hand picked properties. What I mean by hand picked, is that the properties both matched their criteria in what they wanted in a home and through my research found they had the highest likelihood of getting an offer accepted. We only waited 2 weeks until our offer was accepted.

CLOSING ON A SHORT SALE IN 30 DAYS PLUS 30 DAYS!

This is exactly what we did! We spent 2 weekends together looking at properties and had our offer accepted in two weeks with a 30 day escrow.

I am here to tell all those discouraged buyer's out there that while some agents steer clear of short sales, I LOVE SHORT SALES! Working with an Agent that knows and understands the process will save you countless hours, days, weeks and months of looking, putting in offers, waiting, ....looking, putting in offer,.....waiting....you get the picture!

If you have any questions about the Short Sale process, please contact me. I am happy to help.

The market has been changing quickly here in Menifee, and I have been researching various marketing tools so that I can provide my clients with the most up to date, real-time information of market trends. Alas, I have found a fantastic tool that will benfit both buyer's and sellers!

MARKETING TOOL THAT BENEFITS BUYER'S

If you are a buyer here in Menifee or the surrounding area, you can receive property updates that are delivered to your email inbox either every 2 or 4 weeks, complete with prices, square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, photos, descriptions and aerial views. You will also receive community - local information such as shopping, churches and school information.

For example, you are out cruising the neighborhoods, and you see a neighborhood you like. Jot down the address of a property you are interested in. By providing your email address be the first to know about properties when they first become available and be an educated buyer by knowing what properties are selling for in your area of interest.

HOME-BUYERS-CLICK-HERE!

MARKETING TOOL THAT BENEFITS SELLERS

If you are thinking of selling and want to know what homes are selling for or recent sales, this is a great tool! You will receive updates that are delivered to your email inbox every 2 or 4 weeks.

Additionally, once your home is listed it will allow you to remain competitive with other properties in your neighborhood.

Your listing will also have complete property information, photos and descriptions plus aerial views. Buyer's will also be able to view Community information such as local shops, resturants, churches as well as School information.

WHAT'S-YOUR-HOME-WORTH?-CLICK-HERE!

If you are a home buyer or seller in the Menifee or surrounding area, take advantage of this fantastic tool that will keep you up to date and keep you informed. Be sure to contact me if you have any questions!

I read some pretty exciting news in the Business section of the Press Enterprise this morning that I wanted to share.

According to experts the volume of unsold inventory on existing and new homes continue to drop!

The surge of homebuying is a direct result of lower home prices and first time home-buyer's and investors snatching up bargain basement prices on properties. This coupled with interest rates at historically low interest rates (the last I checked you can get a loan for under 5%) means that folks that once felt hopeless that they would never live the American Dream of homeownership are taking advantage of an incredible market.

WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE IN THE MENIFEE AREA?

Just to give you an idea, from a local point of view...I checked the Multiple Listing Service, (a service where Realestates have access to real time information of properties) this morning and ran search on single family homes priced under $200,000 with 1500 square feet or more, 3+ bedrooms and 2+ baths and found only 23 properties available.

I remember running this same search 7-8 months ago and there were literally hundreds of properties available.

TIMES ARE A CHANGIN' !!!

The Press Enterprise reported that '...this latest report is the steepest decline reported to date...' and the decline shows that we could potentially be on our way to a housing recovery. There is a caveat to this however, and that is unemployment rates could dampen the surge. There are also reports that the median price of homes in the Inland area has leveled off.

If you are a First Time Homebuyer or Investor and live in the Menifee area, please give me a call. I can answer any questions you may have about real estate and even help you on your way to homeownership!

I've been getting a considerable amount of inquiries from my buyers here in the Menifee and Temecula areas lately on the $8000 tax credit, so I thought I'd add a bit to my previous post to help explain the program in further detail.

WHO QUALIFIES FOR THE $8000 TAX CREDIT?

If you are a first time buyer, you qualify for this credit!!

If you have not owned a home in the past three years, you qualify for this credit!!

WHAT ARE THE INCOME LIMITS IN ORDER TO QUALIFY?

If you have an adjusted gross income of no more than $75,000 or if you are filing jointly and gross no more than $150,000, you will receive the full $8,000 credit. If you gross between $75,001 and $95,000 as an individual or $150,001 and $170,000 you receive a partial credit.

WHAT IS THE TIME PERIOD I HAVE TO BUY IN ORDER TO BENEFIT FOR THE $8000 TAX CREDIT?

In order to take advantage of this tax credit, you must purchase a home as your primary residence between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009.

WHAT ARE MY LIMITATIONS/CRITERIA WHEN PURCHASING A PROPERTY?

So this is how it works. The credit is 10% of the purchase price up to $8,000. In other words, if your home is $80,000 you receive the entire 10%. ($80,000 X 10% = $8,000). If your home is less than $80,000 you receive less than $8,000.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you already bought a home this year and filed your taxes, you can still claim your tax credit. Simply contact your tax advisor to ammend your taxes.

If you live in the Menifee or Temecula Valley's and need more information on the tax credit, please contact me. I am happy to help with any of your questions.