I am amazed by how surprised prospects are when I advise them I will provide references from past clients who have used my services, particularly, short sale clients. Yes, in the case of short sale clients, it is understandable that clients do not want to bring up and discuss the unpleasant hardships of the past with complete strangers. But as consumers of services you should have the right to see what you agree to buy. Unfortunately in our changing business environment, there are too many people out there claiming to be “experts” in certain areas of our profession without providing any proof of their adequacy, let alone expertise. One simply is not an expert because one declares oneself as such. Under normal circumstances, selling a house is important but does not have long term implications if the house cannot be sold. It simply means the homeowners stay in the house until a better time to sell comes along. However, in a foreclosure situation, if the house cannot be sold or if the terms cannot be negotiated with the lenders to get the approval for the sale, people not only lose houses, but they lose that important sense of “home” and go through an emotional roller coaster ride that comes along with being foreclosed. Houses can be replaced, but the emotional scars can remain for a long time…... Ask for references. When you are talking to a Realtor, you are essentially interviewing him/her for a job. And what job interview does not involve providing references from past employers? If a Realtor does a good job for their clients, it is not difficult to get the latter to share their experiences with potential clients; as a matter of facts some become your evangelists if they had a good experience with you. Some Realtors belong to an organization that rates the service via independent surveys and post those scores on the web. I belong to the QSC organization because I believe in its philosophy and strive to provide the best service I am able to provide and believe if I were on the opposite side, I would want to know how that person's past clients rated their service before engaging them. These are difficult times and you should get the best quality service available out there. After all, don't you deserve it? 
Unfortunately, foreclosures are no longer reserved for the sub prime borrowers. Now it has spread to the mainstream. All too often, it takes a few of bad months before the borrower falls so far behind, they are unable to catch up.
Besides job loss, catastrophic medical expenses is another common reason why homeowners are unable to make their mortgage payments. This is a why we should have health care overhaul to make sure people are not forced into foreclosures or bankruptcies because of medical expenses. The saga this family is living is being repeated by many other families here in Silicon Valley. It is a shame on us all as a nation, that a soldier who served us has to endure this crisis.
What percentage of the properties currently on the market are distressed (either short sales or REOs)? As a San Jose Short Sale Agent, I’m always curious about this answer as a barometer of what is happening in Silicon Valley and specifically with distressed properties.
I went to the MLS and pulled all of the active listings on one hand and pulled all of those same properties which were listed as either “short sales” or “REO”s. The data below are for all Single Family and Condo/Townhomes in Santa Clara County that are active as of today, November 11, 2009.
The answer to the question I posed above is 30%. The ratio for distressed properties to all active properties is 838/2780 or 30% by my calculation. It will be interesting to see if this percentage increases or decreases in the coming months.
Distressed
All Active
It's official now, Mr. President has signed it. So how is the newer version compared to the older version? Here is a chart comparing the two.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33522046/ns/business-real_estate/
AP announced that the Senate agreed to extend the tax credit.
Yes, it looks like first time buyers and even repeat buyers get upto $6500 and can can continue to purchase throught the spring.
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