Marjie Van Der Laan - Clark County WA Realtor

There is a second wave of foreclosures coming. The one we have just gone through with all the "financial meltdown" was just the first of up to three waves of foreclosures. The first one was the subprime mess, with lenders lending to people with subpar credit, that "surprise" did not or could not ultimately pay for the loans they signed up for.

The second wave is coming and will start hitting soon... these are the Alt-A loans. I am not a financing guru by any means, but I watch the news and am aware of what several top sources are discussing. According to wikipedia, these Alt-A loans are the loans which affect people somewhere between A+ credit and subprime. Several of these were the stated income loans, known in the mortgage industry as "liars loans" and enough people took advantage of them to make them a problem.

Option loans, the "pick a payment" type of loan will also be a part of the second wave of foreclosures. When the borrower chooses to pay less than the owed amount, negative amortization occurs (increasing the principal owed). When this happens again and again, and the buyer bought the home for $508,000 and now it's worth $320,000 (as the home across the street from me is), then they probably would choose to let it go to foreclosure.

There are more foreclosures coming. How bad will it get? What will the effects be? I honestly do not know.

I am concerned. People who have held on in the last couple of years and seen their home values plummet, will probably see the values go down a little more before they go back up. It is key to remember that those "losses" will only be realized if they sell in a down market.

The next wave of foreclosures is said to affect the "gated communities" of America. We have seen all types of neighborhood's values drop across America. How will the upper end stuff affect the economy? I do think that those home values will have been effected by the overall crisis.

Unless President Barack Obama requires a moratorium for foreclosures and requires banks modify loans, we are in for a bumpy ride.

To look at homes for sale in Washougal:

http://www.jmaproperties.com/idx/search.html?submit=true&search_city=Washougal&idx=residential&minimum_price=&maximum_price=&minimum_bedrooms=&minimum_bathrooms=

Has anyone else noticed this?

You find a "great deal" for your buyers...

You write an offer and submit it. You wait a day or so and find out there are 8 more offers just like yours in? Then it ends up selling over asking price. One we put an offer in, list price $119,000, sold price $135,000, with 12 offers, 6 of them ALL CASH.

This has been happening in Los Angeles County, California for over a year. Where a home may be listed for $400,000 (your standard 1,200 square foot 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom home) and it ends up selling a month later for $454,000. Not because the house is so wonderful, but because people get caught up in the bidding war and want to have what everyone wants to have (even if there are 6 more sitting on the street priced around $435,000).

The trend in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) is we get the trickle effect from California... i.e. the market here feels the effect of what's happening in California about a year after it happens there.

Sure, it's good for the banks, but Realtors need to educate their buyers that this is the tactic that the banks are going with. It is similar to a bargain priced short sale listing, when sellers price their home low enough to get attention i.e. offers so they can avoid foreclosure. This doesn't mean that they will sell it for the low price, or that price will even be legal, which in Washington states that the purchase price must be at least 80% of the home's appraised value, or it's ILLEGAL.

Recently I put an offer in for a $425,000 house for slightly above list price, but even then, the bank rejected the offer, because it didn't go with their plan, and the house sits on the market today, with a changed value range price of $425,000 to $465,000. It is a little frustrating, because my buyers would have been extremely happy with the home and the bank would have gotten the home off their books.

Banks seem to be pricing their properties aggressively, but it may backfire on them because they are undercutting themselves, and chasing the market down to new lows.

I love my broker!

(His wife need not be jealous!)

How do I love him? Let me count the ways:

1. He is always there when I call. Even when he thought he could have had the swine flu and felt like he was going to die (and nearly sounded like it), he answered my call and had a helpful answer.

2. He is a happy guy! Always has an encouraging word and a positive spin on life.

3. He has a great company that has FREEDOM!

Maybe it isn't necessarily love, but there is a strong sense of appreciation and gratitude!

Who is this great guy? Gerry Mains of JMA Properties LLC, in Portland, Oregon, USA - that's who!

What a revelation! Work smart and make more money! Lately I have been doing what a friend, Derya Ruggles, calls "Day-Stacking," where I cram into one day what would normally be spread out over two or three days.

This translates into a morning showing, a mid-day open house and then another showing or listing presentation in the evening with previewing properties and paperwork for clients in between. This type of day can easily be 14 to 15 hours long. The great thing about Real Estate and Me is that I love it. I honestly love helping people find that needle in a haystack. It is a lot of work, but for me the intrinsic motivation is what keeps me going.

One thing I learned from an ex- is to always do my homework, so I do that, extensively for my clients. Whether that means doing a CMA until 3 a.m., staying late staging a home or practicing my listing presentation. That way, the next day, whatever I am doing, I am prepared for it. My clients benefit, because they are working with someone that bothered to take an interest in their home and their needs.

All of this Day Stacking adds up, but inspires me to do more and get more done. It makes life so much more exciting for everyone.

Have you ever wondered how many homes you see for sale are short sales? I just did a calculation from short sale data on the RMLS for Portland Metro Areas and Clark County from active listings on September 27 and 28, 2008, and the numbers are staggering. News tells us that the suburban areas were harder hit with short sales and if you look at Clark County as a suburb of the Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area, this is no exception. Here are some real raw numbers from the RMLS:

In Clark County, Washington, roughly 20% of all listings are short sales, and subject to 3rd party approval: 825 out of 4,139 listings (19.9%). About 1 in 5.

Of all areas of Clark County, area 63, Clark County East, has the fewest short sales 0.0% (but with just one listing that isn't saying much), and the second lowest area for short sales is area 13, Vancouver's Heights (SW) with 6.6% short sale listings. The one area with astronomical quantities (this is really unbelievable, I checked it twice) is area 25, the Sifton area of Vancouver with 71% of listings are short sale listings!!! I had to check it twice, but yet, 54 out of 76 listings are short sales.

In Portland, Oregon Metropolian Areas, roughly 10% of all listings are short sales, and subject to 3rd party approval: 1,411 out of 14,218 listings (9.9%). About 1 in 10.

Of all the areas of Portland, area 145 (which includes Milwaukie, Gladstone, Happy Valley, Clackamas and Damascus) has the highest rate of short sales, 18.7% and area 148 (Portland West and Raleigh Hills) has the lowest rate of short sale listings, 4.7%.

I think from this we can all conclude that in the next year, there are going to be some VERY GOOD DEALS (homes that go through the foreclosure process and go back on the market bank owned in these areas of concentrated short sales).