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Fresno California Real Estate Market Update (edit/delete)

Interesting article in the Fresno Bee yesterday discussing the uptick real estate sales.  According to the article the same investors who sold property 2003 - 2005 and went to the sidelines are now coming back in.

• Fresno Association of Realtors reports preliminary figures of  612 units sold in October
• Over half of  October sales (56%)  were foreclosures.
• The median price of a home is now $175,000 ( down 31% from a year ago)

Go here for a chart of sales in Fresno  Clovis area

		Direct: Fax:		559.301.1647 559.438.7475
1319 W Bullard #4 — Fresno CA — 93711
© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee

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First, a reminder for those of you missed it: Lazarus announced the recession before Bush and Buffet.

So, when I announced the recession I said I would not be buying Starbucks beans until its over.  Ok, not only am I not purchasing Starbucks beans, recently I decided to give up their formula for a perfect cup of coffee. Starbucks recommends that you brew your coffee using 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces of water.

I am convinced that the success of Starbucks has been, in great measure, simply due to the fact that they brew their coffee very strong.  Starbuck’s brew is not my daddy’s brew —  the weak, often reheated, and even sometimes made with reused grinds, brew made from the 3 lb. can of whatever brand was cheapest.  NO! Starbuck’s coffee is a REAL MAN’S coffee — STRONG —– it’ll put hair on your chest - COFFEE, and I love it that way.

Nevertheless, I have decided, that I can still enjoy a decent cup of coffee with half the amount of grind.  So, as the recession deepens I am cutting back to 1 tablespoon per 6 ounces of water which still falls within guidelines for good cup of coffee according to the National Coffee Association.  But folks, it hasn’t stopped there.  I’ve also decided that I can use our 2% milk as a creamer instead of buying Half and Half. Since I go through approx 1 quart of half and half per week and approx 2 lbs of beans per month I estimate a monthly savings of $12.00 to $15.00 per month.

		Direct: Fax:		559.301.1647 559.438.7475
1319 W Bullard #4 — Fresno CA — 93711
© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee

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Awhile back I submitted an offer for clients on a Mobile Home that our MLS states to be a 1979 on a permanent foundation.

The date of manufacture and the foundation are critical to what kind of financing you can obtain. I’m not an expert on Mobile Home sales but I do know that to get the best financing the home must be on a permanent foundation: meaning in a California, a seismic foundation system. Also, you want the mobile home to be newer than 1978.

This particular home seemed to meet the requirements. In fact, it was REALLY NICE — almost like new. Besides installing a permanent foundation certifed by the County of Fresno, the unit also had the following: New roof, siding, doors, window, sheet rock, paint, etc … in fact, just about everything was new. There was also a second mobile home on the property (single wide)

The first thing I learned - from the lender - is that in order for a mobile home to qualify for FHA financing there can only be one unit on the property. So, knowing that there was a second unit on the property the lender instructed the owners to remove the stove and water heater from the smaller single wide so it could be deemed and out building. In theory this would generally work but this little single wide looked brand spankin’ new just like the other one so the appraisers pictures left no doubt in the mind of the lender as to it being a second home.

I also learned that if the mobile home has been moved from its original location it no longer will qualify for FHA financing (even if it qualified in its previous location)

But here’s where I got my education. Every mobile home that qualifies for FHA financing MUST HAVE HUD TAGS. HUD tags are the equivalent of license plates or more specifically the VIN numbers of a vehicle.

The appraiser could not find the HUD tags so I gave here the information from the Engineering Dept of the County of Fresno that had the serial number ID info on it. This was all the seller was able to produce.

This wasnt sufficient so the appraiser gave me information from HUD to pass on to the listing agent that would allow them to get the original tags based upon that information.

According to what I was told by the listing agent HUD had no record of those units so they could not be reproduced.

As a last ditch effort the sellers had the siding removed in an attempt to locate the original stamps, to no avail.

So, after weeks of work trying to get FHA financing we had to give up.

The listing agent then emailed me and told me he knew of a source for financing, albeit not FHA.

So, I contacted the source and the gal I spoke with was very knowledgeable. The only information I could give here was the serial numbers that I had on the County Engineering Document that stated the age of the unit, the year the foundation was installed, etc.

When she ran the numbers she came up with a match. The match was a unit that 1976 and NOT 1979. It also had a stated address different from the current address — BUT VERY CLOSE BY. So close that it looked like to me that when the property was subdivided it was formerly on another parcel. The most troubling thing she said though, was that her information showed a different owner that the current one.

The information she provided me led me to conclude the following:

• The mobile home was perhaps originally placed at that property prior to a subdivision of the property — but not at that location.

• The mobile home is not a 1979 model as advertised in the MLS but rather a 1976.

• After the property was subdivided the mobile home was moved from one parcel to another.

		Direct: Fax:		559.301.1647 559.438.7475
1319 W Bullard #4 — Fresno CA — 93711

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Here’s a tidbit gleaned from a recent publication of the Grapevine:

A FAR survey of 1,800 single family residences in an equal amount of homes from high, medium, and low income in the Fresno Clovis area found that 43 out of 1,800 homes had active notices of default. Translation:

97.5 % of the Fresno/Clovis homes are NOT in default

Which means the GLASS IS MORE THAN HALF FULL!

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Attention Realtors! When posting your pics to the MLS make sure they are least 400 X 300 pixels in size (MLS format size). It’s ok if they’re larger because the system will automatically resize them. But if you upload them at this size …

(actual size of the pic taken from the Fresno MLS)

people viewing them won’t know what they are looking at
Looks to me like the this might be a contributing factor to the home being on the market over 200 days. Also looks like the seller is offering nearly $20,000 commission to have a Realtor market their property.
__________________

Selling real estate in Fresno? What is your Realtor doing for you?

Looking to Buy real estate in Fresno - SEARCH THE FRESNO MLS

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Anyone who knows anything about the Fresno Ca real estate market knows that we have substantial supply of lender owner properties for sale. Here is one listed by Lazarus Realty that just had a substantial price reduction. The ask price was 118,500 and was recently reduced by the lender to $95,900.

If you would like to preview this home or make an offer on it - Call me @ 559-301-1647

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Here’s a great little video that Freddie Mac put on YouTube to help people avoid mortgage fraud. Unfortunately they don’t allow it to be embedded - Here’s the LINK. More information is available on their website.

Be careful, there is all sorts of fraudsters and phishers out there. The most recent one I’ve seen is invitations to Yahoo groups that dont even exist. Awhile back I almost fell for an email that said I failed to make a payment on Ebay. Since I had recently done some ebay transactions I thought it was legit.

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I said in a previous blog that I would begin inserting some information about Green Living and I think the timing couldn’t be better. I was reading some articles the other day about the Smart Car and was thinking if the cost of energy continues to climb people WILL be driving those things. I think that Americans wont conserve unless they HAVE to, and the current energy crisis might be just what we need to get us to shift gears to greener living.

So, in this post I want to introduce you to TINY HOUSES and radically different concept of living. Check out this video of minimalist living.

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As per my previous post, I have begun another blog here.

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When you blog, you can’t help but to ask yourself this question. The answer, if you happen to be reading this is: YOU

I recently read that if I want to attract people that are in the market to buy and sell homes to my blog then I shouldn’t be blogging about my latest photos, altercations with mechanics, or how to save money on prescription drugs. Makes sense to me. I’ll try to keep this blog focused on real estate. Chances are though, I’ll want to blog about those other things, so I may have another blog @ randymcatee.com .

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