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As I have I have reported in previous blogs the Fresno California Real Estate Market has hit a bottom and at has, at least for the time being, turned UP.

The banks have been more aggressive in their pricing of foreclosed homes and sometimes have the homes priced so reasonably that MULTIPLE OFFERS are made.

Investors who were sellers at the top of the market are now back scooping up homes at bargain prices.

The chart below shows the year over year improvement in sales from Sept of 2007 through Sept of 2008.

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If you are an investor or a first time home buyer looking to purchase a home in the Fresno / Clovis area let me help you to find the home or investment property that suits you needs.

		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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Two weeks into the beginning of the new year - January 14th, 2008 - I announced the official beginning of the recession.  It now appears that folks in suits and bowties who are supposed to know more about this stuff than me are finally beginning to realize the recession is NOT coming in the future - we are IN IT NOW!

An exerpt from  an article on Mid-Atlantic region factory output:

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index slumped unexpectedly hard to -37.5 in October from 3.8 in September. That was its lowest since October 1990.

“The data, put simply, were horrendous coming out of the Philadelphia Fed region today,” said Dana Saporta, economist at Dresdner Kleinwort in New York.

“This reading is consistent with the recession we are in and probably have probably been in for a while.”

There you have it!

..and yes, I am still drinking coffee made from beans bought at Savemart.

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Want to buy a foreclosed home in Fresno?  You can contact me at 559-301-1647

Lazarus Realty

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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.
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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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There was an article in the Wall Street Journal in March titled

Why Don’t Real-Estate Agents Use Better Photos?

which I happened to miss at the time.  It certainly worth a read.  Its a great article and I expect that consumers will gradually wake up to what is going on.  I dont find time to blog every day but I might try finding the time to post a CRAPPY MLS PIC(S) OF THE DAY.

Here are today’s todays winners.  NOTE: all these pics are from the same listing AND, get this, you are seeing the ACTUAL size they posted them in even though the MLS provides for a 400 x 300 pixel format.

This is the exterior …lmao!

  I think this is the kitchen — HELLO!

  Turn your head sideways please.

  The master bedroom perhaps?

If your going to list your home, find someone who has the tools and enough cerebral substance to market it for you.

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Help beautify Fresno by purchasing a home with a green pool through Lazarus Realty. I will *pay for the cost of draining, cleaning and refilling the pool. When complete you will have a sparkling BLUE pool.

Did you know that Fresno has over 1000 **GREEN POOLS and that these green pools are a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and a single green pool can infect an area within a quarter mile and that the mosquitoes may carry the West Nile virus? With the weather warming up green pools will only get greener because algae blooms in sunlight.

The majority of these homes are vacant and/or REO (properties that have gone through foreclosure and now belong to the bank)

If you are unfortunate enough to have one of these homes in your neighborhood you might want to report it to the Fresno Mosquito Control District and they will go out and test the pool for larva and if it has mosquito larva they will treat it. I called them and the person I spoke with said some homeowners pools are going green because they just dont have the money right now to take care of them. If you happen to be in that unfortunate situation you can grab a bucket and go down there and they will fill it with minnows for free.

If you are interested in purchasing a Foreclosed home in Fresno call me today: Lazarus @ 559-301-1647

SEARCH THE FRESNO MLS

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* (some restrictions apply) I called four pool cleaning services in the yellow pages and only one had a live person on the other end: All Brite. Erica at All Brite told me that this service generally runs between $400 to $800. I will either credit $400.00 of my commission to buyer at close of escrow or pay up to a maximum of $800.00 for the service. Agents of Lazarus Realty are not bound to this offer - only mwau - the broker

**(source: KMJ)

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Here are a few factoids gleaned from the Grapevine which is the weekly publication put out by the Fresno Association of Realtors.

Total sold properties has gone up every month since November 2007 (with the exception of February).

The November low was 254  closed transaction

March 2008 there were 299 closed transactions

Of the first 191 closed transaction in April - 38% were REOs

Here’s a little secret.  the F.A.R. website is for Fresno Realtors however if you go to the website and look in the upper left hand corner you will see a link to download the Grapevine in PDF format. Just click the link and you too can say you “HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPVINE”.

And dont forget to subscribe to my blog, just enter your email in the “subscribe’ box in the upper right hand quadrant of this page.

And PLEASE, by all means, dont forget to call Lazarus when you need help buying and selling real estate in the Fresno - Clovis area.

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Not long ago I gave the bleak statistics on closing of SHORT SALES on our Fresno MLS.  Yesterday I spoke with an agent at another brokerage and he told me that he submitted an offer on a Short Sale in February and was recently told by the lender that they still haven’t assigned an asset manager to review the file.  He just made another offer on a Short Sale property and spoke with that lender and was told it would likely be about 3 months before the file would be reviewed and more months after that to finalize paperwork if it was accepted.

The majority of offers on Short  Sales are simply a waste of time.   If you’re an investor looking for a bargain don’t even waste your time on a short sale; spend it looking at REOs or properties in which the owners have a significant equity position.

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Whether you’re looking to BUY or SELL real estate in Fresno California,

I will give you the straight picture.

Don’t be caught with a half-assed agent (and a broker who doesn’t oversee them) who give you the picture SIDEWAYS:

Actual pictures taken from the Fresno MLS

© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee
Broker: Lazarus Realty

559-301-1647

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