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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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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 of all, you’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of households all across America are facing foreclosure.

First: BEWARE  OF  FORECLOSURE SCAMS.

I had a homeowner call me recently that asked for help in retrieving the money she gave to a company to save her home from foreclosure.  The company that took her money did absolutely NOTHING.  Realtors© are NOT ATTORNEYS and cant help you after you have been scammed.  Report the scammer to the police and have the local District Attorney help you.

Second: Know that there is help available through legitimate non-profit orginizations.  I suggest Neighborhood Works, ” a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts.” or its affiliate: Foreclosurehelpandhope.org.

The primary job of a Realtor© is to SELL HOMES.  Its true that if your facing foreclosuer you may very well need the services of a Realtor© but Realtor© DO NOT have the time, resources, or expertise to help you in many of the matters one might have when faced with foreclosure.

If you and the  person who counsels conclude that a *Short Sale is the best remedy for your situation they will instruct you to contact a Realtor©.

* WHAT IS A SHORT SALE ?

Difinition from Wikipedia:  A short sale occurs when the proceeds of a real estate sale fall short of the balance owed on the property.^[1] In a short sale, the bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic or financial hardship on the part of the mortgagor. This negotiation is all done through communication with a bank’s Loss mitigation department. The home owner/debtor sells the mortgaged property for less than the outstanding balance of the loan, and turns over the proceeds of the sale to the lender, sometimes (but not always) in full satisfaction of the debt. In such instances, the lender would have the right to approve or disapprove of a proposed sale. Most Short Sales leave a deficiency balance for which the Mortgagor / Borrower is still liable. In 99% of all cases it is not a settlement-in-full. A deficiency balance will remain while the mortgage broker, real estate agent / broker, loan officers, title and closing agents still remain getting their profit. And no regulatory agency governs this hybrid transaction. (read more)

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On the other hand - if all you need is help in purchasing a home - possibly a “Short Sale” or REO (real estate owned — meaning owned by the lender) feel free to call me today.  I can help.

		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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With prices continuing to decline in the Fresno Real Estate Market buyers are shuffling into the market. Anyone who has read my blog in the past (say since this time last year) knows that I have advised extreme caution and repeatedly stated I believed prices were going lower.

At this time last year sales were abysmal, inventory was peaking (it actually hit a peak in Sept of 07) and prices were substantially higher.

Here are couple of graphs taken from the FAR Grapevine that will help you to see what is taking place in the Fresno Market.

I don’t think anyone really knows where the bottom is with respect to prices but statistics indicate to me — AGAIN, as I have previously stated in other blogs — we are bouncing along a bottom. The only thing I dont know is if this is THE bottom. I certainly hope that it is and that the market is able to mend from 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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Sunday’s Fresno Bee reported that home sales in Fresno are indeed picking up. I read the news and intended to comment on it but even if you ARE the blogging broker you still only have 24 hours in a day. Then last night ABC 30 did segment on the market. Unfortunately, I’m not able to embed the video into my blog but you can go here and see/read the story.

I will add that besides the sales being UP as they mention, the *MSI (months supply of inventory) is WAY DOWN from what it was in the fall of last year when I began reporting the numbers. In September of 2007 the MSI was at 20.2 months. In April the MSI was down to 6.3 months. What an improvement!

As I’ve stated before, the numbers show we hit a bottom in November of 2007 - and AGAIN - whether or not this is THE bottom I can’t tell you. But the numbers are improving and it would be nice to see things continue like this.

Lazarus will be out showing homes this evening and hopes to write and OFFER THAT STICKS

If you are looking to area, call me, Lazarus @ 559-301-1647

*The MSI is calculated by taking the number of properties listed on the last day of the month and dividing it by the number of solds in that month

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I just added two testimonies from clients to my profile on Active Rain.

Here they are:

Dear Lazarus,

 

We just wanted to express our appreciation to you for the outstanding job that your company did for us regarding the sale of our home. We appreciated the knowledgeable advice received in preparing and pricing our house for sale. Also, the frequent and timely communication with us throughout the whole process from listing to closing was excellent. In today’s very difficult housing market, we were so very glad to have listed our home with Lazarus Realty. There are many details involved in getting a house from listed to sold, so please accept our thanks in getting our house sold in less than two weeks!

Obviously, we would not hesitate to recommend Lazarus Realty to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. Again, thank you!

Sincerely,

Eric & Yoly Miller

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Lazarus I want to thank you on behalf of my family. You have helped us in many ways. You helped us to find our home. When times were hard for my family I did not know who to call. But for some reason your name came to mind. I made a call to you. We were in alot of financial trouble and we were close to losing our home.

You helped us find a way to get through a tough time. You loaned us the money we needed to catch up on our mortgage and that gave us time to find a way to keep our home. Not too many people would loan money out of their own pocket. We did not know when we could pay you back, and I think you might have known there was some risk. But you gave from your heart. And I am very happy that we were able to pay you back.

We are still in the same home and with your help and some answered prayers we are making it. I dont just see you as a financial adviser, I also see you as a friend and an answer to our prayers. When we did not have a place to turn to, we were led to you.

I just want you to know, If you ever need anything please call me and I will do my best to help.

Thanks Lazarus.

The Torres Family