Pacita's Quick Bytes of Real Estate: May 2009

For this 3-day Memorial Day weekend, we had three families call us at the last minute to care for their pets.

When Gary and I prepared to go on vacation, we researched online for the kennels to take care of our dog. We not only checked out the website, we insisted on visiting the actual kennels to meet the folks running the kennels, to ask how often our dog will be taken for walks, what kind of food they give the dogs, etc.

What's wrong with this picture?

So it boggles the mind when we get calls from folks asking if we'd look after their animals, literally just hours before they were going out of town. What made this challenging was the fact that Gary had injured himself and could barely walk, much less go up and down the stairs. And I'm allergic to cats! 

The first couple are good friends of ours, and we've cared for their menagerie of two nippy-yappy dogs and three large birds.

The second one is our next door neighbor whom we barely know, who asked us to look after their cat.

The third are our tenants downstairs who asked us to look after their two small dogs.

We love animals....but we're at a loss to understand why other folks don't plan ahead for care and feeding of their animals before they go out of town.

All I can think of is thank goodness we were going to be home this weekend -- but what if we decided to go out of town, too?

A local blogger, whose blog www.knifecatchers.com generated a lot of interest and excitement, has decided to close down. She had provided a ton of good information and market analysis. Agree or disagree with her comments, most of which were delivered with rapier-sharp wit and acerbic tongue, she had people reacting, some with passion, while others traded snark-for-snark.

Alas, alack.....she's taking it down because she said she was no longer having fun with it.

But as someone pointed out, her blog will live on at www.InternetArchive.org. I didn't know about this organization until then....but here's what they said about themselves.

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in our collections.

So take a look...and thank them for such a terrific service.

And if you don't have time --- they also offer other resources

Internet Libraries and Librarianship

Alexa Internet has catalogued Web sites and provides this information in a free service.
www.alexa.com

The American Library Association is a major trade association of American libraries.
www.ala.org

The Australian National Library collects material including organizational Web sites.
pandora.nla.gov.au/documents.html

The Council on Library and Information Resources works to ensure the well-being of the scholarly communication system.
www.clir.org
See its publication Why Digitize? at
www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub80-smith/pub80.html

The Digital Library Forum (D-Lib) publishes an online magazine and other resources for building digital libraries.
www.dlib.org

Attorney I. Trotter Hardy explains copyright law and examines its implications for digital materials in his paper Internet Archives and Copyright.
copyright_TH.php

The Internet Public Library site has many links to online resources for the general public.
www.ipl.org

Brewster Kahle is a founder of WAIS Inc. and Alexa Internet and chairman of the board of the Internet Archive. See his paper The Ethics of Digital Librarianship at
ethics_BK.php

Michael Lesk of the National Science Foundation has written extensively on digital archiving and digital libraries.
www.purl.net/NET/lesk

The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States.
www.loc.gov

The Museum Digital Library plans to help digitize collections and provide access to them.
www.digitalmuseums.org

The National Archives and Records Administration oversees the management of all US federal records. It also archives federal Web sites including the Clinton White House site.
www.nara.gov

The National Science Foundation Digital Library Program has funded academic research on digital libraries.
www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/dli/start.htm

National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration. NTIS is an archive and distributor of scientific, technical, engineering and business related information developed by and for the federal government.
www.ntis.gov

Network Wizards has been tracking Internet growth for many years.
www.nw.com

Project Gutenberg is making ASCII versions of classic literature openly available. www.gutenberg.org

The Radio and Television Archive has many links to related resources.
www.rtvf.unt.edu/links/histsites.htm

Revival of the Library of Alexandria is a project to revive the ancient library in Egypt.
www.bibalex.org

The Society of American Archivists is a professional association focused on ensuring the identification, preservation, and use of records of historical value.
www.archivists.org

The Royal Institute of Technology Library in Sweden is creating a system of quality-assessed information resources on the Internet for academic use.
www.lib.kth.se/main/eng

The United States Government Printing Office produces and distributes information published by the US government.
www.access.gpo.gov

The University of Virginia is building a catalog of digital library activities.
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/digital/

Archiving Technology

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) computing and public policy page includes papers and news on pending legislation on issues including universal access, copyright and intellectual property, free speech and the Internet, and privacy.
www.acm.org/serving

The Carnegie Mellon University Informedia Digital Video Library Project is studying how multimedia digital libraries can be established and used.
www.informedia.cs.cmu.edu

The Intermemory Project aims to develop highly survivable and available storage systems.
www.intermemory.org

The National Film Preservation Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, works with the Library of Congress to study and implement plans for film and television preservation. The site's research page includes links to the board's 1993 film preservation study, a 1994 film preservation plan, and a 1997 television and video study. All the documents warn of the dire state of film and television preservation in the United States.
lcweb.loc.gov/film/filmpres.html

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) posts IEC International Standard names and symbols for prefixes for binary multiples for use in data processing and data transmission.
www.physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html

The Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) encourages research in information retrieval from large text collections.
trec.nist.gov

Internet Mapping

An Atlas of Cyberspaces has maps and dynamic tools for visualizing Web browsing.
www.cybergeography.com/atlas/surf.html

The Internet Mapping Project is a long-term project by a scientist at Bell Labs to collect routing data on the Internet.
www.cs.bell-labs.com/who/ches/map

The Matrix Information Directory Service has good maps and visualizations of the networked world.
www.mids.org

Peacock Maps has maps of Internet connectivity.
www.peacockmaps.com

Internet Statistics

WebReference has an Internet statistics page (publisher: Internet.com).
webreference.com/internet/statistics.html

Copyright

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) copyright information page includes text of pertinent laws and pending legislation.
www.acm.org/usacm/copyright

Tom W. Bell teaches intellectual property and Internet law at Chapman University School of Law.
www.tomwbell.com
His site includes a graph showing the trend of the maximum US copyright term at www.tomwbell.com/writings/(C)_Term.html

Cornell University posts the text of copyright law at
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/unframed/17/107.html
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/unframed/17/108.html

The Digital Future Coalition is a nonprofit working on the issues of copyright in the digital age.
www.dfc.org

The National Academy Press is the publishing arm of the national academies.
"The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age"
http://www.nap.edu/html/digital_dilemma/
"LC21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress"
www.nap.edu/books/0309071445/html

Pamela Samuelson is a professor in the School of Information Management and Systems at UC Berkeley.
info.berkeley.edu/~pam

Title 17 of US copyright code
www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/

US Government Copyright Office
www.loc.gov/copyright

Privacy and Free Speech

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) free-speech information page includes the text of pertinent laws and pending legislation.
www.acm.org/usacm/speech

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) privacy information page includes the text of congressional testimony and links to other resources.
www.acm.org/usacm/privacy

The Benton Foundation Communications Policy and Practice Program has the goal of infusing the emerging communications environment with public-interest values.
www.benton.org/cpphome.html

The Center for Democracy and Technology works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age.
www.cdt.org

The Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference has a site containing information on each annual conference held since 1991.
www.cfp.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation works to protect fundamental civil liberties, including privacy and freedom of expression in the arena of computers and the Internet.
www.eff.org

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a project of the Fund for Constitutional Government, is a public-interest research center whose goal is to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values.
www.epic.org

The Free Expression Policy Project is a think tank on artistic and intellectual freedom at NYU's Brennan Center for Justice. Through policy research and advocacy, they explore freedom of expression issues including censorship, copyright law, media localism, and corporate media reform.
www.fepproject.org

The Internet Free Expression Alliance is an information and advocacy organization focused on free speech as it relates to the Internet.
www.ifea.net

The Internet Privacy Coalition aims to protect privacy on the Internet by promoting the widespread availability of strong encryption and the relaxation of export controls on cryptography.
www.privacy.org/ipc

The Privacy Page includes news, alerts, and links to privacy-related resources. Related organizations include the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Internet Privacy Coalition, and Privacy International.
www.privacy.org

Privacy International is a London-based human rights group formed as a watchdog on surveillance by governments and corporations.
www.privacy.org/pi

 

Last Sunday was going to be a busy open house day. My listing is on a corner lot. So put up colorful flags on one side, and another set of coloful flags on the other side to form a "V" to lead people straight to the front door.

THE NERVE!

Imagine my consternation when another agent whom I will not identify (but I will if she pulls this stunt again) who has a listing a few doors from me, planted her sign DIRECTLY IN FRONT of my listing, and in the middle of the flags.

There are four corners on that street -- my listing is one corner, I had my sign and flags on that corner. Couldn't she have placed her sign on any one of the three that don't have signs?

My seller was outraged when she saw that...and told me again how much she disliked that agent's brokerage. She is going to tell her clients and associates about this episode and warn them away from that agency.

COPY ME --- BUT DON'T CROSS ME

In town, I seem to be the only one, still, who have flashy glittering ribbons tied to my signs, and still the only one with multi-color flags. If someone wants to copy me, by all means, do. But as a common courtesy, don't plant your sign directly in front of my listing especially not during my open house. It's just common courtesy.

 

COMMON COURTESY

Knowing that this will be a very busy Sunday, I was careful about where and how many signs to put up. In Alameda, we're restricted to have a maximum of 6 signs. This is why I resort to other means to attract attention by putting ribbons on my signs, putting up multi-colored flags in front of my open house.

Some personal rules of etiquette that I observe:

• Put up only one sign at an intersection where there are sure to be more signs from other agents. I figure that I can capitalize on the other agents' signs that are pointed in the same direction.
• Don't block the sidewalk
• Prop up my signs out of pedestrians' way
• Don't block somebody else's sign. Be next to it, but don't be in front of it.
• Don't move someone else's sign. If someone has picked a premium spot before I get there, I will go to the other side of the street, or place my sign some distance from that sign

RELATED POSTS

What I did to get 70-80 groups to come to my last open house

10 Things to do when posting on Craigslist

Folks, please don't try this at home. As we age, there is a reason why we should be careful. Sticks and stones will break our bones. It's a harsh reality to accept that we're no longer as limber, as quick, as agile. And we're no longer as quick to recuperate.

So be careful out there!.

Understanding diversity was always a challenge. But with so many cultures and religions and practices, how do we navigate this maze when it comes to doing business?

CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

I have a couple of clients --- one from Syria and another from Egypt --- from whom I learned some things that I never would have known if they didn't educate me about their religious beliefs:

• No images of people or animals. I learned this the first time when my stager selected a British Colonial motif and had used pictures of elephants and monkeys in a tropical setting. A big no-no!
• No alcoholic bottle as part of staging, even if the bottle is empty. Since they don't drink alcohol, we cannot have images or diplays of anything that suggests imbibing.
• No loans. No interest rates. They do not, and can not make loans, take out loans, charge or be charged any interest. If they're the buyer, they pay cash. If they're the seller, they cannot pay for any loan fees as credits to the buyer.
• Time for prayers, five times a day. So if we set up meetings, we have to respect that they will not be available on certain times, or at least give them space and time to complete their prayers, and then we resume business.
• Take off your shoes when going in the house. Get those booties!
• No handshakes (some will not embarrass you by refusing to take your hand, but some simply won't.)

QUICKEN LOANS --- how they misled us.

A first time buyer who was interested in a home my Syrian and Egyptian clients built for sale, had gotten preapproved by Quicken Loans, and was at first impressed by how quickly he was able to get through when he called them. When it was time to write an offer, he said that his loan officer advised him to ask for 3% credits towards buyer closing costs.

I called the loan officer and asked if there are going to be any discount or origination fees, and he said that there won't be. He even confirmed this via an email. Since the loan officer said there won't be discount/origination fees, the sellers accepted the offer once I told them these fees won't apply.

It went downhill from there. The Quicken Loans string of people moved from one department to another, until we weren't quite sure who was handling the loan. Trying to get an answer from someone via phone or email was an endless wait.

Finally, after numerous attempts to get the closing statement from Quicken Loans, and after the buyer removed all his contingencies, we receved the statements within a couple of days of closing escrow.

Horrors! Quicken Loans, to come up with 3 % in closing costs and to buy down the buyer's loan, charged 1% origination fees and .75% loan discount points (is there a difference?), as well as one full month's interest on the new loan.

RELIGIOUS OBJECTION

The sellers balked and said they would rather be burned at the stake or have their eyes poked out than to have to pay these fees that directly refer to loans and interest. It's of paramount importance to them because of their religious beliefs.

The buyer won't pay it because he was entitled to 3% credit toward closing costs regardless of what those costs are.

So what do we do?

THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME

Hard and expensive lessons to learn

1. When asking for credits, it is a must to state what the exceptions are (in this case, not for loan fees or interest due to religious beliefs)

2. Even if your buyer already selected a lender, if it is an online application (like Quicken Loans), always suggest talking with a local lender

3. Get an estimated buyer and seller estimates before releasing contingencies to have more time to resolve any questions (this was NEVER a problem with other lenders we've used, but it is a big problem with Quicken Loans)

4. Get acquainted with any pertinent religious/cultural prohibitions that may affect the way you do business (don't be offended if someone doesn't shake your hand when you extend it --- sometimes, it's not personal, just religion)

5. Business and religion shouldn't mix, but they do!

RELATED SITES:

Consumer Affairs complaints against Quicken Loans

Complaints Board against Quicken Loans

 

I Every time I have a broker's tour in my island city, I always (ALWAYS!) serve Chinese dim sum appetizers and bottled water. It's become sort of a "signature" refreshment, and people who know me, know I will always serve dim sum.

Today, I held a broker's tour for my newest listing at a very desirable part of Alameda called Marina/Fernside. Here's the VISUAL TOUR. 

Over 50 agents toured the place, and many chatted for a spell. I was expecting a good turnout, but I can't believe just how many came.We even had agents from neighboring cities ---- and that's a rarity in itself.

Did I do anything different?No, nothing new. But I did:

• Post it on craigslist (some agents said they or their clients saw the ad, and wanted to check it out
• Create a visual tour
• Posted it on VFlyer
• Advertised in the Tour View of the MLS that I am serving dim sum while they last

Some of us were discussing what seems to be a sudden turn in events, following dismal 2007 and 2008. Perhaps the crowded broker's tour is a harbinger of good news. And what is causing this?

Observations and opinions

1. There's a pent up demand
2. Buyers probably believe that in their case, it's the right time to buy
3. Buyers are afraid that we've probably hit bottom now, and judging from recent multiple offer situations, the market is on the mend
4. The tax incentives and credits are only for a certain period of time. Who knows when we will have credits like these again?
5. Interest rates are too attractive to pass up. Even if the prices of homes go down, if the interest rates rise, then it's a wash. So why wait?
6. Homes in desirable neighborhoods, and that are priced right and look nice, will still sell.
7. There is a dearth of good properties in desirable neighborhoods, that are priced right and look nice
8. It's the rite of spring --- and expect more homes to come on the market!

Open house --- huge turnout? Gee, I hope so. I am now poised to have a big turnout this weekend, based on how many agents came. Some of them said they're sending their clients to the open house. Oh yes, please do!

RELATED POST: Marina/Fernside contemporary home with detached multi-purpose room

Dear Homeowner

If it appears that the only available option to you is to sell your property as a short sale, here are things you should know:

Short sale is a type of pre-foreclosure sale in which the lender allows the property securing a mortgage or deed of trust loan to be sold for less than the full amount due, and accepts the proceeds from the sale as payment in full.

Short Sale Approval

Most lenders will approve a short sale only as a last resort to foreclosure because of the following:

• The borrower is insolvent
• The proposed purchase price is more than the lender can sell the property after foreclosing on the loan
• The market value of the property is below the loan balance due to local and national economic conditions
• The property was refinanced at a higher value based on an inflated property appraisal report
• The property is in such a physical condition that it is not financially feasible for the lender to put it into a marketable condition.

Hardship

Regardless of who benefits from a short sale, most lenders have a very strict hardship test that the financially distressed homeowner must meet to qualify for relief by way of a lender-approved short sale.

Hardship could be one or a combination of the following:

• Unemployment
• Reduced income
• Divorce or separation
• Too much debt
• Death of spouse
• Mortgage payment increases (example: negative amortization)
• Business failure
• Job transfer
• Illness and large medical bills
• Damage to property
• Military service
• Incarceration

Your role

• You are not responsible for selling expenses. The Lender pays the realtors to list and sell the property.
• You will NOT get any sales proceeds from the sale
• Set your ego aside about how much your property is worth after what you paid for it, improvements you made, etc.
• Get all the required documents as soon as possible so that your realtor can begin communicating with the lender and marketing your property
• Price the property aggressively to attract the largest pool of buyers so that you can get sell it quickly.
• Remember, that time is of the essence. You only have so much time to try to sell your property as a short sale. So you must maintain the property so that it is marketable
• You can accept an offer and ratify the contract and send this off to the lender; but if another offer comes in that looks better than what was accepted previously, the lender can override the your decision, and accept the offer that is financially better for the lender.
• Escrow is not necessarily opened until the lender accepts the offer ---- and that's when the timeline of the contract begins
• Always encourage and entertain back up offers. Oftentimes, buyers get tired of waiting for the short sale to be approved, and they back out of the agreement

Setting expectations

Short sale is anything but a "short" process

PATIENCE!

• Selling a short sale property is a long tedious process
• Getting a Loan Negotiator assigned to the case will entail many phone calls and other means of communicating
• This is a more involved process than a regular sale
• List price must be very aggressive in order to attract the biggest pool of buyers
• The quicker you get an offer, the better you are protected from foreclosure
• Offers tend to be lower than list price. Don't take it personally
• When an offer is submitted, you can accept...but Lender makes the final decision

PATIENCE!

• Lender may take 45 days or longer to respond to an offer --- accept, reject or counteroffer
• Lender may override the Seller's choice

PATIENCE!  

SAMPLE foreclosure timeline

Here's a look at a timeline from late payment to foreclosure. The timeline will differ depending on lender, location and situation. There is always the possibility of postponing foreclosure, such as when the property owner lists the property for sale as a short sale, receives and offer or offers and forwards the offer(s) subject to lender approval.

• DAY 1    The borrower misses the payment.
• DAY 16-30   A late charge is assessed. The mortgage servicer contacts borrower to find out why the payment is late. File is sent to the Collection Department.
• DAY 45-60  The servicer sends a "demand" or "breach" letter to the borrower who has 30 days to resolve the situation by paying the delinquent amount.
• DAY 90   Notice of Default.  Foreclosure proceedings start with a Notice of Default (NOD). The document is recorded at the request of the lender by the trustee and is recorded in the county in which the property is located. In California, the borrower and junior lien holders are given proper notification and the borrower has 90 days to bring their account current. This period is referred to as the Reinstatement Period.
• DAY 180   Notice of Trustee Sale.   If the borrower does not reinstate their account within the 90 day period, the lender will authorize and instruct the Trustee to record the Notice of Trustee Sale (NOS).
• DAY 196   5 Business Days Before the Sale Date.   Right to Reinstate expires.
• DAY 201          After 21 days of the recording of the Notice of Trustee Sale, a foreclosure sale can take place at public auction. The property may be sold to a third party bidder or revert back to the lender for a specified amount.

RELATED POST When is it too late to save a home from foreclosure? What NOT to do if owner wants to keep the house

This woman called me, clearly in distress. She's losing her house that she felt she shouldn't have bought in the first place. She saw me on HGTV's "What's my house worth" and was reminded that she wanted to talk to me.

NEGATIVE AMORTIZATION (Mistake #1)

When she was looking to buy a house, using money from her 401K as a downpayment, she fell in love with a house. Three times she was turned down by lenders who told her that with her income, she couldn't qualify for a loan. But a third lender told her that she can: with a negative amortization loan.

That was three years ago. When her monthly payments started rising, she couldn't afford to make the payments and stopped altogether.

OWNER TRIED TO HANDLE NEGOTIATION by herself (Mistake #2)

She said she talked with the lender numerous times, that her case was under review. She made numerous phone calls to the bank and was told the same thing. At no time was she informed she would receive a Notice of Default soon. She made the tax payments, and hoped for the best.

She asked "several" people what to do, but never asked her realtor.

OWNER MOVED OUT (Mistake #3)

She moved out while she was negotiating directly with the bank, thinking that she needed to vacate because she wasn't making her payments. But she continued to talk with the lenders.

DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT NOTICE of DEFAULT (Mistake #4)

By the time she called me about what she can do, I asked her if she received Notices of Default or a Trustee Sale. At first she said she hasn't received any notices (her mail was supposed to have been forwarded to her at her new address).

Then she went to the house ---- and there they were. She did, in fact, receive both a Notice of Default AND a Notice of Trustee Sale. She had no idea they were there considering that the bank had been corresponding with her with letter sent to her forwarding address.

IS IT TOO LATE TO DO A LOAN MODIFICATION? SHORT SALE?

When she called them to protest, and to also tell them she would like to try for a loan modification (as she had tried to do all along), and that if that doesn't work, she'll try to do a short sale, she was told "It's too late. The property had already foreclosed on April 27, and that it would go to auction soon." She was told to go to the website www.IndyMac.com and check out the REO lists --- it's not there. Then she was told it's going to auction and it will be posted later.

Not having seen all her paperwork and notices, I advised her to speak to my company's loan modification specialist to review the documentation and to verify whether or not there is a way to postpone the auction.

However, she cancelled the appointment. She said she is resigned to having her home foreclosed.

>SIGH<

 RELATED POST: BULLET POINTS for homewners contemplating a short sale

TRUE AND RECENT STORY in East Bay, CA: There is an agent we will call Agent 1 who submitted an offer on a $1.2 property. The problem was, the agent didn't provide a preapproval letter or some form of proof of funds.

It isn't just the price that dictates who wins. The best and highest offer can mean how well the offer is prepared and presented, too.

The listing agent, who got burned once when this property was previously in escrow with a buyer who kept asking for extensions, was willing to give it another go.

This time, she isn't taking any chances, so she wanted to make sure the Agent 1's buyer is capable of completing the transaction. But Agent 1 always had some kind of excuse when the listing agent asked for the preapproval letter.

Where was Agent 1's sense of urgency? Why is she not fulfilling her duty and obligation to her buyer?

In the meantime, Agent 2 submitted a thoroughly clean offer with all the requisite documents to prove his client's credit-worthiness, including a preapproval letter from Wells Fargo.

SURPRISE! At the same time, Agent 1 finally came through with a preapproval letter from --- guess who? ---Wells Fargo.

So why is it that Agent 2 had no problems getting that preapproval letter whereas Agent 1 took nearly 2 weeks to get one?

Whose offer will be accepted? In weighing who might be better prepared to close the transaction and which agent would be easier to work with and is more responsive, the seller will accept Agent 2's offer which also happened to be slightly more than Agent 1's offer. And Agent 2 will get a counter offer for her buyer to a higher price and in back-up position.

Unpreparedness, unresponsiveness and a lackadaisical attitude may  have cost Agent 1 the $1M sale, and her buyer the property.

 

 

This property offers wonderful opportunities for extended households to live together....or use as rental income. Whichever need or purpose, this is worth a look.

There's a large house with a super-sized master suite and bath and a closet as big as a bedroom. There are three other bedrooms and another bath on the main floor.

And for entertainment or overflow guest quarters, there's the cottage with a fireplace, its own kitchen, bedroom, bath, living room and fireplace.

And for rental income purposes, there's a duplex with identical units that each has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen, inside laundry, fenced yard and patio. One even has a view of the golf course.

See the visual tour at http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?T=1871295

Multiple offers on REOS.

Multiple offers on Short Sales.

Multiple offers on Regular Sales.

This is a buyer's market?

Yes, we tell buyers it's a good time to buy. Many of them agree. After all, prices are lower. Interest rates are lower. there are many choices. But there are also MANY buyers.

Not that there's anything wrong with that (if you're the listing agent). But it's mind-boggling how many times my buyers and I have had to compete to buy property.

Anything under $200-300K for a detached property (not condo or townhouse) will generate a lot of attention and offers.

In Alameda CA, if we find a house under or in the low $500K, that will get people's pulses racing. "A deal!" People say. So they rush and write an offer. Then we find out there are others who are thinking the same thing. And it becomes a contest.

My buyers are devastated. They didn't expect they'd have to compete --- AGAIN! Not in this market! And on REOs?

So we're in a mad dash to find a suitable property. Today, I had 4 separate appointments. It was exhilarating and enervating at the same time.

NEWS FLASH:  The buyers are coming! The buyers are coming!

HEADLINE: If you price it right, the buyers will come.

REALITY CHECK: Expect multiple offers.

CHANCES: Better if you don't low ball the offer, especially on REOs where they are already priced low.