Sacramento Land(ing)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Sacramento Real Estate Market - August 2009 Water Cooler

Post off-topic links, observations, and stories about the Sacramento real estate market here. Please read the comment policy before posting.

68 comments:

Diggin Deeper said...: Accountants Gain Courage to Stand Up to Bankers: Jonathan Weil

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a5BsXz90CMso

"The scope of the FASB’s initiative, which has received almost no attention in the press, is massive. All financial assets would have to be recorded at fair value on the balance sheet each quarter, under the board’s tentative plan."

If FASB reverses their mark to model accounting rules in favor of fair value assessments, look out below!

All those green shoots will look like green painted lawns masking the empty homes waiting for buyers.

Sacto inventory levels are still being held up but that doesn't take the pressure off...it's a wonder how some regional banks can stay so "solvent" under the debt loads they are carrying.; Saturday, August 01, 2009 8:43:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: AP analysis: Foreclosures stabilize in key states

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090803/ap_on_re_us/us_stress_map_8

"Even as Americans suffer rising unemployment, foreclosure rates in three states hit hardest by the housing bust — California, Arizona and Florida — stabilized in June, offering hope that the worst of the real estate crisis is over, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties."

What a load of bull! this doesn't add up considering unemployment over 10% statewide, empty homes all over the county, and bank inventories that have mysteriously vanished in favor of loan modification programs that are reported have had minimal effect...; Monday, August 03, 2009 7:06:00 AM
David said...: You have to remember that the banks have received billions of dollars in bail outs. They might be holding onto inventory just like you and I, waiting for a better market. But that does not mean that foreclosures are not tapering off.; Tuesday, August 04, 2009 9:50:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: David, or possibly they don't want to take the losses and be forced to shore up their failing balance sheets?

Banks Sitting On An Inventory Time Bomb

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28898377

An interesting little factoid from RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure sale site that tracks all kinds of foreclosure data.

Apparently about 70 percent of foreclosures in its database have not yet been listed on the MLS.

"The lenders are simply trying to defer the losses to a later date, because having to recognize the losses short term might pose severe risks to the banks in question."

If true, this is the same strategy the Japanese banks used to spread out their losses over what's now nearly a 2 decade recession.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:02:00 AM
David said...: Short sale buying saga continues. After waiting three months for a reply to our offer from the bank, we learned yesterday that the trustee sale is scheduled for Aug. 20. Yes, they are foreclosing despite an active short sale offer that has been waiting months to get to the top of the stack.

But wait, it gets better -- if we put up a $10K non-refundable deposit, we can delay the trustee sale while the bank continues to consider our offer at its leisurely pace.

Our agent calls it "extortion". Our mortgage broker said "walk away". We don't want the house to go into the foreclosure black hole, but don't see many other options. We have no contract yet, and if we put up $10K non-liquidated damages the bank will have us by the short curly hairs and we will have no wiggle room in negotiations.

Anybody else seeing similar tactics? I thought these people were supposed to be trying to keep houses out of foreclosure.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 8:52:00 AM
husmanen said...: David, I picked up on an interesting write up by Mr. Mortgage regarding the complexity of the loans and how it influences a Short Sale (or not).

http://www.fieldcheckgroup.com/2009/07/19/7-19-mortgage-default-crisis-brutal-past-two-months/

The comments is where it gets interesting, particularly comments by Patrick (Patrick Pulatie) and housingrealist.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 9:21:00 AM
David said...: Hus, thanks for the tip. I had read the article without reading the comments.

It does help explain why the banks and servicers are doing things that appear contrary to common business sense -- they know something we don't, and they will do what's best for their bottom line.

'Course, the people making the decision about the house we want don't know anything. They plug a number into and Excel spreadsheet and base their decisions on what comes out the other end. The part in the middle was written by a quant in Bangalore. Then they apologize and say they don't write the rules, they just follow orders. How do they sleep at night?

Our agent says the CAR attorneys reviewed the non-refundable deposit demand and found it legal. Whether it violates the letter or spirit of any government regulations designed to ease the foreclosure crisis remains to be determined. There may be a class action lawsuit in our future.

We're still waiting for the terms to be delivered in writing.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 12:32:00 PM
husmanen said...: What I find most challenging is the notion of the banks continuing this type of behavior. I didn't think this could be done on this grand of a scale.

What. Large shadow inventory.

When. Probably the last two years.

Why. Banks become insolvent if action is taken. So far this strategy works.

Where. All over the US.

How. Not filing NODs for delinquent payments, delaying NODs and REOs (TS). Using TARP funds to pay the so called "master servicers" of the bad loans.

If it works why change. I may be renting and saving even longer than projected.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 1:49:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: When one considers many of these same banks are now faced with CRE defaults, strategic foreclosures, and rising jumbo defaults, all the more reason to hang on to whatever cash they can. Banks might be able to string this out for awhile longer, but eventually the pressure forces them to open the gates. One large shopping center foreclosure could have the negative financial impact equal to a 100 home foreclosures or more.

This is a game of endurance, and the banks were already exhausted before they decided to race.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 3:40:00 PM
David said...: The short sale buying plot thickens. First Federal (the bank) said today they want us to raise the bid! This after three months of waiting while prices dropped 2% each month. Our agent said she believes First Federal always intended to do this and deliberately ignored our offer until two weeks before the Trustee Sale date so they could pull this stunt.

When a bank is not negotiating a short sale in good faith and deliberately drives a house into foreclosure, to whom do we complain? I'm serious, we want these people to sweat and suffer.; Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:27:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: David you have no negotiating strength in a deal like this. I don't see where the bank has done anything wrong here. Had they accepted your offer and then backed out, you might have something to go on. They asked you to make a non-refundable deposit, and you declined. The bank has a figure they want to net on this property, prior to foreclosure, and apparently, you're not at their bottom line. The bank is not obligated to go any further with you.

It's pretty simple. They own the note, they set the price and the terms, and you have to make a decision.

You either up your price until it reaches their minimum, or attend the Trustee auction, or walk away. If you believe your present offer is higher than the price you'd pay at the auction, and this is the home you want, why not attend, bid, and win the auction? You'll at least get the satisfaction of buying the home for less than you originally offered (provided your 2% per month price decline holds true). If the price doesn't hold, then the bank's strategy of waiting this out made sense...

If you intend to pursue this home through the auction process, you might want to check out the terms of the auction to make sure there is no reserve, and the opening bid starts at a level well below your original offer price.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 6:10:00 AM
David said...: Diggin, thanks for the moderating input. We already know the reserve is more than the house is worth and the auction is a formal step required before the bank takes possession. Our point is First Federal made us wait three months for nothing. They sat on our offer (at list price, BTW) knowing they were going to spring this on us at the last minute. That's what I mean by driving the house into foreclosure. Good faith negotiation would have led to a different result.

Yesterday they asked for a new offer at $40K ABOVE the list price of three months ago PLUS a non-refundable $10K deposit to postpone the trustee sale. Get the picture?; Thursday, August 06, 2009 6:19:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 7:22:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: Yes I am getting the picture, but humbly it's a little different than yours.

The list price you offered is NOT the bank's list price, because the bank didn't set the list price. The list price was set by the homeowner of the property, through a listing agent, who was probably working with a short sale company. The bank is not obligated to accept that price. It is the bank's responsibility to determine what the fair market value is, once they assign an asset negotiator to the property. It usually takes a few months minimum before a negotiator is assigned. Call it work overloand if you will.

Once an asset negotiator is assigned, they would've asked for a local broker's opinion on an estimate of the home's current value. That would have nothing to do with your offered price. Had the broker's opinion come in at, close, or below your offer, you'd probably have a better chance of owning the property.

Your RE agent should have explained the process in detail, the players involved, and the process the short sale would follow. He/she should have given you a fair market price evaluation of the property at the time you made the offer. Had you had a true picture of the home's fair market price, you might not have wanted to spend 3 months of your time on it, or you may have offered more in order to stimulate bank interest.

If you want lay blame, lay it on the listing agent/short sale company for lowballing their listing price to begin with. Obviously for marketing reasons, the price was set artificially low to gain interest.

Sorry but imho, you got sucked into a "too good to be true" deal that's given you nothing but frustration and very little chance of happening unless you are willing to sweeten the pot. The one thing you have going for you is if you did offer more and it appraised lower, the bank would either honor or ask you to pay the higher price. You'd then have a choice to make.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 7:25:00 AM
David said...: We have the comps. There is no question that the list price was fair. In fact, it's at exactly the correct amount based on average price per square foot in that area. Our agent, who is also the seller's agent, is a top producer at a household name agency. All she does these days is short sales, and she has worked in that zip code for 20 years. I'll take her word over the bank's.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 8:05:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: If that's correct, the home won't appraise, and the bank would be stuck. It sounds like they don't want to bother with this short sale. I wonder if an independent appraisal would sway the deal? It's a far cry better than a $10,000 non-refundable deposit. You risk $400-500 to get a true picture, submit to the asset negotiator and take your chances. If they take the deal then appraisal's already been taken care of...

If the home goes into foreclosure, and the bank hangs a high price on it, it will continue to sit until they capitulate.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 8:23:00 AM
David said...: We are going to try to negotiate with these people some more today, but aren't holding out much hope. We may move in just to piss the bank off. The seller has left it empty for a year but will consider allowing us to occupy it. Will keep you posted.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 8:43:00 AM
patient renter said...: I thought these people were supposed to be trying to keep houses out of foreclosure.

As you're learning, not really. There are many circumstances under which the lender is incentivized to let the home go into foreclosure. The NYT article the other day covered some of this.

I can imagine it sucks to be stuck in the middle, but this all goes to show that we still have a ways to go before this mess is behind us and prices hit bottom.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 10:00:00 AM
David said...: First Federal rejected our counter counter and insists on their $10K non-refundable. Our agent will advise her seller client to file for bankruptcy to delay the trustee sale. Meanwhile, we'll move in on a lease and reside as tenants while that process plays out. That's the new plan. We'll see what happens.

In case you're wondering why we would move in now, we have to. Our current landlady was foreclosed on last month, and if we move out fast enough we get a substantial amount of cash for keys money.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 10:36:00 AM
David said...: Patient, I read NYT every day and missed that one. Can you point me to it? Thanks.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 10:47:00 AM
patient renter said...: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/business/30services.html

This brings up the question of whether or not there's a servicer on the loan, but that's often the case.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 11:09:00 AM
patient renter said...: I should also mention - another topic that isn't often touched on is mortgage insurance, which stands as another potential incentive for the lender to just as easily let the home go into foreclosure as to arrange a shortsale or a workout.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 11:11:00 AM
Buying Time said...: David -

In our short sale experience, the listing agent, puts an artificially low price in the MLS to drum up an offer to give to the bank. Only then will the bank even start to deal with the short sale situation.

Hence, we gave up on short sales, after feeling like we had been "used" to get the bank's "real" price (and that didn't even include sign off of the second).

Just saw today that the SS we went after (twice) sold as a REO for 120k less than our first offer....never even hit the MLS though.

Insanely frustrating. So I feel your pain.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 12:57:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: Deutsche Bank predicts that 48% of all US mortgages will be underwater by the year 2011 with Jumbos hitting 46%, and prime at 41%. They're also predicting an overall 14% decline in pricing over the same period. This is a doubling of their forecast of just a year ago...

In that prime represents such a large percentage of all loans, the impact is considered to be significant.

If one discounts the DB forecast by half, it would put the risk of foreclosures at even greater levels than we've seen up to this point. And that's not likely counting the spike we'll see by '11 when Alt-A begins its peak.; Thursday, August 06, 2009 1:33:00 PM
b1whois said...: has anyone heard of the "produce the note" strategy? it tries to do three things: 1) delay foreclosure, 2) provide leverage for the homeowner in the negotiations, and 3) protect the homeowner from being foreclosed on the same house twice. (link in 3 parts, must paste together)

http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com
/2009/03/05/how-to-use-produce-the-
note-in-non-judicial-foreclosure-states/

another page on the site says this, but there is no link to verify....
"A Tennessee borrower recently had precisely that happen to her. Her lender, Ameriquest, foreclosed on her in July of 2007. About three months later, another bank sent her a default notice for the mortgage on the house she just lost. She called to find out what was going on. After being transferred from place to place and left on hold for lengthy periods of time, no one could explain what happened. They said they would get back to her, but never did. Now, she faces the risk of having her credit continually damaged for a debt she no longer owes."

the page is http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com
/2009/03/19/learn-how-to-use-produce-
the-note-to-save-your-home/; Thursday, August 06, 2009 5:47:00 PM
patient renter said...: I've read some anecdotes about it being used with success in Florida where, as it turns out, nobody could produce the note. It might be worth trying elsewhere.; Friday, August 07, 2009 9:53:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: That's especially true if the note has been carved up and packaged with other paper.; Friday, August 07, 2009 10:19:00 AM
Fibonacci said...: What are peoples thoughts on house rents, esp in the Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Arden and Sierra Oaks area? I'm thinking higher quality homes, at least 3 bedrooms, maybe 2-3 baths.; Friday, August 07, 2009 3:18:00 PM
slow burn said...: My brother is finally being foreclosed on his house in Sacramento.
He called and asked if I wanted to buy it from him. I told him no and he sounded disappointed, like, why wouldn't I want to buy his 50+ year old house that is almost a dump from him?
Even if I wanted to help him, he's taken so much equity out, I wouldn't be able to get a loan because his mortgage is so much more than the house is worth.
I do plan on buying again, but not until prices go down further or stabalize.; Tuesday, August 11, 2009 9:56:00 PM
slow burn said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; Wednesday, August 12, 2009 5:59:00 PM
slow burn said...: Apparently, the bank doesn't want my brothers house back. I told him to call the bank directly and he did, so they worked something out.

He paid a company $1500 to lower his loan rate, which was a big rip-off. They told him to stop making payments but didn't do anything else, except take his money.

My brother isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.; Wednesday, August 12, 2009 6:00:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: This is an interesting story. A Folsom family of 6, with a job loss, lives off $320 a week. They show how they do it: http://tinyurl.com/mkhent

It should be mandatory watching for all adults.; Wednesday, August 12, 2009 10:16:00 PM
Rich said...: Folsom family living on $320 a week:

Cars, plural? Basic cable?

Right after the meals out, I'd take all but one car of the road and cut the cable completely.; Thursday, August 13, 2009 4:29:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: Just heard a report on the radio that the median price of a Sac Co home is $150K and how that correlates to affordability index. They stated it took an income of $26K to afford that home. I guess they don't understand deleveraging. And that also shows you we still have room to fall with people out of touch with reality. The market isn't that liquid anymore.; Friday, August 14, 2009 4:46:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: The problem is Rich, when you get bored you start spending money. $30 bucks a month to save over $150 is a good deal in my book. Taking out $2500 a month out of your budget is probably putting that family in the 99 percentile in terms of savings.; Friday, August 14, 2009 4:48:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: From Wasserman: The horror: 2.9 million Calif. mortgages underwater: http://bit.ly/fcRdR; Friday, August 14, 2009 5:56:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: The supposed recovery we're seeing is nothing more than a "bean counter's dream". It's all on paper and has nothing to do with mainstream America's problems. Consumer spending, at 70% of GDP, is the driver our economy requires to shake us from this mess.

July's foreclosure numbers are 5th worst on record since the onslaught began, yet there's very little inventory to honor that fact. Realtors are complaining there's nothing but short sales available to sell. The shadow foreclosure numbers have been growing, and are being added to monthly, but hardly a trickle has hit the street since March. Some believe its big block investors taking on hundreds of homes at once...

This pot's boiling and close to spillover, imo, and will set up real estate in Sacramento for the next leg down.

There's no good reason to buy until inventory manipulation stops. You're gambling on a supply that overwhelms available buyers pressuring prices to further decline.; Saturday, August 15, 2009 7:57:00 AM
mopar777 said...: Late last month I put in an all cash offer on a duplex in a pretty good area of Fair Oaks for $20K over asking. Even with rents what they are it would return close to 10% after monthly expenses. It's bank owned. I was beat out by an offer that was "way way" over mine, according to the listing agent.

Another larger duplex on the same street went to auction on the courthouse steps on 7/6. The minimum bid was low but was not released until 5-10 minutes before auction. There were no takers. Seems to me the bank holding that one wants to hold onto it for a long while, squatter tennants and all!

Meanwhile there are many crummy duplexes on the market in Fair Oaks, Citrus Heights and Orangevale that sit and languish month after month because they are either teardowns or in bad pockets of humanity.; Saturday, August 15, 2009 4:20:00 PM
mopar777 said...: That duplex in Fair Oaks that I was beat out on had THIRTY offers on it by the way.; Saturday, August 15, 2009 4:21:00 PM
smf said...: About those offers 'over asking'...

...check on Zillow after it closes to really see how much 'over asking' it really was for.

Had a friend that decided NOT to play that game with another buyer in the house. She was told that the offer was $20K 'over asking'. She declined.

Zillow indicated later that the house had sold for...asking price...a reasonable price for the house at the time.

But 'over asking'...it was not...; Saturday, August 15, 2009 6:08:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: Sounds like a bubble forming in Fair Oaks. Guess people are getting impatient with the stock market.; Sunday, August 16, 2009 7:56:00 PM
patient renter said...: The New American Real Estate Dream is Renting

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350432677038184.html

...complete with photo of Placer County house farm.; Monday, August 17, 2009 9:24:00 AM
patient renter said...: "Sounds like a bubble forming in Fair Oaks"

At this rate by the time all of the air is out, once and for all, I'll be paying cash. Fine by me.; Monday, August 17, 2009 3:35:00 PM
husmanen said...: I was thinking about the 'all cash' option and something Giacomo said on Average Buyer's blog.

Would you buy a house today, at current prices, in the middle and upper price ends, if you had all cash?

Basically NO leverage.

Currently, I have to answer no to that question.

However, at 25%-35% more reduction in the higher end, I would then say yes.; Monday, August 17, 2009 4:56:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: I've seen lots of inventory coming out since Friday. And we're not even past the lifting of the foreclosure moratorium. Things will get interesting next month.; Monday, August 17, 2009 9:29:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: Roseville had their first murder of the year today, and in a newer part of town. Wonder what that will do to the neighboring home prices.; Monday, August 17, 2009 10:33:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: "Roseville had their first murder of the year today"

Made a decision to leave Sacto area in favor of a small town of 15,000 with a metro area population that's only 5% of Sacramento's. Will save 25% on rent, live in a better home, and hopefully sidestep what appears to be rising crime and violence in more heavily populated areas.

Will miss Sacramento's charm and history in favor of a lifestyle that we hope is a bit more predictable.; Tuesday, August 18, 2009 7:54:00 AM
patient renter said...: Wow Diggin, good luck. Can't say I'm not envious.; Tuesday, August 18, 2009 9:41:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: PR...only going to be about 2 hours away from Sacto and will enjoy the best offered in the city from time to time. Found a 1910 Craftsman in the older part of town, completely restored, and in great shape. White picket fence, big yard with mature landscaping, pool, full basement, 4 car garage, etc. Thought about buying it but, as with most seller's today, it was overpriced (by at least $125-150K). Offered to rent it if they ever took it off the market. The owner's contacted us, and we're moving in the next couple of weeks.; Tuesday, August 18, 2009 11:16:00 AM
patient renter said...: It sounds awesome. We're open to making the big jump elsewhere, but I think we'd need a bit of a catalyst. I suspect we'll get one some day.; Tuesday, August 18, 2009 12:40:00 PM
husmanen said...: DD, sounds great.

So as not to end up moving again in the near future, in case a foreclosure occurred on the new rental, where you able to pull any data just to check on 2nds or 3rds?; Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:46:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: Husmanen, yes we did do a bit of due diligence. The owners did refi, and take money out, but the new note had a balance that should be covered by the rental payment. They were talking about putting it back up for sale in about 10 months (they think the market will turn around by then). We offered a year's lease with an option for two more and they agreed.

I think we're ok (if there's anything such a safe today). The market probably doesn't turn for several more years, and when it does, prices will probably have fallen by another 10% or more. We'd like to get into a "first right of refusal" position with the owners, should they elect to sell at a lower price. We'll see how it pans out.

If push comes to shove, we're not very far from our 25 acre ranch, which has living quarters. It's always been our goal to build on it and retire.; Tuesday, August 18, 2009 2:25:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: A stabbing in Lincoln last night. It just gets better and better, but prices are going up, right?; Wednesday, August 19, 2009 9:46:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: Mortgage delinquencies hit record high in Q2

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090820/ap_on_bi_ge/us_foreclosures_4

"The record-high numbers in the report are being driven by borrowers with traditional fixed-rate mortgages, rather than the shady subprime loans with adjustable rates that kicked off the mortgage crisis. As of June, more than 4 percent of all borrowers were in foreclosure and about 9 percent had missed at least one payment."

The math gets pretty ugly when one considers that we have approximately $13-14 Trillion in mortgages overall. If 13% of those mortgages are faltering the "current" max risk stands at between $1.7 and $1.8 Trillion. Unless there's a job's miracle on the way, foreclosures don't look like they're about to back off.; Thursday, August 20, 2009 8:30:00 AM
husmanen said...: Came across this nice graph of Northern Ca.

http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/NorCal.html

Wonder where we are?; Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:05:00 PM
Unknown said...: http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/CenCal.html

Housing prices have changed so drastically and fundamentally that I don't know if there will ever be a "baseline" that you can rely on. If these graphs show anything, it's how different parts of the state have developed over the years.; Friday, August 21, 2009 7:41:00 AM
patient renter said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; Monday, August 24, 2009 10:38:00 AM
patient renter said...: Great graph, thanks for posting.

"Housing prices have changed so drastically and fundamentally that I don't know if there will ever be a "baseline" that you can rely on."

If the price changes were fundamental we wouldn't have had a crash. I think inflation as an equilibrium/baseline is just fine, at least Shiller would say as much. Only time will tell.; Monday, August 24, 2009 10:41:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: Looks like more foreclosed homes are starting to hit the market. No big rush yet, but there's been a slight upswing starting over the last couple of weeks. Banks have to be choking on what's been backing up on their books.

Anyone else notice the slight uptick?; Monday, August 24, 2009 12:12:00 PM
Deflationary Jane said...: DD,

I sure have, along with the repeated price reductions in the "good areas".

For you Davis watchers, duplexes and Mace ranch houses are hitting the trustee sales, not just the little WW2 crapboxes. Enjoy! I won't touch Davis with someone else's pole but I'm sure some idiot will fall on those >; )

BTW DD - Grats on the new place. I'm waiting to hear on my offer. I'm guessing there will be lots of back and forth. Hint - not an SFR & not in the Sac MSA.; Tuesday, August 25, 2009 9:01:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: DJ...

Thanks, just looking to get out of the way...fewer rats in a bigger cage if you know what I mean...

The intrigue of it all. You said earlier you might look for some acreage. Wherever and whatever you're negotiating on, I have no doubt things will work to your advantage. Keep us posted.; Tuesday, August 25, 2009 12:27:00 PM
Anonymous said...: This discussion showed up here a couple times around tax season.

I just received my refund for property taxes that were overpaid last year on a house in Sac. Purchased Sept 08, overpaid Dec 08, April 09, refunded Aug 09.

Annoying, but not really any slower than the supplemental bills when the prices were rising.; Thursday, August 27, 2009 9:45:00 AM
Diggin Deeper said...: Regarding taxes and property revaluations, there are services cropping up that look very "official" and ask for payment in order to reassess your property at current value. I got one in the mail the other day, and it looked like it came from the county, and I was tempted to write a check and send it off. After careful review, it turned out to be nothing more than a service org that would work with the county for a fee.

Kind of a scam, in that I just received a reassessment, from the county I own property in. Knocked about 23% off the tax bill.

These firms are unnecessary, as counties are reassessing anyway.; Thursday, August 27, 2009 12:17:00 PM
patient renter said...: It sounds like the foreclosure mod scams. I've seen some official looking mailings from foreclosure mod companies that are worked up to look like they're from the government. I'm not surprised that people bite.; Thursday, August 27, 2009 1:04:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: Loans That Looked Easy Pose Threats to Recovery

When Harvey Clavon took out an exotic mortgage to refinance his home in Santa Clarita, Calif., three years ago, he thought he knew what he was doing. His mortgage payments have risen to $2,700 a month because of a clause he did not notice on his contract, and are scheduled to rise above $4,000 in two years. “By the time subprime defaults had increased 200 percent, in June and July of 2007, option ARMs had gone up 400 percent. People just didn’t notice because the overall numbers weren’t as high.”
http://tinyurl.com/krcryk; Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:51:00 PM
norcaljeff said...: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Homebuilding permits filed in California in July fell significantly from June as a state tax credit for buyers of new homes expired, a homebuilders group said on Monday.

The tax credit offered earlier this year pulled homebuyers from the sidelines back into the state's beleaguered market for new homes but they have retreated since the incentive lapsed last month.

"Our homebuilders reported a significant drop in traffic last month, largely due to the state closing the window on the homebuyer tax credit," said Robert Rivinius, president and chief executive of the California Building Industry Association.

He noted the state government stopped taking applications for the $10,000 new-home credit at the beginning of July.

"Activity stopped as quickly as it started, which is bad news for housing and the broader economy," Rivinius said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/gc03/idUSTRE57N5QZ20090824; Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:57:00 PM
Diggin Deeper said...: This article from American Banker

Postponing the Day of Reckoning

http://www.bankinvestmentconsultant.com/news/postponing-reckoning-foreclosure-2663681-1.html

This article basically confirms the notion that banks are holding onto foreclosed inventory so they don't have to take their losses.

"Of the 2.3 million homes that received foreclosure notices last year, one-third had been repossessed by yearend, according to RealtyTrac."

As a dovetail to the above:

Desperate for Capital, the FDIC Backs Away From Tougher Rules Governing Private Equity Purchases of Failed U.S. Banks

http://www.moneymorning.com/2009/08/28/fdic-funding-crisis/

"The number of troubled banks rose to 416 at the end of June from 305 at the end of March. The FDIC hasn’t had that many banks on its “problem list” since June 1994, when there were 434, the agency said. Assets at these troubled institutions totaled $299.8 billion – the worst level since the end of 1993, according to the FDIC."

As banks continue to hold onto a growing inventory of non-performing mortgage assets (1.5 million homes if Realty Trac is correct), many of them are now inching closer to "troubled" status.

It's getting more difficult to believe that sweeping huge problems under the rug, won't eventually wear down any upturns in the overall economy.

It's Friday, and that means, at the end of the day, we'll get to see which banks fail next.; Friday, August 28, 2009 6:46:00 AM
RV6Flyer said...: Is there a blog for commercial real estate?

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/107635/commercial-real-estate-lurks-as-next-potential-mortgage-crisis.html; Monday, August 31, 2009 9:37:00 PM