MaryAnn's San Diego RE Blog

In February, I wrote about the opportunity to buy a home in 4S Ranch at a great price and buyers took the advice.  Showings at my listings more than tripled from January.  Pending sales are up.  As of today March 20th there are 28 pending sale plus another 15 contingent short sales, listings waiting for lender approval before going to pending status.  To appreciate how good that is, as of February first there were only 12 pending sales, today 28.  Pending sales have more than doubled.   Don’t worry there are still some great homes available as a number of new listings came on the market in March.  Homes are available in all sizes from 1,310 to 4,632 square feet, 3 to 6 bedrooms and 2 to 4 car garages.  There is something for everyone, prices range from $406,000 to $980,000 for detached homes.  I’ll say it again – It is a great time to buy in 4S Ranch! 

Inventory is up and prices are down! When comparing February 2010 to February 2011- you'll see that the number of homes for sale has doubled and the number of pending sale is lower. Why? Because sales are slow.  In late 2008 to early 2009, we saw some of the lowest prices ever solicited in 4S Ranch.  However, in the last couple of months I have seen sale prices that go even below those lows.  Now is a great time to make your move to 4S Ranch.  The regular sales are competing with the short sales for buyers.  There are homes available in all the price ranges.  If you were priced out of a detached home before - now is the time to take a second look.  Some of the detached condominiums are even hitting lows that go below $400,000.  The short sale listings in this price range are going quickly and are receiving multiple offers - so be prepared.  Great deals are easy to be found in 4S Ranch - both in the traditional and short sale listings.

• 4 Things to remember if you are considering a short sale purchase:

1. The lender holding the first loan will have final say over the sale.  Even if you negotiated a great deal with the seller - be prepared for the lender to come back and ask for more money.
2. What you see it what you get. The sale will be for most part, in "AS IS" condition.  Don't expect anyone to make repairs.  If you need pest control (termite) clearance for your loan - expect to pay for it.
3. If there is a second loan on the home, ask how the second loan is going to get paid.  Sometimes the first loan will pay the second loan, but that is not always the case.  If there is a large second loan on the home - ask if the seller will make a contribution to payoff that loan.  Paying money outside of escrow to a second lender might be concealing this additional payment from a federally-insured senior lender - which may constitute loan fraud.
4. Time frame. Just because it's a short sale - doesn't mean it will be quick. You should expect 60 to 120 days for approval, in addition to the 30 day escrow.

Start looking for your 4S Ranch home, TODAY!! If you are looking for a home in the 3,000 to 4,000 sq.ft square foot range, I have a number of homes that are coming up for sale.  Send me a email. Let's chat!!

Inventory is up - way up.  I started tracking 4S Ranch market numbers in April 2008 and this is by far the highest I have ever seen it.  Foreclosures and Short Sales rule.  This morning I noticed a traditional sale listing, in Rosemary Lane, in relatively good condition and location listed at the same price as a recently sold Bank foreclosure that needed appliances, carpet, paint and was in an inferior location.   There are some awesome deals out there for buyers.  Prices have dropped from the small increase we saw at the end of 2009 beginning of 2010. 

The scary part of this economy is that a number of home buyers in 2007 and 2008 who bought bank owned foreclosures are now receiving notices of default.  These are buyers who got good deals, didn’t buy at the peak of the market and know the reality of a Notice of Default.  This is happening not only in 4S Ranch but in many other areas as well.  To me, part of the reason of why we can not recover is that this indicates it’s an employment issue combined with toxic loans (interest only loans are a nightmare) and negative equity.  Good paying stable jobs will turn the economy around.  No one buys a home and thinks they will be in foreclosure in just a couple of years.

There are at least 90 home owners in 4S Ranch facing foreclosure and many others that are just hanging on.  The foreclosures need to take place to get the market stabilized.  Banks stopping all foreclosures will not move us forward.  When foreclosures were halted before I didn’t agree with it then either.  Stopping foreclosures may have been good for the banks but not the homeowners. The homeowner was still stuck in a home they could no longer afford.  Bank of America, for example, is only delaying foreclosure for about a month.   It may sound harsh but getting that foreclosure or short sale completed and done with will allow homeowners to move on with their lives.  I know it may sound sweet to be living in a home rent free for a year (many of the current notices of trustee sales defaulted on their loans over a year ago) but when you speak with the owners they are still broke, unhappy and living under a tremendous amount of stress in their lives.  Getting to the next step will be taking the weight of the world off their shoulders and they can start over.  Somewhere between 2 and 7 years they can buy a home again.   But they need to have the short sale or foreclosure take place to start over.