I am interested in buying a property in Marina bay. I searched on Trulia. There are 90 homes listed in Marina bay. Most of them are at some stage of foreclosure. 90 seems to be a big number for such a small area. If all these foreclosure homes hit market, will they drive price down further? Anybody has any insights?

clearly the bottom has not been reached for richmond. it's a lot harder to answer this for a small area like marina bay since the sample rate is so small. my gut feeling is that prices have stabilized in that particular part of richmond, but of course no one really can predict how the economy is going to develop in the next 12-36 months.

Prices have continued to decline up until about 30 days ago, with the improvements in interest rates in the last few weeks and the price of homes now being affordable we have seen an increase in activity in the Richmond/Marina Bay Area. the homebuyer can now buy cheaper than they can rent. We feel the bottom has been reached and the time to buy is now. This is the opportunity buyers have been waiting for. We have helped many transition to home ownership. Feel free top contact us with any questions

Mike Rowland
Windermere Rowland Realty
510-222-9150

You don't want to buy when it hits rock bottom, that is too hard to estimate and you will end up paying more because of the bidding wars that result. This is starting to happen right now with all the REOs. Investors that make a living studying these markets an purchasing these homes now. Talk to an agent in Richmond and they will tell you how hard it is to get an offer accepted on one of these homes. There is always someone who outbids you. So if you want a good deal, purchase an REO or short sale, they are already "bottomed out".

The key factor you need to think about is not when the market bottoms out, but that you're in the bottom fold of the market. Trying to time when the market completely bottoms out is useless as the only time we know that we've hit rock bottom is when we start rebounding up! Great time to buy in Marina Bay, low interest rates and low prices.

Just sold one at The Cove at Marina Bay, and yes, they will negotiate - prices are now very attractive, and you can get something that is quite lovely for $300,000 or less. I like the Cove because the units are laid out well and most outlooks from most windows are nice. Those sold by owners who need to get out are "short sales", many times they go on and on while the bank decides whether to say yes to the "short" part of the sale - many times they will not go along with the agreed upon price between buyers and seller and the property ends up in foreclosure. I don't know if those units will be sold individually by banks at really good prices, but rather to investors who buy 4-10 units at a time and get a good discount.