Luke Hagenbach

Craiglist is going to give you the best selection of available properties. Most of the OC Register inventory is dated, and no longer available.

Your question would have a different answer depending on where in Costa Mesa you are looking to rent. On the Westside, you can probably find a 2 bedroom apartment starting around $1,200/month. On the Eastside, they start out at about $1500/month. Deposits are usually equivalent to 1 months rent, although some of the big complexes will take less. - Mon Apr 28 2008, 10:47

I'm not a big fan of taking isolated times in history and using them to paint a "norm", but since the 1990 and 2000 comparison keeps presenting itself in this thread, I though I would share with everyone the real numbers behind those years. All the information can be found at the link below.
http://www.laalmanac.com/economy/ec37.htm

1990: $242,358
2000: $318,010

This means that after approximately 7 year of one of the worst real estate downturns in history, in a matter of 3 years appreciation levels for the decade were up 31.2%. If you had put 20% down on your home in 1990 ($48,471.60), you would have realized a sizable return on that investment, not to mention having a tax write off, a place you enjoy, and no cost of living rent increase from a lovely landlord.

If you let your eyes wander a little above and a little below those two years, the picture looks even better. Like all decisions in life, it's best to think long-term and how your decisions will affect your sanity and the sanity of those you care about over your lifetime, not in terms of a couple of years. If you think and plan for the future, not just the next couple of years, you will be a more whole person, and you will remove a lot of unneeded risk out of your life.

Another good site to check out in terms of real estate pricing trends is HousingTracker.net. I found it interesting that over the course of the past 12 months the city of Orange and surrounding cities values are down 26.5%, but Newport Beach and surrounding cities values are up 6.5%. This goes back to the discussion earlier about how it's difficult to speak in terms of Orange County values, and then apply them to specific neighborhood pockets.
Orange city values: http://www.housingtracker.net/old_housingtracker/location/Ca…
Newport Beach values: http://www.housingtracker.net/old_housingtracker/location/Ca… - Wed Apr 23 2008, 15:18

It is interesting that if you compliment a person on here for a well written answer you get people who give you a "thumbs down" for recognizing that person. Does anyone care to share why that is?

I believe that the question to address here is if we see O.C. prices declining further, and if we believe it will be in a similar fashion to the Inland Empire...not what our personal feelings are on the expertise of people with a Realtor designation. That is probably better left to another thread.

Cheers everyone... - Wed Apr 23 2008, 13:37

There is not much more that could be said on this topic than what "Oc Buyer" just said. Very well written. - Wed Apr 23 2008, 11:06

Nathan, if you want reliable information I would look elsewhere than the newspaper or evening news. Those sources only feed sensationalism, and primarily that of the fear based type, because that is what human beings most respond to and watch...and they're in the business of selling advertising...and advertisers only advertise if people watch. People won't watch something that says "things are going to status quo".

That said, you live in Fresno, and the situation is much worse where you live. Much worse. Orange County, nice parts of the Bay Area, etc., tend to be more insulated from the current crisis because there were far fewer sub-prime loans going on in these areas. - Tue Apr 22 2008, 19:10

I think anyone that professes to know what the future holds in the market should be trusted lightly. That said, I'll try to make an educated guess here.

It's reasonable to believe that the market will continue to be slow, even slightly falling, through the remainder of this year. I would anticipate that things will level off in 2009, and eventually start on a moderate 4-5% appreciation rate from there.

Orange County as a whole should be fairly well insulated from major downward shifts in the market, as there are certain qualities about Orange County that keep it in high demand. Of course, not every place in Orange County is equal, and there are some locations that are in high demand (ocean front), and other locations that are in low demand (certain areas of Santa Ana come to mind). Buena Park is a decent area that seems to be a good location for commuters, among other things. That said, even within an individual city and neighborhood there are areas in much higher demand than others.

My final advice is to find a real estate professional you TRUST. I mean that more than anything else. Find someone you trust and that has your best interest at heart. Even if they are slightly less knowledgeable and polished, this person will help guide you along the right path.

I hope this helped... - Tue Apr 22 2008, 15:08

I second Sandra's take on the stabilization of the market in Costa Mesa and surrounding areas. Orange County is a country unto itself, and will always remain a strong market. Therefore, it will not experience the major hits like the Inland Empire has taken. In down markets, the strong areas usually hold well, as people desire to live where they work and play. I hope this helps. - Mon Apr 21 2008, 17:22

This questions has been extensively answered in the Trulia string at the link below. I hope this helps you with your quest, Carole.

http://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/I_do_a_lot_of_BPO_s… - Tue Apr 22 2008, 08:49

Update:
I reached the lender's bankruptcy department today. The feedback I got from the bankruptcy department is that I am no longer dealing with their permission and approval. They said that they, the lender, are now at the mercy of the bankruptcy court. I was instructed to contact the bankruptcy attorney my clients are using and request her to submit a motion to the bankruptcy court to have the offer I received on the property accepted. It appears it is now the court's decision, and the Trustee will have a say in whether or not the offer is reviewed and/or accepted. I contacted the attorney via email today but have yet to get a response from her.
So, unless someone else can shed some better light on these type of transactions, I will be referring to them as pre-trustee foreclosures. - Thu Apr 17 2008, 14:38

Ginger,
I'm working with a seller with the exact same situation, so let me know what you find out, and I will share the same. Send me an email so we can keep in touch. I'm just now submitting the package to the bank for review. We will have to add documentation from the bankruptcy court once we get to that point. - Mon Apr 14 2008, 15:38

Thank you, Leanne. I have not signed up for any of the paid services. I'm skeptical of business models that require you to pay them for independent contractor work they are hiring you for. I did sign up for all of the services both you and Sonya recommended earlier in this thread. All of them. Not one of them have contacted me yet. I'm not a rookie agent, either. Could it be that I'm a Realtor and not a Broker? I did give my brokerage information. - Mon Apr 14 2008, 16:36

I have signed up for every single online service recommended on this thread, and to date I have received zero BPO requests, let alone REO listings. I'm not sure why. Any ideas? - Mon Apr 14 2008, 15:16

What a great idea, Patrick. Thank you for sharing in depth how you have created a marketing campaign off of other agents REO properties. A few questions I have are:
1. The most important question is exactly how successful has this campaign been? How long have you been doing this, and how many closed deals have resulted?
2. What has been your biggest hurdle in getting agents to allow you to take over their listing in such a major way. Putting signs up all around the property and leaving the walls covered in other listings seems a bit beyond what I would imagine agents in my area to allow. - Mon Apr 14 2008, 15:12

Fantastic job, Leanne. Thank you for helping us out, and for the advice from the trenches. I will look into all of those sites. Out of curiosity, could either of you tell me what kind of money is to be made from BPO's? Everyone tells me there a huge waste of time, gas, and energy, compared to what they pay. - Thu Apr 3 2008, 16:29

Here's a little more information. I found a similar question posted on Yahoo that had some great follow-up regarding obtaining REO listings through Asset Managers. You can check it out by copying and pasting the entire URL below in your browser:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070509075414AAIygSd

Also, there is a thread here on Trulia that is addressing the same topic. I invited them to come over to our string and help us out a bit. Hopefully they will.
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Tech_Tips/Where_do_Realtors_get…

Lastly, ActiveRain has a good thread on the subject as well:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/66969/Diary-of-an-REO

I hope all this helps! - Wed Apr 2 2008, 10:23

RE/MAX Empire Realty, thank you for the posting and the specific "how to" information. I'm sure Sonya can use the BPO referral route, as she already is in that market. Also, thank you for sharing your personal experience with us. I agree whole-heartedly with you that there are still a lot of buyers and sellers out there that are not in distress.

Christopher, none of us on this forum are looking for, to use your words, the "magic pill", are trying to not "put forth any effort", "want 100 properties dropped on our laps", or are "begging for business". Those are fairly harsh and unfounded accusations to interject into a posting where accomplished real estate professionals are discussing a topic on how to break into a new market segment. We are familiar with general best practices for learning and networking with people, or we wouldn't be where we are at today with respect to our careers.

Remember, the whole point in these Agent2Agent forums are for us to help one another with our respective businesses and to cause a positive impact each time we write a posting. With that said, let's all get back on to the topic at hand and help Sonya out with her quest to break into the REO market :-) - Wed Apr 2 2008, 10:05

What I'm having difficulty understanding (help me out there, Christopher), is that everyone who claims to be "truly in the REO market" speaks of all the woes, money, time and thin margins associated with REO listings, as if they had no other choice for business. I would assume that one is doing a high volume of REO property because it makes them money and is a huge need in the current market, not because they have been coerced into it or have no other options for real estate sales.

The second difficulty I'm having (please stay with me here, and please do not get offended. I mean this with only the best intentions and utmost respect) is that the advice coming from successful REO agents has been vague advice "read a magazine or a book, go to a seminar, etc." To quote Christopher, "there truly is little mistery." So, can someone please demystify for us here where a hard working agent can go to solicit REO listings, and how best to beat out other agents in our area for these listings? In other words, can you share a directory of specific bank contacts with us? Tell us who is in charge of these listings at the bank (title, etc.), what the banks are looking for in a listing agent, what the best methods of contacting them are, how did you get in with your bank contacts, etc.

Thanks in advance... - Tue Apr 1 2008, 15:15

Back to the topic of REO property, and how to obtain these listings...

I've been doing some search around on this subject since it was first brought up by Sonya, and I'm surprised to say there is no good information out there that I can find. None. I think this subject needs to be seriously addressed by members of the community. I emailed one self-proclaimed expert in this field who lives half way across the country from me (is in no way a competitor), and he said he has no information on bank contact information and how to become the agent in my area who gets these listings. I asked him how that could be, since he said he lists so many of these properties. He replied with the following response:

"The problem is , most people that do know have no motivation because it takes their business away. Banks only have so many listings, and when more agents are added to the pile, there are fewer listings, fewer listings mean less money. It's already pretty expensive to be a REO agent, expecially when some banks will charge you $10,000 for a listing and end up not giving you a commission, re-embursements for repairs and the like. It's a hard business and more agents make it harder."

Now I'm not sure if I just called this guy's bluff and he actually doesn't list REO property, or if he is so protective of the information that he's not even willing to share his strategy with an agent who lives 2,000 miles away from him. Either way, this just reveals the need for someone on here who actually does list REO property to give some actionable advice to the rest of us. What I find interesting is if he thinks listing REO property is so unprofitable, why is it that he continues to devote his efforts in that direction?

Anyone have answers!? I''m sure Sonya will give you "Best Answer" if you can come up with some good information and resources. - Sat Mar 29 2008, 15:31

Great question, Sonya. I look forward to hearing some answers from REO focused agents on here. In my market, it appears that the agent that had the listing prior to the Foreclosure ends up with the listing, but I'm sure that is not always the case. There are offices that focus on REO property only. They are not willing to share their secrets of course, because they are in my local market. - Fri Mar 28 2008, 10:11