Mike Crowley

Jennifer -

To answer your question about prices, here's what's going on in the market in Orange County. These numbers are taken directly from the MLS and are numbers I have been tracking personally since 1997.

During 2008 numbers of new sales have increased over the previous month. April and May's sales numbers were each 40% higher than the same periods in 2007. Sales through the first three weeks of June have already surpassed sales for all of June 2007 by 21%. The inventory of homes on the market has dropped from a high of about 18,000 in August to less than 15,000 right now. Typically during this period of the year inventory rises. Sales prices in June have increased .4% over May although prices are down 23% from last year at this time. However, prices in March and April actually increased over the previous month's. Anecdotally, it is not unheard of right now to see properties that have multiple offers on them (and it's not just bank owned ones, either).

Having been in the business since 1985, I've seen these cycles. Where we are right now I compare to where we were in 1996. At that point we attained critical mass on the numbers of short sales and foreclosures, then in 1997 it seemed that it all dried up like the snap of a finger and the market began a nice gradual increase. I also watched how we began to have little trickles of negative real estate news at the very tops of those past cycles and I also have seen the little trickles of positive real estate news at the bottoms. We are starting to see those positive news items here and there.

Therefore, I think we are now at the time where someone should make a serious decision to buy. I feel we are at the bottom. With inventory declining over the past 10 months, sales increasing over the past six months and prices in South Orange County holding steady for the past three months, I believe you will make a good decision in buying.

Mike Crowley
CENTURY 21 Professionals - Wed Jun 25 2008, 17:17

Ernie - There are no income or credit restrictions that Laguna Woods Village places on renters. Just like with most any other rental property, each individual landlord would have requirements on what they are looking for in a renter. Most will insist on reviewing your credit report but it is not unheard of where a landlord decided to forego that in return for receiving six or more months of rental payments up front.

Mike Crowley - Wed Jun 18 2008, 13:33

Christine -

1. Escrow and closing fees will be the same.

2. There is no fundamental difference in the process between buying a bank owned property vs. any others. You will find a difference, however, in that the banks will usually attach a two to twelve page addendum to your purchasing contract stating various things such as contingency timeframes, as-is language, deposit requirements, and so on (each bank will be different).

3. The main questions you will want to ask are those regarding the condition of the property. You will answer those questions yourself by hiring an inspector to thoroughly investigate the property. Since foreclosure properties are exempt from the normal disclosure laws, the onus is on you, the buyer, to find out everything.

4. As others have said, a bank will generally do nothing to repair things for you. For someone extremely qualified like you who is offering a fair price, the bank might be willing to credit you money for closing costs. It all comes down to net sales price to the bank on what they would give you.

If you need more information, click my profile and send me an email.

Mike Crowley - Tue May 6 2008, 16:56

Bob - from your question it appears you have a place in mind and you are wanting information about what is the sales price percentage compared to asking price, yes? If so, here are the numbers. For April, 2008, of the 68 properties that sold in Aliso Viejo, the average sales price was 96.44% of the final asking price. I also have numbers that compare sales price versus the original asking price when properties first came on the market. Let me know if you want that info too.

Mike Crowley - Tue May 6 2008, 16:39

Randy -- I have the exact answer for you for Orange County. As of the end of May there were 16,471 homes listed for sale in all of Orange County. For the whole month there were 2,147 new sales. So, if there were no more new properties to come on the market in Orange County it would take a bit over seven months to sell everything.
However, since people do always want to sell and it's not realistic to use that as a statistic, taking into account the total inventory for the month plus the new listings for the month and subtracting homes that sell or decide to go off the market during the month, the for sale inventory at the end of May actually increased over by 1,000 homes over the inventory at the end of April.
That's not bad, though. If you look at the cyclical trends during any given year -- whether it's a hot selling market or slow -- the inventory of homes on the market always increases this time of year and will begin to subside starting around September. - Thu Jun 28 2007, 16:19