Mike West

Good afternoon Claudia,
Well maybe I can shed a little light on the situation: First off, it may and may not be the REALTOR® that you're using. When you say you have bid on over 20 homes, who communicated the fact that your bids weren't being entertained? And how close to list price were your bids? Most people aren't having a problem working FHA financing through, so I doubt that it's related to that. Now I believe that what you're talking about is the Nehemiah program that provides the borrower with down-payment assistance. This was officially supposed to be done with on Oct. 1st, but I've been told by lenders that I work with that it's gone already. Another thing to consider is: were you bidding on short sales or REOs/Repos/Foreclosures? On short sales you wouldn't hear back immediately if your bid had been accepted, they would just submit to the bank and wait for the bank's acceptance. Some lenders weren't accepting the 100% financing and that could have been an issue, but many were. If you could provide a little more information, those of us here could probably help in answering the question a little better. If you have any other questions, comments , concerns or I can help at all:

Mike West, REALTOR®
Carmichael West Realty
Riverside, CA 92519
Ph:(951) 830-5962
Fx:(951) 685-7678 http://www.therealestatefrontlines.com

Thank You,
Mike - Thu Aug 28 2008, 12:55

FIRST ANSWER
Hi William,
Before I discuss the purchase process, I want to let you know that home values are really fluctuating right now due to numerous factors. So, unless you get an CMA (comparative market analysis) done or appraisal, it might be difficult to actually pinpoint a price range. Now if you have had these done, well then you probably have a solid idea of what the values of these homes are worth. Now before we get into specifics, purchasing a short sale property as a buyer, is the same as purchasing any other property you might have purchased. In California you will also need to fill out an SSA ( short sale addendum) which goes along with the regular California RPA (Residential Purchase Agreement.)

Now the situation with obtaining financing, is a difficult one to answer because you have a unique situation. Most people don't have equity that they can or want to use right now to purchase a home. There are stipulations for the amount of money needed for a certain loan, if you will not being living in the home owner-occupied. There are a host of options available to you, but as I previously stated with you being in a unique situation, you'd be much better off talking to a lender. I can give you one to contact, you can go to your local mortgage office, or wait for one to chime in here. Good luck and if I can be of any service, feel free to contact me.

Mike West, REALTOR®
Carmichael West Realty
Riverside, CA 92519
Ph:(951) 830-5962
Fx:(951) 685-7678 http://www.therealestatefrontlines.com - Sun Aug 3 2008, 23:01

Hi Rick,

First of all I'm sorry to hear you're going through this right now. But being an "AB" personality myself I hope I can provide some insight into to what might be occurring with the situation. Now when you viewed the home was there a sign up in the front-yard and did she tell you that the home was available? If this wasn't the case she merely made the home available to you to check-out; a "preview" of sorts. Maybe she didn't make this clear to you. If the home is a REO (repo,bank-owned, foreclosure) then there is a process that the bank goes through before the home becomes available. This can include everything from trash-outs to appraisals. And to be honest the banks have been moving slower in regards to these activities. Now I do understand that it's frustrating when you're trying to get something accomplished and can't get any information on your goal. Once again sorry to hear you're going through this. If you'd like to, I can check on the property for you and see what is going on. (my contact information is below) Hope all is well and that you have the chance to get this house.

Mike West, REALTOR®
Carmichael West Realty
Riverside, CA 92519
Ph:(951) 830-5962
Fx:(951) 685-7678 http://www.therealestatefrontlines.com - Thu Jul 24 2008, 20:29

Hi Lisa,

Well I ran the stats and tried to find an average for the La Sierra area (92503) for that sized home and price range. The average home in that area has price per square foot of $169.78 . So you agent was correct in the fact that is priced very similar to others in the area with comparable characteristics. If you're looking for a little more "bang for your buck" check some of the older areas of Riverside such as 92504. The homes are older, but you have some beautiful homes and there are some very well-established neighborhoods. I hope this information has helped.

Mike West, REALTOR®
Carmichael West Realty
Riverside, CA 92519
Ph:(951) 830-5962
Fx:(951) 685-7678 http://www.therealestatefrontlines.com - Wed Jul 23 2008, 17:26

Hi Richard,

I went through the MLS and the only information I could find on 2693 Vernola Way was a closed sale on December 25th, 2005! When was the last time that you checked the property or saw it available? Because there is always the possibility of a glitch or a listing that wasn't inputted correctly. If you need any more information or would like me to run the MLS for similar properties let me know. Hopefully this information has helped and if not, we can do a deeper search. Thank you for letting me answer your question.

Mike West, REALTOR®
Carmichael West Realty
Riverside, CA 92519
Ph:(951) 830-5962
Fx:(951) 685-7678 http://www.therealestatefrontlines.com - Mon Jul 7 2008, 17:26