Here are a few notes on legal issues from the California Association of Realtors Board of Directors meeting in Sacramento on June 5, 2008.
REO and vacant properties are being rented by crooks. They collect the first and last months rent plus the security deposit and then skip town.
Some cities are cleaning up the REO properties and attaching liens against the title.
A lawyer group in the Monterey area is making offers to purchase short sale properties from the owners and promising to help them. They turn around and rent the property back to the owners for three years. The owners are offered to purchase the property at the end of the lease term or get a percentage of the profit when it is sold.
Some banks are requiring the short sale sellers to sign an affidavit that they were truthful in their original loan application and thus giving the banks the rights to go after them.
Watch out for REO addendums that give the unilateral cancellation rights to the lender up to the closing without cause.
Buyers should upgrade their title insurance policy when purchasing REO property.
In San Diego, a company is promising homeowners to rescue them from foreclosures by the use of "Land Grants". They are charging $10,000 to each homeowner and having the properties transferred to their names. After the transfer, they rent the properties back to them.
Some agents are charging the homeowners up to $2,000 in cash to help them with their short sales, foreclosures or loan modifications....watch out!
Some homeowners associations are charging from $250 to $1100 to produce the HOA documents.
Scam artists see the "NOD" as an invitation to come out and take advantage of the sellers in trouble.
When selling a home as a short sale, the owner should seek legal and tax advice (capital gains, phantom tax on the debt forgiveness, recapturing the depreciation and other possible issues),
A law firm up north is purchasing recourse 2nd trust deeds that were wiped and going after the borrowers.
Hills and City Lights Views
• 4,206 sq. ft., 5 bath, 5 bdrm 2 story "Exceptional Design" - 
MLS® $1,100,000 - Reduced $50,000
Alta Loma, Rancho Cucamonga - This beauty of a home provides a gracious interior. Formal dining and living rooms. 5 relaxing bedrms along with 5 full bathrooms. 3 warm and cosy interior fireplaces and 2 exterior fireplaces! Custom built cabinets and shelving. Hardwood flooring with designer tile inlaid at entrance. Its gourmet kit. has a light and airy morning room for casual dining. A walk in butler's pantry. granite counter tops, stainless appliances (including refrigerator), self cleaning dbl. convection oven, 36" five-burner stainless steel cook top, microwave and an upgraded stainless dishwasher. Private master suite with retreat and a see through gas log fireplace. Oval soaking tub. Sep tile shower. His and her closets! The exterior has a cultured stone courtyard with a gas log fireplace, a courtyard fountain and landscape lighting. The exterior has complete rear and side yard fencing with rear access to trail. Custom designed covered porch with side patio and trellis. Just 3 years old in perfect condition!
Property information
Per DataQuick, foreclosures in California were at the highest level in the first quarter of 2008 in more than 15 years. The lending industry's irresponsible practices during the real estate boom in 2005 and 2006 are the main reason for foreclosures and declining home values.
"The main factor behind this foreclosure surge remains the decline in home values. Additionally, a lot of the 'loans-gone-wild' activity happened in late 2005 and 2006 and that's working its way through the system. The big 'if' right now is whether or not the economy is in recession. If it is, the foreclosure problem could spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick's president.
Click here for the full article.
Below are home price medians amd home sales comparisions from April 2007 to April 2008 for San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. This information is reported by DataQuick. These figures include resale single family homes and condos as well as new homes where the city is known.
County/City/Area | # Sold | April 2008 | April 2007 | % Change
Yr-to-Yr |
San Bernardino County | 1,509 | $265,000 | $370,000 | -28.38% |
ADELANTO | 31 | $175,000 | $293,000 | -40.27% |
APPLE VALLEY | 86 | $205,750 | $287,000 | -28.31% |
BARSTOW | 19 | $157,500 | $185,500 | -15.09% |
BIG BEAR CITY | 20 | $257,500 | $263,500 | -2.28% |
BIG BEAR LAKE | 27 | $341,000 | $459,000 | -25.71% |
BLOOMINGTON | 10 | $220,000 | $398,000 | -44.72% |
CHINO | 53 | $435,500 | $500,000 | -12.90% |
CHINO HILLS | 66 | $452,500 | $605,000 | -25.21% |
COLTON | 21 | $220,000 | $327,500 | -32.82% |
CRESTLINE | 15 | $175,000 | $225,000 | -22.22% |
FAWNSKIN | 2 | $332,000 | $740,000 | -55.14% |
FONTANA | 162 | $315,000 | $448,500 | -29.77% |
GRAND TERRACE | 9 | $263,000 | $357,500 | -26.43% |
GREEN VALLEY LAKE | 2 | $172,750 | $386,000 | -55.25% |
HELENDALE | 13 | $260,000 | $305,000 | -14.75% |
HESPERIA | 87 | $215,000 | $320,500 | -32.92% |
HIGHLAND | 34 | $325,000 | $406,500 | -20.05% |
JOSHUA TREE | 14 | $123,000 | $200,000 | -38.50% |
LAKE ARROWHEAD | 24 | $385,000 | $420,000 | -8.33% |
LOMA LINDA | 12 | $344,750 | $384,500 | -10.34% |
LUCERNE VALLEY | 2 | $180,750 | $221,000 | -18.21% |
MENTONE | 7 | $315,000 | $257,500 | 22.33% |
MONTCLAIR | 17 | $350,000 | $387,000 | -9.56% |
MORONGO VALLEY | 5 | $155,000 | $166,500 | -6.91% |
ONTARIO | 75 | $300,000 | $390,000 | -23.08% |
PHELAN | 7 | $230,000 | $192,000 | 19.79% |
PINON HILLS | 3 | $230,000 | $275,000 | -16.36% |
RANCHO CUCAMONGA | 129 | $393,000 | $480,000 | -18.13% |
REDLANDS | 47 | $337,500 | $399,500 | -15.52% |
RIALTO | 61 | $239,000 | $380,500 | -37.19% |
RUNNING SPRINGS | 11 | $180,250 | $274,500 | -34.34% |
SAN BERNARDINO | 115 | $190,000 | $315,000 | -39.68% |
SUGARLOAF | 4 | $123,000 | $191,500 | -35.77% |
TWENTYNINE PALMS | 18 | $140,000 | $150,000 | -6.67% |
TWIN PEAKS | 5 | $215,000 | $264,000 | -18.56% |
UPLAND | 34 | $447,500 | $565,000 | -20.80% |
VICTORVILLE | 175 | $220,000 | $317,750 | -30.76% |
YUCAIPA | 42 | $282,500 | $417,500 | -32.34% |
YUCCA VALLEY | 34 | $155,000 | $200,000 | -22.50% |
Riverside County | 2,978 | $294,000 | $410,000 | -28.29% |
BANNING | 33 | $217,500 | $276,000 | -21.20% |
BEAUMONT | 103 | $285,000 | $368,000 | -22.55% |
BLYTHE | 6 | $190,500 | $183,500 | 3.81% |
CALIMESA | 7 | $275,000 | $205,000 | 34.15% |
CATHEDRAL CITY | 64 | $230,500 | $335,500 | -31.30% |
COACHELLA | 32 | $230,000 | $309,318 | -25.64% |
CORONA | 321 | $394,000 | $570,000 | -30.88% |
DESERT HOT SPRINGS | 61 | $175,000 | $288,000 | -39.24% |
HEMET | 149 | $190,000 | $319,500 | -40.53% |
IDYLLWILD | 8 | $233,500 | $354,500 | -34.13% |
INDIAN WELLS | 27 | $850,000 | $837,000 | 1.55% |
INDIO | 159 | $292,500 | $351,000 | -16.67% |
LA QUINTA | 125 | $561,500 | $583,000 | -3.69% |
LAKE ELSINORE | 103 | $290,000 | $410,750 | -29.40% |
MENIFEE | 98 | $277,500 | $390,000 | -28.85% |
MIRA LOMA | 23 | $418,000 | $542,500 | -22.95% |
MORENO VALLEY | 203 | $235,000 | $385,000 | -38.96% |
MURRIETA | 212 | $310,500 | $465,000 | -33.23% |
NORCO | 18 | $520,000 | $635,000 | -18.11% |
NUEVO | 3 | $205,000 | $508,181 | -59.66% |
PALM DESERT | 141 | $353,000 | $406,000 | -13.05% |
PALM SPRINGS | 199 | $240,000 | $365,000 | -34.25% |
PERRIS | 111 | $225,000 | $362,500 | -37.93% |
RANCHO MIRAGE | 69 | $510,000 | $527,000 | -3.23% |
RIVERSIDE | 248 | $300,000 | $410,000 | -26.83% |
SAN JACINTO | 56 | $220,000 | $340,000 | -35.29% |
SUN CITY | 98 | $241,750 | $339,250 | -28.74% |
TEMECULA | 188 | $329,000 | $459,000 | -28.32% |
THOUSAND PALMS | 2 | $187,500 | $303,500 | -38.22% |
WHITE WATER | 3 | $173,000 | $220,000 | -21.36% |
WILDOMAR | 48 | $327,000 | $450,000 | -27.33% |
WINCHESTER | 55 | $329,000 | $478,000 | -31.17% |
CQ Press, a reference and texbook publishing company has listed Chino Hills as the 16th safest city in the United States on the list of cities with a population of 75,000 or more. CQ Press is a division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc. and located in Washington DC. Statistics were acquired from 2006 crime data released from the FBI.
Other So. California cities rankings...Mission Viejo ranked number one, Thousand Oaks, number 7, Lake Forest number 10 and Irvine number 11.
Have home prices bottomed out? This is a question I receive all the time from my clients. I have not been able to say for sure, but it now looks like it may be coming close. The link below is from a Yahoo message board regarding a market review from John Dessauer, editor of John Dessauer's Investor's World. It addresses investment indicators of market improvements for IndyMac. For those not into investment jargon, this paragraph from the thread summarizes the analysis in layman's terms.
"A New York based hedge fund manager recently made the case that the housing market is bottoming out right now. The key element in his analysis is affordability. He says the combination of rising incomes and falling house prices means that a home buyer needs just 19% of average monthly income to afford a house. That is the level that prevailed during the 1990s and early 2000s, well down from the 25% threshold in 2006. No one suggests a new housing boom is coming along. But it is looking more and more like the worst is over or nearly over for housing."
Click on the link below to view the message thread:
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_I/threadview?m=tm&bn=51399&tid=26237&mid=26237&tof=7&frt=2
Near Claremont Club Premier Fitness Ctr!
• 1,177 sq. ft., 3 bath, 2 bdrm 2 story - MLS® $379,900 - Range $379,900 - $369,900
Claremont, Los Angeles County - Elegant upgraded Claremont condo near the Claremont Club! Stunning French pattern Travertine tile recently installed throughout the unit. Two upper level bathrooms and one half bath on main floor, all newly remodeled with upgraded fixtures and Travertine tile. Two spacious bedrooms (one master) with mirrored wardrobes. Recently remodeled kitchen with granite counters. Crown molding in living room, kitchen and dining area. Upgraded light fixtures and newly installed stairwell banister. Fresh paint throughout, indoor laundry, utility storage closet at patio and attached garage. Enjoy the greenbelt view from the private patio and Mountain View from the street. This exceptional condo is located within walking distance of the Claremont Club premier fitness center, near the 210 freeway, shopping and schools. Turnkey and ready to enjoy! Sq.ft. not taped, buyer to verify.
Property information
Check local real estate sales market statistics as they change. Information usually changes monthly, but some adjustments may change weekly.
Homes Sales Market Watch