Mark Wisterman's Paradise & Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

We’ve all heard the old saying , “Give them an inch and they will take a mile.” Right?

Well, this has never held more true than it does today in this age of bank owned properties. No, this is not another one of those bank, bashing blog posts that seem to be everywhere these days. Quite frankly it is difficult to tell if the expanding trend of banks REQUIRING  more and more of a potential purchaser before accepting an offer, is the work of the banks or of some of the bank-employed REALTORS® that have hitched their fortunes to their bank-employer.

Let’s take a little walk down memory lane to see what I mean.

Inch #1-In the beginning, banks that owned foreclosed homes simply required that a buyer present a loan prequalification letter with any offer that was made on one of their homes. This seemed fair, as no seller wants to be dealing with a buyer that is not qualified for a loan.

Inch #2- It was then not good enough that the purchase contract stated that the buyer had given a deposit check to their agent. The bank wanted a copy of the check.

Inch #3-Next the major banks required that any prospective buyer be loan prequalified with their bank before they would consider the buyer’s offer. Great way for the bank’s loan officers to try and persuade a buyer to swtich their business to them. Yes, it is happening! Read the rest of this entry »

For a smaller town like Oroville, prosperity hinges greatly on the amount and quality of development that takes place.  Among other things, future development brings with it new jobs, which brings with it an expanded population base, which brings with it more housing needs. In other words, a prospering Lake Oroville contributes to a strong housing market.

Development, though cannot take place in ANY town without a City Council, or Town Council as the case may be, working together for the common good of it’s beloved city. Not only does nothing get done when city officials are bickering, but you won’t find any major companies willing to come to a town when there is discontent at the highest levels of city government.

So when I read, “City Council tensions erupt into open” on the front page of our local newspaper this morning I could only shake my head in bewilderment at how stupid things can get at City Hall sometimes.

The following e-mail was sent from one Council Member to our mayor. Now before you get your panties in a wad, I am taking no sides in whatever dispute these two elected members of our community are having. In fact, to be honest, I am not sure what the dispute is all about.

But I am sure of one thing, the message in the email below is unbecoming of an elected official and, in my view, may be reason to have him removed from office. I’ll have more comments on this after you read the e-mail. Oh, by the way, the text highlighted in red was my doing. Read the rest of this entry »

 It seems that this week’s Lake Oroville real estate market report reflects some ongoing reporting issues the local REALTORS are having with our new multiple listing service system.

It looks as though that the inventory of unsold homes is beginning to increase slightly. This may be an effect of some sellers trying to get a head start on what most people think is the peak selling season of Spring. Hopefully we can get the bugs worked out of our new MLS system soon. Watch for the weekly sales numbers for the Paradise real estate market later this week.

Today marks the first day of the waiver of FHA’s “anti-flipping” or as I call it, the “anti-free market” rule. Under the ill- advised rule a home that was purchased with the intent of being “flipped” has to be held by the owner for at least 90 days before it would be eligible to be purchased with an FHA-back loan. The effect of the rule was to cause an unnecessary obstacle to a real estate investor purchasing a “fixer,” renovating it and putting it back on the market for a profit.

 In the days of the flaming real estate market, FHA’s motive was to slow down the rate of home price increases and profit taking by homeowners who wanted to take advantage of the current market conditions.

With the number of foreclosed properties on the market, many of which are in such bad condition that they would not qualify for any type of loan, the FHA is now looking for real estate speculators and investors to help bail out the market. With the 90 day holding period waived for the next year, investors can now snap up some of the great deals that are available, renovate them as quickly as they can so that they will qualify for a loan, and get them back on the market so buyers can take advantage of the available federal homebuyer tax credits.

This should significantly increase the number of turn-key livable homes on the market in the Paradise &  Lake Oroville real estate market,  something that is sorely needed right now.  Going forward I would like to see FHA permanently rescind the regulation as it interferes with the free market. Only when the government gets out of the way will the market repair itself.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Investors dominate home flipping, auctions  sfgate.com)
• Flip It Good: House Flippers Are Multiplying on the Foreclosure Scene  sf.curbed.com)

A little while back I posted a blog article regarding the lack of attention that many REALTORS® are paying to their obligation and legal requirement to provide the proper disclosure documents to clients and cooperating agents in a transaction. Not much has improved since then. The biggest violators of the disclosure laws seem to be those agents that are working as agents for the banks.

Before I continue let’s make one thing clear: Not every REALTOR® who is working for a bank is ignoring the law. Most of them are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

There does, however, seems to be a growing number of  bank-hired agents in our area that have somehow come to believe that they are above the law, in fact REFUSING to comply with disclosure requirements. And to be totally blunt about it, I am tired of it. So tired in fact, that it is time to do something about it. Maybe it is time to start naming names on this blog site of those agents who seem to have acquired the arrogance of the banks to whom they have pledged their allegiance, and refuse to do their jobs. Or maybe the Department of Real Estate would be interested in seeing what some of these “agents” are doing; I mean, NOT doing.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

I e-mailed the local listing agent for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last week to ask her to provide me her inspection disclosure. She is the listing agent for all of the HUD owned homes in Northern California. As an agent for the seller she is required to perform what the real estate law calls a “diligent visual inspection” of the property and provide a written disclosure of her findings to my buyer. As the agent of the buyer I to am required to do the same.

Her response to me was that she “normally” does an inspection when she is representing the buyer. But because I was representing the buyer she did not feel she was required to do the lawfully required visual inspection.

We currently have another transaction with an agent from S. California who has a bank owned property in Oroville listed. He too is refusing to provide the results of his visual inspection. Know why? He has never seen the home and has no idea what condition it is in. Being an agent from out of town DOES NOT exempt him from performing his duties. It seems that the longer this foreclosure market continues the more these type of agents cut corners and violate thier ethics. Can you imagine what it is going to be like by the end of the year if something isn’t done to fix it?

So here is how I am going to help YOU become part of the solution. Beginning this week I will be sharing with you the disclosures you can expect to see during your Lake Oroville, or Paradise, real estate transaction. With this knowledge in hand you can begin to demand the proper disclosures from your agent and have just that much more piece of mind about the purchase of your new home.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The REALTOR’s role as a Buyer’s Agent  dougfrancis.com)
• Purchasing a HUD Home-Misconceptions and Advantages  annarborundressed.com)
• Selling your home as a short sale? – You cannot receive incentives from your agent  findwell.com)

Welcome to all of you interested in what is happening in the Paradise, California real estate market. As I have been doing for the Lake Oroville real estate market for the past 8 or nine months, I will be bringing these numbers to you on a weekly basis.  As part of this reporting I will try to point out anything of interest in the report each week in order to try to bring the proper perspective to market conditions.

I always welcome your comments and suggestions on this or any of my blogs posts, so don’t be bashful. Come join in the fun.

I am pleased to announce that I have made the decision to expand the Realty World brand into the town of Paradise, California.

I actually have owned the REALTY WORLD franchise rights to the Paradise real estate market for close to a year now, but have been waiting to actively do business in the town in the pines until market conditions warranted it.  I now feel that this is the time to bring this extraodinary real estate brand back to town.

I feel that this is the right time for two main reasons.  One, I see the market beginning, ever so slightly, to shift away from foreclosures and more towards short sales. And, two, I have heard from a number of people in the area that our brand of progressive and aggressive marketing is sorely needed there. I guess you could say that people seem to looking for a more up to date style of real estate marketing and negotiating.

As a company we do not intend to take the town by storm, we simply intend to very methodically, and consistently increase our presence within the market until we become the preferred real estate negotiators of the fine residents of Paradise.

The first order of business for this blog site will be to begin reporting  weekly Paradise real estate market stats in the same way that I am currently reporting market information for the Lake Oroville real estate market.  So be sure to check back soon for the first of those reports.

I will provide progress reports as this exciting expansion of our brand moves forward so you too can share the excitement we all feel in our Oroville office about our new venture.

Paradise……..HERE WE COME!!!!!!!

Don’t panic everyone!!!! These numbers do not appear to be accurate this week due to the Oroville Association of REALTOR®, The Chico Association of REALTORS®, and Paradise Association of REALTORS® switching to a new multiple listing service. It appears that some sales have not yet been reported into our new system by some of the Lake Oroville REALTORS®. By the looks of the numbers, I certainly hope that is the case.

Don’t spend much time on this but be sure to check back in next Tuesday to see how we are really doing.

One of the biggest dilemmas facing potential sellers, in what is a very difficult market from their perspective, is what to do about making repairs, or performing upgrades to a home before placing it on the market.

Over my nearly 16 years in Oroville real estate market, I have consistently counseled sellers to be very careful about putting money into repairs and upgrades of their homes as it very rarely means that they will see all that money come back to them in the sales price of the home.

A recently released report by Remodeling Magazine provides some valuable data on what your expected return might be on monies used to  upgrade or repair your home. The information I am linking you to is for the Sacramento, California area as this is the closest area to the Lake Oroville area that the magazine rated.

While looking at these numbers keep in mind that this is a survey which only concerns itself with dollars spent vs. dollars recouped. Another major factor you should consider when judging the return on your investment is that, while almost none of the items surveyed paid for themselves, many of these items may actually help your home sell faster, which is of value in itself.  Remember: TIME IS MONEY!

Be sure to click here to see the report in its entirety.

Oroville real estate, oroville homes for sale, Oroville California, chico listings, Oroville listings, paradise listings, Paradise Ca homes for sale, Butte County home for sale, Oroville properties, houses for sale, gridley property

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that The Federal Housing Administation (FHA) is making significant changes to its loan program which will have a direct impact on a buyer’s ability to obtain an FHA backed loan.

The  result of these changes, which are anticipated to be put in place sometime between the spring and summer months, will be that buyers are going to need more upfront cash than they are required to have today.

The change that will have the greatest impact on the current conditions of the Lake Oroville real estate housing market is the reduction in the maximum amount of closing costs that a seller may pay on behalf of the buyers. The new regulations will cut the buyers allowable credit from 6% of the purchase price down to 3%. Meaning that on a $150,000 purchase a seller will only be allowed to contribute  $4,500 towards a buyer’s closing costs as opposed to the $9,000 that they are now allowed to contribute.

Another change will require that upfront charges for mortgage insurance premiums be increase fron 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan value. This charge is normally financed as part of the loan, so in most cases the effect of this new regulation will be a small increase in the amount of a buyer’s loan payment. And although small it may be, it may be enough to keep some buyer’s from qualifiying for a loan.

And the party is over for those of you with marginal credit scores. If your credit score is less than 580 you will no longer be eligible for the 3.5% down payment program. The new guidelines call for these borrowers to put 10% on their purchase. For that same $150,000 purchase in the above example you will be required to have a down payment of $15,000 vs. $5,250 that you currently are required to have.

OK, all you buyer’s who are still sitting on the fence. Let’s look at what happens if you wait so long to buy a house that you end up buying a home under these new guidelines (sometime this summer) instead of buying now.  Assuming the price of your new home is $150,000 and your credit score is less that 580.

I think you will agree that no matter how you look at it, waiting is going to be very costly.

 Oroville real estate, chico homes, Paradise listings, Gridley properties, butte county california market

Related articles by Zemanta

• HUD/FHA Reduces Allowable Seller Concessions From 6% to 3% appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com)
• FHA Low on Funds, Raising Mortgage Insurance Premiums agentgenius.com)
• FHA Changes: A ‘Coup’ for the Building Industry blogs.wsj.com)
• FHA Mortgages Rising homeloans.org)
• See the HUD Site