Mark Wisterman's Paradise & Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

The explosion of online social networking has added a whole new dimension to the information age. It is easier than ever to reconnect with old friends, classmates, long lost relatives, etc. As a real estate professional who sees the value in these networks, I am continually looking for new online opportunities in the internet world of social networking  in order to enhance the services I provide to my clients.

One of these opportunities is a site named Yelp. Using this site allows you to write reviews and comment on your experiences on any number of businesses. These reviews and comments are placed online for anybody to read. You can use Yelp to tell everyone about your last dining experience, or you can let the world know how the service was at the local quick lube place, or you can comment on your customer service experience at your favorite coffee shop.

When done in a constructive manner, these comments and reviews not only provide valuable information to consumers, but also allow business owners, like myself, another opportunity to make sure that service levels are the best they can be.

At this point there are relatively few people in the Oroville real estate market aware of Yelp. I feel so strongly about the importance of knowing how our clients feel about the services we provide that I signed up our company with the service as soon as I heard about it 6 months ago.  I also have placed a link of each of my team members blog sites so you have easy access to the site.

Please take advantage of this FREE service and sign up to provide feedback to not only us but to any business of your choosing. You can either click on the logo in this posting or in the logo to the left.

Oroville real estate. Chico homes for sale, gridley listings, Paradise listings, Butte County property.

As part of a package of 8 other real estate related bills recently signed into law by California’s Governor, AB 260 provides further protections to those borrowers who are worthy of borrowing money to buy a home, but may be a notch or two below the coveted prime borrower status.

Whether you are a borrower in the Oroville real estate market, or looking at homes for sale in Chico, or have decided that its time to start looking through property listing in Paradise or any other area of Butte County this information is important to know.

The new law places certain limits and prohibitions on what is now being called “higher-priced mortgage loans.”  Directly excerpted from the text of the new law, a higher priced mortgage is defined as:  

(a) Higher-priced mortgage loans —(1) For purposes of this section, a higher-priced mortgage loan is a consumer credit transaction secured by the consumer’s principal dwelling with an annual percentage rate that exceeds the average prime offer rate for a comparable transaction as of the date the interest rate is set by 1.5 or more percentage points for loans secured by a first lien on a dwelling, or by 3.5 or more percentage points for loans secured by a subordinate lien on a dwelling.

(2) “Average prime offer rate” means an annual percentage rate that is derived from average interest rates, points, and other loan pricing terms currently offered to consumers by a representative sample of creditors for mortgage transactions that have low-risk pricing characteristics. The Board publishes average prime offer rates for a broad range of types of transactions in a table updated at least weekly as well as the methodology the Board uses to derive these rates.

To help with the explanation of this I did a little online research and found the published average prime offer rate for 30 year fixed rate mortgage to be 5.06% last week. Based on the newly established definition, a 30 year fixed rate loan on a first mortgage with a rate of 6.56% or more would be considered a higher priced mortgage loan.

If you find yourself in a situation where you only qualify for one of these loans here are the new resrtictions being placed on your lender:  Read the rest of this entry »

On the surface, today’s existings homes sales report looks awesome.  A 9.4% national sales increase over last month, along with a 13% improvement of California homes sales, blew away analysts expectations and were at their highest point in 2 years. By the way, do you think these “analysts” have gone to the same school as weather reporters, they are hardly ever right and they get paid for it.  But I digress.

I did, however,  find one expert that is not surprised by the numbers. Here is a portion of what he said in August: 

“The housing sales numbers will continue their upward trend, and may even accelerate through the end of the year as last minute first time home buyers scramble to close escrow by November 30, 2009.  Should Congress choose not to extend the credit deadline we will probably begin to see a trailing off of  the sales pace toward the middle of spring 2010.”

“Even with an extension of the credit there may still some sales softness, as first time buyers can only drive this market so far. In what we used to call a “normal” market, nearly all purchases of existing homes ended up being actually more than one home purchased, as the buyer was buying a home from a seller who was buying a replacement home for themselves. In today’s market over 1/2 the transactions involve foreclosed homes or short sales where the seller ends up with nothing to buy a replacement home with.”

Click Here to view the rest of the expert’s comments.

Remember that during the “dark days” of the market when it seemed that everyone was saying the collapse of the real estate market was leading us into the next Great Depression? At the same time I was advising you to take the predictions of gloom and doom with a grain of salt and keep your perspective on what was really going on.

I am advising the same thing now. While these are impressive numbers, they are numbers mostly driven by the federal first time home buyers tax credit, the Cash for Clunkers for the housing industry. To provide the perspective on this look what happened after the Cash for Clunkers program ended; auto sales dropped by up to 50% for some auto makers. There is still some heartburn to go through as we climb out of the hole created by the explosion of the bubble. Hopefully, while making the ascent we don’t find ourselves on a slippery slope that is sometimes created by government bailouts.

Paradise homes for sale, chico listings, gridley properties, butte county real estate, Oroville homes

Warning:

This blog post has absolutely nothing to do with the Oroville real estate market, any Oroville homes for sale, or any property listings in Chico, Paradise, Gridley or the Butte County, California area in general. Afterall, just because my working life is centered around real estate doesn’t mean my life has to be centered around real estate.

It is simply a fun way to take a 2 minute break from the daily grind and laugh a little. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  

We’ll get back to business with my next post.

As the first major storm of the season for the Oroville real estate market sweeps over the area today, it is time to refresh ourselves on how best to be prepared for the approaching winter months.

To be honest this is not something I have paid much attention to over the years as the weather in the immediate Oroville area has not, in the past,  been so severe as to require any type emergency preparedness. That is, however until a couple of years ago when we experienced a major storm packing wind gusts approaching 60 miles per hour. In its wake the storm left uprooted trees, damaged roofs, and downed powerlines. Many in Butte County were without power for a couple of weeks. Our home was without power for three days. Thankfully, we have a generator that we plugged our refrigerators, and freezer into so we did not suffer any loss in that respect.

To help with your emergency preparedness I have provided a link to a website developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  Please take the time to visit the site and make the appropriate actions to prepare yourself. 

Stay safe everyone!

Click here to get prepared

Oroville homes for sale, listings, property, Chico, Paradise Gridley, Butte County

In a flurry of last minute activity, the Governor of California signed a number of  bills into law over the weekend.

In the coming days I will provide a brief overview of each of these new laws and how they may affect your next Oroville real estate transaction. In the meantime, you can click on the link below to read the Governor’s press release  and, if you would like, delve deeper into each one of these new laws yourself.

The new law that will be of the most immediate impact to the sale of homes in the Oroville market, as well as the rest of the state, is one which requires that both title and escrow fees be paid by the seller of a bank-owned property if the seller (bank) requires a specific title insurance company and/or escrow company to be used in the transaction.

This law went into effect immediately upon receiving the Governor’s signature.

Previously, a seller was only required to pay the owner’s title insurance fees if the seller directed who the title insurance provider would be. The new law adds escrow fees to this requirement.

This law was necessitated by the fact that banks were dictating that escrow services be performed by companies of their choosing, often at fees that were significantly higher than our local escrow companies are charging. These higher charges were being forced onto buyers who basically had no say in where the escrow services were being performed.

Banks now will have to pay the fees if they are dictating where the escrow services are performed.  But proceed with caution on this. The banks are masters at getting around things. The huge whole in this law is that banks can basically place the whole burden of title and escrow fees directly on the buyers’ backs by simply refusing to pay any fees if the buyer chooses. It remains to be seen how this will play out. Just be sure your agent is informed on this before writing your next offer. 

See the Governor’s press release

OROVILLE HOMES FOR SALE CHICO HOME PARADISE HOMES LSITINGS BUTTE COUNTY CALIFORNIA

Host:  Welcome everyone, to the premiere of America’s newest blog show, Who Not To Trust. Where we interview some of the most unsavory people in the the real estate business. Today’s show is coming to you from the real estate market of  just about Anywhere USA.

Today’s topic: How some  buyer’s agents are putting their commission ahead of their duties to their clients.

Our special guest today is one of the areas self-proclaimed “top producers” of real estate for buyers, Mr. I.B. Greedy.

Host: Welcome I.B.

Greedy: Oh, please,  just call me Greedy.

Host: Ok, Mr. Greedy, welcome to today’s show. My sources say that you have devised a new way of increasing your commission in this very difficult market .

Greedy: Well yes, as a matter of fact I have. But how did you find out about it?  This was supposed to be a secret among the Greedy family.

Host: I am not allowed to reveal my sources but, trust me, they are very reliable. So tell me about this new plan.

Greedy: Well,  if you insist. Here is how the scam, er, I mean plan works. I am sure that you have heard that appraised values for some homes are coming in less than the contracted purchase price.

Host: Yes, I am aware of that.

Greedy: Then you must also know that an appraisal that comes in short can threaten my deal. In the past there have been three options when this problem arises. 1. The seller accepts the lower price, 2. The buyer agrees to pay the higher original contract price, or 3. The transaction is cancelled because neither party budges.  Recently, though, we have resurrected a long forgotten 4th option.

Host: What would that be?

Greedy: Finding a way to get the appraised value increased by researching comparable sales to see if there are any sales that the appraiser may have missed that would support a higher value.

Host: So the seller’s agent does this research right?

Greedy: No, I do it too.

Host: But you are representing the buyer, right? 

Greedy: Right!

Host: Do you tell your buyer when the appraisal comes in low?

Greedy: Only if I can’t figure out a way with the seller’s agent to justify a higher value.

Host: You mean you “conspire” with the seller’s agent to come up with a higher value.

Greedy: In our family we call it “cooperating”.

Host: So wouldn’t the lower price benefit your client?

Greedy: Oh, sure. But the lower price means a lower commission for me. Or, if the deal dies, I don’t get any commission at all! I can’t let that happen, no matter what.

Host: Don’t your ethics……

Greedy: My what?

Host:  Your ethics.

Greedy: What are those?

Host:  You know, the duty to put your clients needs above all else?

Greedy: Heh, Heh, that’s funny.

Host: So to sum this up, you and the rest of your Greedy family are more concerned about your commission than your clients well being.

Greedy: Yep, you get the picture.

Host: Well, thank goodness your family is small.

Greedy: We’re not a small as you might think!

Host: Well, there you have it folks, another reason to be careful when choosing a real estate agent to represent YOUR interests. Remember, not all REALTORS® are like this, but there are just enough of them that they unfortunately taint the rest of the industry.

OROVILLE REAL ESTATE, HOMES, CHICO, PARADISE, FOR SALE, LISTINGS BUTTE COUNTY, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, CA

Have you ever read a newspaper story or watched a TV news report and just about come out of your seat because the story, while accurate, was presented in a fashion to make someone or something look bad, in order to gloss over something that could make someone else or something else look even worse?

If you haven’t then here is your chance. A story on the front page of the Oroville Mercury Register today, a paper that is owned and published by the Chico Enterprise Record, has a headline that reads:

 Oroville has second-most homeless, report shows

In this story the reporter, Chicoan Larry Mitchell, reports on the recent census of those respondents who said they were homeless.  They story states that Chico has 668; Oroville, 364; Paradise, 62; Gridley and Biggs, 2; and other places, 6.

While his headline, according to the published numbers, is accurate, it conveniently ignores the real headline that the City of Chico had nearly twice as many homeless as the city with the second largest number. So, to be accurate the headline should have read:

Chico Leads County in Homelessness

The problem with how this story is presented is that is stirs up the petty Chico-Oroville “rivalry,”  which I think has existed since the flood waters receded and Noah left the Ark, and detracts from the issue at hand.

All cities across this great land of ours have homeless issues that need to be dealt with. Headlines like those used by Larry the Reporter Guy keep us from focusing on those issues.

So here’s my advice everyone: GROW UP and lets work together on some of this stuff!!!

Oroville real estate, homes, for sale, chico homes, paradise homes

After pausing for a couple of weeks, sales of homes in the Oroville real estate market returned to its previous trend. 

Prices continue to jump all over the board due to the large disparity is prices of homes sold each week. As an example the lowest priced home sale of the week was $35,000 and the highest priced home sale for the week in the greater Oroville area was a sale completed by our own Christi Nelson for $186,000. Great job Christi.

See More By Clicking Here

Did you say “Can’t” or “Won’t?” 

The latest meeting between representatives of the Oroville Association of REALTORS® and representatives of the Lake Oroville Area Public Utility District (LOAPUD) took place earlier this week and the results of the meeting were, to put it mildly, A HUGE WASTE OF TIME.

From my vantage point, as I observed the interaction of  meeting participants, it was clear that LOAPUD has absolutely no intention of backing away from their point of sale mandate regarding inspection of sewer lateral.

It was also abundantly clear that they have not a clue about how the escrow process will be affected by their misguided approach to fixing a problem that they have known about for YEARS. Simply put they don’t want to hear it.

To refresh your memory on this topic, LOAPUD’s intention, beginning Jan 1, 2010, is to inject themselves into the free market by requiring that the home you are selling or buying have an inspection of your sewer lateral, as well as have any repairs performed, before they will grant permission to allow the sale or purchase to close. The sewer lateral is the pipe that runs from your house to the main sewer line. For those who do not know, the homeowner is responsible for the maintenance of that line. So, to be clear about this, LOAPUD has a right to expect that your sewer lateral is properly maintained.

Before this latest meeting that I attended, I thought LOAPUD officials simply did not understand how negatively their ordinance would impact the homes in their district. But I also speculated as to what their true motivation was in enacting this ordinace (See my blog post of September 21). Well, lo and behold, I believe that my speculation was right on the money.

LOAPUD acknowledged that it could take 30+ years to resolve the issues using the point of sale mandate. But, they said, we must understand the the State of California is expecting a “plan” from the district showing that the district is dealing with their problems. 

So I WAS RIGHT!!! The point of sale mandate is just a way to placate the State so that they stay off LOAPUD”S back. Your your real estate transaction has now become a  pawn in an effort to reduce the political heat on LOAPUD.

District officials claimed at the meeting that they are exploring additional avenues to address their issues, but when pressed for details they had NONE, ZERO, NADA, ZIPPO. I felt like we were being treated like the little kid that W.C. Fields was patting on the head, and at the same time saying  in his familiar voice, “Stay away from me kid, you bother me, you bother me.”

I know that this blog site has the attention of LOAPUD officials so I want to make a few things clear to them so that there is no misunderstanding as to my postion on this ENTIRE issue. To my regular readers this is going to be redundant.

I under no circumstances question your integrity, honest or concern for this community. I know that you think what you are about to impose on your customers is a solution to your problems. But it is not!

The ordinance if encated as it stands:

• Discriminates in that enforcement applies almost solely to home sellers and those who desire to remodel their homes.
• Is ineffective as it could take over 30 years to fix a problem that the district claims is an imminet threat to the health and safety of it’s citizens.
• Places real estate professionals in the inappropriate postion as the “Sewer Police.”
• Will result in the cancellation of many real estate transactions.
• Invokes further govermental interference into the free market.

LOAOPUD’s insistence on enforcing this ordinance should not be acceptable to home sellers, home buyers, those who care about our environment, or anyone else.

So now, as I said a of couple blogs posts ago, it is time to roll up our sleeves. I need you to contact LOAPUD and voice your opposition to this ordinance. Place a call to them today (530-533-2000) and tell them that we can’t run the risk of polluting our ground water and other waterways for the next 30-40 years waiting to fully address the problem; e-mail them to tell them that a VIABLE and timely solution is more important that placating state and federal officials with a totally unworkable plan; and please make time to attend the next LOAPUD Board of Directors  meeting on October 13, 2009 at 2:00pm at 1360 Elgin Street to tell them face to face that they are not allowed to infringe on your right to buy or sell a home in the FREE market.  I need all you TEA PARTY patriots to stand up against another over-reaching governmental agency and all environmental groups to insist on a plan of action that ensures the health and safety of our community now, not 30 years from now. 

If this albatross of an ordinace is enforced we will NEVER be able to reverse course. PLEASE ACT NOW!!

 OROVILLE REAL ESTATE HOMES FOR SALE CHICO HOMES PARADISE LISTINGS GRIDLEY PROPERTIES BUTTE COUNTY REAL ESTATE