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Archive for 'Selling'
How Big Is Benicia-Vallejo’s Shadow Inventory?
April 7th, 2011 categories: Benicia, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Market Update, Selling, Suisun City, The Economy, Vacaville, Vallejo
About a week ago, I listened to Rick Sharga, Sr. V.P. of Realty Trac, share his firm’s current foreclosure numbers. In his talk, one statistic really stood out: right now, there are 1 million foreclosures in the U.S., yet only 300,000 of them have come on the market.
In other words, 7 out of every 10 U.S. homes that the banks already own haven’t even hit the market yet. That’s the “shadow inventory” that you may have heard people talk about.
It prompted me to look at our local market a little closer and see how big our own shadow inventory is right now. The numbers were pretty startling. Not quite as large as the nationwide figures that Mr. Sharga talked about, but still pretty shocking nonetheless.
I looked at all five cities in our primary market area (Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun City & Vacaville) and found that about 3 of every 5 foreclosed homes have not yet come on the market. Read the rest of this entry »
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10 Ways To Help Avoid A Short Sale Disaster
March 11th, 2011 categories: Benicia, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Selling, Solano, Vallejo
As anyone looking for a home in Solano County right now can tell you, many of the homes on the market right now are short sales (where the seller owes more than the home is worth and can’t complete the sale without their lender(s) agreeing to reduce the amount they owe).
Short sales are far more complicated than a regular sales transaction and can take far take longer, too, due to the time a bank can take to review the seller’s financial situation.
Right now, about 4 out of every 10 homes on the market in Solano County are short sales, including 43% of the homes in Benicia and 47% in Vallejo. And, despite what you may have heard, many short sales do indeed close escrow.
Most of the short sales we’ve represented clients on over the past few years have successfully closed.Yes, there can be some drama or unexpected twists and turns along the way.
But sadly, many sellers or agents either throw in the towel far too early — either out of frustration or by giving up at the first sign of a short sale decline.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from representing short sale clients it’s that there’s definitely an art to successfully negotiating a short sale. There’s far more to it than just shuffling papers and waiting for the bank to give its answer.
Over the years I’ve found that there are 10 critical factors that either the listing agent or the seller can directly control. Read the rest of this entry »
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What Obama’s Mortgage Reform Plan Means For Solano County Home Buyers & Sellers
February 17th, 2011 categories: Buying, Contra Costa, Loans / Financing, Selling, Solano, The Economy
You may have heard that President Obama unveiled his plans to reform the mortgage industry last Friday. Since then, his proposal has taken a lot of heat in real estate circles, especially since one of his recommendations is to reduce the maximum loan limits on conventional mortgages in high-cost areas by more than $100,000 as early as this fall.
Among some of the proposals in Obama’s plan:
- Drop the maximum loan amount in high cost areas (which includes much of the Bay Area) from $729,750 to $625,500.
- Phase out both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by reducing their loan portfolios by 10% a year
- Raise fees for borrowers
- Increase minimum down payments borrowers
What This Means To Solano Home Buyers & Sellers
It’s still unclear whether the White House’s proposal to lower the maximum loan limit would really impact Solano County. Currently, for most of the U.S., the limit is $417,000. The majority of the Bay Area, though is at $729,750 — which is the amount that Obama’s plan wants reduced by about $105,000.
In Solano County, however, our limit is $557,500, which is higher than the rest of the U.S., but lower than most other Bay Area counties.
So if the White House plan reduces the loan limit for all high cost areas on a proportionate basis, then Solano County buyers and sellers could definitely feel a pinch, since buyers of homes priced above the new loan limit would be forced into higher-rate “jumbo” loans, which would no doubt kick some buyers out of the market or force some sellers to lower prices to attract conventional loan buyers.
But if the White House plan keeps our limit at $557,500, since it’s already below the proposed $625,500 ceiling, then Solano County Read the rest of this entry »
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April 2010 Benicia & Vallejo Home Sales
May 18th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo
Curious what that Benicia home down the street sold for last month? Wonder how much your Vallejo neighbor sold his home sold for? Or how long it took a certain Vallejo or Benicia home to sell?
Just download our April Benicia and Vallejo Home Sale Reports for those answers and more. Some highlights from April’s Benicia & Vallejo Home Sale Reports appears below. Read the rest of this entry »
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April Solano Home Sales Report: Prices Holding Steady And Up County-Wide Over Last Year
May 11th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo
April’s home sales numbers are in for Solano County and on a county-wide basis, the median price last month was $200,000 — exactly the same as it was in March.
Vacaville, Vallejo and Suisun all reported median prices that were almost the same as the previous month, while Benicia’s median was way up and Fairfield’s was noticeably down.
The huge jump in Benicia’s median price is probably Read the rest of this entry »
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Inventory Of Available Homes Still Way Up For The Year Throughout Solano County
April 19th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo
You’d never believe it if you talked to most buyers, but the inventory of homes for sale throughout Solano County is still up dramatically for the year.
Every city in our Solano market area has at least 20% more homes on the market today than it did at the beginning of January.
The leader is Vallejo, with a whopping 55% increase in 3-1/2 months. There are 374 homes on the market there right now, compared to 242 on Jan. 4.
The other four cities’ year-to-date increases, in descending order: Vacaville +37%, Fairfield +26%, Suisun + 24%, Benicia +20%.
Now, if you’re a buyer who’s been involved in countless multiple-offer negotiations, Read the rest of this entry »
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Benicia-Vallejo Monthly Home Sale Report: Details On Every Closed Sale For Mar. 2010
April 16th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo
Want to know how much your neighbor’s home sold for or how long a certain home took to sell. It’s all here in the March Benicia and Vallejo Home Sale Reports.
Both reports show the address, sales price, days on market, net price change from start to finish and whether the home was a regular sale, short sale or REO (foreclosure).
You can download both reports by clicking on the links below. I publish this and other local Solano County home sales reports monthly, so be sure to visit HomeSection.com regularly.
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Quarterly Stats Paint Uncertain Picture For Solano’s Real Estate Market
April 14th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo
I just downloaded and analyzed the 1st quarter housing numbers for Solano County and to be honest, it’s hard to tell exactly where we’re headed.
In fact, it’s hard to even figure out exactly where we’ve been. Or what these first quarter numbers really tell us.
Year-Over-Year (1st Qtr 2010 vs. Q1 2009)
If you look at the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago, you’ll see that in the county’s most affordable cities (Vallejo, Fairfield & Suisun), prices are definitely higher today than they were for Q1 of 2009. But in the county’s most stable markets (Benicia and Vacaville) they dropped.
Countywide, prices were up 8%, from $185,703 last year to $200,000 in 2010. Here’s the rundown for the five cities in our Solano market area: Read the rest of this entry »
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March Home Sales Activity Soars Throughout Solano County
April 13th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo
Meanwhile, Prices Drop In Benicia & Vallejo But Climb In The North County
After a February in which home sales activity in Solano County dropped noticeably, it roared back with a gusto in March, perhaps in part due to the upcoming end of the federal tax credit program.
Solano Up 44% Over Last Month
All five cities in our Solano market area showed robust gains in the number of closed sales last month. Countywide, the number of home sales in Solano was up 44% over February.
Vallejo led the way with an incredible 71% increase, followed by Read the rest of this entry »
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Tax Relief For Distressed Solano County Sellers Finally Goes Into Law
April 13th, 2010 categories: Foreclosures / Short Sales, Selling, The Economy
Not only did the rain clouds disappear yesterday, but so too did the dark black clouds that had been hanging over many penniless 
distress-sale sellers from last year, who were about to incur huge state income tax bills.
But just about the same time the skies parted over Solano County yesterday afternoon, a new tax relief law went into effect, which will save distressed sellers who sold their homes in 2009 thousands of dollars.
The Long Wait Is Over
Prior to the passage of SB 401, most California sellers who received debt relief through a short sale, foreclosure or loan modification would have been required to report the forgiven debt as ordinary income and pay taxes on it.
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