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FHA & Conventional Loans About To Evaporate For Some Benicia, Vallejo Homebuyers?

June 18th, 2011 categories: Benicia, Buying, Loans / Financing, Solano, Vallejo

How Much Can You BorrowUnless Congress steps in soon, some Benicia, Vallejo homebuyers may find it impossible to get an FHA or conventional loan by early Fall.

That’s because loan limits for the two loan programs that cover probably at least 90% of the loans originated in Solano County are set to change come Oct. 1.

And barring Congressional action, the maximum you can borrow under both programs is going to drop substantially, which means that many Benicia, Vallejo and Solano County home buyers could suddenly find themselves needing to come up with tens of thousands more in down payment or accept a costlier “jumbo” loan.

Right now, the maximum you can borrow with an FHA or conventional loan is $557,500. But as it stands right now, after September 30, the conforming loan limit in Solano County will drop to $417,000 and the FHA limit to $400,200, which is certain to impact local borrowers who are planning to finance a home with a loan amount that exceeds the new limits.

In plain English, that means that any borrower in Solano County who is today planning to buy a home for more Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

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

Row of housesAbout 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 »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

10 Ways To Help Avoid A Short Sale Disaster

March 11th, 2011 categories: Benicia, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Selling, Solano, Vallejo

10 List - Short Sale GraphicAs 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 »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Chase Offering Some Benicia, Vallejo Sellers $20k To Do A Short Sale?

March 9th, 2011 categories: Benicia, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Vallejo

$20k

Tales Of Letters Offering Upside-Down Borrowers $20k…But Are They Legit?


Over the past few months, I’ve heard rumors of Chase Bank offering some upside-down borrowers a $20,000 incentive to sell their homes as a short sale.

When I first saw this, I thought it was probably nothing more than an internet scam perpetrated by some unscrupulous bottom-feeders in our industry who were trying to prey on down-on-their-luck homeowners.

There are a few short sale programs (BofA’s Cooperative Short Sale and the Fed’s HAFA program), where the homeowner receives a few thousand dollars as an incentive to participate in a short sale.

But $20,000?! That seemed wildly unlikely.

However, at our local Assn. of Realtors breakfast this morning, I heard the same rumor Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: 20 Comments »

A GIANT Celebration Tuesday In Vallejo

February 17th, 2011 categories: Fun Stuff, Local Stuff, Solano, Vallejo

Trophy Tour LogoSpring Training has already started in Arizona, but if you’re like me and are still basking in the afterglow of the San Francisco Giants’ World Series title, you’ll have one last opportunity to soak up some of last year’s magical mojo this coming Tuesday (Feb. 22) in Vallejo.

Throughout the past month, the Giants have taken the World Series Trophy all over Northern California.  Tuesday afternoon, it comes to Vallejo — its only stop in Solano County — where local Giants fans can see the trophy up close and personal and even have their picture taken with it.

The particulars:

  • Tuesday, Feb. 22
  • 2:30 to 4:30 pm.
  • Dan Foley Cultural Center, 1461 N. Camino Alto, Vallejo

Take Tuolumne to North Camino Alto and keep going — it’s at the back of the park, just across the water from Six Flags.

I actually saw the trophy a few weeks ago, when it was in Walnut Creek. We got there about 30-45 minutes before the doors were supposed to open Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

April 2010 Benicia & Vallejo Home Sales

May 18th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo

Ben-Vjo Home Sale Reports - AprilCurious 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 »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

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.

April Median Sales PriceThe huge jump in Benicia’s median price is probably Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

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

weekly-solano-home-reportYou’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 »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Benicia-Vallejo Monthly Home Sale Report: Details On Every Closed Sale For Mar. 2010

April 16th, 2010 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo

Sold HomeWant 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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

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

1sr Qtr Report - Click HereI 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 »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »