Real Estate Tips and Information by Karen List

Buying and Selling Homes in Santa Clara and Alameda County

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Housing Trust…Where Are You???

January 26th, 2012 · FHA loan, Housing Trust, bay area, buying a home, first time buyer, homebuyer, real estate, san jose home

For this home I sold in San Jose for $382,000 where the buyer also got an $8,300 credit for closing costs, I represented a first time buyer who was going to use a program through the Housing Trust. This transaction was a ‘normal’ sale…well not so normal, but it was not a short sale or foreclosure sale.

Negotiations were a bit tough, but we were able to come to an agreement after some counter offers back and forth. Once negotiations were over, this transaction was supposed to be an ‘easy’ deal in that it was a regular sale, negotiations were over, we incorporated a 45 day closing to compensate for the upcoming holidays, and it was smooth sailing, right?

Wrong!!! Wow, this transaction was anything but smooth. We were informed by the mortgage broker that 45 days was plenty of time to close this transaction, no worries. Yeah right!

First of all, unfortunately, the seller did not get any inspections for the house, not a termite inspection, not a home inspection, nothing. So, we were going in blind. When I represent a seller on a regular sale, I always emphasize the importance of inspections so that there are no surprises mid transaction to throw the whole deal in a tail spin. Well, guess what…We did know there would be quite a bit of termite items and also the roof was old. There were quite a few things we took into consideration at first glance and compensated for in the price of the home. However, after the inspections were done, there was a lot more that needed attention than the eye could see, which is where we went back to the negotiation table to then have to go back and forth over the proper credit to compensate for unexpected items. So, that is where the $8,300 credit came into play.

When the buyer and I were at the house with the inspectors, the seller just casually brought to our attention that there was NO FURNACE. What?? Do you mean the furnace is broken? No, there was absolutely no furnace…ie…missing…none…nada. Well, from a financing standpoint, a bank will not lend on a property that is considered inhabitable, and a home with no furnace is considered inhabitable. Yes, the owners were living without a furnace, without heat! So, the listing agent took the seller aside and explained to him that it is essential that there is a furnace installed and that a bank will not lend on a home with no furnace. In order to sell the home, it was a must that he installed a furnace to be able to close this transaction. Ok, so another score, new furnace for the buyer.

So, the fact that he had to install a furnace, meant that we had to wait to get the appraisal done because the appraiser would need to see a furnace as not to raise a red flag to the lender. So, that was the first delay, waiting for the furnace to be installed before the appraiser went to the home. When the appraiser was there, unfortunately, he stated on the report that the furnace was new, but not working. As luck would not have it, the seller had not turned on the pilot light after the furnace was installed, so yet another delay in the appraiser going back out to the property to test it.

Ok, so all that is done and over with and now the smooth part begins, right? Wrong! The buyer was getting a loan through the Housing Trust and they at the 11th hour informed us that they would be closing shop for 2 WEEKS for the holidays! Yikes! That means that we can’t meet our contractual obligation to close on time! Ugh! So, we actually had to get an extension from the seller to close and just sit and wait for 2 weeks with nothing happening on this file while we waited for the Housing Trust to reopen.

We were under the impression that once the Housing Trust reopened, that we would immediately be able to close within a few days…wrong again! When the Housing Trust reopened, they claimed that they had ‘more important matters’ on their plate and were not sure when they would get to our file so we could close the transaction. Plus, they asked for an enormous amount of paperwork from the buyer, most of which, the buyer had already provided. The topper was when they asked for a year’s worth of bank statements from the buyer’s PARENTS who were not even on the loan or on title. And, I am not talking about a youngster fresh out of college, I am talking about a grown man who has a very good job…needed his PARENT’S bank statements to confirm some whacky, who cares, made no sense, item.

Ok, so that is when the buyer lost a gasket and marched into the mortgage broker’s office to find out his options of switching loans to some other type of loan. The mortgage broker told him that FHA was an option and that the rates were even better than the Housing Trust. Ok, so we entered this contract mid November, we are about 60 days into contract, have asked the seller for 2 extensions, and when the buyer switched to FHA, we closed the next week. Against popular belief, FHA is actually a loan program that can close just as fast as a conventional loan.

So, it’s the 11th hour, but the rest of the transaction is smooth, right? Wrong! So, just as a clincher, we had scheduled a fumigation for the closing day and even the latest appointment they had available. Well, the seller was still moving out his stuff on the day of closing to the point that the fumigation company had the entire tent on the house except the back flap so the seller could get out his final possessions before they sealed it up. The fumigation company was not happy, but at least they worked with us in sticking around and putting on the tent after the seller was finally able to get out all of his things.

Well, if nothing else, the buyer has a really good story to tell and is FINALLY in his new home after over 2 months of torture. Wow, and I actually did my best to keep this as short as possible and just go over the key points, and it is still a long story!

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Household Tips for Saving Energy and Water

January 16th, 2012 · bay area, buying a home, condo homeowner, condo/townhome, homebuyer

Saving Energy: 

1. Paint interior walls and ceilings light colors so both day and artificial light reflect.
2. Use floor coverings that are medium to light in color.
3. Insulate hot water heater and wrap hot water pipes with insulation.
4. Keep humidity level in the home at 30 to 40 percent during the heating season (feels warmer). Portable humidifiers located in center of house add humidity.
5. Use energy efficient light bulbs.
6. Not only turn off, but unplug items you are not using.
7. Caulk and/or weather strip windows and doors so there are no leaks that let in air from outside. 

Saving Water:

In the bathroom:

1. Take shorter showers. One can easily wash in 5-7 minutes.
2. Turn off water while brushing your teeth, washing your face, etc.
3. If you want to upgrade the water efficiency of your toilet, seek a two-stage low flow toilet, which uses even less water when there is no solid waste to dispose of.
4. Always fix any leaks right away. No drippy sinks, showers, or tub spouts.

On your lawn:  

1.  Plant native shrubs, grasses, and other plants rather than a giant, boring, green grass lawn.
2.  Don’t water the sidewalk or driveway (adjust your sprinkler to hit just grass).
3.  Go slow, let the water soak in, don’t spray a lot of water on quickly, letting it flow off the lawn.
4.  Install a rain barrel under your downspout and use that water for your lawn and garden.
5.  Aerate your lawn so that the water soaks in better (so you can use less).
6.  Don’t water more than you need to (if your lawn feels spongy, you’re overwatering).
7.  Adjust your mower to a higher setting, because longer grass retains water better.
8.  Measure rainfall with a rain gauge or tin can, and adjust your lawn watering accordingly.
9.  Don’t water on windy days when much of the water evaporates.
10.Use drip irrigation on trees and other large plants, so the water goes only where it is needed.

In the kitchen:

1.  Designate one water glass for each family member to use all day – that way, you won’t need to wash more glasses than necessary.
2.  Put a pitcher of water into the refrigerator so it’s always cold and you don’t have to run the water to let it cool down when you want a drink.
3.  If possible, try to cook multiple items in one pot of water (e.g., cook carrots in the same pot as the bag of instant rice).
4.  Some foods can be cooked in the microwave instead of a boiling pot of water (e.g., corn on the cob tastes great if you wrap it in plastic wrap and microwave it).
5.  If you wash dishes by hand, don’t run the water while you’re washing; instead, wash in one basin and rinse in the other basin.

In the laundry room:  

1.  Don’t let your spouse or kids toss towels into the dirty laundry basket until they’ve been used at least a couple of times. The same goes for most items of clothing (pajamas, for example, do not need to be washed after each wearing). Use the lowest water level possible for the amount of clothes you’re washing. Use shorter cycles if you’re washing clothes that are not particularly soiled.

2.   If you ever have an unusually large amount of clothing to clean at once, consider using a coin laundry. These machines are often larger and more energy-efficient. You probably won’t save money, but you’ll be reducing water use in the big picture. Plus, you’ll get your big job done a lot sooner, since you can normally use as many machines at once as you need. 

3. Consider hang drying some or all of your clothes outside rather than drying in the dryer.

Winter Lawn & Landscape:

1. Gradually lower the mowing height of your mower. Any young growth makes your lawn more vulnerable to winter diseases which can leave you with a dried out brown winter lawn. However, trim the lawn gradually in several steps to avoid suddenly removing all the green leaf tissue and damaging the turf.

2. Clear your lawn of any debris that can smother your grass. Toys, kid pools, and other items should not be left of the grass and turf, especially if you live in a climate that may cause snow. 

3. In late fall, be sure to give your lawn a final fertilization. Inactive during winter, your lawn won’t use the fertilizers immediately but will store these nutrients in its root system and process them at the first signs of spring.

4. Aerate your lawn before the season’s first frost. A thorough aeration coupled with fertilization, will set the stage for healthy spring vegetation and growth.

5. Research what plants thrive in your region. Apply this knowledge when planning your spring planting.

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Yay, a Regular Sale and a Smooth Transaction in San Jose!

January 5th, 2012 · bay area, buying a home, home for sale, home seller, real estate, san jose home

This was a regular sale I sold in San Jose for $520,000, as opposed to a short sale or foreclosure, and I represented the sellers. The sellers were referred to me by my good friend and are both very sweet, easy to work with, and very accomodating. The actual sale was very smooth and uneventful as far as the transaction itself. In the real estate world, uneventful is a VERY good thing these days since most of the short sales are so crazy. It is so nice to sell a home in the normal fashion, like the good ole days of pre 2008.

For this home, I received 5 offers, 3 of which were actually under the listed price, and 2 of which were over the listed price. For the 2 top contenders, it was a really big battle because both of the buyers really wanted this home and were fighting tooth and nail for it. They both kept inching up their offer price to seal the deal until both were totally tapped out at the price of $520k and we had to decide which of the 2 offers was most likely able to close the deal. It was a very tough decision on which buyer to pick since they were both young couples buying their first home and were begging for the home, but one buyer was financially in a much better position and was not concerned about the fumigation and other repairs needed for the home. The other couple was a bit leary about paying top dollar and then also having to pay for the fumigation and repairs. I advised my clients to go with the buyer that was not stretching the limits on their financing, had a very strong down payment, and wasn’t showing any concern for the repairs and fumigation needed.

Although, the other couple was also so nice and really wanted this home, I could sense that they were really stretching their budget and also their comfort level, and I was feeling some shakiness on their part, and they seemed a bit nervous about also taking on the fumigation. But, the stronger buyer was just all gung ho and no qualms about it.

Luckily, being that I advised the sellers to take the offer I thought was stronger, so my rep was on the line, the offer we chose was a very smooth transaction. The buyer bought the home in ‘as is’ condition, their loan was very solid and easy, we had provided inspection reports and they did not even opt to get additional inspections, it was just all good. The transaction was smooth as silk and all went extremely well.

One really nice ending to the story is that the day I went over to see the seller towards the end of the transaction, she asked me if the couple that bought the home was one in which the wife was pregnant. She said that she was home the day they came and had talked to this couple for some time and really liked them a lot and thought it would be a great home for their growing family. She felt very drawn to this couple.

I didn’t know if it was that couple or not since I was the listing agent only representing the sellers and had never met the buyers, but next thing you know, the woman showed up to do the final walkthrough with her agent and it was indeed the couple that the seller really liked and wanted to get the house. So, it is really nice to see the home go to someone that the seller really connected with since the seller really loved her home and loves the fact it is going to such a great and caring couple where they will have their first baby in their new home. Awwww…. ;)

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Is Your Home Underwater? You May be Able to Refinance Under the HARP Program

December 13th, 2011 · HARP Program, Refinance, real estate

My friend Jennifer Asuncion sent me this valuable information for homeowners that owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth who may be able to refinance. Check this out:

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Seriously, BofA…We NEED To Close This Transaction!

December 6th, 2011 · Mountain View, bay area, buying a home, home for sale, homebuyer, move up buyers, probate sale, real estate

For this home I sold in Mountain View for $635,000. I represented the buyers. This is the second time I have worked with one of the buyers, who bought his first home with me years ago, and then met his lovely wife, and now they bought this home together.  This was a probate sale where there were 4 heirs involved, all older individuals, and one heir is actually quite ill and is bedridden, none of which live locally, and a couple live on the East Coast. So, the coordination just to get all the signatures and such for the acceptance of the offer was a task in itself to the listing agent. 

Once we had an accepted offer I thought for sure the transaction itself would run very smoothly. The buyers are very well qualified and putting down a large down payment, so the loan portion of the transaction should have been quite simple. I do have to say, this is one of the most laid back couples who kept their cool in a very uncool situation. They have way more patience than I do and their tolerance level is impeccable and I bow down to how understanding and collected they kept during the ridiculous dealings with BofA.

The transaction starting in the downhill approach when Wells Fargo, who preapproved the buyers, told them…’Oops, my bad, we can’t do the loan because we just refinanced you in the last 12 months…sorry!’ Ok, well that is not a direct quote, but the loan officer made a MAJOR boo, boo and apparently did not know that in their guidelines, they can not do a purchase loan for an owner occupied property if the buyer has refinanced in the last 12 months. Not so funny thing is that this loan officer is the one who did the refinance and then preapproved them for the new purchase loan. This was found about about 5 days after our offer was accepted by the seller.

What is so amazing is that by doing the refinance, the buyers were in even a better situaiton with their debt to income ratio in that the refinance lowered their monthly debt. Plus, they are just perfect candidates for a loan with great credit, great assets, etc, so why Wells Fargo didn’t want their $500,000 loan is beyond me…oh wait, we are talking about a bank, never mind, banks are clueless, so it all makes sense now.

The Wells Fargo loan officer hand delivered the package to a loan officer at BofA to take over the loan, so we thought we were in good hands since she said she personally knew this loan officer and we figured this was the absolute quickest way to move forward with the loan approval and still close in the most timliest manner possible. Well, hindsight is 20/20 and if I could turn back time…like in Cher’s song (yes, I am aging myself) I would have surely recommended another mortgage person to take over the file.

The BofA loan person did say that it would take about 45 days to close, which was fine, but he never mentioned that he could not meet or be close to the deadline to remove the loan contingency. Our original date to close was supposed to be October 31st, but we ended up closing on November 30th, one full month after we were supposed to and way over what was quoted by the loan officer. To top things off, he initially told me to ask for a loan contingency extension for November 4th and then not only could he not meet that deadline that HE suggested, but we could not remove the loan contingency until very close to the actual close of escrow of November 30th. Throughout our transaction, the only excuse that BofA had was that they were really busy with files and couldn’t keep up with their pipeline. Nice! How comforting when we have a contractual obligation to the seller to perform per the dates in the contract, which BofA cared nothing about and just basically told us they would get to it when they got to it…the end.

Luckily, the sellers were VERY patient with us and we were working with a really great listing agent who kept the sellers apprised of the situation and such. Since the listing agent and sellers knew we were doing our best and this was just completely out of our control, they were very cooperative. 

Now they are finally happy homeowners and doing some remodeling to the home before they move in. They were looking for a family friendly neighborhood, and it was so nice to see the neighbors introducing themselves to the buyers and welcoming them to the neighborhood. There are a few neighbors that have kids around the same age as theirs and that was what they were hoping for as a bonus.

They are going to rent out their very nice home in Fremont, so if you know anyone that is looking to rent a home in Fremont, let me know and I will pass along the information.

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Suntrust Uses the 11th Hour Approach for Short Sales

November 23rd, 2011 · Housing Trust, bay area, first time buyer, home for sale, home seller, real estate, san jose home, selling a home

For this home I sold in San Jose for $300,000, I represented the sellers and this was a short sale with Suntrust. Hmmm, who is worse, Suntrust, Chase, or BofA…very tough call, but I think that Suntrust wins the award for the worst bank to deal with for a short sale.

The sellers are just the sweetest family and worked so hard to keep this home. They first tried to get a loan modification and amazingly, the payment actually went UP instead of DOWN. Isn’t a loan modification supposed to help the owner??? The sellers just got into a situation where they bought at the peak of the market, their mortgage adjusted, and the payment got out of control. After the market crash and with the increased payment and the loss of value, they were in a bind, so decided to short sale their home before it foreclosed.  

When they came to me to sell their home, they were already at the foreclosure stage, so the first step was to get their home on the market and request an extension of foreclosure so that we could sell the house as a short sale rather than a foreclosure. We put the home on the market and we received about 10 offers or so. 

As I have said before in other posts, when dealing with a short sale, the most important factor is to be able to pick the buyer that will stick it out to the end and close the transaction. Once you get an approval, the worst thing ever is to lose the buyer and have the buyer get tired of waiting and move on to another home.

At that point, you have to start from scratch and find a new buyer and then the whole process starts all over again. So, I tried my best to pick the buyer that would stick out the wait to the end and close the deal. Luckily, we picked the right buyer and they did stick it out and closed it. I have very good luck in keeping the first buyer committed as a listing agent and trying to pick the right buyer who won’t walk. 

The way Suntrust works is that you can’t ask for an extension of foreclosure until 72 hours before the sale date! Freaking crazy! So, the sellers are stressing out not even sure they will get the extension and felt they didn’t know what to do, because that is the procedure of Suntrust. Can you imagine not being able to ask for an extension until 72 hours before the house is supposed to foreclose and have no idea of what is going to happen?

Being that I am in the business, I wasn’t too concerned and just tried to keep the sellers from stressing too much and letting them know I was very confident we would get the extension, and we did. It is hard for the sellers not to stress because they don’t know what the banks will do, but we in the business know the banks games, so we typically know we can work it out. So, I just tried to make sure the sellers knew we would get through this and not to worry.

We finally got the approval in September, so 3 months after we accepted an offer, and 2 extensions of foreclosure. There was a first and second with Suntrust, so both loans had to be approved. The approval was just a joke, Suntrust only gave us 3 weeks to close the transaction, which is impossible these days with financing and the loan that the buyer had chosen. So, immediately, we asked for an extension to close, and noted that the time frame is not even reasonable to close the transaction. And, Suntrust told us that we can’t ask for an extension to close until close to the date of closing. What a joke! In the end, we got the extension to close until November 15th to give proper time for the buyer to finalize their loan and we were able to close. 

When I list a short sale, I have a great partner, Guy Coulston, who is a seasoned negotiator with the banks, so he does all the bank negotiations and works with the clients for that paperwork and such, and I do all the marketing and advertising and front end, normal listing agent type stuff. So, we are a good team and so far, have closed 100% of our short sale transactions.

Other than crazy Suntrust, the main issue that we ran across once we listed was that the sellers had an alarm system, and although, I emphasized in MLS the situation regarding the alarm system, a few agents still managed to set off the alarm. So, for the actual sale part, that was probably the most frustrating part, a few agents setting off the alarm. Otherwise, the predominant frustration was with Suntrust.

The good news is that now all the stress is off of the sellers and this is all over with so they can start over with a fresh start. All the stress regarding this property that they have been enduring for the last few years is gone. Phew! They found a very nice rental home, much bigger than the home they owned, and in a better neighborhood. So, it all worked out for the best.

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2 Cats Allowed or No Sale!

November 17th, 2011 · buying a home, condo/townhome, first time buyer, home for sale, home seller, real estate, santa clara, santa clara home, selling a home

This was a normal transaction in Santa Clara where I represented the seller. I actually sold the seller this home as her buyer’s agent so this was our second transaction together on the same home! I just love this seller. She has the best personality and is such a positive person. After our first transaction together we stayed in touch over the years and went for lunch or dinner on occasion. The reason she sold this home is that she found her soulmate, got married, and moved to Southern CA where he lives, so a happy move! Yay! 

As far as the transaction goes, it was a bit of a bumpy ride. Negotiations were tough and it was a little hard to come together for the seller’s bottom line and also the buyer’s top line. But, we managed to come to an agreement.

Shortly into the contract once the buyers received the HOA information, they saw that the HOA only allowed 1 pet per home, and they have 2 cats, so that brought the entire sale to a halt. It was extremely important to them that they would be able to move in and be allowed to have their 2 cats. So, the only way this transaction could move forward was for the HOA to change the rule, or at least, allow them to have 2 cats.

Well, the board meeting wasn’t for a couple weeks, so it completely threw off the timeline for contingencies and closing date, but we had to do what we had to do. Basically, 90% of this transaction, was just sitting and waiting for the HOA meeting to get approval for the 2 cats. Fun, fun. To make a long story short, the board approved the buyers to have 2 cats in the first few minutes of the meeting, so all was good and we closed the transaction fairly quickly afterwards. 

The HOA is currently looking to changing the CC&R’s to actually allow more pets because they realize many people have more than one pet these days (even in the community) and the CC&R’s were written about 25+ years ago and are very outdated. That is something that will likely be changed in the Spring from what a board member told me.

What is pretty amusing is that I found out a board member is breaking the rules and has more than 1 pet and didn’t make a peep. In fact, I heard this person has 3 cats. This person never got authorization or did what these buyers did, so kind of funny. And, many, many homeowners break the rules by having 2-3 pets on a regular basis and none have ever gone to the level of these buyers to get approval. But, it’s good for these buyers to know they are safe and sound. It gives them a sense of peace. There were a coule other quirky things during this transaction, but nothing noteworthy to write up and would be too lengthy to fully explain. So, now the seller is a full time resident of Southern Cali with her new hubby!

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You Want What for this Place???

November 7th, 2011 · bay area, condo homeowner, condo/townhome, home for sale, home seller, real estate, san jose home, selling a home, short sale

For this townhome I sold in San Jose for $157,000, I represented the seller and it was a short sale. The owner bought the home at the peak of the market in 2007 for $335,000 and with the fall in this area, she felt it would just take too long for the price to recover and the payment was just too much. She did look into a loan modification first, but the end result for her particular situation was that the loan modification was just not worth her staying in this investment so she decided after some hard thinking about what to do, to sell the home as a short sale.

When I list a short sale, the one key factor is finding the right buyer that will stick out the wait. So many buyers walk before there is a short sale approval and starting all over again is not fun and prolongs the dread that much longer. Also, if a buyer walks before short sale approval, the process starts from scratch with a new buyer and takes basically just as long as it took the first time around for approval. So, the right buyer, that will wait it out, is really the key to a successful short sale closing without being even a timelier experience by going through buyer after buyer.

The other key factor I have for my short sale listings is that I have a partner for these sales that does all the negotiations with the bank. So, he is well versed and well seasoned for these types of transactions. I do not have the patience for dealing with the banks, and would probably go insane if I had to deal with the banks on these transactions, so I am very grateful to have Guy Coulston as my guy! I do all the marketing/advertising and front end of the transactions and he does all the bank dealings.

When I am a listing agent for short sales, I really drill the buyer’s agents about their clients, how much they want the home, how long they will wait, if they will put up money in escrow to show commitment, and just a number of answers I want to hear so that I can make sure to do the best job possible in picking the buyer that will be there when we finally get short sale approval.

We picked a buyer that was an all cash buyer and an investor that was in no real hurry to buy and really wanted this place. And, thank God, it was the right buyer who did stick it out and closed the transaction. 

We received the offer in June and we weren’t able to close until October, so the process with Chase took over 4 months to close, so we were REALLY lucky the buyer waited it out since a cash buyer can close in just a few days. Once we finally got short sale approval, the buyer closed the transaction in about 2 weeks, so that was the least of our worries. There were 2 loans with Chase, a first and a second loan.

What took so long for this short sale to get approved is partly that we priced it at market for June pricing and by the time the bank got around to our file, they sent out their own appraiser who actually found our pricing to be right, but then the investor, for some unknown and illogical reason, wanted $168k for this home even though no comps supported that price and there was even a sale for a larger townhome with an additional bedroom that sold for less than what this investor wanted through Chase.

So, we have to fight tooth and nail to get the price down, since surely, the buyer said ‘no way’ to paying OVER market value, and we had to send more comps to Chase, we had to explain that a larger unit sold for less than what they want and that it is impossible to get the price the investor wants. Even the negotiator at Chase was astounded and at a loss of what to do.

After maybe another month or so, we finally convinced the investor that there’s just no way anyone will pay the price the investor wants and $157k is the very best we can do and right in line with the current comps. Luckily, the investor saw the light and granted the short sale approval and we were then able to close the transaction within 2 weeks.

Now the seller feels so relieved to have this all behind her. All of the calls, paperwork, the stress, and overall daunting process she had to go through from the time this first started with the market crash till our closing, she can finally rest and move on peacefully. So, she is very happy and has a huge sigh of relief to have this all behind her now.

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The Worst Timing Ever Short Sale Transaction!

October 24th, 2011 · bay area, buying a home, condo homeowner, condo/townhome, first time buyer, homebuyer, real estate, short sale

For this condo sale in San Jose for $170,000, I was the buyer’s agent and this property was a short sale. The buyer is a really sweet young woman buying her first home. It actually didn’t take very long to get an answer from Wells Fargo bank on this transaction. Wells Fargo in my opinion is the fastest response time for all the banks in approving short sales. Chase, BofA, and especially Suntrust are headaches, but Wells Fargo isn’t too bad. We wrote the contract in July and had the short sale approval letter in August, so just over a month to get the approval, which is quick in the world of short sales. 

Once we got the approval, it all went downhill from there. The timing on this short sale approval letter was just the worst ever! The buyer had a vacation planned for months and months to be out of the country at the end of August. When do you think we got the short sale approval letter? The end of August while she was out of the country! Ugh! To boot, the approval fell on a holiday weekend, so we lost a couple days with the holiday falling around the short sale approval letter timeframe as well. And, to just spice it up even more, the mortgage broker was on a cruise ship for over 2 weeks, which equated to over half of our escrow period with no access to phone or email! 

So, when it came to timing, it just could not have been worse. Unfortunately, the banks could care less about all of these issues. They don’t care that the buyer is on vacation or that the lender is on a cruise, you either step up and close per their instructions or they just move on. 

We struggled through the loan part of the process from Day 1 to the very last day of closing the transaction with a very small portion due to the buyer being out of the country for a few days so we got a late start, but mostly, due to the mortgage broker being out of contact for over half of the transaction. It’s always harder and never as smooth when the person you are working with is out and you are depending on the back up people to get the job done. No one ever knows the file or the information like the direct person you are working with…which goes for most industries. 

The buyer jumped through one hoop after another with leaps and bounds, very impressively, I may add, to do all she could to speed up the process and get the transaction closed. Anything the mortgage broker needed, she was on top of it to get it done. Her father co-signed, so he was also on the loan and had to sign all the paperwork, and he lives out of town. Together, they were just totally on top of it to make this happen as quick as possible. 

The final concern prior to closing is that the buyer had given her rent notice and that day was quickly approaching. At the end, she only needed one additional day to stay at the rental apartment, so thankfully, that worked out as well.

Finally, after a race against the clock, the buyer is a happy homeowner living in her new home and can now relax and enjoy.

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Awwww…The Perfect Client!

October 17th, 2011 · FHA approved, FHA loan, bay area, buying a home, first time buyer, home for sale, real estate, san jose home

This home that I sold in San Jose for $489,000 was a regular sale (not a short sale or foreclosure sale), I was the buyer’s agent and this buyer is the perfect buyer that every agent dreams about having as a client. He is a first time buyer and went through FHA for financing. He knew exactly what he was looking for, exactly where he was looking to buy, he was very reasonable with pricing and making a good offer, and he only went out to view homes 2-3 times and bought one! A realtor’s dream client! For this home, there was 1 other offer that we competed with and apparently that offer was very close in price and terms, if not even maybe the same, as our offer. But, luckily, they choose to accept our offer.

This transaction went extremely smoothly. The FHA loan was actually very painless and there was nothing that came up to delay the process, so we closed in 30 days. At the very end, there was a slight hold up that may have delayed the closing just one day, but  we were able to close on time, so we did stay on track. The inspections went well and as expected. The seller gave the buyer a fairly large credit towards his closing costs. And, it was just a very refreshing transaction. Another happy homeowner now living in his new home.

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