Palo Alto Ca Short Sale/Bank Owned Round Up

In Palo Alto from Jan 1, 2012 until June 30, 2012 there were:

1 closed short sales
3 closed bank owned homes
Total sales during this time period were 284
Total % Short Sales: .3%
Total % REO Sales: .9%
Total Percentage  Palo Alto Distressed Properties: 1.2%

1.2% of all Palo Alto sales being distressed properties is not enough to even comment on. The price of homes have in Palo Alto is now up to pre 2008 prices in the $2,500,000 price range and the homes over $2,500,000 usually do not have loans that are a very high percentage of their value so anyone who is having financial problems can generally sell and be made whole. So if you are looking for a bargain, look outside of Palo Alto.

If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures in Santa Clara County please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
DRE  01191194

Palo Alto Distressed Property Watch 2011

It's the end of the year so time for the round-up of distressed property sales in Palo Alto. So here's what happened:

Single family and condo townhomes 2011:

Total sales:  590

Short Sales: 13

REO:           9

Distressed sales as a percentage of total sales: 3.73%

Compare to 2010

Total sales:   563

Short Sales:   8

REO:            6

Distressed sales as a percentage of total sales:  2.5

My conclusion:

The percentage of distressed properties in Palo Alto are not enough to make a difference in the market value of homes. There was an increase in both short sales and REO in 2010 over 2011, but again, not enough to make a big difference. Palo Alto has so far managed to escape the trauma of very many people losing their homes. The same can not be said about many surrounding neighborhoods.

If you have any questions about short sales or bank owned homes please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales

Distressed Property Watch Palo Alto CA

The first quarter of 2011 has net seen a lot of activity of distressed properties in Palo Alto.  Here’s the update:

1.     Sold foreclosures: 1 single family home  4 condos

2.     Active and pending foreclosures: 0

1.     Sold short sales:  1 condo

2.     Active and pending short sales:  5 single family homes and 1 condo

Total Homes sold in first quarter:  156 (combined single family homes and condos)

The percentage of distressed properties in Palo Alto is still very low compared to most of the country with almost no foreclosure activity.  However, there are a few short sales, and for those willing to wait out the escrow period they can be a good deal.

If you have any questions about Palo Alto short sales or Palo Alto foreclosures, please feel free to contact me.

Federal Government Disclaimer (MARS): 1. You may stop doing business with us at any time. You may accept or reject the offer of mortgage assistance we obtain from your lender [or servicer]. If you reject the offer, you do not have to pay us. If you accept the offer, you will have to pay us commission as agreed to in listing contract for our services.
2. Marcy Moyer of Keller Williams Realty is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender; and 
3. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Trust and Probate Sales

Palo Alto Ca Short Sale/REO Watch 11/30/2010

Are you waiting for the rash of short sales and REO properties in Palo Alto so you can snatch a bargain. or just curious about them? Well, not much has changed in the last few months. There are a few of these types of sales, but not many. Short sales, as in other places, are more common than foreclosures. Most banks are at least giving homeowners the option to try to do a loan modification or short sale before foreclosing. These options do not always work, but they are worth a try.

Active Short Sale Listings:  1 condo  2 Single family homes

Pending short sale listings:  5 condos  2 Single Family Homes

Closed Short Sales since Jan 1, 2010:  2 Condos  2 Single Family homes

Foreclosures:

Active listings:  0

Pending:   1 Single Family Home

Closed since 1/1/10:  3 condos   1 single family home

There have been 478 sales of homes and condos in Palo Alto since Jan 1, 2010 so the percentage of distressed home sales is less than 2 %, not enough to have much influence on the market yet.

However, I think that there more may be coming in the next few years.  If you need to sell and owe more than your home is worth I would be happy to have a confidential discussion with you about your options. I am an experienced short sale realtor.  If you are interested in purchasing a short sale or reo property I would be happy to speak with you about what you need to do to successfully purchase one.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Trust and Probate Sales

Palo Alto Market Update

According to the MLS here is the state of the market for 10/28/2010...

Active listings:  88

Pending Sales:  60

Active Short Sales:  1

Active Bank owned: 1

Pending Short Sales: 1

Pending Bank owned: 0

Sold Short Sales 2010: 2

Sold Bank Owned in 2010: 1

What does this mean? Despite the reports of doom and gloom in the media for the national real estate market, and despite the hysteria on many web sites, as of now, the Palo Alto market is not being influenced by distressed properties.  This does not mean that it will not be in the future, but so far in 2010 there are not a lot of distressed properties on the market. So if you are looking for a bargain, this is not the place to find it. Not only are there not many distressed properties, but the ratio of listings to pendings is very healthy. There are still a number of homes in the upper price range, over 3,000,000 that are not selling easily, but otherwise the market is still quite active and healthy.  What this says to me is that Palo Alto is a very desirable place to live, and there are enough people with jobs and money to support the market in Palo Alto.

Marcy Moyer

www.marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

marcy(at) marcymoyer (dot) com

D.R.E.  01191194

Don't Get Behind on Your Mortgage in Palo Alto

Many distressed homeowners have found that if they are unable to make mortgage payments they are frequently not foreclosed on for many many many months.  It appears as if many banks are trying to release foreclosures in a way that will not further depress prices and want to keep these delinquent homeowners in a home so that it is not vacant for long periods of time, which further devalues their investment.  

However, this does not seem to be the case for Palo Alto. 

While Palo Alto has had very few foreclosures come to the market, the ones that have are not in the delinquent phase for long.  If a homeowner misses 3 payments the banks can record a notice of default.  In Ca. they must give the homeowner 90 days to cure the default or they can set a date for the trustee sale, where the bank can buy back the home or an investor with all cash can purchase the home if they pay off all the liens. Since most homes in foreclosure have larger liens on them than the home is worth, investors do not often get to buy at the courthouse auctions.

In many areas the time between the notice of default and the trustee sale is quite lengthy, over a year in many cases.  Sometimes it is because the owner tries to get a loan mod, or do a short sale, but sometimes it is because the bank is just not ready to take possession and sell the home.  

For the few foreclosures in Palo Alto this has not been the case.  There have only been 2 foreclosures in Palo Alto in the last year that have come to the market.  In both cases there was only 4 months between the notice of default and the notice of trustee sale.  There is one home that actually was purchased  by an investor at the courthouse auction and that one also had only 4 months between notice of default and notice of trustee sale (I think the investor may have held the second loan but it is a little confusing as to what actually happened). 

So the moral here is don’t get behind in your Palo Alto mortgage. The banks know this is an easy place to re-sell their assets. If you cannot pay your mortgage do not hide your head in the sand and hope for the best.  Contact a professional (accountant or tax attorney) and then either try to modify your loan,  sell as an equity sale or short sale depending on your equity, or do a deed in lieu of foreclosure if you only have one loan (click here for an article I wrote on the deed in lieu of foreclosure process, and its benefits for underwater homeowners).

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194

*photo courtesy of CSMoniter.com. 

The Facts About Palo Alto Short Sales and Foreclosures

There's a lot of chatter on real estate blogs about the steep increase in foreclosures and short sales in Palo Alto. Unfortunately many sites post stats from a company called Realty Trac which tracts everything from a Notice of Default through a listed bank owned property.  Many things can happen before a home with a Notice of Default actually gets to be sold by the bank, but unless you read the fine print carefully it is easy to confuse a house that is behind a few months in payments with an actual bank owned property on the market for sale.

Most bank owned homes as well as short sales (where the seller owes more than the home is worth and the lender/lenders have agreed to accept less than the amount of the mortgage to release the debt) are sold through the MLS.  So to see how many of these distressed sales have hit the market in the last year I went to the MLS and looked.  

Here is what I found for single family homes:

Bank owned properties sold in last year:              4

Current Pending sales of Bank owned:                 2

Short Sales sold in last year:                               3

Current Pending Short Sales                               1

Current Active Short Sales                                 1

For condo/townhomes the numbers are:

Bank owned sold:                                             2

Bank owned pending sales:                               1

Short Sales sold:                                              3

Short sales pending:                                         4

Short sales active:                                            2

As you can see this is not a huge number, especially since the total number of homes sold in Palo Alto in the last year is 369, making distressed sales account for less than 2%.  There have been 97 condo/townhomes sold in the same period making the distressed sales about 5% of that market.  These numbers are not enough to have any impact on the price of homes in Palo Alto at this point.  The percentage would have to increase several fold before Palo Alto prices are affected by distressed properties.  I am not saying that this is or is not going to happen, that is a discussion for a future post, just that it has not happened yet.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

D.R.E.  01191194

marcy@marcymoyer.com

www.marcymoyer.com

*Photo Credit: found this hilarious picture at the website for The Sacramento Bee. 

Palo Alto Market Update, Single Family Homes: October 25th

Here's today's snapshot of the Palo Alto single family home market:

93 Active listings

61 Pending sales

What does this mean? Inventory has decreased again, down to a more favorable number for sellers, especially in the under 1.5 mil range, and pending sales are up. To me the big news is that between Sept. 1, 2009 and Oct 10, 2009 there were 43 single family home sales on MLS. Of these, three homes sold over $2,000,000 and 40 sold under $2,000,000. That is not good news for sellers in the over 2 million market. That segment has a long way to go before we see any real recovery. However, as of today there are 8 pending sales between $2,089,000 and $2,198,000 which is good for that segment. There are still only 4 pending sales over 2.2 and the 49 remaining pending sales are all under 2 million. My prediction for the upper end market is that we are going to start to see some short sales if the sellers have overleveraged their homes and need to sell. Banks are starting to streamline the short sale process and the credit hit is not nearly as severe as a foreclosure. Added to that is the fact that the debt relief is not taxed by the feds leads me to believe that we will not see a wave of foreclosures in Palo Alto, but maybe a trickle of short sales if the employment picture does not pick up or if a homeowner needs to leave the area.

• If you are interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my web site. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon and get the county records.

If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.

Marcy Moyer Intero Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

www.marcymoyer.com

DRE 01191194