Santa Clara County Short Sale Update 2013

If you are looking for a short sale home in Santa Clara County don't hold your breath. The number of short sales in Santa Clara County have plummeted in 2013. Here are the numbers:
Short Sale Single Family Homes:
Active listings: 25
Pending sales: 394
Closed Escrow in 2013  436
Total single family homes in Santa Clara County
Active listings: 1215
Pending Sales: 1665
Closed escrows in 2012:  4982
 The percentage of single family homes that are short sales are:
Active listings: 2 Percent
Pending Sales: 23 Percent
Closed Sales: 8.7 Percent

Short Sale Condos/Townhomes
Active listings: 13
Pending sales: 161
Closed sales in 2013: 242

Total Townhome Sales in 2013
Active listings: 384
Pending Sales: 673
Closed Sales 2013

Percentage of townhomes that are short sales
Active listings 3.4%
Pending sales: 24%
Closed sales in 2013: 12%

Total Sold Short Sales in 2013: 678
Total Sold Short Sales in the last 6 months of 2012: 1871

What do these numbers tell us? Short sales are down, by a lot. There are less than half the number of short sale homes sold in the first six months of 2013 compared to the second six months of 2012. Additionally there are fewer active and pending listings by percentage compared to closed sales in 2013. This leads me to believe there will be even fewer closed sales in the second half of 2013.

Prices have increased dramatically in Santa Clara County. In many cities we are back to values seen at the peak in early 2008. With these higher values owners can sell if they can not afford the payments, or take advantage of the historically low interest rates and refinance. Short sales are no longer needed for most home owners.

So if you are looking for a bargain in Santa Clara County it is probably a good idea to look for homes other than short sales. It is unlikely this decrease in short sale homes in Santa Clara County is going to change in the near future.

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

Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com
maryc@marcymoyer.com
D.R.E. 01191194
650-619-9285

Santa Clara County: 2012 Short Sale and Foreclosure Roundup

As the year comes to a close you may be wondering what the foreclosure and short sale market looks like in Santa Clara County. In a word, things are pretty quiet. The numbers of sales are down. Here is what it looks like:

Closed sales from June 1,2012 to Dec 26, 2012:  

Bank owned: 579

Short Sales: 1743

Compared to the first 6 months of 2012:

Bank owned: 978

Short sales: 1603

Current Active Sales:

Bank Owned:  33

Short Sales: 76

Current Pending Sales:

Bank Owned: 54

Short Sales: 1044

As you can see there has been a large drop off in REO sales with a slight increase in short sales.

I expect a decrease in both short sales and foreclosures as Santa Clara home values increase, loan modifications increase, and the Homeoner's Bill of Rights takes effect in 2013. As prices increase fewer homeowners are underwater, and the need for short sales and foreclosures decrease. Also, the tax exemption of the debt forgiveness on short sales and foreclosures expires at the end of 2012. This will be a big incentive for homeowners to try to hold on until they are no longer underwater.

If you have any questions about Santa Clara County Short Sales or Foreclosures please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

D.R.E. 01191194

650-619-9285

Sometimes a Blossom Valley Short Sale Is Not The Right Answer

Yesterday I got a call from a client I will never forget. She said "I was able to modify my loan, I can keep my Blossom Valley house, and you were the only one who believed I could do this, so thank you." This made me so incredibly happy.

So what happened was this client and her then husband were pregnant with their first child and ready to buy a home together. They found their dream home in Blossom Valley with my help, purchased it in 2006 with 10% down. In 2007 they had enough appreciation to take out a 2nd loan which they did. In 2010 they had just had their second baby, the home was $250,000 under water, and they split up.

My client did not want to leave the house and try to find a home for herself, the two young children, and her 2 large dogs. She was determined to stay put, get her husband off title, and not disrupt her children any more than necessary. Her lawyer said short sell, her ex stopped helping to pay the mortgage, and her efforts to refinance went nowhere.

I encouraged her to keep trying and not move her children or her border collies from their dream home and lot.

After 2 years she got her principal reduced by 100K (thanks to First Horizon selling the loan to Nation Star who then was very co-operative in modifying her loan). Her ex signed a quick claim deed (don't know why, but he did), and she was able to pay off the second with savings, stock money, and cutting expenses.

So now she has her home, her kids are not disrupted, and with home prices appreciating she probably even has a good investment.

While I always like to help out on Blossom Valley short sales, in this case I am much happier that I did not have to.

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

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

Mountain View Ca Short Sale/Foreclosure Update

In Mountain View from Jan 1, 2012 until June 30, 2012 there were:

16 closed short sales
22 closed bank owned homes
Total sales during this time period were 349
Total % Short Sales: 4.58%
 Total % REO Sales: 6 %
Total Percentage Mountain View Distressed Properties: 10.58%

10.58% of all Mountain View sales being distressed is not enough to have a major effect on the overall market. Additionally, as inventory is still so low unless these homes are truly physically distressed, which is more common with bank owned homes at this level, it probably will not have much effect at all. Ther are so many employed people looking for homes near Google, Apple, and other high tech companies, that homes are getting multiple offers, selling at appreciating prices, and are almost always in high demand. It is interesting to see there are more foreclosures than short sales which we have not seen in other cities.

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

Santa Clara County Short Sale/REO Roundup

It's time for the short sale/vs REO round-up for the first half of 2012. Today I will do the entire county, and then will break down the numbers by city.

So, in Santa Clara County from Jan 1, 2012 until June 30, 2012 there were:

1783 closed short sales
1099 closed bank owned home
Total sales during this time period were 8201
Total % Short Sales: 21.7
Total % REO Sales: 13.4%
Total Percentage Santa Clara County Distressed Properties: 35.1%

This is still a significant number in terms of percentages and at this percentage they are bound to have an effect on the overall market.

If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures in San 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

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

Can A Bank REally Change The Locks On My Mountain View Short Sale?

Seems like a bizarre question doesn't it? Well guess what, it is not.  If you are selling your home as short sale the bank may have the right to send a property preservation company to the house and "secure it" if they feel the house is vacant and abandoned. But it is still my house, right?

Yes, it is still your house, even if you have stopped making payments, but here is the catch. Many loans contain clauses that say if you abandon your home the bank has a right to secure the property to preserve their interest in the home while they are waiting to re-posses it.

So here is the typical situation.  Owner has a home that they need to short sell.  They have already left the home, often to take a job somewhere else, but maybe for some other reason.  The short sale is initiated and the bank finds out the property is vacant. They do not want any damage to the property so they send out a property preservation company to secure the house.  The company changes the locks and may even board up windows. There are even some instances where the property preservation company employees help themselves to some things that were "abandoned" in the home that do not belong to them. The realtor listing the property may not be given the key and other agents may not be able to get in until the mess is straightened out.

What is the solution?  There is no fool proof solution but there are some things you can try.  If you are selling an empty home for what ever reason the best thing to do is to hire a realtor who can stage it for you. (I do this for all my listings) Once the home is staged, or even if that is not possible, take pictures. Show the bank the house is being cared for by the realtor, that the windows are not broken, and that there are locks on the door.  Take pictures of all the fixtures to show what is in the house.  Send these pictures to the bank along with the initial short sale authorization and then again with the short sale package to show that the home is not abandoned and in case there is any question about things going missing.

This may not stop the the bank every time from "securing" an un-abandoned house, but it should help.

If you have nay questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285