Real estate pros trying to move foreclosures often must clean out properties that have been abused, pay past-due utility bills, pay back HOA dues, arrange for repair of hard-to-ignore damages, and provide security in lousy neighborhoods.

Despite these issues, selling REO properties isn't all that lucrative. Commissions are split with the associate who sells the property and after payment of the costs for maintenance and cleanup. Collecting money from slow-paying banks is also part of the job.

Professionals who specialize in these properties make money on volume. For instance, so far this year Hidden valley Real Estate has sold 85 properties worth a total of $16.2 million in the Southern California area. For the year, the company expects to net less than $100,000.

It may not be big bucks or inspiring work, but there are rewards. "We've got job security into 2009," Troy Helton says.

Contact us today!

Hidden Valley Sells

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

• What's behind the subprime mortgage mess? Banks loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to homebuyers who otherwise wouldn't qualify on the assumption that home values would continue to increase. Wall Street packaged these loans as securities and sold them as investments. Those investments collapsed beginning in July 2007 under the weight of the housing market slowdown.
• As of January, 2008, there were 4,200 homes in default or foreclosure in Stockton. Today, more than 6,000 area homes are in default or foreclosure. Observers say many borrowers who ended up in default or foreclosure got there because they bought without a downpayment and borrowed significantly more than the home was worth. Mortgage lenders, meanwhile, readily approved buyers based on their "stated income."
• According to CBS, "100 of the world's biggest financial institutions now are on the hook for a reported total of $379 million in bad debt - and counting."

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

• In California, Carlsbad (near Camp Pendleton) experienced a 131 percent increase in foreclosure filings from the January-April period a year ago. Also on the list were Barstow, home of a Marine Corps logistics base(120 percent) and Twentynine Palms (73 percent), home of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. The figures compare to an overall U.S. increase in foreclosure filings of 59 percent for the period.
• Experts say military personnel who bought homes over the last few years are more likely to have received subprime loans because of relaxed lending criteria that overlooked their frequent moves, lower pay and credit scores. While Veterans Administration loans historically have met the needs of soldiers and their families, they carried more stringent qualification criteria - one reason the percentage of VA loans granted actually fell during the real estate boom.
• Military personnel are protected from losing their homes due to nonpayment of mortgages while on active duty and for 90 days after they return home. Several members of Congress, including California's Bob Filner, are advocating the timeframe be extended to a year.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY

• S&P's survey of 20 markets showed a 2.2 percent price decline in March. A 10-market survey showed a 2.4 percent monthly decline and a 15.3 percent overall drop. In California, Los Angeles prices fell 21.7 percent in March compared with a year ago, while San Diego fell 20.5 percent.
• New home sales edged up 3.3 percent in April after an 11 percent drop in March to an annualized rate that remains 42 percent below last year's levels. The good news: Inventory feel 2.4 percent to a 10.6-month supply, down from 11.1 months in March.
• Consumer Confidence fell to the lowest level since October 1992. Other measures also dropped considerably: The group's measure of present conditions dropped from 81.9 in April to 74.4 in May, and its gauge of expectations through the end of 2008 declined from 50.0 in April to 45.7 in May. The Conference Board also reported that the percentage of consumers planning to buy a home sometime during the next six months fell from 2.5 percent in April to 2.1 percent in May.

• The vast majority of sales were at the more affordable end of the spectrum. Homes priced under $500,000 accounted for 64 percent of all sales in April, compared with only 40 percent a year ago. Homes from $500,000 to $1 million, meanwhile, accounted for only 26 percent of sales this April, down sharply from 45 percent a year ago. Once-fallow markets like Sacramento and Riverside saw increases in sales of more than 20 percent as bargain-hunters took advantage of favorable interest rates, lower prices and a glut of foreclosures on the market.
• An estimated 30,000 foreclosed homes have been auctioned in California over the past year. Observers say lenders holding repossessed properties have been anxious to sell them at discounts of as much as 40 percent, and that fact is enticing buyers back into the market in greater numbers.

Does this sound too good to be true? Nope. I see it every day. But those sellers know the secret to selling fast in today's market. Not price. Not condition. Not location. But a critical secret only industry insiders know from experience: Buyer incentives.

Interested? If you'd like me to show you how I would market your home to get the highest possible price in today's market, give me a call. I'd be happy to help you sort through all the buyer incentives to find those that will attract buyers like a magnet to your property.

I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Hidden Valley Sells

That's always been one of my mottoes. After you've done all the practical work to make your home sell - fix-ups, spruce-ups and on-target pricing - a positive attitude that says you expect your home to sell - and sell fast - never hurts!

Savvy buyers can smell desperation. Approach your home sale with a well-thought-out plan for success and you're more than halfway there.

I have years of experience bringing buyers and sellers together at the settlement table - and I'll gladly share my expertise with you. Give me a call.

Best wishes,

Hidden Valley Sells