Archive for October, 2009
Beward of FDIC Fraud Alert
October 27th, 2009 categories: Finances, Real Estate
Email Phishing Scam
If you receive an email with the subject line “check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage” do NOT fall for it! According to the official FDIC website the file asks that you open a “personal FDIC insurance file” to check your deposit insurance coverage. The “insurance file” may actually be a form of spyware with executable files that attempt to collect personal or confidential information.
The email starts out by saying that your bank has failed and the assets have been taken over by the FDIC. It further provides a hyperlink to the “official FDIC website” which is fraudulent. Clicking on the provided link opens malicious code that could access your personal information and compromise your security.
The FDIC is trying to acertain where this email is coming from and sever the connection. They are working with the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) to understand how the files function and will no doubt update their site once they have it figured out.
If you would like to keep informed on banking matters and receive fraud alerts go to: www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2009/index.html and subscribe to their newsletter. You can also send suspect emails to them at: alert@fdic.gov This is not a Halloween hoax so take extra caution and pass along this information…the credit information you save could be your own!
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Folsom’s Inventory Status
October 23rd, 2009 categories: Folsom CA, Foreclosures, Home Auctions, Short Sales
Current Statistics for Oct 2009
As Halloween approaches it appears that some of the homes on the block will have the porch light out for reasons other than avoiding tricker treaters.
Inventory is down in Folsom CA and short sales and foreclosures currently represent just under one half of all residential home sales. The spookiest information I found was the amount of bank owned homes (REO’s) in Folsom which currently stands at 896! According to Realist there are currently 232 pre-foreclosures in Folsom which means that the homeowners are behind in their mortgage payments and a Notice of Default (NOD) has been filed. Their are also 192 homes that are set to go to auction. I usually see most of these homes go back to the bank because buyers are leery of purchasing a home without full disclosures available on the condition of title.
The latest numbers for Sept. 2009 show that there were 64 homes sold in Folsom CA, of which 14 were bank owned. Short sales accounted for 12 homes sold which is encouraging because most likely those homes were still occupied and maintained up to the sale. The rest of the properties were fair market sales which include investors selling previous bank foreclosures.
There is some positive news on the horizon which includes a possible extension of the $8000 tax credit for buyers. The discussion includes allowing all buyers to participate so that could help those move up buyers re-examine their options. One other piece of good news are the current interest rates which are still hovering at the 4 3/4% to 5 1/2 % range. These are not the frightening rates that were available when I purchased my first home…they were around 11%…now that’s scary!
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Tips on Competing for Short Sales
October 5th, 2009 categories: Folsom Lake
Three points to help you land the sale
One of my favorite things to do is cook and one of the first rules is to make sure you watch the heat source so it doesn’t burn the food. It seems to me that real estate is similar in nature and our market has been on a slow simmer all summer long but appears to be heating up according to all the economic reports. This is also evidenced by the multiple offers I’ve experienced and heard about, not only below the $300,000 range but in the properties priced up to $700,000 as well. So how do you ensure that you get the property when you know there are multiple offers on the table (even though it is a short sale) and you still have to wait for a bank approval?
Glad you asked! Savvy agents are now requiring that the buyers deposit their earnest money checks with the escrow company upon acceptance of the offer by the sellers. This does not mean that the bank has approved the short sale but only gives some reassurance to the sellers that the buyers won’t walk away from the deal half way through the transaction. This issue has been brewing for some time and it’s starting to cause listing agents to change their counsel so rule number one is expect to put cash in escrow.
It’s not unusual for buyers in this market to write multiple offers but they must let that be known to all parties involved. There is no rule against writing multiple offers and when that happens it’s best to include some verbiage on the offer. This has been happening quite a bit lately and the result is that buyers are not acting responsibly when cancelling contracts. Sloppy buyer’s agents are NOT taking the lead here and the result is a lot of frustration in the real estate community. So rule number two is cancel all previous purchase contracts and let the listing agents know in writing!
This market has allowed a record number of new buyers into the market by way of low prices and government backed loans which typically do not require a lot of money down (zero down for VA). Brokers caution sellers against anything that could jeopardize the sale of the home and low down offers are at the top of the list. If listing brokers advise against accepting offers without money being deposited we could see many buyers unable to purchase due to their lack of cash flow. Locking out buyers in this market is not a particularly happy thought so respect the sellers and alert them to any changes that will effect the sale, you don’t want to contribute to a negative backlash. So rule number three is to communicate any changes to the seller’s in writing.
I would like to express my caution to buyers (and their agents) who are indifferent to real estate procedure and their impact on this market. As we have seen the fall out of the wildly loose lending practices by way of stricter lending policies I suspect we will also see real estate brokers revert to stricter standards regarding buyer’s offers. Additionally, since a lot of the newbie agents who got into real estate at the height of the market are now gone we can be assured the established agents will once again cut the path to protect consumers. Most of what I have blogged here is standared operating procedure but unfortunately not practiced by some agents. I hope that those previously unable to buy a home will respect the process and get to enjoy their slice of the American dream.
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