Lori Mode's Blog

What is happening with the current market in Elk Grove and Elk Grove Short Sales?

Well, closings have gone up! This is as a result of a couple of factors.  First, buyers have gotten more accustomed to them and are not as afraid to make offers on Elk Grove short sales and secondly, the lenders really are approving them faster!  We are definitely closing more Elk Grove short sales and helping more homeowners avoid foreclosure!

Take a look at these statistics for Elk Grove short sales -

As you can see the inventory has steadily decreased for the past year as has our total inventory in Elk Grove. Actual closings were at their highest in December 2011 at 102 Elk Grove short sales closing!  Also pending sales have stayed steady around the 150 mark for the past 6 months.

And although inventory has been steadily decreasing, prices on Elk Grove short sales have still been declining.  Only a little each month and we are holding pretty steady around the $100 per square foot mark, however they have been decreasing a little each month.

And as I said previously, inventory has been steadily going down.  We currently have only a 1.7 month of inventory on the market for Elk Grove Short Sales.  This covers all 3 zip codes - 95624, 95757 and 95758.  As of today, January 25, 2012, we have even less inventory in Elk Grove - 152 short sales are currently on the market.

So what does this all mean?

If you are an Elk Grove homeowner thinking about selling your Elk Grove home and you are upside down on your mortgage or behind in your payments, now is a good time to get your home on the market. 

If you are a home buyer looking for an Elk Grove home, remember Elk Grove short sales are closing.  Just make sure that your real estate agent asks the right questions about the short sale before you make your offer.  If you would like a list of the right questions, give us a call at (916) 405-5737 and we will be happy to send them to you!

Remember, the deadline is fast approaching for the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief. 12-31-2012.  If you have any questions about this deadline or want to know what your options are on your mortgage, give us a call at (916) 405-5737 or send us a quick email to Info@ModeandDurhaM.com  We are here to help!

Here are some quick links to other blogs I have written regarding Elk Grove Short Sales -

How much will a short sale cost me?

Are there credit consequences to a short sale?

Who is eligible for a short sale?

Questions to ask the listing agent?

What is a deficiency judgement?

When is it too late to list your home as a short sale?

Behind on payments - how long until the bank forecloses?

If you are interested in finding out more about the Elk Grove real etate market, buying foreclosure properties or short sales or about financing investment properties, make sure to check out our website at www.FindaHomeinElkGrove.com.

More information on the Elk Grove, California real estate market

I had heard about Pinterest before but I didn't get it!  Well, I finally caved and signed up in the past few days.  Now I'm having so much fun with it.  It's basically an online bulletin board of your favorite things or things you want to remember.  It's a great site for sharing ideas.  I have discovered that many of my Facebook friends have also discovered Pinterest.  It seems a lot of people use the site to get inspiration for projects in their life.  The above photo is just one of my boards that I have been enjoying....

If you haven't checked out Pinterest yet, I suggest you take the time to give it a try. 

We list quite a few Elk Grove bank owned homes and if a recent listing is any indication of what is going to happen with them this year, everyone needs to hold on.                                

We received a listing agreement from Bank of America on a Friday for this Elk Grove foreclosure....I had valued it at $235,000 to $245,000 on the BPO I completed for the bank depending on repairs that they might decide to do.  The air conditioner was stolen, it needed carpet and interior paint.  Well, the bank decided not to do any of this work and put it on the market at $214,900!  By Monday morning, we had received 7 offers, sent them to the bank and the bank on Tuesday came back with a counter to all of them to bring their highest and best offer by Wednesday at 5:00.  Well, by Wednesday at 5:00, we had received another 8 offers...all offers had their highest and best offer in at that time.  So 15 offers in less than 1 week!  And I was still receiving phone calls from agents wanting to submit offers...I had to tell them, sorry no more offers.

The interesting thing is that the offers ranged in price from $195,000 up to where the price should be....around $240,000.  (I can't tell everyone the final price as we have not closed escrow!).  Some of these were cash offers, some conventional and some FHA....oddly enough at least a couple of the cash offers were considerably over the list price.  This is because the agents involved had run comparables on the property and knew we were under priced. 

Our inventory in Elk Grove is down considerably from where we were a year ago.  The Elk Grove bank owned inventory is currently only 10% of our market and so if these homes are priced correctly for the condition of the home, the homes are receiving multiple offers within the first few days. 

If you are looking for a home in the Elk Grove area currently and are looking at bank owned homes, make sure that you and your agent are watching the new listings daily and then make sure that your agent runs comparables on any home you are interested in placing an offer on.  On top of that, write a good clean offer with a preapproval from a local lender. 

And to learn more about buying foreclosures or short sales in the Elk Grove real estate market, register for our upcoming Home Buyer Workshop on February 23rd! 

If you are interested in finding out more about the Elk Grove real etate market, buying foreclosure properties or short sales or about financing investment properties, make sure to check out our website at www.FindaHomeinElkGrove.com.

More information on the Elk Grove, California real estate market

Search all Elk Grove homes for sale now!

Stepping Into Your New Home….

Thursday, February 23rd from 6:30 to 8:00      Registration starts at 6:00 P.M.

Professionals from the following fields will be there to answer your questions –   Credit Specialist, Home Inspector, Home Warranty Company, Real Estate Agent, Loan Specialist and Escrow Officer

 What questions will be answered for you?

·         What is the current market in Sacramento doing?

·         Should I buy a short sale?  Or a bank owned home?  Advantages vs disadvantages?

·         How much do I qualify for?

·         What first time home buyer options are there currently?

·         What condition does the property need to be in for particular loans?

·         What about health and safety issues on a home?

·         And much more!  We will also have an opportunity for you to discuss your particular questions with professionals individually!

To be held at Keller Williams Realty - 9260 Laguna Springs, Dr., #100, Elk Grove

Seating is Limited!  Register NOW! or call us at (916) 405-5737 or go to http://homebuyerworkshop2012.eventbrite.com/

If you are interested in finding out more about the Elk Grove real etate market, buying foreclosure properties or short sales or about financing investment properties, make sure to check out our website at www.FindaHomeinElkGrove.com.

More information on the Elk Grove, California real estate market

Search all Elk Grove homes for sale now!

Everyone seems to be of the mind that they should wait until Spring to put their Elk Grove homes on the market.  Yes, it's true that our yards look better in the springtime, with greener grass and flowers budding.  And yes, there seems to be more hours in the day to show homes.  However, does waiting until Spring actually make sense?                   

Sometimes the best time to put your home on the market is when everyone else doesn't have their homes on the market or when inventoy is low.  I hear all the time that sellers want to wait until Spring to list their homes.  They just are not ready in the winter months and they feel like their home will show so much better.   Well, currently we have only 1.6 months of inventory on the market in Elk Grove, CA.  In Spring of 2011, we had just over 2.5 months of inventory and our numbers of listings has dropped by 40% since last Spring.  Less competition may mean a higher price.

It's true there is not usually as many buyers in the winter months, however I have found that the buyers looking during the winter months are very serious buyers!  Although there are more buyers in the Spring, there are also more that are "just looking".   You have to be a serious buyer to weather the winter storms while home shopping.  This year there seems to be a lot of buyers already out there.  We have received 12 offers on one of our new bank owned listings in Elk Grove this past week.

The decision about when to put your Elk Grove home on the market also has to do with the price point of your home.  We look at the history of homes in our sellers' price range to help them make a decision about when to list their home.  Sometimes certain price ranges peak at different times of the year and that means as a seller you need to have your home on the market during the peak season for your price range.

And the last thing to consider is that if your home doesn’t sell during the Winter, you have a head start on the Spring Market.

If you would like some help evaluating if your house should go on the market in the winter or wait until spring, contact us for a free evaluation.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Elk Grove real etate market, buying foreclosure properties or short sales or about financing investment properties, make sure to check out our website at www.FindaHomeinElkGrove.com.

More information on the Elk Grove, California real estate market

Search all Elk Grove homes for sale now!

Perseverance is defined as "steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement."  We have found that this is very important when dealing with Elk Grove Short Sales! 

Some Elk Grove Short Sales can be very easily negotiated with the banks, especially if there is only a first loan on the property.  However, there are others that it definitely takes "perserverance" to get them closed!  I believe that our team has been successful in closing our Elk Grove Short Sale listings because of this!

Take for example, the home that had 3 loans on it - the first 2 with Chase and the 3rd with Beneficial.  We had to negotiate with Chase with 3 different buyers in order to get the short sale approved!  At first Chase told us they would take no less than $170,000 for a property worth approximately $140,000!  Through our steady persistence, after 8 months of negotiating with Chase and 3 different buyers, we got them to see the reality of the situation and we did get an approval at the price of $140,000!  We closed escrow last month and helped another homeowner avoid foreclosure!  These homeowners did not have to come out of pocket for any costs, they received $3,000 in relocation assistance and the total debt forgiven by the 3 lenders was over $200,000!

You cannot take "NO" for answer when dealing with Short Sales.  We have learned that you just have to go back and try again.  Sometimes from a different angle, sometimes with a different buyer, and we never give up!

For other Elk Grove short sale successes for the Mode and Durham Team, check out Questions from a possible Elk Grove Short Sale...

If you or someone you know is having trouble making their mortgage payments or just have questions on what your current options are, call us today at (916) 230-0371 or go to www.ElkGroveShortSale.com for more information.

I had a great day in San Francisco yesterday helping my oldest daughter with her first wedding of the year!  I have always loved my visits to San Francisco and this day was no exception!  For a winter day, we could not have asked for better weather and it was so incredible watching my daughter work on the streets of San Francisco by the Academy of Arts!  People walking down the street offered their congratulations to the bride and groom and enjoyed watching the photo session!

If you know of anyone looking for a great wedding photographer, make sure they check out www.NicoletteClark.com!

Thanks for the experience, Nicolette!