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We Inherited a Stockton House and it is Haunted by a Deadbeat Relative

Have you ever noticed that there are people that just want to help their family and family that just want to help themselves to your House? Well, you are not alone.

I would estimate that in today’s Stockton Real Estate Market roughly 15% of all homes that are on the market and are in major need of repair

have one thing in common… they have been occupied by a relative that is NOT paying rent, NOT making any repairs, NOT performing any maintenance and has NOT paid the property taxes. To make matters worse they have also refused to leave.

It is not uncommon in today’s Stockton Real Estate Market for a Mother or Father to pass away and leave a house to the surviving children. It is more common than you would think when one of those children decide that they are entitled to live in Mom and Dad’s old house for as long as they like rent Free.

It all starts innocent enough, the family is dealing with grief of the loss and one of the siblings says something like… “I have got an idea, you know that Mom and Dad’s house will be empty now and it is going to take a while to clean it out and put it on the market for sale and I have been looking for a house and until we decide what to do, I can live in the house, pay all of the property taxes, maintain it and keep the rest of you guys from having to sell it right now. After all the market is really bad, the house hasn’t been updated in years and I can fix it up while I live there. I will even pay rent if that is what you want”

Often times the relative has already been living there with Mom and/or Dad (rent free) and did nothing while they were there previously. Of course the guilt of Mom and Dad’s passing is hard enough and none of the other siblings wants to argue… after all it is a good idea in theory and what the heck it may even be what Mom and Dad would have wanted…. Right?

Wrong.

Time passes quickly and even more so when something is out of sight and out of mind and something as innocuous as Mom’s old house, is something no one wants to deal with. Pretty soon two years go by and the property taxes have not been paid, the house has not only not been updated it has also not been maintained and now if it wasn’t previously, it is the ugliest house on the block and the family member is still living there… RENT FREE. When asked why the house is in such bad shape the family member snaps back… “I can’t afford to maintain this house, it was worse than this long before I got here”.

It is Time to Sell?

When a house becomes a liability it is time to sell, but the issues that the family faces are generally overwhelming and the retrospect into what Mom and Dad would have wanted are now in complete conflict with the reality of the situation. The fact of the matter is that the house should have been sold long ago. Mom and Dad never wanted the family house to become a burden and while they hoped that one of their children would care for the house as they did all too often it is that one child that the parents knew would not.

To make matters worse, it generally falls on one Family member (the executor of the estate) to be the “Bad Guy” and the thought that they are going to have to deal with this becomes life consuming. Often times there are more than one sibling to deal with and evryone has their own opinion, but the common goal is the same… no one wants to come out of pocket to fix the house and certainly not while someone is living there.

The issues becomes very clear, the asset that was once a nice house has turned into a financial burden, a liability and now the family needs to deal with it. What are the options? Who is going to pay and in what proportion? How are we going to tell the family member living there that the rest have had enough, and who is going to tell them that they have to get out?

So the list is made and it is beyond what anyone anticipated;

1) The house is in need of repair and needs to be fixed before we can sell it

• Fix the dry rot, termite damage, and water damage from leaky old cast Iron plumbing
• New Roof
• New Paint
• New Carpet and flooring throughout
• New or remodel Bathroom
• New r remodel Kitchen
• Maintenance
• Plumbing
• The garbage needs to be removed from the house inside and out
• Window and door replacement

2) Property Taxes

3) Code Violations and fines from the City or County

4) Choosing a realtor and negotiating a commission

5) Establishing a sales Price

6) Evicting the Family Member

This is just the short list and it doesn’t take into consideration the rest of the competition in the Stockton Real Estate Market or number of

Foreclosed homes already in the market that are driving down house values. All of a sudden the house becomes an albatross that everyone needs to get rid of.

My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a Real Estate Investor in Stockton California and Tulsa Oklahoma. I Buy Houses in any condition and I pay Cash. I am not going to require that you spend thousands of dollars for you to fix your house and I am not going to charge you a real estate commission. I will come out and evaluate your property for free, give you a market analysis and then make you an all cash offer to buy your house in its “as-is” condition with absolutely no contingencies.

I will even help you with your family member that refuses to leave.

If you have an unwanted house that you need to sell, you can email me directly at peterw@westbrookrei.com or call me at 209-481-7780. I answer all of my calls and if by chance you get my voice mail, I will call you back. In any case I am a viable alternative for you and your family to spending thousands in house repairs and waiting for a return on that investment that may never come. Most people in this situation want to deal with someone that understands and while selling the house on the open market may be a viable alternative the list of expired listing (houses NOT SOLD) in Stockton grows daily.

One phone call could set the wheels in motion for you to taking back your life and allowing me to do what I do best… clearing obstacles… including that realative that refuses to leave.

 

Real Estate Stockton, Owner Financing

Real Estate Stockton-http://westbrookrei.com This video discusses seller Financing in Stockton, CA & Tulsa, Ok as way to purchase a house. We offer seller financing with flexible terms tailored to each homeowners needs. We specialize in buying houses Read more

4128 E 6th St, Stockton, California: A Tale of two Houses in the Stockton Real Estate Market

 

4128 E 6^th St, Stockton, California: A Tale of two Houses in the Stockton Real Estate Market

Stockton California has so many dilapidated houses left to waste by the collapse of the real estate bubble, that if not for the real estate Investor, nearly 38% of all properties purchased in the past 5 years would continue to blight neighborhoods across the city.

This is a tale of two houses in the Stockton Real Estate Market and how real Estate Investors are saving the real estate market, house by house, block by block and neighborhood by neighborhood.

4128 E 6^thSt, Stockton, California was not any ordinary house. There were so many code violations issued by both the City and the county that it became a health hazard and a target for the San Joaquin County Health department. The original house of less than 500 square

feet was described by a neighbor as an “old one bedroom chicken house”.

The owner had for the previous 5 years to my purchasing the property attempted to expand and rehab the house, but for every effort the owner made to remodel on the weekends was met with an equal effort to vandalize and steal whatever was left from the previous weekends work. The tale of a five year effort and over $25,000.00 in investment by the original owner is sad because at the end of the day, the house had become a serious liability that nobody wanted.

When I purchased the house I knew that I would be met by that same element that stole whatever copper wiring and pipes I installed the day before. I also knew that as long as I had full time activity on a daily basis, I could stop the theft and vandalism by merely being there.

Permits were pulled, inspections scheduled and for the next 3 weeks crews worked daily to transform one house in the east Stockton Real Estate Market into an example of what could be done with a continuous effort and a commitment to succeed. Wood fencing was installed around the house in a neighborhood where chain link dominates and our efforts to secure the house paid off as we began the project.

When we started 90% of the electrical was stolen, the copper and cast iron piping for water and gas gone and the only thing standing was the wood framing with its five year old siding that needed a lot of work. The roof had been built and sheeted, but the blue tarps that had once been the makeshift shingles were torn and damaged by the wind, rain and sun. It would also need to be completely redone.

The project finally ended with what is a virtually new house from the foundation up. Today at 4128 E 6^thSt, Stockton California sits a virtually brand new

1,000 square foot house boasting 2 Bedrooms and 1 Bath. It has new everything including wood laminate throughout, Walnut cabinets in the kitchen and granite slab countertops.

Not every dilapidated house in the Stockton Real Estate Market is going to receive the attention and investment that this one did, but you can be assured that house by house, the Stockton Real Estate Market is going to heal a lot faster because of the efforts of Real Estate Investors.

 

My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a real Estate Investor in Stockton, CA. I buy houses and I pay cash for Stockton Real Estate. If you have an unwanted house and cannot afford to fix it up give me a call and I will make you an all cash offer. I can be reached at 209-481-7780 or you can send me an email to peterw@westbrookrei.com and I will be happy to come out and evaluate your house.

 

I want to Sell My House in Stockton, CA… How Quickly Can you close and When Will I Get My Money?

It really is a simple question or is it?

In today’s Stockton Real Estate Market you would think that this is a just a matter of signing a Purchase and Sale Agreement and the money can change hands right now… Right?

The short answer is… not so fast: there are a number of issues that could slow the whole process down.

My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a real estate investor in Stockton, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma and I wish buying a house was that simple. The timeframes in buying/selling and actually closing (when you get your money and when I get a Free and Clear Title or Deed of Trust) are dictated by a number of factors that are generally not in either the Buyers or Sellers Direct Control.

Let me explain:

I make all cash offers on houses every month and as much as I would like to think I can close in a matter of days my experience show that even if I have 100% of the in an escrow account at the Title Company,  the timeframe is NOT dictated by me at all. In fact it is the house, its history and the condition of the title that determines the actual timeframe in 99.9% of the cases.

Here is just one real Life example:

Let’s say for a moment that you inherited a house in Stockton California that is owned by you free and clear, (meaning that there is no mortgage) and you sell it to me for a negotiated sales price and I tell you that I will pay you all cash.

Let’s also assume that I buy the house in its current as-is condition and I make the offer with no contingencies for inspections, repairs, appraisals or financing.

In the above scenario you may ask me for a proof of funds (to prove that I actually have the ability to pay cash for your Stockton House).

 In return, I am going to ask you for one thing… a “Clean and Clear Title” (proof that there are no leans and judgments against the title of the house that were not contemplated or expected as was outlined in the purchase and sale agreement).  It is here that most of the delays in selling a house occur.

Let me explain the process:

Once the Purchase and Sale Agreement are signed I go to the Title Company that we have agreed upon and I hand them the Purchase and Sale Agreement along with my Earnest Money Deposit. I “open” the escrow account and the clock starts to click. Within two days of that occurrence the Title Company runs a Preliminary Title Report on the subject property looking for the following;

1)      Back Property Taxes or Assessments that have not been paid

2)      Liens  filed by a Mortgage Company that may be carrying a first or second Mortgage

3)      Code Violations against the subject property for repairs or additions that were unpermitted and subsequent fines levied by the City and/or County

4)      Any judgments filed against the property, the property owners or previous property owner.

5)      Other people that may have an interest in the Property

6)      Other liens such as Child Support

Once the Title Company identifies the existence of any of the above that may have the potential to “cloud title” they then issue what is known as a demand payoff to the lien holder for a written statement and payoff amount to release the lien from the property.

In most cases it takes approximately 10 to 15 business days to hear back from the lean holder depending on the type.

Sometimes there is an “old” lien but there are not necessarily any moneys owed… at least not on the surface. It is the Title Company’s job to determine what monies are owed and how they are to be paid before it will issue Title Insurance.

If the initial Preliminary Title Report comes back with no liens and or judgments, Title Insurance can be issued immediately and the transaction can close in a matter of days depending on the schedule or backlog of the Title Company.

The fastest that I have ever seen a transaction close is within 10 days from the date of the Purchase and Sale Agreement. The longest has been 75 days.

My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a Real Estate Investor actively buying houses in Stockton, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you have a house that you want to sell and want me to make an all cash offer and close quickly, please call me at 209-481-7780 and I will talk to you personally. I can also  be emailed at peterw@westbrookrei.com for a fast cash offer.

Can I Get Top Dollar for My House in Stockton?

Can I Get Top Dollar for My House in Stockton?

That depends on a lot of factors, but the simple answer to that question is probably not unless you are will to make some serious

updates.

For the past five years Stockton has either topped the list of or has been in the top 5 WORST places to sell real estate in the entire country. Today, the Stockton Real Estate Market remains one of the worst places in California to own an unwanted house and the forecast for the next two to three years is not much brighter.

So, what do you do if you have an unwanted house in Stockton and you’d like to sell it fast and for top dollar?

Well, unless your house is in pristine condition with no major defects, your options are limited. You can’t expect to compete with every other “fixer upper” in the Stockton Real Estate Market and sell your house  fast and at a price point you would like unless you are prepared to do something drastic to make the house less risky from a buyers perspective.

What defects can work against you?

1)      You have a 3 Bedroom one bath house with no garage because it has been converted into the 3rd bedroom, but every other house

on the street has a garage. While this may not have been considered a major defect when houses were in scarce supply and prices were up everywhere, it is today when 3 bedroom one bath houses are available on nearly every block with a garage.

2)      You have a three bedroom 1 bath house and you have to go through one bedroom to get to the other bedroom. This is a major defect for most home buyers as people notice how badly a houses layout will affect their lifestyle.

What are your solutions?

In scenario number one you may be able to convert the bedroom back to a garage and sell the house as a two bedroom with garage. Under scenario number 2 your options may be limited. You might be able to convert the 3^rd bedroom into a master bath and fix the problem that way.

Be careful though because even if you have the money to fix a major defect in a house that you own, you may never get that money back out of the house as buyers are very conscious of the depressed home prices in the Stockton Real Estate Market.

Today’s Real Estate Home buyers are fickle and unless there is an incentive to buy a house with major defects it can and  will sit for months on end without even a single offer. The Best way to sell a house that has any major issues is to price it right and be aware that you have lots of competition in this Stockton Real Estate Market.

Finally, if you have a house in Stockton and don’t have the money to fix it up to at least mask the existing deficiencies but you need to sell it fast, you might consider these other cost factors.

The longer you hold onto the house the more ongoing cost you have;

1)      Homeowners Insurance

2)      Mortgage payments

3)      Monthly Utility Cost

4)      Maintenance

5)      Yard Work

6)      Property Taxes

7)      City Code Violations

8)      Vandalism

Today’s Stockton Real Estate Market presents many challenges for homeowners that have houses which have turned into a liability and sometimes the solution may not be the conventional route of listing it with a realtor. In many cases homeowners can avoid paying realtor commissions and shorten their sales timeframe if they think outside of the Box.

If you have a house that has a major defect and would like to sell it but don’t want to wait for months  on end, pay high real estate commissions or pay the ongoing holding cost while the house sits on the market, your best solution may be to sell your house fast to an investor for cash.

My name is Peter Westbrook and my Company is Westbrook Real Estate Investments and I Buy Houses in Stockton. Give me a call and I will make you a cash offer. I can be reached at 209-481-7780.

The Shadow Inventory(s): What Banks are hiding in the Stockton Real Estate Market

As I was writing today’s Blog update I knew that what I had been seeing first hand in the Stockton Real Estate Market was something that has never been

seen before.  Not even in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the last time we saw the real estate market crash did we see such a devastation of the real estate market as it is manifesting today.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s we didn’t have government intervention under the guise of compassion, meddling in the housing or banking markets. Back then the Market was allowed to work and by virtue of no intervention, the market took care of the bubble that burst.

Sure we were in a deep recession, unemployment was at 7%, inflation was out of control, interest rates hit all time highs and credit was tight, but back then there was NOT a shadow inventory of foreclosures to exacerbate matters. Back then the rules were simple. When you were 90 days behind on a payment you were in foreclosure and if the mortgage remained unpaid a notice of default was sent out and the house went up for auction. As such, the house became a part of the general real estate market and landscape and was liquidated.

Did real estate values drop? Yes, but the market was allowed to do its job and the market absorbed them and there was no protracted and artificial “shadow inventory” of houses that no one knew about.

So what is this “shadow inventory” of houses that everyone refers to? The conventional definition is simple and refers to the houses that are technically in default (meaning mortgages that are 90 days past due), but no notice of default has been issued by the bank and as such no auction date has been set.

Today there are actually two “shadow inventories” that are dooming the Stockton Real Estate market to a protracted recovery.

Shadow Inventory I:  This is the “Shadow inventory” that everyone refers to in today’s housing market. They are the houses that have yet to be foreclosed upon. These are the houses that the banks have not collected a mortgage on for upwards of 36 months. Since the banks have not yet foreclosed on these houses they are sitting as an unknown number of houses that have yet to reenter the market place. As such they are either being lived in rent free by the current mortgage holder or a renter that is paying the Mortgage holder while the mortgage goes unpaid.

This is all occurring, thanks to “new and more compassionate government policies” that some would call government intervention and manipulation that has virtually changed the banking rules. These new rules have made it easier for banks to hide unpaid mortgages on their books, and since Banks are not required to foreclose according to any particular time frame, that means that they can carry unpaid mortgages apparently as long as they chose to do so. As a result, the market cannot deal with this inventory until the bank actually forecloses and acknowledges the bad debt.

Shadow Inventory II: The second “shadow inventory” that no one is talking about are all of the houses that have been foreclosed upon but have dropped out of the market because they did not sell. Every month I see hundreds of withdrawn or expired listings of Stockton real estate that is Bank owned that have disappeared from the real estate market. The only reminder that these houses exist is denoted at the bottom of a comparable market analysis while attempting to research another property in the neighborhood.

In the Stockton Real Estate Market alone there are hundreds of these houses that have been foreclosed upon, that have not been sold and are NOT currently listed for sale by the Bank directly or in the Realtors Multiple listing Service. Most of them are vacant, boarded up and in such a state of disrepair that they make up a huge second “shadow inventory” and they are contributing to dropping home values in Stockton.

It is estimated that Americans have lost close to $7 Trillion in home values and equity over the past four years and I don’t expect that we have hit the bottom. While many are projecting a real estate recovery in 2012, I don’t believe it so long as the supply of foreclosed properties is hidden and excluded from the market itself.

Brace yourself as home prices in Stockton Real Estate will continue to tumble.

Peter Westbrook is the owner of Westbrook Real Estate Investments and can be reached at 209-481-7780 or his email is peterw@westbrookrei.com. The Company Website is http://westbrookrei.com

Stockton Real Estate News: What Determines the Value of Your No So Normal House?

In Stockton Real Estate, what determines the value of your house may not be the real measure of its Market Value?

In a normal Stockton Real Estate Market it’s difficult enough to try establishing a competitive market price to sell a home within a reasonable amount of time and keep everyone happy. In today’s Stockton Real Estate Market, that burden gets much more difficult as a normally well maintained house rarely gets the benefit of an increased sales price based on its good condition.

When you add in the seemingly unlimited supply of Foreclosures and Short Sales the condition of your house gets little notice and actually presents a unique challenge to Stockton homeowners in determining the real current Market Value.

While banks with Foreclosed properties and pending short sales want to take advantage of whatever price bump they can get from the prettiest houses on the block, the numbers in Stockton Real Estate are showing that the homeowners of these well kept properties continue to take a beating as prices continue to tumble.

So let’s ask the question….. What if you have a beautiful house in Stockton, Sacramento or Modesto, California (three of the worst real estate markets in the country), and you need to sell your house now?

Today’s Stockton Real Estate Market is very different than anything that has been experienced in the last 30 years. There are so many Foreclosures and Short Sales on the market  that it is virtually impossible for anyone located in any of these areas to tell you what their house is really worth based on the conventional wisdom in determining home values. More depressing is that you are less likely to get a higher price just because your house is in god or excellent condition. In fact, for anyone selling any house in today Stockton Real Estate market, you need to be aware that the “junkers” are determining house values.

With that said, if setting the sale price of a house in today’s Real Estate Market is one of the most important parts of the home selling and buying process then how does the condition of my house fit into that puzzle? The answer is it doesn’t matter very much depending on where your house is located.

Is it any wonder that pretty houses can sit for as long as 2 years without a single offer?

If knowing your home’s value helps you determine its price then homeowners must be wringing their hands in frustration while homebuyers continue to look for the bargains at the expense of what the house actually looks like. Can you blame them?

So now we come to the real question… what if your home is NOT NORMAL? What if your house needs thousands in repairs and maintenance and it isn’t the prettiest on the block? Do you pour thousands of dollars into it and try to sell it? What if you don’t have the money to fix it up? Will you ever get that money back if you do sell the house? Do you sell it as is?

In today’s Stockton Real Estate Market you need to answer every one of these questions while at the same time understanding that there is very little margin for error when it comes to pouring thousands of dollars into fixing a broken house. In today’s market, chances are you will NOT get that money back out.

So if current condition of the house plays a smaller role in how to price the house, then who is your best bet to Buy  your house in its as is condition?If you answered a Real Estate Investor, you would be correct, because currently 35% of all homes sales in Stockton were from cash buyers.

Certainly there are other factors  in determining home values… such as the current number of comparable listings on the market. The

fewer the listings, the more valuable your home, particularly if it’s in a desirable location or has amenities hard to find in your area. Supply and demand can make your home worth more, allowing you to set a higher price when you sell. Conversely, if there are many homes similar to yours on the market, then that can lower the value, especially if there aren’t many buyers.

So as a Homeowner How do You find your home value and set your price?

Thankfully, in today’s Stockton Real Estate Market there are many tools available to help you determine your homes value. The most obvious is a real estate agent or title company. Each tracks the actual sales of homes that occurred within the last 90 days and they are a good place to start.  Your agent should have a good understanding of the current market in your area, allowing them to review comparable homes and estimate how your home sizes up. If you want to get an idea of your home’s value before talking with an agent, you can use tools of many websites such as Home Price Check SM tool, RealEstate.com, Zillow.com, Finest expert.com and others to get a value for your home, based on prices for comparable homes in your area. It might be a good idea to use this for comparison with the price that your agent recommends.

One final factor in determining your price is your time. If you are not in a hurry to sell, you can price your house higher because you

have the luxury to wait for the right buyer. Just make sure you don’t price it too high – you don’t want to scare away prospective buyers. However, if you are in a time crunch, it may be better to price your home on the low end in order to sell quickly. Selling quickly may be more valuable than whatever additional money you would get from a starting at a higher price. Remember you have to factor in your holding costs for a house that doesn’t sell. By the time you pay for Insurance, Maintenance, water, electricity, garbage service, etc., maybe it would be better to sell that house in its as is condition to a Stockton Real Estate Investor.

Stockton Real Estate News: Why Short Sales are Not Helping Foreclosure rates or Recovery.

Are you looking for the magic pill to finally cure all of the Stockton Real Estate and Foreclosure woes?

If you are like me then what you want is some sanity and predictability ushered back into the Stockton Real Estate Market and specifically the Short Sale process. Sure, we have all heard that the banks are getting better and time frames have improved. Who is spreading those vicious rumors?

What does that mean? Unfortunately many different things to many different people, but for me, as  a Stockton based Real Estate Investor, I want to know that when I submit Short Sale offer I will get a response in less than 30 days. In the real world we submit 48 hour and 72 hour offers and rarely do we not hear back from the seller.

So why is it that the one vehicle that was best equipped to mitigate the Foreclosure process and bring a logical path of a rational home sale process to the Banks has failed so miserably? Was it because everyone had put their eggs in one basket called the Short Sale and then counted on the banks to actually do their part?

In retrospect we did, Investors, Real Estate Agents, the Banks and according to what really happened, we were sucker punched by our own expectations of what banks ought to do and inserted our own expectations that the Banks would in kind act responsibly. Its time that we face the fact… in the real world at least, the Banks are, by and large the component that caused the housing crisis to begin with and now with its abysmal track record with Short Sales.

So why were our expectations so high?

We lied to ourselves and what worse, we knew better, but we believed the Experts. Investors and Real Estate Agents tend to be optimists and want to give our clients the positive side of every story. We believe we can make it happen, if we just work harder and smarter.

For Stockton Real Estate all of the “Experts” were just wrong. In fact, they were wrong about Sacramento, Modesto and just

about every other city in California when it came to predicting an end to the housing crisis. In 2007, at what they called the “height of the housing implosion”, the “experts “said that by the end of 2009, and  possibly by midway 2010, the housing recovery would be in full swing. We are halfway through 2011 and now the new forecast is the end of 2012. Does anyone believe the “Experts” anymore?
Foreclosures in Stockton Real Estate market are still topping the charts and applying downward pressure on home prices throughout San Joaquin, Sacramento and Stanislaus Counties. What’s worse is that all of the early reports that “Short Sales” were going to help with the numbers by mitigating foreclosures, thereby allowing banks and homeowners to circumvent the Foreclosure process, were just not true.
While in theory Short Sales can and do provide banks, other mortgage holders and homeowners an opportunity to head off a foreclosure,  the truth is that Short Sales are taking as long today if not longer than they always have because banks are still not acting with any sense of urgency for sellers or buyers.
Add to the Foreclosure heap the fact that conventional buyers do not have the stomach to wait 90 to 365 days for a first response to a short sale offer and you have a recipe for properties sitting on the market for months and even years. While the experts all agree that a healthy real estate market should have a hefty inventory of houses available, even up to a six month supply, most conventional homeowners don’t want to play the game of “wait and see” and most simply walk away never to play that game again. Can you blame them?

There is nothing more frustrating for most people engaged in buying a house and entering into the short sale process than to have to deal with banks that don’t understand the real world. Home buyers need time frames, for lending, moving and selling existing homes. Most home buyer do not have open ended, and time frame less lives. We live by deadlines and target dates. We set goals and quite frankly want to know where we are going to be living in 30 days let alone one year.
Imagine that you are an existing homeowner, you want to buy a bigger house, you are pr-approved for lending and you would like to take advantage of some of the deals by taking part in the discounting going on in the Stockton Real Estate market. You contact a Realtor and you look for potential property for 30 to 45 days and you finally find a house that you want. You make an offer, send in your Earnest money Deposit and now you wait.
The bank receives your offer and they drag their heels. You have no time frame, but at the drop of a hat you are told that you must be prepared to sell your existing house when the bank is finally ready to play. So you sit in limbo, waiting for anything, calling your Realtor and more waiting.
Home buyers and home sellers are not built for protracted decision making done 300 miles away by some bank that seems to have endless time frames, no one accountable for any one piece of property and unrealistic financial expectations from a collapsed Stockton Real Estate landscape.
Short Sales may have been a great idea, and they are certainly not new, but who’s kidding who, Short Sales are just another tactic from the bank to delay even further the foreclosure process that they know will ultimately be their undoing. But they need to buy time and quite frankly the Fed appears to be fine just waiting and hoping for the process to pan out.
So how are the banks hiding all of these non-performing loans from the Fed? Simple, the continue the charade, let properties sit on the market without accepting a single offer and when no one is looking cancel the listing and they disappear into the pile of inventory. No one ever asks… hey what ever happened to that property on E 6th St. We just move on to the next.

What about that Shadow inventory?

You bet there is one. It comprises of all of the houses that sit vacant, that have not been foreclosed on and the even more that have at one time or another been listed but had their listings expire.
Have the banks foreclosed on those properties yet? The answer is no, because no one is looking at the properties that are not for sale and the banks don’t have to report inventory that they have yet to foreclose upon.

In order for a real recovery to occur we need to get all of the properties on the market. Sure it will cause pain and create some panic and anxiety, but if a meaningful  housing recovery is to come then the banks need to deal with their failures as well.

I for one am not holding my breath and I would suggest that you don’t hold your either, because as long as banks don’t have to account for the properties that they have stored in limbo no one is can see the real inventory and makeup of the meltdown to come.

Real Estate Stockton, Seller Financing

Real Estate Stockton-http://westbrookrei.com This video discusses seller Financing in Stockton, CA & Tulsa, Ok as way to purchase a house. We offer seller financing with flexible terms tailored to each homeowners needs. We specialize in buying houses Read more

Real Estate Stockton, Mortgage Assignment, I Take over Payments

Real Estate Stockton-http://westbrookrei.com This video discusses how a Mortgage Assignment can save a house from Foreclosure. We specialize in buying distressed houses, pay cash, take over payments, avoid Foreclosure, Foreclosure Stockton Read more

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