2011: A Year of foreclosure, Strategic Defaults and Much More

2011: A Year of Foreclosure, Strategic Defaults and Much More

Okay, so I was reading this article on the HousingWire.  Here is a quote from the first paragraph, "RealtyTrac is calling 2011 the year of foreclosure litigation, strategic default, failing foreclosure law firms and shadow inventory."  Kind of interesting, if you ask me.  Foreclosure litigation... who would have ever thought!

I mean, really, if you get foreclosed on, it's for a good reason like you didn't keep up your end of the contract, right?  But with banks failing right and left and other loans being sold and transferred (and not properly, I might add) without signatures or other processes, there have been many mistakes made.  One that comes to mind is the neglect of the banks to transfer all loans into their own names - Countrywide to Bank of America comes to mind. Those deeds never were re-recorded, so does that make them invalid?  Some courts say yes and others say no. 

Let's take strategic default.  Some would say that the house the own has a loan that is much higher than what the property itself is worth now.  For some of those folks, they have chosen not to make their payments to get out from under a home that isn't worth the money.  Others have said, "A deal is a deal" and know that the loan they got was/is a valid contract according to the time and value of the original contract.  This has caused more of an issue with lenders as some are allowing the strategic defaults to become short sales and not foreclosures.  It kind of reminds me of a parent allowing bad behaviors and then saying it wasn't their fault. 

A lot of law firms specializing in foreclosure and modifications have gone by the wayside.  Modifications are few and far between now and since there is legislation that doesn't allow for charging a fee up front, many agencies have stopped doing modifications all together.  It puts a damper on any business when they lose a line of product and the money it generates. 

This article was really interesting with more detail and subtleties than I have time for in this blog.  You should really click on the link above and read about it for further information. 

In the meantime, I wish you and your loved ones a marvelous New Year.  Here's looking to the new and exciting prospects this brings!

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,

Realtor, Office Manager  

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

(909) 670-2711 Direct

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Affordable Housing Available in San Dimas

Affordable Housing Available in San Dimas

Okay, so more good news for the region I live in!  The Grove Station development just south of downtown San Dimas is back in business!  

After falling into bankruptcy, the original plan which consisted of 110 residential units and more business spaces has been finished!  The original plans had to be revamped to a smaller development, but the idea behind this project was to create a "main street feel next to the historic downtown" and I truly believe that has been accomplished.

The condo units which are affordable consist of 2 bedrooms and are currently being offered for the low, low price of $243,000.  There is a huge list of people who are currently interested in purchasing one of these spectacular condos.

You can read more about it by reading THIS ARTICLE.

And if you are interested in purchasing one of these condos, please don't hesitate to give me a call.  As always, if you have real estate questions or need assistance ion buying or selling, please don't hesitate to give me a call.  I will be more than happy to assist you.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,

Realtor, Office Manager  

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

(909) 670-2711 Direct

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

New Conference Center To Open at the Pomona Fairplex

New Conference Center To Open at the Pomona Fairplex

Okay, so I was excited to read this short article about the new Conference Center opening in Pomona at the Fairplex.  The Fairplex is a really exciting place in itself, being the home of the Los Angeles County Fair and the NHRA Winternationals.  (Goodness, if you guys clicked all of those links, you've already been here for a while!)  The conference center is connected to the Fairplex Sheraton Hotel which I personally attend a Christmas event in every year. (I know you JUST needed to know that!)

The scheduled opening will take place in spring of 2012 but already has bookings by corporations as early as January.  This will bring much needed revenue to the County of Los Angeles and is expected to bring about 200 new jobs!  Yea, job creation!

In case you were wondering, the Faiplex is a mere 15 minutes from the cities I usually write about, San Dimas, La Verne and Claremont.

You can read more about things such as the 12,000+ square foot ballroom byclicking on this link to the article.  Be sure to support the city, county and the Fairplex by hosting your next event at the Fairplex Conference Center!

If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,

Realtor, Office Manager  

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

(909) 670-2711 Direct

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Confessions of a Holiday Blogger

Confessions of a Holiday Blogger

Okay, so here I am in the office... I mean being office manager and all, of course I'm here.  The problem with that is I'm practically the only one.  There's the receptionist and the escrow girl, but other than that, it's really quiet...

I read all of these blogs about Christmas and how busy everyone is, but I guess by now, Thursday, it's all slowed WAY down.  So I'm sitting here thinking that I haven't wrapped a single present, other than the office stuff, and how much I truly have to do before Christmas Eve.  Way to sell real Estate, Huh!

So before I get out of the mindset totally, I just wanted to take a minute to say Merry Christmas to everyone.  And to let you know that I appreciate all the readers I have gathered since I started blogging about the Southern California Real Estate Market. You guys really mean a lot to me.

So I will leave you with one of my favorite Christmas songs ever.  I hope you enjoy.

Flash Mob

Highs and Lows - Claremont, CA, December 14, 2011

Highs and Lows - Claremont, CA, December 14, 2011

Okay, so here we go with the statistics in CLAREMONT, CA.  I think for this month we will skip a lot of the explaination as it has been in all of the other past months and you can always call me with any questions. Short and to the point is not something I usually am, but let's pretend for now, shall we?

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

HIGHEST LISTING  $  4,000,000

LOWEST LISTING  $     170,000

AVERAGE PRICE$     409,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS 115

SOLD THIS WEEK                     2

NEW THIS WEEK                     4

Short summary:  If you compare this months highs and lows to last month, you will learn that the average price has dropped from $499,000 to approximately $409,000.  And last month there were only 6 sold during the week last month where we have dropped to 2 for this week.  The listings coming into the CLAREMONT REAL ESTATE MARKET PLACE are  8 new last month during this week and 4 during this week and 4 during this past week.  Looks like CLAREMONT is slowing down a bit.

CONDOS

HIGHEST LISTING$    702,688

LOWEST LISTING$     180,000

AVERAGE PRICE$     285,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS     16

SOLD THIS WEEK       0

NEW LISTINGS THIS WEEK      1

What this shows compared to last month is that there were no sales of condos during this week in either month.  This week there is 1 new listing compared to last months none.  And the average price has gone down from $309,000 to approximately $285,000.

If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

Highs and Lows - La Verne, CA, December 13, 2011

Highs and Lows - La Verne, CA, December 13, 2011

Okay, so here we go with the statistics in LA VERNE, CA.  I think for this month we will skip a lot of the explaination as it has been in all of the other past months and you can always call me with any questions. Short and to the point is not something I usually am, but let's pretend for now, shall we?

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

HIGHEST LISTING$  3,500,000

LOWEST LISTING$     229,900

AVERAGE PRICE$     399,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS 128

SOLD THIS WEEK                           8

NEW THIS WEEK                           9

Short summary:  If you compare this months highs and lows to last month, you will learn that the average price has dropped from $449,000 to approximately $399,000.  And last month there were only 3 sold during the week where we have risen to 8 for this week.  The listings coming into the LA VERNE REAL ESTATE MARKET PLACE are  5 new last month during this week and 9 during this past week.

CONDOS

HIGHEST LISTING        $    344,300

LOWEST LISTING$      75,000

AVERAGE PRICE$     220,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS               2

SOLD THIS WEEK                0

NEW LISTINGS THIS WEEK               1

What this shows compared to last month is that there were no sales of condos during this week in either month.  This week there is 1 new listings compared to last months none.  And the average price has gone up from $155,000 to approximately $220,000.

If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

Highs and Lows - San Dimas, CA, December 13, 2011

Highs and Lows - San Dimas, CA, December 13, 2011

Okay, so here we go with the statistics in SAN DIMAS, CA.  I think for this month we will skip a lot of the explaination as it has been in all of the other past months and you can always call me with any questions. Short and to the point is not something I usually am, but let's pretend for now, shall we?

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

HIGHEST LISTING$  2,250,000

LOWEST LISTING$     150,000

AVERAGE PRICE$     365,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS104

SOLD THIS WEEK  5

NEW THIS WEEK  4

Short summary:  If you compare this months highs and lows to last month, you will learn that the average price has dropped from $399,000 to approximately $365,000.  And last month there were only two sold during the week where we have risen to five for this week.  The listings coming into the SAN DIMAS REAL ESTATE MARKET PLACE are holding about the same; 5 new last month during this week and four during this past week.

CONDOS

HIGHEST LISTING$     399,900

LOWEST LISTING$     159,000

AVERAGE PRICE$     225,000

ACTIVE LISTINGS  33

SOLD THIS WEEK   0

NEW LISTINGS THIS WEEK   2

What this shows compared to last month is that there were no sales of condos during this week in either month.  This week there are 2 new listings compared to last months 4.  And the average price has dropped from $269,000 to approximately $225,000.

If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,

Realtor, Office Manager  

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

(909) 670-2711 Direct

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

Market Watch

New Listing (5)
Price Change (6)
Back On Market (1)
Backup Offer (1)
Expired (5)
Pending (4)
Sold (4)

Okay, so here we go with the last week's CLAREMONT REAL ESTATE MARKET WATCH.  It has the statistics and explainations from the last seven days activity in real estate.
 Confidence in Claremont is a little behind some of the nearby cities.  This week there were 5 new listings that are new to the City of Claremont and only 4 sold.  

There are 4 pending homes - homes that have gone into escrow and only 1 that has gone into backup status, meaning they are working with an offer but taking backup offers in case the first one doesn't work out for some reason.  This is a must in today's volatile real estate marketplace.  A good agent will take backup offers so that the seller doesn't waste a lot of time on one offer only to have the buyer pull out at the last minute or not have the loan work out.  If they didn't they would have to start all over from scratch and wait for another offer. 

I have to write yet another paragraph on pricing.  To be fair, banks are doing some of the price changes, raising and lowering prices according to the BPO's they receive or the investor input.  However, I am still seeing agents making mistakes on the pricing from the very beginning.  It matters from the start because it has been shown in a study I saw that a house will sell within the first ten days.  So you can see, if you lose those first ten days with a 'trial' price, you lose out on a good chunk of what will undoubtedly be the highest and best offer you will receive on your home.

 If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

San Dimas Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

San Dimas Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

Market Watch

New Listing (9)
Price Change (7)
Back On Market (6)
Backup Offer (2)
Expired (5)
Pending (4)
Sold (6)

Okay, so here we go with the last week's SAN DIMAS REAL ESTATE MARKET WATCH.  It has the statistics and explainations from the last seven days activity in real estate.
 It seems that the confidence of home sellers is coming back to the real estate marketplace.  This is shown by the 9 new listings that are new to the City of San Dimas.  This coupled with the fact that 6 homes were sold would tell one that the housing market in San Dimas is starting to pick up!

There are 4 pending homes - homes that have gone into escrow and 6 that have gone into backup status, meaning they are working with an offer but taking backup offers in case the first one doesn't work out for some reason.  This is a must in today's volatile real estate marketplace.  A good agent will take backup offers so that the seller doesn't waste a lot of time on one offer only to have the buyer pull out at the last minute or not have the loan work out.  If they didn't they would have to start all over from scratch and wait for another offer. 

Since there are 7 price changes I have to write yet another paragraph on pricing.  To be fair, banks are doing some of the price changes, raising and lowering prices according to the BPO's they receive or the investor input.  However, I am still seeing agents making mistakes on the pricing from the very beginning.  It matters from the start because it has been shown in a study I saw that a house will sell within the first ten days.  So you can see, if you lose those first ten days with a 'trial' price, you lose out on a good chunk of what will undoubtedly be the highest and best offer you will receive on your home.

If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

La Verne Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

La Verne Real Estate Market Watch, December 3-9, 2011

Market Watch

New Listing (10)
Price Change (12)
Back On Market (4)
Backup Offer (4)
Expired (3)
Pending (11)
Sold (8)

Okay, so here we go with the last week's LA VERNE REAL ESTATE MARKET WATCH.  It has the statistics and explainations from the last seven days activity in real estate.

It seems that the confidence of home sellers is coming back to the real estate marketplace.  This is shown by the 10 new listings that are new to the City of La Verne.  This coupled with the fact that 8 homes were sold would tell one that the housing market in La Verne is starting to pick up!

        

There are 11 pending homes - homes that have gone into escrow and 4 that have gone into backup status, meaning they are working with an offer but taking backup offers in case the first one doesn't work out for some reason.  This is a must in today's volatile real estate marketplace.  A good agent will take backup offers so that the seller doesn't waste a lot of time on one offer only to have the buyer pull out at the last minute or not have the loan work out.  If they didn't they would have to start all over from scratch and wait for another offer.

Since there are 12 price changes I have to write yet another paragraph on pricing. I know it's tough in today's market, but 12 price changes is quite a lot.  To be fair, banks are doing some of the price changes, raising and lowering prices according to the BPO's they receive or the investor input.  However, I am still seeing agents making mistakes on the pricing from the very beginning.  It matters from the start because it has been shown in a study I saw that a house will sell within the first ten days.  So you can see, if you lose those first ten days with a 'trial' price, you lose out on a good chunk of what will undoubtedly be the highest and best offer you will receive on your home.

If you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,

Realtor, Office Manager  

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

(909) 670-2711 Direct

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Singing Carols!

Singing Carols!

Okay, so about a week ago my friend SHARON who is a member of San Dimas/La Verne Soroptimists called me.  I can't remember the exact reason for her call, but she told me the group was going to sing carols for the senior citizens over at La Verne Manor.  Me, being the crazy blonde that I am, invited myself.

So today, a grpup of about 11 women headed over to the manor.  I didn't know what to expect other than I remember singing to seniors when I was a little girl in church.  The Soroptimist group is amazing.  Not only did they bring song sheets for all of the residents, they made a Christmas bag full of things like lotion, socks and chocolates for each person there.

When we began to sing, every wonderful resident joined in or listened.  And one lady in particular caught my attention.  She just had this look of pure enjoyment on her face.  So afterward I headed over to her wheelchair and spoke with her.  I told her I thought she loved music very much.  And come to find out, she had been a piano player/singer/dancer in her younger years.  She told me that music will always be a part of her life and that she sings her way through her days.  Wow, what an attitude!  I truly want to be that kind of person when I am older and maybe can't get around so well anymore.  She is joyful and happy.

So, not only did we make everyone's day, I learned an important lesson.  Keep singing and life won't feel so bad.

2011 Glendora Christmas Parade

 2011 Glendora Christmas Parade

Okay, so when I was growing up in Glendora, it was a small, tigh-knit community of like 25,000 people or so.  And the town would have these great events in "The Village" like the Flasback to the 50's sock hop and carnival, the Christmas Stroll and Christmas Parade, the Homecoming Parade, etc. You get the Idea.  Almost the entire town turned out for these fun events and you were guaranteed to see friends and neighbors and school mates.

Today, I'm so glad to say, it's still the same.  The population has more than doubled in size coming really close to 50,000 residents. There are people from every church, school, neighborhood, etc that come out and really make this town a community of friends and family even with the increase in size. 

Over the years, the parade route has been extended to accomodate the increase in population and so there's a good area to meet after the parade.  Now the route extends down Glendora Avenue from Bennett to Foothill, takes a right turn on Foothill a right on Grand and ends up over at La Fetra and Sandburg Middle School.  But it still starts with the ever popular Glendora High Marching Tartan Band complete with bagpipes playing Scotland the Brave and ends with, you guessed it, Santa himself!

So if you're in the area this Saturday, December 10th, you should definitely attend the 2011 Glendora Christmas Parade.  This year's theme is "An Old Fashioned Christmas" and the Motto of the parade itself is "All About Kids!"

WHAT: GLENDORA HOMETOWN CHRISTMAS PARADE

WHEN:SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 2011

TIME:9:00 AM