san diego housing prices and the bailout

Quick note - its the weekend before the great monday bailout is supposed to happen and I predict that if we give 700 billion to the lender who lost all the money funding over priced properties in places like San Diego an Naples. We are still going to see real estate prices decline further. I also suspect that that 700b should not go to lender but borrowers. You can't push on a string.

If it were up to me.. I would spend the 700b on high speed trains, solar and wind and bridges. That would be one heck of useful stimulus.

Minyanville - NEWS & VIEWS-Article

Someone elses take on the housing bottom. I have toagree but then, I get calls from upside down homeowners all day long. To me this like it will not end until family homes in san diego are affordable for families. When you can buy a family home in a good school district for mortgage and taxes of 3500 a month - we will find a bottom.


Minyanville - NEWS & VIEWS-Article: "Housing Bottom Nowhere in Sight
Mike Mish Shedlock Feb 15, 2008 11:00 am
Tags: HOUSING, BUBBLE


Bust no longer confined to high-value states.


Inquiring minds have been asking me how far the housing bubble busting has progressed. Many are asking 'Is this the bottom?' It's a good question, so let's take a look at several viewpoints: Bernanke's, mine, and a friend of mine who prefers to be known simply as 'BC'."

Mortgage Debt forgiveness - Forclosure

Mortgage Debt forgiveness - Loan forgiveness - 1009 c: "Borrowers whose debt is reduced or eliminated receive a year-end statement (Form 1099-C) from their lender. For debt cancelled in 2007, the lender was required to provide this form to the borrower by Jan. 31, 2008. By law, this form must show the amount of debt forgiven and the fair market value of any property given up through foreclosure."

Please remember to consider capital gains and the taxation rules of the California franchise tax board in your pre-foreclosure analysis.

California Foreclosure

One Man's Foreclosure, Another Man's Steal, Wave Of Foreclosures In Calif. Takes Auction Home Prices Way Down, To The Delight Of Buyers - CBS News: "One-thousand homes lost in the real-estate wreckage are auctioned off to a crowd of thousands in Los Angeles - up to 40 percent off, CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports.

'Sold!' said one auctioneer with a gavel bang. '$170,000, sir, you're the buyer.'

In Stockton, Calif., bargain buyers tour foreclosed homes courtesy of the repo-bus.

'Obviously we've got a full house,' said one bus driver.

Debra Knowles, a home loan consultant said: 'They're reaping the benefit, unfortunately, of someone else's loss.'

New numbers out today show California among 10 states hit hardest by foreclosures in 2007. That's 250,000 homes taken by the bank."

CA home sales fall

Dec 07 sales price report: "# C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in December 2007 was 14.5 months, compared with 5.9 months (revised) for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
# Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.10 percent during December 2007, compared with 6.14 percent in December 2006, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.50 percent in December 2007 compared with 5.45 percent in December 2006.
# The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 67.2 days in December 2007, compared with 72.1 (revised) for the same period a year ago."

Ca home sales fall in Dec

Dec 07 sales price report: "C.A.R. reports sales decrease 33.4 percent, median home price falls 16.5 percent

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 29) – Home sales decreased 33.4 percent in December in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 16.5 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

“December is typically one of the slower months for sales, and the liquidity crunch continued to dampen sales beyond the normal seasonal decrease,” said C.A.R. President William E. Brown. “Even so, seasonally adjusted sales edged above 300,000 homes for the first time since August 2007.

“The liquidity crunch also contributed to the significant decline in the median price due to the lack of financing options for loans above the conforming loan limit of $417,000,” Brown said. “It is imperative that the proposed increase to conforming loan limits that is part of the economic stimulus package receive swift approval by both houses of congress.”"

San Diego foreclosure attorney

San Diego foreclosure attorney: "A short sale may be good for one seller, a deed in lieu of foreclosure may be better for another. However many homeowners can benefit from a simultaneous program of strategies designed to put pressure on the lenders. That pressure may involve forcing the second to foreclose or it may involve demanding the lenders provide documents and information about lending violations. These multi-pronged approaches work. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised when the supervisor of Countrywide's Loss mitigation department called me in response to one of our workout strategies."

California Mortgage Negotiations

California Mortgage Negotiations: "This program evolved out of predatory lending department. While you may not have been the subject of a predatory lending campaign your lender or loan broker may have violated numerous provisions of state and federal law. Our program helps you document where the lenders may have a weakness. Once we identify your lenders weakness (an they almost all have them) we have a multipronged legal strategy designed to bring the lenders to the negotiating table.

We have designed a series of progessively more serious letters and document requests which many of the lenders can not respond to in a timely manner. The lenders are then, in our opinion, in violation of the law. When we send a settlement request we may choose to let the lender know they will have legal issues if they attempt to foreclose. While it may be a coincidence, the loss mitigation supervisor of one of the nation's largest lenders recently called us and asked how she could help resolve my client's matter."

Notice of Default, San Diego foreclosure Attorney

San Diego Real Estate and an NOD. Last night my wife's friend said the house down the street was in foreclosure and that it was overpriced. I wondered what that meant. Is the house owned by the bank, a so called REO or Real Estate Owned? Is the property stilled owned by the individuals? Have they just gotten their Notice of Default.

Next I wondered why the heck is 1.5 million. Its priced about $200,000-300000 over market. Well I looked it up on the MLS and it did not seem to be an REO, but it did not say subject to third party approval.

I was wondering what the heck the owners were doing. Overpriced and perhaps on the road to foreclosure. So many options available and yet siting there with no chance of a sale.

My advice, do not just accept a foreclosure, do not just think about a short sale, in many circumstances an attorney can bypass the loss mitigation department and get through to the legal department or the foreclosure department. Those departments are generally much more sophisticated and willing to work with attorneys. Short sales are just one option.

Flushing Fiduciary

Flushing Fiduciary: "Featured Video - Foreclosure Scams"

Here is a link to a site with an interesting video about foreclosure scams. I think it is noteworthy because it shows how smooth some of these operators can be over the phone. That guy was great on the phone. Most of the time I speak well for an attorney and I am rarely that succinct on the phone.