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Thirty-nine Dickson Realty agents have recently earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by “distressed” homes in the foreclosure process.
Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.
In the Northern Nevada area, currently it is estimated that close to 1,800 homes are in danger of foreclosing. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.
Dickson’s new CDPE designated agents: (shown)Teri Shields, Jeff Geisler, Tammy Olivas, Claudia Byrne, Chris Barns, Victoria King, Jill Deeter, Dan Rider, Andrea Green, Helen Graham, Beth Nitz, Amy Shocket, Mary Robinson, (not shown) Bonnie Beck, Cindy Henderson, Donna Clark, Ivy Cohen, Cyndi Dawson, Gary Edwards, Pam Eikleberry, Denise Fox, Jan Houston, Jen McDonald, Mandie Jensen, Christy Klinger, Anne Lavoy, Gerry Martin, Margie McIntyre, Dee McNeely, Brenda Mee, CJ Risley, Darlene Sharp, Jan Sluchak, Alison Elder, Norm Nicholls, Lil Schaller, Kane Schaller, Emily Sterling, and Maryann Truitt.
“Our job as REALTORS® has changed over the past several years. In our area, our number one goal is to help homeowners stay in their homes. If we are unable to do that then assisting them in a short sale may be a very viable option. A short sale doesn’t impact a homeowner’s credit as disastrously as a foreclosure does. A short sale usually nets the original lender more money and it does not devastate the neighborhood pricing. However working with lenders in a short sale situation can be very frustrating for sellers, for buyers and for real estate agents. We believe successful short sale closings require specialized training and we were pleased to have had 54 agents in this two-day training.” said Nancy Fennell, president of Dickson Realty. “In addition to this two day training, our firm holds monthly “short sale conversations” at each of our branch offices. We have sent our managers to short sale training around the country and we have pooled that information into our Short Sale Toolkit. Because policies and procedures change daily in this market, we find meeting monthly is a tremendous advantage for our agents. We are proud that our agents believe as we do in training, training and more training.”
Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that REALTORS such as these Dickson agents with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts have a better understanding of market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.
The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.
To find our CDPE agents, visit us online at www.dicksonrealty.com or call any of our local offices: Caughlin Ranch 775.746.7000; Damonte Ranch 775 850.7000; Sparks 775.685.8800; Montreux 775.849.9444, or Truckee 530.587.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tammy Olivas of Dickson Realty’s Sparks office has earned both the ePro Certified® designation and the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®) designation, the company announced today. Ms. Olivas successfully completed a comprehensive training program specifically designed to provide real estate professionals with the technology tools needed to assist consumers in the purchase or sale of a home. With more than 70% of consumers beginning their real estate research on the Internet, e-PRO certified agents have the experience and expertise to meet the demands of today’s buyer and seller.
“The real estate industry has undergone a fundamental change over the past several years,” said Olivas. “A majority of consumers are taking the time to conduct their own research prior to contacting an agent. In turn, real estate professionals must be knowledgeable of how technology can assist them in serving the needs of the buying and selling public.”
Ms. Olivas also joins more than 16,000 real estate professionals in North America who have earned the SRES® designation. She successfully completed a comprehensive course in understanding the needs, considerations, and goals of real estate buyers and sellers aged 55 and older. The SRES Council, founded in 2007, is the world’s largest association of real estate professionals focusing specifically on representing senior clients in real estate transactions. There are more than 16,000 active members of the organization world-wide. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
“By becoming an ePro agent, I can stay at the leading edge of technology and identify, evaluate and implement new Internet business models. I’m always looking for the best ways to offer my clients the best value and service. My ePro and SRES training helps me ensure customer satisfaction — my number one priority,” Olivas explains.
To contact Tammy Olivas for more information about the ePro and SRES designations, please call Tammy at 775. 846.3489 (cell), or e-mail Tammy at Tammy@TammyOlivas.com. To learn more about ePro, visit www.epronar.com. To learn more about the SRES Council, visit www.sres.org.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Federal Housing Administration loans can be a very good deal for home buyers, especially those who don’t have a lot of cash or whose credit rating isn’t stellar, experts say. FHA loans now account for 20 percent of new mortgages, up from 3 percent in 2006. What’s more, the number of authorized FHA lenders has increased 500 percent in two years.
Other benefits of FHA loans include easy loan modifications for borrowers who fall behind, easy refinancing plans if rates decline, and low rates overall, which don’t rise if the borrower has a low credit score. There are no income restrictions on FHA loans, so even borrowers with good incomes may find them attractive.
FHA loans still require a pre-settlement inspection of the home, but the process isn’t nearly as arduous as it once was, says George Hanzimanolis, past president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.
Is this an avenue worth looking into when considering a purchase? It’s definitely worth talking to a mortgage banker about.
Popularity: 10% [?]
I attended a foreclosure seminar recently and had the pleasure of sitting in on a presentation conducted by J.C. Melvin, www.JCMelvin.com . I’ve known JC for many years and find him to be a very talented and motivating speaker/trainer. In any event JC used a “Bucket of Mud” metaphor and related it to our industry. That is that many brokers, agents, loan officers, escrow officers, etc. etc. etc. are walking around yearning for the good old days. These guys wake up, grab their buckets and head off to spread their “old school” skills and cheer with anyone that’ll listen. Let’s face it guys, our world’s changed so you’d better get over it. I’d like to offer a few points for all to consider:
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Buyers actually have to qualify for a home. They need good credit. The lender may actually require a down payment. Say it isn’t so! Risky lending practices created most of this mess. Don’t you think it should be this way? Perhaps we could have avoided all of this had things stayed as they were when I entered the industry in 1991. Those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it, get over it.
- Distressed properties will continue to dominate the Nevada market for the foreseeable future. We real estate pros must innovate, adapt and most importantly learn. This is a whole new world. It’s filled with hard work and accountability. Much more focus should be placed on loss and risk management. Our top people must embrace this and get over it.
- We will work harder for less money, get over it. We may need to work 40 – 50 hours per week or more. In the words of my teenage son, OMG!
- Banks, asset managers, third party REO (Real Estate Owned, the industry word for “forclosure”) service providers are overwhelmed. Much of this is caused by a lack of training from the real estate pros they rely upon for their field work. By the way, you typically can’t buy a bank-owned home conditioned upon the sale of another home. You probably won’t get your short-sale done in 45 days. Your listing is not worth 20% more than the nearly identical foreclosure listing down the street. The claw foot tub, great border paper and 16 pound nails are not worth $50,000. We really owe it to the public on this one.
I would like to make one statement directed towards some banks and loan servicers. Please stop using your collection department staff to manage loan modification. It’s kind of like asking your dentist to remove your appendix. Loan originators must be patient and intuitive. Skills not typically associated with your “repo-man”. Oh! And please stop losing my short sale file. You never seem to misplace my house payment!
Thanks for listening, I’m going to go sell another REO now.
Popularity: 4% [?]
We have all been hearing about the $8,000 tax credit that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Here is a great chart that shows the earlier tax credit that passed in July 2008 and the new tax credit which passed in February 2009. (Source: REALTOR.org)
Here are the key highlights:
- Maximum credit amount was increased to $8,000.
- Qualified properties are single family residences used as primary residence.
- Income limits, $75,000 individual and $150,000 joint return.
- First time home buyer or anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last 3 years.
- For purchases between 1/1/2009 and 12/1/2009 no repayment is required.
- If home is sold within 3 years entire amount is paid back at time of sale.
If you have questions about how you can make this tax credit work for you, please feel free to contact me.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Resting on the banks of the Truckee River, in a turn-of-the-century old red barn, lies the Truckee River Winery. The small winery, owned and operated by Russ and Joan Jones, makes some truly great wines. It’s more than just a curiosity; Russ is a serious wine maker graduating from UC Davis in enology and opening the winery in 1989. Russ’s wines are made by hand in small batches by the open fermentation method. Reds are aged in French oak barrels.
Surprisingly, Truckee is not as harsh of an area to make wines as you might imagine, since heat is only needed when temperatures reach around zero degrees. Russ is assisted by his wife, Joan, who he calls his cellar rat. (Not sure he addresses her that way in public.) Truckee River Winery makes 4 wines: Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc and a mellow, soft Merlot.
Meeting Russ, you feel that this man loves his work. His wines are all hand made and carefully brought to maturity by his experienced hands. In this day of machines and huge fermenting tanks, it’s heart warming to experience wines made in the old, time-honored fashion. When drinking a glass of Russ’s wines, you are truly tasting the result of a man who has put his heart into his work and the flavor of his wines bare witness to this. His wines can be found on the menus of most restaurants in Truckee and Lake Tahoe as well as “Florian’s Fine Wines” in Truckee.
You are invited to learn more about these fine wines and the wine making process at Truckee River Winery.com or you may call Russ, or Joan at 530-587-4626. They’d love to hear from you.
Popularity: 3% [?]
As if we need another issue to contend with…….
My partner and I recently re-directed our marketing efforts to include potential “short sales”. Although we both communicate regularly with our sphere (past clients, friends and business associates), neither of us has made a habit of sending vast quantities of mail to people we don’t know.
The short sale market has changed our philosophy a bit. Typically these homeowners are in trouble and we feel a sense of obligation to help. It’s also a formula to head off foreclosure and ultimately a little healthier for our market as a whole. We’ve become reluctant experts in this field and now market ourselves to homeowners in distress. We’ve run into a few Loan Modification schemes out there and wanted to offer some advice:
- Beware of “up front” fees, particularly if they don’t clearly spell out or guarantee their future performance.
- Check with your Lender(s) yourself. We often find that 3rd parties often charge for a service that can be easily handled by the homeowner.
- If it sound to good to be true, it probably is. We’re all looking for hope aren’t we? This can create an easy target for some.
- Ask for and check references.
- Check with the Real Estate Division.
- Get advice from a trusted attorney and/or real estate broker.
There are some legitimate business models to help distressed homeowners. There are also many free services available for counseling and advice. A seasoned, reputable real estate broker or agent is a great place to start.
Popularity: 4% [?]
With the current decline of home prices in the 20% to 30% range, there may be a way to have your present home value reflect the current reduction in value and to have your property reassessed at a lower rate and thus receive a commensurate property tax reduction.
In speaking with the Nevada County Assessor’s office, it seems like a fairly simple process. They tell me that they are reducing some of the property values already to reflect lowered values. The biggest reductions will occur with people who have purchased homes in the last several years.
In order to see where your property lies in this situation, you would call the Nevada County Assessor’s office at 530-265-1232. They are set up to make the process easy on the home owners. They can tell you what the current value of your home is and if you are likely to have an assessed value credit coming.
While this information is directed at Nevada County, other counties probably have a similar procedure in place.
Popularity: 3% [?]
I’ve spent the last several months, probably like all of you have, recording all the business news on television, reading everything in print and on the web and have come to a conclusion: No one really knows what it is going to take to get us out of this economic mess. So I have decided to look at what I know best, which is real estate.
While I will not go cold turkey on the national newsfront, I will spend more time researching what drives our local real estate markets to determine where opportunity lies for our clients. There is a lot of press about the lack of consumer confidence but I believe the consumer is pretty smart and where real estate is concerned, they are brilliant! Where pricing and product meet consumer expectations, homes are selling, but it requires some in-depth research and knowledge about what constitues a good deal in today’s uncharted waters.
I spent most of Sunday afternoon researching all the markets where Dickson Realty sells homes and I came up with some interesting statistics. I looked at statistics from December of 2006 through December of 2008 and I realized even our local markets have to be broken down into more micro-market niches in order to determine where opportunities lie. When you really get into the details, it is not hard to determine which neighborhoods are getting close to the bottom and which still have a ways to go. For example, median prices have gone down from 12% to 76%, depending on which areas you are looking at and most neighborhoods have considerably less months of inventory on the market than in December 2006, but not all. I am happy to report there are areas that actually have more properties under contract and even more sold properties than in 2006. That is a fine way to start 2009, in my opinion.
In my next post, I will share with you some of the statistics I have come up with, but my purpose today is to suggest one thing: If you are in a position to purchase a home or even a second home, determine where you want to be and then contact any of the fine Realtors in our company that can give you enough statistics to make your head spin. I believe that is the way to find opportunity in today’s market because research proves we have not seen many of these prices since the late 90s and certainly the interest rate looks favorable. I was reading an article in “Home Improvement and Remodeling Magazine” and the author’s suggestion was to buy low and sell high. I agree 100% but remember, what constitutes buying low is all relative to what is really going on in the marketplace. So stay tuned, think about what you want to do in real estate, and if we can help – please call us.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Since the peak of the market in early 2006, single family homes in Truckee have dropped in value around 15% and prices are looking very similar to where they were in late 2004. We haven’t had the huge build-up in inventory or foreclosures which some areas of California have seen (except in vacant land). The performance of the stock market the last 2 months has noticeably increased the motivation of sellers, but has not yet seemed to have an impact on buyers. Or, maybe it’s more appropriate to say it has increased the motivation of some buyers, while decreasing the motivation of others, so the “net impact” on demand is unchanged.
There are a lot of people who call us asking about buying opportunities in foreclosures which helped us uncover some interesting facts about the Truckee market place:
There are 469 single family homes for sale in Truckee. Just 7 of those properties are bank owned foreclosures (known as REO’s). 20 of the homes for sale are “short sales” (homes where the asking price will not completely pay off the mortgage, so the seller needs to get approval from the bank in order to close the escrow). Most short sales are in default, but not all.
Now for the interesting part . . . There are 48 homes currently in escrow. Of those, 7 are REO’s and 16 are short sales awaiting bank approval (the process is extemely slow, frequently taking 90 days or more). Clearly buyers are very interested in, and pulling the trigger on, a high percentage of the foreclosure properties which are available. Many banks are pricing REO’s at or near fair market value, but those which are priced below market are being snapped up very quickly. If you want to get your foot in the door on a foreclosure, look to us to help you identify the best opportunities.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Dickson’s new CDPE designated agents: (shown)Teri Shields, Jeff Geisler, Tammy Olivas, Claudia Byrne, Chris Barns, Victoria King, Jill Deeter, Dan Rider, Andrea Green, Helen Graham, Beth Nitz, Amy Shocket, Mary Robinson, (not shown) Bonnie Beck, Cindy Henderson, Donna Clark, Ivy Cohen, Cyndi Dawson, Gary Edwards, Pam Eikleberry, Denise Fox, Jan Houston, Jen McDonald, Mandie Jensen, Christy Klinger, Anne Lavoy, Gerry Martin, Margie McIntyre, Dee McNeely, Brenda Mee, CJ Risley, Darlene Sharp, Jan Sluchak, Alison Elder, Norm Nicholls, Lil Schaller, Kane Schaller, Emily Sterling, and Maryann Truitt.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 By: Amy Thyr
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