Rock Realty Client Testimonials
"Mike Collins helped us sell our home, he was a very nice guy and always there when we had any questions or concerns! Mike went above and beyond and even helped paint the house when there was a time crunch for the inspection. We appreciated all that Mike did!"
Katy K.(Janesville, WI)
Rock Realty Client
Rock Realty Client Testimonials
"My first listing contract (with another agency) expired without a single showing. I contacted Mike Collins hoping to get some straight advice about whether he thought the property would ever sell versus letting the lender foreclose on the property and save my mortgage payments for legal counsel. He was upfront from day one. He told me that it would take a while and that I'd probably have to hold it through the winter (I called him in September) but it would probably sell in the spring. His honesty made me immediately willing to hire him. He found a buyer in May and worked with my lender to close the sale in record time."
Drew V.(Marshall, WI)
Rock Realty Client
It is no secret Mountain View as well as most of the Silicon Valley is experiencing multiple offers on homes for sale. While this is great for sellers, it can be extremely frustrating for buyers, and their agents. After losing 5-10 homes a buyer will unquestionalbly start to doubt their agent. They may feel that their agent is doing something wrong and maybe it is time to find someone else.
Will this work? Maybe, but there are limits to what a Mountain View real estate agent can do. A lot of winning an offer is up to the buyer, so maybe you need to look in the mirror first, before changing your agent.
In a real estate offer the buyer has some control over what happens. Here are some things you should do:
1. Are you making realistic offers? If a home is listed for $475,000, you know there are 10 offers, and you offer $470,000, what do you think is going to happen?
2. You have been pre-approved for $800,000 with 20% down. You only have down payment for 20% of $800,000, so you need to only offer a price that will make it through an appraisal. However, most homes are selling for prices higher than they can appraise for, so what do you do? You will need to find a less expensive home so that you have a 5-10% reserve of cash over the price where you think the home will appriase, i.e., you need to find a home where you can put down 25-30%, not 20%, so that when it does not appraise you have the cash to cover it.
3. The seller has completed a a full disclosure package, including a property inspection, termite, roof, chimney inspection, and you ask for a 17 day property contingency period. I am not saying you should not have your own inspection, but keep the time to a minimum.
4. You have a pre-approval letter from Happy Birthday Mortgage with nothing from an underwriter, and nothing from a direct lender. I don't care if the mortgage broker from Happby Birthday Mortgage is your mother, it is not going to fly. Get a full approval from a direct lender. It is hard enough to compete against a cash offer, but to try to compete with a pre-approval letter that may not be worth the paper it is written on is no way to act in a competitive market.
5. You are making an offer on a short sale and don't offer to open escrow until after bank approval. While that may be ok in a buyer's market, when there are so few homes for sale, and so many hopeful buyers, it is not going to work anymore.
So look at your self first. Tomorrow I will talk about what your agent can do to help your offer win.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
D.R.E. 01191194
How to Buy a Home Once You Have Completed a Short Sale
Tragedy strikes across the country every year. People lose jobs, injuries are sustained from accidents and financial hardships cause tough decisions. Fortunately, most things improve with the passage of time. Read on to see how you can prepare for your next home purchase once you have sold a home via short sale.
Option 1: Big Down Payment
One constant that has remained in mortgage lending in many years is the power of a large down payment. Although it is uncommon to see someone with a 30% or more down payment, it does happen. Especially for people who are recipients of a windfall, such as payment on a judgment or an inheritance. If you can rationalize the high interest rates, and you have the funds for the large down payment, then you can usually find a private lender to set up a mortgage for you.
If you choose this route, be alert to a few items. First, the lender may have a stiff penalty for paying off the loan within the first few years. Secondly, the lender may attempt to set up the mortgage with a balloon payment. Avoid these two snags at all cost.
Option 2: Wait a Few Years
If you don’t have the money for a 30% down payment you can simply wait for three years. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will ask that a person who sold their home via short sale to wait for three years before applying for a new mortgage. However, if your circumstances show that the short sale was beyond your control, and you kept your payments up to date right up to the sale date, then you may be able to get the loan sooner.
People who would prefer to use conventional loans offered by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will have a similar wait. Fannie Mae only asks that borrowers wait for two years if they are able to pay a 20% down payment. For circumstances beyond your control Fannie may allow you a 10% down payment after a two year period.
Veterans who wish to use the VA loan will need to wait a full two years after their short sale to apply for a new loan.
Option 3: Lease with Option to Buy
It is not surprising that many home sellers have chosen to offer their homes with a lease and an option to purchase at a certain time and at a designated price. Due to the economic slump over the past few years, home prices have dropped. Sellers do not wish to sell their home at such a loss so many are willing to lease out the home in hopes that the market will rebound. For buyers who are not quite ready to qualify for a traditional mortgage, buying with a lease-option could be the easiest way to get in to a home.
With a little planning and a little patience it is possible to find yourself holding the keys to your next home after you have made it through a short sale.
Original Post - Buying a Home after a Short Sale
National Association of Women REO Brokerages to launch new website Monday
Be sure to visit National Association of Women REO Brokerages' new website this Monday, January 23, 2012. NAWRB has a refreshed looked and is fill with lots of information, tools and resources.
Be sure to check it out:
We would like to hear your feedback on your experience.
Listen in to an event focused on Women’s Entrepreneurship. Please join us online today at 3 p.m. EST. You can watch live at WhiteHouse.gov/live.
This is your opportunity to ask questions on federal policies and programs for women entrepreneurial and diversity opportunities.
It happens every year. Agents tell their sellers that they should wait until after the holidays to put their homes on the market. They say no one is looking during December so don't bother. Translation: Agent wants much needed and deserved time off during the holidays, or seller has a lot of family coming and does not want people traipsing through their home with all of the activity going on.
Other side of the equation: Very busy professional gets some down time the last two weeks of the year. Or, out of town relocation buyers are coming to the area to look for a place to live in the new year.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the problem. The only inventory left on the market at this time of year tends to be overpriced or weird which does not help the buyers who finally have time to look.
I was with one of these too busy for the last 3 months buyers today. You would not believe some of the weird stuff we saw in San Carlos today. A house with a kitchen with gorgeous newer cherry cabinets, and a tiled blue stone counter that would hold bacteria in its many ridges forever. Why someone spent the money to tile a kitchen counter with these impossible to keep clean tiles when they could have put a slab of granite on for the same price is beyond my comprehension. this same home had replaced the asbestos wrapped heating ducts in the entire house, except for about 5 feet under the house. Why? If you are going to spend the money to remove asbestos on yards and yards of ducting why leave a few feet undone? Another home had 7 different kinds of flooring, on a 1400 square foot home. A third home had removed the bathtub from the main hall bathroom and installed a double vanity. They then added a full bath with tub in the family room completely on the opposite side of the house from the bedrooms.
I was with a pre-approved buyer who can afford a million dollars with time on his hands to buy a home, and there is nothing for him to consider.
I know I am not the only one frustrated by this disconnect between buyers and sellers.
So I am putting my money where my mouth is and putting a short sale condo in downtown San Jose on the market on Dec 26th. It is not overpriced or weird.
So sellers, next year put your home on the market in December if you want to attract hard working qualified buyers who have time to look.
If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Santa Clara or San Mateo County please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@mrcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales
There are many obstacles and challenges to closing a Mountain View Short Sale, but there are 2 that I find the most challenging to get around.
1. A private 2nd or 3rd lender: These are often more difficult to negotiate than a bank. There are homes where the seller may have taken back a note for a second or third, or where a relative may have invested with a loan thinking that he/he was going to make money or at least not be left holding the bag for a relative,
2. A person on the loan who makes no contribution but refuses to sign off on the short sale.
Both of these circumstances are really hard to deal with, and unless they are handled up front it is probably not worth initiating a short sale.
The private lender will not get anything if a home is foreclosed, so that fact needs to be drilled into the lien holder's head. Sometimes they can be convinced.
A person on a loan who won't let go is a little harder. You may have to go to court to get them off the loan, but it can be done if you can prove they have no equity in the property.
Short sales can take a lot of work, and keeping a buyer through the process is a real challenge. So if you know that you have some unusual and/or difficult challenges it is best to get those handled up front so that you have a better chance in keeping the buyers and closing the sale.
If you have any questions about buying or selling short sales in Santa Clara or San Mateo County please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales
Thank You NAR Attendants for stopping by our booth to talk to us and for donating to No Paws Left Behind.
Check out our Press Release here.
We are diving into the holiday season. The 2011 National Association of Realtors conference will be one of the last opportunities to network and poise our business toward success.
I hope you take this opportunity to learn about how the National Association of Women REO Brokerages (NAWRB) can help enhance your business. Stop by our booth #1678. We will share with you our innovative ideas for 2012.
Have you given it a second thought as to how secure your email is? With our dependence to the digital world email hacking has been more prevalent.
What can we do to save our sensitive information? How can we prevent someone from hacking our emails? Is it a big deal to take precautions?
Here are a few tips:
Care to share? How do you protect you email?
San Jose Single Family homes
Active Short Sale Listings: 371
Active Bank Owned Homes: 77
Pending Short Sale Homes: over 578 (mls stops counting at 500 and there are more than 500 San Jose Short Sales waiting for bank approval, 41 bank approved waiting for buyer to remove contingencies, and 338 just waiting to close)
Pending Bank Owned Homes: 127
Sold Short Sale Homes, Last 6 months 378
Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 378
That is an amazing coincidence!
San Jose Condo Townhomes
Active Short Sale Listings: 166
Active Bank Owned Condos: 78
Pending Short Sale Condos/Townhomes: 578
Pending Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 104
Sold Short Sale Condos/Townhomes: 210
Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes 314
So, if you add up all the short sale activity there are/were 2281+ for short sales and 1078 bank owned transactions.
My conclusion: even there has been a lot of press recently about how foreclosure filings are up in California right now short sales are dominating the distressed property market in the city of San Jose.
If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures anywhere in Santa Clara or San Mateo Counties please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales
Today in the Mercury News there was a story about how first time home buyers who need to purchase with loans are getting beaten out by investor cash buyers who often offer less than traditional buyers for foreclosures. www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com">http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_18853804?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
Has this happened to you? If so, I may have the answer, buy a short sale!
In a short sale the seller owes more than the property is worth and has to have the bank forgive the difference between what is owed and what the house is worth. The seller decides who has given the best offer, signs it, and sends it to the bank for approval. THE BANK DOES NOT DECIDE WHICH OF SEVERAL OFFERS IS THE ONE THEY WANT, JUST WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL ACCEPT THE OFFER THAT IS PRESENTED TO THEM.
Most banks have said very specifically they want the highest offer, and do not think cash offers are more attractive than ones with loans. This is in direct conflict with what they seem to prefer on foreclosures.
Since most investors try to pay significantly below market value if you make a higher offer, which is closer to market value then your offer will have a much better chance of being accepted, especially if there are not issues which would make the house unlendable.
Sure you have to wait longer for an answer from the bank, and some will not close, but lenders re speeding up the process and you can be happily ensconced in your home usually in 2-6 months instead of still looking 18 months and 15 offers later.
So if you are looking for good deal (though probably not a steal) on a home and are tires of losing to all cash offers find a short sale and enjoy home ownership.
If you have any questions about buying or selling a short sale in Santa Clara or San Mateo Counties please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer CDPE
marcy@marcymoyer.com
So you have to sell. Here is what you should do.
1. You can not do this on your own. The banks will want the home to be extensively marketed and you can not do that as a FSBO. Since the lender will pay the real estate commissions that should not be a concern.
2. Gather your financial information. You will need 2 years tax returns, 2 months bank statements form all accounts, 2 months statements from all investment accounts, profit and loss for 2 years from any self employment.
3. Fill out a financial statement which shows all your income and expenses
4. Write a hardship letter which explains why you need to do a short sale
5. Make your home available for showings and open houses
6. Keep your financials updated every month and give the bank everything they ask for
7. Accept the best offer you can get on the property
8. Be PATIENT
If you have any questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara County please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales
There is another conflict brewing between investors and first time home-buyers, and this time the home buyers may win. In the more affordable areas of the Silicon Valley distressed properties, ie short sales and reos have been popular with investors and first time buyers. Many would be owner occupiers lose out on great opportunities to investors who have all cash. Since condos are the least expensive properties, have the fewest maintenance issue, and tend to bring in more rent per dollar spent they are popular with investors. Coupled with the more restrictive lending practices on condos, many bay area developments are now in a position where the number of owner occupied units has fallen to a critical level. Owners of these properties are having trouble refinancing and buyers trying to get loans are being rejected by the lenders. As a result, many complexes are starting to pass new HOA regulations limiting the number of rentals allowed in the condo development.
These restrictions can be a double edged sword. If they occur in a building where the delinquency rate on the HOA dues is too high then a buyer will not be able to get a loan anyway and it will effectively cut off all sales. In the future when the market has settled down the rental restriction could put a damper on future sales. However, if they are not instituted it may become impossible for anyone but investors to purchase in some condo complexes, which in itself will lower values not to mention make things harder for the first time home buyer. It will also make it impossible for current homeowners to ever refinance in some of these buildings.
I do not have the answer here as to what is right or wrong here. I can only give some advise on what to do if you want to purchase or sell a condo and want to get the information about potential rental restrictions.
1. Ask your agent to find out if the HOA docs are available yet. If it is an reo they most likely will not be and a
short sale very likely not
2. If the docs are not available before you make an offer ask your agent to ask the listing agent for the number of the HOA management company
3. Call the management company and ask about any current or contemplated rental restrictions
It is not that hard to find out and can save a lot of time and possibly money.
If you have any questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara Counties please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
I was in church this past week and the pastor spent the whole message going over the value and reasoning behind the Sabbath. For those of you that aren't church goers, the Sabbath is the 7th Day of the week. Traditionally most Christians celebrate it on Sunday, but some denominations like Seventh Day Adventists and Jews celebrate it on Saturday. Muslims celebrate a special day of prayer and rest on Friday. No matter how you flip it though, most religions agree that there should be a day out of the week that you DO NOT WORK!!!
I'm as guilty as many of you reading this blog in that I might have a "day off", but that just means I don't go into the office. I STILL spend 2-5 hours in my home office or on my cell phone answering emails, returning calls, etc. SO.....for the last two weeks my family and I have challenged ourselves to do away with the TV, internet, phone, fax, email, Facebook, and whatever other electronic addictions we possess for an entire 24 hours. IT WAS DIFFICULT....but a few things happened:
I'm curious for those of you who have been in the business for a while, do you have a day of complete rest?
If not, do you think you could be a better agent, father, or husband by taking one day truly off ?
http://agentacceleration.com/god-gave-us-the-sabbath-to-rest/
If you are an owner of a home with a second loan that is a Home Equity Line and you are having trouble paying your mortgage you should do something about it right away. I know you have probably heard that banks are taking up to 2 years to foreclose so you have plenty of time, but there is a dirty little secret in the mortgage world. HELOCs are not entirely like traditional mortgages, they are more like credit cards. If you do not pay your first mortgage your lender needs to find a way to collect the money or take your home back. However, with a HELOC the lender can turn the account over to a collection agency, get some money for it right away, and you are left to deal with the debt collector.
This can become a potential problem if you decide that your best option is a short sale. If you decide to sell your home as a short sale it is often easier to negotiate the payoff to the second if it is still owned by the bank, rather than the collection agency. The bank sold to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar, and would be more likely to let you go for the amount that the first lender offers. By the time it goes to collection that entity had invested money and will expect to make a profit by getting a settlement larger than what they paid. If you cut out the middleman (in this case the collection agency) it should be cheaper.
So, if you can not pay your mortgage, don't just stand there, DO SOMETHING. Whether is is going for a loan modification, refinance, or short sale, get started earlier rather than later. It will be less stressful in the long run, and generally much less complicated.
If you have any questions about short sales in the Silicon Valley please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
When a buyer makes an offer on a Mountain View, or any Silicon Valley Short Sale they ocassionally want to purchase some of the furniture in the house. Sometimes there is a couch that fits perfectly in the family room, or a dining room table that is too big for the seller's new house and they want to sell it. It's ok to do that, right?
NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!
Should I say it again? Ok, NO DO NOT DO IT!!!!!
Here is why. The seller is not allowed to have any gain from the sale of the home. The bank gets all the money from the buyer in exchange for allowing the loan to be written down so the seller can get out of his/her obligation. If the seller sells furniture to the buyer it can be considered by the bank to mean that the seller has received money from the buyer. So, if the buyer wants a big table they will have to go to Ikea and buy one. If the seller does not want a couch, put it on Craigslist, but do not sell personal property to the buyer.
If you have any questions about short sales in Santa Clara or San Mateo counties, please feel free to contact me.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
marcy@marcyoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194
Federal Government Disclaimer (MARS): 1. You may stop doing business with us at any time. You may accept or reject the offer of mortgage assistance we obtain from your lender [or servicer]. If you reject the offer, you do not have to pay us. If you accept the offer, you will have to pay us commission as agreed to in listing contract for our services. 2. Marcy Moyer of Keller Williams Realty is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender; and 3. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Internet savvy real estate buyers are skipping the old "find a Realtor, and then find a home" process of the past. Instead, 89% start their search online and then through their individual research they find a realtor. That brings up a great question. How soon do you respond to a web based request for information?
Jeanne M. Gavish posted a great blog on this subject entitled, "How Much Time Do We Have to Respond to Online Leads?" I would highly recommend Jeanne's post as a reminder that we live in a new age of tech-first buyers who won't wait for a realtor to get back to them later that day or the next day. Time is lost money if isn't used correctly.
The Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, our MLS, posted their own article on this subject. It's obviously becoming a pet peeve with home buyers. Agents who don't return calls quickly, respond to emails immediately or 
answer text messages are hurting their own success in this age of smartphones, computers and wirelsss everything. The MRIS article, "Tips for shortening response time and converting more leads" offers techiques you can use to capture those priceless leads. Today, time really is money.
Alright, it's Sunday morning and I'm supposed to be in Reston, VA, riding my bicycle at the annual Tour de Cure American Diabetes Association event. But, it's raining, and it's calling for rain on and off for the rest of the morning. The TDC is an annual event that I love to support with my funds and my time, but this year is going to be a bust.
I made a commitment a few years ago to stop riding in the rain. Besides that nasty skunk stripe you get up the back of your jersey when the rear wheel kicks up road water, it can be very dangerous. It's even more so if you're going to be in an area where automobile traffic is sharing the road. One good slip and you're down. Not pretty.
So, I'm using my time to catch up on my reading. Well, I stumbled upon Gwen Banta's 
blog, "Homicide and the MLS (Are you killing your listings?)" post, and I found myself blowing coffee out of my nose. I'm not sure which is more enjoyable, blowing hot coffee out of my nose from laughing so hard or sliding down the asphalt on my back. Hmmmm? It's a tough call, but I think I'll go with the coffee. At least as long as it has vanilla creamer. Take a minute and read Gwen's blog, but do not, and I repeat, do not try to drink or eat anything in the process.
