4 Keys to Buying a San Diego Bank Foreclosed Home
Thinking of buying a San Diego foreclosed home?
#1. Use a Realtor.
#2. Inspect the home prior to placing an offer.
#3. Condition your offer on a complete physical inspection.
#4. If the seller is not providing a termite clearance, either insist on one or condition your offer on your approval of a California licensed pest control inspector.
Though this video shows obvious physical damage, there can be other hidden damage that only a competent physical inspector can detect. Personally, I would never write an offer to purchase any San Diego home if it was not contingent of my approval of the physical inspection report.
Banks know nothing about the vast majority of homes they sell through foreclosure. AS IS means just that! This is where the advice of an experienced San Diego real estate professional can prove invaluable!
San Diego Real Estate News
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE It was reported last week that foreclosure filings FELL 10% from December to January. Foreclosure prevention efforts by lenders and the government seem to be having an impact. In addition, Treasury Secretary Geithner announced last Tuesday a $50 billion initiative to help borrowers stay in their homes. Expect specifics in a few weeks.
We also had the median price for single family resale homes dropping in a majority of metro areas, year over year. But Q4 sales increased in six states, a sign that prices are adjusting to levels buyers don't want to pass up. We even had home prices RISING in ten metro areas across the country. On Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reported the number of homes listed for sale declined 2.5% in January in 29 major metro areas. This is particularly encouraging because January is a month when the inventory normally increases after the holiday sales lull.
Finally, interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages dropped last week. Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgages reported that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.16% for the week ending February 12, down from 5.25% the previous week. To get this rate, borrowers had to pay an average of 0.7 points. The 30-year fixed rate is now down almost 1.5% from its peak last year. This post information was provided by: Greg Brooks southwest area manager San Diego Mortgage Network (800) 287-8292 x 225 San Diego homes for sale
San Diego Real Estate to Drop 20% in 2009?
With the industry talk of a possible San Diego bottom to the real estate market, is now the time to buy San Diego homes? It’s very possible they are correct! Who can really say? Everyone likes to be optimistic. With three years of a falling San Diego real estate market and home values that at 40 to 50% off their 2005 market highs ,we might see a market turn in 2009.
Sadly, I have my personal doubts on a significant San Diego real estate market reversal in 2009. I sincerely hope I'm wrong on this, and there is, in fact, a rebound next year.
Though it's not talked about much, there is another huge number of homes that may be newly heading into foreclosure which may accelerate the housing value decline. (There is a large number of regular adjustable loans resetting next year – for more information read: (Jumbo Financing and the Impact on The San Diego Real Estate Market.) If this occurs in the numbers forecast, San Diego home values could be down another 20-30% in 2009.
So, is it correct that if you buy today and plan to hold for at least five years you'll come out way ahead? Being just a local San Diego real estate broker and not an economist, I really cannot answer this question with any conviction. All I will say is that my three decades of real estate experience, and knowledge of the San Diego housing market, I can assure my clients that I will endeavor to achieve the best possible value, buying or selling, San Diego homes.
Prior related posts:
San Diego Real Esate Sales Increase
San Diego Condominium Sales Price Appreciation
29% of Homeowners Have Larger Mortgage Than Home’s Value
Real Estate Record Home Price Declines
San Diego Real Estate – 5th Largest Decline Through July
Southern California Home Prices Drop 34% in August
San Diego California Home Sellers Lose Big
The San Diego California Real Estate Great Depression
Yale Professor … House Price Decline Could Be Worse than Great Depression
Survey Says Home Values Must Fall Another 14%
California Home Sales Up 43.4% – Home Prices Down 40.3%
Home Value Loss … Homeowner Perception vs. Reality
San Diego CA real estate agents
Home Value Index – Largest Drop In History
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6 percent from August last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17.7 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history.
Home value declines in Las Vegas and Phoenix surpassed 30 percent in August, according to Case-Shiller, prices in Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego all fell more than 25 percent.
No city in the index had a price increase for the last year. The lowest declines were in Dallas (2.7%) and Charlotte North Carolina (2.8%).
Prior related posts:
Real Estate Record Home Price Declines
San Diego Real Estate – 5th Largest Decline Through July
Survey Says Home Values Must Fall Another 14%
May Home Prices Take Biggest Drop Ever
Real Estate Prices Back to 2004 Levels
Home Prices … Sharpest Rate Drop in Two Decades
San Diego Home Values Fall 16.7%
Standard & Poor’s Index Shows Home-Price Declines As The Largest on Record
Home Prices — Largest Drop in 16 Years!
San Diego Real Estate Market … What Did You Expect?
San Diego real estate is very scarce. Most of San Diego open space is owned by the military/Government/parks. So, San Diego real estate can never really go down much in value. If you don't buy a home in San Diego now, the rising prices will never let you purchase as good a value.
Act now! It's 2004 and you can still buy your San Diego home with no down payment, no need to prove employment, the option to pay or not on an irregular basis, below market interest rates for the first few years, monthly mortgage payments low enough that it will cheaper to buy a home than rent an apartment.
Already own a San Diego home? Why not get a home equity loan 25% more than the home is worth and go on that dream vacation and you can buy a speed boat on your return.
The San Diego media 'financial' commentators were all on board the real estate hype train;after all how could they say anything that would upset their real estate developer advertisers/sponsors?
What did the Government expect would happen with these types of enticements? The newspapers, media 'talking heads' Realtors, banks, appraisers, all fed the fire. Anyone who would even question the San Diego housing market excesses was immediately ridiculed and instantly labeled a 'bubble head' for their lack of 'true vision.'
The truly sad part of this lament is the fact that in late 2005, even after the San Diego month after month real estate sales figures were off double digits, and after most real estate developers were offering huge cash incentives, the main-stream media still did not raise any red flags. Instead it was 'just a return to normal' or “a great time to buy without the pressure of multiple offers."
So, for those who still blame this all on sub-prime loans, take off your rose-colored glasses and maybe you'll see that the real reasons were much more complex but founded on greed and the herd instinct. If we learn anything from this, it should be that basic economic principals cannot be ignored. When the siren call of a 'new paradigm' is again sounded, heed the lesson of the great 2005 San Diego real estate bubble.
A few prior related posts:
San Diego Home Sales Up … San Diego Home Median Price Drops
Government Bail-Out – Risk & Reward
Southern California Home Prices Drop 34% in August
#1 Key To Purchasing Real Estate in the San Diego Market
The San Diego California Real Estate Great Depression
Yale Professor … House Price Decline Could Be Worse than Great Depression
San Diego Real Estate – 5th Largest Decline Through July
San Diego California home values showed the 5th largest decline for the latest July 2007 to July 2008 S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
“There are signs of a slow down in the rate of decline across the metro areas, but no evidence of abottom” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “Little positivenews can be found when cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix report annual declines as large as -29.9% and
-29.3%, respectively, and all 20 cities are still in negative territory on a year-over-year basis. The Sunbelt
continues to be the story, with the seven cities that basically represent that area reporting annual declines
roughly between 20 and 30%. While some cities did show some marginal improvement over last month’s
data, there is still very little evidence of any particular region experiencing an absolute turnaround.”
The table below summarizes the results for July 2008. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are revised for the 24 prior months, based on the receipt of additional source data.
