Author Archives: SueT

Ball and Chain Housing Crisis

I believe that the housing crisis is acting as a ball and chain on the general economy. An alarming 25% of the homeowners in the united states owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. America has way too many borrowers losing their homes to short sales that take months to complete and …

January 6, 2012 – 6:58 am | By SueT | Posted in Top Questions, Trends | Comments (2)

Real Estate Quiz

Do you think  you have  been keeping up with what’s  been going on in real estate? How  well do you know the Auburn area real estate market? The statistics that I used for the Auburn area real estate quiz are from November 2010 and November 2011. Here goes! Test your knowledge: 1. There were fewer …

December 29, 2011 – 7:39 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Investment Strategy, Selling, Trends | Comments (1)

Home is Where the Heart Is

As Foreclosures and short sales have dominated the real estate market over the past five years I found myself “re-learning” the new rules of not only business but of life as well. Sure, the market has always had its ups and downs. It’s the nature of things. Remember the S&L crisis of the 1980″s when …

November 21, 2011 – 11:47 am | By SueT | Posted in Other | Comments (0)

Choosing a Listing Agent

I am not surprised to see different agents come up with different estimates of value, but there really shouldn’t be more than a 3-7% variable. A 20% differential you have described is definite cause for concern. Review each of the presentations. Are two of the presentations closer in value than the third one? Are the …

October 16, 2011 – 10:01 am | By SueT | Posted in Selling, Top Questions | Comments (0)

What About Tax On Short Sale Debt Relief?

The mortgage debt relief act is set to expire at the end of 2012.Prior to 2007 the IRS considered forgiven debt on ones primary residence as taxable income. For example, If you owed $100,000.00 on your residence and sold it short of the full amount owed; say for $80,000.00, the difference, $20,000.00 was considered taxable …

October 6, 2011 – 11:43 am | By SueT | Posted in Selling, Short Sale, Top Questions | Comments (0)

Handling of Deposits in a Short Sale

Everything is negotiable. Some agents want the deposit placed in an escrow account immediately. They believe that if the buyer is willing to do this, he is probably willing to hang in there for the long hall. If the buyer wants to walk before the short sale is approved, he must go through a cancellation …

September 22, 2011 – 9:29 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Short Sale | Comments (0)

When Can an Agent Sign a Counter Offer?

If the agent has a power of attorney to sign for the buyer the signature would have “attorney in fact” added to it. If that is not the case she/he probably doesn’t have power of attorney to sign on behalf of the buyer. If that, is in fact, the case, it is not a valid …

September 22, 2011 – 9:24 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Top Questions | Comments (0)

Selling to a Relative via Short Sale

Unfortunately, what you see as a helping hand the lenders see as fraud. Lenders prohibit any one who is related to a borrower of a home that’s being sold in a short sale from buying it. That includes relatives and business associates. Realtors won’t get paid for a successful short sale if they are related …

August 25, 2011 – 12:04 pm | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Rental Income, Selling, Short Sale, Top Questions | Comments (1)

Purchase with Unpermitted Improvements

Unpermitted rooms and structures are not uncommon. Homeowners don’t like having their property taxes go up. They know that every time they pull a permit the Tax Assessor’s office is notified and their property tax is increased. Some homeowners think that permits aren’t necessary as long as they are not adding to the footprint of …

August 11, 2011 – 8:00 am | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Top Questions | Comments (0)

History of the Southern California Building Boom

Those of my readers who were ever in the real estate industry or those of you who wonder how Southern California became the subdivision capital of the world, can enjoy a look back into the industries history in a recently published novel “Boom Builder” Boom Builder was written by Gold Country Medias former “Placer Pundit” …

August 2, 2011 – 1:28 pm | By SueT | Posted in Buying, Myths, Other | Comments (0)