The Wilkas Group » Distressed Properties

Are You Feeling Financially Squeezed? San Mateo,CA

Alexander Wilkas — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:43:16 +0000

How to Escape the Grip of Foreclosure

No one wants to be in the situation of losing their home because of a mortgage interest rate reset. The reality is that millions of Americans across the country are struggling with unaffordable mortgage payments, and more than ever lenders are motivated to work with homeowners to come to a resolution. We can help advise you of your options and show you how to create a strategy that will loosen the hold that foreclosure has on your future.

You have options

When you began struggling with your mortgage payments, you may have felt that you had no way out of the situation, but you actually have many different options. We will guide you through the process of finding which option is best for you. By discovering and acting on your options, you’ll have the leverage to escape the grip of foreclosure.

Your Foreclosure Alternatives Include:

Short Sale
Reinstatement
Forbearance or Repayment
Mortgage Modification
Rent the Property
Deed-in-Lieu
Bankruptcy
Refinance
Service members Civil Relief Act
Sell the Property

Relieve the Stress

When you owe more on your home than it’s worth, and are struggling to make payments, the pressure you feel can go through the roof! If you are in a situation where your expenses exceed your income, have a verifiable financial hardship, and no other assets to pay off the balance of your mortgage, you may qualify for a loan modification or short sale.

We can help relieve the burden of an overwhelming mortgage by showing you ways to execute a dignified solution.

Do You Qualify For A Short Sale?

Do you have…

Financial Hardship: severe illness, military service, insurance or tax increase, etc. (Ask us for a full list of acceptable hardships)
Monthly Shortfall: business failure, job loss wage reduction, divorce, etc.
Insolvency: you currently owe more money than you have, or you are about to reach that point

If you answer YES to the above questions, you may qualify.

Calm your fears!

You may be anxious about whether your lender is motivated to work out a solution with you. The reality is that lenders lose much less in a short sale or loan modification than they do in foreclosure. The cost of foreclosure may cost your lender up to 50% of the loan amount while a short sale could only cost them from 15-30%.

What Does It All Mean?:

SHORT SALE
A short sale is when the lender agrees for the property to be sold at a price lower that the mortgage balance owed.

DEED-IN-LIEU
A deed-in-lieu is when the lender receives the house deed in place of the mortgage balance, although in some cases the lender will still pursue the homeowner for the leftover mortgage balance, which is called a deficiency judgement.

A short sale or deed-in-lieu through the government’s (HAFA) Home Affordable Affordable Alternative Project prohibits the participating lender from pursuing a deficiency judgment.

SHORT SALE BENEFITS
The financial implications of short sales are always less severe that the implications of foreclosure. Your credit score, credit history, employment applications, and future chances of acquiring a loan are all benefit from completing a short sale rather than being foreclosed upon.

Our job is to facilitate cooperation and communication between you and your lender and work toward the best solution for everyone. Knowing this should help you breathe a little easier when starting this process.

Call Us Today!

We know that you are grappling with unfortunate circumstances, and dealing with all the emotions that come with it. We are trained to guide you through this process, help you to restore hope, and empower your future. You are not alone in this situation.

We Are (CHS) Certified HAFA Specialists, (CDPE) Certified Distressed Property Experts) and (SFR) Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource Specialists.

We are here to help.

Short Sales. Bank Owned. Which is Better? San Mateo CA

lenorewilkas — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:48:29 +0000

We’re into the January gloom. Both in weather and in real estate. Our local market really starts coming to life the end of January and sometimes as late as right after Super Bowl Sunday. If you’re a serious buyer you already know most of what’s on the market right now is either a short sale or a bank owned property. If a new listing comes out and isn’t a short sale or bank owned it might be one soon, if they can’t get their price. January is also one of the two months where prices are the lowest in the year. Prices begin to go up in the spring.

What’s better to buy? A Short Sale might be a great way to get a home under market value if you’re willing to wait a little more than normal. Often though, the wait can be longer than that because the wait is determined by several things. First, the number of loans on the property you’re considering. If there’s only one loan this will be a fairly smooth and close to normal transaction for you and the seller. Two, if there is more than one loan, such as a second and a HELOC (line of credit) and they are with the same bank, it will be longer but not a killer. Three, if more than one lender is involved, all bets are off and it can take from several months to never. The banks in second and third position must agree to taking a minimal amount as a payment and many aren’t willing so the force the property into foreclosure.

Buying a Short Sale is really buying all the debt left behind by the seller. That includes past due property taxes, homeowners dues if they apply, and repairs that are needed to the property to make it inhabitable. The people selling “short” have gone through extensive proof for the banks to assure the lenders the borrower has no money to pay them. There are never concessions with the seller in these instances and sometimes additional fees for the buyer to pay for a specialist in negotiating with the banks to make sure the deal closes.

Bank Owned properties, also referred as REO’s, come with their own issues. The day of getting a great buy below market are gone. The last time you could really get this was in 2009. Today bank owned properties are priced about 5-10% below market and the banks will negotiate only if the property has sat on the market for a while. We are really seeing multiple offers on the houses that are in pretty good condition so prices often move up, rather than down. Banks often want the buyer to be pre-approved through them and if you elect to use them for your loan, give small concessions for a free appraisal which is a $450 savings and sometimes cut fees for the application. You are not required to use them. You can use your own lender. They used to force you to use their Title and Escrow company but California passed a law outlawing this practice last year so you may use the Title and Escrow company of your own choice. What the banks are doing now is offering to pay some of the title fees if you agree to use their company. Sometimes it’s worthwhile and sometimes a nightmare.

Like buying a Short Sale, what you see is what you get with some exceptions. Some cities have laws requiring banks to bring property into compliance for zoning so the bank will do so. They must make sure all statewide requirements are met including strapping the hot water heater, new smoke detectors and any other requirements.

If you’re looking at buying a new home in 2011, congratulations on the decision. Just don’t wait too long. Interest rates are going to go up. The window of 4% loans is going to go the way of history and when it does your buying power will have shrunk. Buying a distressed property is an adventure and you should look for an agent who is skilled in handling these sales. Look for the SFR and CDPE designations with the agent’s name to know they have taken extensive classroom education and ask if they’re experienced in listing and selling distressed property. You need to be protected by a knowledgable agent.

Here are some of the short sale and bank owned San Mateo listings.

Showing properties 1 - 20 of 25. See more SM short sales and REOs.
(all data current as of 2/12/2012)

$349,000 : 1758 Shoreview Av, San Mateo

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 820 sq ft

Lot size: 6,100 sq ft
$525,000 : 3502 Martin Dr, San Mateo

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,000 sq ft

Lot size: 6,790 sq ft
$549,000 : 1317 Claudia Av, San Mateo

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,670 sq ft

Lot size: 6,000 sq ft
$550,000 : 1709 Royal Av, San Mateo

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,080 sq ft

Lot size: 6,426 sq ft
$349,000 : 1409 Young St, San Mateo

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,130 sq ft

Lot size: 6,100 sq ft
$524,900 : 177 Mclellan Av, San Mateo

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,360 sq ft

Lot size: 6,250 sq ft
$379,000 : 28 Prague St, San Mateo

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 930 sq ft

Lot size: 5,000 sq ft
$409,000 : 1216 S Norfolk St, San Mateo

4 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,470 sq ft

Lot size: 5,000 sq ft
$447,500 : 1403 Bradley Ct, San Mateo

4 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 970 sq ft

Lot size: 4,160 sq ft
$390,900 : 1297 Pershing Av, San Mateo

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,360 sq ft

Lot size: 5,890 sq ft
$722,200 : 1740 Roberta Dr, San Mateo

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,380 sq ft

Lot size: 9,300 sq ft
$399,000 : 1502 Mefferd Av, San Mateo

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,310 sq ft

Lot size: 5,200 sq ft
$699,000 : 4004 Martin Dr, San Mateo

4 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,690 sq ft

Lot size: 5,000 sq ft
$680,000 : 19 Hillbarn Ct, San Mateo

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,480 sq ft

Lot size: 6,800 sq ft
$499,900 : 1814 Palm Av, San Mateo

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,180 sq ft

Lot size: 3,200 sq ft
$540,600 : 1614 S Grant St, San Mateo

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,180 sq ft

Lot size: 4,800 sq ft
$419,000 : 1508 S Norfolk St, San Mateo

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,040 sq ft

Lot size: 5,000 sq ft
$398,000 : 15 S Norfolk St, San Mateo

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 970 sq ft

Lot size: 6,000 sq ft
$565,000 : 1206 S Claremont St, San Mateo

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,040 sq ft

Lot size: 4,000 sq ft
$400,000 : 1736 S Norfolk St, San Mateo

3 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,030 sq ft

Lot size: 5,000 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

San Mateo County Foreclosures? Not Many. Not Yet.

lenorewilkas — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:09:16 +0000

I thought it would be interesting to look at what’s going on in the foreclosure arena for our corner of the world. It’s looking like the clock is ticking for a lot of families and they will soon have to come to a hard reality about their housing needs. We aren’t seeing a ton of bank owned properties in the MLS yet, but the data here is telling us there are a lot of houses schedule for auction, where they become bank owned, and a lot receiving notices of default where the mortgage hasn’t been paid for several months.

This is the ForeclosureRadar chart for all of San Mateo County foreclosure filings for the past 12 months and you can see the Notice of Default (NOD) and Notice of Sale (NOS) are almost equal. Unless your head has been in the sand, you’re likely aware that the major banks stopped issuing NOD’s several months ago because of Robo Signing issues. These issues aren’t totally cleared up the the major banks are gearing up to send out the notices in 2011. So hold on to your hat when the flurry of NODs hits the mail. It will be a storm of activity.

06081 – Foreclosure Filings

Now let’s look at the same data for the city of San Mateo. It looks a little different than the County’s data. More activities here but there are NO deals. Those are gone. You can buy a foreclosed property in San Mateo under market price but not dramatically so. The banks want to see these properties listed near to market so they can recapture as much of their losses as possible. One really can’t blame them as they’ve lost billions of dollars due to the stupid lending programs they pushed, can one?

What this chart isn’t showing you is that there are currently 46 properties in foreclosure in San Mateo, 134 properties that are going to go to auction sometime soon, and 136 properties in pre-foreclosure (those receiving NODs). These are the hidden numbers for the City of San Mateo today, 450 properties that may show up for sale by banks. I use the word may because some will find funds to pay the bank back and some will sell on the market before the bank forecloses. These properties are in all of the zip codes for the city of San Mateo and are comprised of condos, townhouses and single family houses.

San Mateo,CA – Foreclosure Filings

Let’s take a look at Burlingame and Hillsborough data. The two towns are combined because they share the same Zip code and ForeclosureRadar’s data is zip centric for this chart. NOD’s are up over sales by November 2010.

Now for the hidden numbers for Burlingame and Hillsborough. Burlingame has 5 foreclosed properties, 22 going to go to auction soon, and 21 in pre-foreclosure, for a total 48 distressed properties. Hillsborough has 3 foreclosed properties, 11 going to go to auction soon, and 7 in pre-foreclosure, for a total of 21 distressed properties. In Burlingame there are a few condos in this total but mostly single family homes. In Hillsborough, all are single family homes of substantial size.

94010 – Foreclosure Filings

Finally, let’s not forget Foster City. It too has had activity this past year. NODs are up but NOS are down. For the moment that is. Foster City has 8 bank owned properties, 26 going to go to auction, and 39 in pre-foreclosure status, for a total of 73 distressed properties. These properties are made up of condos, townhouses and single family houses.

94404 – Foreclosure Filings

The big question is what’s coming. We know of Shadow Inventory, a term for houses that have been foreclosed and are bank owned but not on the market. The banks are holding them off, for some unknown reason. Perhaps it’s the same reason they’re giving for making lending so impossibly difficult today. We also know that prices for the bank owned properties are going up from last year’s incredible bargains. If you are an investor and have cash, you might do okay, and something pretty good deals. If you’re the average buyer who still needs a loan, should you try to buy a bank owned rather than a short sale? I’d go for the short sale right now. Those prices are generally better, you negotiate with the owner and not the bank but you must be patient and be willing to wait it out for the bank to approve the offer and if there are more loans on the property than the mortgage expect it to take even more time as the listing agent must negotiate with all banks connected to the property. It can be a great way to get a property under market value today. As for tomorrow and 2011, my crystal balls are a little cloudy today, like the weather.

It’s Crystal Ball Time – What’s the Market Doing in the San Mateo CA area?

lenorewilkas — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:18:44 +0000

Last week I took additional course work on short sales. We don’t really anticipate seeing many foreclosures this year because the banks are beginning to work with their customers to stave them off. This year will see short sales. The Alt-A loans are almost all gone and now what will be coming up are some loans that should affect our market. The people who purchased homes in the mid to late 2000′s and who took out ARMs of 5 or 7 years are going to see them resetting this year. If they reset now, they’ll reset for lower then the original rate for the first year only. Should they reset once the Fed plays around with interest rates, then who knows how they’ll reset so they might be higher. How do I know this? Take a look at this great chart from Credit Suisse. We are currently in month 36 where the arrow is. You can figure it from there, that we anticipate seeing a peak number of short sales by the end of the summer, September to be exact.

If you are one of the multitude of homeowners sitting with this kind of mortgage you have a couple of choices. First, refinance it immediately. Second, if you are unable to do so, get your home ready for resale and get it on the market this spring. Yes, it will be under water, and yes you will need to go through the process of applying for a loan modification with your lender. If you are denied, as most appear to be, ask for a short sale and find a Realtor with suitable experience and training to help you. We are CDPE trained and SFR trained. These are the Cadillac of certifications for short sales. Do not wait to sell, get ready to do it this spring because there will be much competition for short sales.

Another consideration for you. If you sell you home in a short sale, you can buy a new one within 90 days using a conforming FHA loan. This means you will be in a home around $900,000 and there are many to select from in our area. You may have to swallow your pride in reducing your home size and location but at least you can still own a home without the tax ramifications of a foreclosure.

Do you want more information on how to do this? We’re here to answer your questions so go here for more help.

Have you missed a house payment? Do you need help? – Burlingame CA

Alexander Wilkas — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:39:18 +0000

San Mateo County, Are You Wondering Why You Can’t Get Your Loan Modified?

lenorewilkas — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:15:09 +0000

San Mateo County residents who are under water today have an additional problem to content with because banks aren’t being forthcoming with us. Are you wondering why you can’t get your loan modified? Are you wondering why every time you call they can’t find your file? What about the voices of the people you’re talking with, do they have strong accents making it hard for you to sometimes understand them? There’s a reason this is happening and it’s not to help you, but to help the bottom line of your lender. These people you’re trying to talk with don’t live and work in the US, they live and work off shore, mainly in India, but also in some other countries, too. The worst offender doing this is Bank of America but they’re not alone as most of the major banks are doing the same thing. They are doing this to save money but according to year end reports, almost all banks made record profits last year and off-shoring added to their profit line.

The only bank NOT doing this is Wells Fargo, who incidentally only uses US citizens and doesn’t consider off-shoring as an option. Thank you Wells Fargo.

Right now the bankers are sitting and testifying in Washington about their obscene bonuses and this should become a part of that discussion. These banks aren’t out to help you, they’re out to help their bottom line. If you don’t like this, call Jackie Speier’s office if you live in her district, or your own Congressional Representative where you live. Then call your US Senators and complain loud and clear that this must stop.

I believe the only way to stop it is to write a law prohibiting off-shoring for all banks. No matter what you are told about privacy laws, they don’t matter outside the continental United States boarders. You are, as they say, up a creek without a paddle should your information – think social security numbers – get lifted. Our laws only count within the continental US border and not in another country. This won’t stop unless we make it known. Will you help me with this?

Year-end Look at Foster City CA Market

lenorewilkas — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 09:56:55 +0000

Foster City, like San Mateo, offers a good selection of single family houses for sale as well as condos and townhouses. I’ll start with the single family houses to show you what the market has been like. Over all Foster City is the healthiest market in our area. Prices are up and we’re seeing that there were 2 months where prices exceeded the list price. This is something we haven’t seen in several years. Foster City sits in a perfect location for commutes to bio-tech or hi-tech, east bay or the City. Schools are tops, there are loads and loads of parks for families to utilize and they do, too. It’s a planned community with apartments, condos, townhouses and single family houses. The waterways snake through the city and boating is a big pass time.

Like our other communities last year didn’t see a lot of sales, even after the banks opened up their lending and gave out loans rather than moths, but prices have been pretty good. There haven’t been a lot of short sales or REO’s, yet. We know there will be some, but not sure how many. Foster City is one of the few places one can buy entry level, and move up within the community. If you are thinking about buying a short sale or REO in order to get to Foster City from somewhere else, you need experienced agents working these tricky deals. The Wilkas Group is experienced and trained in the nuances of short sales and bank owned sales. Whether you are buying or selling we know how to help you achieve your real estate needs.

Year-end Look at Hillsborough CA Market

lenorewilkas — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:06:03 +0000

The town of Hillsborough is one of the most expensive communities in the US. In some ways this makes Hillsborough CA insulated from the rest of the area. There are always a few buyer’s around and those buyer’s often have cash to buy so they aren’t handcuffed by lenders. This was the case first quarter 2009. Only 9 houses sold, but likely they sold for cash. Hillsborough CA is a beautiful community with trees, trees and more trees allowing for loads of privacy, large houses, large lots, excellent public schools and a great location close to our many tech industries. It’s the ultimate move up community and right now there are some great buys if you have the money. We haven’t seen very many short sales or REO’s, yet, but we do expect to see them in 2010. Is this how you hope to get into Hillsborough? Then use experienced agents to help you, such as the Wilkas Group. We’ve been through the minefields both short sales and bank owned properties have. We have helped buyer’s and seller’s through this minefields, too.

Charts are great but you need hard numbers to really understand them so take a look at the real picture of Hillsborough CA’s market this past year. We saw about 10% of the listings sell and it takes a long while for these listing to sell. The houses for sale are seeing price reductions in most, but not all cases. The difference between the Median list price and the Median sold price is 23% so someone hasn’t figured it out yet and that’s the seller. Be patient and you’ll get your deal but be sure your house has been sold before even making an offer in today’s market.

Year-end Look at Burlingame CA Market

lenorewilkas — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:52:07 +0000

During 2009, Burlingame’s market was down all year but not dramatically so. Because Burlingame is a high-end market, it was really struggling the first half of the year with of the difficulty for buyer’s to get loans. Unless you had cash you had a hard time finding a lender who would write a jumbo-jumbo loan. As the chart shows below, you can see when this changed in May, and by July we saw the market heat up with 23 sales. The same number sold in September, too. But don’t get too excited about this because there are still many more houses for sale then selling making Burlingame a Buyer’s market.

Looking at the numbers you can see the Median price of the houses for sale is still higher than the median sold price. Seller’s are just not ready to accept that prices have dropped so we are seeing listings with prices higher then we’d expect, but this is Burlingame and people want to live in Burlingame for it’s schools, location and charm. We expect to see short sales and REO’s to come in 2010 in Burlingame and if you’re hoping to buy or need to sell because of this, then you need an agent who is experienced in this kind of sale. The Wilkas Group is trained and has had experience with both short sales and bank owned sales. Do not use an agent who will learn on your transaction. There are too many issues that come up during the escrow to allow a person learning the system. Use an expert like the Wilkas Group.

Year-end Look at San Mateo CA Market

lenorewilkas — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:31:12 +0000

I am a full believer that pictures say more than words do. I just ran a report to see how the market has been in San Mateo for single family and condo/townhouses this past year. San Mateo has about 90,000 people living in it making it the second largest city in the county. Prices run from entry level condos and houses into many millions of dollars for a huge house. In the early part of the year past, the banks would not lend to anyone trying to buy a house that required what they like to call a jumbo-jumbo loan, the high end of the market tanked. After arm twisting by the Fed and the administration in Washington DC, the banking wallets opened up and we began to see these loans offered once again. This made the high end of the market warm up and we saw some action.

We’re looking first at single family houses sold between November 2008 and November 2009. Sorry, I won’t have the December data until next week so if you’d like to see it let me know and I’ll get it to you. The end of 2008 and into first quarter we were still seeing bank owned sales. They have diminished since then. We see some, but not a huge amount any longer. Does that mean they are gone from San Mateo? Doubtful. We all anticipate seeing many more short sales and bank owned (REO’s) in 2010. The Wilkas Group is prepared to help all of our clients with this kind of a market having taken specialized training to be able to guide both buyer’s and seller’s through the many different things that bank’s require. If you want to buy a short sale or REO, use an agent who understands how to navigate through the process.

2009 San Mateo CA single family houses for sale vs. median sold

What are we seeing here? The number of houses sold really didn’t change much for most of the early part of the year, because of the loan situation. FHA loans were the loan of choice for most people through the first half of the year. From mid-year though, we began to see the market warm up. The drop in November could be because of the usual decline of demand at year’s end when seller’s often remove their house from the market until the new year, and buyer’s are thinking about the holidays.

Let look at the Condo-Townhouse market in San Mateo.

One would expect to see more sales of condos as most of them are entry level purchases but many former condo buyers were able to buy a single family house this past year. What is interesting is that prices didn’t drop as dramatically in San Mateo as they did in other cities in the State. This shows some of the uniqueness of our County.

There is still a huge disparity in the number of condos and townhouses for sale verses those sold. It’s a strong buyer’s market for condos and many are very affordable. The number of sales has been pretty consistent all year long. There are many condos to select from as you can clearly see by the number for sale.