Michael Roberts' Blog -San Jose Homes, Real Estate and Houses for Sale

An attractive short sale Home for sale in Los Gatos is getting a lot of attention this week.   When a Million Dollar property is listed for under $800K that will happen.  Above Hi 17 the noise may be an issue for some or the old oil heating system, but a great price nonetheless.  Built in 1915 the character is built in.

first time buyer credit

Gov short sale guide

An exclusive Buyer Agreement is one where you, the buyer,  agree to work with that one agent exclusively.  Are there good reasons to sign an Exclusive Buyer Agreement?  Answer:  One and only one and… rarely necessary.

What if your agent is not what you expected?

You say,  “No!  I have the best agent!”  She is the number one agent for this, that and some other thing, she drives an expensive car, demonstrating her success, and she knows your Aunt Jinny’s second cousin Julie.

So, why did she ask you to sign an exclusive buyer agreement?  It’s a matter of trust.

In my series of articles  “Is my Agent Lying to Me?” the core lesson, was trust.  The primary reason an agent requires a buyer to sign one of these agreements is usually their lack of confidence to provide superior service.   They don’t ‘trust’ that you will be satisfied and you will wander off and use a new agent.

Usually,  a buyer will only change agents when their specific needs Read the rest of this entry »

Q:  Short Sale definition.  What is a Short Sale?

Answer: In ”short”, a shortsale is when the lender agrees to settle the debt owed on the property for less than the full amount of the debt. In most cases “Settled” means the lender writes off the debt. You usually will receive a 1099 after a short sale for the amount of debt forgiven. The bank is agreeing not to go after you for the money they lost by filing a deficiency judgment in the future. The exception is the HELOC loan where they reserve the right to file a default judgment.

Answer: If you have a heavy asset portfolio that would cover the amount above the home’s value then the answer is likely to be no.  Each case is different and would be better answered after a professional review to help learn how to short sale.

Answer:  There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about this. A short sale is recorded on your credit report as “debt settled for less than the amount owed”.  In plain English, this will result in a relatively minor hit to your credit compared to a foreclosure or late payments on your mortgage. A short sale will affect everyone’s credit differently. The more established your credit, the less of an impact it will have on your score.

If you stop making your mortgage payments for 4 months, regardless of whether you do a short sale or not, 4 months of missed mortgage payments will have a significant negative impact on your credit.  A short sale will drop your credit 100 points or more.

If you are already behind on your payments, you have already incurred the majority of the hit that a short sale will have on your credit.  Moving forward with a successful short sale will insure that your debt is settled with your lender.

However, if you are current on your payments and can stay current throughout the short sale process, you will save your credit to a large extent.

These two Los Gatos homes for sale prove that a listing price is rarely a selling price in our Real Estate market.  We are at a crossroads.   It just isn’t what you might think;

131 Millrich Dr.  this Los Gatos house sold for nearly 1% less than the asking and 411 Clearview Dr., a townhome, sold for nearly 5% over the listing price !

A reminder that ’sweet spotting’ your asking price will always pay off.

The good news….neither property was a short sale.

2 Los Gatos Houses sold this week,

131 MILLRICH DR, Los Gatos 95030 (Los Gatos)Single Family Home 3 bed(s) Baths: 4|1 bath(s)   SqFt: 2,593  Lot: 9,100 sq ft

List Price: $1,449,000     Sold Price $1,332,000.00

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411 CLEARVIEW DR, Los Gatos 95032 (Los Gatos)Townhouse  3 Beds, 2|1 Baths:  SqFt: 2,122 Lot: 2,220 sq ft

List Price: $749,000 Sale Price: $780,000

Assoc. Fee: $428

We see a crossroads ahead…one where the buyers in the Los Gatos Real Estate Market aren’t in the driver’s seat.    Could this mean the homes for sale are in a Seller’s market?

Remember…

Spring is coming and the end of the $8000 First time buyer’s credit is there waiting.   I wonder if will  lead to more vigorous sales?…bidding?

Tait Ave Home Sold In Los Gatos

You can do a detailed search for homes available for  sale in the  the Los Gatos Real Estate market here.

Nearly everyone wants to do this so, Why don’t you?

The purchase of a fixer-upper house is often a catch-22 situation, because the bank won’t lend the money to buy the house until the repairs are complete, and the repairs can’t be done until the house has been purchased. Fixing up your new house is a costly idea in Los Gatos, San Jose and the whole Bay Area, really.

HUD’s 203(k) program can help you overcome this cost obstacle by enabling you to purchase or refinance a property plus the cost of making the repairs and improvements in one mortgage.

Dian Hymer of Inman News suggests “design your offer with a 60 day close and a 45 day finance contingency.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Image via Wikipedia

5 New HomeOwners and 5 Successful Sellers makes for great news this past week.

220 BERSANO LN, Los Gatos 95030
$1,729,000 Beds: 4 bed(s) Baths: 3|0 bath(s)

17050 Wild WY, Los Gatos 95030
$1,485,000 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 2|0 bath(s)

16345 LOS GATOS BL #49, Los Gatos 95032 (Los Gatos)
$510,000 Beds: 2 bed(s) Baths: 1|1 bath(s)

30800 LOMA CHIQUITA RD, Los Gatos Mtns 95033 (Los Gatos Mtns)
$159,000   Raw Land

14685 OKA RD #11, Los Gatos 95032 (Los Gatos)
$140,000 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 2|0 bath(s) Mobile Home

There are 12 new Los Gatos listings for the week you can see these new listings using comprehensive search tool on my home page.