Quick snap shot of recent Snohomish Co. Notice of Trustee Sales (foreclosure) October 1, 2008
Spending time at the Snohomish Co. excise tax and recording office today afforded me the opportunity to pull some records on current Notice of Trustee Sales recorded from Sept. 1, 2008 to today. There were more than the 36 in my sample before I became restless and bored with basically the same theme that I knew would play out.
All were purchased within the last 4 yrs, most of the sample from 2006, one in 2008. One was for $3 million in arrears, another for $1.28 million in arrears and even one at $56,000.00 So, foreclosures are affecting all property types and income strata.
Here’s the tally of when the homes were purchased in my quick sample:
2004: 2
2005: 4
2006: 18
2007: 11
2008: 1
Lenders represented (again no surprise):
WaMu, Countrywide (several), Flagstar, First Franklin, AEGIS, Homecomings, GMAC, Indymac, Everhome Mtg, HSBC, EMC, Wells Fargo, First Horizon (now Metlife), Greenpoint and US. Bank.
Side note: Short sales are taking 60-90 days from the sampling we are closing in our office. It is UNREALISTIC for agents to expect anything sooner. If it happens sooner then great, but do not expect quick responses. On Monday, we received approval/clearance on a short sale from a Purchase & Sale agreement signed around from this past JUNE.
It is not terribly efficient to have borrowers lock in interest rates two months prior to receiving short sale approval. We are seeing this happen. The downside for the borrowers in this volatile mortgage market speaks for itself.
Spike in LIBOR rates may pressure ARM mortgage holders. September 16, 2008
I know everyone (including me) is rather distracted by the events going on in the financial market mayhem over the past two weeks, but many mortgage holders of ARM’s tied to the LIBOR Index should be re-evaluating their long term mortgage strategy. Because LIBOR has been very low, many were complacent to make serious consideration of refinancing into a fixed rate. I read many comments about LIBOR Index being very favorable, and to an extent is has been true, until…….
The overnight Libor rate in US dollars ratcheted up 3.3 percentage points to 6.44 percent, the largest increase in 7 yrs.
This could change the tone of all the ARM mortgage holders, whose mortgage index is tied to the LIBOR, who were hoping for little payment change when their adjustment period arrives.
About 6 million U.S. mortgages, including almost all subprime home loans and 41 percent of prime ARMs, are linked to the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, according to First American CoreLogic in Santa Ana, California.
Further down the article, Seattle’s Bill Fleckenstein remarks:
“If the Libor market seizes up and stays that way, it’s going to complicate everything,” said Bill Fleckenstein, president of Fleckenstein Capital in Seattle. “What you are seeing is the unwinding of the financial system as we know it.”
In Honor of Sept. 11th. September 11, 2008
God Bless America and all those who serve including those who have sacrificed their lives.
This flag has flown at my house since 9-11. For me, walking past the flag into my house has been a daily reminder of how lucky I am to live in America and how much sacrifice was laid before me, by prior family members of earlier generations, to enjoy the freedoms I have that we should never take for granted.
King County Median prices fall over 10% YOY. Quite frankly, maybe today’s Seattle Times headline will help the market. September 10, 2008
This has been on my mind for a while, so I’ll throw it out there for people to discuss. Sometimes a non-agent can introduce topics that the real estate community may be uncomfortable in discussing with their clients. So, here goes…..
The topic: Is this lousy news for sellers just the spice to get them to realize that the white- hot markets of 2005-2007 are long gone?
Price reductions have been taking place for sometime. Months and months. But, many have been token reductions and the conversations I hear and read on blogs is that, in some instances, resistance has been fairly strong.
What good does it do when a seller who reduces a price by $3K on a $650,000 listing that has been languishing on the market for months? If today, after weeks of small incremental reductions, the listing is priced at $550,000, there is no agent on earth representing a buyer that will take it seriously. Especially after seeing the price reductions go on and on for months. I don’t know who is torturing who: the homeowner doing this practice or an agent who can’t pull the plug on the listing? I’ve heard that not taking a listing is not in the DNA of agents (I’m teasing of course.)
I know of some agents who have broken their backs and have spent a lot of money on listings only for the seller to eventually pull the plug on the listing out of frustration. And then, (drum roll please) have the $500K+ listing end up renting for under $2000.00/mo. Any sellers out there understand the rent-to-price ratio relationship over the history of residential real estate? Now, on the other hand, many of today’s agents have little experience in working through a correction and pricing and marketing a home effectively. If we are honest, there was not a lot to do in a white-hot market to generate the offer: place the listing on the NWMLS and arrange a time with the seller to accept multiple offers. I hear some were even nice enough to offer coffee and pastries to the agents sitting in cars outside of a property waiting for their turn to submit their offer. How times have changed.
I have seen a couple of examples of the substandard work ethic and marketing in my neck of the woods in Snohomish Co: outrageously poor marketing, only to have another professional agent come to the rescue and have a successful sale. Good for that agent and good for the seller to recognize when a change is needed.
Will agents bring the Seattle Times clipped article to listing presentations? When is real estate bad news good for moving sellers in the right direction and getting the market moving? Perhaps today. Or, maybe we still have a long way to go in understanding how damaging the excesses of next to zero lending standards will turn out to be and the artificial appreciation it fostered.
PS. Those who are currently in the market to buy should be in conversations with your loan officers regarding the recent drop in interest rates. Just today, our office is hearing that there are 30 yr fixed rates at 5.5% at par, some even indicating a small rebate at that rate. Consult with your loan officer.
Some agents and loan officers need to just say, “No.” August 29, 2008
There is a lot about the real estate industry that needs improvement. But, there are some very stand-up hard working salt-of-the-earth real estate agents and loan officers that are working in a challenging market and who are literally bailing out financially challenged homeowners. They are making things happen and are doing what they can to make transactions close.
I know it is a challenging market, especially in the outer lying areas outside of Seattle/Bellevue proper and cash flow is tough, but I’m growing VERY tired of LO’s giving broker credits and agents giving up commissions earned for “challenged” borrowers who obviously have a history of financial mistakes.
I say this in the similar tone and voice of Al Pacino in his famous scene in Scent of a Woman:
I know people want transactions to close, but sometimes consumers need to face the consequences of their own decisions. Loan officers and agents sometimes need to say, “you know what?….enough is enough. I’m not dipping into my livelihood to bail you out. Dig yourself out of your own hole.
Don’t blame us for your prior agent selling you an overpriced home. Don’t blame me as a loan officer for your garbage loan sold to you by a prior mortgage broker.”
If the Bubbleheads want to trash me because I’m part of the real estate industry, so be it. But, this is the stuff that goes on behind the scenes that agents and loan officers GET NO CREDIT FOR AND SHOULD.
Buying or selling a home: how are you making hiring decisions? July 13, 2008
As we are finding out (some for the first time), housing and the mortgages that finance it is a key economic engine.
Question: Is it important that the agent and/or loan officer you are working with have a keen understanding of fundamental market knowledge and economics? Should they show competency in basic fundamental economics and how it impacts housing?
How would you rate the importance:
1) Very important (it could make the difference in working with the agent/loan officer or not).
2) moderately important (would allow for good discussion, but it would not necessarily dissuade a working relationship).
3) somewhat important.
4) of little importance.
Head Scratcher: $100K loan orig. fee, poof! Maybe it’s our hot weather. June 27, 2008
Life in the escrow business:
A borrower notices a $100,000 loan origination fee on a very large transaction, puts on the brakes and says, “not so fast.” The borrower stops the transaction after the loan officer and borrower can’t work it out.
I know Lynlee mentioned a nutty conversation in an earlier post, but this takes the cake for me, YTD. For a LOT of people, in this market, the fees charged on this singular transaction would have made for a “great year.” (or two)
Have a great weekend everyone. Enjoy the weather!
Strategies for selling your home when your neighbor is preventing it. May 29, 2008
This has been on my mind for a long time. I have never felt so bad for a homeowner than one in my neighborhood. In my opinion, they are being held hostage by an home that you have to drive by in order to see the subject home for sale. They share a common driveway. The subject home (a great property and excellent home) for sale is just beyond the eyesore with multiple cars parked in its driveway and yard, never mind the fact that the physical condition is very poor. If I was a buyer, I would not want to drive by this place to get to my new home.
I don’t have the answers, but maybe some creative agents can suggest some ideas. One idea I had was that the subject home for sale could possibly create a driveway that connects to the adjacent main street. This would be expensive, but the alternative is no sale.
Caught! April 28, 2008
A most wonderful diet to sustain escrow during crunch time. I heard rumors of a secret stash, but this is too much. I won’t name names.
Spring Projects: sprucing up that old cracked walkway or patio? April 21, 2008
Note: there other things more interesting to me than escrow/real estate issues, so hope this topic does not tread on other contributors expertise.
It is Spring (believe it or not) and the Everett Home Show just wrapped up over the weekend. This is the time of year where home improvement projects start to come to the forefront. One of the larger projects last Spring was to remove our 30+ year old drab, cracked walkway and driveway apron in front of the garage. We obtained bids to install either a stone/paver walkway (Hardscape) or new poured concrete. For our budget, time constraints, and do-it-yourself experience, we ended up going with a stamped concrete walkway.
I rented a jackhammer and broke up the entire walkway and driveway apron. It was tough work. We liked the stamped concrete patterns that we observed visiting new home developments, home shows and doing research online. After sifting through all the information, we took quite a while to make a decision on the color and blend we envisioned. It is nerve-racking because if we were unhappy with the patterns and color after the concrete pour, we were going to have to live with it.
A significant amount of prep work had to take place because there is a lot of water run-off from the road adjacent to our home and the topography slopes towards the house. You can also see remnants of the perimeter drainage system I installed and connected to an existing drain system.
Project cost: about $6,000.00 including my expense in removing the old walkway & driveway apron myself. Drain system and retaining walls (Stacked Wall supplied by Pacific Stone Company in Everett) were a separate expense, but we did do it ourselves.
Hope this project provides inspiration and ideas for people thinking about their outside projects!
This year’s Spring (I hope) project entails a new asphalt driveway from the street to the apron & walkway. I’ve also been informed that I need to remodel the guest bathroom. One project at a time.
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