If you already have your home listed with another realtor, I must point you to their direction for an answer. If not and you are selling your home on your own, then without having read the offer, I would be foolish to advise you.

(Description)

Short Sale is a traditional sale in which the owner of the home is still the decision making party for entering into a contract with a perspective buyer. The sale however is bound to the lender(s) agreement with the terms contained within. Typically a short sale is performed when the seller is upside down on the property (owing more than it’s value) or perhaps has lost the ability to make payments due to a hardship(s).

REO (Real Estate Owned) are typically properties that have gone through the foreclosure process and have reverted back to the Lender / Bank.

(Disclosures)

Short Sale – If the owner has lived in the home mandated disclosures should be available to the buyer.

REO – Most mandated disclosures for a typical sale are not required. The reason is the Lender / Bank usually do not have any personal knowledge of the condition or prior use of property.

(SOLD AS IS)

Important point…”As Is” means pretty much the way it sounds. Simply stated you are buying the home as is, where is, with all faults.

(FORMS)
Forms used for the sale of these types of property may vary greatly.

Short Sale – If you are using a Realtor, you most likely will be using forms made up and used by the California Association of Realtors.

When purchasing an REO, a majority of the time the buyer will find themselves required to sign and agree to Addendums written for the Lender / Bank by their perspective legal advisors. These forms may contain terms, conditions and time frames that vary greatly from what is found within CAR forms…Should these addendum(s) be confusing to you, it is advised to have legal representation of your choosing look them over and explain the impact they may have on the sale of the property.

(INSPECTIONS) 

Both types of sales allow buyers to perform home inspections…However, typically REO addendums limit the time to shorter periods to have the inspections performed. Many addendums include a clause where the buyer forfeits their right to cancel the contract due to items found during an inspection if the time period specified for inspections has passed.

(REPAIRS)

Unfortunately due to the situation of sales both represent, the sellers may be reluctant or financially unable to perform items found during an inspection. Most Lenders / Banks performed repairs they were willing to accomplish before the property is listed for sale. Again “AS IS”.

(Time Period for acceptance) 

With the large amount of REO and Short Sales presently on the market, this is the biggest difference. REOs will usually get an answer back to a perspective buyer in a quicker time frame. However Addendums may contain wording stating an offer is not a contract until all parties have signed. If a higher net offer comes in before you have a contract signed by the Lender/Bank, they still have the right to accept the higher offer. Many times acceptance/ start dates on an REO Addendum will reflect they begin before you have a signed contract by the Bank/Lender. This is another reason discussion with legal council of your choosing is advised.

Short Sales – Unfortunately the time frames to receive an answer with short sales can take a few weeks to extreme cases of a year, each depending upon the Lender(s) / Bank(s). It is advised to be patient. It is advised not to schedule a move until such time as your transaction is in escrow with all Lender/Bank approvals being in hand for the sale.

Did you know most Realtors shy away from first time buyers?I enjoy the process. I only request your permission to take a picture of you the day I am able to give you the keys at your new front door. The smiles in the picture say it all.

Need a lender? Check out the ones listed below. They have a highly positive proven track level with our past clients. While it is important to consider the rate and points when choosing a loan, we can not equally stress the importance of working with a loan officer who will be available to answers your questions and work within your schedule. All of the lenders we pass along have passed our ridged test of customer service requirements.

Interesting Real Estate Fact! Even though the market has changed from a sellers market, if you are a buyer who is in need of financing to purchase a home, it is wise to have in your possession a letter from your lender of loan pre-approval. After all, if you were selling your Riverside or San Bernardino County home, which offer would you accept; the one with or without a letter of loan pre-approval? Equally important reason to have is most REO or Short sales will not consider your offer in a multi-bid scenario without this approval. It is best to be prepared.

Interesting Real Estate Fact! (In most cases in Southern California) The Realtor solely representing the home buyer is compensated for the sale of a home from the proceeds received by the Seller. This should make you feel more at ease talking to your Exclusive Buyer’s Realtor. After all, what could be better than an individual working exclusively on your behalf yet being paid from another source.

Interesting Real Estate Fact! The typical closing costs a buyer will experience is around 3% of the Purchase Price of the home. Keep this in mind when discussing your options with a lender.

1. Pick one of the ten different Real Estate Agents who advertised as being #1 in home publications and newspapers?
2. Ask Aunt Bertha’s second cousin, who just got her license, to stop by?
3. Collect a weeks worth of flyers received in the mail or found on your front door and call the phone number of the Real Estate Agent with the cutest picture?
4. Pick one of the individuals who say they are working in your best interest?
5. Believe them when they say they are trustworthy, honest, and experienced?
6. Accept one of the $1000.00 guaranteed offers for 45 day sales (finding out about all the conditions that apply after they visit your home and put you in the middle of a hard sale)?

IF THE THOUGHT OF SELLING YOUR HOME IN 2007 GIVES YOU A HEADACHE…

…TAKE TWO ASPIRINS AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING!

Tired of Real Estate Talk.

Call Dennis. He Listens.

With the assistance of our past buyers’ feedback, we have designed a system of searching for homes that puts you the buyer in control. This system has made a huge difference in placing first time buyers successfully into transactions in the current real estate market. This system is done at your own pace, without an overeagar Real Estate Agent looking over your shoulder. Why? Again feedback from our customers have shown us that many buyers only begin to share what homes they truly are interested in as they begin their search process. As one couple put it, “We had no idea of the compromises we were going to end up making to each other in our search for a home. It was a much easier process not having another person witnessing our internal process of choosing the right features and neighborhoods. Had we been with a Realtor, we would have felt pressured and the process would have taken much longer. You know that pressured feeling, like walking onto a new car sales lot for the first time?”

1. Call to set up a meeting convenient to your schedule…(951) 545 5735. Considering most home sales represent the largest monetary transaction a family will make, it is very important to feel comfortable with the Realtor you choose. This meeting can be as brief as 30 minutes and is designed to make sure we (you and I) can work together in finding that special home for you and your family. This meeting helps to establish what stage you have reached and how to best serve you in completeing your goal of home ownership. We are not interested in making you commit to using our services. The meeting is designed to answer your questions honestly and give you a better feel of what to expect in the current market. After receiving straght answers to their questions, a few customers have decided to wait a little longer before making their first efforts at home ownership. It is always wise to be knowledgable about the home buying process and what to expect before you jump into a transaction. Those that have decided to wait a little longer found they were comfortable with having their questions answered and we are currently sending them free monthly information on the real estate market in their areas of interest.

1. Continue our well established communication. It is most important to keep up our communication efforts. Keeping in touch with the findings of your outings helps us to narrow the results by tightening the search criteria. If you have chosen to receive searches sent via e-mail in your efforts to check out neighborhoods, it is important we send you up to date search results just prior to the search days you have scheduled for your outings. Should you have scheduled to look at neighborhoods on certain days, simply let me know those days. I will make every attempt to be available to answer your responses for viewing should your search turn up a special home of interest.
2. Feeling comfortable with making the best offer for that special property. Once our search efforts have paid off and that special property is located, we will get together, look over current and past sales to make sure the asking price is within others in the market area and finalize the best terms of the offer you would like to make.

There are many steps within a real estate transaction and it is not our intention to make the transaction process sound simple. There are many pitfalls that may occur. This is a very good reason to feel comfortable with the Realtor you decide to work with. What better way to begin that process than to have that 30 minute meeting and see how responsive the Realtor is to your questions. Give me a call, (951) 545 5735. Let me help to make your home buying experience a pleasant memory.