5 Offers on a $550,000 foreclosure in Brentwood, $499k Short Sale Sold, and deals to be had…

There is good reason for responsible concern in housing today with shaky unemployment / economy numbers, shadow inventories from the banks, and homes taking longer to sell for less – but the on the ground activity is still more active than the popular buzz.

People are taking advantage of the market, even with these freezing temperatures:

This Brentwood foreclosure is listed for $550,000 (just over the median home value in Brentwood Tennessee) and has five offers in less than a week. It likely sold, and ready to have its new homeowners within 30 days. Below is the market data for this STEAL…

Another short sale in Brentwood is about to make a lucky homeowner (of a near custom quality residence in the Woodlands at Copperstone) very happy. Almost perfect condition, with beautiful old growth trees in the backyard.

---

The deals are out there, but the market is moving quickly below the water line. If you really want a steal – be ready to act NOW. Cash is king, prepared and experienced lending can be almost as good.

Are you ready and prepared to take advantage of this market before all the spring competition?

Kevin Pellatiro
Hoping to help you take advantage of the market – when you are ready.
(615)714-7918 kpellatiro@realtracs.com http://signswemustobserve.blogspot.com/

…and why don't agents like to get calls from buyers directly? Can a low offer be considered 'offensive'?

1) Guy is a home buyer from Sacramento who asks “I have a problem and I admit it... I call agents directly and why don't agents like to get call from buyers directly?”

THIS IS A GOOD THING. You should feel comfortable to call on any home you choose, whenever you choose - with or without an agent representing you. If you know your agent is responsive, informative, and helps you value properties for your specific needs – by all means, let us call too. I have agents tell me unpublished information on nearly every listing I call on. Still, if you want to know more… call and ask. My homeowners would love to know that you are interested, and would love the chance for me to tell you more about the home they are trying to sell. And if you are looking for an agent, tell them. If you are not, tell them that too :-)

2) Christelle in San Diego, California asked about closing costs for REO and Foreclosed properties. If the home is already at a price that is getting multiple offers, should I ask for closing costs?

If you are making an offer on a bank owned property that is going to have a bunch of people bidding on it – you might want to make yourself seem like the *easiest person in the world* to deal with. For instance:
‘Sale of Home Contingency’ to a bank might sound just like ‘your in-laws are coming to stay with you for the weekend.’
‘Closing costs,’ especially over a certain amount, might sound just like ‘you best friends annoying husband is ALSO joining you gals for drinks after work.’
‘Cash’ or a well written offer that involves a loan, might sounds like those magical words (at least to those of us addicted to the game, grin) ‘go play golf.’

Now we are having a little fun with this, but you really want to have a strategy when formulating your offer. The details can help you, or unknowingly hurt you. Just be sure to ask a lot of questions about how each detail works to your advantage – or against you. Just this month my clients in north Nashville were told about how much easier their offer was to accept; this wasn’t due to more money, it was less than anticipated actually, but it was us being more intentional with our details than the next guy. Give yourself the best chance that you can.

3) Jeremy asks “Can a low offer be considered 'offensive'?
This almost entirely based on the absorption rate (whether anybody involved knows it or not). Good market or bad, we all want to know if the house is going to sell. As home buyers, we want to know what we can reasonably offer and still get a deal; protect our investment. As home sellers, we want the most money that anyone would pay; getting the best return on our investment. How can we predict that though? Well, we can take an educated guess based on the number of home available divided by the number of homes selling each month (general area, surrounding community, specific trends for your home). It’s basically your gut feel - something to turn up to HIGH when home shopping or home selling – but with very real data.

###

Hoping to help you take advantage of the market – when you are ready.

Kevin Pellatiro
(615)714-7918 kpellatiro@realtracs.com http://signswemustobserve.blogspot.com/

##

((These are the top three questions this week as asked by real people from all over the country involved in the housing market and posting over at Trulia.com: http://www.truliablog.com/2008/04/28/trulia-voices-top-10-questions-of-the-week-8/))

Numbers Recovering :-)

Below is today’s look at our national real estate market from Calculated Risk. Keep an eye on his “Distressing Gap” …the difference between how many resale homes are sold, and how many new homes are sold. The national market can’t tell yet -because there are more foreclosures coming to test it - but we appear to be in actual, living recovery. Really.

Not yet above the waterline, but actually moving on the right direct; the proverbial bottom. See the direction of the graphs in the article below. The numbers for 2009 actually show this year is about normal for existing home turnover, but that inventory is still too high nationwide – with more shadow inventory to come.

The real question that the data can't predict:
Do you feel that values will hold in your new neighborhood?

Would you like to run the specific numbers together and find out what the numbers show?











http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/09/existing-home-turnover-ratio-and.html