Foreclosures in the Westlake Village CA | Short Sales in the Conejo Valley | Selling a home in the Conejo Valley | Leasing a home in the Conejo Valley
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Direct: 805-300-0936
Office: 805-300-0936
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
883 S Westlake Blvd.
Westlake Village, CA
805-300-0936
Say you need to sell your home, but the balance on your mortgage is greater than the amount that the home will sell for in today’s marketplace.
As an example: If your mortgage is $500,000, but your home is worth $450,000, you are $50,000 short. You will need to get find ready, willing and able buyer to make an offer on the property, and then get the lender to accept the offer.
Before you do anything, I’d suggest that you contact an experienced Real Estate Lawyer, and Accountant to discuss your situation, review your finances and to be sure that you fully understand the pros and cons of Short Selling your home. Your Realtor is not qualified to give you advice regarding legal or tax issues, neither is your best friend, nor is your neighbor. You need professional advice.
Here’s the process:
Of course, it’s not that simple, but basically, that’s how it goes.
Everybody doesn’t qualify for a Short Sale.
You’ll need to submit a letter to your Lender that explains that you are experiencing a “Hardship” that prohibits you from meeting their obligations.
Hardships would include: Medical Emergency, Divorce, Bankruptcy, Loss of Employment, Relocation of Employment or Death.
Your lender is going to ask you to provide tax returns, bank statements and financial reports to prove your financial situation.
Once your Realtor has submitted the offer to the Lender, along with all of the required documentation, you need to be patient, because it could take some time before you get a response.
If you are lucky, your Lender responds quickly and the sale goes through. If the Lender takes too long, your Buyer may buy something else or just change their mind. In which case, you need to get another offer from another ready, willing and able buyer and start again.
In my opinion, the biggest mistakes that many Sellers make when they are selling a Short Sale property that they forget that if they don’t make every effort to get the best price for their home, the bank may not approve it, and the next step could be foreclosure.
GET THE HOUSE READY TO SELL! You need to box up your personal belongings, declutter closets and cabinets, remove unnecessary furniture, and manicure the grounds.. clean, clean, clean! You may not want to,or need to spend any money, but you do need to do everything in your power to get a bank approval for your Short Sale with the first offer.
PRICE THE HOUSE TO SELL! Price it to high and it will just sit on the market and you won’t get offers. Price it to low and Buyers will drive the price down because they will assume something is wrong with the property. Even though you won’t participate in the proceeds from the sale, you want to price your home to sell at a price that your Lender will accept.
If you have any questions about the short sale process or would like to know how much your home would sell for in today’s marketplace, just give me a call at 805-3000936 or visit my website www.DebbieSoden.com.
Say you need to sell your home, but the balance on your mortgage is greater than the amount that the home will sell for in today’s marketplace.
As an example: If your mortgage is $500,000, but your home is worth $450,000, you are $50,000 short. You will need to get find ready, willing and able buyer to make an offer on the property, and then get the lender to accept the offer.
Before you do anything, I’d suggest that you contact an experienced Real Estate Lawyer, and Accountant to discuss your situation, review your finances and to be sure that you fully understand the pros and cons of Short Selling your home. Your Realtor is not qualified to give you advice regarding legal or tax issues, neither is your best friend, nor is your neighbor. You need professional advice.
Here’s the process:
Of course, it’s not that simple, but basically, that’s how it goes.
Everybody doesn’t qualify for a Short Sale.
You’ll need to submit a letter to your Lender that explains that you are experiencing a “Hardship” that prohibits you from meeting their obligations.
Hardships would include: Medical Emergency, Divorce, Bankruptcy, Loss of Employment, Relocation of Employment or Death.
Your lender is going to ask you to provide tax returns, bank statements and financial reports to prove your financial situation.
Once your Realtor has submitted the offer to the Lender, along with all of the required documentation, you need to be patient, because it could take some time before you get a response.
If you are lucky, your Lender responds quickly and the sale goes through. If the Lender takes too long, your Buyer may buy something else or just change their mind. In which case, you need to get another offer from another ready, willing and able buyer and start again.
In my opinion, the biggest mistakes that many Sellers make when they are selling a Short Sale property that they forget that if they don’t make every effort to get the best price for their home, the bank may not approve it, and the next step could be foreclosure.
GET THE HOUSE READY TO SELL! You need to box up your personal belongings, declutter closets and cabinets, remove unnecessary furniture, and manicure the grounds.. clean, clean, clean! You may not want to,or need to spend any money, but you do need to do everything in your power to get a bank approval for your Short Sale with the first offer.
PRICE THE HOUSE TO SELL! Price it to high and it will just sit on the market and you won’t get offers. Price it to low and Buyers will drive the price down because they will assume something is wrong with the property. Even though you won’t participate in the proceeds from the sale, you want to price your home to sell at a price that your Lender will accept.
If you have any questions about the short sale process or would like to know how much your home would sell for in today’s marketplace, just give me a call at 805-300-0936 or visit my website www.DebbieSoden.com.
WHAT DOES YOUR DREAM HOME AND NEIGHBORHOOD LOOK LIKE?
In the past, it was pretty easy to decide the kind of neighborhood you wanted to live in and what type of house you wanted buy. Most of us have a mental image of our “Dream Home”, but they don’t give a lot of thought to Neighborhood. Start by deciding what you really want in your new neighborhood.
I’d suggest that you make a list of WANTS and DON’T WANTS so that you have real clarity on what you want, and you will be able to identify it when you find it.
WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOLS?
Many communities are cutting back on the public services that they offer. Libraries, Parks, Community Beautification, and Police Services can be affected. Take a drive through the neighborhoods that you are considering, and look carefully for clues that the city is having financial trouble.
WHAT ABOUT THE PUBLIC SERVICES?
Even if you don’t have any kids in the school system, or plan to enroll them in Private School, it is really important to check out the Public Schools as well.
Are they having budget issues? Low scores? Discipline issues? Under staffed?
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE?
Having great Neighbors can make or break a neighborhood, so find out how they like living there and what they’re like. Remember, you can always make changes to your house not the neighbors who you don’t like. Changing your neighbor or your neighborhood is not so easy. So it’s worth the time and effort to do some legwork early on – you’ll be glad you did!
YOU NEED TO BE A GOOD DETECTIVE
Buying a new home is much more than just finding the house you like. Now, you need to make sure that you know all aspects of the community so that you can make an informed decision about where you want to live.
When you are serious about finding that new home, work with an experienced Realtor in your community.
If you are thinking about investing in a foreclosure property either for your own occupancy, or as an investment property you need to do your homework. Talk to your real estate tax adviser and a real estate attorney about your specific situation, and make sure that buying a foreclosure property is right for you.
Need more information, just give me a call at 805-300-0936.
Single Family home owners in Westlake Village Ca, Thousand Oaks Ca, Newbury Park Ca and Agoura Ca will be happy to know that properties aren’t sitting on the market for nearly as long as they did just a two years ago.
While overpriced properties still sit on the market without offers, Sellers in the Conejo Valley realize that it just makes good sense to list their home at a price that will position they property as a “value”, to attract as many buyers as possible, and competition will drive the price up!
If you need any specific information on property sales, market conditions or what it would take to sell or buy in the Conejo Valley Ca, give me a call at 805-300-0936 or go to my website at www.DebbieSoden.com
Great news! That a look at the attached graphic illustration of the dramatic decline in Foreclosures on single family houses under contract throughout the Conejo Valley Ca in October 2010 compared to October 2008, just two years ago.
Conejo Valley consists of Westlake Village Ca, Thousand Oaks Ca, Newbury Park Ca and Agoura Ca.
Interesting! Public perception is that the market is flooded with Bank Owned Foreclosures. Not true.
In October of 2010, only 16.5% of all of the single family homes for sale in the Conejo Valley Ca were in Foreclosures.
What that means to potential Buyers is that if they are only focusing exclusively on Foreclosures (16.5%), they are going to miss 83.5% of the properties on the market. Don’t narrow your opportunities.
Consider: Price, Location, Condition, Terms, Amenities, Conveniences, Safety and Lifestyle!
If you need information about market conditions, or any aspect of residential real estate, just give me a call at 805-300-0936.
Good news for service members! Military and certain other federal employees serving outside the U.S. may qualify for a one-year extension on the tax credit, up to $8,000.
The tax credit applies to homes purchased after November 6, 2009 for $800,000 or less.
A binding sales contract for a principal residence in the U.S. must be signed on or before April 30, 2011 and close by June 30, 2011.
For complete eligibility details, visit the IRS’s section on Home Buyer Credits for Members of the Military at www.IRS.com
You may know of somebody who meets this profile and would like to sell or buy now to take advantage of this tax benefit. The first thing they need to do is contact their TAX professional.
The second thing that they need to do is give me a call at 805-300-0936 or Debbie@DebbieSoden.com for a market analysis and a Complimentary Appraisal to determine of the value of their property in today’s marketplace.
The Conejo Valley and surrounding areas include Thousand Oaks Ca, Westlake Village Ca, Newbury Park Ca and Agoura Ca, and Oak Park. For information on Schools, Community Amenities etc., here are a few very informative sites http://www.conejochamber.org/ http://ci.thousand-oaks.ca.us/ http://www.wlv.org/
You have probably noticed that inexperienced investors and first time buyers are snapping up those low priced short sale and foreclosure properties throughout the communities of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Oak Park and Agoura, and then putting them back on the market for lease and/or lease to buy.
While there are risks involved in being a Landlord, there are some simple steps that you don’t want to miss.
Things to consider:
The Lease Agreement is the most important aspect of maintaining good tenants, who will treat your property with the care and respect, and pay that rent on time. Don’t cheat yourself by using a “cookie cutter” template that you can buy at the drug store. And don’t get a copy of your friends lease and copy it. Either work with a Realtor who can advise you, or review your agreement with an attorney who knows the local laws.
The Lease Application will give you all of the information that you need to make an informed decision. You will want basic information from each person who will live in the property like address, drivers license, date of birth, employment info, social security number and other basic background facts so that you can do a credit and background check. Do they have pets, children, irregular work hour, or criminal background, are also fact that will help you to decide if you want to lease to this person.
Your Leasing Criteria is as important as the applicant’s qualifications. You need to determine exactly what your expectations will be. For example my criteria would be no smokers; no pets; no foreclosures; no bankruptcies; FICO score over 650; two good references; two years on the job and an employment personal referral. It’s not perfect, but it is a place to start. Now, it’s your responsibility to do your due diligence and make those calls to check the references and employment to make sure that it is accurate.
Credit and Background Checks are a must. Don’t wait until you are ready to select an applicant before you select your screening service. If you are working with a Realtor they can most likely refer you to a service, or provide the service in house. In any case, you want to make sure that it is a complete credit report and that it is current 30 days.
Maintaining “Arms Length” Communications with your Tenant is going to make your life as a Landlord, easier and more manageable. You don’t want to position yourself as the owner, but rather the Property Manager.
You want to allow your Tenant to feel as if they have some control, and that they can get your attention at any time. It will allow you to “manage” your response time and to respond with solutions to their concerns.
Professional Council is a must. Don’t wait until there is a problem or issue concerning taxes, your legal position or your legal options. Select a good CPA and Real Estate Attorney before you purchase your investment property to make sure that you don’t make costly mistakes. Maintain those relationships because you will need to call on them for straight talk and good advice.
Advertising and Marketingyour property through signs, flyers ,local newspaper ads or on-line ads, Craig’s List, etc., the most important thing is to decide on your marketing strategy, and be ready to execute it as soon as the house is ready to go on the market.
Buying an investment property has its risks, but it can have tremendous long term rewards. Put in place systems that will allow you to protect yourself, your privacy and the good maintain of your property at the inception of your investment.
Avg. Sales Price: $711,229.00
Avg. Days on Market: 134
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