ZILLOW.com vs REALTOR.com

I was helping one of my favorite clients this morning, when this topic came up. What is the difference between ZILLOW and other listing websites. Well here ya go...

There are 3 different ways to look up homes for sale. Most people start on a listing website like Zillow, Trulia or Realtor.com. (I know you will start at barbarainc.com though RIGHT!) They all start the same way; sign up, enter search criteria into the search box, and the search comes back with all of the listings that match the criteria. Zillow, Trulia and other real estate search engines all work the same way. In fact - your realtor will do the same exact thing - enter the search criteria into the local Multiple Listring Service (Aka: MLS.) But what is the difference??

Let me Take a moment to break it down for you as follows:

MLS - This is the tool that REALTORS subscribe too, to list homes for sale and invite other REALTORS to sell the listed homes to their clients. The MLS is updated in real time and has everything in the county listed; Mobile Homes, Manufactured Homes, Lot/Land, Condo's, Houses, Apartment Buildings and even Business Opporitunities and Commercial Office Leasing.

There is a Spot for apartment managers to list their apartments for rent too, but 95% of them do not want to pay the monthly fee's for the MLS, for a rental that will be taken in 3 weeks, and then have to pay a realtor a sevice fee for finding them a warm body to fill that apartment. For this reason, my renter friends, there are not very many rentals available on the MLS. I would try Craigslist!

The MLS is a powerful tool. The only thing I have found that it lacks in is the "For Sale By Owner" (Aka: FSBO - pronounced fizz-bo) Information, which there are very few of anyhow. If you are searching with a REALTOR and see a FSBO that you like - Let them know. Don't be afraid. Chances are they have seen it, but just in case they have missed the ad, let your agent know.

The coolest part of the MLS is that your agent can set up an automatic search to send you an e-mail anytime something new comes on the market. You may want to weed out all of the Short Sale's for example, or you may only want foreclosed homes in your list. Either way it is the fastes and most accurate way of staying up-to-date with your local market.

REALTOR.com - Probably the best site available to consumers to search property all over the Nation! This site is updated a few times per day with all of the MLS feeds from around the continental United States. It is the ONLY direct MLS feed site that I advise using. Thedownfall is that you cannot sort out thedifferent types of sales. Such as Short Sales, Foreclosure, or traditional sales. Bummer Dude!

ZILLOW.com, TRULIA.com, Etc. - These are by far some of the worst places to look for homes. They are fun, and pretty, and provide a little bit of insight... but not much. These sites are NOT... I repeat ARE NOT linked to ANY MLS FEEDS!!!!! Thses sites are only user updated, and the information can be WAY OFF! Especially if you are using it to find the value of your own home. It is misleading and most people have no idea how far mis-lead they are. For instance I had a client who exhausted the available inventory in Santee on REALTOR.com, and started looking on Zillow.com for more listing that might be available. Sounds Innocent enough. But the listings she broght back to me were SOLD anywhere from 5 months to 15 months earlier. The problem here, is that the agent who manually entered the information for the listing that they wanted to sell - forgot to (or decided not to, because they love the phone calls) - go back in and edit the listing as SOLD. The agent also forgot to tell us how much it sold for, which throws off the neighborhood values in that area, creating a domino effect.

Another awesome example of the accuracy of these websites is the listing that was on "Honey stop the car" street and another on "Spacious" in santee. They were mearley an ad that an agent put up to get calls about a listing that didn't even exist.

Needless to say, If you are looking for a house on Spacious St or Honey Stop The Car Ln in santee, I am now the Listing agent for those awesome homes on zillow.com. If this is your home, please call me ASAP! - I have put the Links below:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Honey-Car-STOP-THE-Santee-CA-92071/2140043925_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Spacious-Santee-CA-92071/2140043919_zpid/

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.MyRealtorBarbie.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus
9535 Mission Gorge Rd #E
Santee, Ca 92071

New foreclosure alternatives program

The U.S. Dept. of the Treasury last week announced the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA), which provides financial incentives to servicers, borrowers, and investors for a closed short sale or a deed-in-lieu (DIL).

The HAFA program simplifies and encourages short sale and DIL options by:

• Allowing pre-approved short sale terms before a property is listed;
• Preventing servicers from attempting to reduce real estate commissions established in the listing agreement as a condition for short sale approval; and
• Releasing borrowers from future liability for the debt.

Borrowers not eligible for the Home Affordable Mortgage Program must be considered for HAFA within 30 calendar days of the date the borrower does not qualify for a HAMP Trial Period Plan; does not successfully complete a HAMP Trial Period Plan; is delinquent on a HAMP modification by missing at least two consecutive payments; or requests a short sale or DIL.

More info --> https://www.hmpadmin.com//portal/docs/news/hampupdate113009.pdf

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.Barbarainc.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus Real Estate
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite 218
San Diego Ca 92111
Lic. #01742839

30-Year Rates Hit Record Low

The average interest rate for 30-year mortgages has fallen to the lowest level since Freddie Mac began compiling its weekly survey in 1971, declining to 4.71 percent this week from 4.78 percent a week ago.

Rates also were more attractive for 15-year fixed loans, which fell from 4.29 percent to 4.27 percent, but many consumers may not have qualified for them because they now face higher credit standards from lenders.

Still, the Mortgage Bankers Association's index of application demand, which rose 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during Thanksgiving week from the previous week, shows that consumers were looking to take advantage of mortgage rates at a historic low.

Source: USA Today, Stephanie Armour (12/04/09)

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.Barbarainc.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus Real Estate
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite 218
San Diego Ca 92111
Lic. #01742839

Banks Start to Embrace Short Sales

Even before the government put pressure on them to embrace short sales, more banks were starting to take their lumps, do the short-sale deals and move on.

Three years into the housing meltdown, short sales have tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009, compared to the same time period a year ago, according to data from the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. this year have hired and trained more staff to handle short sales and also developed software for expediting them.

“It’s really finally dawning on banks that they’re better off with a short sale,” said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “I think banks were in denial.”

Source: Bloomberg, John Gittelsohn and Margaret Collins (12/4/2009)

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.Barbarainc.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus Real Estate
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite 218
San Diego Ca 92111
Lic. #01742839

Option-ARM Borrowers Facing Resets

About 93 percent of option-ARM buyers chose to pay a minimum amount less than the interest due, according to a report released last week by Standard & Poors. That means that nearly all of the 350,000 option-ARM borrowers now owe more than they owed when they first purchased their homes.

Many of these loans were written in 2004 and are close to their five-year reset when the loans convert to a standard amortization. Some more recent loans will reset early if the accumulated interest has pushed the loan-to-value ratio above 110 percent.

In one example outlined in the S&P report, the payment on a $400,000 mortgage goes from $1,287 to $2,593.

The authors of the report say that many ARM borrowers aren’t good candidates for refinancing or modification because their loan-to-value ratios are too high for the government’s Making Home Affordable program. Also, about 80 percent of option-ARM loans were stated-income loans and borrowers could be held legally liable for deliberate inaccuracies on their original applications.

Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (11/26/2009)

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.Barbarainc.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus Real Estate
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite 218
San Diego Ca 92111
Lic. #01742839

***Government Announces Short Sales Guidelines***

The U.S. Treasury Department announced new guidelines this week designed to make short sales go more smoothly.

To qualify under these new guidelines:

• The property must be the home owner’s principal residence.
• The home owner must be delinquent on the mortgage or close to defaulting.
• The loan must have been made before Jan. 1, 2009, and be for less than $729,750.
• The borrowers’ total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31 percent of their before-tax income.

Under the plan, borrowers will receive $1,500 from the government for selling homes for less than the amount of their mortgages. Mortgage-servicing companies will get $1,000 for each completed short sale. Second-mortgage holders can receive up to $3,000 of the sales proceeds in exchange for releasing their liens. Investors who hold the first mortgage can collect up to $1,000 from the government for allowing the payments.

Borrowers who complete a short sale under the program must be "fully released" from future liability for the debt, according to the guidelines.

Source: Associated Press, J.W. Elphinstone (11/01/2009) and The Wall Street Journal, Ruth Simon (11/01/2009)

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.Barbarainc.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus Real Estate
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite 218
San Diego Ca 92111
Lic. #01742839

New $6,500 federal tax credit for “move-up” home buyers may benefit you

The federal government recently extended and expanded the federal tax credit for home buyers. The tax credit now concludes June 30, 2010 instead of Nov. 30, 2009, and also includes existing homeowners who meet certain qualifications.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

• Current homeowners are eligible for a $6,500 federal tax credit if they have lived in their current home for a consecutive five out of the last eight years, and the adjusted household income does not exceed $125,000 for single files or $225,000 for join filers.
  
• The expanded tax credit went into effect Nov. 6, the day President Obama signed the bill. Homes that close escrow between Nov. 6, 2009 and June 30, 2010 are eligible to apply for the tax credit.
  
• The legislation does not require homeowners to sell their current residence; however, the new home must be the primary residence and the price of the home must not exceed the limit of $800,000. Homeowners who plan to retain their current home as a rental or second home are advised to move into the new home the day escrow closes so there is no question it was the principal residence at the time of the tax credit.
  
• Almost all housing types are eligible, including new and existing single-family homes, condominiums, manufactured or mobile homes, and boats that serve as the owner’s principal residence. Second homes and investment properties are not eligible.
  
• Home buyers in 2009—those who close after Nov. 6, but no later than Dec. 31, can claim the $6,500 credit on their 2009 federal tax returns, or amend their 2008 returns. Similarly, eligible buyers in 2010 will be able to file for the credit on their 2009 returns or 2010 returns. All home buyers should talk to a tax advisor regarding timing decisions.

Source: CAR Market Matters newsletter

"Making Real Estate Simple!"

Barbara Ann Wibe, e-PRO, REALTOR
Cell: 619.850.4174 e-Fax: 619.512.5156

www.Barbarainc.com
Barbarainc@gmail.com

Coldwell Banker Nautilus Real Estate
7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Suite 218
San Diego Ca 92111
Lic. #01742839