We have to be out of our mobile home here at the Surf and Sand by the end of the month, so needless to say I am seriously looking for a new home. This is what I have run into.

One of the first listings I called about tells me to call the number with an extension number to find out more information (like the price of the property). The way these work is I call the number, a pleasant recorded voice tells me all about the listing, and the agent captures my phone number to call me back, which she did. Even though she had the extension number I had called, she had no clue what property it went to and was asking me what property I had called on.

Hey, I’m like most buyers. By the time she called me back I had called on a few properties. I didn’t know which one she was calling me back on. If she has my number from a particular extension, she should be able to tell right away and have all pertenant information before she even calls me. She sounded like an idiot, and if I had everything set to go today, she would have lost the sale. What really surprised me is she is part of an office of a really well known broker. I was appalled at the lack of professionalism.

I called on another listing I’m very interested in. It turned out to be a lender advertising the listing. The ad says to call his number for information, which I did. He had no information, said he would try to find an agent for me and call me back. So what happened with him? I told him I had not qualified with a lender. He never got an agent to give me information concerning the listing evidently, as he never called me back. Not only am I not interested in the listing any longer, but if there was a loan, he lost it.

If I was a real estate trainer training a class of real estate agents, and happened to call these two listings as examples, the classes would be laughing their butts off right now as what is so obvious not to do.

With the competition of the internet and so many real estate agents trying to make a living in a slow market, service should be their first priority. If you have to chase an agent to get information on a listing, chances are you will have to do the same if you have them represent you in a transaction.

House Flipping

Speaking of house flipping, did you hear the one about the 10 people indicted on Friday for bilking mortgage lenders out of over $20 million? These 10 people devised a scheme where they not only put in loan applications for people that didn’t exist, but they kept flipping the same house(s) to inflate the price thus being able to borrow more money.  The Feds are looking at them for bank, mail and wire fraud, plus money laundering. I guess it was good while it lasted. LOL.

Maybe you heard the one about the unregistered sex offender (ex-firefighter) and his partner that were contacting owners of homes before they went to foreclosure sale. They would get the homeowner to relinquish the property and then “flip” it to a new buyer. The buyer would put down a down payment or a mortgage payment, and these two gentlemen would use it for what ever they chose instead of getting the house out of foreclosure. Their scheme involved about 10 houses and they were headed to California presumably to do the same.

Maybe you heard about the sale “rigging” going on on the courthouse steps? A group of investors get together and pay people not to bid on particular properties so as to not inflate the price. What this would mean to you if you were a homeowner whose home has gone to sale, is if your home might have sold for more than you owed the bank, you may have received “proceeds” from the sale. If investors are paying to keep the bids down, there isn’t much of a chance of that happening.

Even builders are getting in on the act. A builder in Ohio built high-end luxury homes. He would then sell it to a “straw buyer” and submit false loan applications and contracts stating he received down payments he never received. The builder then got to walk away from approx.  $3.5 million in mortgage debt, and gained about $500,000 in seller proceeds. They have so many counts against this guy, he’ll be lucky if he ever sees the light of day again.

The hits just keep on coming! Speaking of “house flipping” did you hear the one about…?

Hey, I’ve just recently met Benjamin from Zion Engineering. If you have any demolition needs or remodeling, live in the San Francisco area, this guy and his team are a wonder. Visit their website and then give them a call. Tell him “Lauri” sent you.

Only it’s not the end. In a simultaneous escrow the investor has already “flipped” your house to another buyer for a hefty profit. You don’t know anything about this transaction. Wouldn’t you be upset if you found out? Wouldn’t you feel rather dumb that you didn’t get the price for the house that the investor was able to? Wouldn’t you feel taken advantage of?

This is basically what the real estate “gurus” are teaching when you hear about one of them putting on a seminar or a workshop. As a Realtor, we are not allowed to do this type of investing without full disclosure to all of the parties. It just seems to me if everything is above-board, that’s the way it should be.

I felt so bad today. I called a friend of mine in Arizona and since his wife died recently, he needs his mortgage to come down only $100 a month. He’s an old Country Wide loan that now belongs to B Of A. They have been with B of A for many years. When my friend went to B of  A they turned him down because he wasn’t behind in his payments, even though he knew he soon would be if  they wouldn’t help him.

He found (or somebody found him) a company that charged him $4500.00 up front to take care of his mortgage. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he told me that. I have been sending him updates, told him to go to FHA, and this is what he chose. I am now hoping to God it works for him.

I am telling you people, and especially people in California, it is illegal for anyone to be charging you upfront fees without DRE approval. They revoked all approvals given to mortgage brokers, and no one may be approved unless they post some kind of bond (according to the attorney general) and I’m not even sure about that.

If you have someone approach you that wants to charge you before they have done anything, Please check with your lawyer. So many scam artists are taking advantage of peoples fears and lack of knowledge right now. Don’t be one of them.

If I can ever help, if you have any questions, feel free to call me anytime. It doesn’t cost you anything to become knowledgeable.

I felt very fortunate today to be in on a conference call with a fellow Realtor, Jeff Schrager in Fresno, whom I have never met, but obviously has a good heart. He is willing to teach any Realtor whose interested how he put together a network of everything the homeowner going through foreclosure could need. He is in a what used to be very small and rural part of California and he’s been able to make it work. It seems we in the Bay Area with so many resources should be able to do a really bang up job, if everyone would just work together.

Have you ever seen that demonstration with a strand of hair? You take one strand of hair and try to break it. It’s pretty easily done. You put 3 strands together, it’s almost impossible. That’s how I feel about this program. None of the resources anyone has is enough to save all of the homeowners in trouble, but if we combine together and have a huge network, while we can’t save everyone, we can save more than we could alone. On top of all this is, these services are free! You should not be paying anyone to help you if you’re in trouble in the state of California. It is illegal for anyone to charge you any kind of upfront fee, whether it be for loan modifications, or anything else to do with your home once you’ve gone into default.

One of the things that’s so great about trying to put something like this together, is that no one wants to help you until you’re in trouble. I would like to see people getting help when they ask for it. Most people know they’re headed down a bad path, and they can’t keep it up much longer. Why do the banks not pay attention to your warnings? Why don’t they help you before the foreclosure process begins, saving them money as well as you? I don’t know. I think it’s shear stupidity and too big a business. I would like to see what we can do to help change some of that. For some of you the help comes too late, as it did for me.  If you’re in trouble or about to be, seek help now. It’s free. You don’t have to 1)sign over your house 2)pay someone up front fees 3) pay someone monthly fees to help you. There are so many agencies that only came into existance for this disaster. Take advantage of it and get assistance.

If I may be of service in anyway, don’t hesitate to contact me. All my contact info is here on this site. I would be honored to help. There is a lot of help out there for homeowners in foreclosure needing help.

One of the things that I thought was a little ironic, is that someone called my phone from my blog here and needed to talk about being in foreclosure. He had a group of Realtors he said, that said they would help him for $1900. downpayment and $700 a month for each month he received help. They told him even though he would pay the $1900 up front, that they would hold his check in escrow until they performed the services they said they would provide.

Listen up, People! In the state of California it is illegal for anyone that is licensed by the Calif. Dept of Real Estate, or anyone working under someone who is licensed by the Calif. Dept. of Real Estate to take any money from you up front what so ever to help with loan modifications, etc. The Dept. even revoked the permissions of the companies who had at one time received approval from them. It is uniform now.  I can’t say for attorneys, as I am not one, but for anyone else, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, anyone else licensed in California, it is not legal any longer.

I thought it ironic also that at a time when people need our help more than ever to work with their lenders, to get approved for short-sales, etc., the DRE revoked a record number of licenses belonging to real estate sales people last year. There were 800, which really isn’t that many considering how many real estate professionals there are, but I’m hoping they are adding to the number all the time. It means they have caught more unscrupulous people who give all of us that are truly trying to help, a bad name.

If you get approached by anyone trying to charge you an up front fee for their services instead of writing a contract to get paid after the services have been performed, you should report them to the Calif. Department of Real Estate right away. You may have been lucky enough to escape a scam, but there are a lot of people in trouble that wouldn’t be so lucky. It’s everyone’s job to help stop these people.

If you have any questions regarding California Real estate or foreclosure, please feel free to contact me either through email or call. If you have anything to share about this kind of thing happening to you, please do so in the comments section so everyone can benefit from your experience.

Evidently the banks have rules based on the “2001 Patriot Act” to use due diligence to find out where the money comes from before it gets deposited. Due to the Patriot Act, if you’ve tried to open a bank account lately, they want to know everything down to the size of your underwear almost.  So foreign dignitaries, etc. have found a way to launder money through our American system, because really, when it comes to buying and selling something, what American doesn’t like “green”?

Tens of millions of dollars pass through our system. Foreigners buy million dollar mansions here, jets there, etc. Due to an exemption given to real estate and escrow agents by the Treasury Dept. in 2002, it makes the real estate market very easy to manipulate with “ill-begotten” funds.

What cracks me up is here we are again, where the rights of others come before those of our own. When I have a buyer for a house, I have to be able to show a complete “paper trail” for where those funds have come from. From this investigation, if you’re a foreign dignitary, etc. all you have to do is have the funds. Nobody seems to care where they come from. Of course if you’re doing a multi-million dollar transaction and most of it is cash, guess what? Yes, cash is still “king”.

One article stated “The report said Nagler worked with a colleague in the insurance industry to provide insurance coverage for Obiang’s 32 motorcycles and cars, which included seven Ferraris, five Bentleys, four Rolls-Royces and two Lamborghinis.” Must be rough, aye?

At least we’re not in it alone this time. Money laundering in real estate is happening with the help of not only real estate agents and escrow officers, but lobbyists, insurance agents, and real estate lawyers. The corruption and greed will never cease to amaze me.

On a different note, I’ll be holding an open house in Mountain View,

2/10/2010

California this Wednesday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. For information about this lovely home, visit http://www.whismanhomeforsale.weebly.com

If you have any questions regarding real estate in California, please feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to help.

What the heck?

It’s pretty scary times for real estate out there, and I don’t just mean because of foreclosures and big drops in value causing people to lose all their equity. It’s scary because on one side you have people who still think like it’s 2005, on the other side you have “real estate gurus” coming out of the woodwork teaching creative financing and doing deals like they did 30 yrs. ago, and then in the middle you have the government relaxing standards and doing the same kind of loans that got us here in the first place.

Then I see a question posted in one of the Real Estate forums from someone wanting to know about hiring a Realtor or a real estate attorney to help with the paperwork on a piece of property she’s buying. One of the answers she got was from someone saying to let the other agent do the paperwork, and the title company handle everything. That’s how they bought theirs and there was never a problem. While I concede that there are many deals between people that didn’t use either a Realtor or an attorney that turned out OK, there are many that turned into nightmares. In a transaction described like the one above, who is looking out for her interest? What recourse is she going to have against the seller if she has the seller’s agent write up the contract? Do you think that agent is going to worry as much about taking care of her as he is the person that actually hired him and is paying him? I don’t think so. While we have a code of ethics that states we have to be “fair and honest” in all our dealings, do you think everyone really is?

Then we have the ads on Craig’s List where investors love to advertise to buy homes. One I read yesterday specifically said “No Realtors or attorneys”. Now why do you think that is? I understand they want to save on costs so they don’t want to pay commissions, or a lawyer a fee for looking over the paper work, but do you think it might be also because all their contracts, etc. may be geared their way with no concern for the seller, or buyer, whichever the case may be?

Remember the old saying “Desperate times call for desperate measures”? Don’t be so desperate you make your situation worse instead of better. If you’re in a situation where you need some help with a contract most Realtors will look it over for you for free (like me. LOL) in the hopes of either getting your business in the future or a recommendation to your friends on what a nice person they were. Take advantage of the service.

I have a buyer that has a friend whose a Realtor, but until I came along no one ever went through the contract with him and his wife to know what they were signing. It’s like hiring a stock broker. No one is going to watch out for your money with the same love and care that you are, and the same is true when it comes to getting involved with buying or selling real estate. It’s your job to make sure you are protected. No one is going to cry with you when you get yourself into a mess. All the courts care about is what you signed your name to. It’s up to you to make sure it’s something you can “live” with.

If I can help with any of your real estate needs, please feel free to contact me by phone, email, or leave a comment below. I’d be honored to help in any way I can. Like I said, it’s pretty scary times in real estate right now.

I’m listening to an attorney talking about renegotiating loans. That’s a good thing, but statistics show most loan modifications are not sustainable, meaning it’s a temporary state that is not going to last for the long term. He’s talking about renegotiating the loan and then still taking your house. I have a hard time with that. Most people renegotiate so they can stay in their home.

If you’re in trouble people, there are a number of resources open to you. Make sure you are getting all the information concerning what all of your options truly are.  If I can help you figure out what your options are, please feel free to call me anytime. If you don’t call me, just make sure you take some kind of action now.  Sitting on it is not going to help you. Time is not on your side.

Feel free to comment below. What situation are you in right now? Is your family safe?

Just a quick update: The attorney I’m listening to says his techniques won’t work with states that have anti-investor laws. Big red flag here in California!

I am always ready to learn new things that I can use to help my clients where ever they come from, be they a renter wanting to buy their first home, an investor buying several homes, or a seller needing to get out of a bad mortgage in a hurry. I thought this would be a prime time to learn a little from the expert, Mr. Trump, even if it wasn’t him but one of his students doing the seminar. I thought there would be some really new innovative techniques for this market that I hadn’t heard yet or that I could incorporate. I’m so sorry to say that wasn’t the case.

Granted I did not learn everything they have to teach in a 90 minute seminar, which is why they have a 3 day workshop for $1495., but I did here enough to know 1) it was the same information I had learned 25 yrs. ago when I started out in real estate as a buyer and watched the late night infomercials on TV 2) that many of the techniques I as a Realtor cannot use as they are illegal when you are licensed in California 3) If anyone practiced what this gentleman did teach in the order he said to use it, they are looking at a possible lawsuit also.

I’m sure he just got the order of a couple things wrong due to trying to pack so much information into a 90 minute seminar, but… how much wrong information do they pack into 3 days?

This is a fabulous market if you’re just starting out and buying your first home or you’re an investor buying homes for your portfolio, but please people, be sure what you are learning or who you are learning it from is telling you things that pertain to your particular state and their laws. Also make sure  they are telling you all the downside that can go with what you’re doing, as well as dangling all the cash you can make before your eyes.

If you have any questions about different types of transactions, or something you’re about to do, please feel free to leave a comment below or email me direct. I’d be happy to help.