Homeaid Northern California, one of the region’s most active homeless agencies, is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. They are a completely non-profit organization and $100.00 of the ticket price is tax deductible.

The event takes place at the Lesher Center’s Hofmann Theater stage in Walnut Creek on May 6th, 2010 at 7:30 PM.  It really sounds like a great evening. Dana Carvey is expected to bring many of his most memorable characters such as the Church Lady, Garth from Wayne’s world and much more.

To get more information, or to become a sponsor for the event you can go to: http://www.homeaidnc.org  They have various levels of sponsorship available. This is a great chance to spread your name through out the community if you are a local company.

There is so much concentration to keep people in their homes, which is a good thing, but people have a tendency to forget that the foreclosed on ex-homeowner has a new set of needs now.  For many this is just part of a downhill spiral, emotionally, financially. It’s important that these people don’t fall by the wayside, but learn where they too may get some help.

There are many community based programs for food, shelter, etc. One place to look is in your local yellow pages. In ours, looking right up front there is a section on community services available. Many are there to help with rental assistance, bills like PG &E, etc.

Another great place to go for help is your church. Many have funds for helping their congregation in need.

The local library. You can use the computers for free to find just about anything you need.

This isn’t a time to be “prideful”. It’s a time to take care of you and your family. If you’re in a depression you can’t seem to break out of, check with your local Mental Health Dept. You have to take action. No one can help if they don’t know you need it.

There is plenty of free help after foreclosure. You just need to dig a little sometimes.

If you have any questions, or if there is anything I can do to help, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me. If you’re a buyer or seller, there is a ton of free information on my website at http://www.SiliconValleyRealEstateOnline.com

This year has been a tough one for us being put out of a home through a variety of circumstances, that I had had for 17 yrs. It’s really immaterial why as the bottom line still comes out the same. As I watch around me, we are not the exception to the rule as more and more families are forced to leave their homes. It just happened to us before all this help came in from the government, the new laws forcing loan modifications, or at least trying to get the lenders to be a little more co-operative with homeowners, the new FHA programs, and so many more options to homeowners today. Of course nowadays it’s not just risky buyers who are in trouble, but homeowners that were prime borrowers are going into foreclosure also.  And many homeowners are just walking away from a losing proposition because their homes are worth so much less than what they paid. The repercussions of walking away? Who knows? There was a standard on how it would affect your taxes, your credit, etc. and for how many years, but so many people are doing it now it’s becoming almost “normal” and who knows in the future if lenders of new loans will be quite so unforgiving of these things as they have been in the past.

I’m here to tell you even under these circumstances, there are still things to be grateful for and there is at least 1 person or 1 family in worse circumstances than you. What way you go from here is up to you. You can either keep spiraling downwards until you hit the bottom of an abyss, or you can take the attitude that “This too shall pass” and deal with today looking forward to the future. If you choose the first, you let them win. Just remember that.

If you have family with you, be grateful you’re not facing this alone, even if sometimes you feel it would be easier if you were. At least you’re all in it together. LOL. If you don’t have family with you, be grateful that you have a little more flexibility in your choices.

Be grateful that so many have gone before you that cities, counties, states have enacted laws and services to help you. All you have to do is look. Your phonebook or the phonebook in whatever area you are in is a great source. Most cities have services to help, and if they don’t have something they’re doing that can help you, then they know where to send you to an organization that does.

Be grateful for churches. Most of them, even if you haven’t been in awhile, are willing to help. Maybe it’s time for a visit. You can use the moral support of good people around you to help you through this, even if they can’t do much monetarily. It’s amazing how people will rally to the support of others if you just reach out.

Be grateful for the “free” section on Craig’s List. I know this sounds silly as can be, but there is a ton of stuff for a household or someone in need on Craig’s List. It may not be perfect, or designer, but if you’re having to start over or you have little kids that need clothes, etc. it can be a goldmine thanks to good hearted people who are willing to give their good, but used things away for free.  They even announce things like “food giveaways” etc. on there from time to time, or fruit that they have a lot of and won’t use. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding something you need and connecting with the person giving it away.

Last, but not least, they say “Well at least you have your health”. I hope in your case that’s true, and you truly are grateful and thankful for that. In the last year I have met a lot of people not quite so lucky. In fact, just today as I was waiting on an onramp to turn, there was a man who had both legs deformed walking with a cane to get money from the cars there. I can’t believe on those legs he stood and walked back and forth as he did. And oh, yes, I’ve read about the “scammers” on the side of the road that make more money a month than most people begging for money, but this guy was legit. I thought about what it must take for him to lose his pride to do what he is doing to survive. I wondered if he had a family. Our unemployment rate is over 12% and do you think an employer is going to hire him when they don’t even hire fully working bodies? I’ve seen a lot this last year, and not everyone going through this has their health. If you do, be ever so grateful. If you’re not doing so well, then do what you can to take care of the health you have. It’s your responsibility.

Okay, I’ve rambled enough for now. If you would like to leave any comments I would be very appreciative. Hope your day yesterday was wonderful and this is the worst of those yet to come.

In the city of San Jose they have opened a “Foreclosure Help Center” that is open Monday – Friday, it’s free, and you can take your loan documents, paycheck stubs, and a list of your expenses, and get help on what to do in your particular situation. They’ll go over all your paperwork with you and help you  decide if you have a chance at a loan modification, if there are any other options open to you, or if your house is definitely destined for the foreclosure sale, what to do next.

In Santa Clara, where I just moved to, in a section of the yellow pages there is a whole list of services provided by the city, etc. for people who need help.  There are “clothes closets” everywhere to get jackets, etc. for this coming winter. There are many places that give groceries at least a couple of times a month, and then there are places that give financial help and help for finding low income housing.

Going through the foreclosure process is stressful enough. When you’re worried about feeding and clothing your family besides, it’s even more hopeless. Don’t try to go it alone if you don’t have to. Most of us have donated to these charities either through our tax dollars or giving items. Now if you need them, you should go ahead and get the help from them that you can.

The housing crisis still rages on. In my local paper alone there are pages and pages of new foreclosure sale notices. More and more people are getting kicked to the curb by their lenders or by the landlords who rented to them. Seek help as soon as possible. Check your local yellowpages, the real estate section of your newspaper, ask where you can get help. Churches are another source and Catholic Charities are quite well known for the work they do.

There’s help out there. Just “seek and ye shall find”. Of course, as always if I can answer any questions or help in any way feel free to leave a comment below or email me directly. If you have any good sources for help, please feel free to share them, but NO SPAM.

This will be a great opportunity for anyone going into foreclosure, in foreclosure, etc. to get some help. This event is absolutely FREE. There will be a talk by the DA on foreclosure scams, another by an attorney on bankruptcy, and more. I’m really looking forward to it. Just going to the orientation Monday I learned about services available that I knew nothing about.  This event is open to anyone in the Silicon Valley- San Francisco Bay Area and any of the surrounding areas. If you can get there, you are welcome.

There will be representatives from all the major HUD (Housing and Urban Development) certified counseling agencies as well as Legal Aid organizations to provide free and truthful information about the process of foreclosure and what options a homeowner has. There will also be a significant number of counseling agencies and a couple of lenders to meet with their clients.

If you can’t make it, one thing I learned the other day is that this center is open Mon-Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM. The Foreclosure Help Center is sponsored by the City of San Jose, and they in conjunction with the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors are putting on the Foreclosure Rescue Event today.

For more information about what documents to bring with you or to make an appointment at the center (no appointments needed for today) just visit their site at Foreclosure Help Center.

Also feel free to contact me direct or leave a comment below if you have any other questions about real estate in California or the Bay Area. If you’re not in our area, you can check with your county or city to see if they have something similar near you.

If you’re needing to sell your home quickly, don’t forget to click the book in the sidebar on selling your home in just 21 days.

It used to be so easy to find stuff for rent and for sale. You just opened the newspaper and there were all the ads. They say the internet has made things even easier, but I don’t really agree. If you are in a particular category and looking for a specific kind of seller, they’re a lot harder to find. There are so many different sites now to place your ad for your home if you’re a homeowner, and if you’re a renter you have to check so many sites to find that one seller you’re looking for. It’s extremely time consuming before you ever get in your car to go look at places.

Our situation is like many who are looking for a home in this real estate market today. There are so many renters and homeowners that lost their homes to foreclosure, and of course what’s the first thing to happen? They take a credit hit. In so many cases their credit was great up until their home loan adjusted, and everything went down hill from there. Many of these are still good people and just trying to survive after foreclosure. They believe in paying their bills and paying them on time. They just got into a bad situation and now have to re-establish all that they lost, but they are in limbo because they don’t qualify for anything.

On the other side of the coin are homeowners with houses sitting empty because the renter that was in there has either lost their job or moved on. They can’t really afford to pay that house payment plus the one their living in, and so they’re desperate to get it sold or re-rented. With the advent of the internet, it’s become harder and harder for these two to find each other.

Everyone says Craig’s List is the place to go. Put your house on Craig’s List and it will get sold or rented in nothing flat. That may be true, but the brokers have pretty much taken over Craig’s List, so if you’re selling on your own you have quite a bit of competition there. The “for Sale By Owner” gets a bit lost in the shuffle. If you’re trying to rent your home out, there really isn’t a good category for you at all. It’s mostly apartments and rooms for rent.

So today I will be checking the classified ads in the paper, combing the streets for real estate signs in the areas I want to live in or know they have a lot of duplexes, and keeping my fingers crossed that we will be getting settled in somewhere soon.

If you’re having problems finding a place after foreclosure, whether you were a renter or a homeowner, I would be happy to help. Either contact me direct or leave a comment below.

While I want out of this hotel pretty badly, I also have to make a decision as to what kind of home and where I want to live. I really enjoy Capitola and it has a much more “laid back, everyone here is on vacation” feel to compared to the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley. I’ve also been considering whether to just rent an apartment, a mobile, or a house. There are so many pro’s and con’s to all.

I have always thought you got the most bang for your buck in a mobilehome. They have some beautiful ones that rival many houses. They can be vary spacious and usually have some great “built ins” like a buffet type hutch, etc. One of the drawbacks is there are a lot of “rules” similar to living in an apartment, although if you buy one where you buy the land underneath it the rules aren’t as restricting and at least you have a say in what becomes a rule. The park we’re interested in is super well-kept with a clubhouse that is also in good repair, something that would never be said about our old park.

Apartment living can be nice in the way that if something breaks down or needs repair, it’s the landlord’s responsibility. When I lived in apartment years ago one of the biggest problems was if someone lived above you, you had to deal with their noise. If you live on top, someone’s always complaining about you. Also some rent increases can be crazy! My mother lived in an apartment complex once where they figured out if they transferred the property to another family member every 6 mo. as if they were a legitimate buyer, they could raise the rent every time the property was “bought”.

A house is good in that it allows you to live pretty basically as you want to live, but there is a lot of upkeep that goes with that if you’re buying. If you’re renting you just have to worry about rent raises and evictions. I’ve known several given 30 days notice to move because they’ve decided to sell or give the home to a family member(child).

Advantages of buying is being able to write the payments off on your taxes, and all things considered equal, the place is yours. I do have to say I miss the socialization that comes with apartment living, but that can be both a good and a bad thing.

So today I will call the places we were interested in yesterday. I have already gone out and picked up a paper for today along with one of those “home magazines”, altho I prefer to deal direct with a seller than an agent. If I wasn’t a broker, I probably wouldn’t feel that way looking at how complicated the contracts are these days. LOL.

What do you consider to be an advantage to buying? renting? apartment? house? townhouse? I’d love to read what your thoughts are.

This is the 4th housing market “crash” I’ve been through. The first one was in 1979 when foreclosures were poring in, interest rates were high, and real estate prices rolled back to about the 1975 level. In 1985 we were buying with “no money down” on my ex-husband’s VA loan. At that time if you could find an assumable loan that you could just take over payments, that was truly the way to go as most were no qualifying and only about 10%, which in 1985 was considered very low. Housing prices were going up like crazy and we made some goofy amount of profit on that house after only owning it for 6 months.

We took that money and bought another house from an investor, again with ‘no money down’, just like in the commercials. We got into the real estate business ourselves after being basically dissatisfied with the Realtors we had worked with (not very creative for all our ‘creative financing’) and I got my license just in time to get in about a year before the housing market crash in 1988. I know they say 1989, but I could feel it in Aug. of 1988. That crash lasted approx. 4 years or until about 1992. Just like now, the government stepped in trying to help the veterans from the gulf war and people who had bought at the peak of the market, got a job transfer, and couldn’t sell. They also had their hands full with the failing Savings & Loans (you would think they would have learned something there).

There was a slight hiccup in the real estate market during the dot-com bust and the aftermath of 9/11, but even that decline in housing prices and homes in foreclosures lasted longer than this one has before it turned around. So far this has been the worst housing crisis in our history, yet because of a little spike in housing sales all of a sudden we’re at the end. It sort of reminds me of a spike in the stockmarket right before everybody sells all their stocks while it’s up, and then it falls below what is was before the rally.

As far as I can tell, we still have a long way to go. We haven’t even felt the crash of commercial real estate yet. Most people aren’t even aware of it until they finally realize how many buildings are empty along what was once a busy street. On top of that interest rates are rising again, credit is tighter than ever, if a bank will loan on a deal at all. I just can’t see it improving for awhile, especially as more and more people lose their jobs.

I’d love to read what you think. Please feel free to add your opinion below.

DRE #00950917

As of today we are on day 72 after being locked out of our home due to foreclosure. Wells Fargo is not only the one that foreclosed on our home, but they also have my checking account hostage. I follow my account very closely online. The other day I was $35.14 overdrawn, ($35 of it is an “overdraft fee”). I ran to the bank and put in more than enough to cover, in cash to post immediately. In the last 4 days I have deposited $445.00, and somehow 7 more “overdraft fees” have appeared on my account. The customer service says they don’t apply overdraft fees to “pending charges” and if I run right down there with cash, I won’t get anymore overdraft charges. What a bunch of crap. I tried explaining to him that that was exactly what I’ve done for the last week and they just keep compiling charges. Totally useless conversation, so today I am on a quest to find even more money and close the account before I rack up any more charges. It will be inconvenient at first getting a new ATM card and new checks, but we’ll live.

When they were foreclosing on our home, there was no talking to them then either. Everyone talks now about loan modifications, the lender working with you etc., but it sure wasn’t happening then. My partner had asked several times to speak with a loan mitigater before it ever got as far as it did, and the servicer, the gatekeeper Home EQ that we had to deal with to get to them, wouldn’t let us talk to anyone in that department at all. Now Obama has signed into law that lenders have to work with homeowners, but that doesn’t mean they will do it. Many of the “incentives” to work with homeowners are on a “take it or leave it” basis, completely up to the lender whether they take it or not.

If you’ve had your problems with Wells Fargo, or are living through the aftermath of foreclosure yourself, feel free to comment below. Who knows, maybe someday, somebody that counts will see all that we have to say.

Lauri Beamish DRE #00950917
Owner/Broker
Call-Us Real Estate
San Jose, CA