The Fannie Mae HomePath Loan is for homes currently owned by Fannie Mae. The biggest draw to this type of financing is that there is no appraisal required since Fannie Mae already owns the property and has set the sales price. Also to the buyers advantage is the fact that many of these homes are priced under market value, so purchasing such a property gives the buyer built-in equity immediately! You can find current listings in your area at www.homepath.com Currently there are 8 active HomePath listings in Pittsburg, CA and 2 properties "coming soon."  There are 6 properties under contract. The home prices range from $140,500 to $345,500. Purchases closed before May 1, 2010 will receive a 3.5% incentive from FannieMae for closing costs. With no appraisal required Diversified Mort... 04/12/2010

I'M GOING TO WALK AWAY FROM MY HAYWARD HOME--HOW DOES FORECLOSURE AFFECT MY CREDIT?  In case you do not know the effects of foreclosure on your credit, here are a few: •1.   A foreclosure listed on your credit report is virtually impossible to get repaired.  It will most likely be a permanent mark on your personal credit history. •2.  The impact to your credit score will be significant.  Sometimes up to 300 points.  This will be devastating to all your future credit inquiries.  INCLUDING CAR LOANS, CREDIT CARDS AND MEDICAL. •3.  In the future, if you apply for a mortgage, you will be required to disclose a previous foreclosure.  This will cause any future mortgage rates to be significantly higher. •4.  Some companies run random credit checks on their current employees.  If they find a f... 02/22/2010

HAYWARD CA REAL ESTATE HOME SALES JANUARY 2010  Hayward Real Estate Sales are looking great for the month of January 2010.  There were a total of 125 homes sold in Hayward this month.  The average list price was $277,347 and the average sales price was $284,704.  Meaning that property values are on the rise again. Below is a list of all real estate that sold in Hayward this January.  Please feel free to contact me to discuss your Hayward real estate needs. www.soldbynicole.com www.homesincontracosta.com www.stopmyforeclosurebayarea.com Address List Price Sales Price Square Ft Bedrooms Baths 260  INDUSTRIAL PKWY $50,000 $55,000 686 1 1 658  RIVER OAK WAY $65,000 $84,200 531 1 1 27505  TAMPA AVE $79,000 $88,000 910 2 1 351  LAUREL AVE $99,000 $99,750 882 2 1 35  RAINTREE CT $99,900 $113,0... 02/05/2010

Anybody got an extra $100 to pay a Homeowner Association - customer service, playing office manager, rude, Ms Thang - for her to continue to be rude and not answer my questions? If yes, raise your hand! Not your finger, fist or hand slamming into table..... I just need to see a show of hands! This is a rant of concern about HOAs that step out of line by being rude and charging excessive fees for customer service.  ** this one is located in Hayward, CA - but I bet there are located.... all over! I am struggling to get a deal closed that has a HOA that should get the "worst attitude" and lousy customer service award for 2009.  So why should this HOA get the worst HOA customer service award? Took forever to get the HOA docs to escrow * even after we paid R U S H fees On page 1 of the docs ... 12/24/2009

Happy Holiday's to all ! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy New Year's !   At this time of year people experience all kinds of emotions, which can lead to your missing the meaning of this time of year. Although 2009 may have been challenging and December may not have been as financially rewarding you you may have liked. Please remember that this is a time for giving thanks. Thanks for all the good and the challenges. This is the time to let your loved ones know how much you love them and to be open to accepting their love.  Real Estate generally slows down during this time of year. Don't let this slow period carry over into 2010. No matter what your challenges are, remember that tomorrow is a new day and once these challenges have been overcome, there will be other... 12/21/2009

RANT! RANT! RANT! As if researching suitable properties isn't enough of a challenge, now we have to deal with listing agents who don't bother posting at least one photo to show us what the property looks like. While going through a list of properties using certain criteria, I identified 127 that may be suitable. But going through the list, I was dumbfounded at seeing that 30% of these listings do not have a single photo of the property. And of the 38 that do not have pictures 31 of them were short sales. SHORT SALE PROPERTY OWNERS ARE DISTRESSED! For gosh sakes, when people are selling their homes as short sales, they are obviously in distress.  And what they need is for someone to write an offer so that the short sale negotiator can review the file and hopefully accept and approve the ... 10/27/2009

While setting expectations for a new client, I checked with the listing agent of a bank-owned property about the offer situation for the 3 bedroom/2 bath house in Hayward. I almost fell off my chair. He had already received 98 offers! EDUCATING THE SELLER Yes, we understand that in many cases, the banks set the list price. And that the strategy is to move the properties as quickly as possible. But aren't they at least informed or educated about the local markets? In recent months, there have been previously-unheard of stories of multiple offers in the 50s and 60s....but 98? By listing the bank-owned property at incredibly low (and therefore artificial) price, the bank succeeds in: creating havoc among the buyers and their agents creating unnecessary work not only for the REO agents who ... 10/15/2009

"The bank won't accept electronic signatures." Twice in the last week, REO agents called to say that the REO banks they're working with will not accept electronic signatures. The problem is, they heard from the asset manager in the morning, and expect that the offers will be revised and have "wet" signatures by close of that same day. It is literally impossible for me to get wet signatures in time since both my clients work, and one of them is a mailman on his route. Even if I got hold of them it was a logistical impossibility to get them to sign the document and send this by 5 pm to the listing agent today. The listing agent said they did not know the bank would not, or no longer accept electronic signatures. As a matter of fact, they had to scramble, too, sending emails and making pho... 09/21/2009

Not once has any listing agent, seller, title company, lender refused to acknowledge or accept use of electronic signatures on offers that my clients have signed via DocuSign. The only time anyone insisted on a "wet" signature was on a one-page FHA document. Until today. Sunday. Submitted offer. Shortly after, the agent acknowledged receipt. Tuesday. Deadline to submit offer. Agent emails me at 6:45 am saying that electronic signatures are not accepted. She didn't say by whom. When I protested to tell her the Elecrtronic Signatures was signed into law in 2000, she said "it's legal but not law."  ISSUES Some sellers will not accept digital signatures. I have not run into this problem before, and I'm flabbergasted that any bank would refuse. After all, their form letters are all digitally... 09/15/2009

Short sale agent didn't do what a short sale listing agent should do. My buyers finally found a property they like. I begged the agent to present our offer to the seller even after the cut-off period. Yes, we know it's a short sale. Yes, we know the drill. And GREAT, the seller liked our offer the best and accepted it. So we were prepared to wait for the short sale approval. When I requested an update, I didn't expect what the listing agent told me: The seller is out of town (turns out he is out of the country) and is not able to sign documents. The lenders are requesting more documents. Ever heard of DocuSign? Seller is working on getting the documents the short sale lender needs. Did you not have a checklist of what is required in order to submit a short sale package? The seller spoke... 09/12/2009

Checking various cities in the East Bay CA, to see market activity --- Alameda, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward. And thus far, the cities I've looked into all have low inventories of homes for sale. And this partially explains why we're in multiple offers/over-bidding situations. Here's what's happening in Hayward where we've seen 60-80 offers on bank-owned properties, and where cash is definitely king. Some buyers are actually consortiums of buyers who pooled their resources to buy properties. Time and time again, we have found ourselves in multiple offer situations. It's almost unbelievable to conceive of this kind of buying frenzy. It's like the early 2000s all over again, albeit at lower prices.Offer dates are set. Contingencies are being waived. Offers are for significantly over list... 09/11/2009

Homes For Sale By Owner in Hayward California. Sale By Owner House in California (CA). Original California FSBO website. To directly access this property, use this shortcut: http://www.fizber.com/california-buy-single-family-home-11647481.html 08/29/2009

Hayward CA Real Estate For Sale By Owner. Houses For Sale By Owner in Hayward, California (CA). More than 1 million Homes For Sale. To directly access this property, use this shortcut: http://www.fizber.com/california-buy-single-family-home-11647482.html 08/29/2009

ATTENTION: SELLERS! This is why it's important for you to choose your agent carefully, and to check out how your property is promoted for sale. If you're selling your property as a short sale, all the more important that the listing reaches the widest possible market. For two days, I tried to get hold of several listing agents of separate properties in downtown Hayward CA. Because I wanted to group similar properties to show to my clients, I tried to line up all the listings in which they may be interested. RANT #1. Out-of-area listing agent. The listing showed up on REALTOR.com, but not on our local MLS, or in the MLS Alliance of different area boards. Tried to track down the listing agent by typing in the address of the property. It shows up on Redfin as listed by a company called San... 08/02/2009

The issue is: if inspection reports are available, these inspections are material fact. They're relevant to the property. And if they are available, disclose them.  So why won't the REO agent mention this in the MLS, or offer them to prospective buyers? My clients finally got accepted on an REO on which they overbid against other buyers. Because we had only 7 days to do our inspections, the buyers ordered the following inspections: home, pest, roof, chimney. During the inspections, we were told that the much-needed repairs are more severe and more extensive than what the buyers were willing to undertake. So although it cost them $750 for all the inspections, they thought it was money well spent in the sense that it prevented them from falling into a "Money Pit".  So they backed out. Sin... 07/28/2009

In this sea of REOS and short sales, where it is extremely competitive in specific price brackets and locations.  it is not unusual to write several offers for a client although we are discouraged from the practice of writing multiple offers. Back in February, I had written an offer on a short sale with two lenders....as of mid-July, the second lender is still in negotiations. It is looking very unlikely that this short sale will ever be approved. At the time we wrote the offer, the listing agent said the property was under contract before but the buyer backed out. She was so sure she'd get a response right away. So we waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, we decided to keep looking. Because of the waiting periods for short sale, we also looked at REOS. Several offers later, after ... 07/12/2009

So on Friday, I was posting a blog of all new listings that came on the market. When I got to Kay Sherwood's listing in Hayward, it wasn't pulling up on our website. When I looked to see what the "problem" was - I discovered it had already gone pending!! So I emailed Kay today to ask her what were 3 things that made a difference in getting this listing pending literally within days of going on MLS. This is what she said: "First of all, the property was merchandised.  I actually had an agent call to thank me for presenting a property that was clean and in 'presentable' condition.  She said that that was a rarity.  The property was a dump - we had it cleaned; painted; replaced appliances, the garage door, furnace, water heater, carpeting, etc., to the tune of over $20K.  I think it would ... 06/29/2009

Is this strategy working? Price property low, pull in multiple and higher offers.  Is this a way to see what the buyers are willing and able to purchase?  Does competition make buyers more anxious?  How long will it take before the buyers see what is going on and hold back to stop it? When you stop and think about what impact is holding back on properties that have been foreclosed and is now owned by the banks.... At first, you think nothing but after checking our areas like Hayward, CA you see that the demand is overweighing the supply and those are fighting words! Buyer Agents are having a hard time landing a property with the offers they are presenting in Hayward.  It has nothing much to do with the amount you offer as it does the competition of the other agent's offer. I just had a ... 06/18/2009

Before my young first time buyers and I look at properties we do as much research as we can online. But all the research still doesn't adequately prepare them for what to expect once we see properties up close. A picture doesn't tell the whole story We saw one property that sort of looked nice in the pictures, but looked so much better when we got there. It had panoramic views of the hills, the bay, and from a distance, San Francisco and the Bay Bridge. This is where a visual tour, or a better selection of pictures could have turned what initially looked to be a blah listing into a fantastic one. Calculating monthly payments Thank goodness for Fidelity Agent. I am able to prepare a matrix to show them the what-ifs in $$$ where they can easily determine what will work for them. Their mai... 06/13/2009

On Wednesday, May 20 Bay East REALTORS® and staff met with the Hayward City Manager and other Hayward officials to discuss the latest version of their proposed "abandoned" properties ordinance.  The City has not yet adopted this ordinance but seems intent on taking a purely regulatory approach to addressing blighted, vacant properties.  Bay East has been suggesting an alternative approach that's based on stepped-up enforcement of the existing community preservation ordinance and better promotion of efforts including the Neighborhood Partnership Program. To review the latest version of the draft ordinance please click here. Please note: This city has not yet adopted this ordinance. Considering Moving to Hayward or to the East Bay?    ~   Do you want to Buy or Sell a home?       Do you h... 05/22/2009