In soccer we have a saying "it's  always fun when you win." When you  win it doesn't matter how bad the  referreeing was or how many fouls the other team committed. In fact, you  start thinking that maybe Hitler was  not such a bad guy after all. Well, I  wouldn't take it that far but I think  you get my meaning. The same thing happens in real estate. When a  home finally does sell, all is well with  the planet especially in today's market. A lot of buyers are still on the fence wondering how much lower  prices can go. Sooo a victory is a victory and I savor all of them just the same.In this case there were at  least three winners: the sellers, the buyers, and the selling agent. It felt so good to put up  my sold sign. I can't wait to do it again and again. 11/04/2008

When a property is taken back by a lender through the foreclosure process they not only have to deal with the loss of the monthly payments for the better part of the last year – or n some cases even longer.  They not only have to provide the financial resources for the legal process to take the home back.  In fact the lenders losses are just starting to add up and the real money could be forthcoming. Once the property has been secured and back “in the hands’ of the lender / owner the process begins to minimize the loss incurred.  Of course the best way to minimize any future expense is to sell the home quickly.  The local South West Riverside County in Southern California is experiencing a rapidly declining market and no area is hit harder than my local Hemet – San Jacinto Valley.  When... 09/21/2008

  There is of course a huge difference between the traditional sale of a home compared to the sale of a home that has gone through the foreclosure process and is now owned by a bank / investor.  EMOTION To sum it up in one word it would have to be emotion.  That’s right the traditional homeowner who wants to sell their home is emotionally attached to it.  They know of the blood, sweat and tears that went into making it the home it is today and they want to be compensated for their efforts.  The traditional real estate transaction is all about the personality of the seller, which has been invested into the home being offered for sale.  It is the most prized possession of the homeowner.  Many times, the homeowner will want more for their home than what the market says it is worth – becaus... 09/21/2008

    The REO Agent is the player on the front line – the one who comes in direct contact with the public and other real estate agents representing buyers of the REO properties that the listing agent has listed in the MLS and is marketing for sale. The question is who does this agent work for?  The REO Agent is just that – an agent which means he or she works for a principal.  So who is the principal and what role does the REO Agent actually play in the disposition of the property. THE OWNER First, the reader needs to understand that the actual REO home for sale is owned by an Investor who originally funded the loan to the borrower who lot the home for non-payment of the home loan (or mortgage as it is often referred to – even though we do not have ‘mortgages’ in California).  As the owne... 09/21/2008

  With so much information available on the Internet it is no reason that consumers are often confused on any number of topics.  Well, the amount of information published about REO’s is no exception. Nearly 40% of the States in America DO NOT provide for the defaulted home borrower to redeem their homes, once it has been foreclosed on.  This means that majority of the state have some sort of redemption process. However, for everything that I write about, I always look at the situation through the eyes of a California licensed REO REALTOR®.  I am not an attorney, but I can share my opinion of laws, s I understand them.  Of course, you should always consult with your own legal counsel to verify the peculiarities of your own personal situation. California is one of the states that do not h... 09/21/2008

  As a Real Estate professional I find it critical to a successful career path to invest in my continuing education.  After all, what other professional would anyone ever want to use if they did not keep up-to-date on the latest laws, trends and acceptable ways of performing their duties?   Certainly none that I would ever want to pay money for.So, as a REALTOR® who specializes in the listing and sale of REO, or bank owned homes, in the Hemet – San Jacinto  it is important that I continue my education – not only for my benefit, but so that my client is getting the very best listing agent of their bank-owned asset.  FORMAL TRAININGThe National Foreclosure Sales Training Institute (NFSTI) offers a certification program that provided the basic backbone education of this REO specialty.  Aft... 09/20/2008

As a local REO REALTOR servicing South West Riverside County from offices in the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley, John Occhi has went and done it again – grown faster than his team of seasoned REALTORS can keep up with. John and his Inland Empire REO Team is currently averaging less than 7 days on market for all REO homes that are listed and sold – many are pre-sold even before they are released on the MLS to the local REALTOR population and the general public through syndicated sites like REALTOR.Com (where all of the teams listings are showcased), Zillow, Trulia, Yahoo and many others.  This certainly gives team members a cutting edge advantage in servicing their own clients if they know a price for a home 2 to 3 days before the mass population knows about the property’s price. Imagine the t... 08/14/2008

Lenders are doing whatever they can to sell their inventory of REO homes.  There are entire portfolios being sold wholesale for 60 to 70 cents on the dollar of the BPO price-which can be a great deal if you have $10 million or more to invest.  Most homes are being assigned to REALTORS® like myself to list, market, maintain and sell the assets on the retail real estate market.  In the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley we saw the number of closed REO sales during the month of June 2008 exceed 70% of all the sales in this local market.  I am sure many other Inland Empire areas have very similar results to report.Banks though need to sell their homes quickly and many are trying to do that through the auction process.  We have all heard the stories of a savvy shopper who picked up some great home fo... 08/03/2008

Buying an REO home or other real estate in San Jacinto, CA (or elsewhere) can be a daunting experience, at best. The process appears to be fairly straight-forward, from the beginning.  The banks each have their own proprietary addendums to our California Purchase Agreement which ends up negating many of the key provision of our ‘standard’ contract.CONTRACT CLAUSESProbably the most important is that the banks will not (typically) accept the provisions for liquidated damages, arbitration and mediation.  Often time, the buyer will initial these clauses – but the bank will not.  If the buyer’s agent does not pick up on this, then the buyer would be bound by these terms and the seller would not.  I have seen addendums come back after a contract has been ratified by all parties, to exclude th... 08/02/2008

  I receive numerous emails on various topics that I have written with in the past.  I try to answer as many as I can personally - creating articles for a FAQ column, but I thought if one person takes the time to write me with a question then I have other readers who have the same or similar questions. I will now be responding to all questions via my blog – not to worry, I won’t reveal any personal identifying information – but I want to share with all.  If you write me, I’ll send you the link to my answer, but I will be sharing your question and situation with all who read my blog. Of course I am not an attorney and not licensed to practice law – which would include giving legal advice.  If you need legal advice – then find a suitable legal representative in your area – as laws do chan... 08/02/2008

January is traditionally one of the slower months of the year for selling real estate in San Jacinto CA.  In an effort to document what is taking place in the Hemet San Jacinto Valley, I have started a series of monthly market reports, showing the overall condition of the current market and referencing to the year prior. It should be noted that the data I have chosen to analyze comes exclusively from the Tempo SoCalMLS system which is the MLS used exclusively by the Hemet San Jacinto Association of REALTORS® (HSJAOR).  Most agents from outside our unique market area belong to the MRMLS, a competitor MLS system that does not post to the local market data.  Yes, there are other sales that can be found from other sources – but at the end of the day, it is all going to average out to about ... 03/30/2008

167 Mustang Way San Jacinto, ca 92582 BANK OWNED - SAN JACINTO - Like New Only Cheaper. Home Complete Details Photo Gallery Property Map Financing Request a Showing Contact Me Graham Holmes Celll:951.634.4118 Office:951.927.8940 Website:Visit Website Price : $235,900 Bedrooms : 4 Bathrooms : 2 Square Foot : 1,712 Lot Size : 10,454 County : Riverside Property Type : Detached Year Built : 2006 MLS Number : H735889 click for more pictures Property Description GREAT SINGLE STORY FAMILY HOME LOCATED AT THE END OF A CUL-DE-SAC IN THE DESIRABLE NW SAN JACINTO COMMUTER NEIGHBORHOOD 'Stallions Crossing' THIS HOME HAS IT ALL! 4 BEDROOMS, 2 BATHS, VAULTED CEILING, FIREPLACE, DUAL MEDIA NICHES, ARTIFACT NICHES, BREAKFAST BAR, ON A LOT OVER 10,000 SQ. FEET LARGE. THIS HOME IS NEAR NEW, BUILT IN 200... 01/28/2008

Today I crossed plans for the new San Jacinto Gateway project. I passed a sign on the Ramona Expressway and wrote down the website and check it out. This project is huge. At completion it will bring money and jobs to this area. This project should bring people from all over for shopping and dinning. For those of you who have not been to my area of the world, you are not missing out just yet. The best is yet to come. San Jacinto sits next to the retirement town of Hemet. Hemet has a mixture of seniors, young families, and people just getting by. It's an unusual site to see while shopping at Von's.  You see old ladies who can hardly see over the dash board driving down the road just missing the young rapper look-a-likes. Not to say the area is bad to live in. It's nice and quite. Not  muc... 09/26/2007

San Jacinto - We're Cleaning You Up...One Block at a Time!  by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®   Hemet CA Real Estate   The City of San Jacinto has announced a new plan to clean up the city - one block at a time.  That's right, next Saturday August 25th 2007; the City of San Jacinto will sponsor its first official clean up day which will be the beginning of the first month long project, where city employees, resources and residents alike will all pitch in to clean up a small section of town.City Councilmen Dale Stubblefield and John Mansperger united and formed a committee that will focus the efforts of city officials, departments and residents on a single area of the city, for the month long project, that will start with the single focus day.Beginning at 8:00 a.m. and running till noon, ... 08/18/2007

SAN JACINTO CITY INFOCity Facts:Population (2006)                            33,253Square Miles                                    26Taxable Sales                                 $135 MillionMedian Household Income                $43,626Local Attractions:Mt San Jacinto State ParkSan Jacinto City's planners have been responsible through progressive planning for thousands of new residents relocating to San Jacinto. Communities are linked by greenbelts, mutli-use trails and parks. This has also spurred the development of new commercial centers including a new Wal-Mart Supercenter. With its affordable housing and surrounding amenities San Jacinto is a very attractive place to live.Property InformationMore Information  08/07/2007

SAN JACINTO, CA MARKET SNAPSHOT - July 2007 SAN JACINTO, CA MARKET SNAPSHOT   by John Occhi, San Jacinto CA REALTOR®   San Jacinto CA Real Estate          Well, it's time to take another look at the real estate market in San Jacinto CA.  I wish I could report better news, but hey, I am just the messenger.During the month of July, 2007 76 single family residences were added to the rolls of the San Jacinto San Jacinto Association of Realtors (HSJAOR) MLS and yet only 30 homes in total came off of the San Jacinto MLS.The sharp contrast is further magnified with the pricing.  The new listings have an average List Price (LP) of $335,565.  Another 11 homes went under contract in July 2007- or as we use the status/term PENDING.  The Average List Price of the PENDING homes is $260,354 compared... 08/05/2007

Market Snapshot - San Jacinto CA 92583 | June 30, 2007  by, John Occhi, Hemet - San Jacinto Valley CA REALTOR  Hemet - San Jacinto CA Real Estate  At the request of an investor client who found me here on ActiveRain, I was asked to provide a snapshot of the current activity for homes for sale in San Jacinto, CA in the 92583 zip code.If you are a homeowner in this zip code, you will probably find this data rather disturbing. Although it is not as disturbing as zip code 92582 in western San Jacinto CA has experienced during the same period. Traditionally, the busiest time of year for real estate is the late spring early summer - as new home buyers want to be able to move during the summer months so the children will be able to start their new schools in September.  Well, both May and June... 06/30/2007

Market Snapshot - San Jacinto CA 92582 | June 30, 2007  by, John Occhi, Hemet - San Jacinto Valley CA REALTOR  Hemet - San Jacinto CA Real Estate  At the request of an investor client who found me here on ActiveRain, I was asked to provide a snapshot of the current activity for homes for sale in San Jacinto, CA in the 92582 zip code.If you are a homeowner in this zip code, you will probably find this data rather disturbing.  Traditionally, the busiest time of year for real estate is the late spring early summer - as new home buyers want to be able to move during the summer months so the children will be able to start their new schools in September.  Well, both May and June, 2007 have only produced 3 sales each for the entire zip code; yet there are currently 107 homes for sale in the zi... 06/30/2007

If you are considering a new house in San Jacinto, Mission Grove Realty offers a free service to clients designed to save you time, money and provide the inside information you need about new home builders in San Jacinto so that you can make an informed decision.New Home Tour InformationThis fantastic and exclusive service allows you the opportunity to tour all available new home developments that meet your specific needs with and industry professional that will provide:Insight about new home developments in San Jacinto. Information about neighborhood Schools and services. Quality and customer satisfaction ratings of specific builders. Incentives and special programs offered by builders. Taxes and fees that may apply to the development. Information that builders may not tell you up fron... 06/22/2007

If you are considering a new house in San Jacinto, Mission Grove Realty offers a free service to clients designed to save you time, money and provide the inside information you need about new home builders in San Jacinto so that you can make an informed decision.New Home Tour InformationThis fantastic and exclusive service allows you the opportunity to tour all available new home developments that meet your specific needs with and industry professional that will provide:Insight about new home developments in San Jacinto. Information about neighborhood Schools and services.Quality and customer satisfaction ratings of specific builders.Incentives and special programs offered by builders.Taxes and fees that may apply to the development.Information that builders may not tell you up front.To... 06/20/2007