My First Hockey Post of the Season

Hopefully not my last.  I know it's also nothing about Short Sales.

Why the hockey post today?  Just because the San Jose Sharks beat the Calgary Flames in Game 7 and move on towards the greatest trophy in all sports, The Stanley Cup!

That's why.  (That and I have a Hockey Hangover, eh?)

For you non Hockey speaking readers here's what the cup looks like:

A quick Hockey Primer for you:

• 30 Teams compete during the season to be one of the 16 that enter the playoffs.
• 8 teams in the East, 8 teams in the West.
• Teams play the best of 7 in a series.  No Ties. 
• There are 4 Series or rounds in the playoffs;
  1. Conference Quarterfinals 
  2. Conference Semifinals 
  3. Conference Finals
  4. Stanley Cup Finals
• Lose 4 in a series and you're "playing golf".
• Win 16 Games in the Playoffs and you  "Hoist the Cup!"

The Conference Quarterfinals ended last night.  We're now down to 8 teams.

In the East

The Montreal Canadians will play the Philadelphia Flyers

and the Pittsburgh Penguins will play the New York Rangers

 

In the West

the Detroit Red Wings will play the Colorado Avalanche

and the San Jose Sharks will play the Dallas Stars

If you are graphical in nature here's a quick little Bracket I made for my computer desktop.

Ok, that's enough Hockey for now.  I have to get back to work.

Go Sharks!

Suburban Renewal In The News

I was interviewed by the San Jose Mercury News the other day.  I had a couple of great in depth conversations with Sue McAllister, the real estate reporter for the paper.

You can read the entire article HERE, I cut the portion that directly involved S-R below.

Part of the problem is that lenders are overwhelmed by managing so many short sales nationwide, said Mike Mueller, co-founder of Suburban Renewal, a Concord short-sale negotiator. Another problem is that many agents handling such sales lack experience at it.

"Most don't know how to put together a compelling package and push the lenders' buttons," to get a swift sale, Mueller said.

Despite recent changes in federal laws, some sellers owe tax on the portion of their debt "forgiven" by the lender. But whether or not the lender reports the forgiven debt is negotiable, Mueller said.

  One Bay Area homeowner in the midst of short-selling her home said so far, she's in favor of working with an intermediary company. The woman, an information technology consultant with three young children, said she needed to sell her Contra Costa County townhome following her recent divorce. She owes more for the home than it's worth, and her real estate agent suggested working with Mueller.

"He's given some amazing tricks and tips on what you need to do to make a short sale work," said the homeowner, who did not want her name published.

The townhouse was listed in February and got four offers, which her lender received about a month ago, she said. She hopes the lender will make a decision in the next week or so. "It's a stressful situation. It's nice to have someone else dealing with the ugliness of it."

Thanks Sue. 

We're all doing our best, trying to make the best of the situation.

BTW: Sue writes a pretty mean blog: Square Feet  Check it out!

Local Notice of Defaults

Notice of Defaults Last week (week ending Feb 20th) we saw the following NOD filings.

For the State of California: 8,178

By County

Alameda: 323
Contra Costa: 487
Sacramento: 678
Solano: 180

By City

Antioch: 89
Modesto: 163
Oakland: 107
Sacramento: 400
Stockton: 216
Vallejo: 70

Data courtesy of :

California Notice of Defaults 2/7/07

Last week (week ending Feb 5th) we saw the following NOD filings.

For the State of California: 6,736

By County

Alameda: 460

Contra Costa: 339

Orange: 334

Sacramento: 512

San Joaquin: 212

Santa Clara: 174

Sonoma: 273

Stanislaus: 276

By City

Antioch: 85

Bakersfield: 143

Elk Grove: 63

Fontana: 107

Hayward: 99

Modesto: 149

Oakland: 171

Sacramento: 326

Stockton: 110

Tracy: 50

Vallejo: 63

The highest: 6.3 Million for a 3 bedroom / 2 bath in Winchester, CA - It must have some view!

The lowest: a 3 bedroom / 2 bath in Anaheim that is behind on their $2,333 loan!

Data courtesy of :

Local REO Listings

I just uploaded the current local REO listings covering the following cities:

• CASTRO VALLEY
• CONCORD
• DUBLIN
• LAFAYETTE
• MARTINEZ
• MORAGA
• ORINDA
• PACHECO
• PLEASANT HILL
• RODEO
• SAN RAMON
• WALNUT CREEK

The cheapest was 1133  Meadow Lane in Concord at $110,000

The most expensive?

Almost 1.3 million at 3709  Stonehenge Way in San Ramon.

There's a wide variety of bargain housing out there.

Here's the complete list:    West Contra Costa County REO List

Your IRA and Unlimited Gains

There was a local cement company that had the slogan on the side of their trucks,

"Find a Need and Fill It!"

I was thinking about that truck last weekend when

I found the NEED!

For the Real Estate Agent to begin discussions with the lender on a Short Sale they need to have an offer in hand. That offer doesn't have to be full price but it does need to be real. This is a very big NEED. The Loss Mitigation people will actually hang up on them if they do not have an offer.

NOW Here's the FILL IT!

Your Self Directed IRA has the capability to purchase real estate. It has the ability to buy it outright and it has the ability to put 20% down and finance the rest. Your Self Directed IRA has the ability to flip properties with no capital gains!

SUSIE SELLS SHORT SALES DOWN BY THE SEA SHORE...

Here's how this works... Susie Sells has just taken a listing for a $400,000 short sale. Susie needs to have a real offer in hand to begin negotiations with the lender. Your IRA offers to buy the property for 50% ($200,000). Remember the home may be valued at 450,000, the short sale listing is at $400,000 and you just offered to buy at half price.

Chances are the Lender isn't going to snap at the offer Susie presented them. Then again - they might. We're hearing some very amazing offers being accepted these days.

If the lender accepts the offer, you just secured an investment property at 50%! You can keep it and start playing monopoly with real houses or list it with Susie at 75% tomorrow. Either way, you win!

Chances are the offer will not be accepted. Don't cry. Move on to the next one. Don't invest too much time and energy in this. This is a game of speed.

If Susie calls and says, "Mike, I need you to make an offer on this clean 4-plex I took a short sale listing on today." You say, "Can you be here in 10 minutes?" It's all about the numbers. Play the game and eventually you may become the owner of a Real Deal.

Teamwork

In the meantime, you've given Susie the one thing she really needs right now, an offer. Susie now owes you. You can bet Susie is going to do everything she can to make you happy. You need to get on Susie's Team.

If you are looking for a local Susie of your own, give me a call. I know plenty in all areas of the country.

If you need help setting up a Self Directed IRA - I can do that too.

Mike Mueller - 925 288-9977 Ext 104

DirectBuy Sales Tactics

 When investing in foreclosed properties chances are the unit will need a little rehab.  Reducing this expenditure as much as possible is a natural.  Every dime you can save in the process of turning into cash positive is vital and crucial.

So you might be tempted by the infomercials you see of DirectBuy.  Don't be.  Investing in any distressed property requires all your noggin power and that includes on the rehab as well.

Being tempted by the seductive commercials is normal.  When my wife suggested last week that we should "go check them out" I knew it was time for this post.

Here's the scoop

DirectBuy is a sales company right out of the timeshare industry.  Here's what happens when you  "check them out".

• First you'll be greeted by your personal sales rep, after some "It's nice weather we're having...", you'll be ushered into a sales presentation, usually given by women.  The presentation is very well scripted.  It's been crafted to make a  lot of economic sense - according to their stats.   They say the best way to lie is by using Stats.  That's what my Stat Professor used to say.
• From there you'll be moved to closing.  At least two managers will come in.  They'll present the contract to you.  If you stop to read the contract someone will ask you a question, "Mike, what style of cabinets do you like better, Colonial or Modern?"  The question doesn't matter.  The distraction does.
• It's now or never.   With the inner secrets they've allowed you to see they "can't let you walk away and think about it."  Here comes the "Fear of Loss Close" 
• They already have an answer to every objection you have.  Their closer's have role played the same scenario over and over again. 
• Want to compare prices?  They've got you covered on that as well.  They'll try to compare the prices you come in with against closeouts and non comparable items.  The cabinets they quoted you in the signing room that beat the pants off the quote you have from the Home Depot, are probably not in stock, are discontinued, and unavailable.  They don't exist.

Assuming  you lost all sense of reason and signed on the dotted line, you are in for some surprises.

You'll pay a huge up front fee for signing up.  You'll pay a monthly fee for access.   There is virtually nothing in stock.  Pay now - and wait.  Now wait some more.  Keep waiting.  How does 6 to 8 weeks sound?

You'll pay for shipping - and shipping isn't cheap!

How about returns?  Did you know they don't take back anything?  NO RETURNS!   Of course, you would had they let you read the contract.

Want to get out of the contract?  Not a chance.  It's been reported to be as tight as a drum. 

Want to read some more?  Here's a great compendium of disgruntled DirectBuy'ers.

www.InfomercialScams.com