I just realized that many of you might think how is my story of buying real estate in Mountain View in 2007 relevant in the post market melt down and foreclosure madness of today? Well, the best properties at the best price still attract multiple buyers! You need to have a strategy to out maneuver the competition.
It is true that there is a large supply of homes on the market and that there are bargain prices attached to these properties. It is also true that the ugliest and most broken down properties out number anything you would want to buy and live in by about 10 to 1. So anyone that is looking for something worth living in at a decent price is competing fiercely for those properties with like minded folks. I am talking about finding short sales, foreclosures, and bank owned properties that are not in distressed areas. I am talking about looking for pockets of opportunity in strong areas such as Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Menlo Park, and Willow Glenn; to name a few. I am not talking about entire neighborhoods of foreclosed new homes in areas like Stockton and Modesto that are sitting vacant.
I have been helping a friend look for property for the past few months. (Actually to be fair, I have been on her case to buy property for about 16 years!) The melt down of this market has made her realize that the time is right now, if you have some cash and a stable job. So we go out looking for a livable bargain. She has fallen in love with a couple of cute places that have been snatched away by a higher or quicker bidder.
She is waiting to see if she is going to get a "Short Sale" home that she put an offer in on. I am still a little fuzzy on all the details associated with a short sale as they are not as black and white as a bank owned purchase.
In a short sale an owner works with the bank to come up with a price range that the bank "might" accept and then they find a buyer and then the bank "decides" if they will take the lower price instead of foreclosing the home. She is working with my super real agent who helped me buy in Mountain View and trying to figure out the entire process as it seems to change with each bank you work with.
His advice on dealing with short sales is to bid on several and not fall in love with any of them as you never know what the bank will do. It can take several months for the banks to make their decision on a short sale.
I have my fingers crossed as the house is very close to exactly what she wanted in a price that she was comfortable with. She jumped on this opportunity quickly and put in an offer before anyone else. And if everything goes well she should know if she has the house in about four months!!!
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