A new development is catching home buyers off guard as the spring sales season gets under way: Bidding wars are back.

For the past few months, record low inventory levels, attractive interest rates and increasing buyer demand have catapulted a new wave of home buyer frenzy.

“We’re seeing it at all levels, in all locales of the Bay Area. Fremont, CA is up a whopping 23%. Other communities, though, have more modest price increases; these markets are still seeing a surge of multiple offers,” says Remax Accord agent, Lisa Caldwell.

No matter what the cause is, the effect is the same: Apparently we have hit the bottom.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

In tough economic times, a growing number of scams have surfaced like mushrooms after a rain. One is the “renters nightmare” scam. This recently happened to one of my good clients. It works like this:

You answer a home to rent add on Craigslist. Meeting the “landlord” at the property, he/she takes you through and shows you around. It’s a perfect fit and you shake hands on price/terms. The landlord then asks for a deposit, first month’s rent and signed lease in exchange for the keys and ultimately occupancy.

Sound normal? Of course it does. Only here’s the catch. Prior to your meeting, the “landlord”, who can use the name of the real owner or prior owner, has scanned public records and found a home which has been foreclosed or unoccupied for some time. He goes to the vacant property beforehand, breaks and enters and then changes the locks. When he/she meets you there, he has the keys, so who would suspect? He then gets you to sign a bogus lease as the property is owned by a bank. You give him your check and he gives you keys. You move in, unsuspectingly, only to find out there is a knock at the door and you need to move out. Meanwhile, the perpetrator is living in fat city on your money with zero investment while you had to scrape together the rent and deposit.

What you can do: Before entering into an agreement with anyone, or giving them any money, check with your Real Estate Broker. They should be able to at least pull up public records to see if the property is bank owned or not. Ask to see the ID of the landlord and don’t make checks out to any 3rd parties. In this case, the landlord wanted all checks made out to “IRONHORSE INVESTMENTS”.

An agent in my office today quipped, “I looked for comps in Antioch and couldn’t find one active listing within a half mile radius”.

With shrinking inventory, interest rates at their all time low, buyers are back out at it. Not to early 2000′s level, but shades of bid wars are looming. It will be interesting to see what the Spring brings in the East Bay’s Real Estate market. Stay tuned.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

WASHINGTON—Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis agreed to give back his $24.8M bonus to Legal Aid Mortgage Relief Advocacy. CFO Gary Crittenden of CitiGroup agreed, “donating my $19.4M bonus to pay down 700 blue collar families’ loans, is just the right thing to do.” – April Fool’s!

WALNUT CREEK — The revamped federal program recently touted by our politicians that helps homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages to refinance won’t work for Sarah B. and her husband.

The Walnut Creek couple bought a home in the in the Larkey Park area for $770,000 in 2006. Today they owe $638,000 on a house that’s worth $441,000, according to a Contra Costa County property appraiser.

Specifically, President Obama asked Congress to enact “a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks.”

DO YOU HAVE AN EXTRA SIXTY YEARS TO PAY DOWN YOUR PRINCIPAL?

The Feds expect the homeowner to take their $3,000 a year in savings and pay down their mortgage. Don’t hold your breath. And how many $3,000 a year savings would it take to pay down an underwater mortgage of $190,000? About 60 years.

Prodigious tango composer/singer/dancer Carlos Gardel with one of his famous contributions – Por Una Cabeza, featured in the motion picture “Scent of a Woman” starring Al Pacino. A small sample of a larger work.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Will one of the nation’s greatest musicians be noticed in a D.C. Metro? Will any passerbys stop during rush hour? Violinist Joshua Bell experimented for Gene Weingarten’s Sunday Magazine story in The Washington Post.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Where is the Real Estate market going in 2012? Here are three myths that you may consider in your decision making process in 2012:
1) There is a national Real Estate Market. While Fisery Case Shiller reports can comment on the 384 Metro Regions in the US, this leaves us a huge sector that embodies pockets and neighborhoods in the US that vary as much as fingerprints or snowflakes. Schools, proximity to jobs, quality of life and many others factor in an overall market value.
2) There is a deep “shadow inventory” of bank-owned homes. No one actually knows what the banks are holding or holding off regarding bank-owned homes. Though a good piece of news is: “Mortgage delinquency rates have been falling for more than a year. Foreclosure rates have started to decline. The flood of bank-owned sales, which has swamped many markets, will finally begin to recede this year as fewer houses enter the foreclosure pipeline. Meanwhile, housing affordability has nearly returned to pre-bubble levels. Relative to family income levels, the average U.S. home is now only 5 percent more expensive than it was in 2000.” - Fisery Case Shiller 2012 forecast report.
3) It’s impossible to obtain financing. Not true – yes banks are requiring more documentation and in many cases a higher down payment. There is still, however, a 3.5% downpayment option through FHA if you are willing to pay for mortgage insurance.

Come one come all to this timely event…who knows, Norman Rockwell may even show up?

Come one come all to Collector's Choice Antiques