The Property Pontiffs

Why overpricing your home is a costly mistake in oh so many ways.

When you sit down with the typical client at the listing appointment, it is easy to get caught up in the feel good moment of pricing the client’s home.    The client has many reasons for wanting to have the price set high.   Some being, not qualifying as a short sale, having more money left over to pay off debts, more money for a down payment for next home, or paying for that long sought after vacation.  There needs to be a soft reality interjected into the listing appointment, unfortunately many agents just don’t want to go down that road, they want to just simply accept the price that the sellers are happy with and hope they change their mind down the road. 

We understand that the reality is many clients choose their agent by who says their home is worth the most, forget the fact that no matter how much the client loves their home, or how much they want the neighbors to see how their home is worth, it just doesn’t make any rational sense.  It does not matter what the agent thinks, or a handful of agents think, sadly it does not matter what the client thinks their home is worth.  It only matters what the “Market” knows is the value, and what those potential buyers value the home at. 

The pricing is an art, mixed with science, or a sciart (yes I made that up, so if it sticks you can thank me), you can make many psychological pricing tweaks and adjustments with comparables in mind, to come to a decision that will stick.  This does not mean it is the end all be all, but simply a good educated guess.

In today’s market, pricing a home too low is not much of a problem as this will probably start a bidding war and raise the price to the level the listing agent wanted in the first place (a common practice we advocates do not care for).   Too low, and the other agents will surely catch on and be wary of making offers, thus hurting the listing in the long run. 

Pricing a home too high has many, many negative attributes that come along with this sort of practice.  For the homeowner, they become frustrated with the agent that the home is not selling when they themselves approved and wanted the higher price.  They will blame an agent who told the client that the price was too high.   Many consumers will not even see the property on their searches due to the fact that if they are looking for a home less than $200,000.00 and your home is $200,000.00 then most searches cut off at $199,999.00 and thus you don’t even come up, or if the agent is smart and realizes most homes are priced low, they will pull up homes lower than $150,000.00 knowing that bidding wars will reach higher than the client can afford.  So your home is not even being pulled to be shown.

Having an overpriced home also means that the home will sit on the market for too long and then the buyers simply move on thinking that there is something wrong with the home.  It also over-inflates the comparables in the neighborhood and creates a false sense of a market in that neighborhood, sending shock-waves through the comparables and thus tearing down a whole neighborhood in the process.  Many agents don’t think of the market as a whole, but when they pull the potential listing’s competition, a few overpriced homes which are more money makes the client feel as if they need to also price theirs up that high, and thus creating an entire map of homes overpriced destined to fail.

The homes end up staying on the market many, many, months, even a year or so and the agents get fired and a new one gets hired, and then fired, and finally the home owner frustrated ends up selling all cash at much lower than expected.  They are upset, the agents fired are upset, and the domino effect on the rest of the homes rises exponentially.

In the end it costs the seller and the agent a lot of money.  It costs the seller money in interest, and mortgage payment that were paid the many days it was on the market too high, utilities, and possible cost them the home they wanted to buy because this home was sold on contingency. It costs the seller in value because the seller is not going to try that hard for a market worn, stale, and old listing.  It costs the agent in time and marketing money, as well as the headache and stress in dealing with the after effects of a client listing gone wrong.

Make sure you look at all the reasons a home does not sell.  The reason a home does not sell may not be just price, it could be that a home seller does not wish to put a sign out front, (usually for vain reasons), which is much akin to winking at a pretty girl in complete darkness, no one knows your doing it but you.  Put a sign out, many potential buyers drive around selecting homes, this is free advertisement and should be utilized.  Also how does the home look, should it be spruced up?  Higher market value homes also have another reason for failing to sell.  With these type homes, the sellers only want appointment only, or no lock box, I call these appointments for failure listings.  Good luck selling a home you can’t show, there are far too many homes these buyers will see that don’t have these restrictions and the buyers get the last laugh as the home sits and waits for an even lower market.  Don’t let this happen to you as a seller, or to your clients, as agents, it does no one any good to not state the truth in the beginning.

Well that was our 8 cents, remember to listen to our podcast and subscribe today!  Feel free to comment on this or any of our other blog postings.  http://realestaterant.podbean.com

The 14 most common mistakes people make when buying a home.

Here are some of the most common mistakes buyers make when buying a home.  What we pontiffs wanted to do is better inform our loyal followers to these so they will be better prepared going into the process all together.  We understand that many will know to go with a Carrigan Group advocate and you can avoid many of these problems, but some can’t and so this will help you better inform your agent to protect yourself.

1.    Ignoring the costs and effects of low credit score…

What score should I have?   Well I wish I could tell you but I can’t it varies, there is so many variables involved, what is your income, what type of credit do you have, what is the amount of liabilities do you have, and are you leveraged too high?   But I can tell you that below 650 it will cost you, in many ways this number will affect you and your wallet.   For example, your car insurance will be more expensive, your loan interest may be higher, your payments for furniture and other installment contracts will be higher, you may be turned down for loans, apartments, and even jobs because of it (regardless that it is against the law, you may never know the real reason) and you may be required to put more money down.

So ignoring the warning signs and the report itself can have a terrible effect on your score and your financial history.   Pull that report, look at it, analyze it, and fix what you can now.  Look at items in which you had negative notations, but now you have been on time for two years or more and have the negative items removed.   Double check to make sure there are no mistakes on the report or possible an issue of identity theft or identity mistake, it can happen.  Pay down balances that are close to the limit, or even ask for a higher limit (but don’t fill that extra amount).   There are many things you can do to help your credit, call us and we can help, BUT DON”T call these scam artists who claim they can improve your credit for a mere $3000.00.  Check your credit score early and fix what you can now.

2.    Know how much a house you can afford….ALL the costs involved

One mistake many buyers make is they ask for a particular payment, or have a specific payment in mind and they don’t take into consideration the other costs either direct, related, or hidden that are involved in owning a home.  Many people say, I need a payment of no more than $1900.00 a month or I can’t afford the home.  They then get a quote from a loan officer who says “sure we can do that, here is a loan amount of $.......00 with a payment of only $1800.00 a month, how do you like that?”  However, this payment does not include insurance, HOA dues, other assessed taxes, property insurance, monthly utilities, pool maintenance, gardening maintenance, etc.   Remember that some of your monthly costs will go up and that you will still have other costs that you had before and you should take those into consideration as well. 

What you should do is ask the loan officer if the payment quoted is taxes insurance, PMI, interest, and principle included.  Remember your loan officer does not have an insurance quote for you nor does he/she know the average utilities you will have for your new home.  Have them in mind by researching those costs, and you will have a better idea of all the costs involved in owning your home and what it does to your monthly payment.  Always shoot for a lower house price then you want to afford so you don’t over stretch yourself, especially if this is your first home.  Understand that there are tax incentives to owning your home but also there are maintenance and other costs as well.

3.    Failing to have an agent represent you and staying loyal

This should be an obvious one, and of course it is also a touchy subject.  Many people just don’t understand how Agents get paid.  It is easy for those so called investment gurus to slam agents and commissions paid, and yet will they give their advice for free?  Will these same experts give you their book free, let you attend their costly seminars for free, or even have no strings attached?   After giving you their advice are they personally responsible for the outcome?  Are they economically tied to the successful outcome of your transaction like a realtor is? 

No, you see, there are those who have bought so many houses, and investment properties who understand the ins and outs of a transaction and also can afford to lose a few thousand dollars, but not the average consumer, the average consumer needs someone who will represent them, and their interests.

An agent only gets paid if you buy a house and the transaction closes, in the interim however, the many hours driving to and from houses, the faxing and research and the length of escrow the agent receives nothing.  They don’t get paid until it closes AND there is enough money left over at the end of the transaction.  So remember no one likes to work for free, and you need to be loyal and honest with your agent.  If the agent is not doing their job, let them know, and if you get no response, dump them.  But remember, trying to straddle the fence and have multiple agents working on your behalf will mean that once they figure this out, they will dump you or worse, string you along and not care whether your interests are taken care of or not.  After all, you didn’t think enough of them to consider their interests either.

Remember that a listing agent works for the seller, an REO broker works for the bank, an auctioneer works for the seller, and if they represent you too, who’s interest will first be sacrificed?  The buyer’s (yours) that’s whose interest will fall down the list of priorities first.  So don’t be fooled into thinking they will aggressively try and get you the best deal.    If you believe the experts, then the agent is out for only their commission at worst and at best there is a conflict of interest and they are going to try and get the highest price for the house.  Where you, on the other hand, have an interest in getting the lowest price for the house possible.

4.    Focusing on your wish list is not a reality check

When you go and look for a home you want it all, you want what you don’t have now, or what others have that you like.  However, that may not be out there, or at least not in total.  A house needs to meet your needs at a minimum and then needs to have the highest priorities on your list met.   You may or may not get all of them in one home, or in the home that accepts your offer.  You need to prioritize, and step back from the transaction and think rationally rather than emotionally.  Am I saying you need to compromise on your dream?  No, but you will need to come to a realization that your dream home is not out there unless you build it, and even then once you live in it you will see issues.

What we recommend is always update your priority list and keep realistic about your chances of finding all of your wants in one house.  Be open and honest with your agent and always talk about your likes and dislikes as they will change.   As we talk about in our podcast and blogs, you will be making many offers and looking at many houses before completing the transaction ultimately.  So things happen and the housing market is volatile. Although many homes are on the market, many are not going to match what you need or want.

5.    Assuming foreclosures and auction are such a great deal…

Remember, these same investors and banks who got us into this mess are also the ones trying to put the blame solely on the agents out there trying to sell this inventory.  Foreclosures are a trustee sale, that means the bank now owns them and they have not seen the property, and sellers make no warranties as to its condition.  You also may not even be able to see the home prior to bidding.  You have to also understand that the reo brokers work for the bank and not you, as stated above they do not have your best interests at heart.  Watch out for the fine print, you may still have some costs that won’t be knocked out by the foreclosure, and you may be responsible for evicting the current tenants who are not so happy to be leaving.  I have seen owners smash the property up just as escrow closes, and there is NOTHING a bank or reo broker will do about it.

Auctions are all these problems and can even be worse.  They add insult to injury and they charge you an extra 5% just for the opportunity to not preview the property beforehand, accept the property as-is, and sometimes force you to use their loans which are also high priced.  Price conscious buyers need to be educated and wary at the same time, some of these auctions allow you to bring an agent with you, do so, and have cash on hand or you will be out, and be ready to compete with the other investors who are out there and gave you the advice not to use an agent (so they can get you to screw up and they can swoop in and buy).

Short sales can also be difficult and time consuming, so make sure you are prepared for what might happen.  Listen to our podcasts that talk about these type transactions, so you can be better prepared in the end.  And on a side note, these silly buses that truck unsuspecting buyers around only show you the properties they want  to show you (their own listings and we have spoken about that problem above) and yes you can make an offer, along with the other 50 people on the bus with you, great odds there huh?

6.    Assuming your first offer will be accepted

Many buyers get frustrated when they find a house, and make an offer they believe was good, and don’t want to sit patiently for an answer.  And if the answer comes at all, it seems that a property that when we made an offer surprisingly, now has multiple offers and they are all higher than yours.  Believe us, we know how frustrating this is, and many a buyer gets angry and frustrated to only leave the process entirely.  Well, what is going on then?   Well, there are many truths, and not all things on the up and up.  Am I saying there are bad agents out there?  Yes, Yes I am, there are desperate, hungry, jaded, unethical, and do anything to make a dollar agents out there.   Are there professional buyers who have done their homework and are willing to pay all cash to get a home?   Yes, yes there is.  There are agents who hold on to a listing so they can double end the deal (represent both sides themselves), and there are homes which are priced too low in order to attract more buyers into a bidding war.

Then what should you do?  Have patience, and stick with your advocate.  Remember that many times you can bid and then never hear from them again, so please be patient and keep bidding, and keep looking.  Many listings on the market today are priced well below what they should so that many buyers will bid and they can counter offer the price upwards.  Some people bid very high on a well priced listing in order to start a bidding war, artificially inflating the going asking price.  They do this knowing that the price they offered will never make it to appraisal and thus the bank will renegotiate to a price closer to what you were offering all along.  Sometimes we as your advocate can make sure the offer is well thought out and well within the good price range, and we can also speak to the broker of the agent’s listing (that sometimes can work against you), but that does not ensure we can overcome the shady dealings.

So the quick answers are, be patient, look for homes a little below your price range in order to have room to price up your bid to get the house, remember that your offer has to compete with other buyers who want the house so don’t ask for too much, and again worth repeating be patient, be patient, be patient.

7.    Not buying with contingencies

This can be a big one if you are on the wrong end, buying a home knowing that it must meet your loan criteria, or that you must close on your current home is crucial.  Missing this one could cost you your home; I have seen it many times before.  An agent writes an offer and sends it to us without contingencies.   When in the offer, and by talking with the agent you can tell there needs to be one.  That client is going to be very upset when those contingencies are not met and they can’t pull out of the deal.  Make sure you have a good advocate who knows how to write an offer (not simply putting it on their assistant to do, or their pre-done template offers).

8.    Scrimping on inspections (home and termite)

This too may sound obvious, but I have been on the other side of transactions where the buyer’s agent allows, or even encourages their client to forgo an inspection because the seller won’t pay for any repairs.  Well that agent needs to find a new line of work, because it is clear they don’t understand the need nor the value of these inspections.

A home inspection, a good thorough one, will help you pin point the most pressing problem areas that will need to be addressed once or before you move in.   A termite problem will allow you to see where the problems lie in the pest area, or the rotting wood that will need to be replaced, or even the good news that there is nothing pressing to deal with and you should be happy to buy the home.  At least you will know, and better prepared.

Pay the inspection, because the agent, who doesn’t press you to do it, won’t be there when you find out the extent of the damages because you were the buyer and you had a responsibility to do those inspections.  Don’t expect to come after an agent who told you that you should do these inspections and you decided not to, it’s just plain silly.

9.    Not getting a home warranty

These warranty plans are a great deal, depending on who you use, they can save you a bundle of money on repairs.  Oh, and a great tip is, you can buy these warranty plans anytime you like.  Even after you have the home, remember whether your agent, seller, or you pay for it, it will help you in the long run.  What are they?  Well they are a policy that you can purchase for around $400.00 that in the event your ac or your water heater breaks down, for a small fee (between $25-$55 dollars) they will fix it or replace it, you can also get it on septic systems, roofs, ACs, appliances, and the like so remember the first year you WILL have some issue that a home warranty will come to the rescue.  I will have a podcast later to discuss this very issue, with lots of tips on what to buy.  Why not spend the $450.00 now instead of the $1000.00 later.

10.   Don’t shop for other things while getting a home

I can tell you that this has happened a few times with some clients of mine, they are so excited to get the new home and they buy a few other things to go with it, like a spa, or a new truck.  Then all of a sudden just before funding the bank checks your credit again and whammo your debt to income ratio is off and now you don’t qualify for the loan anymore.  Watch it, and be careful, better yet, don’t buy anything until everything closes.

11.   Getting the right mortgage

We all have seen what the last buying craze did to the overall economy.  I blame banks and many an agent for that, but I also blame the consumer.  Many a consumer saw the appeal of fast and easy money to buy the house of their dreams that was way too expensive but they believed they had the time and opportunity to later change that bad loan out for a good one.  Well we know where that philosophy got them right?  So please get a good loan, even it is for less than you wanted, and assume that things get worse before they get better, and ALWAYS work on improving your financial situation to better withstand the effects of the economy down the line.

Get a good loan officer, ask questions that may stump them, if they make something up, dump them now, or pay the price later.  Ask them about their toughest deal and how they got it fixed, and see if you can speak to that client.  Remember once the advocates have done their job, it will be up to the 2 most important people in the world at that given moment, the loan officer and the escrow agent to close it in the end.  Have a bad loan officer who can’t get the deal funded and knew all along, or didn’t ask the right questions and sure enough the deal falls out at the last minute, and who do you think you’ll blame???  Don’t fib, we know, the AGENT, that’s who, I have seen it many times, every month they write a check for a bad loan and they get angry at us, and forget that we didn’t do the loan and you got yourself into it.  So do your homework, you will thank us for it later.

12.   Save save save your money, ask ask ask for money

It used to be that you went to a wedding and they had gifts for the bride and groom, and usually it was money in order to have a down payment for their new home.  Those days are gone (or maybe coming back).  In this day and age, one positive thing that has emerged is, you have to have skin in the game, you have to have some money down to get a home now.  That’s reality, and it’s a good thing.    So save your money, don’t buy that new 4x4, or that new quad, save your money for a down payment or the costs associated with your purchase.  Always ask for money, ask it from the seller, but don’t go overboard, see if you can’t work in certain costs into the loan or the deal so you can get into that home, be creative.

13.   Get utilities turned on in time

Okay you have had all the stress and excitement imaginable to get into your new house, you are ready to move in on the weekend, and you have done it, only to find out you missed one crucial thing, the utilities are not on.  Great, you roll with the punches and eat by candle light, but after call the evil electric company and Gas Company and Water Company, you find out they cannot do anything to Monday and maybe have someone out by Wednesday.  Now your romantic elation about your house has dropped to record lows and you need to stay somewhere else and the glow has dimmed on your new home experience.  I have had it happen with new tenants and buyers of other agents who buy one of our listings.  What we try to do is gently remind the client that you will need to get those things turned on and get ready to change your address and such.  So remember that this is a simple thing that can cause a real headache in the end when it happens.

14.   Be flexible and be patient, and stay positive

Remember that there is a bit of the wild-wild-west in this housing frontier.  No one can guarantee a smooth buying process (sometimes it happens but it is rare).  Remember that the “experts” also have an angle, and your uncle’s/sister’s/friend’s/coworker’s/neighbor’s experience is not indicative of your possible outcome (you don’t know all the variable involved in their deal).   Be patient, trust your advocate, and be prepared with the right kind of knowledge and you can minimize the false expectations and thus increase the level of pleasure and excitement that can accompany your house buying experience, and turn the process of buying a house and making it your home more fulfilling.

Well I hope this was informative for you, please contact us today for all your real estate needs, and even questions.  Remember to subscribe to the blog and to our podcast to continue to hear our 8 cents on issues in real estate that make a difference to you.

ryan

Not all bad news, some rosy, sometimes....Tax Debt Forgiveness

Well the state of California has decided to reinstate tax forgiveness measures so they are more in line with the federal tax forgiveness instituted by the President George Bush.    For those unfortunate enough to have to lose their home in a Short sale, it used to be a great shock to walk away from the home to only find out the nightmare has not ended.

Before George Bush signed into law the debt forgiveness act, any amount “forgiven” by the banks in a loan mod or a Short Sale was considered income to the person forgiven and thus taxed as ordinary income.   That means if the home sold for $150,000.00 less than you owed, you got hit by the IRS AND the state tax board for personal income taxes, and many people received penalties for not reporting it as income.   Many people simply thought they would walk away and that would be it, well, it wasn’t. 

Let me explain in simple terms what happened.  If your friend gives you $200.00 and you spent the money, but later you cannot pay him/her back, and they are nice enough to get what they can from you and forgive the rest, say like taking only $125.00 instead of $200.00, then the Tax Gods deem that you have been enriched by $75.00 and that is considered income and must be included in all your gross wages as well.  The TAX MAN NEVER goes away!  The Bank loan on your house is the same way, if you owed $350,000.00 on the first and $50,000.00 on the second and you could not get a loan mod (or wish not to take one) and the home was put up for sale (by a FINE Firm such as The Carrigan Group….I’m just saying), and the bottom line proceeds came only to $135,000.00 to the first and $5,000.00 to the second loan, the IRS and the state tax Board sees you being “enriched” by $260,000.00, and you are taxed on that as income ADDED to your regular income.  Scary, very scary, isn’t it?

Well, that was reality for a lot of people, then President Bush decided that it was not fair and with Bipartisan support removed that penalty for people.   This year the state and federal tax relief expired, and many sides did not want to reinstate it, The State of California did NOT want to reinstate it because they are desperate for the revenues.    Congress reinstated it and finally after many months of  delay the Governator decided to retroactively reinstate it.  This is a good thing in the short run, hopefully loan amounts and values will not deviate as much in the future and we will not need to reinstate it again.

Here are the specifics, For debt forgiven on a loan secured by a "qualified principal residence," borrowers will now be exempt from both federal and state income tax consequences.  The existing federal exemption is for indebtedness up to $2 million, whereas the new California exemption is for indebtedness up to $800,000 and forgiven debt up to $500,000.

"Qualified principal residence" indebtedness is defined as debt incurred in acquiring, constructing, or substantially improving a principal residence.  It includes both first and second trust deeds.  It also includes a refinance loan to the extent the funds were used to payoff a previous loan that would have qualified.

The tax breaks apply to debts discharged from 2009 through 2012.  Californians who have already filed their 2009 tax returns may claim the exemption by filing a Form 540X amendment.

Taxpayers who do not qualify for the above exemptions (e.g., second home or rental property) may nevertheless be exempt under other provisions.  Most notably, taxpayers who are bankrupt are exempt from debt relief income tax.  Also, taxpayers who are insolvent are exempt from debt relief income tax to the extent their current liabilities exceed current assets.  Thank you to CAR Real legal for the information and research on this subject.

For you loyal readers, normally I rant and rave when the government does something wrong, here I am saying this is a good thing and will help a lot of people.  Now if they can just get the banks to cooperate and let this inventory get sold to new home owners, we may see a rebound in the market.  Well this was just a short one, thanks for reading and, that was just my 8 cents…..

Ryan

Where are we now? (or, why in my humble opinion BofA sucks!)

Wow, this market can be very frustrating, especially when you are dealing with BofA.   Short sales and negotiations are taking forever, and BofA is the prime suspect.   These banks have it all, a sweet deal of making trillions of dollars off people during the hot real estate market, the a bigger killing on the refi-boom, then the government steps in and says they are too big to fail, and bails them out and BofA gets 45 billion dollars.   Wow, that’s a lot of money, our money (mine and yours), they whine and cry how they need our help when they are the number one reason we can’t get out of this slump! 

 

If you listen to our award winning podcast, “what to expect” you can see the frustrating long process it is to get a short sale done.   BofA is notorious for losing files, faxes, and other important documents when it is beneficial to them to stall the process.   They constantly play the negotiator roulette, one week you work with one the next they are gone.   Then they tell you that everything has to start over again and they need updated files before they can move on, then when you think that it is on its way you are told to call back, then you NEVER hear from them again, and weeks later after phone calls, emails, and faxes, you have to call a different number to fax to a different fax line, or they want you to start over and email them.   Then after that, and more weeks have gone by, nothing, absolutely nothing, and no one can tell you what’s going on or where it is, and no one can answer “where are we now?”

 

Meanwhile you have the property losing value, buyers losing interest, and your hair is falling out and your clients think you don’t know what you’re doing.   One problem is, before this the big bad evil mortgage bank was Countrywide, man EVERYONE loved to hate countrywide, then BofA bought Countrywide and decided to eat the poison they were selling and become an even more evil company.   BofA is so inept, the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing meanwhile their foot is in their mouth and they really don’t care, it’s that simple.

Obviously, (all you BofA lawyers back off) this is in my own humble yet important opinion and is based entirely on the numerous occasions that this has happened to me and my agents personally, I am not here just to bash but to scream from the mountain tops that this is happening and its wrong!   Another problem is they are backed up, I understand that, but please let’s get some semblance of order, let’s keep the files moving, and let’s start approving deals.

Now our government is also trying to sweeten the deal and pay the banks an extra few thousand for every deal they close, WOW, that should have changed things huh, do ya think?   Well no it did not, they are holding up deals and allowing deals to fail every day, regardless of the bailouts, mergers, friendly regulations, powerful lobbyists, monetary incentives, and so called presidential threats.   BofA and its investors who hold the notes could speed things up and significantly improve this market overnight.   

All this government intervention has not helped one bit, (remember this is the same government who was not overseeing the growing crisis before it happened, and regardless of how you feel about who is in office (he WAS a senator for the years during this crisis) Congress was in charge and they wanted these risky loans, in order to secure votes,  and they didn’t prepare for the consequences.   Remember many of these congressional leaders have been around for years, on both parties, Frank, Dodd, Reid, Rangel, Pelosi, they have been in charge for many years, and on their watch this happened.   So banks are just simply waiting it out to see if the congress can come along and buy them all out again. 

Now we have a new idea, coming straight from BofA themselves, let’s get rid of brokers, and those greedy investors (who made a fortune off flipping properties) also want to do the same.   Listen I am not saying nor have I ever said that there were not any bad brokers or loan officers out there, there were, but there was a lot more greedy banks and the banks are where the buck stopped, they didn’t have to lend those silly loans in the first place, but they were receiving pressure from Barney Frank, and the likes of ACORN (yes, I said it, what about it? it’s the truth).   So the banks that profited immensely now cry foul!  Okay, I get it, you got hurt in the speculative real estate market, well, welcome to planet earth.   Why punish us brokers who are trying to offload these toxic homes for you?

Why do they always lose files?   Why do the negotiators always change?   Why do we not have a BPO ordered?   Why out of 22 pages faxed successfully you somehow don’t have one?   Why do I get a voicemail all the time?    Why doesn’t someone return my calls?    Why can’t someone shoot me an email with an answer to my question of “where are we now?”    Every day we call, we call multiple times and when and IF we ever get a live person that person cannot give us an answer to “where are we now?”    So, to all of you loyal readers, and to my clients, where are we now?

I’ll tell you, we are now in a situation where congress is trying to look like they are helping but really don’t want to.   Look at the finance regulation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are conspicuously absent from the reform?   (see http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Dems-Dont-Address-Freddie-And-ibd-1664037314.html?x=0&.v=1)   And yet they are the main culprits, and they are the closest to the problem and the solution.   Unfortunately for us they are VERY close to the problems, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, both have been their pockets since the beginning and still are.   I know it’s easy to say Republicans are wedded to the big businesses but we need to look at the Dems too, not assume they are fighting for us.   Look at the sweetheart deal given to Chris Dodd, or the looking of the other way by Barney Frank when they were giving loans to people who could not afford them, and Barney wanted to be able to keep those people as votes, rather than keep our economy healthy.   They were in charge and THEY need to be held accountable, after all the head of Freddie Mac was paid over $800,000.00 in salary last year, the previous CEO to him was paid $1.4 million.    Are we not in a recession here?   Why did we bail them out?   Please, Leaders of congress were in bed with the banks and throughout history we have seen banks time and time again exempted from reform, or regulations.   So where are we now?  Headed for even more trouble!   And that’s just my 8 cents on the subject……

Ryan S. Carrigan, J.D.

California Spirals Downward, the madness continues

California’s long spiral downward….could get worse,

Ok so it’s July and well we are still here, we are still alive, maybe not alive and kicking, but alive none the less.  However, every day I just have to shake my head and wonder where the heck we get our state legislators?  What world do they live in?  Do they not see what we see?  Can they not understand what they are trying to do and have done is only going to make it worse?

The sad answer to all these questions is NO.  The far left have run this sate and have been in control of ALL levels of this state for a long, long time.  What do they have to show for it?  Well let us see:

The lowest rated schools in the nation

One of the Highest income tax rates in the country

Unbearable worker’s comp rates

Extremely unfriendly business environment

Highest paid school administrators in the country

WAY WAY WAY too much Union control over every aspect of our lives

Highest Sales Tax in the country

Some of the highest DMV rates in the country

Lowest pass rate on the high school exit exam in the country (not a surprise why they canceled it and no longer want to give it)

One of the highest illegal alien population in the country (And don’t just think it’s all from Mexico (all you minutemen out there))

High corporation taxes

High estate tax rates

High capital gains rate taxes

Highest total of Gas taxes

WE ALREADY HAVE A CAP AND TRADE FAILURE ON ENERGY in this state (we had it for years and it has only made energy MORE costly and raised our taxes on it)

High property tax and property transfer fees and taxes as well as codes in order to sell your home.

Unlicensed and unregulated Department of corporations finance lenders throughout the state

The largest most bloated constitution in the country AND we even beat out some countries for length

Rampant welfare fraud, worker’s comp fraud, medi-cal fraud, insurance fraud

With all this and much more, what is Sacramento democrats, and their union thugs want now?  More taxes….oh, oh, sorry they call it “Revenue”, and they don’t want to really cut spending at all.  Sure they want to threaten that they’ll cut emergency services or throw poor children out into the street.  Will they cut their own salaries?  Cut their staff?  Cutoff all their own perks (such as travel, hotel, food, car expenses, personal phones, personal assistants, and vacation pay)?   No, will they cut back on the per-dium and salaries paid to the thousands of board and committee members?

Assembly woman Noreen Evans a few days ago before a conference committee on the budget. “This mantra out there ‘live within our means,’ while it sounds really nice, while it sounds really simple and it sounds really responsible, it’s meaningless”

They want to say that they don’t want to hurt the poor and yet they raise sales taxes, they raise DMV fees, and they raise gas taxes, ALL of which hurt the poor, and everyone I might add.  They don’t want to cut their own salaries and perks and yet they want us to sacrifice.  They don’t want to live within their means and yet we are expected to when really no one can right now.

It is bad, and by all accounts when the legislators call up the union bosses to get their marching orders ( http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/afb/archives/034764.html ) , and the legislators DON’T live in the real world, it is only going to get worse before it gets better.  There are calls for a constitutional convention (I am all for it), and a call for their heads to be put on a stick.  We unfortunately have a congress who also believe that they only way to save us all, is for us to sacrifice more and pay more taxes,  spend trillions more money, increase our national debt by 4 fold, and have the government control even more of our lives and our industries (they now run the automobile industry, own all the major banks, want to own and control energy, oil, and gas, and soon want to take over our health care system).  We all need to stop, regroup and find out what makes us special, what makes us special is simple, we’re Americans, not Europeans, we founded this country on get the government the heck out of our way and stop taxing us to death.  However, recently (EVEN G.W. is to blame) our governments have decided that more government control, more government programs, more government spending, and to pay for it more revenue (taxes) is the answer.

We need to look to what works in this country and let individuals take control of their destiny, and fortunes.  We Californians have been known for some serious innovation and true grit and gumption in the past.  We need to start with what we know is true, that government is not our solution it is our problem (as someone said in the past (hmm A Californian too)), kick the circus out of Sacramento, and start all over.  We have to acknowledge our failures, acknowledge that recently we took for granted all that we were supposedly earning in the real estate market, and know that we cannot do business the same again.  We cannot raise taxes and expect the economy to turn around.  We need to tighten our belts and see government for what it is, and what it is not, and see where the gap is.  Here is another great article showing California’s problems …. http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13990207

Let us revolt, feel patriotic again, and gain some self control back! Good luck everyone and I hope we all can find a solution to all that ails us in this Golde