patrick.net

HeadSet Says:
May 5th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
"Some states have laws about how much REO a bank can have. Does California have a waiver on that? I thought that if a bank has too many forclosures on the books, the REO laws would force them to sell in the current market, with no option to wait it out."

I'm not sure that it is state law, I thought it was something to do with reserve requirements. In any case, there is a mechanism that limits the numbers like you say. That's my understanding of why banks are bundling foreclosures and selling them. I have been approached to participate in such a purchase but I'm unimpressed when the price is basically 67 cents on the dollar. Still too much.

Malcolm.

Are you doing local San Diego County properties or farther away?

RealEstate Joe Says:

> The story this morning on KCBS about banks bulldozing
> new house construction in Victorville due to foreclosures,
> a non-existing buying market and the local government
> racking up fines, is awful.

Why do you have a problem of a bank bulldozing an unfinished home that has been vandalized?

> There should be some communication and negotiation
> with local government and lenders in the area to come
> up with a workable solution that benefits the community
> rather than resorting to destruction of assets.

They did not destroy “assets” they destroyed “liabilities”. If someone puts an unfinished Honda in front of your house and crack addicts move in to the car slashing the seats and thrashing it you can either pay $50K to finish and repair it so you can sell it for $25K (while paying to keep it insured and registered) or you can tow it to the scrap yard for $200. What would you do?

The homes were near finished, as apparent from the MSNBC video.

Actually even for the far flung houses, there can be other innovative ways to retain value.

For example, the banks can offer the house for anybody to live in for free, as long as they promise to pay the property tax and set aside an annual maintenance fee in a trust. Of course they need to sign a bunch of documents taking over all future liabilities from the banks, while the banks retain their equity stake in the house.

Bulldozing the houses is basically writing off the house off 100%. Letting someone else live in it for free, ridding of all ongoing property tax and maintenance and legal cost, is the same as writing it off almost 100%, except that there may be a slight chance of getting some money back in the more distant future.

The government can also help by offering the builders tax writeoff for the above-mentioned program as if the houses were bulldozed. At least from the local city's perspective, somebody will be making property tax payment.

EBGuy,

is this house in the east bay fortress?
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/reb/1154141442.html

good deal?

>>is this house in the east bay fortress?

I'd say so, but it is also very near ground zero of the Berkeley Hills 1989 fire. Caveat emptor. There is a reason this house is new.

Sorry, I meant to say 1991 fire. 1989 was another disaster ;-)

is this house in the east bay fortress?
No. Like justme said, Caveat Emptor. And notice the Oakland address in the RedFin listing. A Berkley mailman will deliver your packages, but guess where the kids go to school. The only thing left standing in Oakland is the Rockridge area, which is still impregnable, even on the foreclosure maps.

... And now things really start to get ugly. The sellers PUT DOWN 20% and are about to lose that and then some (credit rating still intact, though). Don't worry, we get to participate too, as IndyMac owns their first and second mortgages.

EBGuy,

Seriously, not fortress? What about Piedmont district of Oakland on the other side of HW24? Don't they have their "own" schools?

justme Says:
May 6th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Malcolm.
Are you doing local San Diego County properties or farther away?

Out of state. No deals like that exist here.

hi, just found this blog and wonder can you help me out. I am interested in buying real estate in the US when the market bottoms out. As I only have European experience I don't have a clue as to what the regulations/ taxes are. Is there a handbook out there that could help me? Would really appreciate some good references re newspapers/magazines that are good at monitoring each city. Thinking of San Fran and Atlanta. Any ideas?

What about Piedmont district of Oakland on the other side of HW24? Don’t they have their “own” schools?
Piedmont is actually a separate city, not a district in Oakland. And yes, they are part of Fortress East Bay (but starting to show some foreclosure 'cracks').

EBGuy,

so which is more of a fortress, Piedmont or Berkeley? Btw, thanks for educating us on the fortress geography of EB. Is MSJ considered a fortress?

Geraldine,

highly discouraged if you don't know which geographical area you are looking into, unlike the better parts of Europe, US real estate is extremely localised, from tax law, property law, to geographical differences.

In Europe, the distinction between a good area and a bad area is very clear. The posh arrondissements in Paris are decidedly far away from the bad ones, and in London you need to cross the river to visit the seedy zones . Here in the Bay Area, for example, bad area and posh area could be a few streets across. I myself am still trying to grasp the dividing line of "good" and "bad". When we talk about bad area, it is completely unlivable by European standards (and rent uncollectable). Good areas could be losing only 5-10% of the value while the bad areas are already 60% off.

So you really need to start with a very clear geographical focus first.

so which is more of a fortress, Piedmont or Berkeley?
Berkeley is a much larger municipality than Piedmont and has residents from a much wider socioeconomic spectrum (and I'm not just talking about the students). For instance, in SW Berkeley, foreclosures (NODs, NOTS, bank owned) outnumber resales 3 to 1. Definitely not Fortress.

Then again, it's a toss up between the Elmwood/Claremont district in Berkeley (Census block 4238) and Piedmont as to which is more of a Fortress. At this point I'd give the edge to Berkeley...

Geraldine,

You must be kidding. Don't do it, unless you have a close relative or dear friend who's a long time resident in the location you're going to buy. But if that were true, I suspect you would not be asking here.

It's anyone's guess about "bottom". We won't know about the "bottom" till a very long time after it's not a bottom any more. But I'd be more concerned about being an absentee investor or absentee landlord or even absentee property owner. All kinds of bad liabilities and stuff can happen to you.

For the one thinking of buying in Atlanta--please be aware that outlying areas can also be called "Atlanta," but a home there might not be particularly rentable. That is, people would not be looking to rent in those areas. Much of the real estate in Atlanta is subject to the arbitrary rules of neighborhood associations, so you might run into some trouble renting a house you own or even painting the front door red. Also, Atlanta is still deep South in some ways, and neighborhoods tend to be divided up by skin color moreso than in other parts of the country. That could be a factor in attempting to rent your investment property. Buying investment property in the Atlanta market could be complex for someone who does not live there and know the area.

EBGuy,

it's funny that you show me that article on racial homogeny in Claremont.

To be frank, well-to-do Asians (at least for Chinese), when selecting their home turf, particularly seek out districts full of white, and if full of Jews, even better. An area full of Asian is actually considered "undesirable", because it is usually considered dirty and low class (how Cupertino and MSJ escaped such stigma is actually a miracle). But, when Cupertino is compared to Saratoga and Palo Alto, the latter two are deemed more desirable because they are more white. Upper or middle upper class Chinese sneer at places like Milpitas, or Montery Park in LA, because they are too "filthy", while they drive to eat there very frequently. You will notice that the posh Asian neighborhoods are actually NOT full of good Asian restaurants (neither Cupertino or MSJ are known for great Asian restaurant choices), because the elite Asians want to keep it that way, they don't want all the Asian rif rafs to end up in their backyard.

There is a Jewish center opening in Palo Alto/ Mountain View border, and the condos next to it is immediately considered a great selling point because Chinese parents want their kids to go to school with Jewish kids whom they believe to be smarter than everyone else.

I have also heard from a well-educated, first generation Mexican legal immigrant who told me the last neighborhood he wants to live in is a Mexican neighborhood because it is more "dangerous" and the residents there are of "low quality" (in his words).

It's funny looking at employment numbers. It's as if like, they can decide almost any number at will. They decided to put 226K new small business created in April vs 114K in march. Want to beat Wall ST estimates, Just put in a higher number for business creation.

"I don’t want to brag but this fourth house that we are closing on will cost a total of $20,000 including the work to fix it, and will rent for $800 per month."

I heard the same line on a Carleton Sheets infomercial last night...