New Home Builds Remain Quite Strong in Orange County going into 2017

Median Home Prices in Orange County are up (as the chart below shows)

That’s nice to know, but the million dollar question is:  Where are we headed?

Large Company New Home builders e.g. Shea, Pulte, KB Homes, William Lyon, Lennar, D.R. Horton and smaller companies e.g. MW Custom, Brandywine Homes, Olson Homes all have one thing in common – they do their homework.

Timing is everything in the real estate industry.  I remember seeing vacant lots with “Coming Soon” signs all over Orange County just 1-2 years ago.  How long did they sit vacant?  Some of them were for 5 years or more.  For example, the massive “La Floresta” master planned community in Brea at Imperial Hwy and Valencia Ave shows an electrical permit dating back to April 14, 2011!!!  Over 5 years later, we see a vast array of trendy restaurants, Whole Foods market, and more homes still being built…

Why the delay?   Van Daele Homes, Oakmont, and Del Webb all knew something…that the market would peak in 2016.  Several of the homes purchased this year are still being built.  These builders were willing to wait because the difference between $625,000 and $675,000 is considerable when you’re talking about hundreds of homes purchased.  That $50,000 adds up.  New Home buyers don’t seem to mind – after all, it’s exciting to buy something that smells so new, looks so fresh, and is walking distance to really cool amenities and shopping.

What this means for 2017 and beyond is that historically we see a drop off just after new home builds are bought out, the front yards are starting to look like front yards, the streets begin to resemble normal streets and the feel becomes more of a normal looking neighborhood without the mounds of dirt, construction trucks and lumber stacks.  The dust settles, and the prices begin to drop.  They know it, and they’re ok with it, because they made they’re money and moved on to other projects while the property management companies are left to deal with the problems.

This doesn’t mean these companies are bad – they’re just smart, and they invest too many millions of dollars to make a poor timing decision.

For resale homes (here defined as any home that is not newly built), there is a direct correlation with these new home builds.  Housing markets reach peaks and these peaks are as much psychological as they are physical.  We all know a huge interest rate hike would cause a drop off, but what about the common sense logic that 123 Main St., a small 3 Bedroom single family home in a nice neighborhood built in the 1960s is NOT REALLY WORTH $750,000???  Buyers begin to pull back on the horse’s reins and say “Whoa, Nelly” and more and more decide to wait for a pull back in the housing market.  I hear the words “I’m waiting for prices to come down” quite often from visitors to my Open Houses.  When this sentiment prevails, and more and more people are “on the fence,” the prices come down.

It takes a month, or two, or three…but there comes a time when people selling their homes begin to realize that they can’t get the prices their neighbor was getting in Spring of 2016.  They may try, but after 3 weeks on the market with no offers close to their neighbors’ asking price, the thought starts to sink in – “I need to lower my price if I really want to sell this home.”

This shift from a Sellers’ Market to a Buyers’ Market is not overnight, but gradual as even the nicest of homes that once garnered multiple offers over the first open house weekend see an offer trickle in, every so often.  Ultra careful buyers take their time, not as concerned they’ll “miss out” on this one.  And a new normal is established.  6 months later some Data Company will represent this in the form of a chart that shows a drop off in home prices. Like, for example, this chart shows from 2007 to 2008:

What the rest of this chart doesn’t show is that prices continued to go up in 2016…and then leveled off.  But what is interesting is that the NUMBER OF BUILDING PERMITS issued in Orange County, although significantly lower than last year, was still a huge number for 2016

Building permits are issued long before the actual construction takes place, so we will continue to see a healthy amount of new homes going up in Orange County in 2017.  This is a good sign for 2017 – I won’t stick my neck out and say we will maintain our 2016 median values, but I will say that there is a good chance that home prices won’t dip too much.  In some cases (e.g. the $400,000 to $500,000 homes) there may even be a slight increase.

 

Looking to Buy or Sell?   Call or Text the author of this article,

Nic Petrossi, TNG Real Estate Consultants (714) 272-3646

Email:  Npetrossi@yahoo.com

Your comments and views are welcome!

 

Yorba Linda Real Estate Agents Top 5 Reasons You Need a Realtor for Yorba Linda Homes

Re-blogged by 0 agents

Why Even Use a Realtor? Top 5 Reasons from a Yorba Linda Placentia Realtor (edit/delete)

A Placentia Yorba Linda Real Estate Agent’s Top 5 Reasons to Use a Realtor:

I was noticing from talking to my clients that people don’t like to sit around when they’re ready to buy a home….they are actively looking online themselves.

The problems with this is that you have people looking on Zillow.com and Realtor.com and Redfin.com and finding homes that are often already off the market, in escrow, or sold.  Also, these websites do not let the consumer exclude or include features or special conditions (e.g. “short sales”).  So, I will often get emails from my clients with MLS #’s saying they would like to see these homes.  Don’t get me wrong, Zillow.com and Realtor.com can be good sources of information.  However, when it comes to finding homes that are currently on the market, these websites are not always the most up-to-date and reliable.  The price of the home may be different now, or, as mentioned, the home is already sold.

So, reasons to use a Realtor to help you find a home?

#1   They have access to the world’s most powerful home-searching tool — the MLS.  “Oh, but Nic, I’m searching the MLS through a Realtor’s website or through Redfin or Zillow,” one may say.  Yes, but the MLS on these sites does not allow you to eliminate certain features or add certain features that can streamline your search and save you hours or even days of looking, spinning your wheels and wasting time. 

#2   Private Remarks.   Real estate agents are privy to what are called “Agent Private Remarks” when they pull up a property profile off the MLS.  Real estate agents will give out insider info on a property or sometimes sensitive information that the public is not aware of which could be extremely valuable.  For example, the private remarks could read that the home is not available to show until June 1st, which would save someone from driving to the property and spinning their wheels when the home really isn’t even able to be shown.

#3   Market Knowledge.  This is one of the main reasons people hire a professional.  They want someone who knows the market, who knows the area, who knows what homes are really selling for in a given area.  This kind of knowledge is invaluable when it comes to putting an offer on a home.  The agent can run “comps,” or comparables of all recent sold homes in the neighborhood area to find what a home should REALLY sell for. 

#4   Negotiations.  Buying and selling a home is not a cut-and-dry venture.  The price of a home is rarely fixed and it is up to the skilled communicator and negotiator to hammer out a deal for their client.  Most people would rather have a professional handle this on their behalf.

#5   Peace of Mind.  What would you pay for peace of mind knowing that your Realtor has the situation under control.  Your Realtor is handling the paperwork, checking the deadlines, protecting you from potential legal pitfalls or problems with the property.  If you have someone strong and reliable in your court, you can rest your head at night knowing that it’s all going to work out.

 

Contact Nic Petrossi for a market evaluation of your home’s value and to put your home on the market.

Nic Petrossi specializes in Yorba Linda Homes, Placentia Homes, Brea Homes, Fullerton Homes, Anaheim Hills Homes and all of Northeast Orange County.

(714) 272-3646  Cell

Click here for Nic’s website ——>   WEBSITE

NIC PETROSSI (714) 272-3646 Brea Realtor Placentia Realtor Fullerton Realtor Yorba Linda Realtor

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Market is changing.  Dramatically.

There are dozens of Brea real estate agents, Yorba Linda real estate agents, Placentia real estate agents, Fullerton real estate agents, Anaheim Hills real estate agents from large firms (e.g. Prudential, C-21, Seven Gables, REMAX) who are saying it is EXTREMELY difficult to get their buyers into a property.

What does this suggest???

The market is shifting right in front of our eyes.  I’m coming out now to say — WE’VE HIT THE BOTTOM…at least in the under $500K price range for homes in excellent condition. When it comes to the $300K price range in Northeast Orange County, fuggetaboutit.  What would you say if I told you there are properties with 10, 20, 30 offers on them going for $100K over asking price?  That’s right, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.  A fellow agent in my office made an offer with a client on a home listed at $289,000.  His client’s offer?  $320,00.  He went up to $331,000.  The assistant for the listing agent of this Bank Owned property in Anaheim called to tell him the bad news:

   “Aaron, we have an offer for $370,000.”

             Fuggetaboutit

It’s time to stop listening to what your friends and family are saying or what you’re hearing on TV or reading in the paper…if you want a nice home for a nice price this year, you need to get your “ducks in a row.”  You need to get pre-qualified, you (and your real estate agent) need to be constantly watching for the properties to pop on the market.  This is beginning to look a lot like 2002 again except the banks aren’t going to let it get away from them again and have it crash down on their heads.  The safeguard will be VERIFY, VERIFY, VERIFY.  Verify income, verify downpayment, verify DTI.

Call Nic Petrossi, Prudential for any questions, dialogue, to start the process of finding that right home for you.  Need to sell your home?  I do that too.   (714) 272-3646  cell  (714) 257-3606 office 

npetrossi@yahoo.com

Click here for website:       CLICK HERE!

Fullerton Short Sale Realtors & Agents – What are my options???

There are 5 things you can do when you realize you can no longer make your mortgage payments:

1. Nothing
2. Deed in Lieu (Hand the Title, and keys, back to bank)
3. Short Sale
4. Bankruptcy
5. Loan Modification

All of these options will adversely affect your credit.  However, some options ARE better than others.

For example, the on the severity scale of how bad your credit will take a hit, on a scale of 1 to 10, an outright foreclosure or bankruptcy is like an 11.  The Deed in Lieu is probably the dumbest thing to do because the bank will let you stay in the home rent free for a while anyhow while you work this all out.

A Loan Modification is the best route to take, but you have to know what you’re doing.  There are only a handful of legitimate Loan Modification companies out there that know how to handle this for you (for a fee) but are well worth the money.  Making your monthly payment smaller could allow you to keep your home and sometimes the bank will reduce the AMOUNT owed (principal balance). 

A short sale is the best route to take, usually, if you…A) Can’t get a loan modification, B) The loan modification doesn’t help anyhow because you can’t afford even the new amount, C) The home you’re living in is your principal residence (i.e. it’s not an investment property), and D) you can work out discharge of indebtedness with the IRS.

We get the term “short sale” from the fact that the bank is taking less from the proceeds from the sale of your home than the current loan amount owed.  Ergo, the bank comes up “short.”  In other words, the bank takes the hit in the pocket and you take the hit to your credit.  When you short sale, the amount “forgiven” you by then bank for the difference owed and the final purchase price is actually considered a “gift” by the government, and the government will tax your income accordingly. 

Example:   You bought your home in 2006 for $750,000.  The home is now worth $600,000 and you’ve lost your job.  Your wife (or husband) can’t handle the payments with their income alone.  You try to call the bank and work out a loan modification but the bank says “no” even though the person on the phone is not authorized to tell you “no.”  So you call an expert who can negotiate with the bank for you.  THAT doesn’t even work so now you must short sale your home.  You find a real estate agent who lists the home you once bought at $750,000 for $575,000.  The agent tells you that you need to get together a “packet.”  The packet consists of two years taxes, 2 months bank statements, a hardship letter to the bank explaining why you can’t make your payments, and any other documentation of income.  The agent gets several offers and eventually (after several weeks) submits the highest and best offer (we’ll say $600,000 for the sake of this discussion) to the bank with the “packet.”  The packet with the offer reaches the bank’s loss mitigation department where it sits on a desk with several other offers and packets on several different properties.  If there are 2 or more lenders on your home, the packet and offer have to be sent to those banks as well.  When there is a Second on the property, it gets sticky because the First Lien Holder sometimes doesn’t care about the Second Lien Holder and the Second wants to get something out of the deal.  The negotiations between the 1st, 2nd (and sometimes) 3rd Lien Holders will often delay this process even longer.  Let’s say the bank settles on the $600,000…and you owe $700,000 since you originally put down $50,000 when you bought the place.  Now, you are taxed on that $100,000 as if you made that money since it is considered a gift by the IRS.

The good news is that there was a bill passed by Congress to relieve you of that “gift” taxation as long as you live in the property as primary residence and can prove insolvency (that your bills are more than your income).  You would then apply for this using IRS form 982 called “Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness.”  You apply when you file your income taxes.  The word on the streets is that the IRS is so back-logged that they are not going after people for the difference on their home’s short sale, but I wouldn’t trust in that information but consult a CPA or lawyer to see how you’ll be affected.

Need help selling or buying a home in Orange County? 

Contact me, Nic Petrossi with Prudential at (714) 272-3646 or email me at npetrossi@yahoo.com

Click here to check out my website —–>    CLICK HERE

NIC PETROSSI – Nov. 7, 2008 Yorba Linda Bank Owned Homes | REO | Foreclosures, Complete List from MLS

Below is a list of all Yorba Linda Bank Owned Homes / Yorba Linda Foreclosures as of Nov. 7, 2008.

To set up a time to see any of these properties in beautiful Yorba Linda, call my cell on my website, click here  —>  WEBSITE    WEBSITE   WEBSITE   WEBSITE

Bank Owned Properties can be GREAT DEALS and Yorba Linda is one of the best cities to live in on planet earth.   The status of these listings (although not 100% guaranteed to be completely accurate) will be more accurate than any other website you have been using to search for homes.

Fri, Nov 7, 2008 08:51 AM

RES	MLS #	Status	P	V	H	T	Q	Type	A/D	Address	City	Area	Zip	TGNO	Trct/M	Bd	B t/f	Sty	Gar	SqFt	Yr Blt	Price	DOM
1	P654458	A	7		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	4536 Valley View Ave	YL	85	92886	740A3	OTHR/0	2	2/1	2	2 D	1,046	1965	$219,900	65	*
2	P662711	A	2		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	5430 Copper Canyon Rd 6e	YL	85	92887	741C5	HILL/0	2	2/2	1	1	1,128	1989	$254,800	9
3	P657293	A	9		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	23455 Plymouth Ct 167	YL	85	92887	741D6	OTHR/0	2	2/1	1	2	1,017	1986	$279,900	46
4	R808536	A	14		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	20016 Waverly Glen St 54	YL	85	92886	740F7	FRHL/0	3	3/1	2	1 A	1,179	1977	$299,900	56
5	P652986	A	1		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	20003 Clear River Ln 2	YL	85	92886	740F7	OTHR/0	3	3/1	2	2	1,179	1979	$310,000	52
6	P655264	A	10		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	5035 Twilight Canyon Rd 31a	YL	85	92887	741C4	HILL/*	3	2/1	1	0	1,380	1989	$314,900	53	*
7	P656576	A	1		H	T	Q	CONDO	A	5035 Twilight Cyn 31E	YL	85	92887	741C4	HILL/O	3	2/1	1	2	1,380	1989	$314,900	45	*
8	R808716	A	19		H	T	Q	SFR	D	21935 Cimarron Pl	YL	85	92887	741A5	OTHR/0	3	2/2	1	2 A	1,645	1983	$354,900	34	*
9	M110109	A	12		H	T	Q	SFR	D	17362 Yellowstone Ave	YL	85	92886	740A5	OTHR/0	4	2/2	1	2	1,206	1971	$439,000	39
10	C103452	A	0		H	T	Q	SFR	D	17101 Saga Dr	YL	85	92886	739J4	OTHR/0	3	3/1	1	2 A	1,684	1962	$460,500	1
11	S545231	A	4		H	T	Q	SFR	D	4742 Via La Primavera	YL	85	92886	4472B1	OTHR/x	5	2/2	1	2 A	1,832	1970	$490,999	75	*

NIC PETROSSI, Orange County Homes Specialist — Where are We Headed?

According to the Orange County Register (who uses Data Quick for their home sales data), we are 56% better off than this time a year ago.  (If we didn’t count new home sales we’d be looking at more like 77%).  Here is how things will go down for the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009:

End of 2008

   Typically the Holiday season is slow for real estate.  People are thinking of a head count for Thanksgiving and when to pull out the Christmas decorations from the boxes in the garage.  However, this year will be different.  There is a force in the real estate market called “pent up demand.”  This is when there are buyes who were “fence sitting” waiting for the market to hit bottom who are now coming out of the woodwork to buy a home.  This influx of buyers will mean increased demand and decreased supply.  Expect November and December of 2008 to be better than the November and December of 2006 or 2007. 

 

Beginning of 2009

   Although we will still see foreclosures and short sales popping up all over Orange County, we won’t see AS MANY as we have at the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008.  Orange County is faring much better than the Inland Empire (IE) where it seems like 2 out of 3 homes for sale are short sales or bank owned REO’s.  The balance between buyer and seller will be almost restored as we head into summer of 2009.  We won’t see as many “low ball” offers and the pendulum will swing back in favor of sellers.

 

Contact me through my website (phone # on website) if you’re looking to buy or sell a home in North Orange County ———->  NIC’S WEBSITE.

October 12, 2008 Placentia Foreclosures, Brea Foreclosures, Yorba Linda Foreclosures, Anaheim Hills Foreclosures, Orange County Foreclosures — A Response to O.C. Register Article

An article came out today in the Orange County Register Front Page regarding Orange County Foreclosures. (Orange County, CA that is).  Writer Mathew Padilla quotes DataQuick Data company as his source saying there are more than 3,300 unsold foreclosures in Orange County as of early September 2008.  Though we all know that good news does not sell newspapers and that the O.C. Register is notorious for skewing data to achieve their ends (increased newspaper subscriptions), Mathew Padila did admit that homebuyers are snatching up foreclosures.  This is true.  As a Realtor, I have made offers with buyers on short sale properties and bank owned properties (foreclosures) and have found pretty stiff competition with multiple offers and buyers often out-bidding each other by anywhere from $5,000 over asking price to (I’ve seen) $100,000 over asking price when the home is priced so far under market value that home buyers and investors realize to get the home, they have to sometimes go WAY over asking price. 

Placentia Home Example:

  A home in my own neighborhood in Placentia (smaller unit) was selling as bank owned for $399,990.  I put an offer on this home at full asking price.  It turns out, there were already (1st day on market!!!) several offers already on the table, according to listing agent.  The home ended up selling for (get this) $455,000.  So, although it may be true that there several foreclosures on the market, the GOOD ONES are being bought up immediately and buyers are often paying MORE than asking price when they realize what a ridiculous deal it is. 

Furthermore, the article in the O.C. Register does not specify the number of foreclosurs per city / area.  What this means is that there the 3,300+ homes are mostly in areas where most of the bad loans (stated income negative amortization or adjustables) were issued.  The real numbers for local cities?

Placentia Foreclosures:  25 Bank Owned (REO) Properties out of 186 homes on the market as of TODAY, October 12, 2008.  That’s a whopping 13% baby!

Yorba Linda Foreclosures:  15 Bank Owned (REO) Properties out of 384 homes on the market as of TODAY, October 12, 2008.  Hold on to your hats and glasses for this stat — That’s a whole 4% !!!!! 

Brea Foreclosures:  7 Bank Owned out of 111 total properties (again as of today)…that’s 6% folks.

Is Supply really ahead of Demand as Mathew Padilla says?  Well, in some cities, but when you have only 15 foreclosures listed on the MLS in Yorba Linda out of 384 homes, I wouldn’t call that a majority.  In fact, I’d say that these 15 properties are either going to be bought and gone tomorrow or there is something seriously wrong with some of them.  Buyers are buying REOs like they’re going out of style, when they are priced right (which 90% they are) and they are in good areas.

Looking for a foreclosed / bank-owned property in a great area?  Let me do the research.  If you’re looking in the North Orange County area (Fullerton, Placentia, Brea, Placentia, Orange, Anaheim Hills) or even some of the perimiter cities, I’ll run the search for you and send the properties to your email.

Send your request to:  npetrossi@yahoo.com    or visit my website, click here —> Nic’s Website

For more foreclosure information, check out RealtyTimes, RealtyTrac.com or Yahoo! Real Estate.  (make sure you click the “foreclosures” bubble.  Your best bet is to send your request to my email since I can weed out the homes that are already in escrow or in neighborhoods that are right for you.

$700 Billion Bailout Plan — What does this mean for Placentia Homes, Yorba Linda Homes, Brea Homes and Orange County Home Values?

$700 Billion….what does this mean for values of Placentia homes, Yorba Linda homes, Brea homes, and Orange County homes in general?  Well, first of all, I want to address Senator John McCain’s response to the question asked in the debate on Tuesday, October 7, “What are you going to do to help our economy?”  The answer was something to this effect — (For the government to) Buy up all those bad loans in America.”  Why is this significant?  Though foreclosures in Orange County (and the rest of America for that matter) are still going to be commonplace in 2009-2010, the ability of people stuck in Negative Amortization or 3,5,7 year adjustable mortgages to refinance their home after the government has “bought” their old loan will enable them to lower their payments and remain in their homes.  This won’t be the cure completely, but will at least stop the bleeding of the downward spiral of home prices in Yorba Linda, Placentia, Brea, Fullerton, and Orange County as a whole.

   Foreclosures and short sales are killing home prices.  When a Realtor prices a home well below the comparables (comps), and the home sells for much much less (as in a short sale situation), the rest of the “regular” sale homes in the neighborhood suffer.  When a bank hires a Realtor to sell a placentia bank owned (Placentia REO) home and that Realtor does a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) and prices the home way below the comparables, AND it sells, all the homes in the neighborhood suffer. 

So, what hopefully, though someone can correct me if I am wrong (and I’m open to correction) part of this bail out plan encompasses is relieving a large percentage of home owners with loans that are about to “re-set” sometimes to double the monthly payment (as in an adjustable situation) from this burden and giving them a chance to remain in their homes, NOT have to give their home back to the bank, this helps to alleviate some of the downward pressure on homes in America.

This post is from a Placentia Realtor / Yorba Linda Realtor.  Comments and feedback are more than welcome.  There is much that remains to be seen and see where we are once the dust settles.

 

Placentia Schools & Yorba Linda Schools (Middle / High) API Scores for 2007

Although there are several important factors when deciding on a school for your children (location, demographics, calendar, etc.), the Academic Performance Index (API) standardized test is a measure of school performance and progress. Scores range from 200 to 1000.  A score above 800 is considered very good comparatively, and a score above 900 is considered extremely good or excellent in comparison to other schools statewide.

 

API ranks by school:

 

Bernardo Yorba Linda Middle  831

Travis Ranch Middle  No Accountability Report on Website

Yorba Linda Middle  841

Kraemer Middle  749

Valadez Middle  No Acountability Report

Tuffree Middle  822

 

El Dorado High  802

Esperanza High  837

Valencia High  758

 These scores are from each school’s Accountability Report posted on PYLUSD’s website…as a Placentia Realtor / Yorba Linda Realtor and Area Specialist, I make it my goal to be educated and informed on the boundary areas, schools and miscellaneous school info for my clients’ sakes.

For Boundary Maps of where you must live for your child to attend these schools go to my website à  http://www.nicpetrossi.com/  and click on the “School Boundary Maps” button.  You can also find information on Placentia homes, Yorba Linda homes, Brea homes, Fullerton homes, North O.C. city info and search MLS.

Example of YouTube Placentia Home for Sale Pitch (513 Dickinson Circle, Placentia)

Sorry about the quality…we’ll be enhancing this next go round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJcw0XQWlVE

What a great way to advertise your listings in this digital age!!!

 To see example of video introduction for your real estate website, click here –> Placentia Realtor, Yorba Linda Realtor, Placentia Homes for Sale, Yorba Linda Homes for Sale