Another of San Diego’s Finest Neighborhoods, Carmel Valley. Here Is The Scoop -Rina Podolsky San Diego Exclusive Properties_ Carmel Valley Homes For Sale

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Carmel Valley is a community in San Diego county that has become one of the prime Neighborhoods for many reasons, from its privileged location just a short distance from the beach, it’s top ranking schools and it’s easy freeway access. It has fared better than many local areas through the Real Estate market ups and downs and continues to be a very sought after place to live.

• LOCATION

Carmel Valley is bordered to the north by the North City Future Urbanizing Area (NCFUA) and Pacific Highlands Ranch; to the south by Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Torrey Hills; to the east by Pacific Highlands Ranch and Del Mar Mesa; and to the west by Interstate 5 and Torrey Pines. Nearby is the Torrey Pines State Preserve, where one of two stands of the endangered Torrey Pine is found to occur.

While many people in the area are now referring to the entire 92130 zip code as Carmel Valley, the actual boundaries of the community remain unchanged from the original community plan. The remainder of the 92130 zip code is filled by the surrounding communities of Del Mar Mesa, Pacific Highlands Ranch, and Torrey Hills.

Original Carmel Valley Area Map

• HISTORY

The earliest inhabitants of the area are believed to have been the earliest settlers in the region. There have been some artifacts found along the Carmel Creek area that are said to belong to this Native American tribe, confirming their settlement in the area, however, little is known about their life in this region.

Later in time, around the 1800 to 1900 the area was known as “Cordero” in it is where we find “Ranchers” it is thus known as the Rancho Period. The main activity in the region was producing and trading cattle hides and tallow. This was immediately followed by a period of agriculture became the main trade. At this time in history, we had the California Gold Rush going at full swing and some of these gold rushers did come to settle in the area, among those settlers we had the McGonigle Family who acquired  2,040 acres of what is today known Carmel Mountain preserve. It was then that the area became known as “McGonigle Valley.

Around the 1890’s the sisters of Mercy came from San Francisco down to the region. When they established themselves in the area they gave medical care to the McGonigle family and established a dispensary in 1000 acre parcel of land that they purchased from the same family. They also established a dairy farm and a vegetable garden. They also built a three story Victorian home that has played different roles through out time, it played the role of housing orphans, dispensary for the nuns and that is what later became Mercy Hospital, it later became a private home and horse ranch and most recently, after the Carmelites land was divided in two by the passing of the 56 freeway in the middle of their land, the home became property of the Chabbad center and it is currently on sale. The other half of the property houses a Church and burial grounds.

This nuns  from the Carmelite order and were instrumental in naming the area when they named a mountain “Carmel Mountain” and their ranch “Carmel Mountain Ranch” after it. That is how the area got it’s name.

Sisters of Mercy Victorian House

However in 1975 the area was mapped out and a plan was established it was named the “North City West Master Plan” and the name of the area was changed to North City West.

Construction in the area began in 1983 and by that time the original name had stuck to the region and so in 1990 the local planing board change the name back to Carmel Valley. The area is designated with the 92130 zip code.

Today Carmel Valley has grown to include surrounding areas such as: Torrey Hills, Del Mar Mesa and Pacific Highlands Ranch.

• SHOPPING + ENTERTAINMENT

As of Today there are 3 main shopping Areas.

The largest is Del Mar Highlands Town Center It includes fast food restaurants such as Mc Donalds, El Pollo Loco and Rubio’s,  it also has Red Robin, Sammy’s Pizza and Champagne bakery, Starbucks and Chuao chocolatiers. It is divided in upper and lower level and houses some clothing boutiques, Gepetto’s Toy store,  an Aveda and a Barnes & Noble book store. It houses two major groceries stores, Ralphs and a Jimbo’s which is a more natural and organic store. This shopping center included the Carmel Valley Ultra star movie theaters, however they ar currently close for remodel and will re-open sometime this summer.

There is another shopping center called Piazza Carmel  It is a smaller plaza that includes Souplantation, Villa Capri a Vons grocery store, some boutiques and banks. Across the street you will find a Shell Gas station and a Pat & Oscar’s restaurant.

The other shopping area is  Torrey Hills Shopping Center located in the southern part of Carmel Valley, this plaza is the most recently built but it is also the smallest one, it has a Vons groceries store as well, Starbucks, an italian restaurant three banks and the Carmel Valley office of Windermere Exclusive Properties.

The Scoop is that there will be 3 more shopping areas built in Carmel Valley, 2 of them are expected to be big shopping centers. One is located on the corner of Del Mar Heights and El Camino Real right across of Del Mar Highlands Town Center and construction is expected to begin soon.

The other major shopping area that is expected to be built is in the Pacific Highlands Ranch Neighborhood, it is said that it will include some major department stores but no word yet on which ones or when it will be built.

Finally, in the corner of Carmel Mountain and Carmel Country, Pardee is building a new community, part of the land, the south-west corner of it to be precise, is designated to be commercial/retail, No word yet what stores will be there but it is a much smaller space.

There is also a little known secret, here is the Scoop there is an Organic Farm right in the middle of Carmel Valley called Sea Breeze Farms

Also coming to the neighborhood we have 3 restaurants opening their doors in 2011, all of the in Del Mar Highlands town center. Rimel’s Rotisserie, The Counter which will be a burger place, Searsucker a great downtown restaurant is also working on opening up a new restaurant as is Swirls, a yoghurt ice cream store.

The movie theater will re-open with a new concept of VIP theaters where patrons will be able to reserve their seat ahead of time and there will be drinks and dinner served to your seat.

There are many excerisze places that go from yoga and pilates studios to full out sport centers. There are 2 in particular that are worth mentioning:

Pacific Athletic Club – One of San Diego’s  finest sports resorts.

The Training Club – An innovative, high energy, and fun workout facility, totally committed to creating exercise programs for groups and individuals.

 

• REAL ESTATE MARKET

There are currently 230 Homes listed as Active

Here is a brief chart of the current listing statistics

out of which 160 are Detaches homes 70 are attached

There are 33 homes showing as contingent (this is a recently added status that means an offer has been accepted by the buyer and an approval is being negotiated with the bank in the case of a short sale)

There are 62 homes in escrow or listed as pending

In the past 30 days there were 35 homes that Sold here is a chart to view the stats of past months sale

out of those 35, 22 were detached homes and 13 were attached

There are 224 properties in the public records list of homes in some stage of Foreclosure, you can search foreclosures here

In general this area has fared very well thru the Real Estate market downtown.

You will be able to find many different communities within the area and prices go from $205,000 to $7,980,000 but the average sales price is around $1,ooo,000. If you want to look for homes in this area be sure to check out this site

• SCHOOLS



ELEMENTARY

There are 3 main School District operating in the area as far as elementary schools go.

Solana Beach School District

Solana Highlands: 3520 Long Run Drive; Office: 858.794.4300, Fax: 858.794.4350, CDC: 858.794.4377

Carmel Creek: 4210 Carmel Center Road; Office: (858) 794-4400, Fax: (858) 794-4450, Absence: (858) 794-4451, CDC: (858) 794-4477

Solana Pacific: 3901 Townsgate Drive; Office: (858) 794-4500, Fax: (858) 794-4550, CDC: (858) 794-4577, Absence: (858) 794-4551

Del Mar Union School District

Ashley Falls: 13030 Ashley Falls Drive; voice 858.259.7812, fax 858.259.1828 Carmel Del Mar: 12345 Carmel Park Drive; voice 858.481.6789, fax 858.481.7418

Del Mar Heights: 13555 Boquita Drive, Del Mar, CA 92014; voice:858.755.9367, fax:858.509.1412 Del Mar Hills: 14085 Mango Drive, Del Mar, CA 92014; voice: 858.755.9763, fax: 858.755.6107 Sage Canyon: 5290 Harvest Run Drive; voice: 858.481.7844, fax: 858.481.7949 Torrey Hills: 10830 Calle Mar de Mariposa; voice: 858.481.4266, fax: 858.481.0344 Sycamore Ridge: 5333 Old Carmel Valley Road; voice: 858-755-1060 Ocean Air: 11444 Canter Heights Drive; voice: 858.481.4040

Poway Unified School District

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Both Solana Beach and Del Mar Union school districts merge when it comes to upper grades but Poway remains separate. We have:

Carmel Valley Middle School 3800 Mykonos Lane 858-481-8221

Earl Warren Junior High 155 Stevens Street, Solana Beach, CA 92075 858-755-1558

And Poway Unified School District

HIGH SCHOOL

Torrey Pines High School 3710 Del Mar Heights Road 858-755-0125 (Torrey Pines High School Foundation)

Canyon Crest High School 5951 Village Center Loop Road 858-350-0253 (Canyon Crest High School Foundation)

And Poway Unified School District

Only a very small section of Carmel Valley falls into the Poway School District designated boundaries and most people don’t even know that this is the case, so make sure you confirm that the home you are considering moving into falls into the boundaries of the school district that you are looking for. All of the schools in the area have received top rankings you can check the scores in this CA state website

You will also find Private schools in Carmel Valley:

San Diego Jewish Academy Upper School (grades 6-10) 11860 Carmel Creek Road voice (858) 704 3770 fax (858) 704 3771 Lower School (grades K-5) 11860 Carmel Creek Road voice (858) 704 3761 fax (858) 704-3701 Cathedral Catholic High School 5555 Del Mar Heights Road 858-523-4000 Notre Dame Academy pre-school to 8th grade 4345 Del Mar Trails Road 858.509.2300 thesisters@ndasd.org

Del Mar Pines (grades K-6) 3975 Torrington Street San Diego, CA 92130 858-481-5615

If you have any other questions about Carmel Valley, would like any additional information or want information in any of the surrounding areas please feel free to contact me at : info@SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

 

 

How is the Market? Understanding The Case Schilling Report – Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Homes For Sale-

As a real estate agent I often come in contact with people who ask me, How is the market? followed by a statement, I just saw the latest report saying…. Although some people do get the idea behind what the numbers show, often times they have either taken that information to be a prediction or have trouble understanding what the numbers really mean. What they really want to know most of the time is;  is it the right time to buy? should I sell my home now or wait a bit? Is it the right market to invest?  So I thought I share with all of you a glimpse as to how and why you should interpret this indicators with care, specially because what happens to Real Estate in New York City is very different than what happens to Real Estate in Carmel Valley Real Estate or La Jolla Real Estate or Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate.

Case Schilling reported their numbers for the September behavior of the Market and it is calling it a “weak report” in fact they believe it is even weaker than last months report. However it is important to understand that they believe that this results are believed to be highly influenced by the end of the government’s incentive programs.  I believe this numbers were to be expected, many of the people who were ready to buy, did so in time to take advantage of all the government credits and incentives, pushing the number higher for several months. Another fact that might have influenced the numbers is the fact that the interest rates have been going down and people keep hearing of a new wave of foreclosures, and a possible second dip in home prices and because they have no time concerns after the credits expired, many people have gone back to sitting on the fences and waiting to have a clearer picture of how the market will be trending.

Another important fact to take into consideration is that Case Schilling is reporting what has happened in the past few months, since this report came out, there has been some better than expected numbers from different indicators, Wall Street broke to pre crash levels, unemployment has started to shift, the government has said it will be pumping 600 million to re-invest , consumer confidence is higher than expected and so are the results of gains of many of the large corporations.

I would like to point out that if you look at the graph, you can see that the 20 city index shows that the market is up above 2003 price levels. ” From their peak in June/July of 2006 through the trough in April 2009, the 10-City Composite is down 33.5% and the 20-City Composite is down 32.6%. Through September, they have recovered by +7.2%and +5.9%, respectively. The peak-to-date figures through September 2010 are -28.7% and -28.6%,respectively.” 

Lastly, Case Schilling is a snapshot of the country, taken from 10 or 20 cities, it is important to understand that each market behaves differently. For example, if you look at the local San Diego market, you see that it actually is showing a 5.0% GAIN from the 2009 levels, not a loss by any means and if you take it a step further you can see that even within San Diego, you have to look at each area separately, some have had bigger gains, some have shown a steadier path through the whole crisis and some have shown some losses in the last months. This is why it is very important to know what you are looking at and be careful when you interpret any charts or information to make decisions based on them. Be sure to always ask an expert.

If you would like to see more detailed information you can go to:  http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&blobcol=urldocumentfile&blobtable=SPComSecureDocument&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3Ddownload.pdf&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobheadername1=content-type&blobwhere=1245262947491&blobheadervalue3=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobnocache=true

Please feel free to contact us for any questions or you can go to our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

our facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=457977665291#!/group.php?gid=123662939207

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In Foreclosure… Not Everyone Is There to Help -Carmel Valley Real Estate- Rina Podolsky

 

I was recently at an appointment with a homeowner who wanted to sell his home in Carmel Valley. For people familiar with the 92130 zip code in San Diego, it is an area that has held its value very well through the whole market crash and beyond. Which in turn means that we have less Short Sales than in many other areas in San Diego County and that also has translated into a market where Foreclosures are not as common widespread. Having said that, I do have to say that there are several homeowners that find themselves in a tough situation, and need to make a decision on what to do.

Some of this homeowners will sit down with me or other Real Estate professionals trying to get an idea of what their options are. At this point a reputable professional, will advise them to first talk to their lender, try to work something out and also will ask them as many questions as possible regarding their current situation, their short, medium and long term plans, their wants, their needs. This helps not only the  person asking the question but the homeowner who is forced to go through the excercise of prioritizing and looking at the big picture.

Unfortunately, it is not entirely uncommon for people at this stage to do one of two things after a meeting with a Real Estate professional.

The first one, is for them to still ignore the problem and continue pretending like something will happen that will make things ok at the end. In this case I sometimes get contacted by them when it is imminent that they won’t be keeping the home. Sometimes we can still do something but we are so much more limited at that point and that is if we can help them at all.

Or the second situation that happens and it pains me as well, is that I get a call back a couple of days later saying that they have not called their bank yet but it is ok because they have found another option. While doing research on the computer they found a company that is guaranteeing they will save their home and solve their problem. Or something along those lines. Here is where I want to be very clear. I am ok with people using other reputable Professionals, I want them to succeed in their aim of solving their problem in the best way possible. However (yes and this is a big one) The are SCAMS galore out there pertaining to Foreclosure aid. If they are promising something that sounds to good to be true…you know the rest.

Now being a homeowner in distress you have heard this before yet how are you supposed to know who is legit and who is not. Why waste a good chance when it can turn out to be a true saving grace? right?

Here are just a few pointers to be aware, if you come across any of these, please, STOP, and do a lot of research or actually, just stop altogether and go somewhere else for help.

The following list was compiled by Brian Olenik from Corinthian Title who has spent ample time researching this matter.

• Anyone asking for a fee in advance, before providing any services
• Instructs you to stop making mortgage payments to the lender and instead start paying into an account that he will set up for you. It might be under his own name or someone else other that yours.
• Instructs you not to contact your lender, lawyer or consult with any of the people you trust in regards to this matter
• Requires payment only in the form of cash, cashiers check or wire transfer.
• Advises you to transfer your property deed or title to his or her company
• Fills out paperwork themselves without allowing you to fill it out.
• Encourages to lease your house and says you will be able to then buy it back at a later date.
• Requests something to be done immediately and without delay. This includes pressuring you into signing something that you do not fully understand or have not had a chance to read, or are not sure you feel comfortable with. In many of this cases, time IS of the essence, but some hours or one day to go over paperwork carefully are time well spent, not wasted.
• Offers to buy your house at a fixed price that is not set by the housing market at the time of sale.
• Requests you to give power of attorney
• Requests signatures in a grant deed or deed of trust.
• Request signatures in forms that are not completely filled out.
• Refuses or fails to give promises or commitments in writing.
• Promises that no matter what the circumstances are, he will be able to stop the foreclosure.

 

These are the most common types of scams that are currently happening, and although there are others not listed here, the main thing is to keep a level head, try to think things through, many of these scammers are amazing at getting people to trust them, they have explanations of why and how to most questions yet disappear two days after they have gotten what they wanted from you. This is the time when you want someone to help you look at thing from a clear perspective. Run it by someone you trust before committing to anything.

There are a few places where you can go for help.  You should go to the HUD web site www.hud.gov there you will find valuable information on scams and foreclosures as well as a list of approved agencies.

There is also a special line created to guide and help homeowners , it is the Homeownership Preservation Foundation their number is 1-888-995-HOPE.

If you do come across a situation where you feel you are being a victim of a scam, you can contact:

California Attorney General  http://ag.ca.gov

California Department of Real Estate www.dre.ca.gov

Department of Housing and Urban Development  www.hud.gov

Federal Trade Commission  www.ftc.gov

Your local Better business Bureau www.bbb.org

You can always start by talking to a trusted Realtor or Real Estate lawyer of your choice, they should be able to help you figure out what your options are and steer you in the right direction and in most cases they will do this as a free consultation, we certainly do this for any of our clients.

Please feel free to contact me even if you are not in the state of California I  help guide you towards someone who is reputable in your area.

You can contact Rina and Sergio by going to our web site at www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com and clicking on the contact us button or on any of our social media links.

But please remember, the sooner you take action the better your chances of having choices.

San Diego 10 Most Expensive Homes For Sale!!! -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Home For Sale-

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Here is a look at the most expensive properties currently for sale in the SAN DIEGO area.

The homes were selected by asking price, not by price per s.f.

 

It is interesting to note that the list  is equally divided into 3 areas that are dominating the most expensive chart:

• 3 properties for sale in Rancho Santa Fe
• 3 properties for Sale in Del Mar
• 3 Properties for sale in La Jolla.

 

This homes, have been on the market for  an average of 338 days, ranging from 78  to 1,170 days listed

 

The average asking price per s.f.  is $5462.79. ranging from $1,335 to $17,191.78

 

Another area that is noteworthy although non of the properties for sale in Coronado did not make it to the list, if we extended the list to the top 20 we would certainly see a few homes in the Coronado market making it to the most expensive properties for sale list.

 

To view information on each one of this homes, click on each of the images.

 If you would like more information on any of these or other homes s well as more data and statistics, please contact us, we will be happy to assist you!

 

 

 



 

$18,000,000 to $21,000,000

Rancho Santa Fe 5,487 sf $21,000,000

Del Mar 2,885 sf $21,000,000

Rancho Santa Fe 12,889 sf $21,950,000

La Jolla 11,000 sf $25,000,000

Carlsbad 10,000 sf $29,000,000

La Jolla 10,000 sf $$29,950,000

Rancho Santa Fe 3,000 sf $29,950,000

Del Mar 6,551 sf $39,000,000

Del Mar 10,164 sf $61,000,000

The information fron this post is appromiate and was based on MLS data. Should be checked by buyer.

San Diego County Top Schools

The scores used to calculate the ranking the schools in the San Diego area, are based on their API score , this is a number that ranges from 200 to 1,000 and it is derived from the performance of public school students in grades 2 to 11 that take the California standards Tests. API Scores are the categorized by sub-group, this relates to their, ethnicity, race, origin and special conditions such as: English learners, Economically disadvantaged and or students with special needs.

The Standard tests target score was at 800 points and anything over 900 points is considered very succesful. According to an article from Del Mar Times newspaper “”Forty-six percent of all California schools are now at or above the overall statewide target API of 800, up four percentage points from the year before,” according to a press release issued Sept. 13 by the California Department of Education. “This includes 51 percent of elementary schools, 40 percent of middle schools and 25 percent of high schools.” In this article you can also see the breakdown of how the different groups scored in their API in each area , to view this article go to  http://www.delmartimes.net/news/274493-local-elementary-schools-dominate-api-list
This year’s API scores yielded an interesting situation, having 6 of the 10 Top schools concentrated in one single School District. Six of the Top ten schools are within the boundaries of the Del Mar School  Union District, this district encompasses those schools that serve the 92014 and part of the 92130 zip codes, which belong respectively to Del Mar and Carmel Valley areas.

The Del Mar Union School District  (DMUSD) has a total of 8 Elementary schools, out of which, 5 of them have scores of 950 or higher, 2 have a score of 948 and one has a score of 924 being this the lowest score in the district, As a whole the  DMUSD has a score of  961, up 2 point from the previous years scores. This despite some inner political problems that the district has been facing. James Paebody the Districts Superintendent  acknowledged that the Del Mar Union School District has experienced challenging issues and turmoil in the past few years but said the focus never wavered from student learning and achievement.

Del Mar	2010 Growth	2009 Base	Change
Ashley Falls	952	955	-3
Carmel Del Mar	943	948	-5
Del Mar Heights	965	948	+17
Del Mar Hills	923	924	-1
Ocean Air	981	975	+6
Sage Canyon	973	976	-3
Sycamore Ridge	965	959	+6
Torrey Hills	955	962	-7
District overall	961	959	+2

Within the 92130 zip code of Carmel Valley there are homes that are zoned  within the boundaries of the Poway School District and there are 3 schools that belong to the Solana Beach School District, two of them serving grades k to fifth and Solana Pacific which serves fifth and sixth grade students. This school district also includes Solana Santa Fe in Fairbanks Ranch which  is a K-6 school, and the two  more schools in  Solana Beach proper, Solana Vista serving grades K-3 and Skyline with grades 4-6.

Within San Diego this are the Top 13 Elementary Schools according to their API.

Schools in the spots 1,2 and 4 all belong to the San Diego Unified School District yet they are all within the 92037 zip code that belongs to La Jolla.

Rank	API	School	District
1	983	Torrey Pines	San Diego Unified
2	982	La Jolla	San Diego Unified
3	981	Ocean Air	Del Mar
4	974	Bird Rock	San Diego Unified
5	973	Sage Canyon	Del Mar
6	971	Pacific Rim	Carlsbad
7	965	Del Mar Heights	Del Mar
7	965	Sycamore Ridge	Del Mar
8	963	Solana Pacific	Solana Beach
9	957	Dingeman	San Diego Unified
10	955	Torrey Hills	Del Mar
11	954	Deer Canyon	Poway
11	954	Del Sur	Poway
11	954	Scripps	San Diego Unified
11	954	Stone Ranch	Poway
12	952	Ashley Falls	Del Mar
12	952	El Camino Creek	Encinitas
13	950	Curie	San Diego Unified

For more information you can check out the 2009-2010 Accountability Progress report at http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2010/2010SchSummary.aspx?allcds=37103716069355

When a family is looking for a home it is very important to take the school boundaries into account, not all districts will accept transfers from other districts easily, some may not even be able to accept intra district transfers within the same school district depending on policies and amount of students attending each particular school so, if schools are an important factor to you in the purchase of your home, be sure to look at boundaries and speak to the particular school district you are interested in before you go ahead and buy a home.

Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure vs. Short Sale

So far we have been hearing and reading a lot about Short Sales and Foreclosures and little about the third option which is a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, or simply ” Deed in Lieu” (DIL)

Since the DIL was included in the HAFA rolled out by president as a favored option some people have begun to give it a second glance. Some institutions like Bank of America have started to actively pursue people who could be candidates and they are sending them letters offering to consider the option.

But what is exactly a Deed in Lieu? In brief it is when a homeowner agrees to give back the deed to the property (ownership) to avoid going thru the legal proceedings of foreclosure. This can only be done with a first mortgage and having a second one or any other liens on the property complicates things., and many times this is the main reason why a lender would not accept a DIL.

As far as the impact on your credit score, it bears almost the same weight as doing a short sale, which some people say it is about 200 points deduction in your score, it is considered a settled debt by the credit bureaus. However that does not mean that you turn in the keys and you get to walk away completely free and clear in all cases, so it is very important that you hire someone to at least read over the settlement contracts and legal paperwork before you sign it. In many cases, since the lender will be responsible for now putting the property on the market and getting it sold and they don’t know how much they will be able to net, they reserve the right to a deficiency later on.  Just like with a short sale, you have to try and negotiate with them to not include certain key phrases and to let you walk away without asking you to repay, in the present or the future, any part of that debt.

So why does a homeowner or bank choose a DIL over a Short Sale or vice versa? It will depend on each case and the particulars of the situation. For the bank it is much quicker and less expensive than going thru a prolonged short sale tha might take months and might still end up in foreclosures after all that time and effort. However, if there are liens attached, unpaid HOA fees, second mortgages or any other aggravating situations it might end up costing them more time and effort than the short sale, and since many lenders have been working in streamlining their short sale process, the chances of the sale being completed in a decent amount of time, are good. Also, this means the bank gets one mores home to get rid of.

As far as the homeowner, DIL can be a great option since they don’t have to deal with the process of short selling their home, they simply walk away, with a similar credit impact on their record without all the hassles, however, it is harder to get the bank to agree not to attach a deficiency since they have not started the sale process and don’t have as clear a picture of how much they will end up selling it for. The banks have up to now, been very limited on the DIL they had accepted, they had very strict guidelines and that disqualified many homeowners.

One thing is very clear, it is important to explore all your options, case by case and you should do so with the guidance of someone that will help you navigate this complicated waters.

The other victims of Foreclosure: Tenants. What to do If your Landlord faces Foreclosure

With the recent fallout from the Mortgage meltdown we have heard a lot about people loosing their homes thru the process of Foreclosure.Yet  there is one sector of the population who is also having to face the process of being evicted as a result of this process without any fault whatsoever, Tenants. There is a growing number of renters having to face loosing the home they are renting in many cases without fair warning.

Although the times and specific details of this situation vary a lot from case to case and from state to state the situation is becoming more and more prevalent and in many cases the end result is that people are forced to look for new accommodations.

In many cases tenants find out there is a problem either by being served eviction papers or by someone posting a foreclosure notice on their home. At this point some times landlords are hard to get a hold of and people are left in the dark.

 

In some cases, people facing financial hardship are moving out of their homes and renting them as a way of trying to stabilize their financial situation, however, in many cases this is not enough on the long run, that is only a temporary patch in a sinking boat, and as things continue to get harder they end up not being able to pay for their mortgage and end up in the process of foreclosure, yet in other cases, the property was an investment property owned by someone who is no longer able or willing to pay for it According to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure-tracking service, 38% of all U.S. properties foreclosed between October 2007 and January 2008 were non-owner-occupied buildings (likely implying that the owner was an off-site landlord).

Once the foreclosure train gets into motion it is very hard to stop and the current laws in most states regarding renters are simply not updated to face this situation, so tenants are faced with very few options. Or as Judith Liben, a housing attorney with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute expressed it “The laws for renters right now are completely antiquated regarding foreclosures.”

The worse cases have been when tenants don’t have contracts or when it is a rent with an option to buy situation. In those cases tenants have lost much more than just their accommodations, they have lost money and they have lost their dream of homeownership being just around the corner. Another situation where we see a major problem is when tenants are given very short notice to vacate and they don’t have the extra cash needed to move out and put a deposit on a different property.

The deposit is usually one of the issues that will take the longest to get resolved and getting it back more often than not requires some court proceedings and some time.

If you find yourself in the situation of renting a house under this conditions, what is the best thing to do? Like with any legal issue if you can afford legal counsel, get some, the law varies a lot depending each particular situation there are so many details involved that will change the situation that it is hard to find a one size fits all advice, however, there are some general concepts that might be of some help

• If you start noticing that your landlord is not responding to your calls and is not keeping up the property as well as he should, check to make sure the property is not in default and keep records, meticulous records of all those calls and work not performed.
• If the landlord is the one responsible for paying the utilities, call the service companies and make sure all payments are up to date.
• Don’t just stop paying the rent but if the owner is not collecting rent, open an account and start depositing the rent in a timely manner, that way if the bank comes to you later and asks for the unpaid rent you will have it available.
• If you receive notice to vacate, contact your attorney or your Tennant Association, you might not have to move, you will have some rights, even with a month to month contract you might be entitled to some advanced notice. Also many banks want the tenants to vacate in as good terms as possible to have the homes left as soon and in the best condition they can manage so they will offer you money to leave and return a clean house, this is termed “cash for keys” just make sure you read the fine print before you accept the cash, you might be waiving some of your rights to come after damages later on.
• In some cases you might be able to stay for the entire term of your lease agreement, this varies from state to state and if this is the case, the agreement transfers as originally signed so if pets were originally allowed, they must be allowed to remain for example.
• When paying rent ALWAYS ask for a rent receipt and keep the receipts well-organized.

 

As a final thought, in today’s market conditions, landlords have become very strict about checking out credit reports for potential tenants, some going as far as to request that interested parties disclosed financial data and show income of at least twice the amount of rent. Why is it that renters are not doing the same with landlords? It is no longer enough to check that the property is not currently in default, but to have some peace of mind although this is not a guarantee, that your next landlord can actually afford to maintain the property.

Tax Credit’s all but gone…

Last year Both the Obama administration and the State of California rolled out tax incentives for first time home buyers and for New Homes sales.

 
The First Time Home Buyer incentive of up to $8,000 dollars is still available for those New Home buyers (New meaning you have not owned a property within the past three years) however they have to close escrow on the purchase of their home before December 1st, no word yet on whether this program will be extended, up to this point there are no signs showing that it will be. What this translates to for people looking to take advantage of this Tax Credit is that, you must be under contract by early September if you intend on using financing, it also means that people looking to buy a Short Sale property or just starting to look are running against the clock in a big way.

 
Regarding the $10,000 dollar tax credit for new homes, unfortunately that one has gone away. They had allocated $100 million dollars for that program and by July 2nd applications to qualify for this Credit were no longer available according to the State of California Franchise Tax Board Web Site http://www.ftb.ca.gov/aboutFTB/press/2009/Release_36.shtml They were slammed with request and the money has all been allocated.
Many buyers are still unaware of both tax credit’s expiring and they are doing their numbers taking this into account. Please talk to your CPA for more details on both and whether you qualify for the $8,000 credit.

 
The question at this point remains, how is the market (particularly home buyers) going to respond to this, many experts believe that this money back from the government played a big part in the market reactivation specially in the $600,000 and bellow price range that has become a sellers market in many parts of the State of California. This together with the “upcoming wave” of foreclosures that is expected to hit the market during the fall according to some analyst.
Next question would be, is there something that can be done pro-actively to mitigate both things happening at once? if so, is it being done?
I always appreciate your comments and questions, please keep sending them my way.
If you want more information on this or any other Real Estate related subject please visit my web-site at www.my858realtor.com. You can also follow me on Twitter http:/twitter.com/rinapodolsky or on Facebook  http://facebook.com/