Loudoun County Real Estate Statistics and News

Sign of the Times - RIP Loudoun Easterner

I just found out that the Loudoun Easterner has ceased to exist.  Ironically I found out while reading the Loudoun Independent.  Started in 1968, it published its last paper on July 22.

The reason I started writing a blog was because of the deterioration in the effectiveness of print advertising.  Local newspapers were a staple of any real estate advertising campaign and in Loudoun County the paper most people read for real estate ads was the Easterner.  But that started to fall off in 2006.   My old company, CC Sells, used to take out full page ads and sometimes 2 full pages when the market was hot.

But the writing was on the wall for print advertising and newspapers.  The slowdown in real estate and the high cost forced us to look for more economical choices such as Google Adwords and other electronic advertising opportunities.  

Subsequently I began writing this blog.  Fortunately for me, blogs have become a great replacement for print advertising and I now have a separate website for my real estate company, CompleteHomeRE.com.  

Oh well.  Rest in Peace, Loudoun Easterner.

Real Estate News Aggregation Site - Realdiggity

I have been working on an aggregation site called Realdiggity that pulls all the best and most timely real estate news together into one place.  I have added a lot of rss feeds from the best of the real estate blogs and websites.  But if there are some that you want me to add let me know.  

I put a widget in the sidebar that you can use to get to the site as well.  The great thing about this site is you can rank the stories much like social bookmarking sites like digg and reddit.  You can add a story from a non-real estate site that has a real estate specific story by using the submit button.

Please use this site as a resource when dealing with topics regarding real estate.  This includes buying, selling, loans, interest rates, foreclosures, short sales, etc.  You don't have to sign up, but that would be cool too.

Feet Dragging by Banks Leads to Murder in Lowes Island

Over the past weekend a murder occurred in the Lowes Island subdivision of Sterling.  A teenager was killed at a house party at 2:30 in the morning on Sunday (Saturday night).  Buried in the end of the story was this piece of information that in my opinion was the real story:

Neighbors report that the house where the party occurred is in the foreclosure process and the couple who owned the house have already moved out and were allowing their college age son to live there.

And the very last paragraph had even more information regarding the owners of the house where the party and the murder took place:

Further research into public records show that the listed residents of this house, Jose and Wilma Vargas, also owned another house in Sterling – located on 104 Almey Ct. The bank has already foreclosed on this house and it is for sale by United American Realty.

I am not saying that the banks are directly responsible for the murder of the teenager but it could be argued that their failure to secure a property that has obviously been abandoned by the homeowners and used as a frat house by the college son was a very crucial contributing factor in this tragedy.

One bank was able to foreclose on the same couple and secure their other house over 2 months ago.  Why not this property?  Where is this bank? 

Most of the time we hear about foreclosures and abandoned properties in a neighborhood leading to decreased values, perhaps squatters occupying vacant houses and other public nuisances.

But this story shows just how much damage the banks are doing to our neighborhoods.  Their indifference has become our problem.  Their reluctance to take over abandoned properties and foreclose on homeowners that have no intention of keeping their homes is an epidemic.  We need to force these banks to do the responsible thing and do it now.  We can't wait for the banks to clean up their balance sheets so they can take over these properties without become illiquid.  We need to come up with a solution that takes the  properties from these reluctant property owners and prevents further damage to our neighborhoods, towns and count.

Short Sale Question #4 - How Long Does it take a bank to approve a Short Sale?

I currently am working with 3 sellers and 2 prospective buyers on short sale contracts that are in limbo with various banks.  The answer to this question various from bank to bank but most major banks are taking a considerable amount of time to do even the most basic tasks.  

Here is a list of the ridiculously long time frames banks have recently given me for various tasks related to a short sale:

Receive a Fax - 72 hours  Yes, it takes a person at a bank 3 days to actually get a fax.

Answer a voicemail - Never  If you are lucky enough to get a direct number for someone and they haven't let their voicemails become completely full, don't bother leaving a message.  That is because they know all the messages are about the files they are not working on so what is the point. 

Answer an email - Never  This is against all banks policies because it will put something in writing and they don't want that to happen and come bank to haunt them. 

Assign a negotiator - 30 to 45 days  This is how long it takes JP Morgan Chase to send a file to a negotiator.  And also B of A, Cit and Aurora.  Not sure how far they have to send a digital file but for some reason it takes them over a month.  And I know they use digital files because they always tell me their computers are down and they can see the file.

Order an appraisal - 2 weeks  Their phone system is slightly better than their computer systems

Contact the Investor - 30 days It seems that most of the "investors" are so busy that it takes a long time for them to agree to the short sale.  I guess they have more money than God because they could care less, much like everyone else at the bank.  If only I was so lucky.

Short Sale Question #3 - How Does a Short Sale Affect your Credit?

The most frequently asked question I get from home sellers is regarding the impact of a short sale on their credit score.  Here is my answer....

 

 Keep in mind that credit scores, credit ratings agencies, banks and other creditors are always changing their criteria, minimum requirements and other factors.  The impact of short sales to credit scores is and will continue to change.  

Short Sale Question #2 - What is the biggest mistake sellers make when selling short?

The short sale is a completely different real estate transaction than any other.  There is nothing normal about the process and the banks involvement and complete lack of any rationality make it a very difficult transaction.  So make sure you don't make the biggest mistake of them all......

If you get a chance, come to a short sale forum being moderated by Congressman Frank Wolf.  You have to sign up through the Dulles Area Association of Real Estate in order to get in.  Space is limited.  

Part 1 of Short Sale Questions - Why Sell Your House Short?

As part of a continuing trend in the real estate market here in Loudoun County, short sales continue to become a bigger part of the  overall marketplace on a monthly basis.  And with the current trend in prices and banks unwilling to reduce the principal amounts on loans, short sales will continue to gain market share as the only alternative for many homeowners who do not want to foreclose but have to sell.  

Renae Merle of the Washington Post wrote an article about short sales in this weekend's real estate section.  She called me on several occasions to discuss short sales and what was happening to homeowners and what banks were doing.  She also asked a lot of questions that many homeowners have asked me regarding short sales.  

Many of these questions are asked over and over again so I have made videos of the most frequently asked questions regarding short sales.  Here is the first in the series.  I am also going to make a video of my Short Sale Presentation that I recently gave at the Dulles Home Fair. If you would like to get that video, please drop me a line and I will send it to you.  It is about an hour long and covers everything about selling and buying short sales. 

A special thanks to Pam Bhamrah of the Complete Home Team of Market Advantage Real Estate.

7/15/09 UPDATE:  I fixed the video and now it matches the post.  Sorry about that.