Real Estate Information

Humboldt County Homes on the Market Now!

 We just wanted to make sure you see some of the great homes that have recently come on the market. If you would like to get more information on any of these properties please call (707) 441-1765 or email Kristi@thekesslerteam.com.

ID# 230226– EUREKA, 2BD/1BA - $265,000

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230226

ID# 230230 - MCKINLEYVILLE, 3BD/2BA - $269,900

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230230

ID# 230206 - EUREKA, 3BD/2BA - $299,000

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230206

ID# 230209 – ARCATA, 3BD/2BA - $249,900

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230209

ID# 230196 – ARCATA, 3BD/1BA - $289,950

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230196

ID#230198 – MYRTLETOWN, 3BD/2BA - $280,000

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230198

ID# 230192 – FORTUNA, 3BD/2BA - $194,900

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230192

ID# 230183– EUREKA, 3BD/2BA - $279,900

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230183

ID# 230144 – EUREKA, 2BD/1BA - $199,000

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=230144

ID# 229822 – ARCATA, 3BD/1.5BA - $275,000

http://www.youreurekahomesource.idxco.com/idx/4363/details.php?idxID=283&listingID=229822

HOME OWNER SEMINAR

Please join us for our free February Home Owner Seminar. We are devoting the entire seminar to answering questions about loan modifications and short sales (Selling for less than is owed on the home).

• How to decide whether to loan modify or do a short sale
• What paperwork is involved
• What are the credit implications and when will creditors calls stop
• What are the benefits of doing a short sale vs. foreclosure
• Which are the best and worst banks to work with

WHEN: Tuesday, February 23rd -  7 to 8:30 PM & Saturday, February 27th - 1 to 2:30 PM 

WHERE:  The Adorni Center - Conference Room. 1011 Waterfront Drive, Eureka      

HOW:  Call 441-1765 or email Katie@thekesslerteam.com to reserve your spot. Space is limited

Sincerely,
The Kessler Team

Dear Friends, 

2009 was a very tough year for many of us for a lot of different reasons. Many people are unemployed or underemployed and are feeling financial hardships or even losing their homes. I want to give you some tips and financial insights for 2010. 

Step 1: Start accounting for your money. Fill out a profit and loss statement every month for your family. I have bee doing this since 1996. Every month, track all your bills and spending along with your income.

Step 2: Pay off all revolving debt. Credit cards are making banks rich. Send in extra money every month to the smallest balance card first and pay them off one account at a time.

Step 3: Either refinance or modify your mortgage. Because of the drop in values, you may only be able to modify. Contact your servicer (the one you make your payment to) and go to their home retention department and file for hardship modification. You may need to call 100 times to get it done. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Step 4: Save 20% of your gross taxable income. You must do this or you will always struggle financially. I know it’s HARD to save 20% of gross taxable income (W-2 Income) but it will make the difference the next time the economy struggles.

 These are the great steps that I live by.

Thanks for all your support in 2009 and please, if you or someone you know wants to buy or sell a home, we would greatly appreciate the business in 2010. The economy is slowly starting to improve.

December was a great month for home sellers and buyers! The numbers are UP! Homes sold briskly, especially those priced towards entry level homebuyers. A total of 32 total home sold in December, with 25 homes selling for under $300,000.

It’s saddening to report Eureka’s area foreclosure rate continues to increase, both in the number of home owners entering into pre-foreclosure and those going to bank auction. These numbers could have been significantly higher except for a 2-week foreclosure moratorium most banks extended over the last two weeks of December. I fear January’s and February’s foreclosure numbers will be dramatically higher. Please, if you know anyone who is unable to keep up with their mortgage payments, have them call me - right now. There are simply too many options available to let a catastrophic event like a foreclosure auction destroy a person’s financial future for the next 5-7 years.

I have set up a special website (www.EurekaForeclosureHelp.com) just for distressed homeowners. It has the very latest information on foreclosure avoidance including President Obama’s HASP, HARP and just released HAFA loan modification programs. If you or someone you know has questions about how to get out of a pre-foreclosure, my website has answers. Yet the best option is to just drop me an e-mail or give me a call.

WOW! What a great month we just went thru! Great news on the national level. Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, you have heard about the $8,000 1st time homebuyer tax credit being extended thru next summer AND a fantastic new incentive of a $6,500 tax credit for existing homeowners looking to purchase a larger or a smaller home.

              Looking at last month’s sales in Eureka, the homes for sale inventory is down, the number of homes going under contract and the number of homes sold is up. WAY UP! Great news for home sellers and for home buyers.

30-year, fixed rate interest rates are at their lowest levels in decades, averaging 4.71 percent. Freddie Mac, a gigantic lender in the home loan market goes onto state that the 30-year home loan interest rate has never been this low since they began their weekly survey in 1971.

If you have questions about how this tax credit could work for you or someone you know, get the up to minute real estate and loan information on my blog site. Or just drop us an email or give us a call.

Some Thoughts About Buying Bank Owned Properties

1. Look for BANK OWNED homes in the Winter! Looking to buy a Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna or McKinleyville REO (Bank Owned) home? REO homes are often “winterized” with the power & water off. This makes them COLD and DAMP during the winter. Hearty souls can beat the competition by shopping mid-winter and get a bargain.

2. DECORATE LATER. Purchase at significant savings then bring in your contractor after closing. REO homes are sold AS IS (torn carpeting, water damage, missing appliances, etc.). Occasionally you can negotiate for repairs on major issues (leaky roofs for example).

3. Easy close. Close in a month. REO homes can close quickly. Purchase is much easier than you might think! FHA financing is available and title is clear. Liens that might have been a problem at auction are cleared out. The home is ready for you to buy.

4. NOT ALL REO HOMES ARE CREATED EQUAL Because a home is Bank Owned, doesn’t make it a bargain. Be sure to evaluate WHY the home didn’t sell before the bank took possession, or took it thru foreclosure. Does the home back to a busy road? Is it sitting in a hole? Under large power lines? Careful not to buy a home that will be hard to sell later!

Want to get on my "Hot list" of Bank Owned Homes? Starting next week I will be emailing a weekly update. Just let me know if you would like to be added to the list.

Real estate investors have consistently been responsible for 15-20% of the single family home purchases in our community over the past 5 months.

Many of these investors execute a typical “fix and flip” plan. They buy a distressed home, invest capital to make it marketable, and then place it back up for sale as quickly as possible. This is a tried and trued plan with numerous TV shows, infomercials and “how-to” books littering the landscape for investors to peruse.

Yet I recently heard about an emerging hybrid of this plan where the investor purchases with the intent of renting the property for three to five years and then selling it.

A brief overview of this plan starts with a property purchase well below retail value. In addition, the investor includes for a 2-step repair expense. The 1^st step happens at the time of purchase and pays for repairs sufficient to make the house rentable. The 2^nd step occurs after 5 years of being a rental when improvements are made to the property in preparation for being marketed. The idea is to delay the sale to a time in the future when the market is stronger and a higher return can be achieved.

One example I’ve studied is an investor purchasing single family homes in the Bay area for 50% of retail value, paying $80,000 to $90,000 per unit. He budgets $9,000 towards repairs necessary to attract a tenant. He achieves $1,200 a month in rent. He has included in his five year budget a $10,000 expense to make improvements desired to achieve competitive market value prior to selling the house. In five years he believes the houses should sell for $200,000 or more.

This type of investment plan is very focused on a niche market. To apply such a plan to our market would require a careful study of present and future market conditions and our evolving demographics of Eureka, Fortuna, Arcata and McKinleyville areas. And this would not be a passive investment with up to five years of property management. Yet the yield would appear to be very attractive and its risk tempered by time.

And it’s the laser focus into a niche strategy that makes this plan so unique. And every successful investor will tell you that the most important part of your investment strategy – is to have a plan, and then go execute your plan.

V,C,10,b

Great news for all home buyers. For the 5^th week in a row, interest rates have again been reported to be at their lowest levels.

Nationally, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage average interest rate is 4.91 percent. This is .07 percent lower than the previous week. Last year at this same time the interest rate hovered at 6.13 percent.

Locally in the Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville and Fortuna markets we’re seeing interest rates average right around 5 percent.

For our Humboldt County home buyers this is an awesome time to be purchasing. The Federal Government’s extension of the $8,000 tax credit for 1^st time home buyers and the $6,500 credit now being offered to the repeat home buyers, this is a great time to be making a move. And home prices are at their most competitive levels in a decade.

Buyers need to watch out as it appears we are seeing the bottom in sales prices for homes priced below $250,000. For homes priced higher than $250,000, there is still softness in market value. And in the $450,000 price range and higher, this market is still spiraling downward as it aggressively searches for its bottom. Our Humboldt Bay area home buyers are finding some tremendous values across the price range spectrum.

You probably have heard the Home Buyer Tax Credit has been extended thru June 30, 2010. Here are the details:

1. The $8,000 tax credit is available to “First Time” Home Buyers who have not owned a primary residence in the past three years.

2. A new $6,500 tax credit is available to “Current” Home Owners who have lived in their primary residence for 5 consecutive years of the last 8 years.

3. Although the $6,500 has been labeled a “Move-Up” credit, there is nothing in the law forcing anybody to buy a bigger or more expensive home. You can downsize or upsize and still get the credit.

4. Your adjusted Gross Income cannot exceed $125,000 if you file taxes as a single, or $225,000 if you are married filing jointly.

5. You must be under contract to purchase by April 30^th, 2010 and will need to close by July 1, 2010.

6. The cost of the purchased home must be less than $800,000.

7. This is a tax credit. If the home buyer owes the IRS zero dollars, they will get a check for $8,000 (or $6,500) from the IRS. Pretty nice!

Contact us if you would like to learn how these tax credits can be used to help you.

As predicted in my last report, sales soared to new heights in October unseen in many years. The number of homes going under contract are at new highs, fueled by the 1st time homebuyers lined up to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit set to expire 11/30/09. And for the third month in a row we’ve seen the “domino” effect of where 1st time homebuyers are buying the homes move-up buyers are selling, allowing move-up buyers to purchase larger homes.

I remain very optimistic our Congress will extend the 1st time homebuyer $8,000 tax credit. And, the popular rumor circulating for the past few months is that Congress will add a tax credit for the “move-up buyers”. It may be a great opportunity for current homeowners at a time of historically low interest rates to shed the home they’ve outgrown and receive a tax credit, also. You should give some thought to becoming a “move-up buyer” if;

1) You have more children than you have bedrooms, or

2) Your family room used to be the garage, or

3) You’re renting multiple storage units for all your stuff

The top 3 groups of homebuyers:

• 52% were 1st time homebuyers
• 17% were move-up buyers
• 17% were investors

 Distressed Home Sales

• 4 were REO, or bank owned properties
• 2 were distressed sellers, or Short Sales
• 20 homes went into pre-foreclosure
• 4 homes were auctioned

 If you have questions about how this tax credit could work for you or someone you know, drop us an email or give us a call.