Online Real Estate Search tools

Trulia
Currently for sale and has a feed from RealtyTrac

Zillow
Estimates of values and rents. Now that's useful. Plus they have a "Make me Move" component where owners can put a price they're willing to sell.

RealtyTrac

Moving Resources

When Packing sort into 3 boxes (or garbage bags)

1. Give away

2. Throw away

3. Keep/pack

Put the Give Away in the car to be dropped off at the Church Mouse on Highway 12.

Put the Throw Away in the trash bin. (Last time I moved was from an apartment and I loved their dumpsters... a very reasonable expense.)

Put the Keep in sealed labeled boxes, "Living Room, China Cabinet, lower shelves, mom's _____"

Try to touch things only once.

When I move, I put on my old Star Trek: Next Generation video tapes and listen to them as I'm going through things. Some people listen to music. It helps avoid the "I remember when..." which really slows down packing. ;-)

PODS: http://www.pods.com/coldwellbanker.aspx

Sonoma Rental Resources

1.) Sonoma Management: http://www.sonomamanagement.com/ their properties are on their website, or you can call: (707)938-3177

2.) Sonoma Properties: http://sonomarents.com/ 707-939-2024

3.) Beale Properties of 572 3rd St W, Sonoma, CA. Phone: 707-996-5555

4.) If you have a 3.5% down payment it’s possible you could qualify for an FHA loan… Call Susan Reber at Mission Hills Mortgage for more information 707-(707) 938-1120 Ext: 2596.

Short Sale Information

ANTI-DEFICIENCY PROTECTION:
find the article at: "http://www.car.org/legal/foreclosure-short-sale-folder/short-sale-deficiencies/"

Q 16. Does the anti-deficiency protection for short sales only apply to purchase money loans?

A No. The anti-deficiency protection for short sales applies to purchase money loans, refinance loans, and home equity credit lines secured by one-to-four residential unit properties. For such refinances, the anti-deficiency protection for short sales applies to all types of refinance loans, regardless of whether the borrower refinanced to obtain a lower interest rate only or took cash out to make home improvements, to pay off credit cards, or for any other purpose.

Q 17. Does the anti-deficiency protection for short sales only apply to owner occupied properties?

A No. The anti-deficiency protection is for short sales involving owner occupied or non-owner occupied properties. Non-owner occupied properties include rental properties, vacant homes, second homes, or vacation homes. Of course, a lender may elect not to approve a short sale for a non-owner occupied property, but if the lender agrees to the short sale and the other requirements are met (see Question 14), the borrower will not be personally liable for any short sale deficiency.

Q 18. Does the anti-deficiency protection for short sales apply to any type of lien?

A No. The anti-deficiency protection for short sales only applies to notes secured by deeds of trust or mortgages for one-to-four residential unit properties. It does not apply to other types of security interests in real property, such as, but not limited to, judgment liens, homeowners’ associations (HOA) liens, tax liens, child support liens, mechanics’ liens, attachment liens, or execution liens.

ADVERTISING:

1. "[Name of your company] is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender."

2. “Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.”

ON PRINTED MATERIAL (from CAR.org):

The key is to promote your services to assist people in buying and selling homes and not as a way to avoid foreclosure.

If you are only obtaining or arranging short sales in the context of helping people buy and sell homes, then you need not worry about the FTC requiring compliance with these record keeping rules.

Because short sales can present an extremely beneficial alternative to foreclosure for some homeowners, it makes great marketing sense to highlight this fact. Prudent licensees should ensure that their ads present the true picture--that these are potential benefits available to many but not all homeowners.

1. "You may stop doing business with us at any time. You may accept or reject the offer of mortgage assistance we obtain from your lender [or servicer]. If you reject the offer, you do not have to pay us. If you accept the offer, you will have to pay us [insert amount or method for calculating the amount] for our services."

2. "[Name of your company] is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender."

3. “Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.”

“If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit rating.”

MLS CONTENT:

"Short Sale. Compensation subject to lender approval. Any reduction split 50/50."

CLASSES/TRAINING:

Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE)
13 hours online training $599; $99 monthly membership; $149 fee for 'advanced' designation (plus additional $99/mo.?) Lots of collateral, checklists, etc.

National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource certification, (SFR) 6 hours, $115 for the online class, plus $175 for the designation.

Equator Short Sale Certification, $199 to $499 annual subscription; between 6 to 8 modules.

HAFA for C.A.R.

RESOURCES:

Fannie Mae Loan Look-up

Kazork: Fannie Mae Short Sale Assist

C.A.R., Fannie Mae launch short sale assistance desk the press release

Freddie Mac Loan Look-up

Bank of America's Foreclosure Alternatives web page; lists all the refinance, loan modification, forbearance options

B of A's Loan Assistance Program web page

HUD Approved - Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling Services (free)

• CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE, 707-528-9941; 725 Farmers Lane # 10B
  Santa Rosa, California 95405

• CCCS OF SAN FRANCISCO, 800-777-7526; 70 Stony Point Road, Suite C, Santa Rosa, California 95401

Equator login

Lenders using Equator as of 9/13/11

• Bank of America
• Wells Fargo
• ASC
• BSI Financial Services
• Nation Star Mortgage

Information needed for Equator (*Required):

• *Name
• *First 5 of Social
• *Name
• *First 5 of Social
• *Mailing Address, City, State, Zip
• *Daytime Phone
• *Evening Phone
• Fax Number
• Cell Phone
• Buyer 1's Date of Birth
• Buyer 2's Date of Birth

Hardship Letters:

• How To Write a Hardship Letter
• How To #2
• Sample
  

SB 951 and SB 458
"SB951 which added Section 580e, commonly called the Short Sale Anti-Deficiency Statute, which bars first lenders who consent to a short sale from getting any deficiency judgment against the borrower. While this was helpful, the change left unclear the rights of junior lenders who would regularly demand recourse and/or money in order to get their consent to do the short sale. This has now changed.

"Passage of SB 458 - On July 15, 2011, California enacted SB 458 which revised Section 580e and drastically changes how short sales are handled in California. The revised CCP580e now provides that:

1) all lenders are prohibited from seeking or obtaining a deficiency judgment following a voluntary short sale (including junior lenders); and

2) no lender can require that the borrower make any monetary contribution to the sale proceeds." From: SB 458 - A RAY OF HOPE FOR BORROWERS WITH DEFICIENCY OBLIGATIONS

Attorneys:

• Helen Marsh (Sonoma) 707-935-7085, Specialty Bankruptcy, one hour free consultation
• Douglas Pharr (Napa) 707-258-2654, Specialty Bankruptcy, one hour free consultation regarding the legal options of short sale, foreclosure, bankruptcy, etc.
• Richard Hicks (Santa Rosa) 707-528-7555, real estate attorney, very good.
• Dean Kackley (Napa) 707-252-2220, real estate attorney
• Lola Ellwein (Napa) 707-258-3373

CPAs:

• Jeff Spencer (Sonoma) 707-938-5922
• Tony Ganze (Napa) 707-255-6540
  

Virtual Tour services...

I don't expect anyone to stumble upon this blog; I'm using it as a place to store interesting tools for my real estate business. This past spring my hard drive crashed and while the data was recovered, which now resides on a little external storage device, the experience was like, as my brother Bill said, a death in the family, or like I imagine a concussion would be.

That reminds me, the company that did such a great job recovering my data is Gillware, Inc. Whew, that's captured!

Great Professional Photographers:

http://www.ventephoto.com/

http://www.style-n-shoot.com/

Virtual Staging:

http://virtualstagingsolutions.com/pricing/They Photoshop in furniture onto your uploaded photos of vacant property.

 
Virtual Tour Companies:

Visual Tour, $200 software, unlimited virtual tours, $30/month. They make QR codes you can put on listing signs and flyers.

ListingDomains.com Single property websites 123MainStreet.com Now have QR codes for their Riders and also available to print as stickers for the backs of business cards. Single website, $60.

AgencyLogic.com Single property websites, $50. No QR codes, looks kinda low-end. But Maurice uses them.

Golden Gate Creative Single high-end property websites about $250

OpenHomesPhotography.com Single property websites. About $525 for photo shoot and website.

WildFireWeb.com Hmm, a template driven web site hosting service. You have to call for pricing.

SodariDesign.com Identity, brand, print and web sites. Call for pricing.

TourFactory.com Hmm, $50/tour, includes video, 7 page website, postcards, and more

You'd want to use QR codes if your listing is in an urban environment, for drive-by's. Not too many people are going to stumble across a listing in the mountains, and then the cell phone reception is an issue...

Video Tour Website
WellcomeMat
Local videographer Timothy Benton