Alexander-Slocum REMAX Real Estate Team - Vancouver WA Homes

Happy Veteran's Day!

What I learned from my Father about a Positive Attitude

My father served in WWII when at the tender age of 16, he changed his age (easier back then to alter a birth certificate) and was enlisted in the US Army and sent off to the war zone. He felt it was his duty to fight for his country! His mother was terrified, as she had lost 2 other sons in the war.

My father didn't do a job that most would write home about, he wasn't a pilot, general, or captain...he was a private and his job wasn't glamorous either, in fact it was probably the worst one of all...burying the dead.

When I was growing up we loved to hear his stories, although he was honest about the situation and didn't "sugar coat" the reality of the situation, he always found a way to switch to HUMOR so we wouldn't have negative images in our heads. For example, he had a photos of his time in the service and NOT ONE had anything scary or sickening...which I found amazing considering what he saw every day! The pictures were priceless and humorous. My favorite was a picture of an outhouse with a sign pointing to the "Ladies Room" and my father and another young man pretending to go inside...after the ladies of course! They were smiling as if going to a party!

Most of his pictures were just like that, joking around and poking fun at himself or others...perhaps in an attempt to forget the reality of the situation? Probably.

He had a way to always see the positive. When my mother announced that she was pregnant for the 12th time my father said "Well, what's one more kid!" and smiled! It mortified everyone else!

I am thankful that we don't hear bombs exploding in our neighborhoods, that my 11 year old doesn't run around with a gun, that we can drive just about any place and not worry about making it back home...alive and that our homes will still be, in the same shape as when we left. I am thankful that I don't know what it is like first-hand (and I hope I never will) to walk outside and see bodies strewn among the ground. I am thankful for our Veterans, for our military for keeping us SAFE and sparing us at home, the real reality of what their "working worlds" deliver to them daily.

So when I hear the economy is going south and we're heading into a recession...just imagine being a real estate agent in Iraq! We have it easy here! Thanks Veterans and the US Military! And thanks Dad for always making me laugh and teaching me about having a positive attitude. My father passed away in 1982...I still miss him. - Kathryn

The Real Estate Market on the National and Local Vancouver Washington Scene has seen mortgage rates go up about 0.7, while at least one major lender put a 90 day hold on new foreclosures. Here's our Market Minute Report for the last day in October, 2008.



Press the Play button to view the brief real estate video report.

Please call or write us if you have any questions or would like more information on buying a home in Vancouver Washington during these uncertain market conditions or, if you would like to know what it really takes to sell your home in this market.

Recent Posts:
Sunday Tour of Bank Owned Homes in Vancouver WA
Why Bank Owned Homes in Vancouver WA are Easier to Buy than Short Sale Homes
Flu Season is upon us: Video on How One Local Vancouver WA Family Deals with it!

Foreclosed and Bank Owned Homes in Vancouver WA

Vancouver Washington Sunday Tour of REO properties

Did you remember that Daylight Savings Time is over? Since we had an extra hour today, I searched the multiple listing service for a list to preview and take advantage of this "extra hour". I found 7 properties to search through and all are REO's (bank owned homes). We packed up the car, cheat sheets, soda, cards, and keys and headed out for our "Sunday Adventure".

The Tree Frog: The first house was off a main street and just under $200K, it was 30 years old with hardwoods, and un-even tile that we kept tripping over. Apparently whomever installed it didn't know how to level it! Each bedroom had a different bright color, Cobalt Blue, Lime Green, Sunkist Orange...the bathroom had pink tile that was held into place with a lot of duct tape. I named this house the "Tree Frog" as it had so many bright colors, just like a tree frog!

Sad House: The next property was a flashback those terms you learn when studying for your license you think you may never use...like "functionally obsolete"...until you walk through one and the words come popping up...as you are walking through scratching your head trying to figure out why...and...what? What the heck is this room? This house made me sad, truly. As I looked through it, the cold bit through to my bones, the dark rooms took the words from my normal chatty mouth...half packed boxes everywhere, black plastic garbage bags being filled, but not completely...left on the carpets and tile...abandoned. The dark brown liquid on the kitchen floor that was never cleaned up had dried into a large stain on the tile. The garbage strewn all over, every room, as if a tornado had hit the day before!

It was my son who pointed down on the carpet in one room, two tiny little socks about 3" long lay on the carpets...his eyes met mine and he said in almost a whisper "a little child lived here"...then as we walked through the rest of the house, his questions kept coming "Why didn't they take all their toys? Why would they leave their things here? Are you sure they aren't here any more?"

It was sad to see, I hear so many negative comments about homeowners of distressed properties, I don't even like to read them! I explained to my son that we don't know what happened, it could have been hundreds of reasons they had to leave quickly. I then imagined MYSELF there and that's MY house...Why would I leave so quickly? Why would I leave my child's toys, socks, books and abandon a house that clearly I had been improving! There were improvements that were being done, a new bathroom, new kitchen countertops. We both agreed at the same time that we also needed to leave this house, we named it the Sad House for obvious reasons.

Freeway House: Then we found the Freeway House! Wow, it was a completely remodeled house about $450K LESS than the original list price and other than the location, it was a fabulous house! Someone had put a lot of TLC into this baby, it was truly nice...inside. Other than the freeway, which was right in front of the door...the noise was deafening! We thought this would be a good house for a musician with a band, as the freeway noise would drown out the music and the neighbors would never hear it! (Maybe we should call it the Rock-Star-Ready Jammin' House?)

Series of 3 Pet Houses: The next three were the pet houses, all were built in in the last 5 years, all were filthy, had some sort of STRONG pet odor, all needed paint and carpets DESPERATELY, just to mention a few things and we could not get out of those houses fast enough. There was the Dog House, the Cat House and the Praying Mantis House; although the Praying Mantis house had the strongest pet urine odor (probably from several pets and the carpets were torn to shreds), it was the cool...due to the Large Praying Mantis on the slider that caught our attention!

Light at The End of the Tunnel: The last house on our list was another bank owned home for sale, but this one was truly nice! Fresh paint, new carpets, it was the light at the end of the tunnel! It's how the other houses will probably look AFTER someone puts some TLC back into them! It was the perfect ending to our tour and we couldn't have planned it better.

I don't know about you, but I will be so thankful when the bank owned homes, foreclosures and short-sale homes are no longer on the market! I miss the days when previewing homes was happy and pleasant; the majority were clean with nice furnishings and the smell of cinnamon and vanilla lingered in the air!

Reminded me of Dorothy clicking her Ruby Red Slippers saying "There's no place like home!" --Kathryn

What They Haven't Told You About Short-Sale Homes vs. Bank Owned Homes

The number of homes coming onto the market has increased of late in the Vancouver WA and Camas areas that are in the Bank Owned and Short-Sale categories.  We've fielded many inquiries from clients as to what are the differences between purchasing the two types of homes and what is the better deal.  (...and YES, there are BIG Differences).

Let's start with some of the similarities: in each case the home itself has likely had some exposure to the financial hardship, often causing deferred maintenance issues and perhaps some utility company liens to be present.  In the worst cases there may be missing fixtures or other damage(s); for whatever reason, that you'll want to attend to.  In both cases these homes are usually sold in AS-IS Condition.

Having YOUR Financing in order prior to viewing these homes and writing an offer is also critical.  There are currently many great programs available, even loans for homes that require immediate TLC!

When writing a purchase and sale agreement for one of these homes, there will also be a "Bank" (mortgage lender) involved HOWEVER, here's where the process becomes very different.

Let's start with the easiest one to explain, the Bank Owned Home or, sometimes known as an REO = Real Estate Owned (as the Accountant at the Bank knows it).  This piece of real estate has already been through Foreclosure and Auctioned at the Clark County Courthouse Steps.  The Bank has bid up the price on the home, and eventually outbid other Cash Investors at the action and now expects to sell the home on the open market.  Offers made now on such homes are usually reviewed and responded to in about two business days.  Once an offer is agreed to, Closing and possession has occurred in as little as a week and a half in our office!

The Short-Sale purchase is very much different with respect to the offer and acceptance process.  Here there may be two or three banks involved, covering the First Mortgage; Second Mortgage, and sometimes the Equity Line of Credit Loan!  To get all these entities to agree on a price, and which one of the banks to take the biggest Hit is a time-consuming and less-than-certain process.  An offer on a short-sale usually takes weeks to get an approval -- and may never get approved. 

Additionally with short-sales there may be several competing offers or back-up offers that the Banks love to see (the Bank wants the highest sales price possible).  In these situations there can be another long time factor in revising upward offers until the highest accepted offer wins.

Finally, if the Bank (or, one of the banks) declares times-up and schedules a Foreclosure Auction, and the time of the auction is less than 20 days, the short-sale will probably fail as there is insufficient time to safely Close the transaction.

To briefly sum it up, a Bank Owned Home can be purchased rather quickly with reasonable certainty; while the Short-Sale property usually has much uncertainty.  Thus, as real estate agents in the Vancouver WA and Camas markets we recommend home shoppers to look at Bank Owned Homes, and prefer the Investing property shopper to look at both.

There are very few search parameters we Realtors can use in the RMLS system to identify bank owned homes.  However, we've created a list of about a dozen fine homes, mostly bank owned homes for you to view at: Bank Owned Homes in Vancouver WA.

If you have any questions or interest in Bank Owned Homes in Camas or Vancouver WA please contact us right away!
 

 

 

The Real Estate Market on the National and Local Vancouver Washington Scene has seen improvements in buying activity, availability of loans with a good variety of excellent programs for home shoppers to be applying for. Here's our Market Minute Report for the third week in October, 2008.



Press the Play button to view the brief real estate video report.

Please call or write us if you have any questions or would like more information on buying a home in Vancouver Washington during these uncertain market conditions or, if you would like to know what it really takes to sell your home in this market.

Recent Posts:
Sunday Tour of Bank Owned Homes in Vancouver WA
Why Bank Owned Homes in Vancouver WA are Easier to Buy than Short Sale Homes
Flu Season is upon us: Video on How One Local Vancouver WA Family Deals with it!