Best Realty's Paradise & Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

We’ve all heard the old saying , “Give them an inch and they will take a mile.” Right?
Well, this has never held more true than it does today in this age of bank owned properties. No, this is not another one of those bank, bashing blog posts that seem to be everywhere these days. Quite frankly it is difficult to tell if the expanding trend of banks REQUIRING  more and more of a potential purchaser before accepting an offer, is the work of the banks or of some of the bank-employed REALTORS® that have hitched their fortunes to their bank-employer.
Let’s take a little walk down memory lane to see what I mean.
Inch #1-In the beginning, banks that owned foreclosed homes simply required that a buyer present a loan prequalification letter with any offer that was made on one of their homes. This seemed fair, as no seller wants to be dealing with a buyer that is not qualified for a loan.
Inch #2- It was then not good enough that the purchase contract stated that the buyer had given a deposit check to their agent. The bank wanted a copy of the check.
Inch #3-Next the major banks required that any prospective buyer be loan prequalified with their bank before they would consider the buyer’s offer. Great way for the bank’s loan officers to try and persuade a buyer to swtich their business to them. Yes, it is happening!
Inch #4- Banks then refused to sign their own counter offer before the buyer signed it. So even after the buyer agreed to the terms of the counter offer there would be no binding contract until the seller signed. Providing more time for other offers to come in that may be more attractive the bank. Totally backwards from how it should be done.
Inch #5-Now some banks are not only demanding  for a loan pre-qualification letter, but they are demanding for proof of the buyer’s credit score and in some cases asking for the buyer’s social security number. We just had a bank ask our buyer for thier social security number and we refused to give it to them. Guess what, the bank accepted our offer.
Inch #6- The latest twist is that some banks are requiring that the buyer open escrow and place the deposit money in the escrow account at the escrow company before they will sign their own counter offer. That’s right, Mr. Buyer, put your money up first and then the bank may or may not sign the counter offer that they drafted.
So who is responsible for this “taking of the inches” and how do we stop it from turning into a mile?  My take on this is that the banks are the inch-takers. They will continue to take as much as they are given. I also believe that nearly all of the local bank-employed REALTORS® have a hand in this too.  I always get the same answer when I ask any of them about the shenanigans their banks pull.”It is the way they want it done,” they say. “The buyer can take it or leave it.” Virtually none of them stand up to their employers on these issues, they simply go with the flow.
You, the buyer have total control over this nonsense. Don’t stand by and let the banks’ demands compromise your financial security. Take a stand and hold your ground for what is right. Yes, you may miss out on a house or two but there are plenty of others out there.

Lake Oroville Elevation is  694 feet today.
Storage capacity today is 1,216,500 acre  feet.
Water Temperature is 45 degrees.
The inflow is 5300 cubic feet per second.
Enjoy todays rain.
VIEW THE LAKE OROVILLE SLIDESHOW

Welcome back, once again, to your weekly sales update for the Paradise, California  real estate market. Market activity remains stable this week when compared to last week. The astute observer that you are probably noticed a revision in the housing numbers that I reported last week.  The revision was made because my intent is to report home sales activity for the town of Paradise. Last week’s report also included the Magalia area.
Which brings me to the question of what you want to see in these Paradise numbers. Do you want to see  just Paradise stats or would you like to me to include numbers for the Magalia area too?

MLS Stats for Paradise 
Week Ending
Week Ending
Weekly % 

 
1/29/2010
2/5/2010
Change

# of Total Sales
6
6
0.00%

# REO/Short Sales Sold (SS)
2
3
50.00%

% Sales that are REO/SS
33.33%
50.00%
50.00%

Avg. List Price
$154,667
$161,150
4.19%

Avg. Sold Price
$155,083
$156,100
0.66%

Sold Price % of Listing Price
100.27%
96.87%
-3.39%

Avg. Days On The Market
60
84
40.00%

Total Sales Volume
$930,948
$936,600
0.61%

# of Single Family Listings
137
148
8.03%

# Foreclosed On Market
19
19
0.00%

% of Foreclosed on Market
13.87%
12.84%
-7.43%

# Short Sales on Market
15
17
13.33%

% Short Sales on Market
10.95%
11.49%
4.91%

Paradise, listings, homes for sale, properties, Lake Oroville, Oroville, Creal estateA Butte county

For a smaller town like Oroville, prosperity hinges greatly on the amount and quality of development that takes place.  Among other things, future development brings with it new jobs, which brings with it an expanded population base, which brings with it more housing needs. In other words, a prospering Lake Oroville contributes to a strong housing market.
Development, though cannot take place in ANY town without a City Council, or Town Council as the case may be, working together for the common good of it’s beloved city. Not only does nothing get done when city officials are bickering, but you won’t find any major companies willing to come to a town when there is discontent at the highest levels of city government.
So when I read, “City Council tensions erupt into open” on the front page of our local newspaper this morning I could only shake my head in bewilderment at how stupid things can get at City Hall sometimes.
The following e-mail was sent from one Council Member to our mayor. Now before you get your panties in a wad, I am taking no sides in whatever dispute these two elected members of our community are having. In fact, to be honest, I am not sure what the dispute is all about.
But I am sure of one thing, the message in the email below is unbecoming of an elected official and, in my view, may be reason to have him removed from office. I’ll have more comments on this after you read the e-mail. Oh, by the way, the text highlighted in red was my doing.

David Pittman’s e-mail to Steve Jernigan read at city council meeting
Oroville Mercury-Register Posted: 02/03/2010 10:33:19 PM PST
 Subject: Performance- CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICAITON
From:  pittmandw at cityoforoville.org
Date: Sun, January 31, 2010 9:16 am
To:  jernigansd at cityoforoville.org
THIS IS A CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION FOR THE ONLY USE OF THE PERSON ADDRESSED TO.
Mayor,
The phone call you made last Thursday evening to City Attorney Dwight Moore was a level of performance that violates the City Personnel Rules and Regulations Section 15.1 Unlawful Workplace Harassment paragraph 1. Verbal Harassment.
As this is a repeated behavior by you to City Staff I will be taking action. As this event involves the City Attorney and others in City Administration I will be asking the District Attorney Mike Ramsey to investigate your specific performance.
I do not take any pleasure in taking this action, but my Conscious will not allow me to disregard this performance.
I will be reading a letter at the end of the City Council meeting under Public comment non-agenda items. That letter will request an investigation be conducted by the District Attorney of your actions and performance.
Mayor there are two actions by you that I would re-consider making this issue public and asking the District Attorney to investigate.
One:  You would immediately announce either in person or by letter your resignation as City Council member and Mayor effective Tuesday at 7:00pm on February 2, 2010.
Or
Two:  You would support the extension of current City Administrator contract for one more year, under the conditions the City Council establishes a Personal Board/Review committee, City Treasurer is assigned as Negotiations representative and the Administrators contract salary would remain the same as last contract. You could finish your term as Mayor and It would be expected that you not repeat any other verbal harrassment phone calls.
Mayor these are your choices!
In addition if you choose resignation it certainly would be your choice to state the reason. As an example if you stated the needs of your family and new job are demanding and you do not have enough time to devote to the City. That would be a choice acceptable to the public.
Also I recall your previous comment to me that you would support another year of the City Administrators contract. I have an expectation that you will do just that.
You and I share a passion for this City and it prosperity! I hope you choose the second choice and complete your service to the City. As I believe many great developments are on the edge of providing new prosperity to Oroville’s citizens and our families.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I CONSIDER THIS A CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOU AND I AND I HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF SHARING WITH ANYONE.
David Pittman

 
Councilman Pittman could have saved a lot of time and keystrokes if he would have just reduced it down to the major points. Here is how he should have written it:

Dear Mr. Mayor:
I feel that you have broken the law in performance of your duties and my Conscious (sic) does not allow me to ignore your unlawful behavior. Because of this I am asking the county’s top law enforcement officer to investigate your actions.
However, if you resign, or agree to vote the way I tell you, I will forget your unlawful behavior ever happened.
I am sure we can come up with a good lie for you to use if you choose to resign.
By the way, please don’t tell anybody I threatened you this way. Let’s just keep this between you and me, OK?

 
Politics or Extortion? You make the call!!! Either way, it is ultimately not helpful to the Lake Oroville real estate market.
 

Still on the fence Buyers??  Here is a reason to buy now!!!   Effective 4/15/2010 the upfront mortgage insurance premium is increasing by 50%. Although interest rates are still low, they are expected to increase Spring/Summer.   The flip rule is gone, Buyers can now purchase a home that has been sold within the 90 day period. First time home buyers are still eligible for the $8,000. tax credit, as long as you are ,in escrow by 4/30/2010.  Additionally, the 3.5% down payment requirement will be increasing for Buyers with less than stellar credit and seller credits, the amount credited back to Buyers by Sellers for recurring and non-recurring fees or closing costs, may be ending down the road. Obviously buying just because of the aforementioned incentives is never a good thing, but if you were already in the market to purchase, take advantage of all of these perks while you can!