Best Realty's Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

Just another run-of the mill week for Lake Oroville home sales last week. The average home price in Oroville last week is skewed downward by the sale of an older mobile home that sold for $6,000. If you excluded that sale from last week’s numbers the average sale would have been almost $121,ooo, which is in line with longer term market trends.
As it has been over the past few months, the number to pay close attention to is the inventory number. The number of homes for sale in the Oroville market are at their lowest point in nearly a year. Breaking below 300 for the first time since I began tracking the number. While a lower inventory of homes is normally good for prices, it can have an adverse effect on the market if the number gets too low. An inadequate number of homes for buyers to look at runs the risk of causing buyer frustration and shoving some of them back to the sidelines to wait for inventories to increase.
Well, enough from me today.  Here are this week’s numbers.

MLS Stats for Oroville Area
Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending
Weekly %

 
1/25/2010
2/1/2010
2/8/2010
2/15/2010
Change

# of Total Sales
4
10
8
9
12.50%

# REO/Short Sales Sold (SS)
3
8
5
4
-20.00%

% Sales that are REO/SS
75.00%
80.00%
62.50%
44.44%
-28.89%

Avg. List Price
$75,975
$79,790
$156,674
$108,188
-30.95%

Avg. Sold Price
$68,475
$83,229
$149,800
$98,722
-34.10%

Sold Price % of Listing Price
90.13%
104.31%
95.61%
91.25%
-4.56%

Avg. Days On The Market
163
154
303
67
-77.89%

Total Sales Volume
$273,900
$830,599
$1,253,392
$973,692
-22.32%

# of Single Family Listings
320
324
308
291
-5.52%

# Foreclosed On Market
38
34
36
35
-2.78%

% of Foreclosed on Market
11.88%
10.49%
11.69%
12.03%
2.90%

# Short Sales on Market
50
52
49
46
-6.12%

% Short Sales on Market
15.63%
16.05%
15.91%
15.81%
-0.64%

Expanded Lake Oroville Sales Stats

So your agent has shown you a bunch of  houses and you might be getting a little frustrated if you havent found the right one.  Be patient! Sometimes it takes a few showings to really fine tune what it is that you REALLY want. 
 Then, you finally find it! Let the flood of emotions and questions begin!
In my opinion, it is good idea to educate the buyer as to what the process is and what decisions we will have to be made when finally making the offer.  However there are still little things that will need to be addressed and especially if there are going to be multiple offers on the property.  Thats where you will need to really listen to what your Realtor advises you to do. They have the experience and negotiating skills that will put your offer in its strongest possible position.
Although there are many part to the purchase contract here are a couple examples of things to think about:
The  purchase price. What is the amount you really want to offer? This will usually be a number you come up with according to the sold comps your agent has provided to you. Keep in mind this is probably the toughest part. There are a couple of factors to consider when finalizing the price. Is the seller being asked to give a credit for your closing costs? Are you asking for the seller to pay for all the inspections? How long is your escrow period?  These are things that need to be considered and your agent  will help you fine tune the numbers to make it attractive to the seller.
Escrow Period- How long of an Escrow do you need? Generally the normal time period is 30-45 days. Its a good idea to check with your lender regarding the time period they may need to complete the loan process.
Inspections- What type of inspections do you want to do? What is customary? What do you want the seller to pay for and which ones will you as the buyer pay for?  Your agent will be able to advise you on what the different types of inspections you can do and the importance of them. Your lender may also require certain inspections depending on the type of loan you have.
Here is an example of what a Califonia Purchase contract will look like.