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What You Must Know Prior To Buying A Bank Owned Home In Big Bear

I sat down with Israel Barden, our REO & bank owned expert with Coldwell Banker here in Big Bear Lake, for a quick video discussion on the 3 most important things buyers in this market need to understand about buying a bank owned property. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWoSVKChFPo[/youtube] There are many factors to consider when buying a bank owned property.  If you are thinking about a bank owned purchase, be sure to talk with your real estate agent and lender first.  A bank owned purchase can be … [Read more...]

Big Bear Home Sales 2008 – 2nd & 3rd Quarters

Below are the details on home sales in Big Bear for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2008.  See the 1st quarter home sales here.  Why am I posting the 2nd and 3rd quarters together?  Because I was lazy (or busy) in July and did not post the 2nd qrt. numbers then :). 2008 - 2nd Quarter #s Year Q2 # of Home Sales Median Sales Price Days on the Market List Price to Sales Price … [Read more...]

Bank Owned Properties – What Today’s Sellers Need To Learn From Them

Bank owned properties dominate the headlines in today's real estate world. Rightfully so, they are setting the pricing standards in most areas while comprising roughly 20%-70% of the current closed sales for many areas in our Nation. Here are a few recommendations for sellers that want to sell in this market and what they can learn from their bank owned competitors. [viddler id=d35e19f1&w=437&h=368] The key point here is that banks have to sell their properties. They are willing to take much less than … [Read more...]

List Price, Sales Price, and Market Value.

A lot of buyers today get caught up in what a property is listed for and how much they can get off of the price.  They think the more off the price they can get, the better value they are getting.  While this might be true in some cases, it can be false in others.  Buyers should be more concerned with what the value of the property is, not what it is listed for. Take a look at the video below for more details on a specific example I came across. [viddler id=8277b8d2&w=437&h=368] (Note - if you are viewing … [Read more...]

Absorption Rates For The Big Bear Real Estate Market – September 2008

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Big Bear, you may want to take a look at the absorption rate of homes that are currently for sale. This is a good way to become more informed on the current real estate market conditions in a particular area. There is an easy to understand article here describing what the absorption rate is and what it means for the real estate market. In simplistic terms, it is a mathematical equation that tells the amount of time it will take for a specified set amount of … [Read more...]

What Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid For?

Business coach Jim Rohn has a good response to this type of question.  As with any job, "You get paid for bringing value to the marketplace" Rohn says.  If you are not bringing value to the marketplace, then sooner or later you are not going to get paid. This is even more true in today's tough market conditions. In the life of a real estate agent, this statement could not be closer to the truth.  The role of the real estate agent has changed dramatically since the days before the internet, IDX, VOW's, blogs, … [Read more...]

Buying An REO or Bank Owned Property? Make Sure You Read The Fine Print.

Given the current real estate climate, bank owned or REO (real estate owned by banks) properties have become highly sought after by today's buyers.  Whether or not they ultimately end up purchasing one, most buyers are starting off with this thought in mind. Naturally, these buyers are looking for a deal and most bank owned properties fit this category perfectly.  It is not uncommon to see Big Bear REO properties selling from 75 to 90 cents on the dollar as compared to similar homes on the market. While buying a … [Read more...]

Big Bear 2008 First Quarter Home Sales

This may be a little late but it is still informative to look at and compare the first quarter home sales for 2008 with that of the previous 5 years. It is pretty well known that home sales in Big Bear have slowed down tremendously.  First quarter sales were off 48% from the first quarter of 2007 (and 2007 was the slowest year for the number of sales that we have seen in over 20 years) and 69% less than the first quarter of 2004, the best first quarter in the past 6 years. Year Q1 # of Home Sales Median Sales … [Read more...]

Absorption Rates For The Big Bear Real Estate Market – April 2008

The time it will take to sell a house in Big Bear dropped by 10 months in April 2008.  With the pick up in home sales that we saw in March, the absorption rate for the Big Bear real estate market dropped from 32.72 months to sell to 22.80 months to sell.  This is encouraging news for home sellers though the market is still very heavily favored toward buyers.  The market will need to get closer to a 1-3 month absorption rate in order to get back to a sellers market. Now that we are heading into the spring and … [Read more...]

Big Bear Home Sales On Par With Other Second Home Markets in U.S.

The National Association of Realtors recently released a report on second home sales that was reported on by The Dallas Morning News. The article states that second home sales nationwide dropped by more than 30% in 2007 when compared to 2006. This is pretty consistent with what we saw in the Big Bear real estate market in 2007. There were 1172 residential sales in 2006 as compared to 796 sales in 2007, a difference of 34%. I noticed a few important points to take from the article as it relates to the Big Bear … [Read more...]