23ac Outdoor Life

This year Big Bear Lake, CA had an epic snow storm. Most of Southern California experienced flooding that damaged many buildings in the coastal cities. But we were absolutely buried in frosty precipitation. There are different cities in the Bear Valley area like Moonridge, Fawnskin and Sugarloaf and they all took their own measure of beating, but what I was amazed by was the sense of community and brotherhood.

At first I began to question living in Big Bear because of these scenarios but now I feel a sense of confirmation. Rooftops are covered in feet of snow and holding, Chimneys are heating homes where the power is out. But all in all these abodes are boding well. And now my family is snuggled by the fire playing Yahtzee and telling stories by candlelight and strolling through the streets of fantastic snow hills in the early morning.

I was worried we may never get out of the heavenly avalanche alive, but we broke out of the driveway and felt a little ridiculous about it all. Then I noticed the families next door collaborating the remove snow from their driveways. I took a struggling stroll down my street and was greeted with a smile at every home I passed. We offered each other help and asked how each other was doing.

When I walked back to my house, I was welcomed by my husband in his robe with a cup of coffee. My kids were sitting on the floor of the living room playing cards and something felt right about it all. We had everything we need and we had each other. It is actually quite a relaxing getaway.

We were definitely forging new memories together in our new environment. It was very special to me. It seemed like we did the same thing every day, but oddly enough it did not bother any of us too much. Well, maybe my teenager.

I think the best part and the key part is that we don’t drive down the hill at the end of the weekend, we just head back home on the side streets while traffic stalls on the main boulevard. It’s nice to know the little tricks. It’s nice to have a home in Big Bear.

Article submitter Karen Richardson knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals plus Big Bear realty in general. Check out her other pieces on other websites.

Let me tell you about how I wrapped up a deal involving a short sale that was going nowhere fast…

I was sure that fairly soon I would see the listing again, but now being sold by the bank. I informed my clients that I would check for the cabin everyday in hopes to see it back on the market again. A little over a week later, the cabin was again listed, but now for $130,000 and being sold by the bank. I immediately contacted my clients with the great news, and we wrote an offer that day for $115,000.

The very next day the bank counter offered with $117,000, and my clients jumped on it. Luckily for us, the bank also fixed some busted pipes underneath the house that more then likely the original owner wouldn’t have been able to do. The fact of the matter is that the bank held out for a month and a half, and didn’t accomplish anything as a short sale property.

When the bank owned the property, we had the chance to buy the cabin for a better price and had the advantage of having some necessary repairs taken care of for us. Banked owned was the winner, short sale not so much. I had a very similar situation happen with a second family. This family made an offer of $340,000 for a property listed for a whopping $389,000. These clients also waited while the bank had the house reappraised and countless BPO’s done.

The end result was the bank declining our offer and allowing the house to go into the foreclosure stage. Again, I patiently watched and search the MLS listings until I came across the house listed as a bank owned property, and priced at 390,000. I agreed with my clients that the house was extremely over priced, and thought we should wait with the hopes of the price dropping. After we waited two weeks and the house still hadn’t been sold, we decided it was the perfect time to make another offer.

We offered the bank $333,000, and then patiently waited for a response. After only one day the bank declined our offer. It took about one going back and forth before we settled at $339,000. Again, bank owned, and a shorter time frame and a better price. So, if you’re keeping score, that would be bank-owned 2 and short sale at a big 0.

Article submitter Stephaine Miller knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures and Big Bear, CA houses in general. Check out more of her articles on the web.

Once upon a time, I put an offer in on an REO for some clients. I thought we had done everything by the book.

A week or so went by, and I didn’t become concerned yet. Red flags went off however, after the second week came and went. I began calling and E-mailing the listing agent up to three times a day for three days in a row trying to get a response from him. When that didn’t get a rise out of anybody, I finally had to call the broker to suggest maybe they needed to get an agent on the dealings that knew what they were doing. I was then sent over to their assistant, who luckily for me, appeared to know what she was doing.

Finally after a long and drawn out two weeks, I received a notice giving me an extension due to the bank opening the escrow with the wrong company. How is it even possible to not be aware of what company you are dealing with? Thank goodness I decided to give the broker a call, otherwise the selling agent would have just coasted along and not have been able to put a stop to the madness.

I also have experiences that are the exact opposite. I sold a bank owned property a little while back that was listed by an agent in Lake Arrowhead. Like most bank owned homes, it took the bank longer than usual to open escrow, but everything else ran perfectly. She made sure I received regular updates and her assistant was on top of everything. I got all the paperwork on time and done correctly.

Since the agent I worked with was knowledgeable and on top of the situation, it allowed me to deliver outstanding customer service to my client. It is always a wise decision to ask your Realtor a couple of detailed questions about how they work so you can be sure you are getting the service you deserve. It is always beneficial to work with an agent that is full time versus someone who is only part time. Your Realtor should also be very intuitive about your local market and how it works.

If you do have plans on purchasing a property in the Big Bear area, I wouldn’t suggest using a Realtor from the L.A or Orange County area. If you find yourself wanting to purchase a bank owned property, it is very important that you work with a Realtor that is familiar with how this process works. If you do have an agent that isn’t familiar with the differences in a bank owned property, you could find yourself out a chuck of money or even worse, your property.

You may not be aware that buying an REO, a bank owned property, is quite a different process then buying a property the old fashioned way, and it is extremely important that your Realtor understands the difference. Let me tell you why if your Realtor doesn’t know the vast difference between the two, how it can cost you a lot of money, and possibly cause you to all together lose your property.

Banks hold all the cards in a bank owned transaction. They don’t have disclosure requirements and set all the rules. They usually make the buyer sign an addendum that basically takes away most of the buyers protections and puts the ball squarely in the banks court.

The bank will set a timeline that they demand you stay on top of, or they will enforce consequences on you. The odd thing is that they can take all the time they need before they deliver any type of response to you. Almost a month ago, I was approved and have been holding money in escrow for a bank owned property. It took the bank three weeks into the thirty-day period before they even opened my escrow.

We didn’t get a copy of the signed contract or bank addendum until three weeks into the deal. Of course, the bank addendum we signed at the beginning of the transaction had us agree to pay a $100.00 per day per Diem for every day we went over the 30 days agreed upon in the contract.

Of course the bank took their time, and never completed anything in a timely fashion, causing us to not be able to meet the deadline. As you may already know, the majority of short sales do not close with a hitch. A short sale doesn’t have to be a terrible experience, but if your Realtor doesn’t put in the time and effort, it will end up being just that. By the same token, REO’s can end up the same way. In my case however, my Realtor assured me that everything was moving along smoothly, and we were just waiting for a response from the bank.

Submitted by: B. Stein knows all about shopping new homes for sale plus properties in general. Check out his other posts online.