There is a new may of thinking about foreclosure for the American homeowner,  especially the homeowner who is not in financial distress and is able to pay the mortgage payment.  These homeowners are viewing their homes as bad investments and are choosing to walk away rather than pay for years on a property that may never be worth what they owe.  Take a look at this video from the Today Show where homeowners who are doing just that, and notice the shift from the “guilty feelings” that generally go along with such a decision.  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/36661157#36661157

I am not advocating a position either way on a “Strategic Foreclosure”, but rather, just wanted to make note of this amazing paradigm shift and what it may mean in this economic crisis.

•  37 Total Sold Listings in March                  
•  14 REO (37.8%% of total March sales)
•   7 Short Sales (18.9% of total March sales
•   Distressed Properties Comprising 37.8% of total homes sold in March

Active Listings Stats

• 306 Single Family Properties Currently Listed (Not in Escrow)
•   19   REO (.063% of total)
•   35  Short Sales (11.44% of total)
•  Distressed Properties Comprising 17.65% of Market Total

Pending Listing Stats (Homes in Escrow)

•  110 Currently in Escrow  
•    20 REO (18%)
•    53 Short Sales (48%)
•   REO & Short Sales Comprising 66.3% of the Total Homes in Escrow

Average Number of Days on Market (DOM) From Listing to Close of Escrow

•  96 DOM for REO Sales
• 204 DOM for Short Sales
• 232 DOM for Non Distressed Properties

These numbers still show that homes that are a better value are selling quickly, as any of you who have attempted to get an offer accepted on any of these well priced homes can attest. 

The Average sales price for March was $407,790 which is up slightly from February, whose average sales price was $401,652.  Does that mean the end is near, I think not with the number of notices of defaults and notices of sales still out there.  What it does means is that there is still plenty of opportunity for people who are in a position to purchase these homes.  With the threat of increasing interest rates, things could heat up in the buying arena.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Cabin on Echo Summit

Did you ever ask yourself this question as you were driving up to Tahoe along the Highway 50 corridor?  There are an amazing number  little cabins beginning at about Whitehall.  Well . . . the answer is they are mostly recreation residences, or Forest Service Cabins.  There are almost 600 of them on on the El Dorado National Forest and that includes those in the Lake Tahoe Basin.  You can buy these cabins, not the land, just the cabins when the present owners wish to sell them.  It is sort of like buying a car or a boat because they are considered personal property in the form of improvements on land that is owned by the public, you and me.  You get to use the land with a 20 year special use permit (not a 99 year lease) issued by the Forest Service.  There is a yearly fee for the land use and, get this, you also pay real property taxes at about 1.1% of the purchase price to the county where the cabin is located.  They tell me taxes are charged because you receive county services for your cabin which is good, especially if you need a fire truck or a paramedic.  These are cash transactions and there may not be winter access or winter water, so are you wondering, “Why in the world would I want to pay cash for a cabin on land that I don’t own that does not have winter water or winter access and I can’t rent it our more than 14 days per year?”  Good question.  The answer to that one seems to be the lifystyle that comes with these wonderful places.  In my many years of representing sellers and buyers of these cabins I have been witness to the amazing transformation that comes over families who rest at ease as they see the new families who are buying the place where their family  memories  were born as they realize that more wonderful memories will continue to be created for the new owners.  Each cabin tells it’s own story and I can say that I’ve never  heard the same story twice.