bubbleinfo.com

Your video made me think of this line from Top Gun: "You still got that number for that truck driving school, 1-800-TRUCKERS I think?"

Officer Opie was hot on the trail. :-)

Have you thought about a little green dye for that pool just so people understand it is a REO? Seriously though, the problem with an empty lot next door in an established 'hood is the dreaded McMansion. What would yours rent for? I'm thinking Vista w/pool $1400?

From what I could see of the rest of the houses in that neighborhood during the aproach, having an empty lot next door instead of another similar house might actually increase the value a bit.

LOL. Loved the video. Do more of these!

I feel for ya Jim. It's a tough lot as a realtor these days...

The good news for you is that all the idiots who got their license in the past 5 years are going to get flushed out of the system in this kind of market, and at the end of it only the people with real skills like yourself will remain standing.

You might have to end up tearing out the carpet - the smoke smell gets into everything, and won't leave. On the bright side, now you can add "private - no neighbor to the right" in your listing ;-)

Is that an X5 you're driving around Jim? Nice choice - I'm a big fan - those things are the perfect size and you can wheel them around like sports cars.

The carpet was going anyway - the termite guy said it has the worst fleas he has ever seen, Called them 'blood-sucking monsters'. It only has carpet in the downstairs granny flat though, the upstairs 2-br has nice hardwood floors.

I'm driving a 2002 benz 430s sport with 80,000 miles on it - bought it used. It's the in-betweener, people said I should drive a wreck while doing REOs, but I'm in CV a lot too.

The video is Classic!

wow, you're basically a property manager for the bank for free while they diddle around "trying to figure out" pricing.

think the bank is pulling this on you?

http://piggington.com/where_the_shadow_inventory_might_be_hiding

I'm not in the business, but from here I can't see any upside for a realtor in working with REO or short sale houses, either as the listing agent or as a buyer's. Is it just that without these there wouldn't be anything to sell at all right now?

The REO market *is* the market right now. Traditional sellers aren't willing to sell at today's prices, even though they're quite high by historical standards.

Jim, the more videos the better. Keep up the play by play too. Love the drama.

Jim,

Are the lenders telling you what they're waiting for? We've all been talking about this "shadow inventory," it's seen all over the place, and it's odd that the banks are waiting for things to get worse??? They can't possibly think that things are going to get better any time in the near future, or are they as delusional as the "not giving it away" sellers???

Maybe they are betting on a Federal bailout.

If I remember correctly you stated that your entered the REO market now in the lower end neighborhoods so that when (not if) the REO's hit the high end areas you've done all the groundwork and will be ready to roll.

Yep JE, I did say that, and in the same breath I also said "if I don't go broke in the meantime!"

I haven't received any high-end REOs yet, nine of the 20 listings are under $200,000, and all have been in Oceanside, Vista, and Valley Center. That's reminds me, didn't we have a contest for what would be the first property they sent me?

I'm cutting my teeth, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm learning anything new about selling homes. 'REO experience' means you've beat your head against the wall for months trying to figure out how a company with 45,000 REOs in the pipe can be so dysfunctional.

The word on the street is that B of A is going to kick us all to the curb, and out-source the whole division. I hope it at least stays in the USA, can you imagine trying to buy/sell a house being coordinated from India?

In the meantime, there is a lot of talk about rates going up. Yesterday's quote for super-jumbo (up to $1.5 million with 30% down payment) 30-year fixed rate mortgages was 6.375% at one point, or 6.625% at no points. It is not a retail offering. Email me if you want their name (it's not Countrywide)

One explanation of the shadow inventory is that banks are loathe to flood the market any more than they already have and thereby depress prices more than needed.

Unfortunately Jim,I suspect the banks aren't being dysfunctional, they don't want to mark to market; actually selling will force a mark to market and I suspect, they're broke if they do.

I'd like to address that point, because from appearance it looks just like you described - the banks benefit from delaying reality.

None of the deals I'm on, and rarely any that I see being administered by Countrywide (CHL) are loans owned by Countrywide. They sold off every loan they originated, and kept the servicing.

Deutsche Bank, Bank of NY, and USBank are the big losers who keep showing up as mortgage holders. But it's not the actual bank either - here's an example of one property owner I'm working for:

Bank Of New York 2005-Ar1

These are the investment vehicles that sliced and diced the bulk loan packages into digestable pieces for individual investors. They are the ones taking the actual losses.

Furthermore, CHL is the trustee - don't they have a fiduciary duty to their client to return as much money to them from the proceeds of an REO sale?

CHL is obligated to expedite these sales, unless they (and the other intermediaries that made boatloads of transaction fees) are deliberately hiding the truth from their own clients. If it comes out in the end that that was the case, I guess none of us will be surprised, but from my seat it sure looks like they are just plain ol' inundated with files.

They are hiring people - did I tell you about the last newby asset manager I spoke with? The ex-realtor who had been on her new job for two weeks, and already had 100+ files on her desk. I knew more than she did.

I was shocked that you, who I believe professes Christ, took His name in vain because you were inconvenienced for a few minutes of your busy and important life.

Changed my view of you, unfortunately.

"They are hiring people - did I tell you about the last newby asset manager I spoke with? The ex-realtor who had been on her new job for two weeks, and already had 100+ files on her desk. I knew more than she did."

Thanks Jim, both for the clarification and the laugh.

I don't think it'll get better anytime soon if the people responsible for setting the selling prices are the people that failed out being an RE agent cause they couldn't catch the change in the market.

Changed my view of you, unfortunately.

Let me get this straight.

I've gone almost three years and over 1,000 hand-written articles and haven't uttered one swear word.

I turn on a hand-held camera in a moment that captures the frustration I'm going through in a very human moment. I review the tape, and say to myself "somebody is going to crack on me for saying JC."

I even emailed CR so he doesn't add this to his collection on Calculated Risk for the same reason - the so-called christians will overlook that I'm human and anonymously crack on me.

In fact, change their view of me, for one JC?

Please - I don't remember seeing you walk on water. Whatever happened to forgiveness?

No Such,

There does seem to be a lot of banter between the asset managers and the investors. The AMs don't make a move unless they have approval, though it isn't uniform, nor predictable.

It happens not only on price, but on goofy things like carpet. They issued a memo about wanting their REOs to be different than the rest - fix 'em up so they look nice and sell faster.

They have us get new-carpet quotes on just about every property, but only install on about half. It's indiscriminate too; sometimes decent carpet gets changed, and ratty stuff gets overlooked.

You're never going to satisfy everyone, Jim. Just let it go...you're a good man who does his utmost to do the right thing.

Take care, my friend.

>>Changed my view of you, unfortunately.

I wasn't offended one bit. IMO, not much difference in thinking it and just outright saying it.

Thanks for the laugh.

A prayer out loud for either patience to endure or intercession to overcome is warranted in such situations.

>>Changed my view of you, unfortunately.

Hope you're done worrying about this. It's not like HereInCV is without sin. I have no patience for judgmental people like this. Judge not . . .

Actually, I thought that was the funniest part of the video. You're only human. You're helping people in an honest way everyday with these REO's, and the general manner in which you go about your business.

>>Deutsche Bank, Bank of NY, and USBank are the big losers who keep showing up as mortgage holders. But it's not the actual bank either - here's an example of one property owner I'm working for:

Bank Of New York 2005-Ar1

These are the investment vehicles that sliced and diced the bulk loan packages into digestable pieces for individual investors. They are the ones taking the actual losses.
----

This is a topic I find really interesting, yet need some clarification on. Are Deutsche, BNY, USB, and the other banks not taking any losses on these?

I know individual investors could invest in these vehicles, but aren't large institutions (like banks,) using these to provide returns on savings and cash accounts? Aren't these AAA rated CMO's? I thought mostly banks were holding these. WM is holding a lot of these, right? How about Deutsche, BNY, and USB?

The word on the street is that B of A is going to kick us all to the curb, and out-source the whole division. I hope it at least stays in the USA, can you imagine trying to buy/sell a house being coordinated from India?

How about being the one they outsource to in San Diego County(whole county)... just a thought.. Damn, I knew I should have gotten that RE license!!

Thought this post was kind of tasteless. I don't think someone losing their home is something to poke fun at. Or act like you are bothered by.

Blur,

Let's take Bank of New York for example. They must have been one of the biggest buyers of Angelo's loans, scooping up gobs of private-label CFC paper. They are always number 2 or 3 on the list of foreclosed property owners in SD County.

Yet I haven't heard any news of their demise, like WaMu and Downey. If they had outside buyers for all their CDOs, they could be raking in fees on both ends - when they sold the CDOs, and now on the foreclosure end.

To add to my previous thought, I could see lenders/trustees, etc. wanting to delay the pre-foreclosure process, but once the property is yours, wouldn't you want to expedite the sale and re-plenish the coffers?

The only reason I could see for trustees to slow down the sale of REOs is to not flood the market, but sorry - it's already flooded, especially in the minds of the consumer.

Well then Joe, this ain't the blog for you.

Go back to the I'm-going-to-misinterpret-blogger's-purpose-and-then-make-holier-than-thou-anonymous-comment blog, like HereinCV.

Jim,

Don't respond to the trolls they just get louder.

I've enjoyed every post you've done and I can't wait until the next one hits.

I would like to run my own housing blog but the wife works in PR and occasionally has RE clients. Think builders and finance companies. I don't want to stick my neck out and effect anything she has going.

I can't imagine how many RE insiders are looking at this blog and literally going out of their to make things harder for you.

It's always difficult to be the "canary in the coal mine" and I would like to thank you for the candid RE information and experiences you provide.

Leave him alone. He was not making fun of anyone losing their home. He's had a tough week. I've read this blog for over a year now, and watched as many of you have taken potshots at him for one thing or another, and Jim has always been gracious to all of you. This is his blog. He didn't have to post that video, and he knows that. He was showing that it was serious, and that the house burning down had serious consequences for everyone-including the realtor.