Staging homes has always been daily life style for me.!It started way back when I was 8 years old. In a small town of Tennessee is where my passion began!My first memory,I had saved all my money up., I think around $80.00. I ask my mom who had NO Décor skills what so ever, if I could decorate the kitchen. With out a doubt she gave me approval! I went to the local home store Wal-Mart! The one and only place that Southern People love!I went into the Kitchen department, What a selection the had! John Deere, Pillsbury dough boy, White Swans and of Course the Country Sun Flowers. What did I choose?The Sun Flower theme!! I bought hand towels, Sunflower sticky paper, Sunflower fake flowers, Country Rope string, actual sunflowers and all the ins and outs! I cut out the sunflowers out of the sti... 01/29/2008

2328 Bayberry Way Hemet, CA 92545 Bank Owned - Hemet - Great Starter Home Home Complete Details Photo Gallery Property Map Financing Request a Showing Contact Me Graham Holmes Celll:951.634.4118 Office:951.927.8940 Website:Visit Website Price : $215,000 Bedrooms : 3 Bathrooms : 2 Square Foot : 1,367 Lot Size : 6,534 County : Riverside Property Type : Detached Year Built : 1991 MLS Number : H735914 click for more pictures Property Description GREAT STARTER HOME ON CUL-DE-SAC NEAR WEST VALLEY HIGH SCHHOL. THIS BANK OWNED HOME FEATURES 3 BEDROOMS, 2 BATHS, FIREPLACE AND COVERED PATIO. HOME NEEDS A LITTLE TLC BUT HAS ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. COME PREVIEW TODAY Equal Housing Opportunity. Mission Grove Realty : 4140 E Florida Ave - Hemet CA 92544 : 951.634.4118 01/28/2008

In today’s Hemet California Real Estate market and the surround area known as South West Riverside County in the region of Southern California known as the Inland Empire we are one of the hardest hit areas in the entire country when it comes to foreclosures and REO’s. Now is an excellent time to take advantage of the market – a true buyers market. The irony is that many buyers are fence sitting…waiting for the bottom of the market to hit.  Unfortunately, in a real estate market we will not know when either the bottom hits or the top peaks until 6 months after it has happened…and then it is too late to take advantage of.  Market correction can only be verified with hindsight – a 20-20 vision most of us have. Another irony is that most buyers feel more comfortable in a hot escalating mark... 01/21/2008

California is a non-judicial state when it comes to the different types of foreclosure.  Although in rare circumstances a lender can pursue a judicial foreclosure in California it is very rare As a non-judicial foreclosure state, the lender can foreclose on the property without involving the legal court system.  In California, the foreclosure process starts after the homeowner has defaulted in their loan payments.  Although technically, a foreclosure can start as soon as the first payment is reported delinquent; in reality most lenders wait until the loan ages 90 days delinquent before it begins the actual foreclosure process. The Foreclosure Begins The period prior to a notice of default payment being recorded and the first missed payment is often referred to as the ‘pre-foreclosure pe... 01/20/2008

Selling REO properties in Hemet CA puts me in contact with all sorts – first time home buyers, move-up home buyers and investors. Ideally, I want to do business with investors, as they will typically purchase additional properties during the course of the year, and even more in future years.  Not to mention, they will be selling their properties as well. But I have got to ask myself at what cost will I do business with an Investor?  The successful ones are very savvy, and I have to be on the constant alert for someone trying to get into my pockets. It is one thing to ask me to take a reduced commission if I am doing both sides of a deal.  I never like it, but I can certainly understand the reasoning and motivation behind it.  Yes, in the past I have occasionally conceded this point to m... 01/20/2008

In today’s market we have very serious and very motivated buyers.  Motivation is triggered by a number of different scenarios; either way though those who are ready to buy couldn’t find themselves in a better market than exists in Hemet CA today. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently published a study, 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers that did a very in depth analysis of who the buyers and sellers are in this current market.  I recently reported on how many buyers use the Internet and how they use it. In this article I want to look at the differences between the two different types of buyers – First Time vs. Move-Up.   Bear in mind as you look at this data, it may not be exactly what happened here in Hemet or in any other part of the country, it is typical of what ... 01/20/2008

How do I answer that with anything but a big fat DUH? The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently released it’s 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.  The conclusions are not at all surprising.  If anything, what surprises me is how conservative the numbers are that they report. For example, NAR reports that only 84% of all of the home buyers across the entire country used the Internet (100% of my personal deals were influenced one way or another by the Internet – even personal referrals and such)– which coincidently is the exact same percentage of home buyers that used a REALTOR®!  Now that is interesting. Of all of the home buyers, 66% used the Internet frequently and 64% frequently use a REALTOR® when buying real estate. The NAR results say that onl... 01/20/2008

When representing a buyer and writing an offer, one of the question I like to pose, “When do you want to close escrow?” At least 90% of the time, no one has a clue as to when or why they should consider the options.  First, let me say that as a buyer you do not always have control over when the escrow will close.  There are many factors that can and do contribute to delays that are completely out of the buyer’s control.  At times, escrow will have missed a critical bit of information (Never my escrow; Michelle at Fidelity in Hemet), which can cause a delay of a day or two to a week or two.  Then there are the underwriters at the mortgage companies…they have certainly been known to drag their feet and not get everything that is needed on time.  And of course, either party to the transact... 01/20/2008

Right out the gate I will say that I have zero experience in the rent to own market and do not have any first hand experience to draw from, for this article.  However, I have recently been asked several times about a “rent to own” situation, which has required me to put on my thinking cap and playing a little ‘devils advocate’, while researching the topic. Common Knowledge I’ll start with what I believe to be the ‘basic’ way that a ‘rent to own’, or ‘lease to own’ program works.  For this purpose, I’ll work with a set of assumptions throughout my discussion: Today’s fair market value of home:                    $250,000 Today’s fair market rent value for this home:       $1200/month 2 Months security Deposit (Move In Cost):           $2400 So, a renter would be expected to pay $1200 a m... 01/19/2008

Joey Aszterbaum is a hell of a guy. You can't help but love him. Each month he hosts a Real Agent Help breakfast at Mimi's in Hemet. I attended yesterday, and reconnected with fellow rainers Joey, John Occhi and Heidi Gray. One of my favorite people in the world, Judee Edgerton from American Home Shield was there, too. If you're looking for a home warranty, Judee will treat you like gold. Well heck, she'll treat you like gold anyway.After enjoying a good breakfast, Joey introduced us to Doak Belt of Innovative Wealth Solutions, who spoke on financial planning and real estate. Doak is bright and articulate and I would certainly recommend him if you're looking for help planning your financial future.We'll do it again on Valentine's day. If you're in the area, I hope you'll attend. Murriet... 01/18/2008

The market today is ripe for investors to "get in' the Hemet Real Estate market, as there are may foreclosure homes that can be obtained for a price that will generate an immediate positive cash flow.Many wanna-be investors are just unsure about how to go about making the move into the Hemet real estate market as an investor.  First off, many of these people are already successful in their own chosen industries and to start off as a novice investor can sometimes make a future investor a little uneasy.So, many real estate investors interested in the Hemet real estate market will attend seminars, retreats and boot camps in an effort to learn everything they can.  Still others will visit the local bookstore and read as many different books as they can on the topic of real estate investing.... 01/12/2008

REO stands for the term “Real Estate Owned”.  This is a banking term used to describe real estate that a bank owns, typically because it was taken back from the homeowner through the foreclosure process. In a good real estate market, REO’s are not very common.  However, in a market like Hemet, CA is experiencing where 72% of the homes going into escrow are either a REO listing or a short sale, the banks have a very definite role in the current real estate market. If you are a first time home buyer or an investor – you will no doubt be looking at the REO market for the best possible bargains available today. First, lets look at how a home becomes an REO property. When a bank forecloses on a home, it is typically because of non-payment of the mortgage.  The process of taking the home back... 01/10/2008

I remember receiving the text message on my TREO 700P, the day after Christmas…I received the first of 3 REO assignments in a 24-hour period.  I guess the wait until after Christmas mentality was kicking in and it was time to clean off some desks and get those files moving before the end of the year. The first one came in for the city of Perris, about 20 miles due west of Hemet, just an easy drive down the Ramona Expressway.  I contacted my contractor and let him know that I was on my way to do an occupancy check, and to expect my call within the next 30 minutes, as I was expecting to make quick work of this simple task. Well, I showed up in the neighborhood of 20-year old small homes on very small lots.  The streets are narrow and it seems as if there is not enough curb space for the c... 01/10/2008

There is still much confusion in the market about Short Sales and the recent bill, H.R. 3648 the President signed into law, The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 on December 20, 2007. This is the law that retroactivleyl back to January 1, 2007 eliminates an IRS tax liability for forgiven debt relating to mortgages setteled ‘short'.Prior to the signing of the bill by President Bush, negotiating with lenders NOT to report the forgiven debt to the IRS was always one of the strongest benefits to pursuing a short sale.  Now thqt the governemnt has waved it's majic wand...people want to know more about why they should consider selling their home as a short sale, rather than letting it go to foreclosure. (Of course you need to check with your own tax professional to see how this app... 01/09/2008

As a Hemet, CA REALTOR® that accepts REO assignments I have learned that there is much more than taking a listing and selling it.REO Listings require an extensive amount of time administrating the various tasks that must be accomplished in a timely manner.  If I were not able to systematize my business and surround myself with talented individuals, I would no doubt have already failed as an REO agent.REO Listings also require an extensive cash reserve.  At the REO Team at Mission Grove Realty we will not only advance the costs for the utilities, we go so far as to advance all of the costs associated with the Property Preservation of the REO Property.  We have learned that an average of $1,000 cash reserve must be available for each REO assigned to us for liquidation. Most of our Asset M... 01/06/2008

It seems as if I am keeping up with a newly established "New Year Tradition" or analyzing data from the MLS to get an understanding of where the market has been, where it is today so that I can do my best to stay ahead of the curve in order to best serve my real estate clients - whether they be first time home buyers, sellers, investors or someone who is in trouble with their mortgage.As I dig deeper into the data, I will be releasing information that I find interesting.  As of this point, I have downloaded both the SoCalMLS as well as the MRMLS.  The data that I have downloaded is strictly for residential listings.  I am not considering land sales, multi-unit sales or mobile homes that are listed in the MOBILE results. The SoCalMLS is the MLS that is used by the local Hemet San Jacinto... 01/01/2008

2008 will see a dramatic change in the way short sale investors approach the Hemet real estate market.  The old model of beating up the lender to buy low and flipping with an end buyer in place is almost a dinosaur model and will near extinction by the time 2008 unfolds.  Rather, I believe the ideal business model for investing in Hemet CA Real Estate is the Buy and Hold - the true path to real estate wealth.DOUBLE CLOSEThe ‘double close' has taken a beating with fewer and fewer title companies willing to participate.  Yes, they are legal and they will still be done by some of the smaller more independent title companies - but finding one will be tougher and tougher in 2008.The other issue that effects the double close is the timing is getting much more difficult to coordinate.  A year ... 12/31/2007

When considering the purchase of aHemet  home that has been foreclosed on by the lender (REO property - or Real Estate Owned), you should know going into the transaction that there will be some sweat equity that you will have to put into the property if it is going to be a worthwhile endeavor.By sweat equity, I am referring to the fact that as a bare bones minimum, you are going to have to paint and probably deal with the flooring - one way or another.  What I would like to address in this series of articles is some tips on minimizing the costs of rehabbing a property perhaps most importantly keeping the job as simple as possible. This first article in the series will be on painting tips - since 99.9% of the REO homes I have seen for sale in Hemet are going to require some sort of paint... 12/30/2007

The Hemet - San Jacinto Valley has recently been hit very hard with foreclosures and as a result there are some great REO properties available for the savvy investor to buy in Hemet CA.I have been blessed, because I have been able to attract multiple investors from outside our area to find me to help them find the best real estate deals in all of Hemet.When I initially interview my prospective new real estate investor clients, I of course want to find out their motivation, their exit strategy and of course their opinions of what makes a great investment property.It appears that the one common theme every investor in today's market wants is the nice home in a nice neighborhood.  Although there is nothing wrong with nice homes or nice neighborhoods, I do not believe they always make the b... 12/29/2007

The Hemet, CA Real Estate market is becoming an REO driven market.  An REO property, in Hemet, is one that has already gone through the foreclosure process and has been taken back by the mortgage holder - typically either a bank or an investor.  The Hemet REO property is not considered an asset of the bank but rather a liability since it is sitting vacant and costing them money on a daily basis.  What makes it even more of a liability for the mortgage lender is that when they are finally able to liquidate the Hemet, CA REO property, they will sell it at a discounted rate.Foreclosures are on the rise in Hemet, a community in southwest Riverside County in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.  The area has recently been identified as the 3rd highest region, in the nation, in th... 12/24/2007