When Your Soul is on Fire
Perhaps our souls are burning along with the forest as we experience the shock, sadness, anger, fear and confusion of watching the mountains, once rich with life, turn desolate moonscape. In a stupor of smoke, we watch homes evaporate, and wonder if ours might be next. With ravaged hearts, we mourn brave heros, and imagine [...]
Creating a Good Note to Sell
Many sellers of commercial properties and high end homes are turning to seller financing in today’s market. The financing just isn’t as available for these properties the way it used to be. Here is a recent email I received: “Dear Dawn, My name is John, and I believe what I am attempting to do is [...]
Just Take Over My Payments
“We just don’t want our property any more . . . it’s too much stress. We’re tired of being soaked by the bank, and we’re not going to send them another dime.” This frustrated woman and her husband bought a penthouse condo in Pasadena just above Cal Tech for $510,000 two to three years ago. [...]
I Need to Fire My Realtor
Knowing about, and being comfortable with, seller financing is increasingly becoming an important skill set for real estate professionals. Here’s an email I received and responded to recently: Dawn, I would like to carry up to 90% of the loan on my property and be the banker. My property is currently listed at $1,547,000, and [...]
Defering Capital Gains
Do you remember the old lime-green travel agency at 9661 Las Tunas? You may have known the cute little old couple that ran a travel agency business out of it for 25 years or more. Now, that building is their pension fund. One day a few years ago, as we passed it to get our [...]
We’re going to quit making our mortgage payments . . .”
I’ve heard that from more than one acquaintance in the last few weeks. It’s not because they’ve lost a job, or had a medical emergency, it’s just that it doesn’t make sound financial sense to keep making the payments anymore. Defaulting on a mortgage or credit card has become a cool and calculated financial decision, [...]
Tutti Frutti Real Estate
Be careful what you wish for . . . Every time I went to Europe on a business trip, I would come home longing for the kind of coffee and pastry delicacies you could find on the streets of Paris. I would think, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could find just a little of [...]
To Carry or Not to Carry, That is the Question . . .
When higher end homes don’t sell for the price sellers want, it’s common for them to put their properties up for lease instead, and ‘wait the market out.’ Here’s an email I received recently: “Hi Dawn, I have a home in Illinois that I had for sale last summer that didn’t sell, so I finally [...]
What Lenders Won’t Tell you about Short Sales
The short sale business changes every day, every hour, every minute. We may not have the problems here that many areas do, but no place is untouched from the market. The lenders, investors, collections agencies, government agencies and everyone involved in this mess are still trying to figure out what happened, let alone what is [...]
When Escrow is Falling Apart
This week I got a call from a woman and her husband out in Palm Springs. Her 60 day escrow was turning into a 90 day escrow, and there were still no assurances that the deal was going to close. And she needed it to close. They were running out of money to make the [...]