East Bay Housing Market Stats: Another REO Surprise!
February 27, 2008 by Glen Bell · View Comments
As a follow-up to last month’s REO surprise, “that one out of every five listings in the SF Bay Area is REO, Bank Owned Properties,” we asked ourselves another question.
What is really influencing housing inventory and pricing in the SF Bay Area?
We’ve always heard that new construction has been the main culprit with overbuilding leading to a glut of houses for sale. All that new housing located along highway 4, Antioch, Brentwood, Pittsburg, Oakley seems to have led the way. After all, those areas are seeing between a 15 to 25% drop from last year’s prices. (Median prices compared on a year to year basis for January).
So we ran some numbers again using DQ News and EBRD MLS services to see which has the greatest influence over listings and sales on a city by city basis. Numbers were pulled as of January 31, 2008.
SURPRISED again!
Well, with all of the subprime fallout, foreclosures, and REO news rolling around in the news, maybe it really isn’t such a surprise.
The following list seems to put it in perspective.
Glen’s East Bay housing numbers
Reasons may vary, and differ depending on location. However, it is apparent that REOs, Bank Owned Properties, are now, the major influence on housing inventory and sales in the SF Bay Area.
Banks are the competition in a big way for sellers. Banks think differently about selling. Banks are becoming more aggressive in selling their properties. Not much in show or presentation, simply priced below the competition.
In many of our conversations this week, we’ve been hearing that activity has picked up. The word seems to be that “investors” are looking for bargains in the marketplace.
We have to agree that we are seeing that with our own REO listings. So we have to ask ourselves the next big question, will investors be leading the way?
Maybe they’re smart enough to realize that timing a real estate market bottom is next to impossible. Maybe with low interest rates, lots of choices, and not many other buyers out there, this just may be the right time to pick up a bargain.
How To Buy a Bank Owned Foreclosure (aka REO) In 4 Easy Steps
January 15, 2008 by Norman · View Comments
We’re starting to get some calls from people looking to buy REO’s but need a little guidance on how to begin, so here is some basic info that you can use as a checklist to help you get things under way.
- Define your strategy. Cash flow vs. Appreciation. Let the math dictate the offer price and know how far you are willing to deviate from your baseline. Real Estate investing is too important to do based on feelings or hunches, if you don’t want to crunch the numbers, work with someone who will.
- Is your financing in place? Timing counts when buying REOs. There are other investors looking at the same properties so a deal for you is probably also a deal for a dozen other investors. There are bargain hunters in every market so you must be prepared to act when the right deal comes along.
- Don’t be disappointed by rejection or failure. It’s called a buyer’s market for a reason; other opportunities will come along as long as you aren’t too busy moping over the one that got away.
- Write clean offers, write clean offers, write clean offers. Put down at least 1 percent, have reasonable straight forward contingencies,(no contingencies dependent on your uncle’s cousin’s friend giving the final ok), and show you are willing to close in a reasonable amount of time.
Of course there is more to buying foreclosures than four simple steps so feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Download a Weekly List of Active East Bay REO Listings
December 14, 2007 by Andy Kaufman · View Comments
You asked for it and we’re going to give it to you. From now on, we’ll be offering a free list of active East Bay REO (Real Estate Owned) listings in excel format.
As experienced REO investors, as well as active REO listing agents, we’re constantly trying to provide the best information possible so that potential buyers can make decisions quickly and act upon then when they identify a potential deal. By offering this information as an excel spreadsheet, our readers will be able to download and sort the data as they see fit.
Searching through the data, you’ll notice that we’ve included the MLS numbers for each property. With this number, you can click on the “Search the MLS” button on the sidebar and pull up detailed property profiles for any of the listings that you’d like.
If return, we ask that if you see a property, (or ten) that strikes your fancy, you contact us (415-449-1609). Deal?
Alameda County Residential Income REO List




