Ventura County Real Estate Journal

Proposition 8, passed in November 1978, amended Proposition 13 to reflect declines in property value.  Proposition 8 reductions are temporary reductions which recognize the fact that the current market value of a property has fallen below its current factored Proposition 13 base year value. 
Anyone who has purchased Ventura County real estate in the last few [...]

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As of June 1st, Fannie Mae is changing it controversial policy of requiring an additional 5% down payment for home in designated as being in a “declining market”.  Back in January, Fannie Mae changed its lending guidelines which had a major impact on Ventura County home sellers and buyers.  Ventura County was on Fannie Mae’s list [...]

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C.L.U.E. stands for the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange which is a huge database used by the insurance industry to track claims homeowners file against their homeowner’s insurance policies.  This information helps insurers of Ventura County real estate avoid fraud and writing policies for people who make excessive claims, but this information also follows the home [...]

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Like all business people Ventura real estate agents are competitors. We compete for listings and we compete for buyers.  But the real estate business is unique in that, even though we may be competitors, we must also work in cooperation with each other to to get those sellers and buyers matched up.  It benefits us, and more importantly it [...]

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…Nearly Two Years after Sale!
The best escrow is a closed escrow.  Job well done…satisfied clients…all is well and it’s time to focus on the next one. Sometimes, though, like a zombie from a B-movie, a closed escrow will not die requiring some extra attention to put things right.
This particular example starts with a panicked phone [...]

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“TWO-EIGHTY-FIVE,” screamed the auctioneer from his podium, pointing his gavel towards the man in the third row who had made the next-to-the-last bid. “TWO-EIGHTY-FIVE,” he screamed five more times, never taking his eyes off his mark. He paused for a breath and repeated the onslaught three more times.  Finally, sensing no further movement from the man, [...]

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Homeowners in default receive so many phone calls, people knocking on their doors and letters that it can reach the point of harassment.  Some of these offers for help are legitimate but many (most) are not.  For the average homeowner it is next to impossible to tell who is on the level and who is not.  [...]

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Scam artists do not look or act dastardly.  They are nice friendly people who seem trustworthy.  They look nice, are well dressed and are genuinely likable.  This was the message that Stella Ling, senior council with the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) had for the audience of the REFAT Industry Outreach Foreclosure Scams Forum hosted by the Ventura [...]

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Right now we’re in the middle of a real estate market where buyers are getting great deals not only on homes, but on the financing as well.  Never in recent years have there been as many great choices of homes for sale as there are today.  Gone for now are the days when you had [...]

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(This article was written by my fellow agent and collegue at RE/MAX Gold Coast REALTORS , Janet Dorsey.)
In a previous post titled “Private Transfer Fees—A Hidden Tax”, I described Private Transfer Taxes or Private Transfer Fees, as they are now called. The California Association of REALTORS (C.A.R.) coined these terms, but don’t expect that wording [...]

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