Congratulations, you have reached The South Lake Tahoe Real Estate website where “You Can Search Like a Realtor”and find the home, condo, cabin, or vacant land that you are looking for. If you just have a question, or need advice or consulting, our knowledgeable realtors are available seven days a week to help you. Feel free to contact Paradise Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe. We can answer common questions regarding bank owned properties vs. foreclosures, or how to buy a foreclosure, and explain what and how a short sale works and if a short sale is right for you. Our team Paradise will help you with easy to follow steps on buying a foreclosed home. We also have a blog about the Lake Tahoe real estate market that is updated weekly and includes statistics for new listings and recent sales.

Please explore our web site and use our search tool to find Lake Tahoe foreclosures (bank owned) and short sale homes. You can search all active MLS listings for real estate in Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada. You can also sign up for our Get California Listings Via Email, and our Get Nevada Listings Via Email, so when a new listing is posted on the MLS in your favorite neighborhood, at the price range you selected, you’re immediately notified. This is a very powerful tool that will help you stay on top and ahead of the current market.

It is important to know that your mortgage company would always prefer to keep you in your home rather than foreclose. They are in the business of providing mortgages, not owning or selling homes. It is in your best interest to talk to a counselor, a lawyer, or contact your mortgage company directly so you can keep your home.

• Talk to a housing counselor

Look for a HUD certified counselor. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has trained and certified loan counselors who will assist you free of charge and can negotiate with the mortgage company’s representative or “servicer” on your behalf. Servicers are often permitted by the agreements governing loans to renegotiate your loan terms, a process known as “work-out” or “loss mitigation.” This process may reduce your monthly payments, give you a few months without loan payments, delay payment of arrears or make it possible to otherwise change the payments on your home loan.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Web Site www.hud.gov/foreclosure , has a nationwide directory of counseling agencies, or you can call them at (800) 569-4287. Services are free. Advice is also available at the Homeowners Hop Hot-line at (888) 995-HOPE.

• Contact a Lawyer

If you were misled or not fully informed by a broker or mortgage company about the terms of the loan, you might be able to “rescind” (cancel) the loan. You may also be entitled to damages. If you cannot afford a lawyer, call your local Bar Association of Legal Aid office and ask them to refer you to a lawyer. Contact information for local Legal Aid Societies can be found at www.dca.ca.gov/publications/guide/legal_index.shtml .

• Call your mortgage company

Ask for the “loss-mitigation” or “work-out” department and try to modify the loan terms. Be smart about modifying your loan. Many properties are worth less than the mortgages they secure; it is in your best interests to keep a property that is worth less than your mortgage? Be realistic about whether you can make the “modified” payments. Keep in mind that most modification documents contain a “waiver”. That means when you sign the modification documents you give up any legal rights you may have and you give up the right to take your mortgage company to court. Before you sign ANYTHING, take the papers to a lawyer or counselor to be sure you fully understand what you are signing. It is a legal document and you will be bound by the terms in the modification agreement.

This information was compiled by The University of San Francisco, School of Law.

This weekly report is created by Dan Spano, broker of Paradise Real Estate located in the Stateline area of South Lake Tahoe,  CA. This information is focusing strictly on the South Lake Tahoe, CA. side of Lake Tahoe.

As of today, July 23,  2010 @ 1:00 pm:

Current active single family residential and condo listings for all of South Lake Tahoe, CA; 521.  71 of these active listings are bank-owned or short sales.

Homes sold from July 1,  2010 to July 23,  2010 are: 24. Of the 24 homes sold, 9 or 33%, are foreclosure (bank owned or short sales). During the  exact same time period last year 29 homes sold, of which 8 or 28% were foreclosure. Total homes sold year to date are 290, of which 147 or 51% are foreclosures.  Total homes sold for the same time period last year were 208, of which 84 or 41% were foreclosures.

There are a lot of great opportunities for buyers for both bank owned/short sales, as well as sellers that are competitive with the bank owned and short sale properties.

If you would like to search for current homes for sale please use this easy search tool for South Lake Tahoe, CA and NV real estate. There is also an option to get instant email notifications of brand new listings as they get posted by real estate agents in the South Lake Tahoe area.

1.  Be the first to submit an offer.  Make sure  your agent knows that you want to act quickly when a property that suits your needs becomes available.  Also, shorten the deadline on your purchase offer so that the listing agent can’t use it to entice offers from other interested buyers.

2.  If you can’t offer all cash, be pre-qualifed for a mortgage.  Be prepared to offer an earnest money deposit of up to 3% of the purchase price with your offer.

3.  Aim to be the highest offer.  Have your agent do a comparative market analysis so you can offer closer to market value and not overpay at the same time.

4.  Try to be a more easygoing buyer by not asking for monetary concessions such as help with closing costs.  An offer with terms that also have the seller’s interests in mind is more likely to get accepted over one that doesn’t.

This report is created by Dan Spano, broker of Paradise Real Estate located in the Stateline area of South Lake Tahoe,  CA. This blog post is focusing strictly on the South Lake Tahoe, CA. side only and does not include West, North, or the NV portion of Lake Tahoe.

As of today, July 16,  2010 @ 2:30 pm:

Current active single family residential and condo listings for all of South Lake Tahoe, CA; 575.  89 of these active listings are bank-owned or short sales.

Homes sold from July 1,  2010 to July 16,  2010 are: 11. Of the 11 homes sold, 5 or 46%, are foreclosure (bank owned or short sales). During the same time period last year, July  1, 2009 to July 16, 2009, 21 homes sold, of which 7 or 33% were foreclosure.

There are a lot of great opportunities for buyers for both bank owned/short sales, as well as sellers that are competitive with the bank owned and short sale properties.

If you would like to search for current homes for sale please use this easy search tool for South Lake Tahoe, CA and NV real estate. There is also an option to get instant email notifications of brand new listings as they get posted by real estate agents in the South Lake Tahoe area.

If you are thinking about buying a home, here are a few things you should NOT do.

1.  Don’t make any major purchase that would create debt.  This includes furniture, automobiles, appliances, etc.  An increase in debt may make your debt-to-income ratio too high and jeaopardize  your ability to get a mortgage loan.

2.  Don’t move money around.  This includes checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, etc.  Your lender will be reviewing your accounts as a source for your down payment and closing costs, and any large deposits or withdrawals may draw scrutiny.  You might be required to produce a paper trail for these items which could get tedious and frustrating.

3.  Don’t change banks.  You want your banking history to be stable, just like your job history, which leads to number 4…

4.  Don’t change jobs.  A good, stable job history will lead lenders to believe you’re not likely to default on a loan.

   5.  Don’t be late on your credit card payments or charge too much.  This could not only negatively affect your credit score, but charging excessively could indicate a problem with money management.