Pursuant to the new federal law "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009" signed into law by President Obama this week, current tenants of foreclosed homes will now receive at least a 90-day notice to terminate. This 90 days would be given AFTER the lender or buyer of the property acquires title through the foreclosure sale.

If a tenant has a one year lease in place, however, it appears that this the tenant can stay in the premises until the remaining lease term ends. I would think that the new lender/owner would negotiate the remainder of the lease and would be receiving the monthly rental payments from that point forward.

I don't know how this will all play out, but I believe the "Cash for Keys" negotations will really be stepped up so that the lenders can get the properties onto the market as soon as possible.

This should definitely take some of the "panic" away from those renters who come home to find the "Notice of Trustee Sale" posted on their front door.

I will also suggest to anyone looking for a rental... make sure you have a Realtor check the current status of any future house you may rent. Although this is not fullproof, we can look up tax records to see if the property is in pre-foreclosure, or the potential for the property to be a foreclosure. Unfortunately, there are still people out there that are scamming unsuspecting renters.

For more information about the Foreclosure timeline... visit my article of 8/7/08, "My House is in Foreclosure! What happens next?"

(Per CAR Legal, this new "90-day notice requirement applies to foreclosures of a federally-related mortgage loan or residential real property, except for properties under rent control, rent-subsidized programs (such as Section 8), or other state laws that provide additional protections for tenants." ) This law expires on December 31, 2012.

Labels: cash for keys, foreclosure, menifee homes for rent

Steve Calder, an agent specializing in Menifee has been posting the number of homes for sale in Menifee on his Twitter feed.

Here is what I was able to pick up from his feed...

May 19, 2009 - 621 homes
May 15, 2009 - 645 homes
May 08, 2009 - 657 homes
Apr 14, 2009 - 770 homes
Apr 09, 2009 - 855 homes
Apr 01, 2009 - 900 homes
Mar 27, 2009 - 1,000+ homes

If you look at his feed, he makes mention of smaller numbers, but after talking to him on the phone, he explained that in some of his posts, he gave numbers just for 92584 zip code, whereas the numbers above come from the entire City of Menifee.

I'm not sure that this is a sign of an improving economy. I'm of the belief that these sales are due to sellers dropping their prices down enough to where they become affordable.

Also, I think many Menifee families are not capable of buying a home elsewhere, and therefore fewer homes are being put up for sale.

But I'm not a real estate person, so maybe someone else who is can explain.

Thanks to Steve Calder for providing this info...
http://www.menifeerealestate.listingbook.com/

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market

According to Zillow.com, home prices throughout Menifee and Romoland fell almost by $100,000 in the last 12 months.

Zillow.com is an online property valuation tracker.

Price drops from Feb 08 to Feb 09...

Romoland: -$98,500
Menifee: -$96,500
Sun City: -$57,500
Quail Valley: no data

Homes in the City of Menifee got off pretty easy compared to surrounding areas...

Fallbrook: -$150,500
Canyon Lake: -$144,000
Corona: -$139,000
Nuevo: -$131,500
Murrieta: -$129,000
Riverside: -$126,000
Moreno Valley: -$124,500
Temecula: -$122,000
Lake Elsinore: -$117,000
Wildomar: -$109,500
Winchester: $-109,000
San Jacinto: -$102,500
Perris: -$100,000
Hemet: -$89,500
Aguanga: -$51,500
Homeland: -$27,000
Anza: -$15,000

Labels: Property-Values

Happy New Year 2009 and Menifee CA! I wanted to start off this blog report very positive since I have high hopes for this year. We have a lot of damage to start repairing in the Menifee Real Estate market. However, we still have a decently long road ahead of us.

In previous blog reports I have expressed a cautious but optimistic view of the Menifee real estate market. However, each time I had hope for a bottom, things got worse as loan programs got pulled, banks dropped home pricing, and people lost homes.

Well, to start 2009, all those things are still happening with Menifee real estate and foreclosures. I know, great optimism Stefan! HOWEVER, we are seeing a very busy market right now. There are plenty of short sales and foreclosures in Menifee right now but things are moving. Part of that has to do with supply.

Can you believe that the supply for foreclosures has actually dropped?! There was a moratorium by FannieMae and Freddie on releasing more foreclosures. Additionally, some banks have also been holding off. This has seriously shrunk the supply of homes on the market and created a pent up demand. Then interest rates went down severely in December and January. That has added to the buyer pool. Suddenly, I have more people looking then I can find nice enough homes for!

So, I think this bodes very well for Spring and Summer for Menifee real estate. Interest rates need to stay low and I hope the banks do a slower release of foreclosure properties. If they dump a ton at one time or interest rates spikes, we are going to take a step back. But interest rates should stay lower for the foreseeable future. We just have to hope that other ecomonic issues don't push them higher.

To sum it up, I have more buyers than I have houses available for them. I know there are plenty of homes on the Menifee real estate and foreclosure market but many aren't in the best shape. The nice homes go and go very fast! And that is good news in the short term for the market. I recently had a discussion with an economist that was doing an article for the Wall Street Journal and he is seeing a severe spike in real estate sold throughout South Riverside county. If things are busy now, Spring and Summer could be very busy and give us some much needed stability.

Sincerely,

Stefan West
Broker, West Realty
Menifee CA Real Estate

Labels: menifee, menifee foreclosures, Menifee real estate

This is a list of new home builders currently selling new homes.

Menifee

Beazer Homes-Rolling Hills-up to 4000 sq. ft.- From the high $300,000- HOA $67.00- 1.9 Tax Rate
Centex Homes-The Lakes-Up to 4063 sq. ft.- From mid $300,000- HOA $50.00- 1.9 Tax Rate
D.R. Horton-Lexington-Up to 3746 sq. ft.-From low $300,000-HOA $133.00- 1.8 Tax Rate
Forecast Homes-The Grands- Up to 2900 sq. ft.- From mid $200,000- HOA $139.00- 1.25 Tax Rate
Meritage Homes-Sagemore- Up to 4041 sq. ft.-From high $200,000- HOA $25.00- 1.85 Tax Rate
Pacific Communities- Orchid 55+- Up to 2398 sq. ft.- From mid $200,000- HOA $68.00- 1.6 Tax Rate
Pacific Communities- Cottonwood- Up to 4812 sq. ft.-From high $200,000-HOA $35.00- 1.95 Tax Rate
Shea Homes-Red Rock- sq. footage not available- From mif $200,000- HOA $95.00- Tax Rate unavailable
Woodside Homes- Up to 2735 sq. ft.- From low $300,000- HOA $70.00- 1.9 Tax Rate

Sun City

John Laing Homes-Holiday 55+- Up to 2133 sq. ft.- From mid $200,000- HOA $152.00- 1.59 Tax Rate

Romoland
Lennar Homes-Mystic Point- Up to 2636 sq. ft.- From high $200,000- HOA $80.00- 1.9 Tax Rate
Woodside Homes-Parklane- Up to 2730 sq. ft.-From high $200,000- HOA 70.00- 1.8 Tax Rate

Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

Contact me for more information regarding these developments.

Menifee resident Kristi is having to short-sell her home and find a place to rent. She wants to stay in Menifee, but wants to ask readers if they advise a good community to rent in...

Ok so I visit your site everyday and love it. I have gotten so much information that I otherwise would not know. Now my question is- We are in the process of short selling our house and now have the fun task of finding a rental. I would like to ask residents where they recommend. Is Tierra Shores really as bad as I have read and not a place to raise a family? And what about Heritage Lakes, would anyone recommend it? I have three children that I would like to raise in a safe family oriented neighborhood. I need peoples experiences and input. I am ultimately looking for a place with a private pool or a community pool. Can you please get this out there somehow so I can get some help. I have lived in Menifee for 5 years and love it here. Just wondering if the private communities are all that. We could never afford the association dues but now being forced to rent it is do able. Please help! Thanks Kristi Sheehan-Pizillo

Any folks have recommendations for her?

Labels: Rental-Homes