Who’s Hurting the Most? - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

Who’s Hurting the Most? - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com: "First let’s take a look at jobless rates by age:
DESCRIPTIONSource: Bureau of Labor Statistics

While older workers may worry about their coming retirement, younger workers are actually having the most difficulty finding jobs. The unemployment rate for teenagers, which reached 27.6 percent in October, has set a record in each of the last three months.

On to education. As implied above, greater educational attainment is associated with a lower unemployment rate:
DESCRIPTIONSource: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Men are also doing much worse than women in the labor market, largely because men are disproportionately employed in industries that are more sensitive to the business cycle:"

This may explain why we see so many people out at the malls and restaurants in North County.

Should you pay your Property Taxes

Whether you should pay your property taxes is a tough question to answer on net.
1. call your tax assessor find out if you have an unusual bond which might make your county tax collector foreclose in and expedited manner.

Typically you can get a few years behind before the government in California will foreclose.

Remember property taxes are not personal debts, they are debts of the property. So in generally in California you will not be personally responsible for the property taxes.

Not paying the property taxes will make the short sale harder to close. Make sure your Realtor and Escrow officer are aware of the circumstances and see if this is going to effect the lender net. If the lenders net is effected, it may cause problems.

Generally someone is going to have to pay those taxes before the buyer takes title to the property. The lender may pay the property taxes, you may pay them, the buyer may pay them or perhaps one of the Realtors will pay them to close the deal.

If you do plan to pay them, you might want to pay them at the closing table instead of directly to the county tax collector. Why? Because the National Association of Realtors found that that most short sales fail to close. So unless you Realtor has a lengthy track record of closing short sales you should have back up strategies.

Whether you will be responsible to your lender for costs after a foreclosure is a much longer answer.

In short, talk to your tax office and then determine how much you really need to do that short sale. Paying the taxes makes the short sale more likely to happen. Your Realtor should be able to give you specifics.
Web Reference: http://UpsideDownRealEstate.com"

short sales and property taxes
Carlsbad short sale

As baby boomers retire, home markets will hurt - USATODAY.com

Interesting article which predicts the prices will start falling when the baby boomers reach a certain age.


As baby boomers retire, home markets will hurt - USATODAY.com: "There are already more sellers than buyers in six states: Connecticut, New York (excluding Manhattan), North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Hawaii. The trend first hits areas with cold weather and traffic congestion, which tend to drive retirees away.

Boomers were 'an incoming tide for four decades. Now the tide's turned, and it's going to make it much harder for housing markets to rise,' said Dowell Myers, professor of policy, planning and development at the University of Southern California and co-author of the study. The trend has long been anticipated, but Myers is the first to analyze buying and selling, state by state."

San Diego Short Sales

Carlsbad housing prices

California Housing Market Turns Corner, Realtors Say (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

California Housing Market Turns Corner, Realtors Say (Update2) - Bloomberg.com: "Single-family home prices in California rose for the eighth consecutive month in October. The median cost of an existing, detached house gained 0.3 percent from the previous month to $297,500. Prices dropped about 3.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with annual declines of 7.3 percent in September and 17 percent in August.

“California has hit and passed the bottom of this real estate cycle,” Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist of the Los Angeles-based Realtors group, said in a statement today."

Why is so easy for the press to find Realtor representatives willing to make fools of themselves. First we had the national association of Realtor economist embarrassing Realtors on the way down, now they are starting to make predictions about turning the corner.

Why not just say that market may be putting in a base right now. Whether the market recovers on there will depend in part on jobs and the availability of cheap money currently provided by the fed who is buying approximately 85% of the home loans being made.


short sale realtors and attorneys

carlsbad real estate

How to Negotiate a short sale with a lender

You have to ask yourself a question at the beginning of the short sale.

I am willing to negotiate on the banks terms. Or, am I going to take a more aggressive negotiating posture from the begining.

More aggressive -

1. RESPA request.
2. Forensic Loan Analysis
3. Litigation prep
4. Hiring a lawyer and making legal demands
5. Compelling the lender to negotiate in good faith.

Less aggressive but perhaps just as effective

1. Choosing your workout option such as a short sale
and working with a Real Estate Broker who has closed dozens of short sales and working with a lawyer who can protect your interests.

Then if you are not able to reach terms you find acceptable, then stepping up to a more aggressive position.

How to negotiate a short sale.

Loan Modification attorneys who have alleged failed to perform services

News Releases

STATE BAR TAKES ACTION TO AID HOMEOWNERS IN FORECLOSURE CRISIS

MEDIA CONTACT: Diane Curtis 415-538-2028 diane.curtis@calbar.ca.gov

San Francisco, September 18, 2009 — The State Bar of California, alarmed by the number of lawyers preying on vulnerable homeowners, today identified 16 attorneys who are under investigation for misconduct related to loan modification.

“In my 21 years in attorney discipline, I have not seen a crisis of this magnitude. It is truly unprecedented,” said Interim Chief Trial Counsel Russell Weiner, who is waiving investigation confidentiality in favor of public protection. The waiver, allowed by law, is used only occasionally, but Weiner said the seriousness of the problem demanded a strong reaction by the bar in order to protect consumers. This is the first time the names of more than a few lawyers being investigated have been made public.

“The number of attorneys using their law licenses to essentially take money from unwary but trusting consumers is astounding,” Weiner added. “There are literally thousands of victims who have lost money they could not afford to lose. Under the circumstances, the need for public information and protection is paramount.”

Those attorneys being named by the State Bar have allegedly taken fees for promised services and then failed to perform those services, communicate with their clients or return the unearned fees, Weiner said. Some attorneys misrepresented the services they could provide. “It appears these attorneys may have significantly harmed their clients who were already facing great financial pressure and the possible loss of their homes.”

About one-quarter – almost 800 cases – of the active investigations in the Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OTC) are related to foreclosure complaints. The office has experienced a 58 percent increase in active investigations over 2008 due in large part to the huge increase in complaints against attorneys offering loan modification services. “Our office is aggressively investigating these cases and is working proactively with law enforcement,” said Weiner.

In March of 2009, the State Bar created a special team of investigators and lawyers to handle the growing number of complaints received about attorneys offering loan modification services. OTC found that many of the offending attorneys are associated with firms that use telemarketers or phone banks to sign up clients without regard to the facts of the individual case or whether or not the client can be helped, Weiner said.
In many cases, the attorneys work with untrained non-attorney staff engaging in the unlawful practice of law by offering legal advice to prospective clients. OTC also is investigating the non-attorney staff for possible referral to law enforcement.

In recent months, OTC has obtained the resignation of three attorneys who were offering loan modification services. Those attorneys chose to give up their licenses to practice law rather than face disciplinary charges and possible disbarment. In addition, OTC lawyers are preparing to put some attorneys on inactive status pending the filing of formal disciplinary charges

Weiner warned consumers to take special caution when seeking legal representation related to loan modification. “Consumers should not be comforted by advertisements that claim the attorney is a member of the State Bar of California,” he said, noting that all attorneys practicing in California on a regular basis are members. “Such membership does not mean the attorney has any special knowledge, experience or expertise in the area of loan modification. In fact, it appears that many of the attorneys offering these services have little or no prior experience in the area of loan modification.”

The following attorneys have received a significant number of complaints related to the loan modification services they were hired to perform. They are entitled to a full and fair hearing on any charges that may be filed in the future. No discipline may be imposed unless and until the State Bar proves allegations of misconduct by clear and convincing evidence.

▪ David Arase, Bar No. 233705, Arase Law Firm and National Housing Assistance

▪ Stephen Burns, Bar No. 113371, Legal Group Network

▪ Robert Buscho, Bar No. 122556, United Law Group

▪ Nicholas Chavarela, Bar No. 251632, Rodis Law Group and America’s Law Group

▪ Steven Feldman, Bar No. 103676, Feldman Law Center

▪ Eric Johnson, Bar No. 224065, Avantgarde Group

▪ Paul Lucas, Bar No. 163076, Lucas Law Center

▪ Brandon Moreno, Bar No. 233750, U. S. Foreclosure

▪ Jeffrey Nemerofsky, Bar No. 213014, U.S. Advocacy Law Group and U.S. Financial Products

▪ Gregory Paiva, Bar No. 207218, Law Offices of Gregory Paiva

▪ Adrian Pomery, Bar No. 249664, U.S. Foreclosure

▪ Ronald Rodis, Bar No. 181873, Rodis Law Group and America’s Law Group

▪ Mark Shoemaker, Bar No. 134828, Advocates for Fair Lending

▪ Marc Tow, Bar No. 78429, Marc Tow and Associates

▪ Michael Yellin, Bar No. 255050, A Fresh Start Loan Modification

▪ Sean Rutledge, Bar No. 255938, United Law Group

California loan modification information

Most expensive houses - La Jolla wins?

same-4-bedroom-house-wildly-different-prices.html: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance: "La Jolla, on the other hand, is the most expensive; a comparable house there goes for a cool $2.125 million. That's more than $2 million disparity is up from 2004, when the spread between the most expensive and most affordable towns was $1.5 million."

I would like to know if that comp in La Jolla had a white water ocean view, but it is a amazing to see that La Jolla is more expensive that Greenwich. I have read Greenwich does have pretty good inventory right now.