Posted Wed Feb 17 12:48PMVol. 14 February 2010
Copyright 2009-2010 Bamboo Consulting Inc.
What Happens to Articles Left in Vacated Rental Units?
There are specific laws for landlords to deal with abandoned personal property left in residential units. Simply seizing and then disposing of these personal possessions without following the law is just not an option.
First, you must give written notice to the former tenant or any person you reasonably believe to be the owner of the property.
The notice must describe the items, indicate that reasonable costs for storage may be charged before the property is returned, specify where the property may be claimed, and a date when the property can be claimed. The date must be a date not less than 15 days after the notice is delivered or if mailed 18 days after mailing. As to where to send the notice by mail, use the last known address, which is probably the vacant unit.
Most boards of realtors have forms available called “Notice of Right to Reclaim Abandoned Property”. These forms deal with value of property – one if the property is thought to be worth less than $300 (resale value) and one for property thought to be worth more than $300 (resale value).
If the former tenant contacts you within the waiting period, you can require that they pay reasonable storage costs before releasing the property. If you are not contacted within the waiting period and the property is worth less than $300, you can dispose of the property or keep it yourself. If the property is worth more than $300, you are required to hold a “public sale” of the property by competitive bidding. This process requires that public notice of the sale be published at least once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper in the county where the sale is to be held. The last publication must be at least 5 days before the actual date of sale. The public notice must also list the date, time, and location of the sale as well as list the items that are to be sold. Anyone can bid on the items including the landlord or former tenant. After the sale, you are allowed to deduct from the proceeds the cost of storage, advertising, and the sale itself. Then, any balance must be sent to the county treasurer. Note that any unpaid rent cannot be deducted from the proceeds.
Storage, advertising, and the auction cost you both time and money, so try and get the tenant to come back and reclaim their property (even if you have to give them more time and negotiate the storage fees). In the end, it will probably be the best solution.
A Primer on Mutual Fund Fees
Like any other business, businesses that run mutual funds involve cost. Most of these costs are incurred at the initial investment or subtracted from the overall return.
First, let's look at one time fees:
Not all mutual funds have these, but if they do they can be front-end sales load fees or back-send sales loan fees.
In both instances, these payments compensate outside brokers that have advised you to buy these funds. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has capped these fees at 8.5%, but most are generally around 6%.
Redemption fees are usually paid directly to the fund when a shareholder in the fund redeems their position before a preset period of time.
In some funds, there may also be a periodic management fee if an investment is below a certain dollar amount.
Did You Know?
Next, let's take a look at ongoing expenses:
These include management and administrative fees, marketing and distribution expenses, and staff to answer shareholder inquiries.
Also included in ongoing fees are the costs to buy and sell securities.
In the end, watch out for the fees as they can add up quickly. For example, $10,000 put into a fund at 10% annual return with total yearly expenses of 1.5%, would give you a return of $50,000 after 20 years. But, if you put the same amount in the same fund with yearly expenses of only 0.5%, the return would be $60,0000.
Review of the Last Decade
Best Technologies
According to PC Magazine, the top 10 technologies that transformed our everyday lives during the last decade were:
1. Google
2. Apple iPhone
3. Apple iPod
4. Facebook
5. Wi-Fi
6. Broadband Internet Access
7. TiVo
8. GPS
9. Windows XP
10. Apple iMac
Most Important Dates
According to Newsweek's top 10 lists, the 10 most important dates during the last decade were:
1. September 11, 2001: World Trade Center Terrorist Attack
2. December 12, 2000: Bush vs. Gore Decision
3. November 4, 2008: Obama Elected
4. August 29, 2005: Katrina Makes Landfall
5. September 15, 2008: Lehman Brothers Goes Bankrupt
6. March 1, 2002: U.S. Launches Operation Anaconda (first large-scale, coordinated campaign by U.S. forces against
the Taliban in Afghanistan)
7. February 5, 2008: Colin Powell Speaks at U.N. (U.S. presents evidence that Iraq had retained weapons of mass
destruction)
8. April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech Massacre
9. December 26, 2004: Indian Ocean Tsunami
10. February 12, 2004: First Licensed Gay Marriage in America (San Francisco)
The Last Word
Janitor (n)
Janus was once the mightiest Roman deity of all until his followers fell all over for the flashier Greek Gods. That left Janus
as the God of Doors, partly because he had a face on both the front and back of his head. Those who attended him were
the doorkeepers that over time came to be known as janitors (attendees to Janus).
Statistics
Bay Area Statistics December 2009
Sales in the San Francisco Bay Area were at 7,828. This is up 13.8% from 1 year ago. This is the 16 increase and the highest since December 2006.
December prices were at $380,000. This was down 1.8% from November, but up 15.2% from December 2008.
Foreclosures accounted for 32.3% of sales. This is down from the peak number of foreclosures (52% in February
2009).
25.6% of loans are FHA loans of choice.
Existing Single-Family Home Sales (December 2009)
County Number Sold Percent Change (YOY) Median Price Percent Change (YOY)
Alameda 1,552 4.0% $360,000 6.5%
Contra Costa 1,634 -8.6% $287,500 13.9%
Fresno 918 - $175,000 -2.91%
Marin 265 60.6% $635,000 12.9%
Merced 330 - $120,000 -4.0%
Monterey 327 - $235,000 -11.32%
Napa 128 15.3% $356,000 -11.6%
San Francisco 499 36.3% $650,000 5.4%
San Benito 77 - $270,000 -1.19%
San Joaquin 858 - $165,000 -5.07%
San Luis Obispo 231 - $400,000 -4.53%
San Mateo 642 47.6% $586,500 9.2%
Santa Barbara 268 - $302,000 24.04%
Santa Clara 1,915 51.4% $475,000 8.9%
Santa Cruz 171 - $437,000 13.07%
Sacramento 1,875 - $175,000 -5.41%
Solano 698 -4.8% $217,500 1.9%
Sonoma 495 -7.3% $330,000 10.0%
Kitty’s Corner
Kitty Lee, CMPS, CMA
General Manager
Bankers Preferred Real Estate Loans
1819 Trousdale Drive,
Burlingame, CA 94010
Office: (650) 227-1018 x 304
Cell: (510) 579-7462
Fax: (650) 899-1888
http://www.bankerspreferred.com
“Hot” Marketing Tip
Marketing Advice for 2010
Now that we have started a new year, it makes sense to evaluate your business and find ways to make your marketing more
effective. Here are some tips from a strategist on OPEN Forum:
1. Know your company and your products and how they meet customer needs. Share that message.
2. Update your online presence by giving your website a refresh and adding to or starting your blog.
3. Determine how you will interact with Social Media (like Facebook and Twitter). Social media is here for the long haul and successful businesses have a strategy on how to market in those spaces. For example, create a company profile on Facebook and update it with the most current information. Then, allow people to become fans.
4. Review your customer and prospect lists and see how you can market to them directly.
5. Look at doing videos to highlight your company and products. Remember that these can easily be shared through your online presence (website, blog, social media, etc.).
6. Become familiar with mobile marketing. These days, more people use text messaging than email.
7. Start a referral program and let the world know.
8. Focus on your ideal customer and figure out ways to attract more of them to your business.
New HUD Policy Created to Allow Quicker Foreclosure Re-sales
Effective February 1, 2010, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will relax FHA rules that prohibit insuring mortgages on homes that are owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This is a move that could help expedite the rehabilitation and resale of foreclosure properties.
In a housing market where tighter lending requirements have made FHA financing the only option for some buyers, this 90-day policy has:
1. Kept some home buyers from being able to purchase affordable homes.
2. Prevented the quick resale of foreclosed properties, which affects the ability of communities to stabilize and rebuild.
Research has shown that the buying, fixing, and reselling of foreclosed properties is often achieved in less than three months time.
The temporary waiver, which will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance to many, will be in effect for a period of one year (unless extended or withdrawn by the FHA). With this in mind, now may be an excellent time to look at foreclosed properties for those who may be on the fence about purchasing a foreclosure as a short-term investment.
To ensure FHA borrowers are protected from inflated prices, the policy has certain restrictions, including:
All transactions must be arms-length and there can be no identity of interest between the buyer and the seller.
If the sales price of the property is 20% or more above the seller's acquisition cost, the lender must meet specific
conditions for the waiver to apply.
The waiver is limited to forward mortgages and cannot be used under the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage
(HECM) purchase program.
You can read the full text of the waiver at http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/waivpropflip2010.pdf.
Dear Carole & Kitty
If you have a question for Carole or Kitty, please email it to
AskCarole@bambooconsultinginc.com
Vol. 14 February 2010
Question: Has the economic crisis changed Americans?
Answer (Carole): According to the Parade Crisis Impact Poll, which surveyed a national moderate panel of adults ages 18 and over, the answer is yes.
79% have personally felt its impact.
42% delayed or canceled their vacations.
27% pursued extra work to make money.
34% delayed buying major appliances.
29% forgot about doing home renovations.
28% delayed buying a new car.
Only 52% now believe if you work hard and play by the rules, the American dream is yours.
87% are worried about state of the nation.
65% were really surprised at the economic meltdown.
74% say they watch the news more.
71% describe themselves as more politically aware.
Home ownership went from 68% to 64%.
25% of the homeowners are underwater in their home values.
1 in 9 homes were either in default or foreclosure.
Not all the news is bad though. Americans see some benefits too:
52% are forming stronger bonds with spouses.
63% have become more do-it-yourselfers.
30% are volunteering more for charities.
Question: Why are banks willing to write off $150K on a short sale or foreclosure, but not willing to write down the
principal so a homeowner can stay in their home?
Answer (Carole): When the banks do a short sale or foreclosure, the government allows them to take a loss on their balance sheet and they can then offset that with profits from prior years. In the end, the banks get a tax refund from the government.
With reduction of principal, they cannot do that and the loss they would incur can only be written off against profits in the same year or carried forward at a very low rate. With principal write offs, they would have huge losses that they could not write off in the year that they incurred them. Hence, there is no benefit to the bank to write down the principal where there is a benefit to write off money in a short sale or foreclosure situation.
Question: How soon can I buy a property after a short sale?
Answer (Kitty): The answer is it depends. According to the current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, a two year period is required to re-establish credit. The two-year period is measured from the completion date of the short sale. There are no exceptions for extenuating circumstances.
However, FHA recently issued new guidance to help responsible borrower who did not fully payoff their mortgage due to extenuating circumstances gain access to FHA financing. On December 16, 2009, FHA released a Mortgage Letter (09-52) to lenders and underwriters regarding borrower eligibility new FHA mortgages after pursuing either a short sale (when a previously owned property is sold for less than what is owed) or a short payoff (when there is a principal write down of indebtedness that cannot be refinanced into a new mortgage). In the letter, which took effect immediately, FHA stated that borrowers are considered eligible for a new FHA-insured mortgage if: 1) they were current on their previous mortgage and other debts at the time of the short sale and 2) if the proceeds from the short sale serve as payment in full. FHA also stated that borrowers are not eligible for a new FHA mort
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