However, if you don’t want to wait for updates, simply visit the other websites I’m currently maintaining and blogging on:

www.rock-star-mktg.com

www.wcsdanceco.com

I will be leaving Wasson’s Construction/1-800-BoardUp on October 15th, so my Foreclosure Forum Blog will end and it will hover somewhere in the Cybertrash ether of Cyberspace.  Sorry for the flotsam and jetsom, but once it’s out there, it’s out there.

Anyway, since I only have 2 weeks to wrap up my tenure at Wasson’s (visit us at www.wassons.net), and prepare myself for my new job (yes, I have a job lined up, so don’t worry about me), I’m writing my final thoughts on the California Foreclosure Market for 2009/2010.

Since I want to buy my own home that I’m renting, I’ve been watching the market like a hawk.  The predictions from most people for October 2009 have been pretty acurate.

Currently, the predictions for 2010 are that the 5-year ARM resets are going to hurt us in 2010 and the property values will fall once again.  Strap on your seat belt, because the wild ride of the roller coaster isn’t over.

There is a guy named John Mulkey who goes by the moniker of The Housing Guru.  His blog can be found at www.thehousingguru.com and he knows his stuff.  I was reading his predictions for 2010 and they were sobering.  If you are a member of Activerain (www.activerain.com) you can read his blog–and the comments echoing the accuracy of his predictions from other realtors– for yourself.

For those who don’t consult Activerain, I will highlight what he predicted.

1.  The Fed will throw everything in it’s arsenal towards keeping interest rates low throughout 2010.

2. While it may appear that home prices have stabilized, his guess is, they have not.

3. Foreclosures and short-sales will make up as much as 40% of total sales for the next 30 – 36 months.  He wrote this on Sept. 20, 2009, so 30 months from then will be March 2012, and 36 months from then is September 2012.

4. Unless the government passes a major and all-inclusive tax credit, sales must remain sluggish.

5. By spring of 2012 interest rates will rise sufficiently to negatively impact home sales.

6. Finally, the mid-term election will be both chaotic and unsettling.   He admits that this isn’t a housing market prediction, but it will affect the housing market.

I recommend that we bookmark this prediction and see what comes of it.  In the meantime, I’m planning to remain on the fence until I have saved enough money in 2010 to make a literal and figurative move on purchasing the place I’m renting now.

If you enjoyed reading my posts and would like to follow me as I progress with my music career, I invite you to check out my website at www.jenniferfilzen.com.  I’m working with some pros on my website now and I hope to make it a more dynamic and interactive website that will support my blogging habit.

Thanks to everyone who’s been paying attention.  Good luck and God bless you all with love, joy, health, and prosperity.  Let’s all work towards thriving and not just surviving.–Jen

Currently, the states of California, Hawaii, Florida, and New York are appearing to hold steady…to a point.  Many popular areas are rising up in value, but the outlying areas that are further away from the economic hubs (and higher paying jobs) are slipping further into trouble.

We’ll see what’s in store for the United States housing market as we watch the unemployment rates in each state and the number of foreclosures.

In the meantime, if you have cash and excellent credit, you may want to come up with a good plan for any offers you want to make and buy something within the next year or two.

Many of us believed that the economy is starting to look better, but they differed in their opinion.  They each confessed that market analysts are not painting a true picture of how awfully horrible the economy is right now and will be until 2014.  Why?  Because no one wants to instigate sheer panic and fear in the general populace.

Discovering that all the economic news is mere fluff, is disturbing, but I can understand it.  If we are not given a little hope, we may not push ourselves to climb out of this mess.

To fully illustrate my point, I came across this earlier graphic about the market and emotions cycle, and guessed that we’re somewhere near the emotional bottom.  My dinner conversation with my friends confirmed it.

So, now what do we do?  What choices do we have?

Well, I, for one, am not going to mentally participate in this recession/depression/Armageddon economy.  I am choosing to do the following:

1.  Learn as much as I can to improve my marketable career skills.

2.  Show my loved ones how much I care for them every day.

3.  Live within my means–even if that means living like my grandparents did during the 1930s.

4.  Enjoy life’s simple offerings of joy.

5.  Continue to have hope and focus on the power of positive thinking.

What are you doing to make it through the tough times?  Please let me know how you’re doing.

I attended an MCAR meeting recently with local real estate attorney, Paul Gullion, speaking about the growing numbers of “normal” low risk people inquiring about getting out of their underwater mortgages.  He said he normally wouldn’t advise people to stop paying their mortgage payments in order to gain attention from the lenders, but we are in a new era and some of his clients aren’t going to get relief following the normal processes.    Paul reported that there was proposed legislation in California to ease this issue, but there wasn’t any news to report yet.

For more information on this topic as of July 23, 2009, I’ll defer to Jim Puzzanghera’s article in the LA Times.

We will all keep an eye on it and report to you what we can.

Again, I won’t say my information is based on anything but my gut and my fascination with history repeating itself.  With that said, here’s my two cents on the status of the housing market and where it’s headed.

First, let’s look at the timeless child’s toy–the yo-yo.  What goes down must come back up, right?  Well, as many of us have found out over the years when we play with our yo-yos, the yo-yo doesn’t always come up all the way.  Sometimes we miss-fire and it hangs down at the bottom, twirling at the end of the string.

Now that you have that image of the yo-yo clearly placed in your head, here is my commentary.

We’ve hit bottom and are climbing back up a little, but the real bottom hasn’t hit yet.

Here in California, the 8th largest GNP in the world, things are not fully unraveled.  The state budget was just passed but the cuts will take place and be felt like a massive splash rippling in the water over the next month or two.  That’s when we’ll finally hit rock bottom.

I think the housing prices are going up a little now because people are seeing more activity in house sales, but it won’t last.  Why?  Because once firefighters and county clerks are furloughed and their pay is cut up to 10-40%, they won’t be able to afford going out to the restaurants as much.  The cook at the restaurant, won’t be able to afford what little health insurance he has, so he won’t be able to see the doctor unless he goes to the emergency room.  The emergency room people will see an uptick in patients because people will start using the emergency room as their primary source of medical care, but there won’t be enough money to cover the influx of people coming in.  Therefore, the hospital will have an overtaxed staff who won’t be able to sanitize the hospital as often, which will open the door to more viruses affecting staff and patients, which will make some folks more sick than ever.  Several people will become so sick that they will not be able to work, and they will risk losing their homes due to overwhelming medical expenses….and so the domino effect continues to effect everyone and every industry.

To be clear, I’m not picking on the health care industry.  It’s just one domino in a line of other dominoes, waiting to be affected.

So, which toy am I talking about?  The yo-yo or the domino?  Well, I guess both provide terrific analogies right now.

I don’t mean to ramble, but after the California budget shortfalls are corrected within the state, the domino effect will hit the other areas as well.  China will be affected since it has provided so much financing for the housing market, and there will be fewer gadgets ordered from California companies.  Less money will be generated out of the Golden State, and that will effect anyone dealing with the California economy, which includes agriculture, entertainment, tourism, and the financial sector.  The domino effect will be felt everywhere in every industry,  eventually effect people both within the United States and internationally.

I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom, but don’t believe it when they say housing is at its all-time bottom.  We’re close, but even when it hits, it’ll be a long climb out.

I’ve been watching the pricing on my house drop on www.zillow.com, a free website that gives ballpark figures of a property’s value.  Trouble is, the prices haven’t hit my price range yet and they’re starting to move up again.

I’ve been going onto different sites that allow you to decide whether or not to rent or own a specific property.  Being that owning a home is a big part of living the “American Dream”, it’s hard to admit that being a renter may be better for positive cash flow.

So, as I write in today’s foreclosure forum blog, I ponder my next move.  I’ve been wanting to buy this place for a long while now.   But, I won’t be able to do it alone.

I spoke with Leslie Bruhn of Women’s Wealth Network and asked her advice.   She advised that I not go into negative cash flow mode.  If I spend everything I have and don’t have enough left each month for incidentals, I could be playing with fire.

She surprised me when she, herself, a very successful and financially healthy woman, told me that she doesn’t own the place she lives in either.  However, she owns multiple properties elsewhere.  It seems that many places where we live are priced out of range for wise investments.

It was then that I knew I had to join her Women’s Wealth Network and learn more.   Classes begin in September and I’m excited!  I can’t wait to learn tools and tips that will allow me to become smarter about my financial choices.

As one gal, Rosie at Comerica Bank, said to me recently, we women are responsible to educate ourselves in three areas:  cultural, vocational, and financial.  Cultural education is like learning how to dance, play the piano, appreciate art and jazz music.  Vocational education is getting your Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s, and Ph.D. so you can get the job you want.  Financial education is equally important, but many women are severely lacking knowledge in this area and make themselves vulnerable to poor decisions.

I, too, have stuck my head in the sand for a while regarding my finances.  I kept hoping that someone else would take care of me so I wouldn’t have to worry about money.  Well, it’s time I take account of my own worth and figure out how to have enough for retirement.

After all, it’s not about how much money you make.  It’s about how much you hold on to.  And that’s why I’ll keep my eyes open about my decision to rent vs. own my home.

As I go through this process, I’ll keep you posted.

Don’t make any bets on my predictions, but let’s all watch and see if my hit rate is pretty good.

Based on articles and lectures I’ve attended within the past few months, our economy in California will hit rock bottom in August.  It will take a while for us to start our long climb back into a healthy economy, as the epicenter of the ripple effect hasn’t settled down yet .

1.  Foreclosures and REO sales will continue to be an epidemic throughout 2009 and well into 2010.

2.  The long climb out of the housing slump will continue to be an issue for at least 20 months (ending approximately March, 2011).

3.  The housing prices that are climbing up now in July, 2009 will drop again in August, 2009.

4.  Due to its partnership with banks, Home Depot will grow as the REO sales market grows, since they will become the largest vendor managing repairs for bank-owned properties with “local” construction contractors.

5.  The California state budget is almost resolved and the depth of the cuts will be like facing Armageddon.  All public sectors will be affected and expect that the many layoffs within California will continue the foreclosure spiral effect.

6.  Don’t expect the cities or counties to continue to be on top of cleaning public restrooms, litter on the street, or the maintenance of park landscaping.  They won’t have much money left, so expect to pack your own trash and pitch in to keep trash off the ground.

7.  Crime and scams will increase.  However, with the power of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media sites, we’ll be able to capture these criminals faster.

8.  The legalization of marijuana is seriously being considered within California in order to pull tax revenue from its sales and distribution.  It’s a wild card prediction, but I predict that it will hit the voters by 2011 and once it passes, a very large growth industry will happen for that market with lots of jobs for growers, distributors, tax collectors, etc.

Let’s see how I fare once August comes and goes.  I look forward to your comments.–Jennifer Filzen

Follow me at www.twitter.com/filzen

By Jennifer Filzen, Marketing Director for Wasson’s/1-800-BoardUp

www.wassons.net

On June 11, 2008, Wasson’s hosted its first Foreclosure Forum.  Why?  Because Wasson’s is the rare vendor that deals with all sectors that deal with foreclosure—public safety, insurance, lenders, real estate agents, real estate attorneys, and city government—and we wanted to improve the lines of communication between all groups.

Due to the popularity of the first Foreclosure Forum, we hosted our second annual forum on May 14, 2009.  Again, everyone from all sectors were invited to share information about newer legislation, issues, finding answers, and resolving bottlenecks in the process.  The meeting was a success and many attendees exchanged business cards, hoping to keep contact with their newly found allies.

Among the attendees were two key figures who offered to keep these meetings going:  Harold Wolgamott of the City of Gonzales, and Kevin Stone of the Monterey County Association of Realtors.  They intend to host monthly or quarterly meetings that will handle issues specifically related to foreclosed properties.

In the meantime, I’m kicking off this blog and will be posting it on WordPress, ActiveRain, Facebook and Twitter—hoping it will be useful to the general population of professionals who buy, sell, lend, maintain, service, or monitor foreclosed properties.

In all truth, I don’t know where to start.  I am NOT a realtor, however, I hope that my information provides you with some value.  Knowledge is meant to be shared, and if you think I’m missing key elements, I hope you’ll correct me if you see any glaring errors or omissions.

First, if you are a Real Estate Agent/Broker, you want to keep the following circle of people in your lines of communication: 

The Buyer

The Seller

The Asset Manager

The Title Insurance Company

The Attorney

The City’s Building Department

The Lender/Bank

Why?  Because all of these sectors have pieces of the puzzle that need attention, and when you notify them what is happening, they can return the favor by providing you additional nuggets of valuable information on that property.

Now, let’s take a look at the circle of people the Buyer/Seller wants to communicate with before the purchase/sale of a foreclosed property:

The Real Estate Agent/Broker

The Real Estate Attorney

The City’s Code Enforcement Department

The City’s Building Department

The Title Insurance Company

The Lender/Bank

The Insurance Company

To be fair, the City Government needs to communicate with the following sectors:

The Buyer/Seller

The Real Estate Agent/Broker

The Housing Authority

CHISPA

The Code Enforcement Department

The Asset Manager

The Title Insurance Company needs to communicate with:

The Tax Assessor

The Real Estate Agent/Broker

The Asset Closer

The Buyer/Seller

The Lender/Bank needs to communicate with:

The Buyer/Seller

The Real Estate Agent/Broker

The Tax Assessor

The City’s Code Enforcement Department

The Insurance Company

The Housing Authority

CHISPA 

The Tax Assessor needs to communicate with:

The Lender/Bank

The Title Insurance Company

The City Code Enforcement needs to communicate with:

The Real Estate Agent/Broker

The Lender/Bank

The Buyer/Seller

The Public Safety Departments

Again, these lists are not conclusive.  Modify the list if you need to add more people to your communication loop.  Ultimately, I hope this list reminds you of the sectors you might be overlooking.  Good luck and let me know how it goes.  You can email me at jfilzen@wassons.net.