The percentage of single family homes that were distressed sales in the month of June are:

Ventura – 33%

Oxnard – 61%

Camarillo – 37%

Quarterly graphs for 2nd quarter are included in this post. All data is taken from the Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo MLS.

Sold prices – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph – Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo are all unchanged for sold prices.
• Quarterly graph – Ventura is on the increase, Oxnard remains unchanged and Camarillo shows a slight decrease in sold prices.

Sold prices – Condos in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph – Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo are all upward for sold prices.
• Quarterly graph – Ventura shows a slight decrease, Oxnard a modest decrease and Camarillo a slight increase in sold prices.

Numbers sold – Single family homes in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo:

• 12 month graph – Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo are all on the move upward for number of homes sold.
• Quarterly graph – All are trending upward for number of homes sold.

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Nothing drives buyers, sellers and agents more crazy than when a buyer “walks” on a short sale, there’s a back-up offer – and the lender doesn’t consider that back-up offer. Rather, the first offer’s file is closed and the entire process starts from scratch. Weeks are lost.

Agents desperately hope the 2nd buyers are patient! But often times they’re not – they move onto another home and the process repeats itself.

I listed a cute short sale home down by the beach some time ago with B of A as the lender, and had to repeat the process 5 times before we could finally close because I had to start new every time with every offer! I’m sure that sale took years off my life in frustration!

Bank of America said just last week however that they’re now significantly altering their short sale process by looking at the back-up offer without closing the original file. Why this wasn’t figured out long ago I’ll never know. Now if Wells, Chase, et al, would do the same…!

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law just last week Senate Bill 458 which prohibits a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder.

The following is quoted from the California Association of Realtor’s legal announcement:

Effective immediately for transactions closing escrow from this day forward, both senior and junior lienholders cannot require a borrower to owe or pay for a deficiency in a short sale.

This law also prohibits any deficiency judgment to be requested or rendered for senior or junior liens after a short sale of one-to-four residential units.  Any purported waiver of this rule shall be void and against public policy.

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On Thursday, at 11:00 a.m., a couple lost their home at a foreclosure auction at the entrance to the Hall of Justice in Ventura. It was bought by a third party investor.

While this happens every day in Ventura County, this particular case is poignant to me because it didn’t have to end this way. This couple had been trying to do a loan mod. But as many of you know, the so-called “dual track” process can be running simultaneously while the homeowner tries to get their loan mod.

Several months ago Don had spoken to this couple about the possibility of doing a HAFA short sale (the US Treasury’s ‘graceful exit’ program for distressed/under-water owners). It was apparent to us their financial situation was dire, but they insisted they were working with their lender on a loan mod.

Last Friday, when their auction was finally set, Don and I spoke to them again about their time running out. The husband stated he was told by their lender that he was going to get a decision on their loan mod by “next Friday” (the 8th). But we said, the auction is set for next Thursday!

They listened to us, but we sensed either a stubbornness, or perhaps indecision, about what they were going to do. They genuinely (I think) thought everything was going to “work out” okay.

I’ve written and counseled that distressed homeowners have to go through the so-called 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) before they can deal with the financial decisions of their home. Many homeowners are stuck in denial and anger and never get to the point where they can make the best financial decisions for their family.

So it saddened me knowing that a stranger was going to knock on this couple’s door and say he was now the new owner of their home.

The Atlantis space shuttle took off this morning without a hitch – and I missed it. The last of all our space shuttles. I was so bummed I told Leslie I’m not going to work today. Why did I miss it? Frankly, I thought weather was going to scrub the mission today.

I’ve made 3 dedicated trips to Florida just to see a shuttle launch – and been deprived each time. The last trip was last November and after sitting around a week, the shuttle still was “broken”.

Leslie’s been with me the last 3 trips and we’ve done the “touristy” thing in Florida waiting out the shuttle delays, spending a week each time. But this time I was going solo, and at the last minute, just to make sure things looked good.

Wednesday, the weather forecast looked poor for a Friday launch (70% no-go). Yesterday afternoon had severe lightning strikes and heavy rain, and NASA could only launch this weekend or be delayed until the middle of July, so I held off.  I thought if Sunday’s forecast looked okay, I’d leave today for Florida. But this morning I got up early and it appeared I’d made the wrong call – things were looking okay for a launch, and launch they did! I’ve been bummed out all day…