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This year Big Bear Lake, CA had an epic snow storm. Most of Southern California experienced flooding that damaged many buildings in the coastal cities. But we were absolutely buried in frosty precipitation. There are different cities in the Bear Valley area like Moonridge, Fawnskin and Sugarloaf and they all took their own measure of beating, but what I was amazed by was the sense of community and brotherhood.

At first I began to question living in Big Bear because of these scenarios but now I feel a sense of confirmation. Rooftops are covered in feet of snow and holding, Chimneys are heating homes where the power is out. But all in all these abodes are boding well. And now my family is snuggled by the fire playing Yahtzee and telling stories by candlelight and strolling through the streets of fantastic snow hills in the early morning.

I was worried we may never get out of the heavenly avalanche alive, but we broke out of the driveway and felt a little ridiculous about it all. Then I noticed the families next door collaborating the remove snow from their driveways. I took a struggling stroll down my street and was greeted with a smile at every home I passed. We offered each other help and asked how each other was doing.

When I came home, I was happy to see my family again, all finding ways to busy themselves and get to know one another better. I am definitely thankful for all that we have and, in truth, I actually felt at peace in the storm of the decade.

I was excited that we were all coming together and learning how it was to be a family again because we were stuck with each other. The days were very repetitious but somehow we used the repetition to do it better each time and become more civil and caring.

I think the best part and the key part is that we don’t drive down the hill at the end of the weekend, we just head back home on the side streets while traffic stalls on the main boulevard. It’s nice to know the little tricks. It’s nice to have a home in Big Bear.

Article submitter Karen Richardson is quite experienced in shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals and Big Bear realty in general. Check out her other pieces on other websites.

A question I seem to get quite a bit these days from my clients is ” What is the difference between short sales and REO’s?” I then , usually, go into a whole explanation of the pro’s and con’s of each, and end up telling them that REO’s are superior in every way. I have a couple of dealings over the past couple of months that really bring this point home.

The first case involves a really neat family I have been dealing with for over a year. They are from North Hollywood and have wanted to buy a place up here for a long time. When we initially looked, we couldn’t find anything that really fitted their needs. They decided to wait a year and then take a look when the prices had really dropped.

Recently, I took this same couple on the hunt again, and they finally found a cabin that they felt was perfect for them. The cabin sat on a beautifully Oak Tree serene setting, and was impeccably clean. The asking price was a $149,000, but well worth it. There was one problem with the cabin, and that was that it was listed as a short sale. I did of course explain to the couple the hassles that typically come along with buying a home on a short sale, but they were so smitten with the property, they were willing to take their chances.

We had waited about a month, and still hadn’t heard back from the bank. In my mind I already knew the selling agent hadn’t done his part to get the process going to complete a short sale. I informed my clients that our only choice now was to wait for a response from the bank. About another month or so went by before the selling agent informed me that the bank pulled the listing without giving a response to our offer.

Which just goes to show you that short sales can be very unpredictable. I am sure this saga will continue…

Submitted by: Marie Strahg knows all about shopping a Big Bear, CA foreclosure and Big Bear realty overall. Check out more of her posts online.

Let me tell you about how I wrapped up a deal involving a short sale that was going nowhere fast…

I knew it would only be a matter of time before this property would again be on the market as a bank owned property. I encouraged my eager clients to be patient, and that I would be consistently searching all of the MLS listings until I came across their desired property again. Within a little over a week, my hunch was confirmed when I came across the same cabin, now listed at $130,000 and as a bank owned property. I called my clients within minutes, informing them of the fantastic news, and we wrote an offer for $115,000 cash that day.

The very next day the bank counter offered with $117,000, and my clients jumped on it. Luckily for us, the bank also fixed some busted pipes underneath the house that more then likely the original owner wouldn’t have been able to do. The fact of the matter is that the bank held out for a month and a half, and didn’t accomplish anything as a short sale property.

Once it was a bank owned, we bought it in two days for less money and had repairs thrown in as a bonus. Bank owned One, Short sales Zero. The second situation is very similar. My clients put in an offer of $340,000 on a short sale listed at $389,000. Again, we waited patiently for almost two months while the bank had the home reappraised and numerous BPO’s done.

After two months, the bank oddly enough rejected our offer, and let the house go in to foreclosure. Again I patiently watched and waited until I saw the house listed again, but for $390,000 this time around. My clients and I agreed that the house was quite a bit overpriced, and thought it better to wait to see if the price would come down at all. We waited two weeks, the price had not fell, and we felt it a perfect time to finally make an offer.

We offered the bank $333,000, and then patiently waited for a response. After only one day the bank declined our offer. It took about one going back and forth before we settled at $339,000. Again, bank owned, and a shorter time frame and a better price. So, if you’re keeping score, that would be bank-owned 2 and short sale at a big 0.

Article submitter S. Miller knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures plus Big Bear, CA houses in general. Check out more of her posts online.

There is a plus side to the housing market being in a decline, and that would be the limited amount of bad agents out there. This is a great benefit if you are in the market to buy or sell a home, because chances are you will find a more reliable, up-to-date realtor. In the past a lot of agents did a lot of their work from their offices, but now they really do need to be out in the field in order to be successful. With that information though, you do still need to be careful in choosing your agent.

There are still people out there looking to make an extra buck, and are only part time agents. The clerk at the gas station may take on a client or two for some extra money. Even the utility worker can claim he is a full time agent, when he’s not. When this type of deception is going on, it is not beneficial for the buyer or seller at all.

Obviously, the market has changed quite drastically over the last few years, and business doesn’t operate the way it used to. Bank owned properties make up 10% of the inventory and 40% of all the sales in my home town. If you find yourself involved with a realtor that is not on the up and up when it comes to REO’s and short sales, you may find yourself in not so good of a situation.

Here is a perfect example from my last escrow transaction. I had some clients that made an offer on a property that was out of our area. We of course held up our part of the bargain, and then sat back and waited to hear that the escrow was opened. In the last twenty sales I have had in the last year or so, there is almost always a complication with the bank opening escrow in a timely manner.

To make a long story short, after weeks of no response to my pressings, the bank finally admitted to me that they had accidentally filed the paperwork with the wrong office. And to add insult, they suggested that we could still be liable for the delay. I turned it all around, but some people are just gone terrible with details. I think I am getting too old for this business!

Had I not expected some sort of foolishness due to my previous experiences with REO’s, I may not have nipped this one in the bud. Novice realtors can cause a lot of financial hardships in tricky sales situations. Make sure that you find someone who has been around the block and knows what to look out for because their expertise my just save your deal or save you from losing a lot of money.

Author Steven Blagow is an experienced Big Bear, CA foreclosures realtor and well-trained in luxury realty. He is in fact one of the top Big Bear, CA houses realtors in his service area.

I just had the REO from heck nightmare with some insane per diem issues. I anted to spread the word of caution around to anyone who is listening.

Fearing that the problems would escalate if we didn’t proceed with the offer, we kept up our part of the offer on the cabin. Thank goodness for my experience in situations like this. From having dealt with situations like this with clients of mine before, I know that it is best to stay calm, keep up your part of the deal, and not to get worked up about the bank.

Getting out of paying for that per Diem is as simple as keeping on track and proving the delay was not of our doing. I stayed on top of the inspections making sure they were completed in a day period, and that my Realtor had the termite inspection done as well. Luckily since my client is purchasing this property with cash, we did not have any issues with the appraisal. It works a little differently if someone is buying a house with a loan from the bank, because you need to be in direct contact with the lender the whole time making sure an appraisal is completed on time.

If at all possible, you do not want any last minute situations popping up during the closing period. More then likely not everything is going to go your way, but if you follow the steps you need to take throughout the process, things will turn out just fine. I find myself always telling my clients that the banks really don’t have an idea of what may be happening at every moment throughout the process. It seems as though they just kind of float through just waiting for something to happen.

It hasn’t been uncommon for me in the last few years to observe a bank doing something completely out of the ordinary. It doesn’t happen very often that a property owned by a bank has a smooth closing. As long as you hire an experienced Realtor that knows what they are doing, and you stay on top of things on your part, you should have a successful closing on a home.

Author Daniel Thuster has much experience shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals and Big Bear realty in general. Check out his other articles on the internet.

Buying a bank owned (REO) property is a much different process than a traditional listing and it is imperative that your Realtor know the difference. If your Realtor is not aware of the differences, they could not only cause you to lose the property, but also cost you money in the process. Let me explain.

Banks have complete control when it comes to a bank owned property. They make their own rules and follow no disclosure requirements. Typically they will have a potential client sign something called an addendum, which basically takes away the protections a buyer may have, and gives them sole power in the decision making.

The bank will set a timeline that they demand you stay on top of, or they will enforce consequences on you. The odd thing is that they can take all the time they need before they deliver any type of response to you. Almost a month ago, I was approved and have been holding money in escrow for a bank owned property. It took the bank three weeks into the thirty-day period before they even opened my escrow.

It took a full three weeks before we received my contract and addendum. Not so lucky for us that when we first signed into this contract, it stated that we would be charged $100 per day per Diem for every day that went past the thirty-day period!

Then they did nothing on time to make it possible for us to make the deadline. As many of you know, the majority of short sales do not close successfully. This is usually due to the listing agent not knowing how to do them, but taking the listing anyways. If the listing agent doesn’t put in all the work ahead of time, a short sale is a nightmare. REO’s can be the same. In this case, the listing agent assured me that he had done all the footwork and the bank was ready to move.

Article submitter A. Fulton knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures and Big Bear, CA houses overall. Check out his other posts online.