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If you looking at a single property, it would probably be a total waste of your time. There are 3 things that can happen at a sale. The auction can be canceled, postponed, or go to sale. If going to sale, it can sell for higher then you are willing to pay. The opening bid is undisclosed. Usually the bid amount listed is the loan amount. That doesn’t assure you that it will open at that price. It may actually open lower, but don’t get your hopes up. If it is listed under market there will be bidding.
It is cash sale, so you will need to bring cashier’s check for the full amount. Most likely more than the full amount. They will send you the change in a couple weeks.
You are not bidding on a home, you are bidding on the loan. Know that you will need a title company to make sure you are bidding on the senior loan. That is part of the risk. You will need to pay property taxes if overdue. That can be checked on the County Website. A title company can make sure that all other liens are junior to the loan and will be wiped away during the auction. There are IRS liens, but those are not risky.
I would subscribe to foreclosure radar. You can do a lot of research on their site. I would still seek a title company to confirm that you are bidding on the first loan. You can see how many homes go up for auction and how many actually get sold to the public.
That should help you decide if it is worth it. From what I remember about 1 percent of the homes get sold and the other 99 percent are either postponed, cancelled or sold back to the bank. That was also the good old days, I’m sure it’s less then 1 percent today.

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Looking at the charts from Rich, you would have to say short term it’s not going to be any better. There should be a nice price jump this spring/summer. Not sure what will happen in the fall, but the short term not looking good. I’ve been tracking Chula Vista/Spring Valley in the $400 range and would say that there has been a significant jump this spring. Obviously this is not new information, just repeating what’s already been said.
Going forward I think there is a better chance that the $400K range will go up to $500K, then go down to $300K. It would be at least a couple years before we see any major correction in prices if it happens at all. Inventory would have to spike significantly.
I think the minimum wage is going to have a big influence on prices. Minimum wage will be $15hr in a few years. Based on that a couple earning minimum wage would be able to qualify for a $200K house. So if prices revert back to $200K in Chula Vista, a couple earning minimum wage each would be able to qualify to buy a house for the first time in history if rates remain the same as today. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that has every happened.

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The list price is right on with current comps. This is probably the best location in the complex. West views (slight ocean/Coronado), least amount of neighbors possible, slight 125 noise. Rent back is not complicated or scary. No need for gardener with this property. Trash, water is paid by owner and not included in HOA. If you have the cash to buy this outright, I would buy something in the 500’s. You can do much better in that price range. We sold same condo in 2014 for 325K. Price spiked and piggybacked on our sales price which was the highest at that time. We never lived there, but I would say that amenities are top notch. Gym and pool are fantastic. Better than what we get in Eastlake Woods.

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This is a typical flip. Seller initially listed at market price. Got two buyers, both fell out. Listing got dated, so the dramatic price reduction. Got some buyers exited about the price, got multiple offers. Offers came in at 375k or higher. Agent representing buyer stating make offer at 375K or higher. What is wrong with any of the above. 5K credit for landscape is typical. Buyers (FHA, VA) want completely move in ready houses and don’t have the money to do improvements. This is a service provided for this type of buyer. Allows buyer to have money for landscape that is rolled into loan. VA loan requires seller to pay extra closing costs, seller doesn’t want to pay those fees. VA offers need to come in about 10K higher than FHA to net the same for seller. If there is something seriously wrong with the house during inspection, then pass. This is how it works. If you want a cash price, then save up the money and pay cash. If you want to use VA and have the home move in ready, then this is the way it works. Look for what fits for your family. I’m not advocating to buy or not to buy, just stating the facts.
My neighbor’s roommate was home searching in 2009 and using VA. Didn’t like anything she saw and didn’t want a flip. Ending up not buying. Had the attitude that people paying cash are getting the good deals and wanted the same, but didn’t have the money. In hindsight she made a mistake. Today’s market is totally different, but the same rules apply.

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Blvd63 does shuttle service to SDSU. Smart way to maximize the student rental pool.

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It’s roughly $20 per sqft premium for renovated vs non renovated properties on average. That’s about $40K for a 2000sqft home in Penasquitos. That’s why I always recommend doing just the basics so you don’t turn off potential buyers. Overdoing it will only result in breaking even. There are some older neighborhoods that require complete renovations that will give you $100K in premiums but not in track homes built 1970 or newer. Basically if your home shows OK, don’t put in the work. This holds especially true for those that are not willing to do some of the work themselves or don’t have good cheap labor. In this case with what limited information given, the kitchen may or may not need to be redone. I would not do cheap materials, but something in the middle range for this neighborhood.
If you look at the recent trends, you will see that a lot of houses are doing carpet/paint to refresh the home. This includes bank owned properties. Even they are getting the hint.
***Never sell to a renovation company. They are the Payday lenders of the house buying industry. Just make sure that your home is lendable and you will get much more than a flipper would pay.***

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Your house is in a good area and should sell fast at the right price. I would paint and carpet and probably pass on the rest. Kitchen is too expensive and since you are letting someone else handle it, they will probably spend too much.

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Stale listings are bad for sellers. Should have priced it right from the onset. High end homes are a different breed and can be priced high until potential buyer comes along. Normal homes in the 300K range need to be priced correctly from the begining. Listing low to get bidding war is not always a good idea either. You get a lot of low ball bids and usually the higher bids fall out of escrow due to over bidding during the frenzy. Level heads take over and house fall out of escrow.

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Larger complexes are also charging water and sewer which is not included in rent. These are ad ons that were free in the not to distant past. They are also requiring renters insurance. Most renters would pass on renters insurance if given the choice.

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Higher minimum will also work it’s way up the ladder. The next rung up, like myself is looking forward to higher minimum. Although it will wash out with higher rents and consumer goods, it will benefit those that have debt. It will also help out those that have bought housing, since inflation has little effect on your house payment.

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I just depends on if you want to be landlord. If that is your preference, you should keep them. If not, then just sell. Since HLS is the expert, I don’t want to pretend I know everything about lending. From my limited experiences with lending, it seems like borrowing such small amounts on two properties, will result in too many fees to be worth it. If both properties appraise at 120K, you will only be able to pull out 90K. I’ve done this a few times, but usually pulling out 170K on a primary. It was worth it for what I was using the money on. Once was to buy another primary to avoid PMI.

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I’ve never been a firm believer in the seasonality of selling. Some neighborhoods that are geared towards good schools might feel the spring push, but North Park shouldn’t that much. I wouldn’t lose/or give away money trying to time the sale of the home. I’ve done a few flips in the past couple years and I don’t think the prime selling season made a difference for us. We just put it on the market when we were ready. There are other market conditions that are much more of an influence on price. Don’t give away gauranteed money to chase a possible higher sales price. Make the property look nice and avaialble to all buyers (VA, FHA, Conventional). In your area you might want to paint, do flooring, new baths and kitchen, landscape (don’t spend too much on landscape).

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It all depends on how much capital gain you are getting from the sale. Someone closer to the 250K for single and 500K for a couple limits should probably sell. Someone that has about 50K worth of gain after paying commission/closing should probably hold if good tennant in place. I have about 125K of capital gain and down to 6 months left before my home owners exemption expires. I will probably hold for now. It does good as a rental and I’m not seeing a better return on the money elsewhere.

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I would be more concerned with getting out from under the PMI payment. I don’t think the average buyer would understand or even care about the assumable rate. You might be able to get a small premium at most. For the most part, buyers are using search engines at the max amount they can afford based on pre-qual. If your house is listed above max amount, they won’t even know that it exists. Also price is more important than rate. You can always refi if rates drop, but you can’t refi out of the inflated price. If rates go up above 6% or more, you might have something of value. You would also probably have to carry a second loan for this to work.

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I think one of the main reasons it was undervalued was the massive distressed inventory that needed to be unloaded. If these homes were built between 1999-2001, I don’t think we would have seen prices in the in the mid $100 per sqft, even with MR. Remember these are also large lots that are not factored into the price per sqft equation.

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