Banks do not want your home! Banks are much more aggressive in allowing short sales because it allows them to sell your property without having to foreclose. Foreclosures are expensive for the banks. They have to maintain the property, pay the taxes and HOA fees and fix anything that is broken.

Dani Babb is a real estate expert. In this video, Dr. Babb discusses the advantages of short selling your home. Please call or email me if you have any questions at 760.219.3964 or pam247re@hotmail.com.

Pending home sales in California rose in June, according to C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI). The index was 119.0 in June, an increase of 1.9 percent from May’s revised index of 116.8, based on contracts signed in June. The index also was up 4.4 percent from June 2010. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.

“Pending home sales have improved in the last couple of months and the next few months should bring continued gains,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce. “So much depends on the direction of the economy going forward. As for the makeup of the market, distressed sales continue to be a significant part of the market with the split between short sales and REO sales varying greatly across the state.”

The total share of all distressed property types sold statewide was unchanged in June from May’s revised 47 percent. The share also was unchanged from a year prior. Of the distressed properties sold statewide, 19 percent were short sales, a decline from last month’s share of 20 percent and last year’s share of 21 percent. At 27 percent, the share of REO (real estate-owned) sales was unchanged compared with May, but was up from 25 percent reported in June 2010. Non-distressed sales made up the remaining share of home sales in June at 53 percent, unchanged from both previous month and year.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose two points to 15 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for July. The gain largely offsets a three-point dip recorded in June.

“We view the upward movement in the July HMI as a correction from an exceptionally weak number in June that was at least partly attributable to negative economic news and the close of a disappointing spring selling season,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The strong rebound in sales expectations for the next six months likewise marks a return to trend. Basically, the market continues to bounce along the bottom, with conditions in some locations beginning to improve.”

Two out of three of the HMI’s component indexes rebounded in July from declines in the previous month. The component gauging current sales conditions rose two points to 15, returning to its May level, while the component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose seven points to 22, which is where it stood in April. The component gauging traffic of prospective buyers held even with the previous month, at 12.

Regionally, the HMI posted a three-point gain to 14 in the West, which includes California.

In a major victory for REALTORS®, Governor Brown signed into law today a C.A.R.-sponsored bill, Senate Bill 458, prohibiting a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder. 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.

Although a lender cannot require a borrower to pay any additional compensation in exchange for a short sale approval, the new law does not prohibit a borrower from voluntarily offering a monetary contribution to a lender in hopes of obtaining a short sale. A lender is also permitted under the new law to negotiate for a contribution from someone other than the borrower, such as other lenders, agents, relatives, and the like.

Exceptions to the new law include a lender seeking damages for a borrower’s fraud or waste; a borrower that is a corporation, LLC, limited partnership, or political subdivision of the state; a lien secured by a bond as specified; a public utility lien; and additional rules apply if a note is cross-collateralized by more than one property.

This law is fully set forth as Senate Bill 458 (Corbett) at www.leginfo.ca.gov.