Whittier SHORT SALE SPECIALISTS - FREE Consultations

Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource Certified (SFR)

Stephanie Frymyer and Shirley Williams
Your Short Sale and Foreclosure Specialists


Are you having problems making your monthly mortgage payments? You are not alone - many Americans are facing the same problem and are faced with one or more of these difficulties:

- Jobloss, business failure or decrease in income
- Personal problems, such as death of a spouse or divorce, forcing you to sell your home, but there is not enough equity
- Health problems that resulted in major debt
- Relocation, forcing you to sell your home, but there is not enough equity
- Increase in mortgage payments
- You are already in default and are facing foreclosure
- You are experiencing another form of hardship.


If this sounds like what you are going through, don't try to hide from the problem, it won't go away, and there is help out there for you.


We are Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource Certified (SFR, the only Certification acknowledged by the National Association of Realtors). Our main goal is to help you stay in your home! We offer FREE consultations and have compiled a list of government programs (like HAFA and HAMP) and non-profit services that are at your disposal free of charge.


In the sad event that you do not qualify for any of the government programs or your bank does not approve a loan modification, again, foreclosure is not your only option! Your other option is a Short Sale which we can help you with. What is the difference for you? A foreclosure can lower your credit score by 200 points and more! AND a foreclosure remains a public record and on your credit history for 7 years.

Short Sales are different. There are different ways of reporting a short sale and how it will affect your credit score. The lender can report the short sale as:

1. Paid in full - which would be "paid as agreed", however, this is very rare
2. Paid - settled
3. Paid - unrated

In addition, if the owner of a Short Sale property is current with their payments, a Short Sale may only lower the score by 50 points.

We understand what you are going through, being faced with personal and financial problems is a big burden, but ignoring the problem will not make it go away. We are licensed Realtors and will do anything in our power to help you. If a Short Sale is a feasible solution to your problem, we can help you sell your home in a timely manner. As with our regular sellers, we offer FREE STAGING with our listing of an occupied home, we will take professional quality photos and market your home to the same standard as a regular sale. You might think "Why would I care, I'm selling it!" and the answer is this: you should care how your home is marketed because if it is marketed in the right way with a fair price, it will attract potential buyers fast, and the faster you will sell your home, the sooner you will see an end to your problem.

Whatever your situation is, we are here to help you, so call us today so we can solve your problem together, you are not alone.

For questions or to schedule a free and non-binding consultation, please feel free to call us 310-308-6107 or 562-355-8120, or email us with any questions you might have.


Warm regards,
Stephanie & Shirley


Stephanie Frymyer & Shirley Williams
The S & S Team
"Your Local Property Pros"
562-355-8120 & 310-308-6107
DRE# 01390458 & DRE# 01456658
http://yourlocalpropertypro.com/


Stephanie Frymyer
Realtor, SFR, ABR, SRES
Whittier (and surrounding areas)
DRE 01390458

Shirley Williams
Realtor, SFR, SRES
West Covina (and surrounding areas)
DRE 01456658


Main Street Realtors
DRE # 01157065

Whittier Homes for Sale - Snapshot 06/28/10

SEARCH FOR WHITTIER HOMES HERE!


A new week, a new overview of Whittier Homes for sale! Last week (06/21/10), there were 390 active Residential Property Listings in Whittier, 343 of them were for Whittier Single Family Homes, 47 of them for Whittier Condos. What does it look like this week?


Today, 06/28/10, there are 386 active residential property listings in Whittier - 336 Single Family Homes and 48 Whittier Condos. In addition to the active listings, there are 102 Whittier Single Family Homes in Back-up Offer Status, and 211 Whittier Homes are in Pending Status, and 13 Whittier Condos are in Back-up Offer Status, 33 are Pending Sale.



Active Whittier Single Family Homes for sale by price range (compared to 06/21/10):

$0 - $200K: 3 (no change)
$200K - $300K: 83 (up 4)
$300K - $400K: 113 (down 6)
$400K - $500K: 49 (down 9)
$500K - $600K: 30 (no change)
$600K - $700K: 24 (no change)
$700K - $800K: 9 (no change)
$800K - $900K: 5 (no change)
$900K - $1mil : 2 (no change)
$1mil - $1.1mil: 2 (no change)
$1.1mil - $1.2mil: 6 (up 1)
$1.2mil - $1.3mil: 1 (no change)
$1.3mil - $1.4mil: 2 (no change)
$1.4mil - $1.5mil: 1 (down 1)
$1.5mil and up: 5 (down 1)


Active Whittier Condos for Sale by price range (compared to 06/21/10:

$0 - $200K: 20 (up 1)
$200K - $300K: 18 (up 1)
$300K - $400K: 6 (up 1)
$400K - $500K: 4 (down 1)
$500K - $600K: 0
$600K - $700K: 0
$700K - $800K: 0
$800K - $900K: 0
$900K - $1mil : 0
$1mil - $1.1mil: 0
$1.1mil - $1.2mil: 0
$1.2mil - $1.3mil: 0
$1.3mil - $1.4mil: 0
$1.4mil - $1.5mil: 0
$1.5mil and up: 0


There were a total of 15 Whittier Homes last week that successfully closed Escrow, the lowest being a lender owned Single Family Residence at $246,000 ($191.29 per sqft, Days on Market 32), the highest a standard sale at $769,000 ($237.71 per sqft, Days on Market 57). Of the 15 homes that sold between 06/21/10 and 06/28/10, only 1 was a Short Sale, 3 were lender owned properties (REOs), and the remaining 11 were regular sales.


This concludes our weekly Whittier Real Estate snapshot. Questions? Don't hesitate to contact us! Want to learn more about Whittier, Whittier neighborhoods, Whittier schools, and Whittier parks? Looking for a home in Whittier? Start your Whittier home search here! Thinking about selling your Whittier home or maybe relocating to Whittier? You will find everything on our state-of-the-art website!


Thanks so much for visiting our Whittier area Real Estate blog! Stay tuned for more Greater Whittier Area Real Estate updates!

Please tell your friends and family about us and subscribe to our blog so you will never miss a new article. Our business greatly depends on referrals and any referral is truly appreciated. Thank you.

Warm regards,
Stephanie & Shirley

Stephanie Frymyer & Shirley Williams
The S & S Team
"Your Local Property Pros"
562-355-8120 & 310-308-6107
DRE# 01390458 & DRE# 01456658
http://yourlocalpropertypro.com/
http://serenefoundationsre.com/
http://serenefoundations.com/


Stephanie Frymyer
Realtor, SFR, ABR, SRES
DRE 01390458
Your Realtor for Whittier (and surrounding areas)


Shirley Williams
Realtor, SFR, SRES
DRE 01456658
Your Realtor for West Covina (and surrounding areas)


Main Street Realtors

Christmas Time in the City of Whittier!

Christmas has come to the beautiful City of Whittier!


The Season officially started with the 15th Annual Grand Illumination on December 4th. The next milestone will be the 56th Annual Christmas Parade on December 12, from 10am to 12 pm (go to http://whittieruptown.com/wua/?page_id=2 for more information provided by the Whittier Uptown Association and to view a little YouTube video of past events).

 
 
  The motto of this year’s Parade is “Commitment to Community” and will feature many local businesses that help make the City of Whittier such a wonderful place to live in. The parade runs down popular Greenleaf Ave, from Hadley down to Mar Vista. I will be there taking photos so be sure to check back in next week!

As the parade ends around 12pm, you'll have plenty of time to grab a bite to eat at one of the many great restaurants in the area - for a complete business directory, go to http://whittieruptown.com/wua/?page_id=130 , and plan a wonderful and fun filled day with the family in the City of Whittier. One of my all-time favorites is "Crepes and Grapes", great French inspired atmosphere, yummy crepes, sandwiches, soups, salads and so much more! You can go to http://www.crepesandgrapescafe.com/ to see their complete menu.

After lunch, take a stroll down Philadelphia to get to Newlin, where you will find the “Whittier Historical Society & Museum”. You can’t miss the it (see below), it features a beautiful mural on the outside of the building. There are many different things to see, the current exhibit is titled “Fly Your Colors – Patriotism in Whittier”, and there is also a gift shop where you can pick up a little something to remind you of this beautiful day in the City of Whittier. Open Saturday & Sunday, 1pm – 4pm. For more information, go to http://www.whittiermuseum.org/ or check out http://www.whittiermuseum.org/About%20the%20Museum.html to download a brochure of the Museum.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  If you enjoyed the Whittier Museum, I am sure you will also like the famous “Bailey House”, located at 13421 E Camilla St. It is the home of the first Whittier settler, Jonathan Bailey, and was built in 1887. It was deeded to the City of Whittier in 1975 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is currently run and operated by the Whittier Historical Society. For the complete history of the home, go to http://www.whittiermuseum.org/Bailey%20House.html. Open to the public Sundays, 1pm – 4pm.
 
 

 
 
 
  And to top off this Christmas season, the City of Whittier has one more event to offer: the “Holiday Sonata” on December 19th, 5pm to 9pm, featuring carriage rides along Greenleaf and a Santa’s Village in the parking lot along Greenleaf between Hadley and Bailey.

Enjoy your stay in the City of Whittier!

Sincerely,
Stephanie & Shirley
http://www.serenefoundations.com/

Free Staging and skilled photography with your Listing!

I am sure you have all seen the dreadful "toilet shots" in some of the listings that can currently be seen on the MLS. I mean, seriously, who wants to see a photo of an open toilet???? If that is the best feature your home has, then good luck ... :-)

Over 80% of buyers first go online to start their home search - and get this, they spend an average of only 15 seconds looking at a listing! What does that mean? If your house does not look appealing online (bad photos, lots of clutter, too dark, etc.) they will click on a botton and move on to the next one!

Chances are, if your home is not properly represented online, buyers won't even bother making an appointment to see your home. And if they do, they come to your house with the mindset of "getting a bargain" because your home appears to be in bad shape - and that means low ball offer for you!

All of this can be easily avoided! Just like we detail our cars when we are trying to sell them, a house should receive the same, actually a lot more, care - we are talking about a "product" worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars here. And that's where most sellers go wrong - they love their home, understandably, and automatically assume that potential buyers will love "the sellers' way of life" as well. What happens is that buyers get so distracted by everything we accumulate and get used to over the years, that they can't really see the house for all the stuff!

I personally don't list any property without "staging" it first. And please don't misunderstand the term "staging" - I don't mean "hiding defects" or "making things look prettier than they are". Staging to me means paying respect to the buyer by offering him a clear and unobstructed view of a HIGH VALUE COMMODITY. And a buyer can tell the difference and will appreciate it, a house that shows off all its benefits, is clean, uncluttered and well maintained, will definitely stand out in his/her mind.

Just to give you an example, which one would you rather look at:

or

And I think the answer to "which one would you pay more for" is pretty obvious too ... Studies show that the majority of buyers are inclined to pay more for a home that is move-in ready.

So, if you are serious about selling your home, feel free to contact me so that I can give your home the WOW-EFFECT. And here is the best part - Staging for occupied properties is FREE when you list your home for sale with me.

For more details and to see my work, please go to http://www.serenefoundations.com/

I hope you enjoyed my blog! Have a wonderful day!!!

Sincerely,

Stephanie Frymyer

Your Local RE Specialist

WHITTIER: AFFORDABLE HOME OWNERSHIP PROGRAM

Even during these tough, economic times, the City of Whittier has good news to report: Besides the possible development of the Fred C. Nelles site (almost 74 acres of land) and the changes in Uptown Whittier (Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital with its estimated $5mil investment for interior and exterior improvements as well as the new construction of "Amber Blu", a restaurant and dinner theater North of "Crepes & Grapes"), the City has been able to introduce the brand new Affordable Home Ownership Program (AHOP) for the new home development site called "The Gables of Whittier".



Under this program, moderate-income households will have an opportunity to get a "silent" second loan in order to purchase a home with an affordable first mortgage (very much like the programs already in place in cities like Long Beach and Lakewood).


As with most of these programs, certain income limitations apply and program specific requirements have to be met in order to qualify. The following are the generalized criteria potential buyers have to meet (according to the Whittier Redevelopment Agency):


1. The Program Participant must not have owned a home for a three-year period.

2. The Program Participant has to attend a mandatory education course for homebuyers.

3. The Program Participant has to be able to qualify for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage for the maximum mortgage amount fixed by the Program.

4. The household size of the Program Participant must fit the available unit size.

5. The Program Participant must have a minimum of 3% down payment and be able to pay for the closing cost on the first mortgage.

6. The property has to be used as a principal residence.

7. The Program Participant has to maintain property insurance.

8. The income guidelines have to be met.


If you would like to find out more about this special program and see the exact income guidelines, and requirements, you can download the program specifics (including the application) at http://cityofwhittier.org/ and click on the "Affordable Home Ownership Program" tab on the right.


I just got off the phone with a representative of the Community Development Department, and at the current time, the program only extends to "The Gables of Whittier". The developer has set 24 units (of a total of 96) aside for the Program, there is no technical deadline, you can apply as long as they are still for sale.


If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me!

Whittier, a great place to live!



Stephanie Schroeter-Frymyer
DRE # 01390458
http://www.serenefoundations.com/
http://twitter.com/HappyHabitat