Williamsburgs Real Estate Blog and more!

It seems that we've been flat lined (sorry if you're reading this and have recently passed away-take no offense please) in the Williamsburg area now for about a year. And that is a good thing when we hear about other markets continuing to correct.  I'll take flat any day of the week!  Here is a link to some very detailed market stats for you to interpret how you see fit. I could find good news and bads news on every page of this 10 page market analysis! WILLIAMSBURG MARKET STATS

But new developments this week have me concerned because there is only a little chatter out there yet. But if you are an investor or buyer of REO properties you might need to be cautous for a couple of months. In those markets where they account for 20% of the sales there will be some effect. Luckily REO's are still a very small percentage of our market. Likewise the short sales are of course everywhere and part of our market but a relatively small percentage given our demographic of retirees and preferred destination.

What you may have heard about are the "robot or "robo" signers. Believe it or not, the sellers who have gone bankrupt or been bailed out of their house by their lender could still have a legal claim to the property. I don't think it's likely anyone who gave up the keys to the house will challenge the lenders foreclosure process, but when those poor victims who blamed everyone for everything feel entitled who knows what will happen. There are of course seller who turned in the key due to job loss, health issues or any other legitimate occurence that I have compassion for but not the individuals who used their home as a piggy bank.

It seems the title companies are beginning to refuse title insurance on special warranty deeds because there may not have been a real live qualified person ensuring the process was followed correctly. Perhaps these "robo" signers were over worked,underqualified or overwhelmed by the process and procedures were not followed.Check this video out!

Google "Robo Signers" and read some of the stories. If you look at the BOA/Countrywide mess where it takes over a year to get a short sale closed and all the internal problems imagine the ripple effect of having to start over or worse go to the investor or home buyer who has already closed and tell them they may not have the title they thought they had and the title insurance they paid for (on the banks behalf of course) is useless. Let's hope the government doesn't get more involved in trying to fix this too!