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 don’t know what it is about our home in Big Bear or the homes down the street from mine, but I am brimming with a new nostalgia that I haven’t felt since I was a kid. The snow falls. We dig out. The roads get plowed. The tourists roll in. The stores open. We go out for fresh air. And then we do it all over again.

When I went to the grocery store, I saw a lot of frantic people who were visiting Big Bear for the snow. I am glad we live up here because the security of knowing the area definitely alleviated the stress of the entire situation. Hopefully, we will be able to prevail through any weather conditions in Big Bear.

Article submitter Karen Richardson knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals plus Big Bear realty overall. Check out her other posts online.

I was sure that fairly soon I would see the listing again, but now being sold by the bank. I informed my clients that I would check for the cabin everyday in hopes to see it back on the market again. A little over a week later, the cabin was again listed, but now for $130,000 and being sold by the bank. I immediately contacted my clients with the great news, and we wrote an offer that day for $115,000.

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.

When the bank owned the property, we had the chance to buy the cabin for a better price and had the advantage of having some necessary repairs taken care of for us. Banked owned was the winner, short sale not so much. I had a very similar situation happen with a second family. This family made an offer of $340,000 for a property listed for a whopping $389,000. These clients also waited while the bank had the house reappraised and countless BPO’s done.

The end result was the bank declining our offer and allowing the house to go into the foreclosure stage. Again, I patiently watched and search the MLS listings until I came across the house listed as a bank owned property, and priced at 390,000. I agreed with my clients that the house was extremely over priced, and thought we should wait with the hopes of the price dropping. After we waited two weeks and the house still hadn’t been sold, we decided it was the perfect time to make another 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.

Submitted by: S. Miller knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures and Big Bear, CA houses in general. Check out more of her posts online.

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.

So, I took them out a couple of months ago and found a cabin that was perfect for them. The cabin is super clean and situated on a great lot with a ton of beautiful oak trees. Even at the $149,900 price tag, it was a great deal. The one big problem with it was it being a short sale listing. I warned them of the major hassles that usually accompany buying a short sale, but they liked the house enough to risk it.

Over a month into the process, and we still hadn’t heard a response back. It was around this time that I had come to the conclusion that the selling agent hadn’t done his part in filing the short sale paperwork. I informed my clients that the only option we had now was to wait until the bank responded. The selling agent contacted me over a month later to inform me that the bank had snatched this property from him, and didn’t respond to our offer.

I hope I can reach the point where I never have to deal with a short sale again. But I will keep you postedon all of this…

Submitted by: M. Strahg has much experience shopping a Big Bear, CA foreclosure plus Big Bear realty in general. Check out more of her posts online.

Obviously, we decided to proceed with our offer on the cabin, knowing it would probably be a prolem if we did not. This is where my experience came into play. I have had this happen to me numerous times on bank owned purchases and I have learned that my buyer just needs to forget about the bank and make sure he does everything he needs to do to stay on track.

As long as we can show the delay is not of our making, we can get out of paying the per Diem. I made sure our inspections were all done within 10 days and I made sure the listing agent had the termite inspection done also. Since my buyer is paying cash, the appraisal was not an issue. On a property where the buyer is getting a loan, you need to be on the phone with the lender every step of the way to get the appraisal done before the contingency period is up.

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 plus Big Bear realty overall. Read his other articles on the internet.

A week or so went by, and I didn’t become concerned yet. Red flags went off however, after the second week came and went. I began calling and E-mailing the listing agent up to three times a day for three days in a row trying to get a response from him. When that didn’t get a rise out of anybody, I finally had to call the broker to suggest maybe they needed to get an agent on the dealings that knew what they were doing. I was then sent over to their assistant, who luckily for me, appeared to know what she was doing.

After this whole process and the waiting game, I received an E-mail stating that the bank was requesting an extension due to the escrow being opened with the wrong company! This took two weeks before anybody noticed. If I wasn’t on top of the deal like you should be, my agent would have sat around twiddling his thumbs until the whole deal went in the dump.

I also have experiences that are the exact opposite. I sold a bank owned property a little while back that was listed by an agent in Lake Arrowhead. Like most bank owned homes, it took the bank longer than usual to open escrow, but everything else ran perfectly. She made sure I received regular updates and her assistant was on top of everything. I got all the paperwork on time and done correctly.

Since the agent I worked with was knowledgeable and on top of the situation, it allowed me to deliver outstanding customer service to my client. It is always a wise decision to ask your Realtor a couple of detailed questions about how they work so you can be sure you are getting the service you deserve. It is always beneficial to work with an agent that is full time versus someone who is only part time. Your Realtor should also be very intuitive about your local market and how it works.

If you do plan on buying a property in the Big Bear area, I would not suggest hiring an agent from L.A or Orange County. If your intentions are to purchase a bank owned property, it is very beneficial to hire an agent that is familiar in that field. It is a sad fact how differently banks can operate, and if you don’t have an agent that is proficient in the bank owned property, they could cost you lots of money, and even possibly the property.

Author M. Fetzer has much experience researching Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals and Big Bear realty overall. Read his other articles on the internet.

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.

In the recent years that the market has taken a dive, it has also taken a toll on realty activity in general. In my area alone, bank owned properties are 10% of their inventory and 40% of their sales. If you find yourself dealing with a realtor that hasn’t a clue what to do in the case of a bank owned or short sale property, you more than likely will not have a successful closing.

Here is an example of a predicament one of my clients was recently involved in. The clients I had been working with made an offer in escrow with a bank that was out of our area. We held up our part and followed all instructions that we were supposed to, while waiting for the escrow to be opened. With the last 20 sales that I have worked on with bank owned properties, there has always been an issue opening the escrow.

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 S. Blagow is an experienced Big Bear, CA foreclosures realtor and well-trained in resort area realty. He is in fact one of the most respected Big Bear, CA houses realtors in his service area.

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.

We didn’t even receive a copy of the contract or addendum until we were already three weeks in. It just so happens that the addendum we had signed way back at the beginning of the process had a clause that we pay $100 per day per diem for every day that went past the first thirty days.

Of course the bank took their time, and never completed anything in a timely fashion, causing us to not be able to meet the deadline. As you may already know, the majority of short sales do not close with a hitch. A short sale doesn’t have to be a terrible experience, but if your Realtor doesn’t put in the time and effort, it will end up being just that. By the same token, REO’s can end up the same way. In my case however, my Realtor assured me that everything was moving along smoothly, and we were just waiting for a response from the bank.

Article submitter Allen Fulton has much experience shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures plus Big Bear, CA houses overall. Read his other articles on the internet.