Real Estate Information

The Cope Real Estate Team would like to invite you to come by and pick up a free pie on Wednesday the 26th between 12-6pm at our office located at 1500 Haggin Oaks Drive, Suite 100 Bakersfield, CA 93311.

In our appreciation of your past and future business we will be offering a free & delicious Thanksgiving pie from Happy Jack's Hamburger & Pie! You will have a choice of either a traditional pumpkin pie or Happy Jacks very own Rudy pie (Chocolate & Peanut Butter).

Please RSVP by email at Jared@871Cope.com or call with your pie choice. I look forward to seeing you all then!

On September 11, the House of Representatives passed the Veterans Construction and Extension Act of 2008, which helps Veterans achieve their dreams of home ownership. The legislation provides assistance for veterans who need to refinance their Sub prime or adjustable rate loans into a safer, more affordable loan backed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill has been passed on to the Senate for finalization. If you're in the market for a home, contact us for information on FHA, VA, and other mortgage programs that might be right for you.

All of us at The Cope Real Estate Team are proud to announce our recent association with Keller Williams Realty of Bakersfield. Keller Williams became the fourth-largest U.S. residential real estate firm in North America in 2006 and has an outstanding reputation for success, integrity, and great customer service.

Our office is now located at 1500 Haggin Oaks, Suite 100 Bakersfield, CA 93311. We will continue to serve the greater Bakersfield area and provide the top notch customer service that you deserve.

Please visit the Keller Williams company site @ http://www.kw.com/kw/aboutus.html to learn more about Keller Williams Realty.

We are also would like to welcome Hollie Whitfield (Buyer's Specialist) and Amy Drummond (Field Service Representative) to The Cope Real Estate Team. Please visit about the team to learn more about them and the great services they bring to the team.

Have a great weekend!

The June market update is positive with slightly better #'s than last month. The number of available listings is down slightly with sales and pendings on the rise. Bank owned properties are still rising though and they represent 62% of the sales last month.

All numbers are as of today 7-2-2008 and are from the Bakersfield Multiple Listing Service under the category of single family residential (SFR).

4,167 homes active on the market

1,120 of those are bank owned properties

1,236 are "short sales" or pre-foreclosure sales

1,435 are in escrow or pending sale (that is excluding anything that went pending prior to 4-1-2007)

894 of those are bank owned properties

184 are "short sales"

and there were 540 homes sold or closed escrow in June 2008 with

334 of those being bank owned and

25 being short sales

Please feel free to call or email with any questions or for more detailed information. Have a great holiday weekend!

Jared

Here is the market update for May. Market conditions are continuing to improve over previous months, with the bank owned properties still dominating the market. The aggressively priced properties are getting multiple offers and in some cases selling at or above asking price.

All numbers are as of today 5-27-2008 and are from the Bakersfield Multiple Listing Service under the category of single family residential (SFR).

4,249 homes active on the market

1,070 of those are bank owned properties

1,183 are "short sales" or pre-foreclosure sales

1,404 are in escrow or pending sale (that is excluding anything that went pending prior to 3-1-2007)

826 of those are bank owned properties

168 are "short sales"

and there were 476 homes sold or closed escrow in April 2008 with

291 of those being bank owned and

28 being short sales

Please feel free to call or email with any questions or for more detailed information. Have a great day!

Jared

Still some improvements! Pendings and sales are with up with bank owned properties dominating the sales.

All numbers are as of today 4-9-2008 and are from the Bakersfield Multiple Listing Service under the category of single family residential (SFR).

4,462 homes active on the market

1,036 of those are bank owned properties

1,021 are "short sales" or pre-foreclosure sales

1,148 are in escrow or pending sale (that is excluding anything that went pending prior to 12-1-2007)

664 of those are bank owned properties

126 are "short sales"

and there were 310 homes sold or closed escrow in February 2008 with

170 of those being bank owned and

17 being short sales

and there were 378 homes sold or closed escrow in March 2008 with

204 of those being bank owned and

23 being short sales

Have a great week!

Jared

The Bakersfield real estate market has been in a slump for some time now. Most if not all neighborhoods have seen declining home values over the past 2+ years. The foreclosure epidemic has spread throughout the town and affected the highest priced neighborhoods down to the lowest. Everyone has an estimate of when it will turn around- 6 months?? 2 years?? 10 years?? No one can know for sure, but we can watch for signs and there have been signs lately of better times to come.

Multiple offers! - Most serious buyers right now have probably experienced this over the last month. Hot properties that are priced aggressively have a surplus of offers. Buyers are making full price offers on a home and getting beat out by other people. That was one of the main causes of the boom in the first place. The difference is that there are still plenty of other properties right now to choose from, but for the ones priced well there is a race to get them!

Values holding steady! - Working with the banks and asset management companies, we do broker price opinions (BPO- its like a mini appraisal) all the time. We do them for our properties and for other properties all over town for a small fee. Usually the active comparable properties hold more weight in determining value since the market has been declining in most neighborhoods. Lately though I am not seeing as much of a difference between the active on the market, the pending, and the solds. It looks like in a few neighborhoods things have leveled out. That is not the case everywhere, but it could be soon!

Phones ringing! - Our phones are ringing off the hook with people curious about prices on different properties. They are not all necessarily ready to go buy one, but interest is definitely up.

Is the bottom here?? Only time will tell, but it really seems like things are looking up for the Bakersfield real estate market!