San Fernando Valley

Wachovia World Savings Streamlines Short Sales for Simi Valley Home Owners in Distress

May 5, 2010 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

You’re in luck if you have a Wachovia or World Savings home loan and you are facing a short sale as your only option. There is a local representative for Wachovia assigned to the Simi Valley – east Ventura County area covering into the San Fernando Valley including the Santa Clarita areas. This process is unlike any other in the industry.

First, call or text me at (805) 432-7705 and I will come over with a comprehensive Market Evaluation and Marketing Plan for your home. After we list your home for sale, I contact the Wachovia Rep directly who will then schedule an appointment to meet with you in your home and discuss your hardship in person. This in person meeting is extremely important and I believe a welcome step by Wachovia. When the bank representatives can see the property and the condition and directly hear your hardship case, it helps tremendously when we try to justify an offer price from potential buyers.

The sets up essentially a conditional pre-approved Short Sale. Part of the Wachovia plan is to turn around approval on an acceptable offer in 7 days. Currently the process with most banks I have worked with take more than four weeks and in many cases 6 to 8 weeks to obtain approval. Keeping buyers interested during these long approval times has been the biggest problem in the short sale process. Buyers get tired of waiting and many times move on to different properties by the time the approvals come through.

Another advantage to the Wachovia system is that they require very little paperwork to move forward with short sale. All the other lenders I’m working with now require detailed financial data where Wachovia is not making this a requirement. If you are considering Short Sale as one of your options and you have a Wachovia or World Savings Home Loan, this is the opportunity to forward.

To understand the short sale process better please read

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Author – Ted Mackel Simi Valley Real Estate Agent – Keller Williams Realty

Ted Mackel is a top producer at Keller Williams Realty Simi Valley,

specializing in Simi Valley Real Estate

(805) 432-7705

Filed Under: short sales Tagged With: San Fernando Valley, santa clarita, Short Sale, Simi Valley, Wachovia, world savings

Should the listing Agent be present on Showings?

October 12, 2009 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

Should the listing Agent be present on Showings?

What do you think? One consideration for California is that our trade areas cover far larger areas than other places in the United States. The Supra Lockbox system works very well in the Simi Valley Moorpark, Conejo Valley & San Fernando Valley areas. It is very easy for an listing agent to be far away when a property needs to be shown.

This topic in the industry has always created spirited debate among agents. It invokes passion discussion about how to service clients. It seems for the most part in the East Ventura County area and West San Fernando Valley area, the lockbox is predominant. But there are clients and areas where lock boxes are not used. So whether you’re a home seller, potential home seller a real estate agent input on the subject is greatly appreciated. Please use the comments section below.

Northridge Earthquake 15 year Anniversary

January 18, 2009 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

Northridge Earthquake 15 year Anniversary

Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. I was living in my second floor Simi Valley Sinaloa Villa Condominium when my wife and I were shaken beyond anything we had felt in our lives as native residents of southern California. My kitchen cabinets and refrigerator were emptied on the floor, a broken lamp, toppled furniture and rattled nerves were just about enough for us as we had two small children at the time. The TV in our Master Bedroom hit my newborn son’s bed frame.

At my parent’s house in Woodland Hills things were much more serious. They lost their entire chimney and the weight of the two story chimney that was strapped to the side of the house acted as a counter weight and that weight exacerbated the shaking and damage on their home. When the chimney gave way, it landed on my brother’s bed; he had moved moments before, saving his own life. The chimney ruptures a natural gas line and even thought he was trapped behind the rubble if the chimney and roof, he managed to get out and shut off the gas.

Many stories of similar situations were told over the following weeks. What is very interesting about this event is that 15 years later I am still seeing evidence of this event when I show homes for sale. I have been working with several clients that are new to the area and were not here for the shaker. When they have questions about earthquakes, I can take them out to the street of any home in the west San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley and point out replaced chimney’s that dot almost every tract. Additionally there are many homes that still show evidence inside. Yesterday was especially interesting in that a home I was showing in Simi Valley’s Texas Tract had many un-repaired cracks around most of the doorways and windows which is typical in a major shaker like the 1994 Northridge Event. These reminders on this 15 year anniversary should be a wake up call for us not to forget and become complacent regarding earthquake safety.

For earthquake safety see: