The Obama Administration published a press release on the website of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) outlining additional funding being given to two foreclosure-prevention programs.  The Hardest Hit Fund (first announced by President Obama in February of this year) was established to aid states that experienced an employment rate at or above the national average over the past 12 months (18 states in all, including California).  This additional assistance will provide California with over $476 million to assist homeowners having a difficult time making mortgage payments due to unemployment.

The second program is the new Emergency Homeowners Loan Program that will be launched by HUD.  This program will aid hard-hit areas that may not be included in the Hardest Hit Fund.  The program will offer a declining balance bridge loan (0% interest, declining balance, subordinate loan) for up to $50,000 to assist homeowners with mortgage principal and other payments (taxes, mortgage interest, mortgage insurance, and hazard insurance) over a 24-month period. 

To view the full press release and to learn more about these programs and the eligibility requirements, please visit HUD’s website.

Are you a troubled borrower and want help, but don’t know where to turn?  Do you want to find out if you are eligible for the Obama’s Administration’s mortgage modification and refinancing program?  There are free solutions available to you.

You can apply for help in working with your mortgage servicer through a local Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-Approved Housing Counseling Agency.  Orange County approved HUD Agencies include:

• Fair Housing Council of Orange County
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County
• Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Orange County

If you want to find out if you are eligible for a loan modification and refinance under Obama’s plan, you can apply online for help from your mortgage servicer through MakingHomeAffordable.org .

For a list of local housing counseling resources and the latest events, visit the Orange County Home Ownership Preservation Collaborative or the website for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

For a complete list of current San Clemente Foreclosures and Short-Sales, please contact us via the link or call us directly at 949-281-5444 and we will gladly provide it. 

San Clemente real estate currently has 473 homes and condos for sale with 142 or 30% being distressed properties - short-sales and foreclosures / bank-owned.  The Talega real estate market currently has 86 homes and condos for sale with short-sales and bank-owned properties accounting for 40 or 46% of these.  There is a higher concentration of foreclosures and short-sales in the Talega real estate market due to it being built out from 1999 to present.   In terms of distressed properties west of Interstate 5 and east, only 23% of the properties are short-sales or foreclosures west of the freeway while 34% are east. 

For more information on San Clemente short-sales and foreclosures, please contact us or visit our exclusive San Clemente short-sale and foreclosure page

Currently there are 105 short-sale and foreclosure properties on the market for San Clemente real estate, or approximately 15% of the current homes listed for sale are of this distressed nature.  Please note this number does not include all the deliquency notices that lenders have filed with the county court for San Clemente homeowners who have fallen behind on their monthly payments and may be in a short-sale or foreclosure situation soon.  Below you will find a more in depth analysis of the San Clemente foreclosure and short-sale real estate as well as the areas in which it is most concentrated.

First, the average listing price for these distressed properties is currently $707,331.  The lowest price is $144,900 for a one bedroom San Clemente condo to $1,699,000 for a 3,719 square foot home in Southwest San Clemente’s neighborhood of Cyprus Cove.  The average square footage of San Clemente foreclosure and short-sale real estate currently for sale is 2,296 with a range from 438 to 5,537 square feet.  This puts the average price per square foot for these distressed properties at approximately $308.  Bedrooms and bathrooms for these distressed San Clemente homes and condos for sale both range from 1-7 . 

The San Clemente real estate market is broken into ten distinct areas/neighborhoods and the concentration of the distressed properties throughout San Clemente are among just a couple of these areas. One of the areas, Talega real estate, has the greatest concentration as there are currently 44 Talega short-sales and foreclosures on the market.  This represents 41.9% of the total foreclosures and short-sales among the 10 different areas of San Clemente real estate.  Currently, 30% of talega homes and condos for sale are distressed properties.  The Talega real estate market is experiencing the greatest amount of distressed properties since it was built out during the real estate boom with a lot of sales occuring over the past 3-5 years. 

On the other hand, North San Clemente real estate and Forster Ranch real estate currently have 15 or 14.2% and 17 or 16.1% of the distressed properties for sale respectively.  The areas west of Interstate 5 and closer to the ocean, Central, Southeast, Southwest, and some of the Coast District, have the lowest concentration of foreclosures with a total of 9 foreclosures among these four areas.   The other areas of the San Clemente real estate market, Rancho San Clemente and Marblehead have 8 or 7.6% and 12 or 11.4% respectively of the distressed properties currently for sale.

For more information and a more up to date analysis, feel free to contact us.

Disclaimer:  Please note the information above may not be completely accurate and the most up to date, and therefore, should not be solely relied upon for your San Clemente real estate purchase.  San Clemente Coastal Living does not validate that any of the above information is 100% correct, however, we try to represent the most accurate and up to date information as possisble.

Due to recent requests from current and past San Clemente real estate clients, we have added a foreclosure and short-sale section on our website under Real Estate.  This page includes all the current foreclosures and short-sales currently available in the San Clemente real estate market.  In addition, you now have the opportunity to search foreclosures and short-sales through our property search engine at the top of our website.  This will enable you to search San Clemente real estate foreclosures and short-sales by price, bedrooms, bathrooms, neighborhoods, etc. 

Please keep in mind the majority of the foreclosures and short-sales are in the Talega real estate market, the most inland and newest area of San Clemente.  Talega real estate, both homes and condos, has experienced the most foreclosures due to the majority of the community being developed and sold during the real estate boom.  Since a lot of the Talega homes and condos have been sold over the past couple years, many homeowners are either forced to foreclose or face the difficult choice as their homes are worth less than the amount they owe.  Some of the other areas of the San Clemente real estate market are experiencing the foreclosure pain as well, however, not as significant.  Lastly, buyers need to remember that while the San Clemente real estate market has experienced price declines and foreclosures, the market has held its ground relative to the rest of the county and state as median price has fallen around 10% over the past year as compared with 26% for Orange County and 35% for California.

For more information on foreclosures, please read our past blogs, “How to Buy a San Clemente Foreclosure“ and/or contact us.

In this article “How to Buy a Foreclosed Home” many great points are brought to light to educate buyers on the different stages of foreclosure and their implications.  If you are looking to buy and find a good deal, it might be a foreclosure as 40% of California homes sold in the second quarter were foreclosures.   Below, you will find a description of the different stages of foreclosures and their implications to you as a buyer in order for you to make a more informed decision:

1.  Pre-foreclosure

A pre-foreclosure occurs when the borrower has fallen behind on payments but their property has not been auctioned off.  Lenders will file deliquency notices with county courthouses when a borrower has fallen behind.  All it takes is a little research to find out what homes might be coming on the market.  This is also the time when a short-sale can occur, which means the buyer pays less for the house than owed with the lender agreeing to the price and foregiving the debt.  More recently, lenders have been more open to the short-sale as going through the entire foreclosure process can cost them thousands.

2.  Sheriff’s Sale

A sheriff’s sale is the next stage of foreclosure when homes are auctioned off at the county courthouse.  While this could be the biggest bargain, there are greater risks.  As a bidder, you cannot inspect the property and you have no idea what kind of liens are on the property, such as unpaid property tax and other fees.  Also, as a buyer you need to come up with 10-20% down immediately.  Lastly, the purchase could fall through if the current owner can come up with the amount you bid.  To conclude, a sheriff’s sale has the greatest risk-reward relationship.

3.  Post-Foreclsure

A post-foreclosure occurs after a lender takes back a house and the property goes back on the market as an REO (real estate owned) property.  REOs are like a typical sale with a listing broker.  Deals may not be as good as a sheriff’s sale, however, there is a lot less risk.  Typically REOs sell for 95% of listing price, which is already marked down 10-15% below current market levels.  If you shop wisely and with patience, you could get a 15-20% discount off market price.

For more information on San Clemente real estate foreclosures, please explore our website or contact us.