Becky Jones can tell by the armload of offers that a 900-square-foot Seaside home recently attracted.

That's armload, not handful.

The bank-owned property — two bedrooms, one bath on a 6,000-square-foot lot — drew 35 offers within days of being listed. The number would certainly have kept climbing, she said, except that the bank stopped taking new offers.

A buyer — Jones can't disclose who it is, other than to say it's a local resident — is now in escrow, with one of the many offers that topped the $189,000 listed price.

She's prohibited from disclosing what the top bid was until the sale is completed. But the last time the property changed hands, in December 2005, it sold for $625,000.

The bulk of sales right now is in the distressed housing market, and that is creating opportunities for first-time homebuyers and those previously outpriced from the region's housing market, according to Jones.

But while that's where the flurry of action is these days, Jones said it's not just the foreclosures and the short sales that are creating opportunities.

Traditional sellers have been forced by market shifts to reset price expectations. And unlike bank-owned properties, those homes have been maintained and often upgraded.

"I've got homes right now all over the Peninsula that people are selling for less than they bought them for," said Jones. "At every

The Seaside home, in the 500 block of Trinity Avenue, likely will need some work from its new owner. Each room is a different hue — sunny yellow in the living room, a ruddy brick and pea-green in the bedrooms — which prompted most prospects to murmur, politely, "We can paint." The kitchen and bathroom feature cobblestone linoleum, which might not suit everyone's fancy.

But the most pressing expense will be the illegal garage modification: Likely in an attempt to make ends meet, the previous owner installed carpeting and a shower and rented out the garage as living space.

But it's on a quiet street with a broad sundeck and a sloping backyard with shade and fruit trees, and the price was hard to ignore: 35 offers in nine days is a record for Shankle Real Estate.

Jones herself has had to adapt, as have other real estate agents. For her, that meant taking classes and getting bank-certified to represent foreclosed properties.

The foreclosure market has created mixed blessings, said Jones, who now sees young couples shopping for their first home, and parents helping their children get started. Many wouldn't have considered doing so a few years ago. But it can be competitive: Some bidders have made offers on more than a dozen properties.

"If there's anything good out of this, there are a lot of local people who have been saving their pennies and doing things the right way," Jones said.

Marie Vasari can be reached at 646-4478 or mvasari@montereyherald.com.