Home Mortgage Lenders
If you need a lender for a home purchase or a re-fi, PLEASE use a referral!!! I had the worst experience with a buyer’s lender tonight EVER! He had NO intention of helping OUR buyer get her dream home!
In today’s market, sellers will sometimes ask for a cross-pre-qualification (because of lenders like this!)
Getting a PRE-QUALIFICATION is different than getting a pre-approval. Sometimes, lenders will shoot off a pre-approval letter for their client without dong the work! Getting pre-qualled is the biggest & most important step, other than finding your perfect home!! AND if they haven’t done the work, you might be outbid (not by price, but by qualifications) on a home that you really want!
It’s a pain to get all of the paperwork together but it’s a necessary evil! Do it FIRST, then be done! You’ll be secure in your purchase price and will have fewer or no surprises when the loan goes to underwriting!
PLEASE use someone who’s used the lender before, not just the salesperson for the lender – that means nothing!
If you’d like a referral for a purchase or re-fi in OC, CA – I can provide that! If you’re in another area, ask your friends, family, or a Realtor for the referral! You’ll be so much better off in the long run!
Much luck!!!
Patti ~ Prudential California Realty – 714-398-1998
Real Estate MarketsWhy This May Be the Ideal Time to Buy Real Estate By Martha C. White | May 21, 2012 | 2 inShare.91 Log In with FacebookSharing TIME stories with friends is easier than ever. Add TIME to your Timeline. Learn MoreXSharing With Friends Add TIME to your Timeline to automatically share TIME stories, photos and videos with your Facebook friends. Share Only the Stories You Want TIME will alert you each time a story is shared and you’ll have the option to keep or remove each story from your Facebook Timeline. Plus, view “Your Activity” to see a history of stories you’ve read and remove stories from your Timeline. George Peters / Getty ImagesWell, it’s only taken half a decade, but the moribund real estate market is finally starting to show signs of life. If you were thinking about making a move on a piece of property, right now is possibly the best time. You can still take advantage of low prices in most places around the country, and mortgage rates are at once-in-a-lifetime record lows: 30- and 15-year fixed mortgages are around 4% and 3%, respectively. Although prices are still near 2003 levels, the signs of an impending resurgence are everywhere you look. The number of people signing contracts to buy houses rose by around 4% in March, according to the National Association of Realtors, and is the highest it’s been in nearly two years. Many would-be homebuyers are surprised to find that one fixture of the bubble era is back: the bidding war. According to a recent survey of 28 housing markets conducted by the Wall Street Journal, there are fewer houses for sale in every single one of those places than there were last quarter. This relatively tight inventory in markets as varied as Sacramento, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., dictate that the law of supply and demand is going to kick in. Even in places like Long Island, N.Y., where there’s still a depressing 16-month buildup of housing supply (realtors consider six months’ worth to be a healthy number), the number of available homes is falling. (MORE: Housing Math: Buying Is Now Cheaper Than Renting 98% of the Time) Buyers are no longer shying away from “distressed” properties; that is, short sales and foreclosures. The foreclosure specialists at RealtyTrac.com say there are even bidding wars on foreclosures, because investors know these rock-bottom prices aren’t going to last forever. An increase in short sales is actually a good sign: Short sales do less damage to their surrounding neighborhoods than foreclosures do, both because foreclosures drive values down further and often fall victim to neglect or vandalism. Short sales are also better for banks because they get distressed properties off their books faster and don’t have to pay as much in legal and administrative costs. In a recent blog post, RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist writes, ”Banks have recently been given additional reasons to opt for short sales rather than foreclosure over the past 18 months,” and he forecasts what he describes as a “surge” in short sales this year. By some measures, it’s already begun: Short sales first eclipsed foreclosure sales in November, according to Bloomberg, and RealtyTrac data shows short sales climbed by a third from the beginning of this year as compared with the same period last year. (MORE: Market for Investment and Vacation Homes Has Been Booming) Part of what’s driving this movement is more buyers are snapping up properties as rental investments or as vacation homes for themselves. Vacation-home sales grew by 7% last year, as the rising cost of travel drove people to look at “getaways” closer to their primary residences. Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko tells the Wall Street Journal, “People choose second homes that are a shorter drive rather than a plane flight away.” Purchases of investment properties soared by 65% last year, with many buyers scooping up cheap foreclosures and renting them out. Data from real estate number-crunchers CoreLogic shows that the conversion of foreclosures to rentals will be more than a $100 billion business this year and for the next few years. People are starting to figure out the huge potential in this market: More than a quarter of all the houses sold last year were investment properties. Fortunately for such buyers, there’s also an unprecedented degree of demand for rental housing: Homeownership hit a 15-year low in the first quarter of this year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and rent rates, which climbed an average of 5% last year, are historically high compared with the cost of homeownership. In some places, such as college towns, a buyer-investor often can make an even greater return on the purchase price of a house. In two-thirds of the places surveyed in Coldwell Banker’s College Home Listing Report, you can buy a three-bedroom house for under $200,000. SmartMoney.com points out if the kid renting the house is your offspring, you also can net significant tax savings by purchasing a home and then renting it back to them, thanks to more lenient rules about renting to a family member versus a stranger. (Gift tax laws let you give your son or daughter up to $13,000 a year toward offsetting the cost of those monthly bills, although tax experts recommend that you avoid commingling your accounts and keep a paper trail of canceled checks or rent receipts.) A new survey from home builder PulteGroup finds that 60% of people renting today would prefer to own their own homes, the Wall Street Journal says. This is good news if you don’t plan on being a landlord forever. When mortgage lending standards loosen, there will be pent-up demand from all those renters looking for a place to call their own. The desire to own a home is particularly strong among the so-called “echo boomers,” adults under 35 years old. This demographic made up 31% of home purchases last year, the National Association of Realtors says, but that’s still a relatively small slice of the roughly 62 million echo boomers in the United States. Of course, these young adults are also the same ones who have been clobbered by sky-high student loan debt and above-average joblessness, which is keeping some of them on the sidelines of the housing market. Economists say as they mature and attain more financial stability, more will make the transition from renters to homeowners. The desire for homeownership is there; an Urban Land Institute survey conducted in 2010 found that two thirds of 18- to 32-year olds expect to own their own homes by 2015. Even among the remaining one third, 70% say they’ll own a home at some point in the future. For Americans who either have cash to buy or a credit score good enough to obtain a mortgage, there’s still time to get a killer deal on real estate, but that window may be closing. If your finances can support it, now appears to be a great time to buy. Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/05/21/why-this-may-be-the-ideal-time-to-buy-real-estate/#ixzz1vqOnSWI0
IF I CAN HELP YOU WITH ANY REAL ESTATE NEEDS IN N OC, CA PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME – 714-398-1998 OR pattig503@yahoo.com
C.A.R. reports first quarter 2012 housing affordability LinkedIn Digg Facebook Mixx MySpace Twitter Delicious Reddit Google Buzz For release: May 14, 2012 California housing affordability continues to rise in the first quarter of 2012 LOS ANGELES (May 14) – Housing affordability in California set a new record high in first quarter 2012 rising to 56 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today. The increase can be attributed to record-low interest rates and stabilization in home prices. The percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California rose to 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012, up from 55 percent in fourth-quarter 2011 and from 53 percent in first quarter 2011, according to C.A.R.’s Traditional Housing Affordability Index (HAI). The index was the highest since C.A.R. began tracking this statistic in 1988. C.A.R.’s HAI measures the percentage of all households that can afford to purchase a median-priced, single-family home in California. C.A.R. also reports affordability indices for regions and select counties within the state. The Index is considered the most fundamental measure of housing well-being for home buyers in the state. Home buyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $55,688* to qualify for the purchase of a $276,040 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the first quarter of 2012. The monthly payment, including taxes and insurance on a 30-year fixed-rate loan, would be $1,392, assuming a 20 percent down payment and an effective composite interest rate of 4.16 percent. The effective composite interest rate in fourth-quarter 2011 was 4.30 percent and 4.90 percent in the first quarter of 2011. In the San Francisco Bay Area, housing affordability rose or remained stable in all counties except Contra Costa County, where affordability declined by one percentage point. At 78 percent, San Bernardino County was the most affordable, while San Francisco County was the least affordable, with only 29 percent of households able to purchase the county’s median-priced home. *Income is based on information from the fourth quarter 2011. Visit http://www.car.org/marketdata/data/haitraditional/ to see C.A.R.’s historical housing affordability data. For first-time buyer housing affordability data, visit http://www.car.org/marketdata/data/ftbhai/. Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 155,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles. CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Traditional Housing Affordability Index
Selling a home that needs work….
If you’d like to sell your home & it needs quite a bit of work, ask your agent to be honest in their description of the property. You want to bring in buyers that are ready and prepared to do the work.
You also want to be honest about permits. If you’ve added a room that isn’t permitted, state that. A lot of agents put that burden on the buyer and that will put a many buyers off. Think about this – if you’ve got an interested buyer and they need to verify permits, they’re going to call the City, give them the address and now the City is fully aware that you’ve done the work w/o a permit – it’s just better to be upfront.
If you’re home just needs TLC (paint, flooring, fixtures) that’s not a big deal to anyone these days. Most short sales & foreclosures are in that same state.
Some agents don’t want to include pictures in their listings of outdated kitchens & baths – but here again, you don’t want a buyer who wants to walk into perfection. You want a buyer who is ready and able to deal with the updating.
This will get your home sold quicker by bringing in just the right buyers. There are buyers for every property – especially right now (Spring 2012). Our inventory is very low and there are lots of buyers! Most homes are receiving multiple offers, many going over the asking price. So don’t put off listing if there’s work to be done – just market & price your property right and the buyers will come!!
Good Luck with your sale!
And if I can be of any help in the N Orange County CA area, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Patti Gregory
Prudential California Realty
Anaheim Hills, CA
DRE #01182154
Just closed a very difficult Short Sale
Wanted to post about the short sale that I just closed….we encountered every possible hurdle!
At the beginning we waited for the bank to approve the purchase price. The agents worked at getting disclosures & forms signed….it honestly takes 2 agents (selling & buying side who REALLY care about getting the home sold, to get this done!) Moved lots of paper for the buyers & sellers.
The first hurdle was the amount of past due HOA dues….we were able to negotiate & pay a partial amount and thankfully, the HOA approved the settlement….then they gave us a date to close by.
The buyer’s lender’s underwriter had really tough requirements. They wanted details on any deposits, other than payroll, they also wanted the spouses signing off – this was a father-daughter purchase – notarized documents, etc.
We were approaching the HOA’s close date and had to request an extension, they reluctantly agreed to give us 7 days and we were able to close in time…..HOA’s can be a very daunting factor in a short sale…make sure your Realtor has all of the facts (past due fees, timelines, etc)…they tend to have a King complex and want to run the deal when they should be doing everything they can to help the transaction close…..doesn’t make any sense – but that’s what we’re dealing with in today’s market.
During the entire process we were at the mercy of the bank’s system – and it depends on your bank. Some banks will pay towards past due HOA fees, some won’t….we had other personal issues in this transaction but this gives you a view of what it takes to get a short sale CLOSED!
I now have very happy new homeowners in a home that was empty for months & needed a lot of attention. They’re happy so I’m happy 
