Real Estate Information

Below is a portion of a recent posting on the National Association of Realtors website. According to the NAR, homes sales for 2008 will increase slightly as the mortgage crunch slows.

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WASHINGTON, December 10, 2007 - Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 2008, with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.  However, a recovery for new-home sales is unlikely before 2009.

 

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the worst part of the credit crunch has already worked its way through the data.  “The unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were clearly seen in lower home sales that were finalized in September and October, so the market was underperforming,” he said.  “Now that mortgage conditions have improved, some postponed activity should turn up in existing-home sales over the next couple of months, and I expect sales at fairly stable to slightly higher levels.”

Click here to read the entire article!

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to type a telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and you will be given the person's name and address. If you then hit Map Quest, you will get a map to the person's house.

Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book. If a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming. You can have your phone number removed or blocked. I tried my number and it came up along with the Map Quest and directions straight to our house. In order to test whether your phone number is mapped. Go to: www.google.com.

Type your phone number in the search bar ( i.e. 555-555-1212) and hit enter. If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on the Removal Form. Removal takes 48-hours.

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

The oldest rule of investing: Buy low, sell high. With some housing markets bottoming out, now could be a good time to get ready to make money on the slowdown, says Business 2.0 magazine, which has worked with Moody’s Economy.com to identify 10 major metropolitan areas that are coming back to life after a slowdown.

The following is a list of the 10 metro areas identified by the magazine, including their projected median sales prices for single-family homes and the percentage of growth expected in the next two years. While the numbers are moderate, they are a huge improvement over what’s been happening in these cities and others, the magazine notes.

1. Dallas–Fort Worth
Q1 2008: $151,930
Q4 2009: $161,690
Growth rate: 6.4 percent

2. Indianapolis
Q1 2008: $122,940
Q4 2009: $130,630
Growth rate: 6.3 percent

3. New Orleans
Q1 2008: $153,850
Q4 2009: $162,600
Growth rate: 5.7 percent

4. Atlanta
Q1 2008: $177,750
Q4 2009: $187,640
Growth rate: 5.6 percent

5. Montgomery, Ala.
Q1 2008: $140,020
Q4 2009: $147,690
Growth rate: 5.5 percent

6. Memphis
Q1 2008: $143,550
Q4 2009: $150,730
Growth rate: 5 percent

7. Mobile, Ala.
Q1 2008: $134,580
Q4 2009: $140,920
Growth rate: 4.7 percent

8. Austin, Texas
Q1 2008: $186,350
Q4 2009: $195,060
Growth rate: 4.7 percent

9. Houston
Q1 2008: $154,850
Q4 2009: $161,910
Growth rate: 4.6 percent

10. St. Louis
Q1 2008: $143,920
Q4 2009: $149,710
Growth rate: 4 percent

Source: Business 2.0, Paul Kaihla (10/01/07)

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Reatlors.

One question on every home sellers mind is ... How can I attract buyers to my home? ... That is a great question especially in today's real estate market.  In some areas of the Inland Empire the competition is great - so what can you do to set your self apart and make your home a little more attractive to that home buyer?  Below are 6 incentives home sellers may consider.

1. Reduce the price. "The price is something that is a common currency — it appeals to everybody," says Gene Rivers, who owns four Keller Williams offices in Florida.

2. Pay points. One point is 1 percent of the loan amount, charged as prepaid interest. Sellers can pay these points on behalf of the buyer, so for the first year or two, the buyer has a lower mortgage payment.

3. Assist with the down payment. First-time buyers without enough money for a down payment appreciate this kind of assistance.

4. Pay closing costs. Closing costs generally add up to somewhere between 2 percent and 7 percent of the loan value, according to Freddie Mac. Buyers who are stretching to make a down payment will be attracted to this type of help.

5. Add a home warranty. A residential service contract is some insurance that the buyer won’t encounter high repair costs in the first year or two of home ownership.

6. Pay home owner association fees or pool maintenance. Paying these kinds of predictable maintenance costs at the beginning can be a nice welcome to the buyer when money undoubtedly will be tight for them.

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

Confusing prequalification with preapproval can mean disappointment for both a home seller and a buyer. Real estate experts say it's smart to urge buyers to become preapproved by their lender – not just prequalified.

For buyers to obtain a bona fide preapproval, they must submit a loan application with the necessary documentation and fee. After the lender verifies and analyzes the application, it will notify the applicant of how much money he can afford to borrow. Armed with that information, the buyer can confidently go home shopping.

Prequalifications are simply an estimate of what a buyer can afford. A buyer who assumes that this estimate is accurate and chooses a home based on the information may, in fact, be denied a loan when he actually applies. That results in a situation that wastes his time and can put a seller in an a bad position if they've already turned away a qualified buyer. And, of course, it wastes the real estate practitioner's time as well.

Source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine (08/01/07)

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

Subprime still underwater – Many of the companies that provided 100 % financing, stated income deals for borrowers with challenged credit are still closing their doors. It will be quite some time before these programs are available again. The best course of action is to improve your credit and  increase your reserves, in order to procure the best loan program for your long term financial needs.

As the market continues to stagnate, home values may become a challenge in receiving the loan program you need. Plans to re-finance or purchase should be accelerated in order to avoid future value issues in the market.

Rates are still near all time lows and should be seen as a positive when deciding to move forward with a home purchase or refinance.

Brought To You By: Bob Gonzalez - First Choice Mortgage  

 Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

Everyone seems to be talking about foreclosures today ... and for good reason. There is no doubt that the foreclosure numbers have increased dramatically the past few months.  And who knows what the future holds for homeowners with sub-par mortgages.  Below is an article from Realtor Magazine Online I thought you may find interesting.  If you every have a question about foreclosures in our market, please do not hesitate in giving me a call.

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More home owners entered the foreclosure process during the first three months of 2007 than during the record-setting final quarter of 2006, according to a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The MBA’s Chief Economist Doug Duncan predicts that delinquencies would continue to rise, peaking later this year. He also points out that the rate would have fallen if it weren’t for substantial increases in seven states.

"The percentage of loans in foreclosure would be well below the average of the last 10 years were it not for Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana," Duncan says. "And the rate of foreclosures started nationwide would have fallen were it not for the big jumps in California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. Those states have special circumstances that do not reflect what is happening in the rest of the country."

Seasonally adjusted, 0.58 percent of loans entered the foreclosure process last quarter, compared with 0.54 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 and 0.41 percent in last year's first quarter. The rates for the past two quarters are the highest in the survey's 37-year history.

— REALTOR® Magazine Online and The Wall Street Journal, Damian Paletta and James R. Hagerty (06/15/07)

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

 

 

Credit, Credit, Credit – Do you know what is on your credit report ? I have had several clients who believed their credit was in good shape, only to find  their scores were much lower than anticipated. Some of the common factors which lower credit scores are as follows:

1. Too many inquires by credit card companies and other related consumer credit agencies.

2. Erroneous items on your credit report. Identity theft and clerical errors can create major headaches.

3. Outstanding balances too high relative to their limits. Try to keep your balances under 40 % of the limit amount. Please feel free to call with any questions regarding your credit.  

Information by Bob Gonzales with First Choice Mortgage. 

You can reach Bob at 909-957-3884

 Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

Below is a recent article from Inman News in regards to recent increases in mortgage rates.

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Mortgage rates gained this week on the Federal Reserve's belief that inflation could still pose a problem, Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com reported today.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to an average 6.21 percent from last week's 6.15 percent, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 5.87 percent to 5.92 percent. Points, which are fees lenders charge for loan processing expressed as a percent of the loan, averaged 0.4 on the 30- and 15-year loans.

Borrowing costs on adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were mixed, as the five-year Treasury-indexed ARM grew from 5.89 percent to 5.92 percent while the one-year ARM held at 5.48 percent. Points on these loans averaged 0.6 and 0.7, respectively.

"Mortgage rates inched up this week following the Federal Open Market Committee statement reiterating that the predominant concern remains the risk that inflation will fail to moderate as expected," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. "However, as long as core inflation continues to trend downward and economic growth remains subpar it is unlikely that we will see any big movement in mortgage rates."

"Recent indicators point to continued weakness in the housing market, with the bottom of the cycle still months away. There are signs that house sales are stabilizing and excess inventories beginning to come under control, but building permits continue to be weak and condo sales are soft in a number of markets."

Nothaft said the only good news from the housing market came from the National Association of Realtors, which reported first-quarter existing-home sales were up 2.4 percent from the final quarter of 2006, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, which reported the "average pace of mortgage applications for home purchase over the first two weeks in May was the strongest since January 2006."

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

Arm Loans Are Maturing-  Many  of the fixed arm loans are expiring this year. This will mean large increases in monthly payments for those who cannot refinance because of poor credit or lack of value in their property. 

If your arm loan is near the end of it’s fixed period, you should get a valuation of your property to ensure that you have enough equity to qualify for a refinance. Remember the 100% financing which may have enabled  you to purchase your property, may not be available today. Be proactive in your planning.

The supply of homes is currently at 7.8 months. This means a buyers market still exists and good deals are available now. Get pre-qualified early and be ready to buy your dream home.

Submitted By: Bob Gonzalez - First Choice Mortgage

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.