real estate: 2007

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Home for the Holidays

Sacramento has many new home owners who took advantage of a great time to purchase a house.

Each of the home owners that I worked with this year, got a heck of a deal!

Not only did they not pay full price, get help with closing costs, etc. but also their new homes appraised for more than what they paid.

What a great investment in real estate they made. It was a pleasure working with each of the new home buyers this year.

And now for the best part … celebrating the holiday season in their new homes. Their is nothing like having your own house. You can paint the walls whatever color you chose, pound that nail where ever you want, plant in your own yard…plus much more.

A special holiday greeting goes out to all those new home owners that are preparing for this holiday season in their new home. I hope that you have one of the very best holidays and for some, your very first holiday together in your new home.

This year was a great year to be able to help so many new Home Buyers find just the right home with just the right loan that they could afford. And of course the home buyers I work with always get my 2 cents about buying a house

* NEVER use their home like an ATM machine
* Pay that Supplemental Tax Bill (home buyers hear that one constantly)
* Always be on time with your house payment
* Fix and repair issues as they surface
* When appropriate update as income allows

The home buyers I work with know that it is essential to treat their homes like a new born…respect, nurture and love. Then, you can expect to have your home for a good long time or trade on up with your equity. I love helping home buyers find just the right home for just the right price. And I can’t wait to help more home buyers.

Remember, if you are considering buying a house…start small and work up. Unless you have inherited a sizeable nest egg, home buyers buy what they can afford and then trade up after years of equity building. Sometimes, that may mean buying 3 times before you reach where you would love to live.

Happy holiday and enjoy your new home…

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 15th, 2007 at 9:29 am and is filed under CA, Real Estate, Sacramento. You can 1. Kenny Alex said at December 15th, 2007 at 9:55 pm

it’s very useful and interesting for me , i’m a newcomer in real estate field. hope that we can connect each other to have a really clear and general image about real estate market.
Merry Christmas and happy new year !
2. Sara@KunaCountry.com said at December 17th, 2007 at 8:00 pm

Great things to remind new home owners. That was what I was taught,that your home is the best way to increase your equity… if you take good care of it. It’s a little disturbing when I see first time homeowners in a brand new house and no idea how much work and money it takes to keep it’s value intact.
3. Gena Riede said at December 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

Kenny, my pleasure. And happy holidays to you, too.
4. Gena Riede said at December 18th, 2007 at 2:19 pm

Sara, yes being a homeowner is great and taking care of the home you own is even better. Keeping value means keeping your home updated and in good working order.

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source: sacramentorealestatevoice.com

St. Louis Real Estate - Mortgage News - Shell Game

The Newspaper Game! by Chris Scheer, Branch Manager, Cornerstone Mortgage, O’Fallon, MO

Have you ever looked in your local paper or looked in the Sunday Newspaper to get interest rates for mortgages? After looking did you take the time to call some of the lenders? What did you find? I will be that 99% of the time if you called you found out that the interest rate was not available. Or that the rate was available if you were willing to pay the points listed in the paper. If I am the consumer I am thinking what kind of game is this?

When I look at the rates posted in the paper I break them down into 3 classes;

Liars
Honest but trying to look good
Large corporation, I don’t care I am spending the company’s money.

I will work backwards on this list.

When I managed a branch for a large corporation, part of their business plan was to be in the newspaper. Their rates were not competitive and when I would have discussions with my boss he would say “don’t worry about putting a rate in there, just make sure our name and phone number are in bold print.” Their philosophy was that their name alone would get the business and that they viewed the paper as another place to advertise their name. Never mind that people were checking rates, just get the name out there in one more place. These are categorized by higher than average interest rates or the famous “Call for Rates.” An interesting marketing strategy, but it would cause the question from the consumer, what is your rate? This was all the company was trying to do, get the phone to ring.

Then you have the honest but trying to look good. I will place the company I work for now in this category. They use the put a low rate in with points trick. This is where they put a rate in with 1 origination and 1 discount point so that the rate seems as low as the others. If you were to equate that rate out to a 0 point loan then it would be a rate we could and would honor, but the rate in the paper will be expensive. At least we let you know how expensive it will be.

Lastly, we have the liars; these are the guys that use the famous bait and switch tactic. They put a rate in that is well below market, usually .25% or more and then when you call them they say that the rate was there last week but the market has moved or worse they tell you they can do that rate and then when you get your application you have charges that equate to 1 or 2 points. Again, it is the concept to do anything to make the phone ring and then get the borrower to commit. Once you have them committed you can usually coerce them or fast talk them to the closing table.

So what does the rate table in the paper do? Well I would personally use it as a guide to where interest rates are. Look for the middle of the rate scale and that is a good chance that you will be able to get that rate without excessive fees or expense.
For comments on this please contact Chris Scheer at chrisscheer@stlouisrealestatevoice.com
Tags: St.+Louis+Real+Estate, St.+Louis+Mortgage+News, Mortgage+Rates
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 6:57 pm and is filed under For Buyers, Mortgage News, Relocation Buyer, First Time Home Buyer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

source: stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Fed Restrictions Should Further Weaken the Real Estate Market

As a result of the recent sub-prime mortgage scandal, the Federal Reserve has taken many actions to avoid a global credit crisis, which it now aims to further mitigate through tightening the standards that lenders use to determine whether a potential borrower is eligible to receive a mortgage loan. Chairman Ben Bernake has stated that more rigid restrictions would "promote responsible lending," even as 2 million Americans with sub-prime predatory loans will likely default over the next year, furthering the housing slump.

The first area in which restrictions have been made is on the borrower's end. Now, all lenders must ask prospective borrowers to prove that they have an income, or that the assets they rely upon to be able to pay off the loan under the terms agreed by the individual contract are soluble. The lender or creditor is now required to verify this income, and must also consider each borrower's ability to pay off the loan from other assets besides the value of their home. Furthermore, each new borrower is required to set aside other funds, specifically earmarked for property taxes and for homeowner's insurance. These funds are to be kept in escrow accounts, established by the creditor. These new rules are a drastic change in policy for the Fed, as they generally have not taken any actions towards adjusting lending responsibility, instead using their powers to control interest rates and try to ease economic hardship through making borrowing in general cheaper.

Another area in which the Fed has taken regulative action involves the advertisements used to lure potential homeowners to buy. No longer can "deceptive or misleading" ads be used. Though the wording in this instance is vague, they do provide some examples. The rate for a loan cannot be stated to be "fixed" if it can change, for example. Also, brokers are unable to encourage or coerce a home appraiser into artificially changing home prices. This means that the housing bubble is less likely to inflate by a similar proportion in the future, thus limiting potential losses from another such crisis if it were to arise. Creditors are also now required to list all rates associated with a mortgage in an advertisement "with equal prominence as [their] advertised introductory or 'teaser' rates."

The last section of the market to be adjusted involves servicing practices that have often contributed to the record mortgage defaults seen recently. Now, payoff statements are required more regularly, and must reflect all payment received by the lender. This regulation is designed to respond to the often problematic statements issued by lending companies to many sub-prime borrowers. Many mortgage balances would not reflect real payments, and fee notices would often fall through the cracks, building up until, finally, the borrower is financially overwhelmed all at once and cannot make repayments, thus losing their home. Repayment penalties have also been slightly adjusted, such that now penalties must meet the condition of expiring sixty days before the lender can increase the required mortgage payment. Each of these measures is designed to ensure that the days of predatory lending are over for now.

Escapeso Realty helps buyers and sellers interested in purchasing property in the Austin real estate market. Visitors can either use their site to check the Austin MLS or find updates about the Austin market on their Austin real estate blog.

source: /activerain.com

Trans-Texas Corridor, Slated to Connect Dallas to Austin and San Antonio, Still Controversial

I was in a Leadership Austin class on all day Wednesday. We discussed some interesting updates on new urbanism, transit-oriented development, commuter rails, and other changes to Austin and Texas that I'll share in upcoming weeks and months.

A variety of infrastructure and development tools are being used in anticipation of millions of new residents coming to Texas in the next decade.

The theme of the past few Leadership Austin sessions have been economic development and infrastructure needed in Texas to keep up with consumer demand. We are not a shrinking population and are growing at a very fast pace.

For example, Austin the only city in the U.S to consistently double it's population every 20 years since the 1900s. This creates both challenge as well as opportunity. Accordingly, important decisions need to be made, some of which will be very controversial.

TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR, YOU PRO OR CON?

The estimated 4000 mile Trans-Texas Corridor is a system of rail lines and highways that would parallel IH-35 to the east from Gainsville to Laredo, passing through Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.

This 50-year, long-range transit plan that was proposed as a solution to the need for infrastructure in Texas to move 36 million residents as well as cargo through our state. (Rendering Courtesy TXDOT.)

You may be PRO-CORRIDOR if: You believe forecasts that our current population in Texas of 22 million will increase to 32 Million by 2030 and this corridor is needed to deal with resulting mobility needs.

You may be ANTI-CORRIDOR if: You think cost is staggering and the plan doesn't solve the problem. Tax payers don't like paying for things where the results aren't apparent. The estimated price tag of $140-180 billion dollars and ensuing land grab may not sit right with you. Over 584,000 acres of Texas land will be taken to create the corridor.

OPINION

I'd like to see more discussion. Infrastructure issues are important topics that will be the legacy that our generation leaves for great-great grandchildren.

I have to say that Governor Perry is a bold man. He always has been. Some political leaders can't make a decision or just pander to the voters. Governor Perry, like him or not, knows what he thinks is right and goes for it. Of course, the same can be said for Stalin and Hitler. History to decide whether Perry is a true visionary or a viking in a cowboy hat.

source: texasrealestate.blogs.com

Progress Report: Almost At One Million Total Real Estate Videos Watched

I thought that we would pass one million videos total real estate videos watched before the end of 2007 but we’ll just miss making the deadline. The property video views for November dropped off towards the end of the month and we only ended with just above 60,000 videos watched for the month. We’ve been between 75,000 videos views and 90,000 videos viewed each month since about August 2007 (over 80% of our total views since Spring 2007 have been property videos)

The views for December are already beginning to taper off as people begin to focus on the holidays. I suspect that we’ll be 30,000 to 35,000 views shy of a million as the big ball begins to fall in Times Square. No complaints. It’s been a rocking year though…we continue to do a lot of private label video and services work, the version 1 infrastructure is just about complete and, if we can stay profitable as we have in a falling market, that can only bode well for whenever the market does spring back.

Since I am rambling on anyway, I’ll take this opportunity to congratulate the wellcomemat guys on the newest release of their flash video player and their upcoming real estate video widgets.

source: wordpress.com

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