I Found this out in cyberspace and I found it alarming to say the least. People, if you don't understand something about your mortgage ASK!!!! This is the biggest investment in your life and you need to know what you are getting into! If you are pondering a property purchase or refinance then call me. 310 709 8283. Even if you already have a deal on the table in front of you and just want a second opinion, I will be happy to assist and give my two cents. I have done over 150 loans personally in the last five years so I know what's good and what's not-so-good. The trick here (and in all walks of life, I am learning) is to COMMUNICATE!!!
The Federal Trade Commission , in a recent study called “Improving Client Disclosures” said:
87% of borrowers could not identify their “up-front” costs.
68% were unaware of prepayment penalties.
21% could not identify their required monthly payment
And 20% could not identify their loans APR.
Thousands of adjustable loans are resetting in the next few months. For some there will be huge “sticker shock”.
I would be happy to look at your note, at no cost, and advise you as to how it’s performing.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Los Angeles Tumbling, But Still Unaffordable Real Estate
Los Angeles Real Estate prices are in a decline. Not as steeply as the rest of California but the trend is about a 5% annual drop in value. Many first time buyers that I know and am prequalifying are excited about this, but then they run the numbers on a $450000 mortgage instead of a $600000 mortgage and see it is still not makeable. Los Angeles Real Estate has always, is always, and will always continue to be very very expensive even in recessionary market conditions. A buyer emailed me today complaining about $300000 shacks in the middle of the ghetto and how they'll never be worth as much as they were last year. I disagreed with him. The reason being, inevitably all the ghetto areas become gentrified. Even if it's 40 years away literally everything in between the 10, 5 and ocean will made nice and just the land be worth millions. Look at Manhattan, London, Hong Kong price trends and density since 1960. Dr. Schumacher says in his book-"if you think real estate is expensive now, just wait until 10 years from now." And that is true when you look at real estate over the long haul. Especially in Southern California. Brian Tracy says in his book that real estate increases in value at twice the pace of population growth and three times the value of inflation and also decreases at the same amount. L.A. certainly has population growth and inflation isin't going anywhere. The net result that I've seen is about a 40-50% reduction in buyers because they were doing 95-100% financing and willing to pay $4000 a month in mortgage bills. Now I am seeing smart people with good credit and down payments getting good prices because they're the only ones able to buy. The mortgage liquidity crisis has not improved at all, but less attention is being paid to it in the media for some reason. I find this perplexing but inevitable with people's short attention spans and bury-their-head-in-the-sand mentalities. I would argue that those were the only people who should be buying houses anyway. Since when can you buy a house anytime through history with no down payment? Even with a substantial down payment-a $400000 mortgage costs a ton of money when you factor in taxes, insurance, maintence, city assessments etc. Rich Dad said "A house is an asset-it's just not your asset" and he's absolutely right.
We can whine and complain all we want but the truth is, there will always be people willing and able to pay top dollar to live in California. I am choosing to see the opportunities in the current downturn instead of the brutal reality of the cost of this market.
We can whine and complain all we want but the truth is, there will always be people willing and able to pay top dollar to live in California. I am choosing to see the opportunities in the current downturn instead of the brutal reality of the cost of this market.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
SEO Minor Mortgage Matters
"Please help me out - are blogs effective in SEO? I made a blog http://ddwebguru.blogspot.com/ a way long back but it has not been indexed by Google. Whats the exact reason behind that? Is there any use of blogs in SEO? Is there another blog site which provides the free blogs?"
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
FHA Raises loan limits in CA!!
The Federal Housing Administration raised the mortgage limits to a maximum of $729,750 for 14 high-cost counties in California, as the government began providing aid to homeowners required by the recently enacted economic-stimulus package. This is huge if you have a loan balance up to 729750 or are about to buy a house with that loan amount. FHA loans do not care about credit scores and they will lend up to 97% of the value of the home with a below-market interest rate. The only catch is that you have to verify your income.
The upper mortgage limits also will apply to loans purchased or guaranteed by government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHA officials said.
Details for the rest of the country are due to be announced this week. California counties such as Los Angeles and Orange will be eligible for the maximum limit, which was raised from $362,790. Lower- priced regions, such as Trinity and Lassen counties, will qualify for a loan cap of $271,050, up from $200,160.
FHA officials predicted the increases in California would aid about 33,000 individuals. The new loan limits will be in effect through the end of this year. The goal is to invigorate the market for larger mortgages, which should help push down interest rates.
The FHA said there would be an appeal process through which the new loan limits could be raised higher for counties that aren't now eligible for the $729,750 maximum, but none of the limits will be lowered, said Bill Glavin, special assistant for public affairs in the FHA's Commissioner's Office. That appeals process could be announced, along with new loan limits for the rest of the country, as early as Thursday.
"From what we understand there are not going to be a lot of areas in the country except for California that are going to be at the maximum," Mr. Glavin said.
Those who have applied for an FHA loan but haven't yet closed on it will be able to take advantage of the new limits. The new ceilings also will apply to people seeking to refinance into an FHA loan.
FHA Mortgage Limits in California by County
| County Name | Median Home Price | FHA Limit |
| Alameda County | $995,000 | $729,750 |
| Alpine County | 438,000 | 547,500 |
| Amador County | 355,000 | 443,750 |
| Butte County | 320,000 | 400,000 |
| Calaveras County | 370,000 | 462,500 |
| Colusa County | 318,000 | 397,500 |
| Contra Costa County | 995,000 | 729,750 |
| Del Norte County | 249,000 | 311,250 |
| El Dorado County | 464,000 | 580,000 |
| Fresno County | 305,000 | 381,250 |
| Glenn County | 230,000 | 287,500 |
| Humboldt County | 315,000 | 393,750 |
| Imperial County | 260,000 | 325,000 |
| Inyo County | 350,000 | 437,500 |
| Kern County | 295,000 | 368,750 |
| Kings County | 260,000 | 325,000 |
| Lake County | 321,000 | 401,250 |
| Lassen County | 200,000 | 271,050 |
| Los Angeles County | 710,000 | 729,750 |
| Madera County | 340,000 | 425,000 |
| Marin County | 995,000 | 729,750 |
| Mariposa County | 330,000 | 412,500 |
| Mendocino County | 410,000 | 512,500 |
| Merced County | 378,000 | 472,500 |
| Modoc County | 125,000 | 271,050 |
| Mono County | 370,000 | 462,500 |
| Monterey County | 599,000 | 729,750 |
| Napa County | 615,000 | 729,750 |
| Nevada County | 450,000 | 562,500 |
| Orange County | 710,000 | 729,750 |
| Placer County | 464,000 | 580,000 |
| Plumas County | 328,000 | 410,000 |
| Riverside County | 400,000 | 500,000 |
| Sacramento County | 464,000 | 580,000 |
| San Benito County | 790,000 | 729,750 |
| San Bernardino County | 400,000 | 500,000 |
| San Diego County | 558,000 | 697,500 |
| San Francisco County | 995,000 | 729,750 |
| San Joaquin County | 391,000 | 488,750 |
| San Luis Obispo County | 550,000 | 687,500 |
| San Mateo County | 995,000 | 729,750 |
| Santa Barbara County | 615,000 | 729,750 |
| Santa Clara County | 790,000 | 72,9750 |
| Santa Cruz County | 719,000 | 729,750 |
| Shasta County | 339,000 | 423,750 |
| Sierra County | 228,000 | 285,000 |
| Siskiyou County | 235,000 | 293,750 |
| Solano County | 446,000 | 557,500 |
| Sonoma County | 530,000 | 662,500 |
| Stanislaus County | 339,000 | 423,750 |
| Sutter County | 340,000 | 425,000 |
| Tehama County | 250,000 | 312,500 |
| Trinity County | 200,000 | 271,050 |
| Tulare County | 260,000 | 325,000 |
| Tuolumne County | 350,000 | 437,500 |
| Ventura County | 599,000 | 729,750 |
| Yolo County | 464,000 | 580,000 |
| Yuba County | 340,000 | 425,000 |
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Foreclosure bloodbath scorecard March 08. :P
| Privyet Comrades!! With how tough the U.S. ecomony is going into Spring 2008, we may find ourselves succumbing to communism because we're so broke and hungry. The real estate marktet continues to soften in every sector. I read an article in WSJ today that talked about commercial property devaluing with defaults climbing, due to increased vacancies symptomic of a sagging economy. With our sagging dollar AND real estate values, Now is the most prime buying opportunity for discounted U.S. Real Estate since the 1930's. And it's going to get worse before it gets any better. Contact me for an L.A. discounted properties list. | ||||||||||||
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But at the bottom of the list were six smaller areas where less than 0.2 percent of the households experienced foreclosure-related activity in 2007.
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| 6 areas with low foreclosure activity | ||||||||||||
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