Homeowners Utilizing Google

Now days, it seems like whenever someone has a question and it takes longer than one second to answer, you will automatically hear someone or your inner voice say, “Google It!” My good friend Amber Anderson and I were talking about this funny and common occurrence, and she mentioned to me that Google is can and should be used by current or potential home-owners. Of course, we’ve all probably used Google for one thing or an other. If you’re trying to find out information about a person, you “Google” them (romantic dates, professionals, actors, friends, etc). The day of this recording I ask the simple question of, “I wonder how hot it is today?” It was a beautiful day, as are most days in San Diego, and I was curious about the weather. So naturally, Amber suggested I Google it. But how does a home-owner or a potential home-owner leverage Google?

Amber Anderson suggested that during their educational or researching stage, home-owners or potential home-owners can use Google in four ways:

1. Research the neighborhoods: anyone with access to Google Maps (free to any internet subscriber), can literally go up and down the streets of any neighborhood without having to drive by or leave the comforts of your home. You can check out your potential neighbors or community members, and find out if there are any hoarders in your potential neighborhood. In addition, you can see what the other homes in the area look like and really get a good feel for the neighborhood.
2. Use Google as part of your inspection stage. This includes doing what many people are doing now days and that’s making sure no sexual predators or offenders are living next door. This also includes using Megan’s Law which is a tool that Amber always encourages her clients to use when shopping for a home. Case in point: one of Amber’s most recent transaction fell out of escrow because the buyer found out by using Google and Megan’s Law that indeed there was a sexual offender that was living next door. The client had young children and it was a deciding factor in regards to moving forward with the purchase of the property.
3. Checking out crime statistics. You can look at crime reports to really find out what’s going on in the area. Crime can’t hide from Google no matter what time of day it occurs. After “Google-ing” the property address of a property one of her buyer was making an offer, they discovered that a fatal accident had taken place directly in front of the property. With this information, Amber was able to create some leverage for her buyer when negotiating with the bank (short-sale situation).
4. For individuals looking to sell their property, Google can be used to check on the sales activity in the surround area. What is selling? What are the comparable properties going for in your neighborhood (a.k.a. “comps”)? As a listing agent, Amber sets up a “Google Alert” for each one of her properties to make sure that the property’s marketing strategy is working properly and to make sure there aren’t any “scammers” or false advertisement (i.e. fake craigslists ads) regarding the property.

If you would like more information about how to leverage Google, please feel free to reach out to Amber Anderson or David A. Moya.

As I mentioned in a previous article, mortgage rates change multiple times a day. They also change multiple times a week.  And even further, rates also change when a home loan is either above or below mortgage cap limits. What does this mean? Well depending on the county you are looking to purchase in, there are certain mortgage loan amount limits or caps. These limits act as an imaginary line that can make a difference of several thousands to hundresds of thousands of dollars over the life-time of the loan.  How?  Simply put, if your loan amount is above the limit, you will pay additionally over the life of the loan via a higher interest rate.

As correctly rumored, on October 1, 2011, the new permanent loan limits for San Diego, CA will be in full effect.  This was originally announced through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act in late 2008 yet not to many believed the agency would lower limits especially after such difficult economic times.

But this change isn’t just effecting San Diego, this new loan limit change is effecting just about ever city in the U.S.  In San Diego specifically, the loan cap is moving from $697,500 to $546,250.  Even if you are looking at using an FHA loan to purchase your primary residence, the limits for this loan product are also decreasing from 125% to 115% of the median home price in the area.

What does this translate into for the consumer? Higher rates and potentially higher fees depending on the lenders financial structuring.

Bottomline: don’t wait for the loan limits to lower before you take advantage of historical rates and wonderful home prices. If you’d like to further discuss this topic, please feel free to comment below or contact me.

Mortgage Update | Mid August

San Diego Mortgage Rate to Remain Volatile?

If I told you there was a one in three chance that the U.S. economy was going to go back into a recession, would you take it lightly? According to Moody’s, it thinks the likelihood of that happening a 1 in 3 chance.

But before we go and get all disappointing about this, lets break-down how this can and will effect real estate and San Diego Mortgages and how you can position yourself to be in the drivers seat.

One, weak economic growth (or lack there-of), will definitely not help the recent job growth data.  What does this directly effect? Well, weaker job growth will translate into a decrease in the willingness of likely home-buyers to follow through with the “American Dream” of buying a home.  Now,  some will argue that we should pay attention to the fact that job growth figures were actually  better than expected, and unemployment applications have declined (though only by a minuscule amount), but can this really make our economy any better?  The fact is that this can only maintain the economy’s current direction: at a standstill.  And we all know that stagnation really means no growth.  No growth equals no good.

Another important thing to note; where-ever slow or little growth exists, fear and risk increases in the opposite direction.  Fear is really about the only thing that has seen growth in our economy so it seems.  In the last few years, investors have been heavily putting money into gold to the point that it has increased the value of gold to extremely high levels.  Fortunately for the U.S., investors historically have labeled U.S. Treasuries as one of the best investments available, second only to gold.  When investors invest in Treasuries, mortgage rates come down. However, investors are still very uncertain about how they feel regarding U.S. mortgage backed securities or treasuries.  Less investors investing in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities means higher rates in order to attract these same investors.  This, then translates into higher mortgage rates in San Diego, CA.

Recently what has seemed to counteract this fear from investors, has been the instability of other markets and the Feds commitment to maintaining low rates.  Alas, there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel and strong reason for hope!  If the U.S. economy continues in its path to slower periods of growth (or even no growth), investors will turn to the second best investment known to most investors (Treasuries) thus giving rates a further push downward.  Thankfully, we will be able to continue refinancing home-owners into lower monthly payments, and ultimately create more homeowners due to the incentive for them to take advantage of such an optimal home-purchasing environment.

It is important to remember that mortgage rates mortgage  can be unpredictable.  Even though rates have been trending lower in recent weeks and months,  mortgage rates can reverse suddenly in the opposite direction especially when outside forces like the Federal Reserve or the U.S. government intervene.  In addition, when world-changing events occur , when economic stimuli is applied or even when incorrect rumors reach mainstream media, this can all quickly change the direction of mortgage rates. And just like that, the window of opportunity closes.

The best plan for any hopeful future home-owner, is to look at your budget and see if the historical low rates make sense for you at the moment.  If you are uncertain, a mortgage review will help ensure you are moving in the right direction and are in a position to act quickly should the opportunity arise.  Keep in mind, rates wont stay at these levels for ever, and in fact will probably remain very volatile for the remainder of the year.  Market volatility dislikes proactive planning and positioning, so be sure to set up some time for a mortgage review with your Certified Mortgage Coach.

At 9am at night, I got home from the gym with a strong calling to “act now.” So, that’s exactly what I did. I pulled out my camera and requested that all of us act where ever we can. There’s no better time to act than now. Are we going into another recession? Are we going for round two of recession? Whether we are or aren’t make no difference to a lot of us because we sometimes feel helpless. However, if we are citizens of this great country and citizens of the world really, we have to act where ever we can. What has been better and even great during our country’s economic struggle? Mortgage RATES! Knowing that you already know this, I want to collaborate with you in contributing to your community of viagra. If you, a friend or family member refinance (or purchases) with me, I will donate $200 to the charity, non-profit, struggling business of your choice. As a Certified Mortgage Coach, I make a living helping people refinance and purchase their home. That being said, there is a…

Great Window of Opportunity

You may have heard that home loan rates have improved and are back down to near historic levels. In fact, I’ve been slammed with emails and phone calls from people just like you who wanted to take advantage of this wonderful situation.

But you need to keep the following in mind…

While some people say good things come to those who wait, others say to strike while the iron is hot. In this case, the “iron is hot” with rates at exceptionally low levels. And while weak economic reports here in the U.S. and the economic crisis in Europe are two of the main reasons rates have improved recently, signs of inflation are beginning to creep into our economy–and that never bodes well for home loan rates. That’s why it’s more important than ever to act now.

It will only take a minute–give me a quick call so we can look at your situation. It doesn’t cost anything to check it out, and the choice of moving forward will be up to you. Don’t miss this window of opportunity to save significantly on your monthly budget.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Let’s keep thing simple.  We analyse mortgage rates in two ways: 1) Technical (charts patterns) and 2) Fundamental (news).  In the chart I’m about to show you, we use both.  In addition, remember that this specific chart has an inverse relationship to mortgage rates.  So when the chart is trending in an upward direction, this means rates are trending down (lower rates = more savings).  Similarly, when this chart trends in a downward direction, rates are getting worse (higher rates = less savings).  Economic and financial news has a huge part in which direction mortgage rates trend.  For example in this chart, we can see that the unemployment report released on Friday had a huge effect on mortgage rates in a positive direction.  In addition, because there was a huge (worse then expected) trade deficit reported, rates continued in a downward direction.  This is because the trade deficit influence our GDP (gross domestic product).  In addition, a stronger dollar can potentially lead to foreign investments into Treasuries and thus also improving rates.  On a technical level however, I’m concerned about the gaps that were formed over the last three days.  History tells us that gaps are generally filled and the fact that we’ve had a larger than normal gap, doesn’t make me all that certain that rates will continue in the same direction.  All in all, a great start to a trading week.  CPI (consumer price index) figures and US Core Retail Sales are to be released at the end of the week so stay tuned as this will also influence the direction mortgage rates will take in the next few days.

Mortgage rates change multiple times a day.  They also change multiple times a week.  Rates also change when a home loan is either above or below mortgage cap limits.  What does this mean?  Well depending on the county you are looking to purchase in, there are certain mortgage loan amount limits or caps.  These limits act as an imaginary line that can make a difference of several thousands of dollars over the life-time of the loan.  For example lets say I, acting as the government agencies that insure against mortgage defaulting, will only insure a loan made to you under $7 because I feel its too risky to lend anything above that.  So what do you do if you want to borrow $8?  You look for a lending firm that will lend you $8.  But there’s a catch…because your loan is not insured by me (the federal agencies), the lender will charge you a premium on your rate to cover any risk associated with letting you borrow money above the limit.  Why?  Well they don’t have the security that comes from having a loan insured by the government.  Bottom line, if you borrow more than $7, you will be paying a higher rate over the life of the loan.

Let’s talk a little history.  When we began to enter the period of the real estate and financial meltdown,  the government agencies such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae raised the mortgage limit that they were willing to insure.  Why did they do this?  They hoped to spark a faster housing market recovery and help the economy get over the recession.  However for some reason, these same agencies since early last year, have been progressively lowering the mortgage loan caps to their previous levels.  In fact, come October 2011, the mortgage loan limit are rumored to be lowered to $546,250 in San Diego County.   In some areas, this loan limit will be even lower.  What does this translate into for the consumer?  Higher rates and potentially higher fees depending on the lenders financial structuring.

Bottomline: don’t wait for the loan limits to lower before you take advantage of historical rates and wonderful home prices.  If you’d like to further discuss this topic, please feel free to comment below or contact me.

I’m sure some experts would say that we’re not even close to recovery because of continued unemployment and rescission. Thus, we’re not out of the clear and the weakened housing market is still present.

So let’s talk about a few factors that are currently affecting our real estate market:

1. Buyers are having to compete because of low inventory (even though many claim we are in a buyer’s market, when a seller has to review several offers, he or she ultimately has control) – consult a real estate professional to find out the best strategies to getting your offer accepted.
2. Rates are at historical lows largely due to a weak economy both on a local and global level
3. Lenders have become more strict when it comes to lending standards and practices thus it is often difficult to qualify if you don’t have a knowledgeable mortgage professional to coach you through the process.
4. The famous question everyone is asking: “will prices continue to fall?”

What conclusion can we draw?

1. There are micro and local markets throughout the country so consult a local expert (someone that has his or her ear to the ground).
2. Whenever the economy is improving, rates will not.  In fact they will increase as a result (if you want a detailed explanation as to why, please contact me)
3. Regardless of whether home prices will continue to go down is irrelevant, if you’re looking for a great investment.  Whenever you can get a mortgage payment to be less than the going rent for the same property, you have a great opportunity…right???

The reason I bring this story up is because this is similar to what happened during and after our nations real estate crash.  Let me explain.  Simply put there are organizations – government and private – that purchase loans after they have been packaged together by lenders.  But during the boom period of our real estate market there was a lot of fraudulent activity that has resulted in rotten loans.  The buyers of these fraudulent loans are now demanding that the lenders buy back them back.  In some cases and if there is high amounts of fraud, the lenders can sue mortgage originators or the borrowers who committed the fraud.

This type of fraudulent activity is so prevalent in San Diego county that, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a part of the U.S. Department of Treasury, there is a 1/3 increase in fraudulent cases being discovered in the last three months then in the last quarter of 2010.  In fact according to North County Times, in the first quarter of 2011, 808 suspicious loans were found in San Diego County.

Not too worry if you are currently buying a home because the government and lenders have put rules and regulations in place help combat fraud.  In addition, most of these “rotten apples” were produced/grown during 2006-2007 which is a period know for low lending standards and financial instability.

The good news is that there are lending standards and practices in place that allow a wonderful opportunity for those who are capable and able to purchase a home at bargain prices and historical low rates.