Fiscal Cliff Avoided - 2013 Housing Market Expectations We have had 13 straight months of home sales increasing and the avoidance of the Fiscal Cliff should help to continue that growth.  Had the Fiscal Cliff not been avoided, the average American's annual taxes would have increased by thousands of dollars which in turn would have kept some folks from putting a down payment on a home.  Of course, if you make over $450k/year, you taxes will go up significantly.  But, for the rest of us, we're safe for now.  (Or at least for the next two months until this entire Fiscal Cliff issue is revisited in Washington.) Fiscal Cliff Avoided - 2013 Housing Market Expectations Also included in the Fiscal Cliff deal were extensions for the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act and the Mortgage Interest ... 01/07/2013

Prospect Mortgage Shaida Tafreshi Mortgage Loan Officer NMLS 545194 Sherman Oaks, CA Good Morning Realtors, Homeowners and Active Rainers alike! I wanted to create a brief blog regarding the “slowness” of business during the holiday season, and how we can not only avoid that “holidays are slow” excuse, but defy that idea all together. Instead of jumping on the “holidays are slow” train, why not DO what everyone else is NOT DOING at this time of year… WORK, STAY FOCUSED, and ASK FOR THE BUSINESS. Here are a few basic ideas to continue the momentum you have created all year, during the last few days of the holiday season (and year!). 1.               Refinances are perfect to leverage at this time of year.  Not only are interest rates low, but there are PLENTY of people who have purchased... 12/27/2012

  Shaida Tafreshi Prospect Mortgage Sherman Oaks, CA NMLS 545194   Back to the Basics: Mortgages 101 Lesson: 1   The Most Common Loan Types Available   1. Conventional   §  “Conforming Loan”- Loan Amounts Up to $417,000   §    “High Balance Conforming Loan” – Loan amounts between $417,001 - $625,500 2.   FHA – Federal Housing Administration – Government Loan     §    “Conforming FHA Loan” – Loan Amounts up to $417,000     §     “High Balance FHA Loan” – Loan amounts between $417,001 - $729,750   3. Jumbo     §     Anything above $625,000 and $729,750 respectively   PROS and CONS Between Conventional and FHA Loans:         - Conventional Loans:       §     With Conventional loans you can put as little as 5% down given your loan amount is conforming. (remember, conforming is equal to or l... 12/26/2012

California Home Prices on the RiseAn increase in the median home sale prices , the largest increase in 8 years is happening right now. From November last year to November 2012, the median price has risen 25%!  A single-family detached home was $349,300 last month, up from $279,910 the year before.California Home Prices on the RiseIn the Los Angeles market, the average price was $327,840 last month, up 22% from a year earlier and 2.9% percent from October.California Home Prices on the RiseThis isn't necessarily a true sign of an economy bouncing back, which don't get me wrong, part of it is, however it is due in part to an increase in the mid to higher priced market while the lower sales have decreased.  Remember my blog about high-end flips? The proof is in the pudding.California Home ... 12/21/2012

Advantage to House Hunting During The Holidays As Realtors, we all know that the market slows down significantly during the holidays.  Buyers and Sellers are more concerned with kids home from school, turkey dinners and gift giving. Patience is a virtue.  Buyers that remain steadfast thru the low inventory and competition of investors, can find a diamond in the rough that they otherwise may have missed while jingling all the way to spring. According to DataQuick, homes sales have increased from October to November only FOUR times in the last 24 years. In other years inbetween, transactions have decreased anywhere from 0.2% to almost 26%.  Home listings, from 3% to 11% in the last three years. Advantage to House Hunting During The Holidays I had clients score on a property 3 days before ... 12/08/2012

First Time Home Buyers Decreasing First time home buyers are becoming a smaller percentage of the market.  Normally around 40%, first time buyers are down to 34.7% of the active marketshare nationwide.  Meanwhile, move-up buyers are increasing. First Time Home Buyers Decreasing Perhaps the reason for this decline is due in part to the difficulties facing those trying to go the FHA route.  With many people struggling these days, applying for FHA is the best option for lower mortgage payments.  However, with so many in that struggling phase, FHA is being overrun with requests.  So there is "demand," but not necessarily enough "supply" to go around.  Up to 50% of first time buyers use FHA. First Time Home Buyers Decreasing On the recovery front, non-distressed properties on the market are ... 11/30/2012

Single Family Lease Demand Rises, Foreclosures to Blame? Or Are They? According to a report released by CoreLogic, demand for single family home rentals has increased by as much as 25%!  Many people are losing their homes to the banks and thus turn to finding rental properties they can afford.  I have also seen families who were renting being forced to move because the property owners are under water.  So we have two groups of people, owners and current renters looking to find a place (or another place) to rent. Single Family Lease Demand Rises, Foreclosures to Blame? Or Are They? This is good and bad news for investors.  Bad news for investors who want to flip.  The demand for remodeled or renovated homes isn't as abundant as it was before.  Good news for investors looking to make a pr... 11/16/2012

   It's Election Day - be sure to get out and vote. With all the displaced folks in the Northeast, it will be very interesting to see how the polls go. Rest assured, attorneys representing both sides of the aisle will be out in force to be sure there is no fraud and every vote is cast.  How will Election Results Effect Our Interest Rates? As far as interest rates are concerned, it really doesn't matter who wins the Presidential election, as there should not be a meaningful movement one way or the other.  There's a sense that if Obama wins, the Fed accommodation (QE3) will continue as planned, where if Romney wins, maybe QE3 gets unplugged sooner. With the economy limping along, we don't think the Fed is going anywhere, anytime soon – QE Unlimited will continue until the labor market and... 11/06/2012

Are buyer's agents going to become a thing of the past? In my neck of the woods, Southern California, we've had a combination of very low inventory levels, very low interest rates, and a commonly perceived notion that the real estate market hit bottom about 9-12 months ago. The combination of these elements has created a very tight competitive approach for buyers. A by-product of this scenario that I've witnessed is a trend by many buyers to deal directly with the listing agent to represent them on offers to purchase properties. But realistically, I'm not going to point the blame on anyone at this point.  It is what it is. If I have a listing on the SALE of a home, and there is an interested buyer without representation, I personally will not represent the buyer, but I will refer them t... 10/31/2012

Mortgages Rates on a Slight Rise Freddie Mac is reporting mortgage rates are on the rise.....nothing too drastic though.  After record lows, rates this week on a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose from 3.37% last week to 3.41% according to Freddie Mac's latest survey. 15-year fixed-rate home loans rose from 2.66% to 2.72%, based on what mortgage lenders say they are offering to borrowers with 20% down. Mortgages Rates on a Slight Rise It still pays to shop around as a borrower for better rates.  Many pay additional points upfront to lower their rates, this is a good idea in the long run. So eventhough we see rates on the rise again right now, we're still better off than we were four years ago.  A $300,000 30-year mortgage in 2008 at 5.5% requires monthly payments of $1,703.37.  The same loan ... 10/25/2012

Olives Mature in October Check out this Olive Tree in Sherman Oaks CA   Olives in the United States are mostly grown in California. They are typically green in color and they get picked in an unripe state. Then they are lye-cured and ultimately exposed to airs as a way to trigger the oxidation and conversion to a black outer color. Generally water curing, brine curing and lye curing are the most common way to process the olives. Each has a different affect on the color and composition of the olives. A typical Olive three will produce about 150-160 lbs of olives. Olive trees need to be pruned and taken care of including fertilized.       Technically  olives are classified as fruits of the Olea europea tree (a tree that typically lives for hundreds of years) we commonly think of olives no... 10/20/2012

Housing Market Improving in "Sand States"   Keller Williams Calabasas released this blog today and I wanted to share the highlights of it with you.  Here is a link to the full blog entry: http://www.kwcalabasas.com/residential/fdic-reports-housing-market-improvement-in-sand-states/   The Sand States being California, Nevada, Arizona & Florida....oddly enough, the four states with the highest unemployment rates are showing an increase in Real Estate activity as reported by the FDIC. Housing Market Improving in "Sand States" According to the FDIC report and above mentioned blog, California home prices have dropped 1.3% from a year ago, but is an improvement from the 2.2% fall in the first quarter of this year. California's unemployment rate is at an astounding 10.8%, however single-family... 10/17/2012

Big Bank Walks Away from 2nd Mortgages!!!! If you have a 2nd mortgage through Bank of America, you may want to check your mailbox.  According to the TBWS Daily Show, Bank of America has sent out 150,000 letters to consumers informing them their 2nd mortgages have been wiped away.  Too good to be true?  Perhaps, but in a way, it makes sense. Big Bank Walks Away from 2nd Mortgages!!!! Bank of America, as well as any other major bank, has entire departments dedicated to loan modifications.  Money and manhours spent on working with consumers to modify their loans that in all seriousness, might never get resolved, is more wasteful than simply dissolving the loan altogether.  Big Bank Walks Away from 2nd Mortgages!!!! While this might be a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card to these 150,000 consumer... 10/02/2012

Let's admit to the elephant in the room:  Listing agents are manipulating the process to double-pop their listings I've been writing tons of offers for my buyers.  Some of them ridiculously over asking with terms that are just short of pledging their next unborn child into the deal! But Zip!  Zilch!  Nada!   No acceptance. I decided to follow up on a few of these listings as they have closed and pulled up the MLS info after closing, and lo and behold - the same broker was representing the buyer on the deal. Many times the offer I submitted was lightning quick.  We wanted to show the seller we were being aggressive and were stepping up to the plate with all of our I's dotted and T's crossed. Then what?  It seemingly takes forever to get a response, and then when we finally do it's "Well,... 09/30/2012

Homestead Exemptions:  Is it possible to end up with $75,000+ from your short sale or foreclosure? During the last 2 courses I'm completing towards my broker's license, some of the material I'm going through is quite interesting.  I'm going through a section regarding Homesteads, how they work, and the legalities surrounding them. Here is some initial info: A homestead declaration does not restrict or limit any right to convey or encumber the declared homestead. [CCP §704.940]. If a property owner records a declaration of homestead against their primary residence, it in effect drains the property of its equity up to the statutory limit of the homestead. Subsequently, if the owner seeks to borrow against the property, a lender may want the property owner to subordinate the homestead to a... 09/09/2012

Home Prices in CA at 4 Year High!!! In the month of July home sale prices rose for the fourth month in a row resulting in a near 4-year high!  While it's harder to see in certain areas at times, the median prices have been the highest since August 2008.  Of course, this is taking into consideration the houses actually on the market.  Many bank-owned properties get sold without ever being listed.  Home Prices in CA at 4 Year High!!! July was also the 5th straight month that the state's median home price saw both month over month and year over year growth.  According to a report by the California Association of Realtors, the median price of a single family home was $333,860 last month, up 4.2% from $320,540 in June and nearly 13% from the state's July 2011 median which was $296,160. Home ... 08/24/2012

Keller Williams Highest Ranked in Customer Satisfaction by JD Power!!   THIS JUST IN FROM JD POWER & ASSOCIATES....... The 2012 Customer Satisfaction Survey came out and Keller Williams ranks highest in customer satisfaction in both the home-buyer and home-seller segments!   Further, Keller Williams achieves the highest scores in all factors across both segments, including agent/salesperson, which is the most important aspect of the customer experience for home buyers and sellers.   In the home-buyer segment, Keller Williams is followed in the rankings by Prudential. In the home-seller segment rankings, Keller Williams is followed by Coldwell Banker.   I am very proud to be apart of such an outstanding company!  I strive to give my buyers and sellers the best possible experience in the ... 08/17/2012

Please share your recent experience with everyone.  I'm curious to see how things are going with you all. I can tell you that I've had 2 listings close (multiple offers) in the last month that sold for about $30k over asking!!!  These listings were priced from $400-$800k.  So it looks to me like the median market price is doing well on worthwhile properties.   Your opinions? 08/02/2012

Ralph's Helpful Tips:  Holding Deals Together - How to Get Creative Purchasing a home these days is not as simple of a task as most people think.  Even just negotiating the purchase contract has so many more elements now than it used to.  I hear all the time from some of the agents who have been in the business for 20+ years how they used to sign deals on the hood of their car! But going past the point of a mutually accepted offer, there's the huge task of getting through the escrow all the way towards closing.  And I know everyone out there can relate.  We all have had and continue to have our episodes of bumpy escrows. I've been known as a "dog with a bone" when it comes to holding deals together.  I NEVER give up when it starts to get a little turbulent. The key to that is creativity... 07/23/2012

Had to share this article from The Daily News with everyone.  San Fernando Valley Home Sales Leap 25 Percent in May http://business-news.thestreet.com/daily-news/story/san-fernando-valley-home-sales-leap-25-percent-may/1   Home sales in the San Fernando Valley jumped 25 percent in May, the biggest increase in 30 months and a sign that the market may be on the mend, a research center said Thursday. And in another encouraging indicator, the number of properties foreclosed on in May plunged 52.5 percent from a year earlier, said the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge. "This is really good news. Foreclosures are no longer driving the market," said economist William W. Roberts, the center's director. Last month, sales of new and previously... 06/25/2012