Orange County’s Priciest Homes!
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Pro-Active vs. Re-Active
What do you want?
Every day conversations in real estate begin as something similar to one of the following:
“What’s my house worth?”, “How do I keep from losing my home?”, ‘How do I get pre-approved to buy a home?”, “How long will this short sale take?” “Can a low ball the seller?”, “I want a deal.”
When it comes down to it, it really depends on what it is you want and what are you willing to get what you want? Do you want to move quick, get a “killer” deal, move in 6 months, flip a property for a profit, buy a safe, secure home for you and your family?
Anything is possible in today’s real estate environment. Make sure you know what it is you want and you explain that to your Realtor and that your Realtor is actually looking out for what YOU WANT! Make sure that is the emphasis of most conversations!!!
Latest Interest Rates
I just received this information from Joe Kramer with Alpine Mortgage. Joe and I have been working together for the last 18 years. If you are in the market of buying a home or refinancing your current home, take a look at these rates and give Joe a call at (714) 396-1338. Joe specializes in FHA and Conventional financing. He is the best mortgage broker I’ve worked with.
FHA (below $417,000 loan amount)
30 yr fixed 15 yr fixed 5yr fixed
4.75% 0 pts 4.25% 0pts 3.50 0pts
FHA (above $417,000 loan amount to $720,000)
30 yr fixed 15 yr fixed 5 yr fixed
4.875% 0 pts 4.25 0pts 3.750 0pts
Conventional (below $417,000 loan amount)
30 yr fixed 15 yr fixed 5 yr fixed
5.125% 0pts 4.5% 0 pts 3.875% 0pts
Conventional (above $417,000 loan amount to $720,000)
30 yr fixed 15 yr fixed 5 yr fixed
5.25 0 pts 4.75% 0pts 4.00% 0 pts
La Mirada Statistics
Looking at the statistics of a small part of La Mirada (Imperial, Rosecrans, Biloa and Valley View), it’s clear that not only prices are continuing to drop, but the days that it take for homes to enter into escrow are dropping. It is taking less time to sell a home vs. just a couple of years ago. Our average price currently in this particular area is $384,000. This includes standard sales, short sales and bank owned sales.
| (106) | List Price | Days on Market | Selling Price | BR | BA | Year Built | SqFt | Lot SqFt |
| Min | 255,000 | 255,000 | 3 | 1.00 | 1953 | 1,060 | 3,900 | |
| Max | 575,000 | 364 | 510,000 | 6 | 4.00 | 1976 | 2,531 | 15,420 |
| Avg | 381,218 | 62 | 384,220 | 3 | 2.12 | 1957 | 1,512 | 7,202 |
Field Guide to Short Sales
A field guide to short sales is essential in navigating the waters with the bank when you find yourself either upside down with regards to your home’s value or behind on your monthly payments.
If you find yourself in either spot, take a look at http://www.realtor.org/library/library/fg335 for answers that may help you. It’s important to find someone that can help you through the entire process (between 4 – 7 months in some cases) that has a history of actually closing short sale escrows. Finding a buyer is just the beginning. Keeping the buyer for the length of time it takes the short sale lender to approve the process is an entire different and more difficult challenge that should not be left to novices.
Beautiful 4 Bedroom for Sale ~ $439,000
Non-Owner Occupied Co-Borrower
Are you looking into buying a home? Are you going to have someone help you buy a home as a co-borrower? Before you go any further, you must watch this video. It talks about the importance of making sure you have the right person in your life helping you. Very interesting insights!
Tips for today’s home buyer
Today’s real estate market seems to be increasingly difficult for home buyers to navigate the waters of obtaining a loan. Here are a few tips that will make it easier for you.
1. Get your credit in order. Lenders are requiring a minimum FICO score of 620 in most cases. Do what ever you can on your own or with a credit repair company to get your score as high as possible. The higher your FICO score, the lower your interest rate.
2. Steady income. Lenders must see proof of your income, now and in the past. They want to be possitive they are lendeing to someone with a good track record of earned income.
3. Steady employment. Be ready to prove that you currently have a job, you’ve had it for some time, and it’s a job that you will not be losing any time soon. The lenders are very worried about lending to someone that may lose their job and income soon.
4. Debt to income ration. The cap, in most cases, of your debt to income ration is 45%. Obviusly lenders want to see “the numbers”. They want to see that your debt does not exceed 45% of your income.
5. Down payment, reserves and closing costs. Have your money in order. You will need a down payment, minimum of 3 1/2% down. The higher your down payment, the better for the lender and the lower your monthly payment. Closing costs usually run between 2 and 3% of the purchase price. This can sometimes be covered by the seller, but not in all situations. A lot of lenders want to see 2 or 3 months of payment reserves in the bank. It shows that you will be able to sustain the payments (at least for the first few months).
6. Be prepared and patient. Be prepared with all of the above and the knowledge that their will be many hoops to jump through even if you are the perfect borrower. Between paperwork, documentation, updated bank statement and paycheck stubs and more, it can seem overwhelming at times. Become educated in the market and the system in today’s market, be patient with the process, and enjoy your new home.
