Real Estate Information Archive

January 2012 Real Estate Report

There is so much information flying in every direction and at times it seems that it’s all fluff.  If you are getting discouraged with what’s taking place with the value of your home, and you are thinking about throwing in the towel and just getting rid of your home because you owe more than double the amount of what it’s worth in today’s market there is hope for you.  The government released a program that will help many of you who aren’t necessarily struggling financially, but are looking to get out of a home you are paying what too much in payments on. 

The program is called the HARP program and it’s a program that helps home owners who are still current on their home loan refinance with today’s amazingly low interest rates.  It’s not a new program.  It has been around for a little more than a year now but it has been dramatically enhanced.  In the past a homeowner would only be able to refinance if they had a total Loan to Value of 125%.  In other words, if they owed more than 125% of what the home was really worth, they automatically were declined for the HARP program.  Now the Federal Housing Finance Agency has changed the program so that it doesn’t matter how much you owe on the property compared to its current value.  Even if you owe more than double what the house is currently valued at you can still potentially qualify for a refinance. 

We have connections to this type of refinance so please give us a call if you are interested in learning more about it.  Our contact info is at the top of the screen.   

This month was “Community Helpers Month” at Kids Zone pre-school in Santa Fe Springs, CA and today I had the wonderful opportunity to speak about real estate to a group of 3 year old pre-school children.  Believe it or not, I was extremely nervous!  I’ve given real estate presentations to groups of over 50 adults, some of which were top ranking real estate experts from various parts of the U.S. But for some reason giving a presentation to a group of 3 year olds made me sweat.   I can’t say that it wasn’t worth it…The experience brought a HUGE smile to my face and the kids were extremely responsive.  With every question asked to them, came a beautiful smile and lively answer.   

We created a coloring book page out of one our property flyers and changed it up a little so that it said “HOME” really big on the front.  The Crayola website that we used converted the Downey home that we have listed into the perfect coloring page (Shown Above).  We love serving our community any way we can and I hope that I get the opportunity to share about how we help people make big decisions with their most valuable asset in the future! 

With fall fast upon us, the weather is changing. The air is getting cooler and sun rays are being replaced with rain clouds! This change in pace can leave you wondering, "What are we going to do?" Lucky for you Downey offers many options that'll keep you entertained, warm, and dry!

Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon! Columbia Memorial Space Center can take you out of this world for a low adult ticket price of $5! Offering educational and hands on activities based in robotics, flight and space! www.columbiaspacescience.org

For some good time fun that never gets old, check out Del Rio Lanes.  Del Rio Lanes offers everything from snacks to music.  Thursday nights you can go in and see a live band play, show up on a Friday or Saturday night you can participate in Cosmic Bowling. There are activities here for all ages to enjoy! www.delriolanes.com

Dining, shopping, activities! Oh my!  Stonewood Center can be a great spot to get out of the cold and maybe purchase a few sweaters! Boasting over 150 retailers and restraunts, you can stay occupied for hours. Stonewood Center also has an extensive event calendar, be sure to check it and see what special events are going on! www.shopstonewoodcenter.com

You may be trading swimsuits for scarves, but good times can stay with you all year around.  Living in a thriving city allows you to flourish and have fun. The activities are out there for you to participate in, just find them and enjoy!

A community is only what the people of the neighborhood make it. By taking an active role in what our community has to offer and by just getting out of the house and meeting our neighbors, we can build safer neighborhoods and create a real sense of extended family.

Downey is a great city to live in because they offer so many events, classes, and opportunities for it's residents! There is literally an activity everyday of the week!

Every Saturday, right in the heart of downtown Downey from 9am to 1pm, you can visit the Farmers Market.  The Farmers Market is not just a place to purchase produce, you may pick up such delights as gourmet breads and cheeses, specialty oils and fresh flowers.

The second Thursday of every month at the Downey City Library, you can join the Book Lovers Club: Booked For Lunch.  Bring a sack lunch and join other adults in light refreshments and some exciting discussions about the book of the month.

 From September 29- October 16 the Downey Civic Center will be presenting, Singin' In The Rain. The performance is offered by Downey Civic Light Opera Association, and is part of the annual series of Broadway musicals.

This is just a small preview of what the city has to offer. A great resource to you in finding events is www.downeyca.org, they list everything from classes to mixers, to clubs, to big events! You chose to move to your particular city for a reason, now it's important to maintain that relationship.  If no one participated, there would be no community!

Many homeowners who have attempted to do mondifications on their home have told us that when the bank notified them that their loan modification was rejected they were advised by the bank that they have 2 options.  We'll try to clarify those 2 options here. 

When your home enters default it can be a very confusing and scary time. The two options that banks are giving are:  A Deed in Lieu or a Short Sale. Knowing which decision to make can be a difficult one if you don't have the proper knowledge to move forward.

With a Deed in Leiu when you sign over the deed, the property now belongs to the bank, you will need to vacate as soon as possible.  If you do a Short Sale, you can stay in your home while the house is on the market and through out the escrow process.

A Deed in Leiu is basically a voluntary forclosure and unfortunately can reflect as a forclosure on your credit report. A Short Sale will show on your credit report that the debt with your bank has been satisfied, leaving you with the possibility of being able to buy again in as soon as 2 years!

If you have multiple mortgages or liens on your home, the Deed in Lieu may not even be offered as a viable option. With an experienced short sale negotiator, those banks and liens can be worked out and everyone can be taken care of with a Short Sale.

Dealing with these decisions can be a lot for a person or a family, that's why are family is here to assist you and answer any question you may have. It always pays to be informed and we are here to guide you and walk along side you on this journey.  Reach us at 877-883-1003 or 888-746-3811. 

Here is a clear reason why we cannot always assume that the information provided on your local news channel applies to you.  What your local or cable news network doesn't understand is that real estate performs differently depending on the area.  This morning I was watching my local news channel and they mentioned that real estate values in Los Angeles County dropped again for the month of July over 4%.  I wanted to verify this for myself but more specifically, I wanted to see if this was the case in my market area of Downey and the surrounding area. 

After doing my own research, looking at data from SoCal MLS reports I came to the conclusion that values did go down for the month of July when comparing home values from the previous month of June, however they did not go down anywhere near the amount that my local news station mentioned...

According to data directly from SoCal MLS reports, the average sales price in Downey and the surrounding area for the month of July was $306,701.  The average sales price of homes for the month of June was $308,768.  That is only a difference of about $2,000 which translates to a loss of approximately 0.67% if I round up.  That number is nowhere near the figure that I heard on the local news channel this morning.  

 All in all, we're not saying that the data they presented isn't accurate. What we are saying is that if you want to know how real estate values are doing in your area, you need to turn to your local real estate expert for answers.  So we are always here ready to serve you should you ever need assistance with buying or selling your home....

 

By Chris Gonzales

Oh how I miss San Diego!  I spent 4 years going to school at one of the most beautiful campuses known to man, well at least in my opinion, the University of California San Diego.  This month I was able to reminisce on the times I had enjoying the sunny skies, gorgeous temps, and not to mention studying to be a doctor, well maybe not the last one.  As always, we are big on continuing education so we attend the Star Power Systems Real Estate Conference every year to gain more knowledge on how to better serve our clients.   The beauty of this conference is that the classes are actually taught by top producing real estate agents from other market areas.  They freely share their marketing strategies, and systems that they have in place.  Ultimately everything that we learn is used to be able to deliver the best client experience that we can possibly offer. 

We’re going to be implementing a new marketing technique that will hopefully offer an enhanced service to all of our sellers.  Statistics show that when a new homeowner moves into an area, it’s a result of activity that has taken place in that same neighborhood.  That type of activity includes, open houses, a recommendation from a neighbor to a friend or family memeber, flyer distribution, etc.  We are going to implement a new campaign where we deliver 1,000 top quality flyers to promote the listing that we are trying to sell.  We believe this will spark a buzz in the community where our listing is located and that will in turn help us to sell our home faster and more effectively, making our sellers and clients happy.  Keep your eyes peeled for our flyers in your community.  The first area we are going to hit is the city of Downey.  So if you live in Downey I’m sure you will see our marketing pieces. 

There’s great news for real estate this month in Downey and the surrounding area!  To be honest we were getting a little nervous when we saw that for 2 months in a row (March & April, 2011) home values were at approximately $301,000, the lowest since we’ve been tracking home values.  We were unsure of the direction that home values were going to take this summer.  We didn’t know if values would continue to decline, going below $300,000 or not.  Home values actually went up slightly for the months of May and June.  According to MLS reports, May had an average sales price of $306,831, and June had an average sales price of $308,768.  The market is still holding strong as you can see by the graph.

There’s also great news concerning interest rates.  According to bank rate.com interest rates for a 30 year fixed conventional loan are at 4.5% compared to 5.02% back in February.  We highly suggest that if you are interested in buying that you act now!  Don’t wait for interest rates to go up, and definitely don’t wait for prices to increase.       

We have some great information for those concerned about being able to buy a home after selling their home in a short sale.  There have been some sellers that give up hope and just decide to let the bank foreclose on their home.  Most of these sellers are simply misinformed or not informed at all.  We’re here to tell you that a short sale is definitely the way to go if you are in financial hard ship and are struggling to make the payments on your home.  WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU!!!  Above you will see the good news.  We have obtained the information above from the Distressed Property Institute of which we are members and it displays how much time a person must wait in order to be able to qualify to purchase another home if they have sold their current home in a Short Sale.  Keep in mind that every situation is different therefore this is more of a general estimation rather then set in stone.  What we can say for certainty is that the wait to purchase a home if you sell your home in a short sale over a foreclosure is much shorter.  Another thing to note is that the figures above are assuming that the homeowner in distress has only been delinquent on their home loan and no other accounts, credit cards, or loans that they may have. 

One of the benefits of choosing Maria Palacios and Chris Gonzales with “The Mother and Son Team” is the benefit of service after you’ve completed a short sale.  When homeowners choose us to help them with their short sale, we help the homeowner reestablish their credit so that they can buy within the time limits stated above.  The benefits of home ownership are too great to pass up.  No one wants to go back to paying rent so we want to give all of our sellers in Downey and the surrounding area the ability to buy again as soon as they can.