How Builders Are Keeping Up With the Economy It seems that everyone in the real estate business is changing their game up to keep up with the market. Many realtors are marketing more than ever, trying new methods for selling their homes and also trying new ways of remodeling homes for a higher sale price. However realtors aren’t the only ones in the business stepping up their game, builders have also jumped on the bandwagon. And with the low inventory the market is currently experiencing many builders have increased their productivity as well as changing how they build homes. Here is a list of some of the things builders have incorporated into their projects due to the economy. Energy Efficiency: with fuel costs on the rise contractors are now making their homes more energy efficient an... 04/27/2012

Mapping Out Sonoma County's Real Estate How things have been going.. Hey all you real estate sellers and buyers out there,  it’s always my goal to ensure my investors, borrowers and buyers are informed on all the market trends. I want all of my clients to be well aware that they are making the right decision to buy or invest and I do this through statistics and facts. Here’s the newest tool I’ve found for purchasing, selling or investing in Sonoma County real estate. Link to the Graph. This graph is from RedFin.com and allows you to see several trends within the market to compare your options. The options for trends to view are price of the listing vs. it’s square footage, what it was actually sold for vs. square footage, the sale-list percentage, the amount for sale on the market and t... 04/26/2012

Here's the Scoop on Flips What to look for and what to avoid.. As anyone who’s searching for a home knows, it’s nearly impossible to find a move-in ready home that’s still affordable. This is why flipped homes are on the rise. However, there are “flipped homes” that claim to be remodeled and the remodel is purely cosmetic, leaving the buyers with work still needing to be done on the home. So why should you care if it’s a “flip” and how do you sort out the good from the bad? The research is not very difficult and is very worthwhile to invest time and energy into if you’re considering buying a flipped home. I’ve compiled a list from my own knowledge as well as an article that covered all the bases I didn’t. You can find the article information at the bottom of the page (Article Title: “No... 04/26/2012

Banks' New Plan for Relief The Details They've Released Hopefully by now all of you are updated on the Obama’s newest bailout plan for homeowners underwater because of their bank loan. Some home owners have also been put into an interesting position because of the consistently dropping home prices. This could be the right time to refinance! I read an article this morning in CNN Money and it shed some light on the subject. The article is titled “Underwater owners get promise of help” and was written by Ryan Derousseau. These banks have decided to help those home owners underwater: Bank ofAmerica, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally. They have pledged themselves to at least $3 billion worth of refinancing for “customers current on underwater mortgages still held by the banks”. However... 04/17/2012

New Updates on the FHA Loan   What You Need to Know       Anyone buying a home today is well aware of how difficult it is to obtain a loan. It may very well be the most difficult aspect of purchasing a home - getting the funding to do so. Sadly, according to an article provided by CNN Money, FHA lenders are about to make it even more difficult to borrow money to buy a home.       As of April 1st (no April Fools, promise!) borrowers involved in disputes with creditors over debts of over $1000 might not qualify for an FHA insured loan. The credit score might not have much to do with it either. So if you have pristine credit but owe $1000 on a single charge you could be denied your loan.       Before this new standard it was up to the individual lenders to decide whether they would lend to... 04/13/2012

  Appraisals The Inside Scoop Appraisals are an undeniably large part of home purchase transactions. If you’re selling a home your Agent and/or Lender will probably insist that you get an appraisal. An appraisal by definition is just “an opinion of the value of your home based on what similar homes in your area have sold for in recent months.” Because the appraisal is essentially a best guess estimate a lot of sellers and buyers wonder what the parameters are for an appraisal.   I must add to the below list and information that I have had great success in doing 2 simple actions for an Appraiser:   #1. Remove the lock box and meet the Appraiser at the home.   #2. Provide the Appraiser with a list of any renovations or upgrades including the values of the upgrades. If none done, you can a... 04/13/2012

LENDER’S VIEWPOINT By Broker, Forest Tardibuono New and Improved Hard Money     Realtors take note... I recently saw a Wall Street Journal article Explaining the Methods of Hard-Money Lenders (written July 21, 2011).  It begins with "As banks continue tightening their purse strings..." which is the theme of the article.  The article mentioned the increased use of Hard Money due to the "...tight lending these days..." of institutional lenders.  It then goes on to explain the fact that the loans are concerned with "asset valuations and loan to value-ratios."…."There's no red tape."…. "Because there is little bureaucracy when compared with big banks, deals can be approved and closed in just a few days." This article points out the reality that Hard Money is a very real option for borrowers... 04/05/2012

"Good-to-Know"  Facts About the FHA Loan   Spring is here and the market is soaring upward. Prices are affordable, interest rates are rock bottom and competition for real estate is high. However, many buyer’s main concern is getting a loan. Banks and other lending institutions are not making it easy on those with bad credit or a past foreclosure or short sale. So as a remedy to some of your loan woes here are some great tips to keep in mind for FHA loans. I got these tips from a product series at Princeton Capital, another residential mortgage lender. These are some of the good ones:  100% Gift allowed for down payment and closing cost. Allowed to pay revolving and installment loans to qualify. Bankruptcy – Chapter seven: two years from discharge; chapter thirteen: twelve months on time... 04/05/2012

Want to Buy But Don't Know Where to Start?  Home Buying Tips are Here! It’s no secret that now is the critically acclaimed time to be purchasing a home. The good interest rates and rock bottom house prices are being sung by agents everywhere. Bottom line: Buying a home in today's market is a smart decision. But where to begin? Is it better to begin looking for a home and then apply for a loan? How much can you expect a down payment to be? Should you schedule a home inspection? With all of this buying and selling of real estate with inexperienced buyers I’d like to offer some good tips on where to start when looking for a home. After all it’s the agents you should turn to for information right? Especially ones who have been in the business through the ups and downs, for many years, like ... 04/03/2012

Tips for First-Time Home Buyers With the unique position our housing market is in many buyers who have been previously on the side lines are now jumping into the fray trying to purchase a home. Many of those who have been on the sidelines are first time homebuyers and don’t know where to begin when purchasing a home. Today’s helpful tips comes from the article “First-Time Buyer Tips” by Phoebe Chongchua. Firstly you must know what your credit score is. With all the standards that banks and other lending agencies have you might as well know where you stand on the scoreboard. Knowing is half the battle! Then you can decide where to go from there, if you want to get a hard money loan or a standard 30 year fixed rate loan. Start saving now. Whether you have the downpayment already or not. N... 03/30/2012

Housing Market Heating Up This Spring Could be the Best Season! There has been talk cropping up in the media about the housing market picking up speed.  It looks like this Spring could be the best home buying season in years. This article by Morgan Brennan in Forbes magazine tells all.   There are several reasons why this Spring is looking to be so good for thehousing market, one of which being the “elevated level of contract offers so far this year”. While February experienced a quick decrease in home sales the numbers are still higher than they were this time last year: 9.2% higher in fact. Because of this increased demand from the buyers, inventory on the market has decreased significantly. These levels are estimated at 2.43 million homes available for sale, 19% lower than they were ... 03/29/2012

Updating Your Home to Increase its Value What you can do inside a budget Whether you’re looking to increase the value of your home for sale, looking for a home to renovate and then rent or if you simply want to increase the value of your home for possible later sale, people all over are looking to renovate their home(s). It’s also important for people looking to purchase a home to look for ways they can increase the value of their new home. Here is a list based on Bankrate.com’s Home Buyer’s Guide to help brainstorm ideas: Update the kitchen:  If you’re renovating your home start here! Buyers today are looking for solid good quality countertops like granite. They’re also looking for sturdy high-quality flooring. This would include flooring such as wood, laminate, tile or stone. New appl... 03/29/2012

Pride of Ownership How to attain it I know many people have been discouraged by the past several years we’ve had in the market, but the truth is that the American Dream is still to own your own home. Having Pride of Ownership is still a prized goal in this country.  Sure there will be a couple other goals in between, college, getting a good job, finding that right someone and settling down. But tied up in this mess is the want and need to no longer have to write checks to a landlord, you’re now free to call a space your own and do what you want with it. Here at Sun Pacific Mortgage and Real Estate we believe strongly in this need to own your own home, especially when this is still a buyer’s market. Having trouble getting a loan? Give us a call and we’ll discuss your options with Hard Mo... 03/16/2012

Foreclosures Fall 8%, New Wave Expected How it will affect the market One of the plagues of today’s market continues to be foreclosures. It’s a word that makes many home owners shudder and a feeling of malcontent while to others it’s a “blessing” for they can possibly afford to buy this home for their family. I read an article this morning in Realty Mag with some [encouraging ] news about foreclosures and their percentages falling. First, however, we need to understand why foreclosures are more likely than not worse for the economy than not. It doesn’t just affect the previous owners of the home, but it also affects the bank that held the mortgage, the value in your neighborhood and the market in general. Let me explain why:  Say you’re living in a neighborhood where houses are going fo... 03/16/2012

Living in California Ain't Cheap.... ...When You're Renting  I may start out seeming pessimistic but it’s really just a point I’m trying to make - with the main factors appearing at the middle of this blog, proving it’s not just optimism at work but real statistical figures and rationale in today’s market. California is one of the most sought after states not just to vacation to, but also to live in. It was a main focus for all the Dharma Bums from the sixties, where the country looks for progressive thinking and economic updates, probably has the most music attached to it and one of the most populated states in this great nation.  So it’s no wonder that the cost of living here is not cheap, nor is it even kind of expensive.. it’s very expensive. California is so highly sought after for... 03/15/2012

Breaking Through Scientific Barriers In Marketing DNA Now a Marketing Tool?             What if marketing companies could do a scan of your DNA and figure out all the information they could ever need about a single person? What if you could be made a statistic out of for about $10 and not have to answer a single question about your tastes or your life in general? Well get ready folks cause we’re on the frontier of such technology. Forbes came out with an article two days ago on the eleventh titled “Marketing to Your DNA: The Next Frontier for Privacy” written by Haydn Shaughnessy delving deeper into this subject. According to the facts in this article social media today is claiming they can use your personal genetic code as a marketing tool.           According to Rohn Jay Miller, autho... 03/13/2012

Housing Relief Plan and Banks How They’re Going to Start Helping the Market   The good news continues and I’m feeling more and more confident about the housing market by the day. Two fantastic pieces of news fell into my lap this morning that have me feeling very hopeful… We all know that banks, especially in this past year, have not been doing their due diligence toward their borrowers and potential borrowers. These two articles are the latest updates about banks moving forward to try and fix the problems they’ve caused for many homeowners and first time homebuyers.  The first article is by Krista Franks Brock and is titled “Housing Crisis to End in 2012 as Banks Loosen Credit Standards”. For obvious reasons this caught my immediate attention. So far the analytics firm has noted an ave... 03/09/2012

12 Great Real Estate Tips Guaranteed to Work!   We are well into the first quarter of 2012 and it seems, as predicted, that the market is on the verge of an upward spiral again. There have been numerous signs economically and within the market that point to greener pastures in the real estate business this year – for everyone. As I’ve said before, the market is in a unique and interesting place… Until now it’s been almost entirely a Buyer’s market; prices are affordable, interest rates are down to rock bottom and competition has been low. However, in recent weeks it’s been quite the opposite with competition getting heavier and heavier. Offers are rolling in fast for homes and Listing Agents are trying to keep up! Here’s a nifty list of tips for home sellers. I hope this will help you w... 03/08/2012

Flipper Chicks Have a New Listing!  Quaint Remodel in Santa Rosa Here’s your Sneak Preview of this rejuvenated three bedroom one bath “original farmhouse” at 2301 Donahue Ave. (directions: Occidental Rd. to Brittain to Donahue).  It sits on a big lot of 6,534 sq. ft. with flowery new landscaping.  The backyard is spacious and is perfect for gardening or summertime barbeques and get-togethers.  This home also offers a large living room with a toasty fireplace, two bedrooms with one full bathroom upstairs and one bedroom or office on the main floor.  It’s renovated and remodeled with a new roof, new flooring, new appliances, new paint inside and out…and it’s CLEAN and move in ready!  It boasts original and charismatic kitchen cabinets, doors, knobs and floor layout.  More photos and a vir... 02/16/2012

Daily Smile Source Great Updates on the Market           Happy Valentine's Day! I’m not sure where everyone else receives their daily smile from, but mine is usually associated with the Upbeat Times in Sonoma County. They always have good news and interesting facts and jokes… Always a good read. For instance today I learned that Inca’s, the ancient society in Peru, were considered officially wed only when “they took off their sandals and handed them to each other.” Awesome Valentine’s Day quote, huh?            However what Really caught my eye was the article right next door to this fun and endearing little factoid titled “THE Mortgage Coach ~ Home Buying: Getting Pre-approved”. As a business owner and loan officer I always like to keep my eyes open for what other loan officers or othe... 02/14/2012