203k-Fixer Upper Loans-by FHA Funds for Handyman-Specials and Fixer-Uppers Purchasing a home that needs repair is often a sticky situation, because the bank won't loan you the money to purchase the house until the repairs are finished. But, the repairs can't be done until the house has been purchased. This is where 203k-Fixer Upper Loans come in. HUD's 203(k) program will help you fixer upper types with this catch 22 situation and allow you to purchase and include in the loan the funs you need to make the repairs and improvements. And like a traditional FHA loan, the down payment requirement for an owner-occupant is approximately 3.5% of the purchase price coupled with the repair costs of the property. Looking for a fixer upper and want to use the 203k-Fixer upper loans by FHA? Here are... 07/30/2011

Los Angeles Realtor Monica Lopez The best of Silver Lake Realtors Los Angeles Realtor Monica Lopez is passionate about helping Los Angeles first-time home buyers find and purchase their first home. A longtime resident of the Los Angeles Eastside for over 10 years, Monica is one of the premier Silver Lake Realtorsand well-acquainted with the Silverlake, Atwater Village, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, Mt. Washington and Highland Park areas. Monica reflects back to buying her first home, which inspired her to enter the Real Estate business and become a Los Angeles Realtor. Understanding firsthand the fears and challenges in taking those first steps into home ownership fuel her excitement in working with Los Angeles First Time Home buyers who are looking to own their first home. “I thought I’d neve... 07/30/2011

FHA Approved-Finding FHA approved condos & FHA approved homes Los Angeles What a great Loan program FHA is, you can get into a home with as little as 3.5% down and have the seller pay your closing cost! But of course, FHA is one of the most challenging loans when it comes to actually finding FHA Approved homes & FHA approved condos and then getting the seller to accept your offer. Believe me I know the challenges of finding properties that are FHA approved. Ninety percent of my current buyers are utilizing FHA loans. But I will tell you this; they are typically in escrow within 4 weeks, mostly within 2 weeks! The bottom line is, DON'T GIVE UP on finding FHA approved homes and condos. So what's the challenge with FHA? • Finding homes that are FHA approved (not all are) • Finding Sellers... 07/27/2011

Ivanhoe Elementary School in Silver Lake is one of the best kindergarten through 5th grade schools in the LA Unified School System.  This school draws families into Silver Lake in hopes of being able to buy a home within its boundaries and take advantage of a great public school education. According to GreatSchools.org, Ivanhoe Elementary “is among the few public elementary schools in California to receive a distinguished GreatSchools Rating of 10 out of 10.This school has an average Community Rating of 5 out of 5 stars, based on reviews from 39 school community members.”  GreatSchools.org is a leading source of information on school performance and includes thousands of parent ratings and reviews. It has become a go-to guide for people looking to find the best school to fit their needs... 07/21/2011

SB 458 SB 458-Excellent news for California homeowners who must short sale their home Kudos to California Governor Jerry Brown for signing SB 458 (Corbett) into law protecting California homeowners who must short sale their home from lenders pursuing them after the short sale closes. What does SB 458 mean for you California homeowner? In the past… Under previous law (SB 931 of 2010), while a first mortgage holder (if you have two loans, this is usually the larger of the two) may accept a short sale as full payment for the outstanding balance of the loan, the rule did not apply to junior lien holders (the smaller of the two loans). But now thanks to SB 458 … When lender has agreed to a short sale on a home, SB 458 insures that all lien holders (the first and second loans) must consider t... 07/21/2011

The news is full of how it’s a buyer’s market all over and buyers have all the power when it comes to buying real estate.  Is there a buyer’s market in Silver Lake?  A buyers’ markets exist when there are more properties for sale than there are buyers to buy them. Such a situation tends to push prices down and give buyers the upper hand in negotiations but does this situation exist in Silver Lake and surrounding areas? You’ve probably heard that real estate is local. The conditions in one city do not necessary match those of another.  Silver Lake itself seems to be split into both a buyer’s market AND a seller’s market.  Silver Lake has a good number of properties on the market for sure. However, there are also a lot of buyers out there looking at them. For those properties that are wel... 07/20/2011

How to short sale How to short sale your home. While a Short Sale is and excellent option for home owners that want to avoid foreclosure, it is by no means a “short” process nor is it something that can be done by yourself. You must enlist the expertise of a short sale listing agent. Why is that? The lender who holds the loan on the property will require that you list with a Realtor or the short sale will not be processed. Lenders do not will allow sellers to represent themselves in a short sale, the liability is way too high. A short sale real estate agent will know how to short sale your home. They will have the required disclosures and the cutting edge marketing tools available to market your home and bring a buyer that is willing to wait out the short sale process. The short sale li... 07/20/2011

Short sale benefits Short sale benefits- Are there short sale benefits? Sure there are, in fact one of the largest benefits is avoiding foreclosure. Short sale benefits such as avoiding foreclosure are a motivating factor for many homeowners who are upside down on their loans.  Their main concern (and rightly so) is escaping the huge hit to their credit score that a foreclosure would entail.  Short sales typically take a smaller “hit” to the FICO score verses foreclosure. Other short sale benefits: HAFA offers $3k in relocation expenses. The government backed HAFA short sale program offers short t sellers $3,000 in relocation expenses as one of their short sale benefits. Peace of mind. No more phone calls and hugely reduced stress levels are huge short sale benefits. A fresh start. Wipi... 07/18/2011

Should I short sale? This is a question on top of the minds of many homeowners that are in over their heads in debt and their properties are no longer worth what they owe on their home. Here are some questions I ask sellers when they ask me: Should I short sale? Do you want to avoid foreclosure? Have you lost your job or seen a significant reduction in your pay? Do you have any medical conditions that are preventing you from working or creating a financial burden? Is the interest rate on your loan ballooning and making your payments out of reach? Have you exhausted all efforts to modify your loan? Has your partner or spouse passed away? Has your job or other circumstanced required you to relocate to another city or state? Are you concerned with your credit score?   Avoiding foreclosure ... 07/17/2011

Does short sale stop foreclosure Does short sale stop foreclosure -In Most cases it does stop the foreclosure process. At the very least it slows it down long enough to give your agent time to put off the sale date in order to secure a buyer. Why is that? Because lenders know that a foreclosure is usually a far more time consuming and costly option. If your agent can successfully complete a short sale your lender has saved a lot of time and thousands of dollars. How long does it take to foreclose a property in California? Depending on the timing of the various required notices, it usually takes around 90 days. Remember though, a short sale by no means is a fast sale so if this is the option you choose to take, do yourself a huge favor and get the process started immediately. To date, th... 07/15/2011

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Silver Lake area, you are most likely curious about the current Silver Lake real estate market. Well priced Silver Lake homes are selling relatively quickly with many of the more desirable properties selling in multiple offers. That said, there are still some sellers who are not being realistic about their asking price. Such homes linger on the market until reality sets in or the property listing is withdrawn or expires. There is not a particularly large inventory homes for sale in the area right now. The MLS shows the current active listing inventory of single family Silver Lake homes to be 67, which coincidentally, is the same number of homes that have sold in the first half of the year. The follow chart shows Silver Lake Real Estate Mar... 07/13/2011

2410 W Silver Lake Dr. is a two-story Mid-Century home near the Silver Lake Reservoir Built in 1957, this mid-century Silver Lake home boasts 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on a flat lot over 8,000 sf. If you are looking for a large family home a short walk from both Silver Lake Reservoir and Ivanhoe Elementary School, this could be your golden opportunity. This 3200 sf home was designed by Gilbert Lester Leong, a pioneering Chinese American architect who designed residential and commercial buildings throughout Los Angeles. Leong co-designed the interior court and authentic Chinese garden in the Pacific Asian Museum in Pasadena. The family who originally commission Leong to design this home in 1957 still owes the property! That’s pretty rare for a home in Los Angeles. My imagination really ... 07/11/2011

HAFA program-The huge numbers of foreclosures in the US is simply too big to ignore. That is why a government-backed program has been released that aims at streamlining the short sale process. Short sales are honorable solutions to foreclosure, and now the government is making them easier, quicker and more accessible through the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, or HAFA. With one in seven homeowners struggling to make loan payments, distressed homeowners are not alone, and there are Home Foreclosure Alternatives available. Here are some Bullet Points on the HAFA Short Sale program.     HAFA Eligibility At present, the home owner is eligible if all the following HAFA rules are met: • Property is borrower's principal residence • Loan is a 1st lien mortgage • Originated be... 07/09/2011

Los Angeles Short Sale Specialist|Munson Montejano Realty's Short Sales department is a group of real estate/property advisers, escrow agents and title representatives with the intention to streamline the short sale process.  Our goal is to create a win-win scenario for “you”, the homeowner and your lender. Our team of experts has helped countless distressed sellers through the stressful threat of foreclosure. We close short sales and save homeowners from foreclosure where others fail. We will be very direct in telling you that we cannot guarantee we will save you from your “auction sale date” but we do have a 92% successes ratio. To date, the only reason we have not been able to successfully close on a short sale is because the seller has reached out to us too late. In California, you ... 07/09/2011

Short Sale Vs. Foreclosure-How Does Each affect your credit? There's no doubt that you will take a hit to your credit score when you choose to Short Sale vs. Foreclosure. The implications are clear though, a short sale will impact your credit much less than a foreclosure. Here's how the borrower or homeowners credit and ability to buy in the future may effected by each Short Sale: How does a short sale affect Your FICO/Credit Score? With a short sale, there may be less of an impact on your credit score, especially if you maintain your other debt obligations. Fair Isaac (FICO)says that your score may be compromised by 40-135 Points When Can you Buy again? Now you may feel like you never want to own home again but that will pass. Eventually you will want to buy another property and with a... 07/09/2011

For over 36 years Say Cheese has been charming Silver Lake with its cheese, chocolate, champagne, and charcuterie. Those of us Silver Lake folks who trot over to Trader Joes on Hyperion need only stop in next door for even more variety. A full-service cheese shop, Say Cheese provides a gourmet array of cheeses, meats, and olives, does special event catering, and has a charming café that is open for lunch and breakfast for the Silver Lake crowd and visitors alike. Know a lactose intolerant cheese lover who stays away from cow’s milk? Love goat and sheep cheeses, both hard and soft? You’ll find it all at Say Cheese. Owner, Glenn Harrell, lives in Silver Lake too- we were actually neighbors for five years! Picnic and Gift Baskets Say Cheese also assembles picnic baskets and gift baskets. T... 07/08/2011

$3,000 to Sellers for HAFA Short Sale Relocation Assistance The government Short Sale program, Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program, offer $3K in relocation assistance to distressed homeowners. You may be eligible if: • Property is borrower's principal residence. • Loan is a 1st lien mortgage. • Originated before Jan 1, 2009. • Mortgage is delinquent or default is reasonably foreseeable. • Current unpaid balance is equal to or less than $729,750 Advantages to you: Lender waives rights to any deficiency judgments Video explanation of the HAFA $3K Relocation Incentive   To see if your lender is a participating servicer in this government program (HAFA) contact us at: Local (323) 216-9671 Toll Free (877) 636-0444 Spanish (877) 431-4432 Copyright © 2011 By Stephen Munson ... 06/23/2011

If you live in Silver Lake or Los Feliz you are lucky to have so many great places to shop, dine and enjoy life. Don’t drive west for dinner, drive east to Leela Thai. Located at 1737 Silver Lake Boulevard, the branch of the boulevard that begins south of the Silver Lake Reservoir and the Silver Lake Meadow and migrates to the east of it, Leela Thai provides delicious food for a good price in an arty atmosphere. There are literally over a hundred reviews of Silver Lake's own Leela Thai on Yelp plus more on Urban Spoon. Very cool for the Silver Lake crowd to be getting noticed for good food as well as great music and indy films. Even the L.A. Times declares this Silver Lake Thai restaurant as “cheap and delicious”. Leela Thai has had a love affair as big as an elephant with Silver Lake d... 06/21/2011

Los Angeles First Time Home Buyer -Yelp Testimonial-This was taken directly from our Yelp Ratings. Thanks for the 5 star rating Muriel, you were a lot of fun to work with! "First time buyer....Stephen is the right combination of "giving you space", and "OK, you need to make a decision". He always says: "remember I'm on your side, no matter what, great news or bad, just let me know what's going on so I could do the best possible thing for you.", which is exactly what I needed! I needed my space but also needed to be guided with a little "push" through the process.... I tried a few Realtor before him, and 1 was really pushy, 1 was too slack, 1 was too much attitude....I never knew how hard it was to find a GREAT realtor, until I dealt with Stephen AND Luis ( who was equally nice, caring a... 06/20/2011

 Short SaleTestimonial-From our Discreet and Confidential Short Sale Program-This testimonal was take directly from our Yelp Ratings. From all of us at Munson Montejano Real Estate, thanks Paul, it was a pleasure working with you too.   "One of the heaviest moments in my life was when I realized that I faced the very real possibility that I may lose my home to foreclosure. Not only was it a blow to my ego but I was really embarrassed that the neighbors would know about my situation. I decided that I wanted to salvage the most I could of my credit score and would go for a short sale. A friend of mine opened up to me and told me of the "discreet" or "stealth" short sale that her realtors had offered her. Those realtors turned out to be Stephen Munson & Luis Montejano and his team. They h... 06/18/2011