Welcome to the "Z" Team!

Good news to share! Concerns over housing and the economy are subsiding, according to Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey from February.

An improving job market is a big part of what’s behind Americans feeling more confident about the housing market and the direction of the economy, according to the survey.

“The pickup in the pace of hiring over the past few months has helped soothe consumer concerns, lifting their moods regarding their personal finances, the direction of the economy, and their views on the housing market,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae. “As a result, we’ve seen more potential for economic upside, creating a more balanced near-term outlook.”

The survey found that 28 percent of Americans expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months while 53 percent say prices will likely stay the same. Fifteen percent say they expect home prices to decline.

With low mortgage rates and falling home prices, 70 percent of those surveyed say now is a good time to purchase a home. Also, more Americans surveyed say now is a good time to sell, rising to 13 percent in February, which is the highest level in more than a year but still low by historic standards. Please share your thoughts.

Source: Fannie Mae

California median home price: January 2012: $268,280 (Source: California Association of Realtors, C.A.R.)

Highest median home price by region/county January 2012: Marin, $694,440 (Source: C.A.R.)

Lowest median home price by region/county January 2012: Tehama, $110,000 (Source: C.A.R.)

Pending Home Sales Index: January 2012: 102.4, an increase from the revised 93.1 recorded in January 2011

Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Fourth quarter 2011: 55 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 3/1/2012 30-yr. fixed: 3.90% fees/points: 0.8% 15-yr. fixed: 3.17 fees/points: 0.8% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.72% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

Here’s some interesting news to share with you! California’s attorney general has requested that the Federal Housing Finance Agency suspend foreclosure sales in the state for home owners with government-backed mortgages. 

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has requested that home owners with loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac get a temporary reprieve from foreclosures while housing regulators conduct reviews of whether at-risk home owners are eligible to have the amount they owe on their mortgage reduced. 

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have stated in the past that they’re opposed to mortgage principal reductions. The FHFA, which regulates Fannie and Freddie, has said that any such program would cost taxpayers $100 billion. 

More than half a million Californians have lost their home to foreclosure since 2008. What’s more, another half a million are in foreclosure or at “imminent” risk this year. Fannie and Freddie guarantee or own more than 60 percent of mortgages in California. 

Source: “California Seeks Suspension of Foreclosures,” Associated Press (Feb. 27, 2012) and “California AG Seeks Foreclosure Suspension,” MarketWatch (Feb. 27, 2012)

We get these questions and would like to share our thoughts about this dilemma.  Some home owners who are underwater may not know their alternatives.

The “Cash for Keys” is a program that banks do for some home owners. The “new twist” you’ll be hearing more about is “Cash to Short Sale”. Lenders are figuring out that if there is anything they can do to make a deal happen, they need to do it. This apparently is what is starting to take place with people that are trying to “short sale” their homes. Instead of “Cash for Keys” to homeowners that lose their homes to foreclosure. This was not offered to home owners who were trying to short sale their home. Often the banks would basically give them a certain time to complete the short sale until they foreclosed.

Now because of tight lending practices, new buyers would take so long to qualify, it is often “too little, too late” to close escrow before foreclosure.  When that happens it seems everybody loses. The lenders lost a willing & able buyer and the seller because, now, not only did they lose their home to a foreclosure, but also because a foreclosure was now on their credit report instead of a short sale. (It may be better to have a short sale than a foreclosure on a credit report?) Plus, the buyer may or may not wait until the home came back on the market at a later date.

Other information at: www.dougandbudzeller.com or zteam4u@gmail.com

A study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition has found that for every 100 families considered “extremely low income,” there are only 30 affordable units available to rent nationwide. “Extremely low income” renters are considered those who earn less than 30 percent of the median income in the metro area which they live. 

The NLIHC has called for more affordable rentals to meet the growing demands of low-income families. It will be interesting to see what happens! Please provide comments?  

The number of extremely low income renters has grown in recent years. In 2010, the number swelled to 9.8 million — nearly a quarter of all renters nationwide.  

“What we’ve seen is a decline in the home ownership rate since 2008, and we’ve seen rent being pushed up,” pushing rent out of each for more low income people, says Sheila Crowley, NHLIHC chief executive. (For nearly a quarter of all renters nationwide)  

The problem appears to be the most evident where the largest gaps exist between the rich and poor, such as in states like Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Oregon according to the study. Our “Northern California” region is near the top!

“There’s no doubt that there’s a gap, and it’s significant, and it’s getting worse,” said Becky Koepnick, an adviser to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. (As many of us know)

Source: “Lowest-Income Renters Left Behind in Housing Crisis,” The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 15, 2012)

Here’s the “good news” from the weekly mortgage market survey. Rates continue to hover at record lows, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage staying at the record low of 3.87 percent since the first week of February, Freddie Mac reports. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among home buyers, has been below 4 percent for the past 11 weeks. 

A closer look at mortgages rates for the week ending Feb. 16: 

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.87 percent, with an average 0.8 point, matching last week’s average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 5 percent. 

15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.16 percent, with an average 0.8 point, also matching last week’s average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 4.27 percent. 

5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.82 percent this week, with an average 0.8 point, dropping slightly from last week’s 2.83 percent average. Last year, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.87 percent. 

Source: Freddie Mac

“Mom and pop investors” are trying to capitalize on a depressed real estate market in the hopes of one day being able to cash in. An article in USA Today highlights this new breed of small-scale investors who like to buy and hold properties, opposed to the high-dollar large investment firms that once dominated the real estate market who preferred to buy and flip their property investments. 

For “mom and pop investors,” the strategy is to buy homes at rock-bottom prices, rent the properties out to cover costs of home ownership for several years, and then one day sell the homes when prices recover. “An unprecedented number of investors are looking into this,” John Burns, CEO OF John Burns Real Estate Consulting, told USA Today. We find some buy for eventual relocation to another area for retirement.

For investors in the rental market, an 8 percent annual return is fairly normal, according to Burns. “That means that someone who buys a $100,000 property — and pays cash for it — makes $8,000 a year after expenses, including maintenance and taxes,” the USA Today article notes. 

The threats of tenant or maintenance issues may be the potential to derail that potential profit, so investors need to be careful. Many of the investors we work with are cautious and seek advice from their real estate agent, property managers or other experts. 

Source: “Mom and Pop Investors Propping Up Home-Buying Market,” USA Today (Feb. 14, 2012)

Thought these points would be of interest to home sellers and their real estate agent to coordinate? We believe, marketing a home is a mutual effort of todays home selling! 

Do you want to increase buyer traffic at an open house? Instead of just a flyer or e-mail blast announcing the event, try to give buyers more reason to come out and tour?

A recent article at RISMedia offers some of the following ideas: 

1. Host a speaker:A guest speaker, such as a general contractor or home stager, may draw more of a crowd. Potential buyers may also be looking to sell their own homes, so a stager can offer tips to spruce up a home for sale. 
2. Offer a gift: Hold a raffle, such as by raffling off a gift certificate. Plus, with a raffle, buyers will have to share their contact information with you, which you can then use to follow up. If there’s ever a price change on the house, be sure to notify them. 
3. Involve the community:Invite the neighbors to come to the open house and share their thoughts about the school system or current events in the community, the RISMedia article suggests. You’ll not only be raising awareness about your listing but also helping “to unite the community on important issues,” the article notes. Just be sure to avoid political issues, which can polarize a crowd.

 Source: “5 Ways to Increase Open House Traffic,” RISMedia (Feb. 14, 2012)

A $25 billion mortgage settlement announced between major banks and state and government officials is supposed to bring aid to troubled home owners, but it could also bring a wave of new foreclosures, CNNMoney reports. 

During the year long negotiations, some banks slowed down repossessing homes, and now they may have a backlog of troubled loans on the books — loans that can’t be saved by the deal’s aid on refinancing or mortgage principal reduction. 

“The bottom line is that 2012 will see a lot of foreclosures that should have taken place in 2011 and didn’t,” Rick Sharga, executive vice president for Carrington Holdings, told CNNMoney.

Last year, foreclosure filings dropped 34 percent. This year, Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, estimates that new foreclosure filings will increase to between 2.2 million and 2.5 million compared to last year’s 1.9 million filings in 2011. 

The mortgage deal is aimed at helping home owners avoid foreclosure. One million struggling home owners may see their mortgage principal reduced as part of the deal. But the home owners must be able to afford new, lower payments. The banks will have no choice but to foreclose on home owners who stop making payments altogether or cannot afford a new payment structure on their loan.  

The backlog of foreclosures may not be all bad for the housing market, some experts say. We believe the “Short Sale” trend may come to the rescue? What do you think?

 Source: “Mortgage Deal Means More Foreclosures,” CNNMoney (Feb. 10, 2012)

California’s Gold Rush was more than a century-and-a-half ago, but its Wild West spirit lives on in a dispute between government agencies and a landowner in the Sierra Nevada foothills that some officials describe as one of the most egregious cases of illegal mining they have ever encountered.

The dispute between local and state officials and the owner of the Big Cut Mine is coming to a head after a bureaucratic stalemate that has dragged on for three years, with the county district attorney filing 14 charges, including four felonies, and the state leveling fines approaching $900,000.

Authorities say the land owner has refused to comply with cease-and-desist orders, pay any fines or even to submit to an arrest warrant. He became a fugitive last week after failing to turn him self in as promised.

Full article at source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/08…

MY TAKE: Trying to strike Gold buying real estate in El Dorado County, California?

There are a few way you can find gold when buying a home or property. Recently I helped a couple find a home in Placerville, (Old Hangtown). Come to find out though, they wanted to start taking advantage of the recent spike in gold prices they better check on a few things.  After we got into escrow, we reviewed at the preliminary title report. We found out that they did not have the mineral rights to mine for Gold on their property.

Not a big deal for the couple that were buying it as a retirement home. But it could mean something to somebody who wanted to own every aspect of their property. Along with most of the normal things you see, most of the time all you ever see in the prelim is some easement from utility company’s or right of ways for roads. Although most of the time there are no “Big Surprises” you do get from time to time some interesting restriction or small surprises.  Which brings up the dispute of the Wild West gold mining events. Does the owner of the Property have the “Right “to mine on “his” property?  You be the Judge.

Living near Big Cut Road and the mine, I can say it really would not affected my everyday happiness or way of life, But I can see both sides of the issue.  So if you own a home in El Dorado County or thinking of buyer a piece of property , you might want to find out if you have the right to “Strike it Rich” on your Property!