Bonita's Blog

Has finding a first home been struggle? Getting beat out by All Cash buyers? Multiple Offers on everything you are interested in?

Here are a couple of ideas to think about:

1. Check out the homes listed by HUD. For CA, HI and GA, these homes are listed on the PEMCO website. Homes listed on the site are available to Owner-occupied buyers only for the 1st 10 days of the listing. This means you are not competing with investors until after 10 days on market - makes your chances much better. Also, Owner-occupied buyers using an FHA insured loan can put as little as $100 down...Yes One Hundred Dollars!!

2. FHA 203K loans are available for purchasing a home that may need some rehab work. This means you can find a home that may need some work and wrap up the rehab costs into the loan. As an example, the house needs flooring, new cabinets, termite damage repairs. By starting with an FHA 203K loan, and getting bids for repair work, you can place an offer on a home that would not be eligible for a regular FHA loan. This should open up your list of available properties to include fixers that you might not have looked at before.

Great news from HUD! The rule requiring a property to age at 90 days before it's last sale before using FHA-insured financing is going to be waived, with a few conditions, starting February 1st, 2010. The waiver will be in effect for 1 year.

This is just what the doctor ordered for our FHA buyers. It opens up a whole group of properties that had to be skipped over in the past...

Make sure to read the press release from HUD for all the details.

Happy Shopping!

FHA has come out with the current list of lenders who have expressed an interest in participating in the progrgam. The list will be refreshed on most Fridays.

This program became effective as of October 1st, 2008 and runs through September 30, 2011. Congress anticipates that as many as 400,000 homeowners may be able to avoid foreclosure by going through this program.

The program is voluntary for lenders to participate and has several components.

First, the borrower's loan would be refinanced and set to 90% of the current appraised value with the lender taking a loss between the current loan and the new amount, or the lender could decide to modify the existing loan, rather than take a loss.

Second, the borrower's eligibility is reviewed. The mortgage had to have originated on or before January 1, 2008, and mortgage payments as of March 1, 2008, exceeds 31% of the borrower's gross monthly income. Also, the borrower did not intentionally default the loan and does not have ownership interest in other real estate and has not been convicted of fraud in the past 10 years, and no materially false information was used to obtain the loan being refinanced.

For more details click on the links above.

Golden 1 Credit Union is offering 2 loan programs:

1. Mortgage Rescue program for their members who are facing foreclosure on a loans from another lender.
2. Mortgage Repair loan for their members who have lost the home to foreclosure and are trying to repair their credit and buy another home.

I want to find out if anyone has had experience with these two programs through Golden 1? Any success stories or failures? How was the process?

As children, we are always trying to please our parents and hope that they are proud of us. As adults, I think we still strive for that at times.

I have been in Real Estate for just under 5 years now and the other day, I thought back to the day I knew my Dad was proud of me in my new career as a Realtor.

At the time, I had about 8 months under my belt and was still very green. I had a home listed in my area that belonged to my aunt. She had moved away and was living about 4 miles from my parents, but about 90 miles from me. I was having difficulties getting some paperwork back from her. She was not well and her daughter could not leave the house to get the paperwork faxed to me. I knew that I could count on my Dad to come to the rescue as he had always been there to help me in the past. So, I called and asked if he could go by and pick up the paperwork and take it to a local office where they would be waiting to fax it to me. Of course he said he would do it.

Unbeknown to me, when he went into the office with the paperwork, he started talking to the receptionist about me and showed her my card and a picture. When I received the fax that afternoon, the coversheet had a little note on it from the receptionist telling me how proud he was of me. Well, I still have that coversheet and it makes me cry when I read it. I lost my Dad to a very quick illness and cancer about 5 months later, but I know that I made him proud, and feel that he is my guardian angel in this business. With each deal that I close and each client that I help, I always think of him. I also think of him when I hit obstacles along the way, and I know that he is still there to give me strength to go forward.

As of July 1st of this year, it is illegal to use a cell phone while driving unless its hands free. Now, granted just the act of talking on the phone is a distraction, but actually using the handset instead of a corded or blue tooth headset is even more of a distraction. Right after the law took effect, it was rare to actually see someone with a phone to their ear, while driving.

It is now a little over 3 months since the law took effect, and as I look around, I see almost as many people driving while holding the handset to their ear. The other day I was cutoff on the freeway by someone so involved in a conversation that he never even noticed me. I know it feels a little different when you first start using an earpiece or headset, but you get used to it. Also, you can get some great hands free car kits. Let's try and be a little safer out there on the streets. Besides, it's the law...at least in CA!

Washington Mutual's CEO Alan Fishman, who was appointed in early September, will walk away with a $7.5 million hiring bonus and severance of $11.6 million. Now that's what I call one sweet deal. No wonder WaMu's slogan is WooHoo. I am sure he could visions of prosperity as he came on board, knowing that the ship was going down fast. 

If Mr, Fishman worked a 40 hour week, his pay would work out to approx $159k an hour. Not a bad gig I'd say.

Do you think he will be applying for unemployment benefits? Or maybe just looking for the next bank he can "help" out?

No wonder we are in crisis with Wall Street, when we have this kind of stuff happening on a regular basis.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." --Calvin Coolidge

I have this quote up at my desk. As the real estate market has changed, we are seeing more and more agents leaving the business. Also, getting deals together and keeping them together has also gotten tougher and tougher. I find that there are a lot of very smart  and talented people in the business, but being smart does not always pay off. Its the individuals who keep on going saying "I think I can, I think I can..." who will still be here 2, 3, or 4 years from now. I plan on being part the group thats still in the business many years down the road - I know I can...

Little by little, I learn what I can do to make my blog

more fun. I am not really sure that it adds any substance,

but it certainly adds style and interest. It is just like

decorating or staging a house. A little color and few

accesories can bring a room to life. Widgets can do the same

for your blog. I will keep experimenting to see what I like

and don't like. I can tell it will be fun journey!

Cute North Laguna home is waiting for the right family to adopt it.

This home is bank owned and is clean and ready for your final touches. At 1439 sq ft, there is room to move around. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The Living/Dining combo is very spacious with lots of windows and a vaulted ceiling. The Kitchen has a pass-through to the living room. The Master bedroom has a slider to access the backyard. Ready for BBQs, the backyard has a great patio, it just needs a little TLC.

For more information go to: www.SacValRealtor.com and click on "My Listings"