6/25/14
Fannie Mae, an abbreviated name for the Federal National Mortgage Association, and a huge mortgage purchaser in
the housing industry expects housing sales and prices to cool down this year. Existing home sales fell
in the 1st quarter and rose in April and May, 2014. They are expecting existing home sales to be down
by 2.4% for all of 2014 and new […]
The Business Journal, a local paper, indicated that just under 25 percent of all houses in the Fresno Metropolitan area have negative equity; meaning the owner owes more than what their home is worth. That’s a large drop from 2012.
This, I think, is a reflection of the increased appreciation in property values over the last year. That’s good news […]
Forbes magazine has an interesting article with the above title: It goes into the pros and cons of selling to an investor. Since Central Cal Homes, Inc. does buy directly from Sellers as well, I thought it beneficial for prospective sellers to see the comments from an outsiders perspective.
The Pro’s are: 1) Flexible payment options. 2) Cash […]
7/17/14
Guarantee Real Estate just reported that the number of homes for sale has increased and the number of days
the property is on the market has increased slightly year to date; the number of days on the market is the time it takes to
get a buyer, not when it actually closes escrow. Our experience puts that number around 45 days. […]
12-13-13 For those wanting to buy again, this is an important question: “When Can I Buy Again?”
The good news is you can. When you can buy depends on who buys or insures the loan. Martin Goldberg has some nice guidelines relating to this question. He posted it in May 2013. Keep in mind lending guidelines change and Mr Goldberg’s […]
12-4-13 – The Home Affordable Refinance Program, also known as HARP, is a federal program of the United States, set up by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in March 2009 to help underwater and near-underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages. The application deadline is Dec 31, 2015. To see if you qualify check out the HARP website!
If you’ve received unemployment benefits within the last 30 days you could qualify for mortgage assistance. Notice there’s a time parameter here. If you’re about to lose you unemployment benefits, you need to hurry. See it at Keep Your Home California
It looks like sales in September have dropped in the Valley. Sales in Fresno County dropped 13% from August. See the previous blog for our explanation. Though sales have fallen, median prices have managed to rise 1% over August. and a jump of 16.8% over the previous year. This is good for those who are upside down on their […]
11/25/13 – For Homeowners doing short sales, where what you sell your house for is less that what you owe, there has been a taxable issue with the State of California and the Federal government. Previous to 2007 the forgiveness of the debt has been a taxable item on your tax return. For example: you sell your house for […]
11-20-2013 J.P. Morgan Chase just settled with the Justice Department over a variety of legal issues related to the mortgage debacle. Apparently they were not forthright about the mortgages they sold on the secondary market. They were weaker mortgages than advertised. In the agreement J.P. Morgan is to provide 4 Billion in aid to distressed borrowers. The use of […]