Potential borrowers eager to find lenders with superior service

Potential borrowers eager to find lenders with superior service

A poll by Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group found that more than a third of potential borrowers would be willing to pay a higher rate if the mortgage came with superior service. The survey didn’t say how much more the 34 percent were willing to pay, but it did find that this group is a frustrated bunch.

More than half think the process is too slow. A third find it impossible to track the status of their loan application, an equal percentage say it is too difficult to talk with their lenders, and a quarter don’t believe the advice they’re given.

A starting point for borrowers is to ask their real estate agent which lenders offer the best service. Agents know which lenders keep their promises and close quickly without incident. Another option is to ask friends, co-workers, and relatives about their experiences.

Beyond that, prospective borrowers should look for several attributes that will help them find a responsible company or accessible loan officer.

Borrowers should look for a consistent point of contact. Federal regulators have already settled on this as a requirement for loan servicers – the companies that collect payments, disburse funds to cover property taxes, and homowners insurance and otherwise administer loans.

Dealing with a company that provides up-to-date status information also is beneficial. There’s nothing worse than chasing down an unresponsive loan officer to make sure this document or that report has been received, or to find out whether underwriting has looked at the application.

More on this in this article by Lew Sichelman of the Los Angeles Times

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

useful links

A non-profit worthy of interest: CSA
Collection of food & various items for CSA are made in my office at:
161 S. San Antonio Rd.
Los Altos, CA 94022

2011 vs 2012... 2012 wins.

2011 vs 2012...  

2012 has been a year marked by multiple offers, competitive bids, and rising prices. A seller’s market for sure.
The economy in the Valley is definitely a factor to this situation, as is the lack of inventory – too few homes for sale. There are some short sales and foreclosures, as expected and -alas- promised for the past 2 years. However they are absorbed by a strong pool of buyers, either individuals or investors, who believe in the health and future of real estate in the Silicon Valley.


There is definitely a different trend towards the end of the year, as compared with last year, as evidenced by these graphs that I just made – below we see what last year’s trend was towards the end of the year, and what it is pointing to right now, in 2012:

Thanks for reading!
Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

useful links

Current Mortgage rates

A non-profit worth of praise: Habitat for Humanity

Eye Candy - our Previews Magazine

Here is our Coldwell Banker Previews Magazine Fall Edition, with many California Jewels,
- always a pleasure to see!

Thanks for reading!
Francis

Local market trends

Current Mortgage rates

Non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Real Estate Roller Coaster - the past 4 years...

The folks at RealEstate.com calculated the following info, and made this interesting graphic.

This is what they add: "Here’s a little bit about our methodology: We calculated the total value of the housing market for three separate months – the peak (March of 2007), the trough (Nov of 2011) and the latest (June of 2012). We then calculated the theoretical value of the housing market during each of these periods, by multiplying the average price of a sold home by the estimated number of housing units, using numbers supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau."

This is looking at averages throughout the nation.   Each area is different, and in particular our area would not fit in this mold.  Nonetheless, this gives some interesting perspective.




Francis

Local market trends

Current Mortgage rates

Non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Shortage of California homes up for sale...

Shortage of California homes up for sale

For those who like to read technical stuff, this is perfect.  This goes into the nitty-gritty of the real estate market in California:
After years of having too many homes and not enough buyers, real estate agents in California now have the opposite problem – too many buyers and not enough homes for sale.


Let's look at the details:

* The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported Monday (9/17) that its statewide inventory of unsold homes index for existing, single-family detached homes fell to 3.2 months in August from 3.5 months in July and 5.2 months in August 2011.

* The index reflects the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. A six- to seven-month supply is considered normal. When the number goes higher, inventory is plentiful and it’s considered a buyer’s market. When the number goes lower, the advantage goes to the seller.

* Declining inventory helps explain why the statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home rose to $343,820 in August, up 3 percent from July and up 15.5 percent from August 2011, according to C.A.R.

* Nationwide, the inventory of homes for sale also has declined. In July, there was a 6.4-month supply of homes compared with 9.3 months in July 2011. The current number is in line with the long-term average, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. However, NAR also acknowledges there are “acute shortages” in places such as California, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of Florida.

* Also constraining supply is the fact that so many homeowners are underwater – or owe more than their homes are worth – and unable to sell without taking a loss. As prices rise, more homes will increase in value, but it’s going to take time. Meanwhile, there are still a lot of homes that are not likely to come onto the market.

* At some point, the balance will tip, but it’s hard to predict when. When banks decide prices are high enough, they will start unloading houses they have been sitting on, according to the chief economist for Trulia.

Read the San Francisco Article on the matter for more details.

Thank you for reading!

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

useful links

A non-profit worth of praise: Habitat for Humanity

Homeownership cheaper than renting nationally

To piggy-back on my last blog, this is another take on the subject, which fascinates me, in this area where most real estate seems so expensive for a lot of people.

Trulia’s Summer 2012 Rent vs. Buy Report, which provides information on whether buying a home is more affordable than renting in America’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, found that homeownership is cheaper than renting in all of the 100 largest U.S. metros by a wide margin.

However, relative affordability depends largely on location. Buying a home is 24 percent cheaper than renting in Honolulu, 28 percent cheaper in San Francisco, and 31 percent cheaper in New York, but is 70 percent cheaper in Detroit. However, the actual dollar amount reveals that despite a low 28 percent difference in buying versus renting in San Francisco, the monthly dollar savings is big ($899) because rents and prices are so high in this region.

Note: Cost of homeownership assumes that the home is sold after seven years and includes closing costs, maintenance, insurance, property taxes and other costs. Cost of renting includes security deposit and renters insurance. Monthly costs are based on net present value of costs averaged over seven years, and based on the average across all properties listed in the metro area, including those for sale and those for rent, in summer 2012.

More info on this article from Trulia.

Thanks for reading, your comments are always welcome!
Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

useful links

A noteworthy web site: junk mail reducer: Catalog Choice

Renting vs buying... an age-old quandary.

In 75% of the US one gets ahead within 3 years by buying a home vs continuing to rent.

Typically, and historically, it was kind of understood that it takes about 3 years to see the advantages of owning instead of renting.  The first years, most often, it seems a lot more expensive, and you do not see yet the tax advantage, when there is one. Then you settle in and start feeling "at home" vs leasing you space in life, and that adds to the financial aspects of the question.

But now that prices have moved a lot and in different ways throughout the US, it is not so straightforward.  In short, where prices have fallen the most would be where it is most attractive to buy, vs to rent.

This study from Zillow gives more detailed information on the new quirks and wrinkles of this age-old quandary.

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

useful links

Current Mortgage rates

Property tax increase.

Property taxes, as levied by the Counties, cannot go up more than 2% per year, right?

Well, not really.  It is true that Proposition 13 capped the increase of property values at 2% per year, but there is another Proposition, - Proposition 8,  which passed the same year as Proposition 13, which allows the property value to go down if the market tanks.

When the market goes back up, though, that same Proposition allows then the reassessment of the properties by the County to go back up by more than 2%, until it reaches the value that it would have been if it had not gone down in the first place.

A little hard to follow?  Just imagine what would be the potential value of your property, after you bought it, if it had increased by 2% per year (assuming the market was going up).  This is the value that it could be reassessed by the County if the market does go back to that value...

The request for re-evaluation of an assessment by the County can be done electronically now through their revamped web site, which provides easier ways to search for comparables and maps.
Santa Clara County assessor's web site.
and: contesting your assessed value.

If you wish, I can also assist you by providing a study of the recent sales through the MLS - which has saved quite a bit of money to some of my clients in the past few years.

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

useful links

Rates are super low right now! Mortgage rates

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