Friday, February 24, 2012
Open House Sat. 2/25 1-4pm Great Location!
5873 Lake Crowley Place, San Jose, CA 95123. 2 bdrm, 2 bath Condo. $309,900. Across the street from Almaden Lake.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
What are the advantages of selling your home now?
A challenging real estate market means home sellers must make tough choices, and selling a home at a loss can be one of the most difficult. Declining home values mean a loss for some homeowners who purchased houses at the top of the real estate market and now must sell at a bargain price, sometimes for less than what is owed. The sale at a loss, however, also includes a few concrete advantages.
#1 Personal Control
The major advantage to selling a home at a loss is avoiding foreclosure when the homeowners no longer have the funds to make the mortgage payments, but other advantages deal with the more personal aspects. Researchers at the Urban Institute noted in a study published in 2009 that foreclosures impact "virtually all aspects" of the family's well-being. In selling a house, even at a loss, the family retains an element of personal control and is able to manage the time when the family moves from the home into new lodging. Home closings during summer breaks or holidays make moving easier on school-age children.
#2 Removing Mortgage Payment Pressure
Rather than contributing funds into a declining investment, selling a home at a loss removes the necessity to make the monthly mortgage payments. The seller's mortgage lender, according to the "New York Times," occasionally offers mortgage modification programs to forgive the difference between the sale price and the balance owed or allows the seller to take a personal loan for the difference in the final sale price and the original mortgage amount. This new loan offers the original homeowner the option to pay over a longer period and in amounts typically much lower than the payment on the original loan, since the loan covers only the loss on the home not the entire mortgage amount.
#3 Maintaining Credit Rating
Another obvious advantage to selling a home at a loss involves maintaining the creditworthiness of the homeowner. The experience of losing the equity in your home involves disappointment, but selling, even at a loss, allows the seller to keep his credit report clear from a short sale, where the bank accepts a lower repayment for the original mortgage, or a foreclosure. Credit agencies do record short sales on the mortgage borrower's credit report negatively.
#4 As-Is Selling
Buyers interested in homes priced under the market value or priced below the seller's original cost understand that the seller receives no cash from the agreement, but the transaction price also means the buyer has little leverage to negotiate for any repairs as part of the sales price. This allows the seller to offer the home "as is." The buyer's lender may mandate repairs, but the seller has the option of requiring the buyer to pay for them.
#5 Tax Benefits
This can be a stressful and emotional decision. Please let me know how I can be helpful. :)
#1 Personal Control
The major advantage to selling a home at a loss is avoiding foreclosure when the homeowners no longer have the funds to make the mortgage payments, but other advantages deal with the more personal aspects. Researchers at the Urban Institute noted in a study published in 2009 that foreclosures impact "virtually all aspects" of the family's well-being. In selling a house, even at a loss, the family retains an element of personal control and is able to manage the time when the family moves from the home into new lodging. Home closings during summer breaks or holidays make moving easier on school-age children.
#2 Removing Mortgage Payment Pressure
Rather than contributing funds into a declining investment, selling a home at a loss removes the necessity to make the monthly mortgage payments. The seller's mortgage lender, according to the "New York Times," occasionally offers mortgage modification programs to forgive the difference between the sale price and the balance owed or allows the seller to take a personal loan for the difference in the final sale price and the original mortgage amount. This new loan offers the original homeowner the option to pay over a longer period and in amounts typically much lower than the payment on the original loan, since the loan covers only the loss on the home not the entire mortgage amount.
#3 Maintaining Credit Rating
Another obvious advantage to selling a home at a loss involves maintaining the creditworthiness of the homeowner. The experience of losing the equity in your home involves disappointment, but selling, even at a loss, allows the seller to keep his credit report clear from a short sale, where the bank accepts a lower repayment for the original mortgage, or a foreclosure. Credit agencies do record short sales on the mortgage borrower's credit report negatively.
#4 As-Is Selling
Buyers interested in homes priced under the market value or priced below the seller's original cost understand that the seller receives no cash from the agreement, but the transaction price also means the buyer has little leverage to negotiate for any repairs as part of the sales price. This allows the seller to offer the home "as is." The buyer's lender may mandate repairs, but the seller has the option of requiring the buyer to pay for them.
#5 Tax Benefits
This can be a stressful and emotional decision. Please let me know how I can be helpful. :)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Happy New Year!
May the best of your past, be the worst of your future! Taken from one of my favorite movies, The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Here's to an epic 2012!!!! Happy New Year's Everyone!!!
Here's to an epic 2012!!!! Happy New Year's Everyone!!!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Helping Homeowners Dig Out
WITH interest rates at historic lows, the expansion of a federal refinancing program could help more homeowners who owe more than their property is worth move out of higher-rate or adjustable loans into something more affordable and stable.
The biggest change to the plan, called the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, raises the debt limit at which such borrowers can obtain a new mortgage. Those who owe more than 125 percent of their home’s value are now eligible; the previous limit for many government programs was 97 percent to 125 percent. The percentage ratio is known as loan-to-value, or LTV. The government also reduced some fees.
Read more... HARP: Home Affordable Refinance Program
Read more... HARP: Home Affordable Refinance Program
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
How to bargain shop for mortgages
Shoppers, I bet many of you scoured the Sunday ads and bounced to several stores for deals over Thanksgiving weekend.
What if you applied that same effort and vigilance to shopping for a new home loan or refinance? That same attention to detail could translate into hundreds to thousands of dollars in savings over time.
You Better Shop Around
You Better Shop Around
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
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