Friday, June 28, 2019

Interesting, Yet Not Surprised!

So, yes, as a Realtor, there is ever-changing technology to help our clients needs.

I have a couple different programs that can help people keep track of their homes' value and more.

One is powered by our MLS. One....you'll see, is powered by Zillow.

My husband and I turned my Westridge Valencia townhouse into a rental in 2011. Same, awesome, tenants for almost 5 years has been a blessing.

So, I used that address to test out two programs that offer value. I have one sent to my AT&T email, the other sent to my Gmail.


The above two are powered by our MLS. Anyone that knows the neighborhood of Westridge Valencia knows that the 2nd photo is using the correct 'Homes Near...' properties to determine the value of my townhouse.


Now, these two above? The 'Recent Nearby Sales' section is nowhere near my Westridge townhouse. Not even the same Zipcode. Note that the information is 'Provided by Zillow'

And, there ya go. Proof in the pudding, as my mother says. Zillow is better than it used to be. But don't ever, ever, EVER use their Zestimates. I'm happy to give you my opinion. You let me know which one you think is better.

Quite honestly, on this example, the one NOT provided by Zillow is a way better value, AND, much more accurate!

If you want to try my program, not provided by Zillow, just send me your email and property address....I'll set it up for ya. Totally free and I'll try very hard not to harass you to sell your home.....very hard. 


Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Who, What, When, Where, ....and Why?

Why is the real question. Why do you buy a home. I suppose the flip side, is why you wouldn't buy a home.

My personal story involves 36 years of Why I love home ownership. Read on.....

Early twenties met my first husband. He owned a small home that his parents lent him the down payment for to buy. Eventually they wrote that balance off as a wedding gift to us. It was maybe about 5k.

As we had children, that small home started to outgrow our family. So, we remodeled, added a 2nd story and enlarged a bedroom downstairs as well.

Moving forward, the neighborhood changed.....it became apparent that a drive-by shooting was not where I wanted to raise my children.

We moved to Santa Clarita and bought our 2nd home in 1992 for a safer community and better schools. We kept our first home as a rental so if we didn't like Valencia.......we could move back! We stayed here, I'm still here!!! We ended up selling the rental property about 8 years after we moved to SCV as we knew we were staying and we did some beautiful landscaping to our rear yard with the profits.

Kids went to local schools, involved in all the sports programs, life is lovely in Valencia, right?

In 2006 the kids were older, the marriage wasn't working right, so we sold that home and split the proceeds. You remember what was happening in 2006? The home we bought for 262k in 1992 was sold for 670k.

I bought my 3rd home, BUT, it was the first one I bought completely on my own. Now, my mums lent me my down payment until the family home sold and I paid her back. And, because I bought it in 2006, I watched it tank in value shortly thereafter. Went from 610k value to 335k. I was one of the ones that still paid their mortgage. And, I'm proud of that.

A friend said I should have rented. But, when I did the math, I still felt that home ownership was more valuable than renting. Funny, that home is a rental property now though!

Met my current husband 3 years later and we ended up buying a home in 2011 that we still live in today. Now in 2011 values were still low and now we currently have about a 250k increase in equity. And, my home that I bought by myself was still upside down in value so mums came to the rescue again and helped with the purchase of our new home.....with a note that I get xyz less in my future inheritance. She's a good mums!

So, see? There is always a 'Why' in a home ownership plan. Why you need your first, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and ultimately you'll need that retirement home too.

I just thought sharing my stories of home ownership, before and after becoming a licensed Realtor, would allow you to consider your 'Why' as well.

Friday, June 21, 2019

A Love Hate Relationship!

New technology, great graphics, awesome implementation capabilities....til I find one issue.

So, I contact support, I explain it over and over and over again....she tells me how to do steps I've already told her I've done. I say, this is what's happening. She says you can do this. I say no you can't. There aren't two places. There are two spots here, but not two spots there. She says she'll let the higher ups know about my issues.....

LOLOL 

I reach out to my company tech guru. He wasn't sure either, but give him credit, he wasn't at his desk......


So, I step away from the problem. Determined to get it resolved...at some point. I want to get this program working right as it's an incredible system to help my clients!

And, it's all about me carrying the load for my clients!

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Ahhhh.....How Mortgage Paperwork Has Changed!

Why Is So Much Paperwork Required to Get a Mortgage?

Why Is So Much Paperwork Required to Get a Mortgage? | MyKCM

When buying a home today, why is there so much paperwork mandated by the lenders for a mortgage loan application? It seems like they need to know everything about you. Furthermore, it requires three separate sources to validate each and every entry on the application form. Many buyers are being told by friends and family that the process was a hundred times easier when they bought their home ten to twenty years ago.
There are two very good reasons that the loan process is much more onerous on today’s buyer than perhaps any other time in history.
1. The government has set new guidelines that now demand that the bank proves beyond any doubt that you are indeed capable of paying the mortgage.
During the run-up to the housing crisis, many people ‘qualified’ for mortgages that they could never pay back. This led to millions of families losing their home. The government wants to make sure this can’t happen again.
2. The banks don’t want to be in the real estate business.
Over the last several years, banks were forced to take on the responsibility of liquidating millions of foreclosures and negotiating an additional million plus short sales. Just like the government, they don’t want more foreclosures. For that reason, they have to double (maybe even triple) check everything on the application.

However, there is some good news in this situation.

The housing crash that mandated that banks be extremely strict on paperwork requirements also allowed you to get a low mortgage interest rate.
The friends and family who bought homes ten or twenty years ago experienced a simpler mortgage application process, but also paid a higher interest rate (the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 8.12% in the 1990s and 6.29% in the 2000s).
If you went to the bank and offered to pay 7% instead of around 4%, they would probably bend over backward to make the process much easier.

Bottom Line

Instead of concentrating on the additional paperwork required, let’s be thankful that we are able to buy a home at historically low rates.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Curiosity Killed The Cat!

But, I am still alive! LOLOL

I'm checking sales activity every day, several times a day. Once in a while I see a house get listed for sale that I helped my clients sell a few years before.

One came on this morning.....I couldn't help but look....and, I just about died. See? The curiosity...could have killed me, yes the cat...


But, I looked anyways. The home looks virtually the same. The carpet still needs changing. They repainted the exterior. Put in some grass. And, want 100k more than 4 years ago!

 

Not digging the new turquoise paint!


This was original.


Probably a photo from a different angle would have looked nicer than that big fat fridge!



Like this one from when I had it listed!


Please people/photographers...CLOSE the lid & make sure all light bulbs work!


Best if you can hardly see that toilet at all!


Well, this is nice. They put in grass instead of the drought resistant yard my Sellers had.


But, 100k more? And, I like the drought resistant yards...

I just always wonder what a new buyer will do to a home....and, I see on this one...not much! Oh, lordy, you should see the boring bedrooms, the other bathrooms with missing bulbs......SMH.






Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Gambling on Interest Rates?

Interest rate info from one of my lenders....but the rates are jumping around say two of my lenders. Waiting to buy a home depends on how much of a gambler you are say all of my lenders & me!!!
  • 30-year fixed conventional 1st Mortgage with 25% down - 4.000% (4.048 APR). Loan amounts up to $484,350.00 = $2312.36
  • 15-year fixed conventional 1st Mortgage with 25% - 3.500% (3.586 APR). Loan amounts up to $484,350.00 = $3462.53
  • 5/1 ARM 1st Mortgage -  25% down - Fixed for 5 years and then becomes variable - 3.250% - (3.2605 APR) Loan amounts up to $3,000,000.00 = $13,056.19
  • 7/1 ARM 1st Mortgage - 25% Fixed for 7 years and then becomes variable - 3.375% - (3.385 APR) Loan amounts up to $3,000,000.00 = $13,262.89
  • 10/1 ARM 1st Mortgage - 25% Fixed for 10 years and then becomes variable - 3.500% - (3.510 APR) Loan amounts up to $3,000.,000.00 = $13,471.34
  • 30-year fixed 1st Mortgage FHA loan 3.50% down - 3.625% (5.040 APR). Loan amounts up to $484,350.00 = $2247.54 + $349.08 PMI = $2596.62
  • 30-year fixed 1st Mortgage VA loan 0% - 3.750% (3.798 APR). Loan amounts up to $484,350.00 = $2243.10
  • 30 Year Fixed rate 1st Mortgage Jumbo Loan 25% down - 4.125% (4.136 APR).  loan amounts up to $3,000,000.00 =14,539.49
All of the above are based on a 740 credit score 
with 25% down on conventional and Jumbo Loans.  

Friday, June 7, 2019

You Say You Want The Truth?

But, do you really? I lost a listing recently because the Seller really didn't want the truth...IMHO.



I'm an honest to a fault girl. You say, 'give it to me, I can take it'? I'm going to tell you the truth. I've actually point blank asked people if they really want the truth!

Some people can take it, some can't. I'm not going to sugar coat the facts for you, just not who I am and not how I want to treat people, nor how I want to be treated....and certainly not when you tell me you want total honesty from me.

I don't ever want to be the type of Realtor that doesn't tell the truth to get a listing. It's a huge deal for people and they need honesty, again IMHO.

Our market is changing from a Sellers market to a more even market. Buyers have choices, those choices can hurt a Seller if they aren't willing to put their best foot forward. Sometimes it means they have to choke on what my marketing suggestions are.

Sometimes they don't. But, I know those will be some of the hardest clients to work with. The ones that don't value my knowledge about selling homes.

I do my best for the people that trust me, want me to be honest, and are willing to take my almost two decades of experience and use it instead of toss it.

Just Sayin'.....now off to have a Fab Friday for sure!


Tuesday, June 4, 2019

I Even Felt This Way BEFORE I Became A Licensed Realtor

How Homeownership Delivers Unsurpassed Family Wealth

How Homeownership Delivers Unsurpassed Family Wealth | MyKCM

There are many financial benefits to homeownership, but probably none more important than its ability to create family wealth.
How Housing Matters is a joint project of the Urban Land Institute and the MacArthur Foundation. It is an online resource for research and information on how homeownership contributes to individual and community success.
Their article, The First Rung on the Ladder to Economic Opportunity Is Housing, explains the importance of homeownership to a family’s financial health. In that article, they simply stated:
“The ladder to economic success can stretch only so high without the asset-building power of homeownership.”
To this point, National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Economists’ Outlook Blog revealed in a recent post:
“Housing wealth contributes positively to the homeowner’s and children’s economic condition, because home equity can be tapped for expenditures such as investing in another property (which can generate rental income), home renovation (which further increases the home value), a child’s college education, emergency or major life events, or expenses in retirement…
Housing wealth (or net worth or equity) is built up over time via the home price appreciation and the principal payments that the homeowner makes on the loan.”
Here is a graph showing the build-up of wealth over time:How Homeownership Delivers Unsurpassed Family Wealth | MyKCMJust last month, NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, explained that even though home appreciation has slowed, homeowners are still building wealth:
“Homeowners in the majority of markets are continuing to enjoy price gains, albeit at a slower rate of growth. A typical homeowner accumulated $9,500 in wealth over the past year.”

Later in life, this wealth is crucial…

This wealth is important to a family’s retirement plans. In a recent report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University titled, Housing America’s Older Adults 2018, they revealed that a renter 65 years old or older has a net worth of $6,710. Meanwhile, a homeowner 65+ years old has a net worth of $319,200. That huge difference will allow for a dramatic upgrade in one’s lifestyle during your retirement years.

Bottom Line

Homeownership builds wealth. This, in turn, allows families to have more and better options when it comes to their children and their life in retirement.