Dan and I are starting this year with a couple new listings.  The first one we will share with you is:

3543 Placer Ct. Merced CA.  IF you want to find out more about it you can check out the website at

www.3543PlacerMerced.info.

 

Brian Buffini said in a webcast recently, “The struggle a butterfly makes to get out of it’s cocoon strengthens it’s wings so it can fly.  If there is no struggle, the butterfly is too weak.  Struggle strengthens you.” 

This really started me thinking about the struggles we, as a country, have been going through and we as REALTORS(R) and our customers and friends have been going through.  If we keep fighting and growing, we will be stronger after this is over than we were before.  If our country can fight through the problems we are having, we will be a stronger country.

But my heart really goes out to the people who are struggling with short sales and foreclosures.   The book, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill was written at the end of the great depression 8 years of even worse problems than we are having now (although sometimes that doesn’t seem possible).  Many people have found hope and courage and the skills to meet the future from reading this book and others like it.

I love being able to help my clients and friends work their way through the problems they are facing with home ownership, and I hope that each of us reaches inside ourselves to find the strength and hope to create a greater tomorrow for all of us.

Well, they’ve been talking about it and now they’ve done it!

HUD announced that buyers using FHA loans no longer have to wait 90 days after the previous sale before buying a home that was recently foreclosed on.

In the Merced area, many investors are picking up great deals at the courthouse steps – or even bought through the MLS.  Often the homes  need some repair before they can qualify for loans so they  must  be  purchased with cash.  The investors are buying the homes, fixing them   and putting them back on the market (Yes, flippers are back).  Before they could only sell to buyers with conventional loans who could put down a large down payment – often 20% of the purchase price.

We have many local buyers who see this market as maybe their last chance to buy a home and who are all bidding on the same homes which will qualify for FHA.

Now, these buyers can purchase these recently sold homes that have already been fixed up so they are move-in ready.

Thanks, HUD, for helping my first time home buyers have an improved choice of homes to buy.

*The fine print – this goes into effect February 1st, and it is only for 1 year!  For the real details either go to

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-011

contact your lender for more details, or call me I’ll  help you.

Gary Eno of Mason McDuffie Mortgage sent a link to the bankrate.com website to compare cost of living in 2 different areas.  He says   

“Insurance costs, tax bills and just plain, day-to-day living will dent a household budget differently depending on where that household is.  It can be a nerve-wracking fact for families moving across state borders.

As an aid for the budget-aware, Bankrate.com keeps a Cost of Living Comparison Calculator on its website.  The calculator asks 3 questions: (1) Where do you live now, (2) To where you are moving, and (3) What is your salary.  It then spits out a detailed, 58-item cost comparison list between the two cities.

Some of the key costs compared include:

• Everyday groceries
• Energy bills
• Routine healthcare
• Home ownership
• Clothes
• Sporting goods   “

So I went to the site and I entered data for the Oakland – Hayward area (I lived in San Leandro) and the Fresno area (since Merced doesn’t show up).   It was interesting.  I am well aware that  housing costs less, but why does lettuce, tuna, margarine, and milk cost more in Merced than in the San Francisco Bay area?

Why is the San Joaquin Valley so expensive?   Merced County is one of the poorest in the nation – so why are we paying more for basic expenses – or are we?

If you check out the prices before you move, you may be surprised at what you find.

You can contact Gary Eno at:

Gary M. Eno

Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corporation

Senior Mortgage Consultant

209-658-2345 Direct

866-797-0770 Secure Fax

www.garyeno.com

Ed Walters is the owner of the local Guild Mortgage office and is one of the most knowlegeable lenders out there as well as a person of the highest personal integrity in the business.  His whole team does an excellent job, and I recommend them often and highly.  He sent the following email out:

Feel like you have lived in a blender for a couple of years? With two businesses to keep afloat, I certainly do, but believe it or not I am confident we are on our slow-growth out of this.

We must start with a picture of the whole world, and we now see other economies making progress; China, Japan, South America, Europe and even some good signs here. I know we still have a lot of “nay sayers” but our trade deficit is down and exports are up for 6 months in a row. We still need jobs but unemployment in the middle of winter is not increasing in large percentages. The Dow and the Nasdaq have been increasing steadily for the entire year and the housing market (with no experts in it) continues with increased sales and prices holding steady. We all wonder what will happen when banks begin to release properties but we just hope someone somewhere has enough sense not to allow huge “dumps” into the market which would destroy value.

We all need to use the good things going for us as we begin 2010, like fantastic interest rates, low prices and the tax credit.

On March 31, 2010 the Federal Reserve will end a buying program of $1.5 trillion to purchase mortgage bonds and rates will certainly go up. Expect rates to be in the 6% range (which is still very good) but it will inhibit some buyers from qualifying.

The tax credit is a great incentive that ends April 30th and must close by June 30^th but beware that time goes by quickly and I do not believe they will renew this program.

As you can tell, I believe in a lot of things but at this time of year, I believe in Christmas.  

May we all have a great 2010 in real estate and Merry Christmas.

Ed Walters

767 East Yosemite Ave Suite D

Merced, CA 95340

(209) 384-4480 office

The National Association of REALTORS conducted their annual surveys on why buyers buy and sellers sell their homes.

The number one reason people buy homes is (surprise, applause!)

because they want to own a home.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, I don’t think, but it does bring to mind one thing about this horrible crash we recently experienced.  If people buy homes because they want to, and they own homes because they want to, how much does it matter if our homes are worth less than they were.   Yes, this is a little naive…. I know, but on the other hand, the fact that my home is worth less than 1/2 what I paid for it will really only matter when I go to sell it.  Obviously, I’m not selling it soon…

If we remember that homes, while they are an investment, are also the places that we raise our families, share the wonder of the holidays together, and enjoy the hobbies and pastimes that enrich our lives, it seems to make it a little easier to keep up those house payments.

Please believe, I am not under estimating the pain of the people who need to sell their homes during these times or the pain of the people caught in some of the terrible binds that are affecting their lives, but I do think we need to remember the joys of living in your own home as well.

I hope you found many things to be thankful for this holiday…

This is taken from a news release from the California Association of REALTORS:  “On October 11, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 94 (Calderon), and the legislation took effect immediately upon his signature.  As a result, California law now prohibits any person, including real estate licensees and attorneys, from demanding or collecting an advance fee from a consumer for loan modification or mortgage loan forbearance services affecting 1-4 unit residential dwellings.  There are substantial administrative and criminal penalties for violations.”

In the past, some people or companies were allowed to collect fees to help people in trouble with their home try a workout with the bank.  However,  it was also the place where a lot of fraud happened and many people were taken advantage of.  The Department of Real Estate tried to control this, but repeat offenders kept preying on people.  So our California state government got tired of it and outlawed it all.

If someone wants you to pay up front for them to negotiate with the bank – walk away or talk to a lawyer about it.

If you have questions, many REALTORS are willing to talk to you about your options, and while we can’t give advice about taxes or whether or not you should do a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure, we can give you some information about what the options are that may help you make your own decision, and we can help point you towards the right people to get your questions answered.

Have we bottomed out?

 

This is a snapshot of Median Home prices in Merced.  Notice the little ski ramp starting up at the right?  Is this real or a function of the fact the banks are not releasing foreclosed homes to the market?  It’s too early to tell, but it does parallel what is happening nationally as prices have risen overall for the last 4 months there too.

I think that the lack of inventory is definitely having an impact on the prices of homes.  When the listing agents are seeing 15 or more offers on a home within a day of it coming on the market, and buyers have been outbid several times for homes, they will come in higher in order to get the home.  That is what is happening in Merced and the surrounding areas right now.

We have many more qualified buyers than we have homes available for them to buy – and that isn’t just first time homebuyers, it’s local investors with cash as well who get outbid for homes in this market.   The city of Merced has more vacant homes that have not been foreclosed on yet, but just abandoned, than it has foreclosed homes.  For the recovery we need to have those abandoned homes go back on the market and into the hands of people who want and need them.

Good morning I have just returned from a week in San Jose at the California Association of REALTORS directors meetings. There was so much information, but one thing that I think is exciting is that they have extended the Housing Affordability Fund’s Mortgage Protection Program protection for first time home buyers is extended into next year – or until the money runs out.  This program is free to my clients and helps ensure that they will have money towards their mortgage for up to 6 months if they should lose their job.   This is an exciting program and I’m proud of the Housing Affordability Fund for coming up with this great idea.