Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Beautiful Long Beach Lawn-to-Garden Incentive Program

If you live in Long Beach and the thought about landscaping your home has crossed your mind... why not have the City of Long Beach PAY FOR IT???

Read below for more details:

Beautiful Long Beach Lawn-to-Garden Incentive Program

Home Shopping? Selling? Call me, Ricardo The Realtor. I can help you...

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Mortgage Applications Hit 6-Month High

Looks like many people are getting off the fence and taking this opportunity to purchase a home with the low rates on loans... but it does look like the rates went up a bit here recently. Read below...
www.RicardoTheRealtor.com

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Mortgage Applications Hit 6-Month High

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Interesting FHA updates...

- FHA still allows loan amounts up to $755,000. Don’t be afraid to take FHA offers, qualification in some cases are more lenient than conventional guidelines

- FHA has a strong proposal on the table to increase the minimum down payment from 3.5% to 5%.

- Effective April 5th 2010. FHA is raising Mortgage insurance premium to 2.25%.

- Effective March 17th- Bank of America will now allow business funds from corporations to be used for down payment and closing costs.

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs $10,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit Legislation

If the thought of buying a home... selling your current home and upgrading or downscaling your present home status... Call me I can help you. Have a blessed day.

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs $10,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit Legislation

www.RicardoTheRealtor.com

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

UPDATE: Top 10 of the Bottom housing markets in USA.

1. Las Vegas, Nevada: Home prices dropped from 2006 to 2009 more than 56%...according to Moody's Economy.com . More than 81% of single-family home mortgages in Las Vegas had negative equity in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Zillow. It may take more than 20 years for the prices to get back to where they were in the peak.

2. Merced, California: As real estate became increasingly unaffordable in the bigger cities like San Francisco, many would-be homebuyers started exploring options in smaller markets, such as Merced. This trend increased real estate demand in Merced, prices appreciated even faster as exotic mortgage products and investor interest hit the market. Area home prices jumped nearly 129% from 2002 to 2006.

3. Phoenix, Arizona: Home prices in Phoenix jumped more than 101% from 2002 to their 2006 peaks.Home prices dropped more than 52% from their peaks through the third quarter of 2009. And as of the fourth quarter of last year, nearly 62% of single-family home mortgages were underwater, according to Zillow.

4.Orlando, Florida: Easy credit to home buyers and the demand helped send home prices surging by more than 102% from 2002 to the market's peak in 2006. The nearly 48% drop from the peak through the third quarter of 2009 has pulled 58% of single-family home mortgages in Orlando underwater, according to Zillow.

5:Greeley, Colorado: With 45% of single-family mortgages underwater, the Greeley, Colo., market has among the higher concentrations of negative equity in the nation. Many of these buyers began falling behind on their payments, area foreclosures surged, and home prices fell about 15% through the third quarter of 2009.

6. Bend, Oregon: From the years of 2002 to 2007, the prices of homes in the city of Bend leaped by 99%, as second-home buyers and retirees were drawn to this community. It seems that initial phase of the downturn was triggered by evaporating demand from second-home buyers. Then unemployment rose and a large number of home owners were not able to make their house payments. As of the fourth quarter of last year, roughly 41% of single-family home mortgages were underwater, according to Zillow.

7. Minneapolis-St. Paul: Real-estate values increased nearly 34% from 2002 to 2006. The president of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, says subprime lending played a key role.

8. Memphis, TN: Even though the prices of homes did not increase as much as others in the boom, there were pockets of SubPrime mortgages that created a high concentration of negative equity.

9. Cleveland, OH: The prices of homes increased by 13% from 2002 until 2006 and were followed by a 16% decrease through the 3rd quarter in 2009. Subprime lending exposure has also played a role in the real-estate market's decline in this city. Roughly 32% of single-family home mortgages were underwater as of the fourth quarter of last year, according to Zillow.

10. Grand Rapids, Michigan: The values of real estate in this city increased 15% from 2002 to 2005 and then fell about 13% through the third quarter of last year. As of the fourth quarter of 2009, roughly 29% of single-family home mortgages were underwater, according to Zillow. The declining economy has also been linked to the weakness of the housing market.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Found the home you love??? Ready to make an offer???

Ok, so you have been out there looking at homes... You have found your DREAM home. You do not want to miss out on the $Tax Credit$... You do not want to lose this perfect house right??? Now what is next??? It’s time to get started with the financial and contractual side of the purchase.

Let Ricardo the REALTOR, CENTURY 21® professional guide you through this process. Purchase contracts vary in length and terms from state to state, and within a state, from locality to locality. Because you and the seller have different goals, rely on your CENTURY 21 agent’s experience and expertise. He can bring order and calm to the process and will know what questions you may not know to ask to help you reach a favorable outcome. Multiple offers on the same home are not uncommon, so you may only get one chance to make an offer that the seller will consider. That's why it's important to think carefully about your strategy. In most cases it is better to have your real estate professional negotiate the offer. If you have any personal interaction with the homeowner, don't give out any information about your move, your current housing status, financial status or your feelings about their property - positive or negative. This could hurt you in future negotiations.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns regarding any of your Real Estate transactions. I can help you.

Sincerely,

Ricardo "The REALTOR" Perdomo
562.533.4003
www.RicardoTheRealtor.com