Property Concierge

Pasadena Homes Under $400,000

Posted on May 22nd, 2009 by Doug Willis

If this is the weekend you have finally made the decision to begin your home search you should find a good supply of homes in which to preview. After all, it is the weekend of the Indianapolis 500 and what better analogy than to “Start Your (home search) Engine.

I think you would probably have to go back as far as 2003 or 2004 to find this many homes available for sale priced under $400,000. Consider the other factors in your favor that make this the most opportune time in the last few years to go house hunting:

1. Favorable Interest Rates – rates on 30 year fixed money loans are fantastic. Want to get your rate even lower, consider buying down the rate by paying 1 to 2 points. This might make sense if you plan to stay in your house at least 5 years.
2. First Time Buyer Tax Credit – if this is your first home you will probably qualify for the $8000 federal tax credit. What could be better than a gift from Uncle Sam? You could look at applying the tax credit to the mortgage buy down or point reduction above, giving you the advantage of lower monthly payments.

Is Now the Time to Buy?

That’s a decision you and only you can make. Some people think the market will continue to decline resulting in lower prices. Consider your long term goals. If you plan to sell in the next two years, then who knows. But if you plan to live in the house for the next several years then now could be the time. You should speak with a tax professional and allow them to run a couple of scenarios for you. Look at the cost of renting and then the cost of buying along with the tax implications. Many times it can be a simple math problem, and the answer lies within the tea leaves.

When I performed the search for Pasadena homes priced under $400,000, there were 60+ homes that popped up on my list meeting the pricing criteria.

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Pasadena Residential Real Estate Report for April

Posted on May 20th, 2009 by Doug Willis

The month of April has historically been the kickoff of the spring selling season. Home sales, usually dormant during the first couple of months of the year begin to gain momentum before finally beginning to slow down as we head into fall. The $64,000 question this year will be “Has stability and predictability returned to the Pasdena real estate market or are we in for another year of low volume and declining prices”?

Most of the key housing indicators are pointing to less volatility. Looking at the amount of inventory, the monthly sales, median prices and the number of homes going into escrow, consumers are expressing confidence that the housing market is on its way back. Maybe the bigger question is what actually constitutes “normal”. In the last 8 years we went from 0 to 120 and back to 0. We went from bull to bear with no in between. Apparently we are on the entrance ramp attempting to get back into the flow of traffic.

Home sales for the month of April were right at 100 units. I think if this volume could be maintained then you will see the housing market recover, and we might even see volume of 120 units around the June – August time period.

Interest rates which are currently around 5% will be the key to housing market salvation. If they begin to increase all bets are off. Once rates begin to rise, homebuyers head for the sidelines and take a “wait and see” approach.

The housing statistics are recapped in the slideshow below. Sometimes housing data can be pretty dry, so I have tried to jazz it up and make it more interesting. There is a small icon in the lower right hand corner that will allow you to increase the size of the presentation.

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Keep up with South Pasadena Home Values

Posted on May 12th, 2009 by Doug Willis

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate, you realize how important timely information can be. We have realized it for quite sometime.

How would you like to have the most recent up2date information on South Pasadena Real Estate delivered right to your inbox?

Would you like to know if there is a new listing, a price change or what the house down the street just closed escrow for? If you are searching for a home, having instant information can be critically important when that special house hit’s the market?

Now suppose this information could be delivered to you in real time, saving you the time and trouble of having to search for it.

There is a wealth of information available as long as you know where to look and what to look for. Almost too much. Many websites offer incomplete data pertaining to home values. Most of the information available only displays current listings for sale, but how do you know what the actual selling price was?

We Made the Process Easy. Up2daterealestate and The Property Concierge have joined together to bring you the most innovative program available to increase your knowledge and awareness of the local real estate market.

Since we study the local housing market and bring you the latest news on South Pasadena real estate values, we wanted to introduce you to the latest advances in technology that can actually enhance you real estate experience. Hopefully the next time you are in the market for real estate services you will think of The Property Concierge, a Broker that understands technology and how to effectively use it to market and sell homes.

Selling Your Home?

We can set you up with the information you need. We will construct a custom search of similar homes in your area. You will receive a current status of all the properties on the market and be sent new property alerts once the criteria of a home changes or a new listing hits the market.

Looking to Buy a Home?

If you have been searching for that unique property in one of South Pasadena’s many desirable neighborhoods you can now have immediate access to all of the properties in the area. See what’s just listed, or get the price of a property that just sold, and be notified of any price changes as they happen.

Keep up with Neighborhood Values

This service is offered to homeowners as well. Since a house is probably your biggest investment, wouldn’t it be nice to watch the local real estate market as it happens around you? You will be able to judge the value of your home by the local properties that are within close proximity to your home.

Sign Up is Easy and Free!

Click the Home Value Key on our home page . If you are selling or just want to know the neighborhood activity, please complete the simple information requested and tell us as much about your home as you can.

If you are buying a home, provide as many details as possible with regards to what you desire in a home including square feet, lot size, bedrooms and baths. Also, include the price range in which you are searching.

Once the information is received, email notifications should begin to arrive within a day. Only complete requests will be honored. Partial and incomplete submissions will have to go to the back of the line. Sign up is easy and so is cancellation. We think you will enjoy the benefits of having a better appreciation of the home values in your neighborhood.

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How To Know If Your Adjustable Rate Mortgage Will Adjust Lower This Year

Posted on April 9th, 2009 by Jim Cronin

When conforming mortgages adjust, they’re often tied to an interest rate index called LIBOR.
LIBOR is an acronym for London Interbank Offered Rate. But what LIBOR stands for isn’t as important as the role it plays.
LIBOR is an interest rate at which banks borrow money from each other.  Therefore, when banks feel the banking system as a whole is unsafe, LIBOR rises to compensate. 
It’s why LIBOR spiked last October after Lehman Brothers failed.  Financial institutions wondered what other institutions would fail and that added risk to the system.
Since October, however, and because of massive government interventions worldwide, LIBOR has been on a steady retreat.  Moreover, with close to $30 billion in conforming mortgages scheduled to adjust by Labor Day, the timing couldn’t be better for homeowners with conforming ARMs.
Typically, a Fannie Mae- or Freddie Mac-backed mortgage adjusts once annually.  The adjusted interest rate is always equal to some constant — usually 2.250 percent — plus the rate of LIBOR on the date of adjustment.
As a math formula, the ARM formula might like this:

New Mortgage Rate = LIBOR + 2.250 percent

In October, when LIBOR was above 4 percent, a homeowner’s ARM may have adjusted to 6 1/2 percent.  Today, that same ARM would move to four-and-a-quarter.
As a strategy play, it might make sense to let your ARM adjust because the rate will remain low, but with fixed rate mortgages hovering near 5 percent, locking up a long-term rate may be smart, too.
Talk to your loan officer to review all of your choices.

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How To Know If You’re Eligible For A Making Home Affordable Refinance

Posted on April 7th, 2009 by Deena Willis

April 4, 2009, marked the official start of the Making Home Affordable refinance program.
Expected to help 5 million homeowners, the Making Home Affordable program “looks the other way” with respect to falling home values, approving mortgage applications based on borrower payment history and benefit to the homeowner.
Not every homeowner is eligible for a Making Home Affordable refinance, however.  There are 3 basic criteria that must be met.
First, your existing home loan must be backed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  Thankfully, both companies provide online lookup services.  Start with the Fannie Mae site because Fannie has a greater market share and because Freddie Mac’s site requires your social security number.
Next, you must have a perfect mortgage payment history over the last 12 months.  Even one payment made 30 days late disqualifies you from participating in the Making Home Affordable program.  It is okay, however, if you were 20 days late on your payment and incurred late fees.
And lastly, the balance on your mortgage cannot exceed your home’s value by more than 5%.  The math formula is (Mortgage Balance) / (Home Value).  If the quotient is greater than 1.05 then your loan-to-value exceeds 105% and you are not eligible for Making Home Affordable.
Now, assuming you meet the criteria, there are some noteworthy details of the Making Home Affordable program:

1. If you didn’t pay mortgage insurance prior to refinancing, you won’t have to pay it after refinancing — even if your loan-to-value exceeds 80%.
2. All refinances require income verification — even if the original mortgage was a stated income loan.
3. Second mortgages cannot be paid off using loan proceeds — they must be subordinated

There are other guidelines, too, and both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have dedicated portions of their website to the Making Home Affordable program. To the layperson, unfortunately, the information may be a bit technical. 
Even the government’s fact sheet can be a little dense at times.
Therefore, if you have specific questions about the Making Home Affordable program and your own eligibility, first check to see if Fannie or Freddie is backing your loan.  If they are, pick up the phone and call your loan officer to plan next steps.
The program ends June 10, 2010.

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