Laurie's Real Estate Blog

Wondering if a short sale is the right thing for you ?

laurie — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:19:59 +0000

Two short-sale killers

Before you even start considering getting involved in a short sale, there are two situations in which an attempt at a short sale is almost certain to fail.

An attempt at a short sale will fail if:

No default on loan – Lenders almost never will accept short sale offers or requests for short sales until the borrower is far behind in payments and a notice of default has been issued.
Bankruptcy – If the seller has filed for bankruptcy, forget it. Few, if any, lenders will consider a short sale when the seller has filed for bankruptcy, because negotiating a short sale is considered a collection activity and collection activities are prohibited in bankruptcies.

A foot and a half of snow?

laurie — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:19:27 +0000

That is what we are expecting for snowfall in the next 36 hours. We will take it!

Conditions for spring skiing should be awesome this year with all the late snow fall.

The skiing has been great at Squaw Valley.

In Tahoe Donner there is a perfect ski resort within the neighborhood, open for the kids and beginners until April 15th.

Non-intimidating terrain. Super fun for the little ones and at a price you don’t have to ski them to death to get your money’s worth out of them.

Harp Program for refinancing

laurie — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:45:50 +0000

You really want to refinance and take advantage of the low rates available at this time? Have a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan? Your home worth less now than you paid? Is it your primary residence? Your not alone there are 15 million of us out there in the US right now. HARP information

Places to Snowmobile in North Lake Tahoe

laurie — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:38:00 +0000

The North Lake Tahoe Resort Association suggests that you use a Topo Map if you are not familiar with the riding areas. Topo Maps are available at the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce Visitors Information Center, 245 North Lake Blvd., Tahoe City, CA. Snowmobile locations

Go on a tour with my friend Larry owner of Cold stream Adventures in Truckee CA Snowmobile tours.

Short selling and release of deficiency

laurie — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:14:09 +0000

Freddie Mac Reinforces Deficiency Release Policy

On February 15, 2012, Freddie Mac released an update to its servicing guide, reinforcing the requirement that servicers must waive all rights to seek deficiencies for short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions on Freddie Mac Mortgages. All parties must have acted in good faith and in compliance with Freddie Mac’s servicing guide and all applicable local, state and federal law. This policy means that Freddie Mac will not pursue borrowers for the entire amount owed under the current mortgage and servicers must instruct closing agents to release the lien on the property and report the mortgage as satisfied. Freddie Mac Bulletin

HAFA – Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Extended in 2013

laurie — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:55:56 +0000

Why is it so complicated to get your loan modified? In most cases even if the terms of the loan could be changed to a minimal interest rate of 2.7% the payment may still exceed 33% of the borrowers monthly income. Many cases I have seen the borrower is making less money than when they purchased the home with the hopes of actually earning more in the future. Since prices have fallen it is unrealistic to expect a borrower to continue the financially destructive behavior. Which inevitably will result in foreclosure eventually.

Be proactive, sell your property before you drag yourself through the mud. Contact Laurie, I specialize the management and successful transfer of property under the most complicated of scenarios.

Do you qualify for the $3,000 HAFA program that issues a sellers relocation credit? Short selling through the federal goverment program and find out the facts, everything there is to know about it.Directly from the source

Inflation and Today’s Rates

laurie — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:07:31 +0000

Inflation Figures Will Cause Rates To Rise

With higher than expected inflation numbers we will expect to lose

some of thegains we’ve recently seen in the bond market.

Core Inflation has now hit the upper end of the Federal

Reserve’s target rate which is bad news for interest rates.

Weekly Claims remained above 400K in the latest week

while manufacturing data is still a bit dismal.

Bond markets are shrugging off the claims number

and the manufacturing data and are focusing in

on the hotter than expected inflation,

which erodes the purchasing power of a Bond’s future cash flows.
If you or someone you know is buying a home,

there couldn’t be a better time to do that than right now.

Mortgage Interest Rates*

Rates as of Thursday, 15th September, 2011:

	Term	Conforming	APR	Payment per $1,000	Jumbo	APR	Payment per $1,000
30-Yr. fixed	360	3.875%	3.934%	$4.70	4.0%	4.049%	$4.77
15 Yr Fixed	360	3.25%	3.307%	$2.71	3.375%	3.423%	$2.81
7 Yr Fixed	360	2.875%	2.931%	$2.40	3.625%	3.673%	$3.02
5 Yr FIxed	360	2.5%	2.554%	$2.08	3.25%	3.297%	$2.71
10 Yr Fixed	360	3.25%	3.307%	$2.71	5.875%	5.930%	$4.90

*Rates are subject to change due to market fluctuations and borrower’s eligibility.

Payment amounts do not include amounts for taxes and insurance. Actual payments will be higher.

What are points and when should you pay for them?

laurie — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:50:09 +0000

Points are up-front fees paid to obtain a better interest rate on a loan. One point equals one percent of the loan amount. A lower interest rate may result in a lower monthly payment, but it is important to consider how long you intend to be in the loan, and to compare current rates to historical market trends.

If you take out a $300,000 mortgage and decide to pay one point, this translates into an up-front closing cost of $3,000. Paying a point up front saves $100 a month but it will take 30 months to recuperate the cost of that point. If you decide to refinance or sell the home before the 30-month mark, your money is lost. In this case, you would benefit financially by remaining in the home longer than the 30 months.

Rates run in cycles. When rates are at historical lows, it is sensible to pay points if you plan to live in the home for an extended period of time. It is unlikely that rates will go down; hence, there will be no need to refinance.

When rates are up, there is a strong likelihood that they will come down. This is no time to pay points. The chances of refinancing in the future are extremely high, and you will likely not be in the loan long enough to recuperate the cost of the points.

Can I buy a house? What is the easiest loan to get?

laurie — Fri, 27 May 2011 20:00:43 +0000

The question remains, given today’s guidelines what are the absolute bare-minimums to obtain a mortgage?
….and perhaps more interesting…how to obtain a mortgage immediately after a Short Sale..read on…
By far the easiest mortgage to obtain is a FHA loan:
1) 3.5 percent down payment, based on the purchase price of the home (e.g., $7,000 on a $200,000 home), or a gift of that same amount;
2) 3 percent to 6 percent of the purchase price, on top of the down payment, for closing costs, or a credit from the seller of the same amount; and
3) 640 FICO credit score — the middle score of those generated by the three credit bureaus (some banks will lend to borrowers with middle scores lower than 640, but will require more than the minimum down payment).
Lenders will want you to document income, asset and job history documentation, current paycheck stubs, two months’ bank statements and two years of W-2 forms or tax returns, and:
a minimum of two years have passed since the discharge of a bankruptcy;
a minimum of three years have passed since a foreclosure;
anywhere from zero to three years have passed since a short sale, depending on the circumstances surrounding the short sale.

Ski Skate Week in Truckee/Tahoe

laurie — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:53:21 +0000

Ski skate week in Tahoe, durning Presidents Day week is a wonderful ski holiday for us here in the Sierras as we welcome many families as visitors.

Come up see some property and the kids can learn to ski at Tahoe Donner next week with the special deal available to all.

Tahoe Donner has wonderful ammenties, golf and skiing availble to homeowners and the public alike.

This is the second lasgest HOA in the country and a must see for all interested in a second home with great rental potential and stable investment properties available $300,000- 1.2 M.

We are anticipating being busy as realtors for the next 2 weekends as visitors are curious about the market and looking for great deals that are here to be had!

The weather has been good for some time, it is easy to look at property currently due to snow having been melting back for weeks.

We do anticipate a couple feet of fresh snow next week prior to the week of Presidents Day.

The skiing will be fantastic!