Once Thanksgiving is over, the real estate world typically starts to wind down for the holidays and doesn’t usually reawaken until after New Year’s. But potential home buyers who are prepared to close in today’s competitive market may want to… Continue Reading
The California Dept. of Real Estate (DRE) issued a consumer alert and fraud warning because of the growing number of scams being perpetrated against consumers seeking to rent homes and apartments by persons offering rental lists for a fee and… Continue Reading
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2013 will remain at existing levels. In high-cost areas such as California, the loan limit is $625,000… Continue Reading
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) last week extended its temporary “anti-flipping” waiver an additional two years to Dec. 31, 2014, enabling investors to purchase and renovate foreclosed and abandoned homes and resell the rehabbed property within 90 days. Previously, the… Continue Reading
Many people who file for bankruptcy think that it will be many years before they can obtain a mortgage or refinance an existing home loan, if they ever can – perhaps because notice of a bankruptcy filing typically stays on… Continue Reading
The Census Bureau said housing starts and permits rose substantially in August. Separately, sales of previously occupied homes climbed 7.8 percent from a year ago, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Read the full story
After years of having too many homes and not enough buyers, real estate agents in California now have the opposite problem – too many buyers and not enough homes for sale. The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported Monday that… Continue Reading
The California Composite Index of Consumer Confidence increased to 94.2 in the third quarter of 2012 compared with the second quarter revised reading of 89, according to Chapman University. Consumer confidence has been increasing steadily since hitting a low of… Continue Reading
With rates for 30-year mortgages hovering below 4 percent since last October, all kinds of homeowners are trying to get their monthly mortgages reduced, say lenders and mortgage experts. Along with months of record-breaking low interest rates, other factors are… Continue Reading
Unless Congress and the California State legislature take action, a break for mortgage principal forgiven in loan modifications or short sales will expire at year’s end. The mortgage debt forgiveness issue is only one of approximately 60 expiring tax provisions… Continue Reading