Where are all the Foreclosures San Diego County?

Where are all the Foreclosures in San Diego County?

San Diego County has less than 600 Bank Owned Foreclosures or REO’s currently in the San Diego Multiple Listing Service (MLS). A year ago, we had over 3000 active REO’s.

There were 1063 and 1044 REO’s sold this June and July. There were 861 and 846 REO’s sold this August and September.

The sold prices for REO’s have been steadily rising in these months: $242K, $240K, $248K. $256K, $276K. That is a 13% increase in the last 4 months.

Of course, these are not the figures we hear in the media.

Why are there so few Foreclosures in San Diego County?
There are several opinions.
Banks are waiting till the prices go up.
Because of the TARP funds, they have been told to make Obama look good.
They are getting tax breaks.
They do not want to show the write-offs on their books. (Didn’t some banks report huge profits recently? Not the case if they report the “real value” of the assets. That will hurt their stock price.)

The best of the answers seems to be from Sean O’Toole of Foreclosure Radar, a Foreclosure tracking service. In his Blog http://www.foreclosuretruth.com/blog/sean he states that the lenders are getting more money from the Government (WE TAXPAYERS) by holding on, than they can get from the Foreclosure.

“I speculated that foreclosures had dropped primarily because of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's announcment to seek troubled asset relief for banks. The result being that banks are incentivized not to foreclose thanks to mark-to-model accounting changes, and an implied promise that the Fed or taxpayers will take bad loans off their hands at a premium if necessary.”




Dennis Smith, ABR, SRES, e-PRO, CDPE, Realtor® DRE# 00476662
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Taylor Place Real Estate
Buy or Sell a Home with Me, Use my Moving Truck - F R E E for life.
dennis@SanDiegoHomes4u.com
760-436-0087, or cell at 760-212-8225
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/home.htm

My Market Trends Report with graphs and charts for North Coastal San Diego will give you the Sales Statistics for the month and compare it with last year, by city!
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/RealEstateTrends.htm

You can view all available San Diego area homes for sale at http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/MLS_Search.htm
You can search by address, by MLS number or by general criteria.

Providing quality Real Estate services in the North Coastal San Diego area including Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Cardiff by the Sea, Encinitas, Leucadia, Olivenhain, Carlsbad, La Costa, Aviara, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, San Elijo Hills, Escondido & San Diego County.

Senate plans to extend an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers

Senate plans to extend an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and allow benefits for some people who already own residences.

The proposal would also let existing homeowners qualify for a $6,500 credit if they have lived in their residence for five years.

The homebuyers’ credit would be available to individuals earning up to $125,000, or $250,000 for couples, up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples under the current law.

The plan would extend the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, due to expire Nov. 30, to home purchases under contract by April 30, 2010, with borrowers allowed another 60 days to close the sale.

It is not a done deal yet because it is tied to bill to extend unemployment benefits along with several other "pork" amendments. Fortunately, there seems to be little resistance to the home buyers credit. We will have to see exactly comes out of the bill.



Dennis Smith, ABR, SRES, e-PRO, CDPE, Realtor® DRE# 00476662
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Taylor Place Real Estate
Buy or Sell a Home with Me, Use my Moving Truck - F R E E for life.
dennis@SanDiegoHomes4u.com
760-436-0087, or cell at 760-212-8225
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/home.htm

My Market Trends Report with graphs and charts for North Coastal San Diego will give you the Sales Statistics for the month and compare it with last year, by city!
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/RealEstateTrends.htm

You can view all available San Diego area homes for sale at http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/MLS_Search.htm
You can search by address, by MLS number or by general criteria.

Providing quality Real Estate services in the North Coastal San Diego area including Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Cardiff by the Sea, Encinitas, Leucadia, Olivenhain, Carlsbad, La Costa, Aviara, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, San Elijo Hills, Escondido & San Diego County.

760 Area Code must now dial 760 for all calls

760 Area Code must now dial 760 for all calls.

It changes tomorrow 10/24/2009!

From a land line you will need to dial 1-760-436-0087 to reach me.
From a cell phone you can dial 760-436-0087 with or without the "1".

You will also need to change all your autodialers for Area Code 760.

Notify alarm service providers of the appropriate area code + telephone number(s) so alarm service records and equipment can be updated as needed.

This will include your preset numbers in your cell phone, call forwarding, fax, modem and any other devices that you have that automatically dial a phone number.

Individuals can still just dial only three digits to call phone numbers such as emergency 911, 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, and 711.

Calls that were local before the area code change will remain local calls. The distance, time of day, and length of a call determine the price of a call not the dialing pattern.

Dennis Smith, ABR, SRES, e-PRO, CDPE,Realtor® DRE# 00476662
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Taylor Place Real Estate
Buy or Sell a Home with Me, Use my Moving Truck - F R E E for life.
dennis@SanDiegoHomes4u.com
760-436-0087, or cell at 760-212-8225
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/home.htm

My Market Trends Report with graphs and charts for North Coastal San Diego will give you the Sales Statistics for the month and compare it with last year, by city!
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/RealEstateTrends.htm

You can view all available San Diego area homes for sale at http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/MLS_Search.htm
You can search by address, by MLS number or by general criteria.

Providing quality Real Estate services in the N Coastal San Diego area including Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Cardiff by the Sea, Encinitas, Leucadia, Olivenhain, Carlsbad, La Costa, Aviara, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, San Elijo Hills, Escondido & San Diego County

San Diego Real Estate Market Report

San Diego Real Estate Market Report

The median price for San Diego County single family,
re-sale homes rose 2.4% in September compared to August.

Year-over-year, the median price was up 1.4%. This is the first time the median price has been higher than the year before since June 2006.

The median price for homes is now at its highest level since August 2008.

Home sales were up in September, gaining 6.4% from August.
Year-over-year, home sales were down 1%.
This is the first time since June 2008 home sales
have down compared to the year before. Year-to-date,
home sales are up 16%.

San Diego County Condo sales were up 5% month-over-month, and down 2.5% compared to last September.
Year-to-date, condo sales are up 17.6% but
prices dropped 8.9% from August, 09.

My complete on-line report is available here: http://dennissmith.rereport.com

Please contact me to see how this information affects your and your home buying or selling needs.

You can view all available San Diego area homes for sale at
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/MLS_Search.htm
You can search by address, by MLS number or by general criteria.

Dennis Smith, ABR, SRES, e-PRO, CDPE, Realtor® DRE# 00476662
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Taylor Place Real Estate

dennis@SanDiegoHomes4u.com
760-436-0087, or cell at 760-212-8225
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/home.htm

Ways to Get or Increase Your Downpayment

Ways to Get or Increase Your Downpayment.  

It can be a maze.

1. Ask for a gift from any family member. Most lenders accept gift letters for your down payment.

2. Borrow the money from a family member. Many lenders accept family loans.

3. Borrow the money from a non-family member: employer, friend, Non Profit Group or Government. $8000 Tax Rebate but must be closed by 11/30/09

4. Borrow from your insurance policy.

5. Borrow from your stock account.

6. Borrow from your retirement account. Your home is a great retirement asset. Why not own one as soon as you can. http://www.brokeragentsocial.com/BobPhillips/blog/2981/

7. Borrow from your credit cards. Most lenders do not approve of this unless your down payment is over 20%

8. Get one or more unsecured loans from your bank or credit union.

9. Find a partner to buy with you: friend, relative or investor.

10. Find a co-signer. You and cosigner must qualify.

More Ways to Get or Increase Your Downpayment:

11. Finance or refinance another asset you have:
House, lot, boat, car, jewelry or ? you may be able to use that asset as collateral.

12. Sell an asset: Anything of value! Many people are getting great prices on Internet auction sites, the worlds largest free classifieds.

13. Trade something of value with the seller. One of your assets or your skills. (What do you do for a vocation or hobby that may be of value to the seller)

14. Get a second job. There can be significant tax benefits to an “in home” business, even if you live in a rental.

15. Ask the seller to pay for your down payment, closing costs or even pay off your debits. The presentation of this type of request is critical. You must show why it is in the sellers best interest to do so.

16. Increase the price so the seller feels comfortable paying your costs or debits.

17. Ask the seller to carry some or all of the financing.

18. Spend Less! Do you really need a Starbucks 1-2 times a day when regular coffee will work. Slim down those TV and Cell Phone packages for awhile.

19. It’s all about determining what is REALLY important to you. What are you willing to do to own a home and reap the tax, lifestyle, appreciation and equity benefits you will get?

If you can think of other ways to legally get or increase your downpayment, please let me know.

Dennis Smith  760-436-0087
Taylor Place Real Estate

Rates - APR - Points - Fees: How the Playing Field is Still "Crooked"

Rates - APR - Points - Fees: How the Playing Field is Still "Crooked"

This is a re-blog with permission from Steve Kappre, a Mortgage Planner with Treasury Mortgage


I talked to a client today who was shopping me against some other lenders. I don't blame people, and frankly if I think someone else has a better offer and they are legit, I advise "my client" so and have no hard feelings.

In the scenario today, said client was offered 4.5% with no points. I told him it wasn't possible, but lest I be ignorant, I dropped by this other lender's website. Indeed, the lenders website quoted 4.5% with no points and an APR of 4.878%. The website gave the assumed loan amount and purchase price. So I went and did the math. What did I find out? To make the rate and APR accurate, I had to add 2.25% in points ON TOP OF all of the regular fees (title, appraisal, etc.).

In other words, even though the quote was 4.5% with zero points, the TRUE cost was 4.5%, plus typical closing costs, PLUS 2.25% in additional fees/costs.
Please send me your Goofy Good Fake Faith Estimate!

There are several issues with this scenario

APR is supposed to HELP consumers, not confuse them. Clearly this bank (a large bank at that) is charging hefty fees instead of points. This brings us to our next point ...

Points are tax deductible costs - most other fees are not. Charging high fees in lieu of points is an injustice to the consumer. We see rates quoted with NO POINTS to make them look better to consumers. However the total cost is ultimately higher than a lender that is straight forward, charging the same dollar amount but in the form of points. A loan with the same cost in points (versus fees) is a far better deal, saving a consumer hundreds or thousands in tax deductible costs.

APR is "pliable" - Certain fees are calculated into the APR calculation, others are not. Do not assume lenders don't play with the "names" of fees to artificially lower their APR's. That doesn't seem to be the case in the above example, nonetheless keep this in mind.

Lastly, said bank WOULD NOT give the buyer a good faith estimate without having him apply for a mortgage. OK, not so crazy, but the good faith estimate would not be given for 3 days. And if the bank charged an application fee? That would just be another deceptive way to lure a consumer in and tie them to the bank.

Any lender should be able to offer you a good faith estimate (GFE) in a fairly short amount of time, 24 hours or less, allowing some time for when a lender is very busy. Assuming the lender is honest and accurate with their fees, you should be able to see the true cost of their offered rate. You should be able to see, as in the above scenario, that their rate of 4.5% with no points really has a lender fee of $4,119 (Actual additional cost based on their APR). This same week I had another rate shopper send me a goof good faith estimate with 1% in points and $2,100 in application fees. THIS IS NOT NORMAL or fair to you as a consumer, especially on a purchase loan.
I am not angry for losing business, because I didn't lose business. I am however angry because of the lenders and loan officers that mislead and deceive consumers who are just looking out for themselves by rate shopping. What we often see, is that many consumers that search the world over for the lowest rate, actually end up paying much higher costs via deceptive lenders. Consumers can be blinded by a low rate, not allowing them to see the true cost.

Steve Kappre is a Mortgage Planner with Treasury Mortgage. Steve specializes in
• All areas concerning NJ First-Time Home Buyer Mortgages, grants, down payment assistance, tax credits, and more.
• Reverse Mortgages
• Equity Management strategies for high-end homes and high net worth individuals
Contact Steve Kappre directly at 856-419-3561 or at http://www.stevekappre.com/

End of his Blog at http://activerain.com/blogsview/1266423/rates-apr-points-fees-gfe-s-how-the-playing-field-is-still-crooked-

_________________________________

My comments:  I agree with Steve completely!

This deceit is not just with online lenders although they have a higher percentage of problems. You can even see it at your local bank. A point dressed up as a fee still costs you money and most fees are not deductible.

This is why I use 2 local lenders who I know and trust to get the loan done right and charge REASONABLE fees.  Everybody deserves to make a fair living but not by deceit.

I have worked with both of these local lenders for over 8 years each.  They have both done an outstanding job with my clients which is why I continue recommending them.  Please call me for their contact info.  760-436-0087

Dennis Smith, ABR, SRES, e-PRO, CDPE, Realtor® DRE# 00476662
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Taylor Place Real Estate
http://www.sandiegohomes4u.com/
dennis@SanDiegoHomes4u.com