Yesterday I listened to a speaker that talked about building wealth through real estate.   This speaker is talking about investing and returns.   Never been a better market to buy in.   He used an example of a property that sold in 2005 for $326,000 in Citrus Heights and was bought in 2010 for $122,000.   This home was basically on sale for 64% off!! That’s all well and good…so what right.   Look at these figures:

Interest on loan 5%, with 20% down ($25,620 with closing costs)
Making the loan of $97,600
With est. Taxes, Insurance, Property Management and Utilities, monthly out flow of $865 per month.
If you charge $1,100 per month rent, you get a cash return of 11%.
If you charge $1,300 for the property your cash return is 20.3%!!!!

Get that from a bank on a $25,620 investment.

Never been a better time to start building your future than now.

The greatest holiday gift you can get?    New home of course.    Why?   I could tell you that it™s because of the insanely low interest rates, or that prices have never been better.   However there is a much, much better reason.     COMPETITION!   That™s right, this is the time of year when a lot of   people are thinking about holiday shopping   instead of shopping for a new home.   Give yourself the best present ever¦. A NEW home!!!!!!.  

Yes according to all the realtor data this is when the fewest homes are sold, and when the biggest savings are found.   Do you want to wait till after the holidays and be in competition with other buyers for that home you™ve always wanted?    Well if you wait, that is exactly what will happen and the seller will be less inclined to make concessions.   Buy when there are fewer buyers looking and then you™ll have the upper hand.   Remember you want to start next year off right¦in the home you™ve always wanted.  

Yes it™s the best time to buy in November and December.

Today is election day.   Make your voice heard in Washington and locally.   This is your right and every vote counts.   Remember there are many in this world that don’t have this opportunity.   Take the time and vote for what and who you want.

Historical low interest rates are out there.   Lets take a look how good they are.   Look at how the payments have shrunk with 10% down on 300K purchase with taxes, insurance and PMI included.

Sept 2007 6.38%   $2154

Sept 2008 6.04%   $2095

Sept 2009 5.06%   $1928  

Sept 2010 4.35%  $1813

What does this mean?   Buyers can afford a home that just 4 years ago was out of thier price range.   Sellers there are buyers out there that want to buy your homes because of the current rates.   If someone asked me at the beginning of the year where rates were headed, like most people we thought they were going to be around 7% by the end of the year.   The federal government has kept the rates super low to stimulate the economy.   This is a great time for you to buy and more people can afford it if you are selling.

 Interest rate data was collected from this site:

http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=245&count=all

How do you feel about the rates?

According to the article below the home foreclosures fell by over 43% from this time last year.   That is good news for the housing market that continues to improve as we move forward.  Read the article below from the LA Times:

 California Foreclosures Drop to 3-Year Low
The number of home owners in California entering foreclosure in the second quarter dropped to a three-year low, according to research firm MDA DataQuick.

Default notices, the first step in the foreclosure process, fell 43.8 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

Analysts say the decline is due to banks pushing loan-modification programs and short sales. Also, fewer homes are underwater thanks to a recovery in home prices, so a smaller number of home owners are walking away.

Ironically, regions of the state where homes are cheapest are most likely to see the highest number of default notices. According to DataQuick, neighborhoods with a median sales price of less than $300,000 experienced 10.6 default notices for every 1,000 homes, while neighborhoods with prices above $800,000 accounted for 2.9 notices for every 1,000 homes.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Alejandro Lazo (07/22/2010)
 

Rocklin, is just 1 of 4 California cities to make the Top 100 places to live in the country.   Not a surprise to me since I live here.   The other cities in California that made the list were Irvine (22), Yorba Linda (38), Pleasanton (63) and Rocklin (65).    If you want to read more about the top 100 places to live go to; http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL0662364.html

Rocklin, is just 1 of 4 California cities to make the Top 100 places to live in the country.   Not a surprise to me since I live here.   The other cities in California that made the list were Irvine (22), Yorba Linda (38), Pleasanton (63) and Rocklin (65).    If you want to read more about the top 100 places to live go to; http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL0662364.html

I read today that Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, is fighting back against Freddie and Fannie Mae.   His has sued the mortgage agencies and it’s regulator.   The mortgage agencies just the other day put up regulations that basically killed the PACE program to get solar power to the homeowners at affordable prices.   The PACE program allowed the financing to be added to thier property taxes.   More money in the homeowner pockets, you would think, would mean less chance of default on thier homes.   Read the entire LA Times article  at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0715-pace-20100714,0,7409804.story  

I was reading an article about Fannie & Freddie not accepting loans with Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program.   In someways I can see where this is a prudent thing to do on thier part, however it doesn’t help homeowners either.   I’d like top hear what you have to say about this.  Read the entire article at http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/07/07/fannie-freddie-kill-pace-program/

Sales for median homes continue to rise on a statewide look,  since the trough seen as April 2009, according to California Association of Realtors (CAR).    You can see the data in this pdf from CAR.    market_at_a_glance_2010-05.pdf

What can be causing this? Well, the sales of existing homes, dropping inventory and the historic low interest rates all are contributing to this. Some areas are seeing more appreciation than others. There are a lot of fantastic deals to be made. They won’t last for ever.

What are you seeing in your area?