Great News!

October pending home sales rise 3.7 percent nationally.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 3.7 percent from September to October to 114.1. It was the highest reading since March 2006 and almost 32 percent above a year ago, the largest annual increase ever for the index.

Many different indexes are moving  into positive territory. All of the benefits of buying are still there including historically low interest rates!
Get your piece of the American Dream now or grab a couple of investment properties.  Five years down the road you'll be sitting pretty.

Don't let your pride get in the way

If you are having trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments, there are now so many different ways to help yourself.

First, call your lender - they have several modification options including the "Obama" modification. (check out their website)
Next, call your real estate expert, they can fill you in on short sales, deed in lieu and other foreclosure alternatives.

I have one client who waited until 20 days before the trustee sale before calling me and had ignored the mortgagor's calls and letters.  We are in a short sale now, but it was very difficult to prevent the foreclosure.

Communication is the best way to go. Many people are in the same situation and there are so many good options.

If you don't know a great agent in your area, call me, I'll get you one of the best.

If you have any questions, drop me a private message and I'll help you out!

Senate passes extension of tax credit for new home purchases

They are finally getting around to the tax credit. It is now headed for the house.  So if you didn't buy under the current tax credit, you now have a few more months,  great values, great interest rates and an awesome tax credit.  Why wait??

Awesome Real Estate News on almost all fronts!

Things are looking very positive in almost all areas of the country with the west leading the way.
Almost all areas of real estate are headed in a positive direction.  And...interest rates remain at historical lows.  If you haven't purchased yet, get on it now!  It's not too late for incredible opportunities.

It is not going to get any better than this!

Ok so today I'm just picking up some information and passing it on.

There are still deals to be had in San Diego.  You may not get prices as low as you could have six months ago, but there are still some incredible deals out there.  And.....oh those incredible interest rates.

McLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.04 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending September 24, 2009, unchanged from last week when it averaged 5.04 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.09 percent.


The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.46 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.47 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.77 percent. This is the lowest the 15-year FRM has been since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1991.

Mortgage rates held relatively steady at three-month lows this week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. Correspondingly, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications jumped 12.8 percent over the week of September 18th to the strongest pace since late May, boosted by refinancing activity."


"In its September 23rd policy statement, the Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated that it plans to keep its benchmark interest rate exceptionally low for an extended period. This will likely benefit consumers who opt for ARMs, because they are typically tied to shorter-term interest rates. The Fed also noted that activity in the economy and housing market has picked up and financial markets have improved.”

There you have it. Now if you want to get a piece of the action, call me, if you are in San Diego, I'll take care of you personally, if you are anywhere else, I will refer you to one of the top agents (a Certified Resedential Specialist) in your market.

I look forward to hearing from you!  Have an incredible weekend!

Things are lookin' up!

Things in Southern california are looking much better.

All of this is feeding into the housing sector in key markets, such as southern California, where August sales were up 11 percent compared with the year before, according to MDA DataQuick. Even prices are rising slightly.


In the combined markets of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Bernadino-Riverside and Ventura, the median price of homes sold gained 2.6 percent in August, which is very encouraging for one of the hardest-hit boom-to-bust areas of the country

We're on the right track, let's see just how fast we travel.

The big talk is the tax credit

We are rapidly approaching the end of the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers (Nov. 30th as it currently stands). The big question is , let it die, extend or amend.

We are hearing about $15,000 crdit and the fact that it might not be only first time homebuyers. To me it appears that raising the demand in the housing sector will only create more jobs as housing recovers full speed ahead.  Maybe the government can even make enough in tax revenues to pay for the program.

Almost everyone agrees it is currently working well, but those opposed say the credits did the job and now we should let it run out.

We will probably know pretty soon.  It's not too hard to guess where I would come down on this issue.
If you have any questions at all about San Diego Real Estate, feel free to drop me an email or give me a call.

Obama looking at extending the $8,000 tax credit

It is looking good for an extension of the tax credit. The only thing really getting in the way, is the recovery. With the Feds saying we are out of the recession, the motivation is diminished. We will know shortly, in the meantime buying builder inventory and traditional sales are the sure way right now to meet the deadline. Short sales and REO's not so much.

Short Sale help on the way

Second lien holders are refusing to take low payments and are holding up these deals in many instances. When you were approved for the second mortgage, you were told the interest rate was higher because of the increased risk.  Well now that the loans aren't turning out the way they wanted and they can't pocket all that extra interest, they are trying to make things very difficult for the short sale process.

The Obama administration is now considering extra incentives for second lienholders to get them to accept minimal settlement amounts and allow the short sales to complete.

If you have any questions on short sales or any other method to help keep your home, feel free to call me.

In the meantime, if you have a bag of money laying around, buy something now!

Obama's loan modification

The government is reporting that only 12% of all eligible borrowers have taken advantage of this program.

If you haven't done yours yet, you need to get to it.

Housing News Keeps Getting Better

At this rate, the housing market will be favoring sellers in no time.  The most recent numbers out show that  "Bond yields pushed mortgage rates slightly lower this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Low mortgage rates are helping to keep housing very affordable. Seven of the top eight most affordable months occurred during this year, according to the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Housing Affordability Index, which dates back to 1971. As a result, pending sales of existing homes rose for the sixth straight month in July, a trend not seen since the NAR began reporting data in 2001. Moreover, July's sales were the strongest since June 2007.

San Diego is one area that will help lead the way back.  We are seeing multiple offers on all units below a half million dollars which contributes to bidding the prices up. In the areas where the majority of the foreclosures are present, nothing gets sold at the list price anymore, some lucky investor or homeowner ends up paying 5 to 20% above what the bank was asking but still ends up with a great deal.

If you look around San Diego, you will still see very few construction projects. This bodes well for San Diego's recovery as the inventory may remain tight for many years to come.

If you have any questions, please email me or give me a call.

Looking for any good news and find that it's all pretty good news

I went looking for  a little good news this morning and didn't have to go far.  I know in 6 months all we'll be hearing is "I shoulda".   It looks like the housing market will be leading the recovery - especially in San Diego.

Everyone who is going after the loan modifications better get them done pretty soon.

If buying anything, take a look now, we will be getting more inventory soon, but the prices will be higher.

People are buying up everything as soon as it hits the market, and yes there are bidding wars again.  We are going to see the most interesting market in years in 2010 and 2011.

Sellers can start to think about swlling again, the prices will slowly creep up into an acceptable range.

Call or email me if you have any questions. I also have a great network of Realtors around the country so if you need one pleaseask me.  http://www.alanschmitt.com/

I've heard from a few sources that the banks are holding many of their foreclosures in inventory until the market begins to creep back up. In addition, many banks are not even foreclosing on a lot of properties that are as many as 12 to 18 months delinquent.

This was presented to us at an investment meeting on Friday.

If that is the case, there will still be some buying opportunities for a while. The inventory right now however is scarce. Because it is the best buying opportunity in decades, everything that comes on the market is being snatched up quickly. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

By the way if your buying or selling in Phoenix, Austin or Philadelphia, I have a great agent for you. And of course the one in San Diego isn't too bad either!!

So the guy in Oregon who completely stripped his foreclosed home is looking at 10 years in prison. This guy’s life is only getting worse.

There are awesome alternatives to foreclosure. Almost nobody needs to go the foreclosure route - just get some help and ascertain ALL of the options.

And...God forbid you face foreclosure, leave the house in decent condition and don't take the cabinets, toilets, faucets, light fixtures or anything that belongs as part of the real property.

Read the full story here http://tinyurl.com/kuymke

If you or anyone you know gets into trouble, doing nothing and not communicating is still the worst thing you can do. There are options - call me and I will be happy to go over them