Getting Help to Achieve the American Dream

The first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 can be a significant help during the remainder of 2009 for buyers who have not owned a home in the previous three years. Check out my column, “First time home buyer’s tax credit,” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today for the details of the program. I believe this is a good program and will help not only to revitalize our Sacramento real estate market but will help buyers get their first home.

Sacramenot Short Sales

We are beginning to see short sale junior lenders flexing their muscle. A year ago you could count on the junior lender to pretty much roll over and take whatever allowance the senior lender allotted to them for their lien release. Now, they are holding out for more money and most are asking for the borrower to sign a letter saying they will remain responsible for any shortfall amount.

Trying to help struggling Sacramento homeowners avoid foreclosure by modification of their mortgage or a short sale is more difficult than it should be. Every time the government comes up with a program or an incentive the lenders quickly figure out how to get the money without helping the borrower and essentially avoiding the primary objective of the program, which is to help the homeowner.

We are continuing to do our best to help homeowners avoid foreclosure but it is taking more time, energy and all of our experience to make it work. If you or someone you know is having trouble making their monthly mortgage have them call us soon if they are behind in their payments.

Consolidation

I have decided to consolidate my blogging and concentrate on my primary blog, Keep it Real in Sacramento.

Thank you for reading this blog and I hope you will continue to read about my real estate business at Keep it Real in Sacramento.

It is always fun to get away for a few days and even better when you return and appreciate home. Last week we traveled to Elizabethtown, Kentucky to visit Michael’s son Mark and his family. I enjoyed spending time with them and seeing Kentucky.

I heard about the terrible ice storm they had this past winter but until I saw the devastation it caused I didn’t understand the impact. Kentucky is trees; almost every road is cut through a forest of trees or rolling green hills surrounded by trees. Almost every one of those trees was damaged. Now you see broken limbs jutting out in odd directions or piled high on the ground. The cleanup is going to take a long time and the effects will be seen for many years to come.

We did do some work on the Bourbon Trail and I enjoyed that but they need to learn from California wineries how to do tastings! I am not much of a bourbon drinker so was interested in learning what I tasted and why I enjoyed one more than another. Hard to do when you drive for 30 minutes and get one sip.

The real estate market where I was in Northern Kentucky or “Kentuckyanna” is doing alright. They didn’t have the huge run-up in the early 2000’s so have not seen the kind of large price declines we have had here in the Sacramento area. Interestingly, people there seem to take a longer view of real estate and their home values. They are not as concerned about the value today, because they, on average, live in the same house longer than we do in California.

More Good News for 1st Time Buyers

Starting tomorrow the California Association of Realtors will start a new program to help first time buyers who are worried about the economy and not being able to make their mortgage payment if they lose their job.

The program, C.A.R. Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program is designed to give these new homeowners some peace of mind by providing them with up to $1,500 per month for up to six months in the event of a job loss. In addition a co-buyer can participate for a reduced benefit of $750 per month for up to six months in the event of a job loss. C.A.R. is spending $1 million on the program and estimates it could benefit as many as 3,000 families in 2009.

To qualify for the program the applicant must:
• Be a first-time home buyer – someone who has not owned a home in the last three years
• Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or before Dec. 31, 2009
• Use a California REALTOR® in the transaction
• Purchase the property in California
• Be a W-2 employee (cannot be self-employed or military personnel)

If you are interested in this program please let me know, I can get you more information and an application. You can reach me at (916) 290-9339 or by email at juliej@jalone.com.

By the way, there is no cost to the home buyer to participate in this program.

Sacramento Homeowners Beware!

I have been hearing several different foreclosure rescue scams at work here in the Sacramento area. The perpetrators of the scam are approaching financially distressed homeowners and promising to help them stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure. I found and posted some warning signs of “foreclosure scams” to be aware of on the Real Estate News page at my jalone.com website. In addition there is a list of legitimate organization that are helping homeowners and where you can report anyone who you believe is out to make money at your expense. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.

Although the forecast is for rain tomorrow, today is bright, sunny and warm so get outside and enjoy the early spring weather. Good-bye winter!

Should you walk away?

If your home is worth less than you owe, the payments are killing you and have a lender who refuses to help what will happen if you walk away? Walking away is letting the bank foreclose, giving them the keys or avoiding a foreclosure by doing a short sale. If you do one of these things how bad will it be for you? Will you get sued by your bank? Will you ever be able to get credit again? How much will Uncle Sam and the IRS want from you? It may not be as bad as you imagine. Check out my weekly column, “What are the consequences of walking away?” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today and find out.

Other Items: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you have the luck of the Irish today and all year long!

I have been reading reports about a new California bill that may require banks to wait longer before foreclosing on mortgage obligations. Last year it was taking some banks up to 9 months before they even started the foreclosure process. Today they are responding much faster to delinquent loans so this bill may be helpful to Sacramento homeowners who want to qualify for a loan modification, refinance program or who want to avoid foreclosure by doing a short sale. Check back in the next day or so and I will provide more information.

Just a bit angry today!

This morning I read an article in the Sacramento Bee about the former executives of Countrywide that got rich on bonuses and golden parachutes after they made tons of questionable loans which we are all now paying for. Believe it or not they have taken their wealth and created a company that buys up bad loans from failed banks. They are paying pennies on dollar for these loans and making a killing on collecting. The economy is in the tank, the everyday guy is suffering and these guys are making millions again!

Why do I feel that when this is all said and done the people that will have prospered are the ones who helped create the problem and the borrowers who made risky and poor financial decisions to buy homes they couldn’t afford? Those of us that bought homes we could afford and are making our monthly payments, even when our income has declined and other costs have skyrocketed, will maybe just be lucky get through this recession.

Today, another Washington scheme was announced called the “Making Homes Affordable” initiative. I am not saying the housing market and homeowners shouldn’t get help but there are now so many plans and programs it is confusing and most of my clients, who we help avoid foreclosure, say when they call their lenders and ask about these Government sponsored plans the answer is generally something about we don’t care what you read, send us money or we will foreclose.

There seems to be a breakdown in the communication between Washington and the lenders. Why when we are giving banks billions don’t we get commitments to follow the program? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand “make loans and help borrowers.”

If you want a bit more detail on the latest plan to help you keep your house, check out my column, “Dizzy in Sacramento” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.

Sacramento Real Estate Picking-up Steam

I have been watching and experiencing a steady increase in real estate activity around the Sacramento area. We have a number of new listings, several of which are on fire. Yesterday I listed a great home in a downtown Sacramento neighborhood, 1324 35th Street. The agent “hits” on MLS has been very high and the phone has been ringing non-stop. It is an unfortunate Sacramento short sale but will make a new buyer very happy.

The other property that is hot is another short sale but this one is in Newcastle on over 4 acres. We had an accepted offer which is being reviewed by the seller’s lender but they had to back out because they could not obtain financing. We put it back on the market yesterday and can’t keep up with the requests for more information.

Although the Sacramento listing on 35th Street and the home and acreage in Newcastle are so different they have two striking similarities. First they are priced aggressively and as important they are both beautifully maintained homes with loads of curb appeal, charm and are both move-in ready. No matter what you hear about the market and the economy, price a great house right and they will come!

Call it What You Will

In the past two weeks we have seen the Federal stimulus bill, the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan and our new California budget which as some provisions to help the housing market. What are these, how do they work and have we finally got all the players headed in the same direction? Take a look at my local real estate column, “Stimulus, Recovery, Stability coming to Sacramento?” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.

I have had a number of emails in the past few days from some of my readers and I apologize for dropping off a bit in the past few weeks. We have been very busy and I have been feeling a bit under the weather but hopefully I will get back to a more normal schedule and get a few more posts up over the next few days.