Central Coast Real Estate Archives | Page 17 of 21

Clean Up Your Credit Before Shopping for a Central Coast Home

I've recently found a company that I feel good about referring people to for credit repair. I am often asked for credit repair referrals from prospective buyers. However, until recently I never felt confident sending people anywhere except off to a local book store to learn how to do it themselves -- which is a lot of work. For those who want assistance with their credit repair, please give me a call and I will provide you with contact information for this company. I feel confident referring people to them because they are using local representatives who have long standing relationships with the local community who can provide testimonials of people helped by the service, the price is reasonable at $500, and they offer a performance based gurantee.

Central Coast Investor Tip — 20% Down Payment Required

March 22, 2009
Vandenberg AFB Homes
Buyer Info, Central Coast Real Estate, Lompoc / Vandenberg Village, Santa Maria

For those looking to buy your first rental property, or pick up an extra one now that prices make sense again, be aware that lenders have rolled back the down payment requirements for investment property. Most lenders I polled recently say that a 20% down payment is required for an investment property. Many of us remember when lenders required a 30% down payment for investment property, and I wonder how long it will be until we are back to those days. Lenders slowly but surely increased the down payment requirement for investors during the housing boom and have slowly but surely increased that obstacle again.

Buyer Tip — Use a Local Lender when Buying Central Coast Property

In the past couple of weeks, I have had two clients shop for mortgages online after securing a contract on a home. Both came back with inaccurate information. My advice to both was to use a local lender. It is natural and good practice to want to shop around. Online shopping is very convenient because you can do it at your convenience. But, I highly advise my clients to shop their loan with local lenders for several reasons inspired by experience:

Should I Be Pre-Qualified or Pre-Approved When Buying Central Coast Foreclosures?

Buyers often wonder if it it is preferable to be pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage loan before shopping for a home. At a minimum, I require buyers to get pre-qualified before they begin looking for a home, because otherwise they are truly taking a stab in the dark. However, a pre-approval is preferable, especially if your income and credit situation is complex. A pre-qualification is a rough estimate of what you will qualify for, the bank is making only a tenatative statement about the loan you would qualify for if everything stacks up the way you think it will.

Can I find 100% Financing in the Central Coast market?

I get this question all the time forom buyers looking to jump into the market. For the most part, the answer to that is no. There is a program through the USDA that provides 100% financing for rural properties. I'm told by a local lender that this applies to some areas of Guadalupe, and also some areas of Nipomo, but I haven't been able to verify it. There is also the Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Program which offers 100% financing to qualifying veterans. But unless you have some military service under your belt, you are not eligible. Other than that, right now I don't know of any 100% financing program available to buyers.

What is a “contingent” listing on the Central Coast market?

March 7, 2009
Vandenberg AFB Homes
Central Coast Real Estate, Short Sale Info

Approximately 25% of the 500 active single family listings in the Santa Maria California market are "contingent." Buyers run up against this time and time again, and often wonder, "what exactly is a contingent listing?" Before the housing bust, "contingent" was primarily used when a seller accepted a contract that was contingent upon another home selling. For example, if I offered to buy your home but I needed to sell my own home to make that happen, I could make an offer contingent upon my home sale.

Buying Central Coast Foreclosures: Pre-Qualification Blues

March 3, 2009
Vandenberg AFB Homes
Central Coast Real Estate, Foreclosure / Bank Owned (REO) Info

Home buyers focusing on central coast foreclosure properties are running up against lender pre-qualification requirements when bidding for bank owned properties. Many of the bank owned (REO) property listings require that potential buyers get pre-qualified with their company in order to place a bid on the property. Countrywide, Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae (Express Path) listings frequently have this requirement.

Buying An Approved Short Sale in the Central Coast Market

March 1, 2009
Vandenberg AFB Homes
Buyer Info, Central Coast Real Estate, Santa Maria, Short Sale Info

What is an approved short sale? Let's start with what a short sale is -- a short sale is where the owner owes more on their loan than their home is worth but they still must sell the home. So, the home is placed on the market and offers are accepted -- subject to lender approval. Lender approval can take months to obtain. An approved short sale is a short sale where the seller has already received approval from the bank. So, usually they list the property at a price that the bank has already indicated that they will accept, and they typically indicate how much closing costs credit and any repair credits the bank will allow.

Santa Barbara County Property Tax Informal Assessment Review Requests Due March 15, 2009

For those who wish to request an informal property tax review from the Santa Barbara County Assessors office, the deadline to apply is March 15, 2009. It appears that the dealine for an informal review has moved up two months, as the previous year's form had May 15th as the deadline to apply for informal review. By applying, you can submit comparative sales to help the Assessor's office come up with a reasonable value for your property for tax assessment purposes.

Avila Beach MLS Home Search & 2008 Market Update

There were 18 sales reported on the local MLS in Avila Beach in 2008. The lowest re-sale was a $300,000 manufactured home in Indian Hills, an age restricted park in San Luis Bay Estates. The monthly association dues on that 38 year old unit is about $285. The most expensive home sold during that time period was a 2 bedroom, 3 bath, 2800 square foot home in San Luis Bay Estates which sold for $2.3 million. The average price was $763,500, with an average days on market of about 4 months, and selling for abut 97.4% of list price, for about $07 per square foot.