Good News for Home Buyers Looking at Flips

We weren't sure till the last minute, but the Federal Housing Administration came in with a late holiday gift for homebuyers considering the purchase of a flipped property. For the second year in a row, the Federal Housing Administration extended a temporary waiver of its "anti-flipping" rule, meaning that homebuyers (especially first-time homebuyers) who rely on FHA-insured financing will continue to be able to buy homes that have changed hands in the last 90 days without waiting for the 90-day period. The waiver is also a boon for investors seeking to rehab and flip properties, because it expands the pool of eligible borrowers

FHA continues to require that all such transactions be arms-length. In cases where the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the list/offer price, the waiver will apply only if the lender can justify and document the increase in value.

All of this helps FHA homebuyers as some sellers of rehabbed properties had been reluctant to enter into contracts with FHA buyers because of the cost of holding a property for 90 days, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

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Great Mortgage Rate News As We Near End of 2011

For home buyers in Folsom and around the nation, we get some good real estate news as we near the end of 2011: A new Freddie Mac survey of mortage rates shows that rates hit a new low this week.

Freddie Mac's "Primary Mortgage Market Survey" showed that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.91 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Dec. 22, down slightly from the previous week.

Meanwhile rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.21 percent with an average 0.8 point, unchanged from last week's record low but down from 4.15 percent a year ago.

In the end, rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have been at, or below, 4 percent for the last eight weeks. That translates into $1,200 in annual savings for a homebuyer taking out a $200,000 mortgage, according to Freddie Mac's chief economist. Not bad! all4now

Opportunity is knocking for homebuyers in Folsom

There was a good article in the Sacramento Bee this weekend, "Housing Crash Means Bargains for Some Sacramento-Area Buyers", that talked about the opportunity that exists for home buyers to purchase an affordable home in this market, this after years of inflated home prices. If you and your family are at a point where it's time to either move into your first home or maybe even move up, take a look at the homes currently for sale. I checked our local multiple listing service this morning and found 189 homes in Folsom selling for under $300,000. And, of those, 64 were listed under $200,000. That is opportunity.
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Some good news from Freddie Mac for Buyers looking to buy a home in Folsom

Here's the deal: Freddie Mac is offering up to 3.5% in closing-cost assistance to homebuyers for offers on HomeSteps properties that are received by July 31, 2011, with escrow closing no later than September 30.

HomeSteps homes are foreclosures owned by Freddie Mac. That represents some serious money for homebuyers. For example, on the purchase of a home worth $150,000, HomeSteps would pay up to $5,250 towards the buyers closing cost. Pretty sweet!

This deal may sound familiar. Fannie Mae has been offering a similar deal on homes closing by June 30.

Currently there are two homes for sale in Folsom that are eligible for the Freddie Mac incentive with possibly more coming on line. Freddie Mac says it expects the REO inventory to grow (REO stands for real-estate owned--the term banks use to describe as properties they have foreclosed).

Write me if you would like more details...

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App this, App that! New free App lets you find For Sale by Owner properties

What will they not find a mobile application for? This one at least looks useful for home buyers who are willing to consider buying a home that is a FSBO. The new free mobile application for the Apple iPhone is by the real estate search site ForSaleByOwner.com. The app allows buyers to search for homes for sale with search options like those you would use for multiple listing service properties.

If, as a homebuyer, you are uncomfortable with the idea of negotiating the purchase of a FSBO by yourself, the good news is that there are sellers who are willing to work with buyers’ agents. So if you do locate what looks to be your perfect home and it’s a FSBO, have your real estate agent contact the seller first and, if the seller is amenable, your real estate agent can then arrange a showing, help you navigate the offer process, negotiate for you, and get you through the escrow.

E-mail or call me at (916) 404-3665 if you have any questions about how this would work. Always happy to help.

So do you think this is a useful app?

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New Trulia quality-control system will mean more accurate listing info for homebuyers

Kudos to Trulia—the popular real estate search and technology site--for pro-actively addressing a problem that has frustrated homebuyers for some time now: Namely, discrepancies between real estate listings data from multiple listing services and the listings info found on third-party syndication sites.

If you don’t think it’s been a problem, take note that an analysis done by Trulia of more than 500,000 listings that found that nearly 10% had incorrect data for either price or status!

Trulia’s solution: “Trulia Direct Reference.” How does it work? When Trulia receives accurate data on listing details such as list price and status, the system automatically reports any discrepancies back to the MLS, the listing broker and listing agent. The real estate agent can then visit the third-party sources and correct the information.

This sounds like a good thing to me for homebuyers and home sellers. all4now