Real Estate Home Blog

Zillow Real Estate Blog Contest Results

Real Estate Home Blog — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:27:20 +0000

The first edition of the People’s Choice Best Real Estate Blog contest at Zillow has ended. Below you will find all of the winners for each city that participated. It appears to have been so popular that they have already created another contest for many more cities. We will be sure to post those winners as soon as the next contest is completed and they tally all of the winners. Be sure to check out some of the excellent real estate blogs below.

Baltimore
Winner – Realtor Marney
Runner Up – Real Estate Wonk

Chicago
Winner – Chicago Real Estate Blog

Dallas
Winner – Ebby Halliday Blog
Runner up – North Dallas Homes

Houston
Winner – Tom D Plant’s Houston Real Estate Blog

Jacksonville
Winner – What’s Up Jacksonville

Oklahoma City
Winner – SellAMetroHome – the Blog

Philadelphia
Winner - The Philadelphia Real Estate Voice

Phoenix
Winner - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
Runner Up – The Phoenix Housing Blog

San Diego
Winner – Team Aguilar Blog

Seattle
Winner - Cooper Jacob Real Estate Blog

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Santaluz, one of my favorite communities in San Diego

TeamAguilar — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:51:09 +0000

I wanted to share a few listings that are currently available in the Santaluz community of San Diego County. This is one of my favorite areas of San Diego County. Just take a look at some of the photos below and it’s easy to see why. Unfortunately you need a couple million dollars to purchase any of these homes. The area is great, it has a world class gold course and it is so close to everything. It backs up to Rancho Santa Fe and Carmel Valley. It’s only a 5 minute drive to Del Mar and some beautiful beaches. If you have the means to purchase a home in this price range take a look at the homes available in the Santaluz community. You will not be disappointed!

Feel free to view all Santaluz homes by doing a search HERE.

$1,740,000 : 7511 Plein Aire, San Diego, CA 92127
	5 beds 6 full baths Year built: 2006 Size: 5545 sq ft Lot size: 67,082 sq ft Parking spots: 0
$1,795,000 : 8370 Sendero De Alba, San Diego, CA 92127
	5 beds 6 full baths Year built: 2003 Size: 5534 sq ft Lot size: 0 sq ft Parking spots: 0
$1,850,000 : 8194 Run of Knolls, San Diego, CA 92127
	5 beds 8 full baths Year built: 2009 Size: 6060 sq ft Lot size: 0 sq ft Parking spots: 0
$4,495,000 : 8304 Santaluz Pointe, San Diego, CA 92127
	5 beds 7 full baths Year built: 2008 Size: 6968 sq ft Lot size: 0 sq ft Parking spots: 0
$5,195,000 : 7908 Entrada De Luz East, San Diego, CA 92127
	6 beds 10 full baths Year built: 2006 Size: 10208 sq ft Lot size: 0 sq ft Parking spots: 12
$8,500,000 : 8543 Run of the Knolls, San Diego, CA 92127
	6 beds 7 full baths Year built: 2006 Size: 8800 sq ft Lot size: 0 sq ft Parking spots: 8

Alex Aguilar
Team Aguilar Real Estate Agent & Blogger!
San Diego Real Estate
Real Estate Blog

If your looking for real estate in San Diego, Riverside or Imperial County you have arrived at the right place. Please feel free to contact us and please read our Real Estate Blog and leave your comments.

Welfare recipients get $12,000 from strip club ATMs

Real Estate Home Blog — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:11:50 +0000

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the state’s Department of Social Services to take out clubs and casinos from the list of businesses that have been approved to dispense cash for state-issued cards. The California governor was compelled to make this move after the Los Angeles Times reported that more than 50 percent of California casinos and poker rooms are listed on the state website, indicating where welfare recipients can receive their cash benefits. The Los Angeles Times again brought the issue up, inquiring from the administration the amount of welfare cash that has been taken out from 17 adult clubs in the last few years.

It seems that many welfare recipients in the state of California have been able to withdraw taxpayer cash from ATMs situated at strip clubs and casinos. According to reports from the Department of Social Services, since the start of the year 2007 up to the end of the year 2009, over $12,000 coming from the program of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families has been dispensed at various clubs throughout the state, including Seventh Veil, Star Strip and Sam’s Hofbrau. Meanwhile, almost $4.8 million have been dispensed at casinos and poker rooms during the same time period. Majority of this, amounting to more than $4 million, were taken out from ATMs at tribal casinos.

The state administration and managers of strip clubs are apparently not aware that their ATMs have access to these welfare benefits. Allegedly, the machines have been provided by a third party. Thus, the managers have no way of knowing whether the ATMs belong to the state system or not. The Quest ATM network is the company in charge of the state’s ATM system.

However, some advocates for the underprivileged would rather keep things the way they are. They say that there is some logic to maintaining access to welfare cash from these establishments, as many recipients probably live or work nearby.

Since the report was released, Governor Schwarzenegger has ordered the deactivation of ATMs in casinos and entertainment clubs from the ATM network of the state. He has also called into action the Department of Social Services, so that welfare program can be reformed as deemed necessary.

During the month of May, Governor Schwarzenegger actually proposed to abolish the CalWorks program in order to reduce the budget deficit of the state. This program is in charge of providing cash for the welfare benefits.

Obama criticizes GOP while calling federal deficit major concern

Real Estate Home Blog — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:58:35 +0000

Around 1,400 residents of Racine, Wisconsin listened to US President Barack Obama’s insights on the continuing economic crisis. In a speech reminiscent of his campaign, the president recognized that the federal deficit is a primary concern.

At the same time, he also criticized the recent actions of the Republicans, saying that they are stopping the country’s recovery by blocking what he termed as “commonsense legislation”.

This speech came after a fall in the stock markets was noted, mainly attributed to a drop in consumer confidence.

President Obama stated that he is discontented with the elevated unemployment rate in the country. Economists have estimated that the country has lost approximately 100,000 jobs in the month of June, and that the unemployment rate, which is at 9.7 percent, will further increase. The president also said that he is unhappy with the low economic growth rate.

The federal deficit, which is still growing, remains a major issue for the president. He already appointed a deficit commission, who will be in charge of looking for solutions to balance the country’s revenues and expenses. This can be done by reforming Social Security and Medicare, among other items.

President Obama likewise condemned his Republican opponents, calling their actions in Congress obstructive. This is mainly due to the group preventing the passage of a bill that aims to extend tax credits and unemployment benefits to certain residents and small businesses. Other issues that came up were the low rates of job growth and the oil leak in the Gulf.

In response to the criticism by GOP that the Democrats are merely increasing the burden on the American taxpayers, President Obama stated that the US government cannot solve the country’s financial problems on its own. Some circumstances, such as Social Security, do need intervention by the government. However, businesses should continue to be the major producers of jobs and growth for the country.

The president just came from a trip to Columbus, Ohio last week for the groundbreaking of a road project funded by the economic stimulus plan. This serves as part of the “Recover Summer” program by the White House, which is a six-week long thrust by the government to focus on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This act was designed to improve the country’s economy and create more jobs by increasing stimulus spending by the government and reducing taxes. Many detractors have repeatedly criticized this act, saying it has failed to decrease unemployment significantly.

Prior to this trip, the president’s last visit to Wisconsin was in November of last year, when he discussed education to the state. According to the latest public poll in the state, which was held in March, President Obama only had a 44 percent approval rating. Of the voters in Wisconsin, 50 percent disapproved of the way he was handling his presidential duties.

U.S. Congress backs home buyer tax credit extension

TeamAguilar — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:02:01 +0000

It was good news for homebuyers all over the United States last June 30, as the US Congress finally approved a tax credit extension bill.

According to this tax credit extension bill, anyone trying to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit will have the closing deadline extended for those trying to buy homes. Originally, homebuyers who have signed contracts by April 30 needed to go to closing by June 30. With the new bill, they now have until the last day of September to close their purchases. According to real estate agents, many home buyers would not have been able to make the June 30 deadline, had it not been moved. The approval of this bill will also benefit settlement offices and banks, as they are already having a hard time dealing with the sheer number of people who are hastening to close their purchases by the end of June.

The Obama administration has so far been successful in jump starting the sales of American houses in the midst of the economic recession. Since the tax credit was initiated, residents all over the country have been rushing to buy their dream homes. This is because first-time homebuyers can get an $8,000 tax incentive, while homebuyers who are purchasing their primary residence can get as much as $6,500 as tax incentive. This tax credit program has been credited by many, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as the major factor in boosting up California’s economy and housing market. This is especially true in his hometown of Nevada, where foreclosures have become a common matter.

A bill that covered both the tax credit extension for homebuyers and an extension of the jobless aid program was actually proposed previously in the Senate, but was blocked by the Republicans. The bill fell short by a single vote. The proposition was to extend until November the said program, which provides benefits for residents who have been unemployed for a long time. Approval of this bill would have cost $34 billion; because of this, the Republicans objected. Instead, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republicans, suggested an extension of two months using the money from the economic stimulus program last year. The Democrats, however, objected to this. Senator Reid has said that he would again attempt to pass the bill after the recess on July 4th.

The tax credit extension bill has now been forwarded to the office of the President, and awaits his final approval. This has been very popular in markets where home prices have fallen. Homes for sell in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego have seen an increase in sales because of the tax credit.

BofA Offers Help to Homeowners Underwater

Real Estate Home Blog — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:10:09 +0000

With hopes of encouraging more participation from homeowners in programs of modification, the Bank of America now has a brand new approach on modifying loans that are extremely underwater.
First, it looked at principal forgiveness when modifying adjustable-rate and subprime mortgages that qualified for the NHRP. These also had to meet the most basic qualifications of the Home Affordable Modification Program.

This approach focuses on mortgages that are extremely underwater and have high delinquency rates, most of all Pay-Option ARMs and subprime loans.

The Bank of America has seen a lot of homeowners that owe a lot more on mortgages than on what their homes are actually worth but are reluctant to accept solutions that focus merely on the payment without balance reductions from their loans.
When it comes to these mortgage modifications, the Bank of America is going to take principal reduction into consideration to reach reasonable payments that are equal to around 31% of the household income. If it is a necessity to get extra savings to reach that target of payment, a reduction of interest rates will also be taken into consideration.
Under this new approach, the qualified homeowners will get an offer of interest-free principal forbearance, which can become forgiven principal – a result of up to 30% in loan principal balance reduction.

For the initial three years, the forgiveness installments will be set to a level of 20%. In the last two years, this amount will rely on the property’s updated value to make sure that the LTV won’t go below 100% because of principal forgiveness.
Earned principal forgiveness can help homeowners

Aside from this new approach, the Bank of America has also started to provide two other sustainable and reasonable payment solutions when it comes to certain Pay-Option ARMs.
If negative amortization is the case, they will think about offering up HAMP modification to get rid of negative amortization and to forgive some of the amounts for principal reductions. If pending Pay-Option ARM recasts appear to increase the monthly payments of a customer, however, a preemptive modification which gets rid of negative mortgage amortization and changes it to a completely amortizing market rate loan might be taken into consideration.
The latest NHRP components will come about next month and they are expected to offer up improved solutions to principal reduction to around 45,000 customers that qualify for the HAMP modification. This would result in around a total of $3 billion of reduced principal.

February Foreclosures High

Real Estate Home Blog — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:07:26 +0000

In February, St. George’s rates of foreclosure went up compared to its rates last year.

St. George’s foreclosure rate among existing mortgage loans stands at 4.19% for February, 1.88% higher than last year’s 2.31%. In fact, the overall activity of foreclosure in St. George stands higher compared to the national rate of foreclosure, which stood at 3.17% this February – a difference of 1.02%.

The rate of mortgage delinquency in St. George has also gone up. In the month of February this year, 11.13% of all mortgage loans happened to be at least 90 days delinquent as compared to the 6.11% of last year – a 5.02% increase.

Foreclosures do not appear to be a problem is Rancho Santa Fe as the Rancho Santa Fe real estate market continues to remain strong.

Short Sale Process Getting Faster

Real Estate Home Blog — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:37:33 +0000

Are you doing everything that you can just to avoid foreclosure? Well, short sales may become a more reasonable option for you soon.

Although the latest mortgage modifications that President Obama promised will not come into fruition until fall, people who are already in trouble can make things move faster; and short sales could save their credit, too. Unfortunately, short sales take some time because banks also take their time in approving them.

For banks that choose to cooperate in this endeavor, though, the government has plans of handing out checks in a few weeks. Many more lenders are starting to want to work with people for short sales since there are more benefits to them compared to foreclosures. And, because potential homebuyers can find great deals with them, it is completely a win-win situation. Clearly, if you are facing unforeseen circumstances right now, this would be the greatest option out there.

Why Short Sales are Better than Foreclosures

Real Estate Home Blog — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:34:11 +0000

When it comes to the market of distressed property, short sales are going like hot cakes and they are expected to become even hotter in the weeks to come because the government will be shelling out money to encourage lenders to close the deals.

Because of this, banks have increased their approvals of short sales and now hire tons of people who have had experience with the industry of mortgage-lending to make them work with short shales.

Transactions wherein lenders let homeowners sell their homes for a lower amount than they actually owe made up 17% of every residential sale of real estate in February – 4% more than the amount in November. Even the Bank of America, which is the biggest mortgage servicer in the country, has doubled the amount of their processed short sales within the last few months. And they approve them much faster, too.

This is definitely a massive change compared to how things were in the short-sale market half a year ago. Since lenders could lose a lot from such transactions, they were very reluctant about accepting short sales and really took their time – usually around six months – before contacting potential buyers again.

Things have definitely changed since then. Banks now realize that they do financially better with short sales rather than foreclosures. Lenders lose around 50% on foreclosures and a mere 30% on short sales. Plus, short sales provide a means of getting rid of distressed properties much faster.

Now, there is also a new program called the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, where borrowers can earn $3000 on relocation incentive, while servicers get $1500 for handling each short sale.

The investors that own the actual mortgage notes get $2000 for sharing the short sale proceeds with second-lien holders, who in turn get $6000 for the release of the claims.

Because of this program, a boom in short sales is expected, which could end the crisis of foreclosure by getting rid of the overhang of distressed borrowers and putting stable homeowners in their stead. Plus, this will make the sales for distressed borrowers better since their credit scores will not suffer as much as foreclosures make them.

Rates of Unsold Homes Finally Going Down

Real Estate Home Blog — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:33:20 +0000

It has been said that a small foreclosure surge will not significantly effect the sales of homebuilders this year because home sale inventory and new construction have fallen quite far below average levels in a lot of cities. Although it would be preferable not to have any more supplies come through foreclosures, a bit more will not totally hurt the markets.

After the housing boom collapse, foreclosures ended up soaring, which produced a glut in a lot of markets and sent home prices down. This resulted in homebuilders struggling to entice buyers into their homes instead of the discounted homes owned by banks. However, recent steady sales in a lot of markets ravaged by foreclosures have slowly sent down the amount of these homes in today’s market.

Additionally, a lot of banks slowed down the process of foreclosure, occasionally choosing to modify mortgage loans at risk. This also ended in less bank-owned properties in the market.

Naturally, the last thing anybody would wish to see is a flood of foreclosures, as predicted by economists who stated that it would happen if borrowers that have option-ARM mortgages choose to default in the near future. A lot of their loans are scheduled for resets, which could possibly trigger big increases in monthly payments.

This does not mean that marketplace concerns should be forgotten. Naturally, risks do exist that are very real and they should never be shoved aside for anything.