Tips For Sellers Category
First-Time Buyers Capitalize On Interest Rates, Lower Home Prices and Tax Credits
March 25th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
A recent report from my trade group, the California Association of Realtors (CAR), states 47% of homes sold last year were snapped up by first-time buyers. CAR lead economist Leslie Appleton-Young predicts a dip in this number for 2010 due to the expiration of the federal tax credit. The federal tax credit, in conjunction with a [...]
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Millions Could Save Billions But Can’t!
March 16th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
Efforts by the Federal Reserve to push mortgage rates to near-record lows have been sucessful but many homeowners can’t refinance their loans. The Wall Street Journal reported that 37% of all borrowers with 30-year fixed rate loans have interest rates of 6% or higher and could benefit by refinancing at current rates hovering around 5%.
Refinance activity [...]
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Efforts To Streamline Short Sale Process Underway
March 12th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
Lenders, loan servicing companies and homeowners have been fighting over how to deal with mortgages that are underwater. According to a recent article in the New York Times “more than 5 million households are behind in their mortgages and risk foreclosure”. The Obama administration has targeted billions for loan modification programs that have helped very few.
A new [...]
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Redding/Shasta County Real Estate Market Update
March 10th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
Distress sales continue to represent a significant number of homes selling in today’s market. The second week of March was marked with 465 homes pending. Of these, 133 are bank-owned homes and 157 are short sales or 41% of all homes under contract. These same two segments of the market only account for 31% of the [...]
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Inability To Make Mortgage Payments Tops Reasons To Sell
March 8th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
A recent survey of California home sellers found that the biggest reason cited for putting their home up for sale was difficulty meeting the monthly mortgage obligations. Two thirds of sellers surveyed sold their home due to financial challenges caused by job loss or increases in their mortgage payment.
Complicating factors included an inability to refinance [...]
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HUD Website Allows Consumers To Report Mortgage Scams
March 5th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
The California Association of Realtors announced a new HUD website where consumers can turn in loan modification scam artists. Numerous scams have become prevalent as more and more Americans find themselves facing foreclosure. Laws have been enacted making the collection of advance fees for promised loan modification services illegal. The latest twist is companies promising [...]
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Luxury Homes On Sale For Half Off?
February 27th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
Example after example can be found nationwide of discounted prices for high-end real estate. Nicholas Cage recently reduced the asking price for his 11,817 square foot English Tudor in ritzy Bel Air from $35 million to $17.5 million. A 21,897 square foot mansion in Greenwich, Conn. with 14 bedrooms, 13.5 bathrooms on 40 acres with a [...]
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Phony Foreclosure “Audit” Scheme Unmasked
February 26th, 2010
By Brad Garbutt
State Attorney General Jerry Brown is warning California homeowners in mortgage distress about a new scam designed to skirt recently implemented loan modification regulations. If you haven’t heard, it is now illegal for real estate agents, attorneys or anyone else to charge upfront fees for loan modification services. This latest scheme gets around this law by offering owners wishing [...]
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