FHA Loan Limits For Fresno Changing October 2011!

  Starting October 1st, the curent loan limits for FHA will be dropping.They are dropping by a significant amount, however it will likely have little affect on our market locally. Here are the new FHA loan limits:

                                       Now                                                     10/1/11

• Fresno               $381,250                                                 $281,750
• Madera             $425,000                                                  $271,050
• Tulare               $325,000                                                  $271,050
• Kings                $325,000                                                  271,050

If you are wanting to purchase a home above $280,000 with FHA financing, you better start looking to buy now. Remember, FHA financing has only a 3.5% down payment required to purchase.

April 2011 Fresno County Home Market Statistics

  There were 840 sales of residential properties this past April in Fresno County, with a median sales price of $134,900. and an average market time of 66 days on the market.

Of the 840 properties that sold in April, the breakdown is as follows:

REO's (bank owned)- total of 369 sales or (43.8%)

Short Sales-total of 136 sales or (16.2%)

Regular Sales-total of 335 or (40%)

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There are 2669 Active residential properties for sale in Fresno County at this time, and of those:

REO's-477 total, or 17.9%

Short Sales-757 total or 28.4%

Regular Sales- 1435 total, or 53.7%

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Average list price is $253,197

Median Price is $178,000

Average Days on Market (DOM) is 101

Home Search Made Easier with Fresno MLS Client Portal Tool

Are you frustrated with the home search process? Does it seem like every other listing is a short sale and you don't want them in your search results? Try using the client portal auto prospecting tool. Have your agent set up the "Client Portal" in the Fresno MLS, using all your individual search criteria. This is the only tool available that will filter out the short sales if you don't want them.  I try to use this tool with every client because it works so well. Most people want to buy a home, but don't want to wait the typical 4-8 months for a short sale to get approved. The client portal is your own web page that will keep track of all the listings that meet your criteria and it will notify you daily of changes in price, terms or status. You can manage the listings by moving them around in different folders, such as "newly matched", "saved", "rejected" or "agent recommended". The listings are updated in real time, so it is the most accurate tool we have going. If you have been pre-approved for financing, not working with an agent yet, and would like the client portal tool set up for you please contact me and I can set you up.

High Number of Fresno Foreclosures Due To High Unemployment

Fresno currently has a very high unemployment rate, probably in the neighborhood of 15-20%. This factor is what is now contributing to the high foreclosure rate, and growing inventory of bank owned properties for sale. As we all know, the housing bubble was created by the subprime loans and loose lending practices for home loans in the past bubble market. Now that most of those loans have either been foreclosed, or re-written, the inventory is now growing again with foreclosures caused by people losing their jobs. It's going to be a long haul to recovery, but I believe in real estate for the long term investment that it is. I realize that a home is more than just an investment.  A home is where you live and grow your family and cannot or should not be considered like a quick return investment as we did in the past. It will take years for our economy to rebound, but there are some great opportunities out there for both investor and home buyers alike. We have prices in Fresno that, with minimum down payment, you will pay less than rent. The median sale price in Fresno is around $152,000. and there are many homes available now in the $50-75,000 price range.

Reflections on the 2010 Fresno Real Estate Market

It's been a tough year for most people in the 2010 Fresno real estate market. As an agent, I've worked mostly with buyers, and a few past client sellers. My sales numbers and income are down a bit, largely due to the frustrating process of working with banks and their REO inventory or loan processing for buyers. With so many bank owned REO properties out there, I don't have much choice but to work with them. The frustration comes from the offer and answer process. They take so long to give an answer to an offer. I made one offer that took 28 days for a reply and we were bidding $10,000 above their asking price! Most of the time it took 2 weeks to get an answer, and this is clearly too long. Short sales are another bad scenario. I reluctantly worked one buyer in a short sale that eventually fell thru. The listing agent promised "Oh I can close my short sale listings in 60 days!" What a crock that was! After 120 days, the short sale lender told us to start over! so out of total frustration the buyers decided to find another property to buy. As an agent, I just don't care to work the short sales, unless they can change the way they do business, and speed up the process, and until then I will only list and sell traditional type sales or bank owned property sales. For buyers, I feel sorry for them because getting a new home loan is like getting "raked over the coals" with having to justify income and credit scores. They make it tough to qualify for any type loan anymore. I am truly thankful for my past clients and referrals. I know that I am truly blessed with the leads I get from the internet. I have very high ranking on Google for many relative keywords, and this continually drives traffic and prospective buyer and seller leads to my website at http://www.fresnohomes.net/. , and for this, I am very grateful. I've had 3 nice sales this month of December, and that's going to make for a good start in 2011. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Loan Guidelines for the "Funds to Close" Buyers Take Note!

 Loan underwriting guidelines today require full documentation. This means that buyers have to document the source of all funds that are used in buying a home.
Funds are needed for the down payment, closing costs, and prepaid items. Conventional loans require buyers to also have 2 months of house payments (called reserves) in the bank after the close of escrow. FHA does not require the 2 months reserves, but if the buyers have reserves it will add strength to the loan file for approval.
Buyers need to provide bank statements for the most recent 2 months. Even if buyers are not going to use one of their accounts for funds to close, it is a good idea to provide statements for the acount because it will add strength to the loan file for approval.
Buyers liquid assets are checking, savings, stocks and money market acounts. They are liquid because they can be accessed quickly to use for funds to close. Non liquid asets like retirement or pension accounts may be used, but acess to the funds can take time and there may be penalties involved for withdrawing funds.
Any large depositis will require a written explanation from the buyers. The loan underwriter wants to verify that the deposits are not the result of the buyers getting a loan that will require the buyers to have a monthly payment. Any large withdrawls will require a written explanation for the underwriter to verify the buyers do not have an ongoing financial obligation.
If the bank statements have another name with the buyers names, it will require a written statement from the other person that gives the permission to the buyers to use funds in the account.
If "gift funds" are used, FHA allows gift funds for all of the down payment, closing costs and prepaids. In a conventional loan, the buyers have to have 5% of their own funds and the rest can be gift funds. A gift letter has to be signed by the donor and the buyers, and the donor has to provide proof of funds available to give to the buyers.

Agent's Visual Inspection Helps Buyers in Purchase Negotiations

  When I'm showing a home to a prospective buyer, I try to always point out the defects I can visually see, such as a worn roof, stained ceilings, peeling paint, missing fixtures, stained carpet,  and the like. These observations help the buyer in determining how to offer on a property. Many times, if these items are addressed in the terms of an offer initially, they can be negotiated for actual repairs or repair credits in the final contract.  When it comes to the bank owned sellers (REO), some will negotiate repairs, and others insist on strictly an as-is sale.   

Too Late For Tax Credit but Market Remains Steady

It may be too late to qualify for the $8000 federal tax credit, but the market remains active. We are seeing the inventory increasing right now, as more listings are coming on the market. We are currently just over 2000 active listings in the Fresno/Clovis area for homes and condos. At the start of the year, there were about 1600 active listings. The activity remains in the first time buyer and the low end of the pricing. Homes under $200,000 are seeing the most activity. I received a call this week from a reporter at channel 24 news, and she wanted to interview a home buyer while I was showing them properties. The reporter was trying to paint a picture of a declining market, and the stats do show less sales from a year ago for the Fresno area, but I wouldn't totally agree with her.

Watch my TV interview news article from 5/25/10.

California won't tax forgiven home debt - Sacramento Business, Housing Market News | Sacramento Bee#mi_rss=State Politics

California won't tax forgiven home debt - Sacramento Business, Housing Market News | Sacramento Bee#mi_rss=State Politics

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Seven Housing Tax Laws to Pay Attention To

NewsGeni.us - Article - Seven Housing Tax Laws to Pay Attention To

Active Listing Inventory Remains Low For Fresno Home Buyers!

The reason it's hard to find a home sometimes is because the inventory is low. Today I found that for all of Fresno and Clovis, residential homes and condos for sale, there was a total of 1758 active listings. This number includes the "short sales", of which there was 409 short sales. So really, there are 1349 active listings that can be  bought today. Most buyers do not want to endure the effort it takes to buy a short sale and that is understandable. 1349 listings is a low number for all of Fresno and Clovis. Of the 1349 active listings, 362 of them are "bank owned" REO's.

Those Who Wait Will Pay Thousands More This Spring!

Here's why:

1. The deadline for the Home Buyer Tax Credit is April 30th, 2010. This is $8000 for a new homebuyer and $6500 for current homebuyers moving up.
2. While rates are still at historic lows, the Federal Reserve Board has repeated in many published reports that they will not remain there forever.
3. On April 5th, the cost of required up-front mortgage insurance (UPMIP) for loans guaranteed by the FHA will increase from 1.75% to 2.25%. For a borrower purchasing a $200,000 home with an FHA loan, with a $7000 down payment, the up-front mortgage insurance will increase by $965. Up-front mortgage insurance is typically financed in the final loan amount, so the impact to a monthly payment will be minimal but overall, the increase is still borne by the borrower by the up-front and monthly.
4. Later this spring, if FHA's new regulations go into effect, "seller concessions" will more than likely be reduced from 6% to 3%. The reduction in these "seller concessions"can increase the amount of cash a buyer wil be required to pay at closing.

When you combine the lower rate with the tax credit, you see that the homebuyers stand to gain between $13,500 and $16,000 on a home in the mid $200K's price range. That is a huge incentive for homebuyers to act now, while the incentives still exist.

$100,000 Price Range is Red Hot in 2010 Fresno Real Estate Market!

I just listed this house in Fresno for $99,800 and WOW! was I amazed at all the action I am receiving. After 3 days I have 7 offers, and most are well above the asking price. Located at 2973 E. Norwich, the home is 3 bedrooms, 2 Baths and in clean condition. I wish I had many more in this price range right now. I have notified all offerors to make their "highest and best" offer. We have set a deadline for friday 2/5/2010 at 10AM as the deadline for offers. After that, we will review all offers and be making a decision before the weekend. To see more information about this home visit http://www.fresnohomes.net/ and click on "Featured Listings" for complete details on this great buy.

Sell your Fresno Home Now While Inventory is Low!

The job market and the overall economy may be bad, but there are buyers out there buying and the inventory is low for available homes right now. I'm happy to be self employed and in the real estate business. This is a good time for the traditional sellers to come back into the market too. Yes there are a lot of short sales, but I'm not counting on those. Buyers are fed up trying to buy short sales. Bank owned sales are not too bad, but typically need a lot of work. What buyers want, is a regular type traditional seller with a clean home. I can sell these all day long right now.

Winning The Bid With Multiple Offers

We are seeing multiple offers on most bank owned (REO) properties priced under $200,000. It seeems to me, that if there are so many offers on a listing, the listing agents must be pricing their listings too low. I'm sure they would disagree with me, but I've learned to counsel my buyers into making their "highest and best" bid when making offers and disregard the asking price. Most sales of REO's under $200K are selling well above the asking price. I always tell them, "don't get emotionally attached to real estate", and "to make your best offer", as if they will not get another chance and could lose out to another buyer. This is not just a salesman's pitch, this is the truth and after losing a couple of properties to higher bidders, buyers start to get the message. Also, "Cash is King" and there is a huge percentage of sales happening with "all cash" offers. Sellers will take a cash offer over another offer getting a loan about 90% of the time, sometimes even at a lower price, because there is a lot less chance of an escrow failing thru from a cash "as-is" sale.
I still see many buyers waiting to find a property before getting their loan pre-approval. In today's market buyers must be pre-approved before making the offer. Offers are not presented by many agents, if it is not fully documented. If it's a cash sale, you must provide "proof of funds". Proof of funds must be a copy of the buyers bank account showing funds in a liquid state, not in CD's. Pre-approval letters should be from a recognized lender, and should include DU, or "direct underwriter" approval. Escrows are taking longer, so plan on a minimum 45 days for the loan to process in your escrow period.
Buyers also need to be patient, as these REO sellers take their own sweet time to collect and review offers. They don't care that the contract says you want an answer in 3 days. The time they take is typically 5-10 working days for an answer to an offer. This is another reason why there are multiple offers. The amount of time it takes, gives the sellers a chance to collect offers and set the stage for a counteroffer of "make your highest and best offer", creating an auction like atmospheres.
In closing, the best advice I can give buyers is to be prepared for the action, and do a good inspection of the property as well as study the comparable sales before making an offer and getting caught up in the pressure of multiple offers.

Federal Tax Credit Extended into 2010

The federal tax credit for home buyers was signed into law by President Obama Friday, Nov. 6. The tax credit, which was set to expire Nov. 30, has been extended through April 30, 2010 with a 60-day extension if a binding contract is in place prior to deadline. It also was expanded to include existing homeowners who have lived in their primary residences for five consecutive years out of the last eight years.

First-time home buyers still may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $8,000, while existing homeowners may receive a credit of up to $6,500. The bill also increases the qualifying income limits from $75,000 for single tax filers and $150,000 for joint filers, to $125,000 and $225,000, respectively. The purchase price of the home is capped at $800,000 in both instances.

Under additional provisions in the bill, taxpayers can claim the credit on purchases completed in 2010 on their 2009 income tax returns. The bill maintains the provision that home buyers do not have to repay the credit provided the home remains their primary residence for 36 months after purchase, and waives this requirement for active duty military personnel who move due to a military order.

Fresno MLS Realtors Happy Again with Rapattoni MLS

I haven't heard one agent in Fresno say, "I wish we could have CalRedd MLS back". 99% of the agents are happy business is back to normal. CalRedd is a new software platform for a proposed statewide MLS system run by the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.). The recent MLS changeover attempt in the Fresno area, had a negative impact on our Realtor memborship for 3 weeks and was literally a fiasco. We use the Rapattoni MLS system, and it works great. After 3 weeks of frustration with the calRedd system and all the bugs, the power of the membership stood up and said "NO" and we were brought back to our Rapattoni system. Why would they try fix something that already works good?

VA Financing is Frustrating for Vets in Today's Market!

We are experiencing tough times for veteran buyers seeking to buy homes utilizing their eligibility for a VA loan. Veterans can obtain 100% financing. This is a great benefit to the veterans, and I believe they should be the only ones allowed to use 100% financing. Bank owned foreclosures AKA (REO's), are a large part of the current inventory, and these type listings are generally not accepting VA financing, and rarely accepting FHA offers. I'm having the toughest time trying to place my verteran buyers into homes because the banks or asset managers will not entertain offers written with VA financing. The banks sell their REO inventory AS-IS, and mostly without paying for repairs, termite reports and certifications. Most of the listings need work as a result of foreclosure, and due to the huge inventory and huge losses, we are not seeing the banks invest money to make repairs. If banks could invest money to bring up their property to the proper standards, we could sell many more properties to VA and FHA buyers.

Fresno Rejects CalRedd MLS, Returns to Rapattoni

In a surprise move, the Fresno MLS has stopped using the new calRedd MLS system as of 9/1/09, after only 16 days. A majority of Realtor members were "challenged" and frustrated by the new format. We tried to work with the system for 16 days, and I must say calRedd support was making their best efforts to make fixes to the numerous bugs in the system. Myself, I was learning the calRedd system and felt confident I could get my work done, but there was still an endless number of deficiencies. At the rate we were going, it seemed like it would take a month longer to work out the bugs. Some agents felt they were going to be monetarily damaged because of the time involved beta testing, fixes and the learning curve of the calRedd system. The main issue that angered many agents, was the fact the system was released before it had been fully tested. They were leaving it up to the agents to identify problems, instead of beta testing it themselves. It was far from ready on their initial release. At this point, I have no idea what the future of calRedd MLS may be, but if we try this again, it better be a superior working model from the start.

Working with Fresno calRedd MLS Week 2

We are in our 2nd week working with the new calRedd system. We are the working guinea pig agents for the new statewide MLS system. I hope all the other cities that are considering this system for their MLS will pay tribute to the guinea pigs here in Fresno. We are the ones paying the dues here to help beta test and build the most powerful MLS in the world. At least that is what they are hoping for! At this point we are still nowhere near the features that the Rapattoni system had. I must admit, they are improving everyday and I am learning new tricks. I'm still not confident enough in the "auto prospecting" yet to go full steam ahead with my clients, but I can see that bugs are being fixed daily. Hopefully we will get more administrative controls for our agent profile pages. One peculiar thing also, is there are no hyperlinks anywhere on the pages, nor is there any way to verify emails have been sent or recieved by clients. I'm sure it's all in the works. Anyway, it seems the frustration level among agents is easing a bit as some of the search basics are learned by the agents to keep them working and selling properties.