Tag: Property

A Cinderella Story… Jake and Sophia

It was 2008.  Jake and Sophia had been working hard and saving their money to buy their first place.  The market had fallen enough to make a home a reasonable dream.  Armed with their pre-approval from Melanie Flynn, we took a look at homes in San Carlos and Redwood City.  It didn’t take long for us to find a darling place in Redwood City.  It was a short sale.  Two loans on the property with two different banks.  We knew it would be a tricky deal, but the home was well worth the work.

We wrote an offer and the sellers accepted right away.  The offer was sent to both banks and together we waited on pins and needles to hear back. Weeks passed.  Each Wednesday I’d call the Listing Agent to get the scoop.  And each week she told me she hadn’t heard back.  Months passed.  Six – I think – could have been more.  Finally I get some answers.  The two banks were at a stand still.  Neither would budge.

Now during these six months when everyone was in the dark – Jake wanted to propose to Sophia and wanted to do so in their future home.  At the time – The Caton Team didn’t know the shenanigans going on with the bank – so we arranged to show them the home again and hang out in the car so Jake could properly propose.  It was super cute and of course, Sophia said yes.  (They are high-school sweethearts.)

We all went home with hearts and stars in our eyes – that lasted until I got the phone call.  You see,  a short sale with one home loan is easy compared to a home with two loans.  One loan, means one bank decides their bottom line.  Two loan, and now we have a fight.  Technically, the 1st loan has precedence over the 2nd loan, so much so, the 1st loan could foreclose on the home and own it – wiping the 2nd loan off the face of the earth – the 2nd loan would have no recourse and just take the loss.  But since the 1st loan was trying to work with the sellers to avoid foreclosures – the fight is over how much the 2nd loan would accept in the short sale and walk away.  Typically, the 1st loan gives about $1000 – $3000 to the 2nd loan as a courtesy since the 1st loan is not foreclosing.  Generally the 2nd loan is happy to get anything – and accepts what the 1st loan gives them.  Well not this time.  The 2nd loan was demanding more money – the 1st loan wasn’t going to give it to them.  Both Realtors tried every which way to put the deal together, but in the end, nobody had enough money to satisfy this 2nd loan.

After a long talk with Jake and Sophia we knew it was time to walk away.

Thankfully, since we saw the writing on the wall – we started looking for other homes.  Seems like everything that would work was already pending or sold.  Except for one.

The trick to being a great Realtor is also being a great detective.  Combing through the pending listings, Susan saw a cute home which was pending but in the agent comment section – it was begging for a back-up offer – it appears the current buyer was threatening to walk away since they were tired of waiting for the short sale bank to respond.  The Listing Agent knew she was so close to a short sale approval – but the buyer had enough.

We called right away and showed the home that night.  Jake and Sophia loved it.  Sadly, the home was priced about $50,000 over their budget.  That didn’t stop the Caton Team.  We knew the buyer was going to walk, the bank was ready to sell and we knew to strike when the iron was hot.  We wrote the offer right away.  The seller accepted the offer and sent it to the bank.  In the mean time, the other buyer rescinded their offer and suddenly we were the only offer on the table.  It was the banks call – wait another 356569546 days or sell it now…

With bated breath we waited.  Two offers on two short sales – it was like roulette.

Before we knew it, the bank accepted our $50,000 below price offer and we were in the home stretch.  We rescinded our offer on the 1st house and about 25 days later handed the keys to Sophia & Jake.  They couldn’t be happier.

Just so you know – the original house – the two banks fought for over 1 year and in the end the 1st foreclosed on the 2nd.  It wasn’t the best solution for the seller, but thankfully they were finally able to move forward.

In the end – Jake & Sophia got a home that was far better than the first place.  It’s why I tell each buyer upfront – we’re going to see a lot of homes, we’re going to write a bunch of offers, some will be accepted or rejected, some homes will move faster than other – but in the end – what’s meant to be is meant to be.

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.  Email us at:

Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Visit our website at:   http://thecatonteam.com/

Visit us on Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp me at: http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:  http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UPCOMING CHANGES TO FHA LOANS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UPCOMING CHANGES TO FHA LOANS

As you may know, unless Congress extends the expiration deadline, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limits set in 2008 will drop significantly beginning October 1. Congress raised the loan limit amount in response to the housing crisis to help spur the homebuying market. FHA loans offer borrowers very competitive rates and terms, and they only require a 3.5% down payment. Allowable debt ratios are higher than the typical debt-ratio limits imposed for conventional loans, and there are no income limit qualifications, so more people can qualify for them.

If the loan limit drops on October 1, many California homebuyers will face higher down payments, higher mortgage rates and stricter loan qualification requirements. Borrowers seeking larger mortgages will have to apply for conventional loans or jumbo loans, which may be subject to higher interest rates and down payments. Here are four things you should know to help your clients now.

1. LOWER LOAN LIMITS. The conforming loan limit determines the maximum mortgage amount that FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy or guarantee. If your client wants to stay under the current loan limits, then encourage them to purchase now and close by September 30th.

2. DROPS BY COUNTY. Under the new FHA loan limits, some counties will see significant drops in their loan limits. San Diego County will experience a $151,250 drop, Sonoma County a $141,550 reduction, while Orange and Los Angeles Counties will drop by $104,250. To see a full, county-by-county list of changes, click here.

3. JUMBO LOANS. The current FHA loan limit is $729,750. After October 1, that limit may drop to $625,500. Mortgage loans higher than that amount will be considered non-conforming jumbo loans, which typically have rates that are 0.875% to 1.5% higher than conforming rates, depending on the loan product, and require higher down payments.

4. MORE STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS. FHA loan requirements may allow for lower credit scores. So an applicant with a lower FICO score can still qualify for an FHA loan, even if they can’t for a conventional loan. Your clients may be able to obtain an FHA loan three years after defaulting or having a loan foreclosed.

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.  Email us at:

Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Visit our website at:   http://thecatonteam.com/

Visit us on Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp me at: http://www.yelp.com/user_details_thanx?userid=gpbsls-_RLpPiE9bv3Zygw

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:  http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/

A Cinderella Story…Nisi and Rip

UPDATE – Nisi and Rip just celebrated their 4th Anniversary at their home.  Keeps getting better.
In this blog series I have entitled “A Cinderella Story” – I plan on reminiscing on some tough transactions with some very happy endings.
Let’s go back a couple of years before CA Real Estate took the dive.  My very first friend from college Nisi (we met in math class our first day) and her boyfriend Rip were ready to buy their first home.  Armed with their pre-approval from Melanie Flynn, we headed out to the East Bay to find their future home.  Flash forward through all the junky homes we checked out to “the one”.  The one, I might add, they found at 2am the day it came on the market.  At a more reasonable time in the morning my friends called me with excitement ready to go.  With the help of the Listing Agents we got them in to see the home right away, since I’m pretty sure they were standing outside when they called me.  But I know why.  It was a beauty.  A pristine and loved Art Deco Bungalow all fixed up for sale.  It was their dream home!  The moment they saw it, the moment we saw it – we all knew – it was the one.  And The Caton Team was going to do everything we could to make this happen.
The rest has turned into a blur over the years so let’s jump ahead.  Their offer was accepted.  That night we all popped champagne even though it wasn’t theirs yet.  Don’t worry – we didn’t jinx it – it’s the power of positive thinking.  So, the next day the fun begins, the clock starts ticking for their loan and property condition contingencies.  Thank goodness Nisi’s uncle was a home inspector who came at a moments notice and did an awesome job checking out the house.  Rip even climbed under the house to check his own foundation.  I will never do that – I am scared of small spaces and spiders!
The home had its issues for an 80-year-old place, but our friends and clients knew they could handle it.  Next came the FHA appraisal.  Let’s just say the FHA appraisers did as thorough a job as the home and pest inspectors.  Everything was running smoothly, we had one day left on our contingencies and we waited on pins and needles for the banks ok.
Then the news story broke.  Front page news, I still have the copy of the paper.  Parts of the East Bay had depreciated enough in value that banks we no longer lending.  It’s called red-lining – and they’re not supposed to do it – but they did.  It was the beginning of what would be our Real Estate decline.  ‘Cept nobody knew it yet.  Suddenly their bank did not commit on the loan and our friends and clients were at stake.  As I recall, it was a $25,000 difference in value from one day to the next, all over one news headline.
So we got on the phone and had a heart to heart.  Weighed the pro’s and con’s and my friends and clients still wanted this house.  We wanted them to have this house – it was meant to be theirs.  So we came up with a plan.  We wrote a letter on behalf of our clients explaining to the seller and their agents what had occurred with their home loan, my friends wrote a letter about how much they loved this house and how much love they wanted to put in it.  We also asked to reduce our offer price by the difference, $25,000.  It was a bold move for 2 four-eyed Realtors.  (haha True Grit reference).  To this day, our lender Melanie is still impressed we negotiated the price down after the offer was accepted.  That doesn’t happen!
Turns out the sellers loved the buyers, the Listing Agents happen to be the next door neighbors and the $25,000 difference didn’t matter so much if they were going to truly love their home (a home the sellers had lived in for ages).  It helped that The Caton Team are strong negotiators and we even sent a copy of that newspaper too.  Either way, in the end my mother’s old adage still applies.  What’s meant to be is meant to be.  Doesn’t hurt if you put a little effort in it too.

Congratulations Rip & Nisi – many more happy years in your beautiful home!

This is a picture of the day we handed them they keys!  It the favorite part of my job!  Champagne is chilling – let me know when you are ready.

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.  Email us at Info@TheCatonTeam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/

Visit us on Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

Yelp me at: http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=WwBVQoCSduSDPsukQvs4og

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/

How To Read Disclosures

Congratulations –  you’ve found a home you’d like to write an offer on.  This is very exciting!  The first step before writing an offer is to review the disclosures that have been provided by the seller in advance (if given the opportunity).  Here are the instructions on how to go about reviewing the disclosures package & preparing yourself to write an offer.

1. Grab a highlighter, pen, paper & post-it notes.

2. You will need to read & review the entire disclosure package before we get together.

3. We will review your questions & concerns before we write an offer & answer them as best we can & make notes to ask the seller, inspectors & the listing agent during your contingency period.

4. Please DO NOT WRITE on the disclosures – it is OK to use a highlighter.  Write you questions & concerns on a separate piece of paper & use post-it notes.

5. As you read each page, most forms will have a “Buyers Initials” or “Buyers Signature” at the bottom of each page.  PLEASE SIGN & INITIAL WHERE REQUESTED after you have read & reviewed the page.  Please note – regardless if you “like or dislike” what you are reading – you will need to initial & sign where necessary.  The purpose of the disclosures package is to inform you of any known defects upfront.  How we (your buyers agents & you) go about repairing/correcting said issues is part of the contract & negotiations.

6. You will need to sign ALL upfront disclosures before we write the offer – doing so in advance will shave 1 to 2 hours from our appointment.  Giving us more time to discuss your options.

7. Once we’ve discussed your questions & concerns you can make an educated decision on how much you want to offer & what issues you want clarified or corrected.

8. Please allow 2-4 hours for our offer appointment.

9. Bring the signed Disclosure Package to our appointment.

Please Bring With You the Following:

  • Copy of you Bank Statement showing Proof of Down Payment & Closing Costs
  • Loan Approval Letter
  • CHECK BOOK!!!!!  Please remember that your good faith deposit of up to 3% of the Purchase Price must be available funds

Got Questions – The Caton Team is here to help.  Email us @  Info@TheCatonTeam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/

To read my personal journey through homeownership – visit http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/  Enjoy!

A Quick Review on the Different Real Estate Markets…

Google buying a home and words like short sale, REO, bank owned, or regular sale pop up.  All these terms can be a bit confusing.

Right now, on the San Francisco Peninsula market we are experiencing three very different niche markets.

  • Regular / Normal Sale
  • Short Sale
  • Bank Owned Sale

Allow me a moment to explain what these three niche markets are and how they affect the buyer.

Regular / Normal Sale

These may feel like transactions of the past – but a normal sale is when the seller owns their property and the mortgage on the home is below the current home value.  In other words – the seller has equity in their home.  Equity is the profit for the seller.  The best part of a normal sale is working with living breathing humans who will respond to a buyers offer within a normal period of time and provides the buyer with disclosures upfront that sometimes include a recent home or pest inspection.  A quick glance at Redwood City last week (July 2011) showed 73% of the homes on the market are normal sales!  Wow – not what you expect if you listen to the news!

Short Sale

These transactions are trickier than the rest.  A short sale means, the seller owes MORE on their mortgage than the home is currently worth.  They have negative equity.  If circumstances change in the sellers life and they now need to sell their home – the home is placed on the market like a normal sale, however, when an offer comes in and the seller accepts it – it is their bank (where the mortgage is held) that needs to agree to take a shortage on their loan – thus the term Short Sale.  Doing a short sale hurts a seller’s credit less than allowing the bank to foreclose.  For a buyer it means patience since the response time for a bank to review their offer is anywhere between 3-6 months. Generally the seller still resides in the home and can provide disclosures upfront, though money is tight and the seller may opt to have the buyer pay for their own inspections.  In Redwood City last week 17% of the homes on the market were known short sales.

REO (Real Estate Owned) or Bank Owned Sale

The REO or Bank Owned property is a post foreclosure property.  That means the bank has foreclosed on the seller and now the bank owns the home and is selling it themselves.  The good news – a bank can respond to a buyer’s offer within a week – instead of the 3-6 months on a short sale.  The bad news, there are NO additional disclosures on the property aside from the CA mandatory disclosures.  The buyer holds the burden of conducting their own home and pest inspections (plus any other investigating they desire) during their contingencies.   Since the bank has never lived on the property they do not complete a Transfer Disclosure Statement that covers – along with many other items – neighborhood nuisances that a seller would have to disclose.  Have no fear – as the buyer you are protected and will have time to inspect the home to ensure it is in satisfactory condition.  Last week in Redwood City – 8% of homes for sale were bank owned.

(The remaining properties were 1% Auctions, 1% Court Confirmation /Probate Sales)

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.  Email us at Info@TheCatonTeam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/

Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/

Ready to Get Pre-Approved? Here is your checklist…

The first step in becoming a home owner is getting pre-approved for a home loan.

These days, a  minimum of 3.5% is required  for FHA loans up to $417,000.

Otherwise you’ll needed between 10% and 20% for a down payment for purchases above $417,000.  Depending on your financial picture.   Note you will also need about 3% of your purchase price for closing costs.  We’ll review what closings costs are when we sit down together.

Before you contact a lender, gather the following items:

  • 3 months worth of pay stubs per person or other proof of income
  • 3 consecutive & most recent months of Bank Statements:  Checking, Savings, IRA’s, 401k, Retirement & Investment Accounts
  • Most recent Tax Return
  • Social Security numbers

To prepare for your appointment, take time to calculate your monthly/yearly household budget and determine you comfort level.  This will help you decide whether or not purchasing a home is right for you and your family.  Prepare a:

  • Household Budget
  • Bills & Expenses Budget
  • Future Budget factoring in your new home expenses.

We are here to help you each step of the way.

Got Questions – we’re here to help.  Email us at Info@TheCatonTeam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/

 

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabrina-Susan-The-Caton-Team-Realtors/294970377834

To read my personal journey through homeownership – visit http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/  Enjoy!

A Candid Moment with Short Sales

Who knew – two 5-letter words could be so dirty?

SHORT SALES

Those two words can send buyers, sellers, Realtors and Escrow Officers into a tissy.

Why you ask?  The dreaded long process and seemingly endless wait.

Allow me a moment to break down how these two words work.

To a seller, the words Short Sale mean one thing – their home is no longer worth as much as they owe.  Then – say they should need to sell it – now they need to ask the bank to agree and take less than the loan is worth.  Banks don’t like doing this.  They know real estate is cyclical, they can’t go back and redo everyone’s loan just because the value went down.  I digress.  The sad truth, the seller has to jump through many, many, many hoops – in the form of paperwork and documentation etc etc to successfully sell their home.  And that’s if the buyer doesn’t tire of waiting and walk!!!  And should a buyer walk – because sometimes they need to move on – the seller has to start at square one again – and oh what a fun square that is.

To a buyer, the words Short Sale means “sit down and wait”.  Why?  The seller generally can’t start their short sale request until AFTER they accept an offer.  And once the bank receives the offer, it can take months just to get that paperwork in front of a real decision maker, negotiator to be exact.  Since this wait time is long and sometimes a better opportunity presents itself – buyers sometimes tire of the wait and rescind, cancel, their offer.  It happens.  However, because Short Sales can be difficult, their are opportunities for buyers to purchase a property under market value.  Which creates instant equity!  In our experience, the offer you write in November is low compared to the values of comparbale properties by the time you close escrow and own that home in May.  (For more specific market info please email us info@TheCatonTeam.com)

For those in the real estate industry – the words Short Sale mean being on top of your game, having a team of professionals behind you and being diligent.  Which, in essence is what Realtors should do in the first place.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns – we’d love to hear from you – email us at Info@TheCatonTeam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/

To read my personal journey through homeownership – visit http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/  Enjoy!

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Next Stop – Bank Owned Properties – aka: The REO