Young Adults Disappearing From Home Buying Market

By Gino Blefari
President & CEO
Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.
 
There was a time when many homeowners bought their first house in their 20s. It's not hard to see that trend has changed quite a bit in markets across the country.
 
Ten years ago, the homeownership rate among young adults under age 35 was 43.6%, according to Census data. Today, the rate stands at just over 36%.
 
But while some homeownership critics have tried to say in recent years it's because young people don't value ownership as much as they do experience and freedom, the underlying economics tell a much different story.
 
It's not that America's young adults don't want to buy homes. Instead, there are a number of factors at play: fewer jobs (or jobs that pay enough to afford a home), delayed marriage, higher debt, and poor credit scores.
 
Eric Belsky, managing director of Harvard's Joint Center of Housing Studies, told a crowd at the National Association of Realtors' conference in Washington, D.C., last week, "There really are serious issues in the first-time buyer market."
 
Belsky estimates that nearly 3 million more young adults live with their parents today compared with 2007, before the Great Recession kicked into gear. This no doubt points to underlying problems with debt, the job market, and increasing housing costs in many areas.
 
The average college graduate is already carrying a large debt load as soon as he steps off campus. Student debts collectively add up to $1.1 trillion. And the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says student loan default rates climbed to nearly 12% last year (up from 6% in 2003).
 
Of course, millions of young adults are already affected by these numbers. But what happens to the housing market when first-time buyers become more and more delayed by circumstance? At some point, many markets may start to feel the missing buyers just as much. For instance, who buys the empty nesters' homes when they're ready to retire and downsize? Who do the move-up buyers sell to when they outgrow their starter homes?
 
It's an issue that eventually impacts each stage of the housing chain. We haven't seen a lot of solutions being laid out – other than a few initiatives that aim to curb student debt or give those in some professions relief.
 
We'll be watching this area closely to see what new data impact home buying and selling.

The 80:20 Rule for Weight Loss

The 80:20 Rule for Weight Loss

First, we need to get one thing straight; you can't out-train a bad diet.

Honesty is the Best Policy for Weight Loss

For most of us a diet consistently filled with unhealthy choices like too many sweets and glasses of wine on the weekend isn't going to be cancelled out or negated through exercise.

Exercise is as necessary as breathing. Through exercise, you are going to make major changes to your mind - research has shown that the benefits of exercise make you:

• Happier
• Sleep better
• Gives you more energy through the day
• Promotes strong bones
• Promotes strong muscles
• Helps you live longer
• Helps prevent cancer

What You Put In Your Mouth

So what's the 80:20 rule? 80% applies to what you eat, so for most people, 80% of their current body weight is due to what they are putting in their mouths. 20% applies to exercise, toning up our bodies, improving our state of mind and improving our sleeping patterns.

The thing is exercise often creates favorable feelings in your brain, which makes you feel more likely to want to eat healthily. Once you know that your hour hard exercise session will be cancelled out by two slices of pizza, then you can say to yourself, "Hey, I worked hard on that session, I sweated a lot and I could tell that my muscles feel the benefits so I want to keep that going with eating the foods that help and not hinder my body".

Calorie Count for Exercise

Below is a rough calorie count for certain exercises, based on a 139 pound woman. Adjust the figure accordingly based on your gender and weight.

Calories burned per half-hour of exercise:

• High-impact training - 400 calories
• Swimming - 190 calories
• Surfing - 95 calories

At best, you can eat a slice of pizza for your half-hour's exercise session, but if you want to lose weight, you need to be burning more calories than you are taking in so exercise helps to create that calorie deficit.

So challenge yourself. Make some small tweak to your diet; swap a biscuit for a piece of fruit, stop adding sugar to your coffee or add in some lean protein in the form of fish, poultry (without the skin), eggs or tofu. If you can keep that change for a week, you're on the way to making it permanent.

Finances - Tax Deduction Checklist

Finances - Tax Deduction Checklist

Tax deductions are what get you bigger refunds. If you itemize your tax return you need to have a good idea of what you can deduct. This checklist covers most of the major tax deductions.

Tax Deduction checklist

Form 1098 or your mortgage statement: if you purchased a home in the previous tax year and prior tax return or if you refinanced in the prior year and are deducting points on that loan over its life.

Investment interest expense: Brokers' statements showing any margin interest paid and loan statements for loans taken out to purchase investments.

Losses due to theft: include a description of property and insurance reports showing reimbursement or any cancelled checks showing value of property.

Charitable donations: bills, receipts or cancelled checks for cash donations, mileage records for charitable purposes, receipts from charitable agency with estimated value in the case of property donations, prior years' tax returns for any unused charitable contributions.

All work related expenses : Reimbursement check stubs or reports from an employer, union dues, receipts, bills or invoices for supplies, gifts to clients, any uniforms or special clothing, seminars attended, professional publications and books. Travel information including invoices or receipts for transportation, lodging, restaurants and parking. Any job search expenses and job related educational expenses.

Misc. deductions like Tax preparation fees, cost of income tax return preparation software and books. Safe deposit box rental fees from bank. IRA custodial fees, investment advice costs.

Last year's state income tax return, W-2 and any cancelled checks for state estimates you've paid.

Medical and dental expenses including Form SSA-1099, year-end pay stub for premiums paid through your after tax wages, mileage records for trips to the doctor, clinics, etc.

Real estate tax collector bills or cancelled checks and Form 1098 or closing statement if you bought, sold, or refinanced property in the tax year.

Any tax bills or cancelled checks for personal property like automobiles.

Employee SSN and wages paid during tax year to any household employees.

Records showing any estimated tax payments or overpayments for prior years.

You could save huge in tax preparation fees by being a bit organized. You can also save a lot of time by getting all your required documents in order before you go to a tax preparer or start your tax return online.

This communication is for information only. Please consult a tax professional regarding tax deductions.

Pandemonium!!!

Most people don't realize that home Prices are going up! Inventory is down, homes are being sold over asking and are getting on average, over 5 offers! SO if you were thinking of selling.... NOW is the time!!! 

Contact ME today!!

Kerri@InteroDB.com

Heating up...

The market is really Heating up! Low inventory, low interest rates, and tons of buyers. If you have been thinking of selling your home, NOW is the time. Email me for a market analysis of your home or neighborhood and get ready to move, FAST!

Kerri@interodb.com

We are in a HOT market!!!

Hot, Normal, and Cold Markets

Hot Market

This is an extremely competitive market and is advantageous to the seller. Sometimes, homes will sell as soon as they are listed or even before homes are listed. Typically, during a hot market, multiple offers will be made on each home and more often than not, homes will sell for more than the asking price. It is even more crucial to be prepared and to be ready as a buyer when the market is hot. It can be easy to get caught up in the bid for a home, but if you are prepared (pre-approved, solid in price range, realistic about your needs), it is easier to remain focused on your housing needs and price range.

Normal Market

In a normal market, there is a fairly large number of homes available and an average number of buyers. This market does not necessarily favor the buyer or the seller. A seller may not have as many offers on their home, but he or she may not be desperate to sell either. Again, it is the buyer’s responsibility to be prepared. During a normal market, the chances to negotiate are higher than in a hot market. As a buyer, you can expect to make offers at lower than the asking price and negotiate a price at least somewhat less than what the sellers are asking.

Cold Market

In a cold market, houses may be listed for more than a year and the prices of houses listed may drop considerably. This market is advantageous to the buyer. As a buyer, you have the time to make an offer that works to your best interest. It is not uncommon to low-ball and to find that sellers are accommodating to meet your needs. Keep in mind that even though this market is a great time for buyers, you do not want to lose your dream home by being unrealistic. Your goal is to get your dream home at the best possible price.

Prices are going up....

December home sales and price report

find the article at:

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2013releases/decembersales

California home sales and price close on high note in December;
housing market posts strong performance in 2012

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 15) – California home sales and prices both posted gains in December, with the median price posting strong double-digit gains for six straight months, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported.
“A rush to complete sales of higher-priced homes by the end of the year to avoid an expected increase in capital gains due to the “fiscal cliff” pushed up sales of homes priced $500,000 and above by nearly 42 percent from December 2011,” said C.A.R. President Don Faught.
Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 522,510 units, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. Sales in December were up 0.8 percent from a revised 518,460 in November and up 0.9 percent from a revised 517,730 in December 2011. The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2012 if sales maintained the December pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home climbed 5 percent from November’s $349,300 median price to $366,930 in December. December’s price was up 27 percent from a revised $288,950 recorded in December 2011, marking the tenth consecutive month of annual price increases and the sixth consecutive month of double-digit annual gains. The substantial increase in price was due in large part to a significant increase of higher-priced properties, while inventory constraints continued to constrict sales of lower-priced homes. Price increases are not expected to continue at a high pace into 2013.
“The positive fundamentals in the housing sector continued to attract potential homeowners and investors, which resulted in strong housing sales in the fourth quarter. Sales for 2012 rose 5.4 percent, reaching 525,120 for the year as a whole, slightly above our projection,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “With sales in the higher-end market remaining strong throughout the year, the price gain at the state level surpassed our expectations, increasing 11.6 percent from $286,040 in 2011 to a preliminary $319,340 in 2012.”

Other key facts of C.A.R.’s December 2012 resale housing report include:
• California’s housing inventory was further constrained in December, with the Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes dropping to 2.6 months, down from 3.1 months in November and a revised 4.3 months in December 2011. The index indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. A six- to seven-month supply is considered normal.

• The 30-year fixed-mortgage interest rate averaged 3.35 percent during December 2012, unchanged from November, but down from 3.96 percent in December 2011, according to Freddie Mac. However, adjustable-mortgage interest rates edged down in December, averaging 2.54 percent, down from 2.57 percent in November and down from 2.79 percent in December 2011.

• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home edged up to 38.1 days in December 2012 from 37.5 days in November but was down from 58.7 days for the same period a year ago.

 

Now is the Time!

Now is the time to list your house for sale! The inventory is extremely low. Homes are getting 10+ offers and most are going well over asking price. Contact me today for a Market Value Analyses of your home! This could be your time to MOVE!!!

Looking for a NEW home?! I can help with that too. There are many great new communities. I have access to floor plans and can educate you on what's out there.

Kerri Anne Kuipers
925.382.6722
Kerri@Interodb.com
RE#1371935

Your Savings and Down Payment

 

Your First Step Toward Buying a Home

When preparing to buy a home, the first thing many homebuyers do is look at the real estate ads in newspapers, magazines and listings on the Internet. Some potential buyers read how-to articles like this one. The next thing you should do - before you call on an ad, before you talk to a Realtor, before you shop for interest rates - is look at your savings.

Why?

Because determining how much money you have available for down payment and closing costs affects almost every aspect of buying a home - including how you write your purchase offer, the loan programs you qualify for, and shopping for interest rates.

Mortgage Programs

If you only have enough available for a minimum down payment, your choices of loan program will be limited to only a few types of mortgages. If someone is giving you a gift for all or part of the down payment, your options are also limited. If you have enough for the down payment, but need the lender or seller to cover all or part of your closing costs, this further limits your options. If you borrow all or a portion of the down payment from your 401K or retirement plan, different loan programs have different rules on how you qualify.

Of course, if you have enough for a large down payment, then you have lots of choices.

Your loan choices include such varied programs as conventional fixed rate loans, adjustable rate mortgages, buydowns, VA, FHA, graduated payment mortgages and all the varieties of each.

Shopping for Rates

A very important reason you need to have at least some idea of your down payment is for shopping for interest rates. Some loan programs charge a slightly higher interest rate for minimal down payments. Plus, the interest rates for different loan programs are not the same. For example, conventional, VA, and FHA all offer fixed rate loans. However, the rates vary from one program to another.

If you shop lenders by phone, the loan officer will be able to tell you which programs fit and quote your rates accordingly. However, if you are shopping on the Internet, you have to develop some idea of your loan program on your own.

Writing Your Offer

Another reason you need to have a clue about your down payment is because it affects how you write your offer to purchase a home. Not only are you required to put your down payment information in the offer, but also different loan programs have different rules that also affect how you write your offer. This is especially important when dealing with FHA and VA loans.

If you are asking the seller to pay all or part of your closing costs, you have to be certain your loan program allows what you are asking. For smaller down payments, lenders allow the seller to pay less closing costs than for larger down payments. Some loan programs will allow a seller to pay certain types of costs, but not others.

Finally, your down payment also affects your ability to qualify for a loan. When you make a small down payment, lenders are fairly strict about having you conform to their underwriting guidelines. For larger down payments, they will tend to make allowances or exceptions to the rules.

Conclusion

As you can see, the down payment affects every choice you make when you buy a home. Although you should look at ads, familiarize yourself with neighborhoods, learn about prices, and read as much as you can - when you get ready to take action - the first thing you should do is figure out how much money you have available for the purchase.

Passion Into Profits

Turn Your Passion Into Profits

Your personal passions can fuel your prospecting efforts, and consequently, your real estate business.

August 2011 | By Kelle Sparta

 

When I talk to real estate professionals these days, a subject that comes up often is how to get more business. Whether it’s new practitioners just getting started or experienced ones looking to take their business to the next level, it’s all about the number of deals on the table and how to make more money. And that’s the way it should be, since several real estate pros are earning what amounts to minimum wage, if that. (Don’t believe me? Ask the associates in your office to take their total income for the year divided by the number of weeks worked and then divided by the number of hours worked per week, and see what they end up with. It’s often a sobering number.)
Related to this lack of business and desire to have more is the fact that many practitioners hate to prospect. But more prospecting, done right, equals more business. And I have a little secret that will help you get excited about prospecting.

What Are You Passionate About?

People won’t do what they hate. That’s just a fact of life. Sure, they may do it for a while — during a coaching program or while they are on a “kick” to do more deals. But in the long haul, the activities that they don’t like get pushed to the side.
The key is to understand your own internal motivation buttons. What gets you excited? What makes you get out of bed in the morning, raring to go for the day? What are those things which, if you never had to work again for the rest of your life, you’d still do daily? These are your passion points.

Turn Your Passion Into Business

My passion was helping people take a step into a new way of life, so real estate was a natural fit. Excepting investors, people typically don’t buy or sell real estate without having some major life change take place. So for me, it was easy. But for some people, it’s a little more challenging. Perhaps you love model airplanes, or you’re fascinated by sailing, or you love negotiating, or you live for designing marketing pieces. Whatever your passion is, find a way to build that into your real estate business. We’re lucky to be in one of the most flexible, broad-reaching fields in the world. It’s simply a matter of finding the right marriage between the profession and your interests.

Translating Your Passion

At this point, you might be thinking, “Well, this is great, but how do I translate my love of model airplanes (or whatever your passion is) into my real estate business? They have nothing to do with one another, and there are only so many model plane enthusiasts I can sell to.” This is true, but you’re missing the bigger picture.
There’s something about model airplanes that appeals to you besides the planes themselves. Perhaps it’s the attention to detail it takes to make one look really right, or having a slice of history sitting on your shelf, or the creative process of making something and painting it. Or perhaps it’s just having something you can look at and have a sense of accomplishment. There is something about the process that engages you.
When you discover this aspect of your passion, then you can begin to work with it. If it’s the history that appeals to you, consider specializing in historic homes — do the research and provide a detailed portfolio on each of your homes. If it’s the attention to detail, then bring that passion to how you handle your transactions and advertise this fact. If it’s the creative process, then work with fixer-uppers and draw out plans for how people might approach renovating it — or do the fix-and-flips yourself. If it’s having a sense of accomplishment, then feed that need to have something to look at by taking a picture of all of your clients at the closing table and putting those pictures up in your office.

Know Thyself

The key here is to know yourself. Everyone has things that bring them up and things that bring them down. If you focus on the stuff that brings you down, you’ll be unhappy. If you engage the stuff that brings you up, you’ll not only be happier, you’ll get more business because you’ll really be doing what you love.
So make sure that what you’re engaging is the parts of your life and business that truly get you excited. When you’re excited, it’s contagious and everyone wants to be near you. And, when you’re excited, it’s not prospecting anymore — it’s sharing your excitement!

Passion Makes Perfect

When you can marry your passion to your business, you’ll find that the prospecting comes easier, the sales happen automatically, and your bottom line improves dramatically. Why? Because you’re now doing joyfully what you once considered drudgery.

What You Can Do to Improve Your Credit

Credit scores, along with your overall income and debt, are big factors in determining whether you’ll qualify for a loan and what your loan terms will be. So, keep your credit score high by doing the following:

1. Check for and correct any errors in your credit report. Mistakes happen, and you could be paying for someone else’s poor financial management.
2. Pay down credit card bills. If possible, pay off the entire balance every month. Transferring credit card debt from one card to another could lower your score.
3. Don’t charge your credit cards to the maximum limit.
4. Wait 12 months after credit difficulties to apply for a mortgage. You’re penalized less for problems after a year.
5. Don’t order items for your new home on credit — such as appliances and furniture — until after the loan is approved. The amounts will add to your debt.
6. Don’t open new credit card accounts before applying for a mortgage. Too much available credit can lower your score.
7. Shop for mortgage rates all at once. Too many credit applications can lower your score, but multiple inquiries from the same type of lender are counted as one inquiry if submitted over a short period of time.
8. Avoid finance companies. Even if you pay the loan on time, the interest is high and it will probably be considered a sign of poor credit management.

This information is copyrighted by the Fannie Mae Foundation and is used with permission of the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Why to Own Your Own Home!!!

7 Reasons to Own Your Home

1. Tax breaks. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, your property taxes, as well as some of the costs involved in buying your home.
2. Appreciation. Real estate has long-term, stable growth in value. While year-to-year fluctuations are normal, median existing-home sale prices have increased on average 6.5 percent each year from 1972 through 2005, and increased 88.5 percent over the last 10 years, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. In addition, the number of U.S. households is expected to rise 15 percent over the next decade, creating continued high demand for housing.
3. Equity. Money paid for rent is money that you’ll never see again, but mortgage payments let you build equity ownership interest in your home.
4. Savings. Building equity in your home is a ready-made savings plan. And when you sell, you can generally take up to $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) as gain without owing any federal income tax.
5. Predictability. Unlike rent, your fixed-mortgage payments don’t rise over the years so your housing costs may actually decline as you own the home longer. However, keep in mind that property taxes and insurance costs will increase.
6. Freedom. The home is yours. You can decorate any way you want and benefit from your investment for as long as you own the home.
7. Stability. Remaining in one neighborhood for several years gives you a chance to participate in community activities, lets you and your family establish lasting friendships, and offers your children the benefit of educational continuity.

It'a a great time to buy or refinance!!!

Current Mortgage Rates

National	Average Rate*	Points
30-Year Fixed	3.37%	0.7
15-Year Fixed	2.66%	0.6
ARM	2.75%	0.6

* Conforming FNMA Loan Amount. Rates last updated Oct 25, 2012

Falling Foreclosures Pushing Up Home Prices

Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, October 18, 2012

  

As foreclosure backlogs have decreased, so have many of the big discounts on home prices. The slowdown in foreclosures is partially behind the recent rise in home prices, some economists say.
“Deeply discounted existing homes have been subject to strong demand from cash buyers and investors looking to lock into housing’s attractive income returns,” says Paul Diggle, a housing economist at Capital Economics. “The supply of such homes, meanwhile, has been dwindling. That has bid up existing house prices, particularly at the lower end of the price spectrum."
The median price of existing homes nationwide was 9.5 higher in August compared to a year ago, and new home prices were up 17 percent in that same time period.
Distressed properties typically sell for big discounts. For example, in 2007 during a nationwide foreclosure surge, foreclosures tended to sell for about a third of the median price of the home. The housing markets with some of the largest price falls tended to have the highest number of distressed home sales.
Lately, foreclosures have been posting big drops. Last month, new foreclosure filings reached a five-year low, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate research firm that tracks foreclosure housing data.
“There is a shortage of inventory — as crazy as it sounds to say that,” says Daren Blomquist, a RealtyTrac spokesman. “In a lot of market there's less inventory of foreclosed properties than there is demand. You’re hearing about multiple bids for these properties.”

Why Do You Need Title Insurance?

 

Title Insurance.

It’s a term we hear and see frequently - we see reference to it in the Sunday real estate section, in advertisements and in conversations with real estate brokers. If you’ve purchased a home before, you’re probably familiar with the benefits and procedures of title insurance. But if this is your first home, you may wonder, “Why do I need another insurance policy? It’s just one more bill to pay.”

The answer is simple: The purchase of a home is most likely one of the most expensive and important purchases you will ever make. You, and your mortgage lender, want to make sure that the property is indeed yours - lock, stock and barrel - and that no individual or government entity has any right, lien, claim to your property.

Title insurance companies are in business to make sure your rights and interests to the property are clear, that transfer of title takes place efficiently and correctly and that your interests as a homebuyer are protected to the maximum degree.

Title insurance companies provide services to buyers, sellers, real estate developers, builders, mortgage lenders and others who have an interest in a real estate transfer. Title companies routinely issue two types of policies - “owner’s”, which cover you, the homebuyer; and “lender’s”, which covers the bank, savings and loan or other lending institution over the life of the loan. Both are issued at the time of purchase for a modest, one-time premium.

Before issuing a policy, however, the title company performs an extensive search of relevant public records to determine if anyone other than you has an interest in the property. The search may be performed by title company personnel using either public records or more likely, information gathered, reorganized and indexed in the company’s title plant.

With such a thorough examination of records, any title problems usually can be found and cleared up prior to your purchase of the property. Once a title policy is issued, if for some reason any claim which is covered under your title policy is ever filed against your property, the title company will pay the legal fee involved in defense of your rights, as well as any covered loss arising from a valid claim. That protection, which is in effect as long as you or your heirs own the property, is yours for a one-time premium paid at the time of purchase.

The fact that title companies work to eliminate risks before they develop makes the title insurance decidedly different from other types of insurance you may have purchased. Most forms of insurance assume risks by providing financial protection through a pooling of risks for losses arising from an unforeseen event, say a fire, theft or accident. The purpose of title insurance, on the other hand, is to eliminate risks and prevent losses caused by defects in title that happened in the past. Risks are examined and mitigated before property changes hands.

This risk elimination has benefits to both you, the homebuyer, and the title company: it minimizes the chances adverse claims might be raised, and by so doing reduces the number of claims that have to be defended or satisfied. This keeps costs down for the title company and your title premiums low.

Buying a home is a big step emotionally and financially. With title insurance you are assured that any valid claim against your property will be borne by the title company, and that the odds of a claim being filed are slim indeed.

Isn’t sleeping well at night, knowing your home is yours, reason enough for title insurance?

Mortgage Rates

 

WHAT ARE CURRENT MORTGAGE RATES...... LOW!!!!

Current Rates

National	Average Rate*	Points
30-Year Fixed	3.39%	0.7
15-Year Fixed	2.70%	0.6
ARM	2.73%	0.6

* Conforming FNMA Loan Amount. Rates last updated Oct 12, 2012

Understanding Foreclosures

 

It is an unfortunate commentary, but when economic activity declines and housing activity decreases, more real property enters the foreclosure process. High interest rates and creative financing arrangements are also contributing factors.

When prices are rapidly accelerating during a real estate “bonanza”, many people go to any lengths available to get into the market through investments in vacation homes, rental housing and trading up to more expensive properties. In some cases, this results in the taking on of high interest rate payments and second, third and even fourth deeds of trust. Many buyers anticipate that interest rates will drop and home prices will continue to escalate. It is possible that neither will occur and borrowers may be faced with large balloon payments becoming due. When payments cannot be met, the foreclosure process looms on the horizon.

In the foreclosure process, one thing should be kept in mind: as a general rule, a lender would rather receive payments than receive a home due to a foreclosure. Lenders are not in the business of selling real estate and will often try to accommodate property owners who are having payment problems. The best plan is to contact the lender before payment problems arise. If monthly payments are too hefty, it may be that a lender will be able to make some alternative payment arrangements until the owner’s financial situation improves.

Let’s say, however, that a property owner has missed payments and has not made any alternate arrangements with the lender. In this case, the lender may decide to begin the foreclosure process. Under such circumstances, the lender, whether a bank, savings and loan or private party, will request that the trustee, often a title company, file a notice of default with the county recorder’s office. A copy of the notice is mailed to the property owner.

If the default is due to a balloon payment not being made when due, the lender can require full payment on the entire outstanding loan as the only way to cure the default. If the default is not cured, the lender may direct the trustee to sell the property at a public sale.

In cases of a public sale, a notice of sale must be published in a local newspaper and posted in a public place, usually the courthouse, for three consecutive weeks. Once the notice of sale has been recorded, the property owner has until 5 days prior to the published sale date to bring the loan current. If the owner cures the default by making up the payments, the deed of trust will be reinstated and regular monthly payments will continue as before.

After this time, it may still be possible for the property owner to work out a postponement on the sale with the lender. However, if no postponement is reached, the property goes on the block. At the sale, buyers must pay the amount of their bid in cash, cashier’s check or other instrument acceptable to the trustee. A lender may “credit bid” up to the amount of the obligation being foreclosed upon.

With the recent attention given to foreclosure, there also has been corresponding interest in buying foreclosed properties. However, caveat emptor: buyer beware. Foreclosed properties are very likely to be burdened with overdue taxes, liens and clouded titles. A buyer should do his homework and ask a local title company for information concerning these outstanding liens and encumbrances. Title insurance may or may not be available following a foreclosure sale and various exceptions may be included in any title insurance policy issued to a buyer of a foreclosed property.

Your local title company will be happy to provide additional information.

 Choices…they define us or they destroy us.

• Give or take
• Love or hate
• Church or watching the NFL
• Soda or Water
• Exercise or snooze bar
• Investing or buying that 60” plasma
• Smile or frown
• Going for a walk or sitting on the couch
• Operating from a schedule or just winging it
• Clean my office and be organized or leave it messy and be unorganized.
• Return all of my calls and emails or blow them off and kid myself I will do it tomorrow
• Going above and beyond or just doing the minimum
• Do a business plan and set goals or hope and wish for success
• Working hard or doing the bare minimum
• Energy giver or energy sucker
• Embrace accountability or run from it.
• Burger or salad
• Embrace change or resist it
• Positive & optimistic attitude or a negative & pessimistic attitude
• Forgive or be mad and hold a grudge
• Dress professionally or dress like a slob
• Do my homework or don’t do my homework
• Practice or don’t practice
• Shoulders back or shoulders slumped
• Laugh or yell
• Hug or fight

The most common difference between those who have an AWESOME life and those who don’t are simply the choices they make every day. It’s usually not their circumstances, the way they were raised, or their education. Most people who are not accomplishing their dreams in life are those that have chosen not to. These people just aren’t willing to do what is necessary to have a life that good.

Think about your life for a moment, what do you want and what does it take to get it? So, why haven’t you been doing what it takes to get it?

Before you start with all of the excuses, ask yourself - if you really had to do it, could you? Let me make it clear how this is a choice - I don’t even like to think these thoughts, but it will help you understand that you can do it, if you want it bad enough. If the person or people you care about the most lives depended upon it (life or death), could you do it? We both know the answer. Of course you could and would. Life is a series of choices - I call them the Y’s in the road. In most cases if you take the easy path - the one most people take - you will experience short term gain and long term pain. On the other hand if you have the courage to take the other path - the one most will not take - you will have some short-term pain, but long-term gain. So, make the right choice and have a life of pure magic!

Start by making the choice every day to FEEL GOOD. Because when you FEEL GOOD you are ATTRACTIVE. When you are ATTRACTIVE, you have AMAZING PRODUCTIVITY. When you have AMAZING PRODUCTIVITY, you have EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS. And when you have EXTRAORDINARY RESULT, you feel even better! It is the circle of success.

By Tom Tognoli
COO, Founder
Intero Real Estate Services

Getting your Deam Home!

In 1750, Samuel Johnson wrote that “to be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.” And there’s truth to this; for most Americans, our homes are our launch pads for being and doing our best in the world, and the places where we live out our most precious, private moments. So, if you follow our most important dreams to their logical conclusions, they almost all boil down to having a happy home, where we and our families can thrive and enjoy happy, secure lives.

Fortunately, dreams do come true - and dream homes can become reality. Here is a short list of musts for developing the vision, strategy, commitment and effort it will take to make your dream home your actual home.

1. Know what a dream home is - and is not. Like anything else in life, you can’t realize your dream home if you don’t know what it is - and isn’t, definitionally. For purposes of this conversation, our definition of a dream home is closely related to our aspirations and our visions in a couple of key ways. Aspirationally, dream homes take some work and effort to achieve - they aren’t usually handed to us on a silver platter.

And our dream homes are related to our holistic visions for our lives, as well. By that I just mean that our dreams of home are less about owning a particular building, and more about creating a vision for our whole life as it will be impacted by our choice of home. We want a home that will allow our children to flourish, that is safely located, that allows us to personalize it and either does or doesn’t require much work, depending on our personal preferences. By the same token, our dream home is also one that doesn’t create problems for our lives or prevent us from doing the things we want and need to do.

If a given home is beautiful, but owning it requires us to work overtime at a job we hate, causes relationship problems, or simply requires too much repair or work for the time and resources we have, then that home is - by definition - not our dream home.

Here are some other concepts of home that are often confused for dream homes, but don’ fit the bill. Your dream home should not be defined by:

• the over-the-top fantasy mansion you saw on TV (if it’s bizarrely unattainable, in other words, it’s a fantasy home - not a dream home)
• some antiquated notion of the biggest, flashiest home with the most amenities
• the most expensive home you can afford
• your mother’s, sister’s or best friend’s dream home.

Understanding what makes for a dream home - and what doesn’t - can help you avoid the common pitfalls of being upset when your dollar doesn’t stretch to get you a home like the one you saw on Million Dollar Listing, overextending yourself, or assuming that the types of homes your friends and relatives think are ideal for you are the same as your dream home. While they might overlap, they don’t always - and trying to fulfill someone else’s idea of what your dream home should be is the fastest way to create a nightmare home buying experience.

2. Get and stay clear on your personal vision. There are various tools you can use to create a clear vision of your dream home, to avoid the above pitfalls. The most important of these is to sit in a still and quiet place and literally start writing down what you want your life to look like after you’re in the home of your dreams.

Don’t start with the technical characteristics of the building: you’ll get there soon enough, and the reality is that your co-buyer’s wants and needs, your budgetary limitations and the inventory available on your local market at the time will all impact the granular details of the property you end up with.

Instead, start with big picture life objectives, like who lives with you; what activities everyone does in the home that may require dedicated nooks, crannies, whole rooms or outbuildings; where and how much you work (at home? 3 towns away? around the clock?); how you get there and home every day; and what you do in your down time - be it hiking, home fixing, entertaining or strolling to the corner cafe.

3. “Be stubborn on the vision and flexible on the details.” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos delivered this one-liner in explaining his philosophy of creative problem-solving. And it applies just as powerfully to the creativity that is essential when hunting for your dream home. Compromise is unavoidable. Whether you’re spending $25,000 or $2.5 million on your next home, you will be required to compromise in order to reconcile your dream with your financials, the dreams of any co-buyers you have and realities of the real estate market, the inventory of available homes and geographic and other realities.

You may want a water view, but your wife wants to walk to the shops - and no home exists with both of those things. Or maybe you want to keep your payment below $2,500 per month, but you also want to buy a move-in ready home in The Best School District Ever. And all of those things are simply not possible with the down payment money you have in hand.

Bottom line: you’ll need to be somewhat flexible on the precise specs of the home you end up in as your ‘dream’ home - and the only way to do this is to ensure that you know what your whole-life vision is. Once you have your vision of life/home document ready,
then you can get granular about the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet you need, as well as location specifics, brushing your absolute must-haves and absolute deal-breakers in the most minimalistic of strokes.

Adopting this Amazon-style ‘flexibility on the details’ empowers your experienced local agent/partner to suggest creative solutions for homes that will allow you to create the happy home life you’re trying to achieve, despite the circumstantial limitations.

In any event, hold onto your vision of life vis-a-vis your home journaling document for later. If you end up in contract on a home and have second thoughts, it’s a powerful document to revisit before you finalize the deal, to make sure the inevitable compromises haven’t completely wiped out all traces of the life you hoped to create in this dream home.

4. Communicate your dream vividly to those who need to know. A frequently expressed dilemma of wanna-be dream home buyers is that their agent is not showing them homes that fit the bill. In my experience, this issue often arises when buyers’ champagne tastes and beer budgets don’t align, and their agent is trying hard to show them the best they can afford, but it still disappoints.

To make sure that you are communicating your vision and dream to your agent with crystal clarity, consider doing some or all of the following:

• Send your agent the Trulia listings for homes that reflect features of your dream home - or the whole enchilada, if you can find it.
• Attend Open Houses and save flyers of homes months, even years, before you start house hunting in earnest, to share what you loved about them with your agent when the time is right.
• Ask your agent to show you at least one home that reflects what they *think* you want in your dream home - regardless of price. You might be stunned and astonished at what your dream home really costs, but the experience can help you manage your own mindset, and expectations, back into the realm of reality.

5. Mind your business. Dreams may seem fluffy and soft, but the dream of a home is one which requires you to click into hard-core numbers mode in order to make things happen. Don’t fall into the trap of fixating on images of wainscoting and tree-lined streets until your money matters have been fully handled. I’m often surprised at how many buyers believe their dream home is just out of their financial reach, but have so much fat that can still be cut from their monthly budgets: money they spend on things they would say are much lower than their home on their priority list.

Sit down and comb through your existing spending patterns with a fine-tooth comb and ask yourself whether your fantasy football habit is truly more or less important than getting closer to affording the home of your dreams. Talk with a financial planner and your mortgage broker about putting an action plan in place to eliminate bills that are impacting your ability to afford and/or qualify for your target type of home. Get clear, in your own household and spending plan, on what you can truly afford to spend on housing every month, versus looking to your mortgage broker to tell you what you can afford.

Making your dream home come true involves some heavy duty bookkeeping and an intense commitment to managing your finances in a way that lines up with your values.

6. Get uncomfortable. Being a grown-up is full of paradoxes, isn’t it? A few of my faves:

• Living an easy life takes a lot of hard work.
• With fashion and food, often less really is more.
• I get younger and younger with every day that passes. (Humor me, please.)

Here’s one more to keep in mind as you pursue your dream home: creating a comfortable home might require you to do some uncomfortable things. Writing - and sticking to - a spending plan, is one. Reading eye-glazing contracts and hundreds of pages of uber-boring HOA disclosures is another. Having frank conversations with your partner, negotiating, managing your emotions around affordability and the like - there are loads of uncomfortable moments that take place in and around the process of buying your home.

These discomforts are temporary. But avoiding these uncomfortable moments can get you into some long-term un-dreamy drama: surprise HOA special assessments, a decade of living in a home you (or your partner) truly despises and years of living paycheck-to-paycheck from having overextended yourself are a few that come to mind.

So, dive on into being uncomfortable for this short period of time, with the knowledge that doing so will set you up for long-term success in your dream home.

7. Know the difference between your vision for “this” dream home, and your long-term vision. The home you buy now might not be your forever home. It’s essential that you feel comfortable with the prospect of staying put for at least 5-7 years before you buy, in most areas. But don’t feel like this home must have every feature you’ll ever want to have in a home. Especially if you’re buying your first home, the reality is that you’ll likely move up several times in your future, as your career, earnings and savings grow over time.

Also, if your ‘dream’ home features list is particularly aggressive and/or your budget is particularly tight for your area, you might have to exercise serious visionary powers to visualize how you can develop the home you can currently afford into your dream home over time. Focus on location, expandability, and these other characteristics of a hidden gem of a home, and find someplace that is livable right now, but has the potential, with your hard work, to become the home of your dreams down the road.

So tell us, have you scored your dream home? If you're still on the hunt, what's on your short list of features that makes a home your family's ideal?
From Turlia

Escrow Functions

The Functions of an Escrow

Buying or selling a home (or other piece of real property) usually involves the transfer of large sums of money. It is imperative that the transfer of these funds and related documents from one party to another be handled in a neutral, secure and knowledgeable manner. For the protection of buyer, seller and lender, the escrow process was developed.

As a buyer or seller, you want to be certain all conditions of sale have been met before property and money change hands. The technical definition of an escrow is a transaction where one party engaged in the sale, transfer or lease of real or personal property with another person delivers a written instrument, money or other items of value to a neutral third person, called an escrow agent or escrow holder. This third person holds the money or items for disbursement upon the happening of a specified event or the performance of a specified condition.

Simply stated, the escrow holder impartially carries out the written instructions given by the principals. This includes receiving funds and documents necessary to comply with those instructions, completing or obtaining required forms and handling final delivery of all items to the proper parties upon the successful completion of the escrow.

The escrow must be provided with the necessary information to close the transaction. This may include loan documents, tax statements, fire and other insurance policies, title insurance policies, terms of sale and any seller-assisted financing, and requests for payment for various services to be paid out of escrow funds.

If the transaction is dependent on arranging new financing, it is the buyer’s or the buyer’s agent’s responsibility to make the necessary arrangements. Documentation of the new loan agreement must be in the hands of the escrow holder before the transfer of property can take place. A real estate agent can help identify appropriate lending institutions.

When all the instructions in the escrow have been carried out, the closing can take place. At this time, all outstanding funds are collected and fees- such as title insurance premiums, real estate commissions, termite inspection charges- are paid. Title to the property is then transferred under the terms of the escrow instructions and appropriate title insurance is issued.

Payment of funds at the close of escrow should be in the form acceptable to the escrow, since out-of-town and personal checks can cause days of delay in processing the transaction.

The following items represent a typical list of what an escrow holder does and does not do:

THE ESCROW HOLDER:

• serves as the neutral “stakeholder” and the communications link to all parties in the transaction;
• prepares escrow instructions;
• requests a preliminary title search to determine the present condition of title to the property;
• requests a beneficiary’s statement if debt or obligation is to be taken over by the buyer;
• complies with lender’s requirements, specified in the escrow agreement;
• receives purchase funds from the buyer;
• prepares or secures the deed or other documents related to escrow;
• prorates taxes, interest, insurance and rents according to instructions;
• secures releases of all contingencies or other conditions as imposed on any particular escrow;
• records deeds and any other documents as instructed;
• requests issuance of the title insurance policy;
• closes escrow when all the instructions of buyer and seller have been carried out;
• disburses funds as authorized by instructions, including charges for title insurance, recording fees, real estate commissions and loan payoffs;
• prepares final statements for the parties accounting for the disposition of all funds deposited in escrow (these are useful in the preparation of tax returns).

THE ESCROW HOLDER DOES NOT:

• offer legal advice;
• negotiate the transaction;
• offer investment advice.

Your local title company should be happy to provide additional information.