The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is considering three policy changes to boost its capital reserves. Under the changes, new borrowers seeking FHA-insured loans will need a minimum FICO score of 580 to qualify for FHA’s 3.5% downpayment program. New borrowers with credit scores between 500 and 580 will be required to provide a 10% downpayment, and borrowers with credit scores below 500 will no longer qualify. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a notice today seeking public comment on the measures, which are designed to reduce financial risk and preserve affordable mortgage finance. HUD will accept public comment for the next 30 days on the proposed changes. “These are the latest in a series of changes to allow the FHA to manage its risk better while continuing to support the nation’s housing recovery,” said FHA commissioner David Stevens in a press release.

Has it been 6 months since you started looking for your new home?

Why have you not purchased your home yet? Are you a Lookie Lou?

Interest rates are at an all time low!
The selection of affordable homes to choose from is substancial!
This “buyer’s market” where sellers, give many concessions to buyers, is not going to stay around forever!

If you have been looking for six months, or longer, for your home and you haven’t purchased a home you should fire your real estate agent, fire your lender and fire yourself from the home buying process. You really don’t want to have the American Dream of homeownership. The perfect storm for home buying is right now.

Either stop kidding yourself that you want to buy a home or call me today and together let’s find that special home you have been seeking. You can call be right now by clicking the “Call Me” button on the left.

I am currently seeing a shift in the market towards a “seller’s market“. Interest rate have gone up .25% in the past week…that’s a lot however, still very much affordable! The government has started a program to infuse money into banks to help buyers buy their home. Sellers are starting to price their homes where multiple buyers want the same certain homes again. This points to something is a brewing out in the real estate world like multiple offers on the same home buy several buyers.

If you are looking in Redwood City I have a couple of new homes coming on the market within the next 30 days or so. Contact me and I may be able to get you into them before they hit the open market. Here is a link to a home in San Mateo under $650,000.

Stop being a Lookie Lou, you are wasting your time and efforts on something that will only bring you disappointment and despair.

Is it me or is the Sun more brutal on your skin than in the past?

Is the ozone layer depleting faster?

Redwood City, CA

Lender are going to initiate new underwriting guidelines effective June 1, 2010. Your lender will begin to do two complete back ground credit check on all borrowers prior to funding your loan. That means if you buy a home and get approved for a loan, it does not mean you are approved for that loan.

Prior to the close of escrow on your new home the lender will order a new completer credit check and see if you have applied for or used any of your credit. They then will recalculate your front end and back end credit ratios to see if they are still within the banks lending guidelines.

If your credit comes back and your ratios are not within the guidelines of the bank you DON’T get the loan. Bye Bye new home!

What do you want to do then? Well the first thing is not to apply for any new credit. You may think a Home Depot Card is what every homeowner needs and you are right. However, that added credit card could increase your available credit ratio and screw up your new home purchase. Unqualified you in other words.

This goes for that new stainless steel refrigerator you want to buy and have ready to be installed in your new kitchen replacing that ugly, Autumn Gold, 30 year old one, the sellers used.

What else can you do? Don’t buy any big ticket items like a car, boat or plane. Wait until after the close of escrow. It doesn’t mean you can’t do things to improve your new home or life it just means be prudent in your money management during the escrow period while buying your new home.

If you stop and think about this new way of doing business with your lender if makes sense in theory. In practice, however, what are they thinking? Improvements to the home helps protect their investment! Now we know why they are in the positions they claim to be in to incorporate these kinds of underlining guidelines to their loan programs.

I mean, was it the borrowers that was the cause of the banking equity problems? I thought it was the product the banks sold to the public and then sold to the investor that caused the need for a bail out.

It doesn’t matter though, so just don’t spend any money for big ticket items or apply for any new credit and you will be just fine.

Spectrum Magazine: FOX THEATER – Has a new owner . . .

Free Reports: http://www.StopForeclosureInSanCarlos.com http://LovelySanCarlosHomes.com Foreclosure/Short Sale Information:http://www.StartFreshLLC.com

Redwood City, CA: The Federal Tax Credit for home buyers is set to expire. To take advantage of it, you must be in contract by April 30 and close by June 30.

Q: I’ve been looking for ahome for a long time. In my price range, it seems like there is becoming less good homes for sale. When I first started looking, there were lots of houses, although they were always a big challenge because so many other buyers were trying to buy them at the same time as me. Now, it seems like those same ol’ “crappy” houses that no one wants before are pretty much all that is left, and when a good house comes up, it sells quickly. I’m getting frustrated and angry, and I am beginning to think I should give up my American Dream of owning a home. Is this all in my head or what?

A: Nope. Today’s house selections is slim pick’ins. I’m no Enstein, so I can’t say I know imperically why inventories seem to be stagnant and undesirable, but they are! This is one of those delicate values we see that you can’t see by looking only at the data — the number of homes on the market are up, but the reality is that much of what is out there seems to be the same homes that have been on the market for a long period of time. And the ones that are considered new inventory are homes that have gone through some sort of financial troubles or bank ownership. Usually that means the homes lost most of its loving care it was accustomed to when times were better and it shows.

Other indicators like days on market (DOM) and number of homes on the market don’t really give you a true picture of the real estate market either. The homes that don’t “pop” when you walk into them stay on the market a long time, but the ones everyone loves sale right away, when they come on the market. Because of these extremities you get a results that is tainted from the normal market analyzation.

Change Your Thinking

It’s time for you to recall why you decided to buy a home in the first place. What was the dream of home ownership you had for your life when you start the whole process of buying a home? Was it for extra bedroom for your children? The chance to entertain the way you want to entertain? Were you motivated to buy a home in a buyers market so you could take advantage of it and not be a person placed at the sellers whims like a couple of years ago? When you do get angry or think you should give up, go back to your original motivations. Remember why you started this home buying process in the first place!

If your original reasons inspired you, they’ll once again guide you through your times of thinking about giving up. If your reasons aren’t inspirational, then you might be better off deciding to wait and maybe revisit buying a home at a later date: If you aren’t motivated or have a strong sense of urgency more than likely you probably won’t ever find the home of your dreams. Today’s market require that committment from a serious home buyer. Buying a home is hard work now-a-days.

If you do decide to get out of the homebuying process and wait, be aware of the consequences by giving up. There’s all sorts of “Gurus” discussing where prices and foreclosure trends are going in the near future, however, there’s agreement with almost all of them that interest rates are going up, along with lending guidelines getting even tougher. So buyers have to “qualify” for a loan before a bank will fund a mortgage…imagine that!

Likewise, the homebuyer tax credit ends April 30, 2010. A decision to stop looking for your new home could very well be a decision to forfeit all of those current pro-buyer market conditions.

If you decide to move forward, it’s important to get clarity on what your wants and needs really are, and be more committed to compromising on things that aren’t your strong must-haves or deal-breakers. Focus on what is truly important to you and be open to possible different scenarios that may work for you in the long run even though it may not be the decision you want right now. For example you may only want a “move-in” condition home but you haven’t found it yet. Maybe buying a fixer-upper at a discount might work for you if you plan to use your tax-credit funds to do the fixing like new painting, new carpeting and other cosmetic finishes that can show off your future diamond in the rough that is now your new home.

A good number of my clients feel the same as you may be feeling and they too seem to just be treading water. They grow more worried and impatient when they can’t find any home that they want, when a house does come on the market for sale they still hesitate before making an offer even if it would fit their criteria for their home. If that’s you, here’s some advice: Quit hesitating!

When you see a place that would work for you, make an offer — just do it! Do it decisively and quickly. Don’t worry about the small stuff like pinching pennies or agonize over spending money for something you want — be forthright and aggressive in your timing and your pricing, and you’ll have a much better chance of success. Nickle and dime a seller and they will nickle and dime you back. Make an acceptable and fair offer that will make the sellers and you have a warm fuzzy feeling in your tummies and everyone wins. If you do that you can be firm with your offer because you have given a honest and fair offer. By being fair and forthright you will get your new home. Now all your worries, anger and frustrations will gone.

What You Must Know

If you’re wanting to be fair without overpaying for a home, make sure that you and your agent study the MLS statistics in an intelligent way. When you look at the comparables, look at homes that are very similar to the home you want to place an offer on — not just in location or bedrooms and baths count, but look at the exterior curb appeal, the various upgrades and your level of appeal. When you analyse these homes, check the list-price-to-sale-price ratio: How much did they sell for compared to what they were listed for?

This can help you understand with clarity that particular neighborhood — this in turn helps create a comfort level about what to offer whether ii is more than asking or indicates limits so you don’t offer too much — when it comes to getting aggressive and being fair when making your offer on your new home, when one comes on the market.

Action Plan

1. Revisit your motivations and reasons for buying a new home in the first place. Commit to the home buying process or decide to stop looking for a home, with a full understanding of what you are giving up.

2. Be fair and decisive and move quickly to make a strong offer, when you find a home which would meet your needs and criteria for your new home.

3. Be ready to compromise or use a stategy that will still accomplish your original goal of owning a home, and plan to put your tax-credit money to use by fixing your new home so it is the American Dream you have always had since a child.

This week ended up with Mortgage Rate staying the same as they have been for the last 3 weeks. You can buy a conventional loan for under $5.0% now. Stability is good.

Did you know Townhomes are not considered the same as Condo’s by FHA? That means if you are trying to buy a home with FHA financing you may want to expand you search to include Townhomes.

Don’t forget Sunday is Valentine Day. If by chance you do forget…well you are dead meat. Good luck.

Click the link below and see how The Goldman Sachs Golden Boys have tricked the Amercian people once again with their new front company: OneWest Bank.