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New FHA & Conforming Loan Limits for California Released by HUD
2008-03-07 00:37:22
Almost 1 month after the H.R. 5140 Economic Stimulus Package was signed by President Bush; the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) released today the maximum temporary conforming loan limits. The new FHA loan limits as well as Fannie/Freddie Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) loan limit will apply to loans originated between July 1, 2007 and [...]
Read more: California , Limits

Opportunity for Buyers in a Slow Real Estate Market
2008-03-05 22:54:53
Today’s real estate market could be seen as really gloomy. A market with an ever increasing number of unhappy sellers, unsold homes, short sales failing to sell because of a lender’s inexperience or lack of market knowledge, foreclosed homes at auctions not receiving any bids and being turned back to the lender and into the [...]
Read more: Buyers , Estate , Market , Opportunity

Predatory / Subprime Advertisement #1
2008-03-04 00:43:58
We have our first submission for the series on “Predatory / Subprime Advertisement”. The advertisement has been modified so that it won’t show names or phone numbers. Although the anonymous person that submitted this real estate ad from San Jose thought that this was a predatory advertisement, I don’t necessarily think that it is. However, I do [...]


IRS Tax Rebate Scam via Email
2008-02-16 23:50:58
With the deadline to file your income tax return coming due on April 15 where you will tell Uncle Sam how much you made this year, this is an opportunity for internet scammers to obtain your personal financial information by accessing your computer through an e-mail phishing scam. The email looks very official with the IRS [...]
Read more: Email , Rebate

H.R. 5140 Economic Stimulus Package passes New Conforming Loan limit
2008-02-14 21:28:16
Although the Economic Stimulus Package was signed by President Bush yesterday, it could be a couple of months before the impact is felt in the mortgage markets. There are some kinks and details that still need to be worked out. 03/06/08 Update: New FHA & Conforming Loan limits for California released by HUD If everything goes well, [...]


Project Lifeline aims to Help SOME Homeowners facing Foreclosure
2008-02-14 19:05:18
Yet another plan hoping to aid homeowners was unveiled this past Tuesday. Now don’t think for a moment that this plan, introduced by the Bush administration and six of the largest mortgage lenders, will help every homeowner facing foreclosure. No…It won’t, but with the combination of this plan, the “Mortgage Rate Freeze,” the Economic Stimulus [...]
Read more: Foreclosure , Homeowners , Lifeline , Project

New Conforming Loan Limit and FHA Loan Limit Could help Californias
2008-01-25 09:23:15
With the housing market already receiving a little help from the federal funds rate cut made during the inter-meeting a few days ago and another possible rate cut coming up, buyers and homeowners will possibly feel more willing to take the plunge and buy or refinance due to the Economic Stimulus Package of 2008.  2/14/08 Update: [...]
Read more: Limit

Blowing the Whistle on Predatory Lending Advertisement
2008-01-25 01:49:55
I have been pondering on this idea for awhile. One of the reasons that push me into putting this idea into action was the fact that we might see a short refinancing boom in 2008 due to the conforming loan limits being raised when the President Bush signs off on it in the middle of February. Ever since I became [...]
Read more: Lending , Whistle

Elderly Fraud Victims Confront Fraudulent Mortgage Broker in Court
2008-01-23 22:30:56
Scam artists are the best salesmen in the world. Their first objective is to enter your life, befriend you and gain your trust. Some go as far as meeting you in churches, as I may mention it in a future post, and gain so much of your friendship and trust that you almost begin to think [...]
Read more: Broker , Confront , Court , Fraudulent , Mortgage , Victims

Interest Rates may Drop Lower
2008-01-23 00:25:31
The Federal Reserve, in an effort to avoid a recession, surprisingly made an inter-meeting rate cut to the federal funds rate. This latest rate cut left the federal funds rate at 3.5 percent. The next meeting, on January 29-30, is their formal meeting and it is expected that we may see an additional 0.5 percent rate [...]
Read more: Interest , Interest Rates , Lower , Rates

Were You a Victim of Real Estate or Mortgage Fraud?
2008-01-11 09:26:27
Most people buying a home or refinancing put their trust on their mortgage broker or real estate agent but in many occasions this trust is abused by these same so called “professionals”. I have encountered many cases where a real estate agent and a mortgage broker teamed up to literally rob money from the homeowners like [...]
Read more: Estate , Mortgage , Mortgage Fraud , Real Estate

I will Personally call You when Interest Rates Go Down!….Say What??
2008-01-02 10:19:49
Recently a couple that had been dealing with another mortgage broker for a refinance in San Jose, contacted me because they did not feel very comfortable with the way the mortgage broker was pressuring them to obtain a loan he assured them would be the best choice. I turns out this mortgage broker was pressuring the homeowners [...]
Read more: Interest , Rates

Tax Relief for Short Sales & Foreclosures signed by the President (H.R. 3648)
2007-12-21 19:23:02
After reading my post “Taxing Short Sales and Foreclosures ,” few homeowners in San Jose selling their homes as short sales viewed that as a sight of relief because most had either refinanced their homes or purchased their homes with no money down. At the time I published that post, there were bills that had been introduced [...]
Read more: President

FHA Modernization Act of 2007 passed by the Senate
2007-12-14 22:18:32
Today’s news is that the Senate passed the FHA Modernization Act of 2007. Now, this bill will be debated in Congress then review by President Bush for approval. FHA was created during the Depression to stimulate the housing market at the time when homeownership simply wasn’t a reality for most people, today it looks to aid [...]


Mortgage Rate Freeze Looks to Aid SOME Struggling Homeowners
2007-12-06 23:30:50
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on Tuesday November 20, 2007 a deal with four major subprime lenders Countrywide, GMAC, Litton and HomeEq, to freeze adjustable interest rates for California homeowners struggling with ARMs resetting to higher mortgage payments. And today the Bush administration announced a similar (if not the same) dubbed “Hope Now” agreement with major mortgage [...]
Read more: Freeze , Homeowners , Looks , Mortgage

Professional Real Estate Agent or Professional Photographer?
2007-12-06 22:48:06
Yesterday while I was looking up some comparables on the MLS in San Jose for a client, I got to thinking how awful are some of the pictures found on the MLS. Now, don’t get me wrong…I am not a professional photographer or an aspiring one like the ones on “The Shot,” the reality show on VH1 [...]
Read more: Agent , Estate , Photographer

Opportunity to Improve Home Affordability in California Remains Unchanged
2007-11-30 15:17:47
Everyone one of us that live in California knows that we live in a high home price state. “California has the third highest home price in the nation” said California Association of Realtors President William E. Brown. And although we have seen home values drop in most areas, this has only helped a miniscule number [...]
Read more: Affordability , Improve , Opportunity , Remains

Erase Your Debt and Increase Your FICO Credit Score fast & easy….I DONT THINK SO!!
2007-11-15 19:01:56
If people were ever looking to lose weight, they always looked for the fastest and easiest way to lose it. Businesses took advantage of this and marketed to those people by telling them that they could lose weight using diets that did not work and if they did work, the results turned out to be [...]
Read more: Erase , Score

Apparent Fraud Spills from Century21 SuCasa to Another Agent in San Jose
2007-11-10 08:00:58
I had already known a little about this case before the story hit the press. But what I didn’t know was the extent of it and how they were getting away with it. The (anonymous) homeowner who had given me some information months ago called me one day and told me she had recently seen cameras [...]
Read more: Agent , Century , San Jose

Neighbor’s gossip hits the web
2007-11-09 01:29:26
While browsing through the Pittsburgh Homes Daily page I found this interesting article from Jackie Cueno’s blog from Zephyr Real Estate in San Francisco where she explains that one of her clients (which she choose to keep anonymous) tipped her off to a new website where homeowners and soon to be new homeowners can check [...]
Read more: Neighbor

Federal Reserve Rate cuts: How It Will Impact You and Your Money
2008-03-19 23:01:54
Yesterday, December 14, 2004….uuuhhh…wait…I meant yesterday March 18, 2008 the Federal Reserve lowered the Fed funds rate down 75 basis points to 2.25 percent. The reason why I mentioned December was because the last time the fed funds rate was this low was back in 2004 as you can see in the Federal Reserve Board: [...]
Read more: Money

Buying a Short Sale or Pre-Foreclosure Property
2008-04-02 23:33:08
Although several news reports state that the number of mortgage-defaults has continually gone up and that interest rates have not come down as expected keeping buyers wary about buying a home, they fail to mention that actually this is a great time to buy. With property values already low, great number of properties available for [...]
Read more: Buying , Foreclosure , Short

Buying a Home at Foreclosure Auctions
2008-04-02 23:18:48
As explained on the previous post about “Buying Short Sales or pre-foreclosure homes,” an NOD (Notice of Default) will be recorded against the property of a delinquent homeowner and a Trustee sale date will be set. If the homeowner is unable to sell the home before such date, the lender will try to sell the [...]
Read more: Foreclosure

Buying an REO (Real Estate Owned) Property
2008-04-02 23:12:52
As I explained on the previous post about “Buying Short Sales or pre-foreclosure homes,” these types of homes offer some benefits but not without some delays. And as I mention on my other post about “Buying a Home at Foreclosure Auctions,” there are more risks for a regular buyer than there are benefits. Another option available is [...]
Read more: Estate , Real Estate

Property Tax Relief: Helping Homeowners but Hurting Schools & Students
2008-04-16 12:49:06
One of the areas in the Silicon Valley that has been hit the hardest by the mortgage meltdown is the East Side of San Jose while areas like Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Cupertino are still holding strong in value. With property values coming down in some areas, their assessed value has also come down [...]
Read more: Helping , Homeowners , Property Tax , Schools

Predatory / Subprime Advertisement #2
2008-04-15 23:49:05
Here is another submission for the series on “Predatory / Subprime Advertisement.” The advertisement has been modified so that it won’t show names or phone numbers. This advertisement has a much common message found in the Spanish magazines. It states “Are you late with your payments? A lot of debt? Credit Problems? Call us and we will [...]


Income Tax Due Date April 15th
2008-04-15 11:50:40
For all of you procrastinators (I’ve been guilty of this myself), the last day to file you income tax forms is TODAY! If you are one of the many people that waited until the last minute to file your income taxes, the United States postal service will have several offices open until 11:59pm today so you [...]
Read more: April , Income , Income Tax

Happy Cinco de Mayo
2008-05-05 12:41:54

Read more: Happy

Remembering & Honoring those that Served in the Military
2008-05-27 21:25:53
This past weekend I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend with their families but always remembering and honoring those family members and friends that served in the military. FYI: for those of you that have been emailing me, I just want to let you know that I am currently working on some projects and soon will be back to [...]
Read more: Military , Remembering

Learning from Our Mistakes: Co-Signing Could Lead You into Financial Trouble!
2008-06-12 15:48:54
Perhaps in the past you were in a situation where a close friend, a relative or even your own son asked for help in obtaining a mortgage loan, a credit card, a private loan, a student loan, a car loan, etc, etc by co-signing for them. And because of your good relationship with them or [...]
Read more: Financial , Learning , Trouble

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