February 2012
12 posts
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Government Will Be Pushing Business to FHA… but...
Last month, President Obama announced at the State of the Union Address of a new refinance program he was working on that would extend HARP rules past Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The new program would be extended to include the largest financial institutions. This new program would allow homeowners underwater on their homes to refinance their mortgages to current interest rates, potentially...
Anonymous asked: Hello Marc, I have an active offer on 151 Santa Fe for 250k, but haven't heard anything from you for weeks. I offerred this amount when the property was listed at 270K, and again when listed at 250k. Why doesn't the bank accept my offer? Can you explain to me what's going on? Thank you, Kenneth S. Hanley
Anonymous asked: Hello, Regarding the fourplex at 151 Santa Fe Ave, Richmond, can you provide any inspection reports or documentation regarding property condition? I would like to get a general idea of what is needed for renovation.
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Anonymous asked: Is the property on fleming still on the market
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The iPad and iPhone Apps That Are a Must For All... →
To download the apps that I use for real estate on a daily basis, click on the link below:
iPad & iPhone Apps for Realtors
Check them out because they will make you a more efficient Realtor. Also great for the very proactive Home Buyer or Home Seller!
Marc Guzman
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HARP 2.0 Released Today… But Huge Disappointment
After all the big hype by the government in releasing a new version of the Homeowner Assistance Refinance Program (HARP), HARP 2.0 was released today. The biggest obstacle that the original refinance program ran into was a cap of 125% Loan-to-Value ratio. This meant if your property was more than 25% underwater, then you would not be able to refinance. Well that made it very difficult for many...
Anonymous asked: Hello is 143 Lucy in North Richmond
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Anonymous asked: What is PITI?
January 2012
13 posts
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Obama Announces New Refinance Program in SOTU –...
Ok maybe it’s not HARP 3.0 if HARP 2.0 hasn’t been released. As a quick refresher, the Homeowner Assistance Refinance Program (HARP) was created to help underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages to current interest rates. But HARP has fallen short of its original goal of helping millions of homeowners mainly due to its limitation of a maximum Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio of 125%. It is...
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Anonymous asked: The property at 621 S. 26th in Richmond looks interesting. When can you show it?
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What If the Bank That Owned Your Mortgage Walked...
*Picture by NYTimes.com
Ok we are now going into our 6th year of this giant foreclosure mess. By now everyone understands the process of a bank foreclosure. Even if you are not actively seeking daily foreclosure news, you’ve heard your fair share in mainstream media. So we all get what happens when you don’t make your mortgage payment, whether due to financial hardship or by personal choice. ...
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WatchGreat video by Gary Vaynerchuk.
gary:
The “DNA GAME”: Execute on being “YOU”
I thought it would be cool to talk about my personal thoughts on my DNA and how I adjust to it. Dealing with “ME” is the key to “ME” and the key to the new Social media for anyone.
LINK
WILD! here is a link,There was a great story about it I wanted you to read but now it’s gone, weird.
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Anonymous asked: Why are you putting ad in Craigs list when you had so many offers?
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Free tips for Realtors and Home buyers... →
Have a Twitter profile?
Follow the link to my Twitter page, join the 450+ followers and converse with me!
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My Top 3 Real Estate Predictions for 2012
Welcome to 2012! I hope everyone celebrated the New Year in style. Last year presented many interesting changes and trends to the real estate industry; this year I do not expect any less. So as the first post for 2012, I decided to give you my predictions for the 2012 real estate industry. Here you go!
#1. Investor Purchases will Increase. It seems like every week, big industry leaders are...
December 2011
39 posts
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Plan to Lease Out Foreclosures Gets Closer to...
Several weeks ago I had reported that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was in the works to create a rental program for many of their foreclosure properties. These foreclosure properties include the foreclosures owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD. So far, this appears to only be a pilot program that will begin in Spring 2012. If successful, I’m sure the majority of the...
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Anonymous asked: Is your listing on 151 Santa Fe still available?
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The Best of 2011: West County Blog
The housing market this year has been very interesting and with lots of changes on every level. As new things happen, I try to post it as quickly as possible for all to read. 2012 will bring many changes to my blog but for now, let’s take a look at the Best of the Best of 2011. Thank you again to all who take the time to read and support West County Blog.
#1 - $116,876 from Bank of...
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WatchA quick announcement
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West County Blog has moved to Tumblr!
We have moved WestCountyBlog.com from WordPress to Tumblr along with all of your favorite articles. To read past articles, click on the Archive in the top right corner or scroll down the home page.
For now, the new page URL is http://marcguzmanhomes.tumblr.com. This will soon change back to WestCountyBlog.com.
We know that this page right now is very basic, but little by little we will be...
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Your Ability to Pay Won't Be a Qualification...
Lenders will not look at your ability to pay a loan back and not make it a qualification requirement to refinance. In your opinion is this crazy or not? Well however way you look at it, it appears Fannie Mae is making this change to their Home Affordable Refinance Program 2.0 (HARP).
The new HARP 2.0 is supposed to allow a large number of underwater homeowner the ability to refinance...
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The Shocking Data After 4 Months of Decreasing...
After four months of seeing the number of delinquent mortgages decline, Lender Processing Services (LPS) documented the first increase for the month of November. The new data shows a 3% increase in month-over-month of delinquent loans 30+ days past due but not yet in foreclosure. Overall, the number of delinquent mortgages from a year ago is down and calculated at 6,260,000 delinquent...
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New HARP 2.0 Which Allows Underwater Homeowners to...
On Monday, October 24th, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced rule changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The new rules are designed to double, maybe even triple, the number of underwater homeowners it can help by eliminating the loan-to-value ratio cap of 125%. This would allow many homeowners to refinance at today’s crazy low interest rates without...
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What If You Could Walk Away From Your Mortgage,...
Earlier this year the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the regulator of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, asked the private market for input on how to handle the majority of their current and future foreclosures. If you want to know how many foreclosures are in the pipeline, it’ll be enough for another 6 Years and 9...
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OCC Now Investigating Foreclosures of over 5,000...
Several days ago I released an article here on my blog about the $20 Million Bank of America settlement.
Well the news of this settlement spread so fast that it seemed to have caught the eye of The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). As you know, the OCC was also responsible for requesting the Review of 4.5 Million Foreclosures from 2009 and 2010 to check for cases of fraud and...
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Preparing Your Credit Score Can Save You...
Ok we all know how important your credit score is when it comes to borrowing money for credit cards, auto loans and home loans. But how many of you really know the benefits of preparing your credit score before you buy a home?
If you have ever bought a home, you know that it can be a very exciting and daunting process. As a home buyer you do everything to prepare paperwork for your loan...
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$116,875 from Bank of America for Each...
Several months ago, the Department of Justice settled with Bank of America in which Bank of America will pay a total of $20 Million to 160 servicemembers who were improperly foreclosed upon between January 2006 and May 2009. Each servicemember in the settlement will receive at least $116,875 for the bank’s violation of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act. This law prevents lenders from...
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PMI is Now Officially Bust
On October 22, I reported that the Arizona Department of Insurance took over the PMI Group. Well last week, the PMI Mortgage Insurance group filed for bankruptcy protection. So what does this mean for you and what does it mean to the housing market? Well let’s first start with the history of PMI.
PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. When a property is purchased and the borrower...
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FHA Bailout in the Next 12 Months?
According to HUD’s annual audit of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), there is a 50-50 chance that FHA will need a bailout from taxpayers in the next 12 months. HUDs report stated that FHA’s cash reserves have fallen to $2.6 Billion, down from $4.7 Billion the year before.
Now what is the important item to note here? Per federal statute, FHA is required to have a ...
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FHA Loan Limits Going Back to $729,750, But Not...
Well it looks like after reducing the maximum loan limit from $729,750 to $625,000, the House and Senate will be restoring the $729,750 loan limit; except only for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will keep the $625,000 loan limit. The loan limit restoration is part of the Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill that will be voted on November 18th.
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It's a Felony to Foreclose on Your Home
Check this out… Nevada recently passed a new law that makes it a felony (yes that is right, a FELONY) if a mortgage servicer commits false representations concerning title to a property. This is Nevada Assembly Bill 284, which also imposes a $5,000 fine if any type of fraud is detected, now requires mortgage servicers to provide additional documentation during the foreclosure...
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New Baby Boomer Strategy: focus on Passive Income...
Michael Zuber at The Bigger Pockets Blog wrote a great article on the new Baby Boomer strategy. Michael wrote, “I suggest all of them stop focusing or even worrying about net worth, and instead focus on creation of passive income streams.” The Bay Area real estate market is prime to take advantage of low prices and above average rents. Below is more of the article written by...
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Bullet Train from SF to LA Doesn't Cost $33.6...
Ok, so that headline may sound like Dr Evil from the Austin Powers movies. How many of you actually read it in the Dr Evil voice? But even though it wasn’t Dr Evil speaking the headline, it sure feels like he is controlling the budget for high-speed rail project in California.
The high-speed rail project was approved to build a bullet train, very similar to those in Europe and...
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Just Released! HARP Allows Underwater Homeowners...
On Monday, October 24th, it was announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that they have changed the rules to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The new rules are designed to double, maybe even triple, the number of underwater homeowners it can help.
So What is HARP?
The Home Affordable Refinance Program began in 2009 to allow underwater borrowers the ability to...
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Funding Sources for Determined Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs have always known how difficult it is to raise funding for their ideas and for the businesses. Trust me… I know. But even though obtaining funding for your business today is still difficult, there are more options available than the traditional Family & Friends. So, I’ve decided to list a few online sources that I have found. Good luck!
Angel List...
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Arizona Department of Insurance Takes Over PMI...
Mortgage Insurance is essential to mortgage lending. Most lenders will require mortgage insurance to protect themselves against default; this also allows many consumers to obtain loans with minimal down payment (3-5%). The PMI Group is one of the biggest four mortgage insurance companies and earlier this year the Arizona Department of Insurance, PMI’s primary regulators, ordered PMI...
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Could New Credit Score Supplemental Report Change...
November 30, 2011…
This is the day that is being claimed to change consumer credit reports. CoreLogic, a leading provider of financial, property and consumer information, is releasing its latest product “CoreScore.” The CoreScore report will not replace current credit reports, but instead will be a supplemental report to a credit report. It’s sole purpose will be...