Dave Thurman's Real Estate Blog

Open House

On March 21, 2010 at 11:00 AM, you are invited to an Open House at 3320 Greenwood Street in Stockton. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at DaveThurman.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

On March 14, 2010 at 11:00 AM, you are invited to an Open House at 108 S Sinclair Avenue in Stockton. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at DaveThurman.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

Take a Virtual Tour

I have been searching the Internet, reading the local newspaper and analyzing my own recent listing / sales information trying to find something positive about the real estate market in Stockton, California and other parts of our country; but I think that I have failed!!!

• First-time buyers running out of time to use the $8000 tax credits
• Unemployment is high almost everywhere
• Americans have again lost faith in the government nationally & locally
• San Joaquin County listing inventory has decreased almost 60%
• Closed sales in the county are down 35%
• Median prices are up by over 10%

I refuse to give up…I will work weekends, hold open houses and go door knocking… just like a brand new agent! Please help me find something more positive to blog about next week. Please comment…are you out there?

Wow! Look what I found on the CAR (California Association of Realtors) website regarding foreclosures and short sales. Also, check out the info and progress of the statewide MLS (Multiple Listing Service).

California:

Press Enterprise: Inland foreclosure pressure eases; short sales rise
By Leslie Berkman
2/11/2010
In January, combined filings for defaults, trustee sales, and bank repossessions declined more than 24 percent in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties region. It was led by a nearly 50 percent decline in notices of default. Also, from December to January the amount of all foreclosure-related filings declined almost 13 percent.

National:

Los Angeles Times: U.S. aims to stop backing mortgages
By Walter Hamilton and Jim Puzzanghera
2/11/2010
The Federal Reserve plans next month to end a $1.25-trillion mortgage-bond-purchase program that has helped keep mortgage interest rates near a record-low 5 percent. 

Inman: ZipRealty: Fewer sellers slash prices
2/11/2010
Sellers reduced the asking price on 40.4 percent of available homes in January, down from 44.8 percent in December, to an average discount of $21,925, a rate of 6.54 percent lower than the month before, according to ZipRealty. The report covers 27 of 36 U.S. metropolitan areas in which the company operates.

As a proven real estate professional; I have often been asked why did you purchase a Realty World franchise? Especially, when many of the other larger real estate brokerages have been dropping the franchise and going independent. Well, there are many reasons…but here are a few of them.

• A successful and internationally recognized brand name
• A structured business operating system with proven technology, marketing, advertising and training
• The most successful online advertising program available in real estate
• Economies of scale on all types of products and services that are absolutely affordable for even a one-person office

The power of a brand name!

Home prices fell in November for the first time in seven months, according to a industry report released Tuesday.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index recorded a decline of 0.2% from October. Prices were down 5.3% compared with 12 months ago. Read more from CNN.com…

I recently had a client asking about referral fees and/or gifts from licensed real estate agents. You might think this is a very simple question, but it is not!!! Here is some information from the California Association of Realtors web site.

Question:

I am a REALTOR® and I want to give a gift to a friend for referring a client to me.  Is that legal?

Answer:

The answer depends on several factors.  First, what type of property is involved in the resulting transaction? Second, is your “friend” a real estate licensee, an unlicensed person, or an employee of a company providing special services such as title insurance or pest control work?

There is a legal article, Referral Fee Chart, that illustrates when you can or cannot give a “gift” (any amount of money or any other type of consideration).  In addition, there is a detailed legal article on the same topic, Referral Arrangements.

If you deal with residential one-to-four properties and your friend is a non-licensee unaffiliated with any type of special service company, then federal law–RESPA–generally forbids the giving of a referral fee (any type of gift) to your friend.  The term “generally” is used because RESPA does not forbid a referral fee if the buyer purchases the property using all cash or a loan from an individual who doesn’t typically loan money to borrrowers.

If you deal with residential five or more properties or commercial or industrial or agricultural property, then you may give a referral fee to a non-licensee who is not affiliated with a provider of special services.

Finally, the same rules apply regardless of what you call the “gift”:   a referral fee or a finder’s fee.

Image via Wikipedia

Interest rates continue to remain near their historic lows. Thirty-year, fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.88 percent during November 2009, compared with 6.09 percent in November 2008, according to Freddie Mac.

Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.41 percent in November 2009, compared with 5.26 percent in November 2008.

Platinum Home Mortgage Corporation

Realty World Corporate Update.

Last week we signed a one-year deal with Zillow.com to feature your listings on their website above your competitors. What this means is that when buyers and sellers are searching properties on Zillow, all Realty World listings show up first. This delivers five times the amount of buyer traffic for your listings and huge exposure. We already feature your listings on Trulia.com, and with this new Zillow contract, you have the highest amount of exposure for your listings on two of the biggest real estate sites in the world.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Trulia Also Experiences Record Growth, Shift Towards Mobile in 2009  searchenginewatch.com)
• Zillow Wants a Home on Wall Street  gigaom.com)

I found this on my CAR website…

Testifying before the Housing Financial Services Committee yesterday, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan announced possible policy changes for Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) borrowers.

Rising defaults on FHA loans have led to the FHA’s cash reserves falling below federally mandated levels. FHA officials hope that policy changes will ensure borrowers have a stronger equity position and are less likely to default.

Proposed changes include:
· Raising the minimum credit scores requirements: Currently borrowers with FICO scores as low as 500 may qualify for an FHA-insured loan. The new minimum credit score has yet to be determined.

· Increasing down payment requirements: FHA borrowers currently can put down as little as 3.5 percent. A proposed change would raise that amount to a minimum of 5 percent.

· Limiting the amount sellers can provide as concessions: The agency is considering lowering the maximum permissible level to 3 percent from its current 6 percent limit.

· Raising up-front insurance premiums: Agency staff is reviewing whether to increase the monthly insurance premiums charged to borrowers, which come on top of insurance paid up front. The current up-front premium is set at 1.75 percent of the value of the loan. The FHA may decide to increase that premium. The amount has yet to be determined.

According to Donovan, the rules will not be finalized until the FHA determines how to craft them in a way that weeds out the most problematic borrowers while ensuring that qualified borrowers will not be inadvertently shut out, thereby derailing the housing market’s recovery.

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• F.H.A. Says Cash Reserves Are Down Sharply  nytimes.com)
• FHA Postpones Release of Audit As Bailout Worries Mount  blogs.wsj.com)
• My Outlook on FHA’s Potential Changes  zillow.com)
• Toll: The FHA Is a ‘Definite Train Wreck’  blogs.wsj.com)
• FHA Reserves Almost Gone, And There’s No Going Back  hsh.com)