Calling All First Time Buyers

Realty Times - Confident Home Buying: Is This The House For Me?

Realty Times - Confident Home Buying: Is This The House For Me?

Costs for First-Time Buyers

By: Ruben Gonzalez Jr.

Prudential California Realty (DBA)

Buying a new home can be a huge, complex undertaking, especially when it’s your first time. That’s why it’s important to have an experienced real estate agent guiding you along the way.

In a survey conducted earlier this year by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services (PRERS), a Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE:PRU] company, 75% of respondents highlighted the importance of real estate agents in the process of buying or selling their home, with only 24% saying agents are helpful but not imperative.

“Americans continue to see real estate agents as having a very important role in helping them price, buy and sell their homes,” said James Mallozzi, PRERS’ chairman and chief executive officer. “Although the data underscores the value real estate agents provide, it also shows that the industry needs to continue to work hard to meet clients’ unique needs.”

First-time buyers need to look at their financial situation and crunch the numbers to see if this is the right time to buy. Chances are the numbers they see today will be the best they will see for some time, which is why so many are considering homeownership.

Still, understanding the money that goes into a home purchase is important. The biggest mistake new buyers make is underestimating the costs of buying a house and maintaining it over time.

Homebuying requires more than a down payment as closing costs and future expenses will figure prominently. Many experts agree that homeowners should have 1%-3% of their homes’ purchase price in savings for improvements and surprise expenses. Mortgage experts also say it’s wise to have at least six mortgage payments in the bank after a closing.

While those numbers may not be feasible for everyone, if you are spending above your means on a new home, you may find yourself in financial trouble fast.

Inspections are important for the first-time buyer, as they list repairs that will be needed for the home. A buyer should put together a short-term and long-term plan based on the inspection so they know how much money they will need in the months and years ahead.

As renters, people are accustomed to paying rent and basic utilities. As homeowners, you’ll also pay for water, sewer and trash collection. Then there are property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and homeowner’s association dues, plus yard care, snow removal and other expenses unique to your location.

To be sure, buying a home is one of the largest investments you’ll make and when done wisely, it can be one of the best decisions of your life. Your real estate agent will help each step of the way, first helping you establish a realistic price point for your home purchase and a clear understanding of your monthly expenses.

Ruben Gonzalez can be reached at (562) 507-0754 or E-mail

 Prudential (dba) is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential company. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Realty Times - Avoid First-Time Buyer Mistakes

Realty Times - Avoid First-Time Buyer Mistakes

Realty Times - Quiz: What Type of Buyer Am I?

Realty Times - Quiz: What Type of Buyer Am I?

Realty Times - Considerations for Today's First-Time Buyers

Realty Times - Considerations for Today's First-Time Buyers

5 Costly Mistakes First-Time Buyers Make

CNNMoney.com's Les Christie has listed five common and costly mistakes first-time buyers make:

1. Ignoring the costs of having a low credit score. Lower-score borrowers pay thousands of dollars in increased interest rates over the life of the loan.
2. Muddying the waters by shopping for other things before closing. Lenders continue to check credit scores right up until the time of closing. Too much shopping could cause the lender to take back the loan.
3. Scrimping on an inspection. Being surprised by the need for expensive repairs can be financially devastating.
4. Buying without contingencies. Buyers should give themselves an out if the inspection turns up problems or the bank raises the interest rates.
5. No money for insurance. Insurance can be surprisingly pricey. Buyers who don’t budget for it can face a nasty surprise.

BUYERS TIP

Home Buyers can now push for lower closings costs!

Closing costs (lending charges, local tax & transfer fees, title insurance, appraisal costs and other 3rd party services) are typically 3% of the cost of the property. According to Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, most buyers should be able to do better than the 3% standard. Wire transfer fees, loan application-processing fees and high FedEx charges are some fees buyers shouldn't have much trouble negotiating.

MORTGAGE RATES

Freddie Mac reported:

• 30 year fixed stayed flat averaging 5.07%
• 15 year fixed loans down to 4.39% from 4.4% last week
• 5 year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 4.03% down from 4.08%
• 1 year ARMS rose to 4.22% from last weeks 4.13%

Questions? Comments?

Contact me

RealEstatewithRuben@gmail.com

SEE YOU AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!!

Potential Home Buyers who DELAY have a lot to LOSE

Springtime is the time when the market HEATS UP, so all you potential buyers need to be prepared to move quickly on a particular home. First time home buyer and move up tax credits worth $8000 and $6500 expire APRIL 30th. So, my best advice is to begin working with a Realtor NOW!!!

As I mentioned before, the foreclosure home inventory is decreasing, so some buyers are experiencing "bidding wars" which are pushing prices up. Currently about 30% of markets are experiencing price increases.

We still have low mortgage rates, however if the FED stops buying morgage-backed securities at the end of March- 30 year rates will probably rise 6%.

Don't miss this GREAT opportunity, because as we all know this is the time to BUY!!!!

Contact me with all you REAL ESTATE needs

RealEstatewithRuben@gmail.com

Now I had a California Facebook friend ask me an important question about a Landlord's responsibility concerning security. Here is a general list of Landlord's Responsibilities...

Providing a livable unit. LIVABILITY means the unit should:

• be weather and waterproof
• have working plumbing
• provide enough hot and cold running water
• have a working heating system
• have an electrical system in good working order
• be free from infestations of insects and rodents
• have sufficient trash cans
• have floors, stairways and railings in good repair
• have natural lighting in every room
• have working windows that open at least halfway or mechanical ventilation
• have safe fire or emergency exits leading to street or hallway
• have a working deadbolt lock on main entrance
• have working security devices on windows
• have working smoke detectors

The landlord/owner must return the tenant's security deposit within 21 days of regaining possession of the unit. If he/she has withheld part of the deposit, an itemized statement must be made available to the tenant.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns

RealEstatewithRuben@gmail.com

SEE YOU AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!!

Obama admin at it again, CAUTION first time home buyers, Mortgage rates hold steady!

Unable to make your mortgage payment due to job loss?

Help may be on the way!

The Obama administration is at it AGAIN. Talks with major lenders, economists and Uncle Sam officials have opened over the possibility of helping unemployed homeowners who no longer can afford their mortgages due to job loss. Assistance may range from skipping payments to grants or loans that will temporarily cover mortgage payments.

Stay tuned for more info....

Caution First Time Buyers!!!

Are you hoping to close before the November 30th expiration credit date?

Don't charge anything!!! Lenders are running credit checks prior to closing and any additional debt may jeopardize your loan. Even inquiries may alert the lender, so NO PURCHASES until after closing.

Mortgage rates holding steady!!!

According to Freddie Mac, for the week ending on September 24th, a 30 year fixed held at 5.04%, which is down 6.09% from a year ago.

Other rates:

15 year fixed dipped from 4.47% to 4.46%

5 year hybrid adjustables were flat at 4.51%

1 year ARMS fell from 4.58% to 4.52%

Questions? Comments?

Contact me @

RealEstatewithRuben@gmail.com

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF

THE REAL ESTATE WITH RUBEN NEWSLETTER!!!

SEE YOU AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

YOU CAN AFFORD TO BUY!!!

YOU CAN AFFORD TO BUY!

According to the National Association of Home Business and Wells Fargo, if your household earnings reaches our nation's median income of $64,000 a year YOU could afford to buy 72.3% of all homes sold in the U.S. WOW!!!

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FHA 203(k) LOAN PROGRAM! This program lets an owner occupied buyer borrow money for both the purchase and renovation all in ONE loan and guess what? YOU only put 3.5% down! Check out http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/203k/203kabou.cfm

$8000 TAX CREDIT (EXPIRES NOVEMBER 30TH)! Hurry up buyers because the process can take approximately 2 month, so YOU will need to have a contract by the end of September!!! Check out http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/index.html

...and of course THE FIRST TIME BUYER LOAN PROGRAMS! Check out the link on my FAVS list!

CONTACT ME NOW!

RealEstatewithRuben@gmail

SEE YOU AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

6 Reason why YOU should buy NOW

Yes there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Properties are moving, the foreclosure inventory is decreasing and our new

Obama administration is lending a hand.

Here are six reasons why YOU should buy NOW!

1. Hail to our new Prez - First time buyers are entitled to a maximum $8000 tax credit, interest rates are at a record lows and our Federal Reserve is doing what it can to make those seemingly impossible loans possible.



2. Either by pro-creating or adopting like Madonna and Branjolina and by our VERY generous immigration/naturalization policies increasing our household count by 800,000 a year. WOW!
   



3. It's simple math, borrowers leverage their investment - If you put $10,000 into the stock market and it earns 10 percent, you’ve earned $1,000. If you put $10,000 down on a home and its values increases 10 percent, you’ve made $10,000.



4. Instant equity - With all the foreclosure movement driving prices down, when the market zooms back up as it always does, you will rapidly gain more and more equity.



5. Your mortgage costs WILL stay the same - As I suggest to ALL my clients FIXED RATE ONLY, your monthly payment stays the same while everything around us goes up, including rent.



6. It's my house and I live here - Diva Diana said it all it that phrase (oops I dated myself again) Oh well there is nothing more comforting than owning your own home. You can paint what you want, let you pooches run free in the yard and have that piece of mind that security brings.

...yet another reason to BUY NOW!

According to the National Association of Home Builders, buyers could be gearing up for a return to the market.

In a survey for Century 21 Real Estate last month among prospective first-time home buyers who indicated they were likely to purchase a home in the next two years, a majority – 78 percent – said that now is a good time to buy a home. Of those responding to the online poll, 68 percent said that now is a better time to buy than six months ago.

And its not just good news there. The new home market is seeing promising numbers as well. Single-family permits were up 11 percent in February.

"With affordability up dramatically, reports from our builders in the field indicate that foot traffic in new homes is on the rise and consumer interest is increasing with each passing day. These are encouraging signs that the housing market may be finally reaching a bottom," said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson.

So why wait, even if you think you don't qualify now, get a plan going so that you can qualify. Without the facts and a plan you may miss the opportunities that are waiting for you.

Contact me and let's get started today!

realestatewithruben@gmail.com

See you around the neighborhood!

Why Buy a Home in Today's Market?

Buying a home in today’s market may be challenging, particularly for those with credit problems or little saved to put toward a down payment. But there are many factors impacting the current housing market that make buying a home today a viable option.

Here are five reasons for buying a home today:

1 Interest rates on long-term, fixed, and adjustable mortgages are at historically low levels. The rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage is hovering just below 6 percent, while, by comparison, interest rates were hitting 8 percent and higher during the last market downturn in the late 1990s, and were between 10 and 12 percent at the height of the last housing boom in the 1980s. Lower interest rates make it easier to qualify for a loan, and your monthly payments are more affordable.

2 No one can put a price on the intrinsic value of homeownership. Home prices also reflect financial worth and, the good news is, across California the median sales price for a single-family home has been consistently rising for several decades. In short, housing remains a solid, long-term financial investment. While the pace of home appreciation has slowed over the last year, historical data suggest home prices will continue to appreciate over time. The projected median home price for a single-family home in California in 2008, for example, is $553,000. By comparison, the median price in 2000 was $241,350; $193,770 in 1990, and $99,550 in 1980. (source: C.A.R.)

3 The length of time a home remains on the market before it is sold has increased from
roughly two weeks in 2004 to between eight and nine weeks in 2007. According to the
unsold inventory index provided by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, it would take 16.3 months to sell all the homes on the market at the current sales pace, compared with 6.4 months in 2006. With more homes on the market for longer periods of time, you have more choices when it comes to selecting a home today.

4 The multiple-offer frenzy that dominated the latest housing boom has subsided, and there is
less pressure on today’s home buyers to outbid one another. REALTORS® in California reported that in 2007 only 28 percent of homes sold had multiple offers, compared with 57 percent in 2004. (source: C.A.R.)

5 The credit industry crisis that has made securing a home loan difficult for many has led to
heightened scrutiny of mortgage lenders. As a result, state and federal agencies have created
protections for home buyers that were not in place a year ago. The U.S. Federal Reserve, for example, has proposed a plan to require lenders to confirm a borrower’s ability to afford a mortgage before making a loan and establishing guidelines for explaining subprime loan terms in order to better educate buyers. Many new public education and awareness campaigns, such as Freddie Mac’s “Don’t Borrow Trouble®” campaign, have been developed to help you achieve the dream of homeownership without the financial risks that led so many borrowers into trouble in recent years.
http://www.yourpieceofcalifornia.com/

Need I say more.... This is the time to buy folks, so let's get the ball rolling. I have just been certified as a DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST and know many programs that you may qualify for that work with low interest FHA loans. Interest rates ARE going up, so don't miss the boat!!!

See you around the neighborhood!

First-time buyers find silver lining in foreclosure cloud

More than one-third of Los Angeles County families could afford to buy an entry-level home in the first quarter - 66 percent more than a year earlier - thanks to an epidemic of foreclosures that depressed prices, a trade group said Tuesday.

During the first three months of 2008, 35 percent of county households could afford to buy their first home, the California Association of Realtors said. That compares with 21 percent a year earlier and 28 percent during the last quarter of 2007.

The latest figures are the highest since the association began tracking housing affordability in 2003 - another hopeful sign for Southern California's troubled real-estate market, analysts say.

"I would personally wait a year, but if you are a buyer, this would be a good time to buy a home," said Dennis Torres, director of real estate operations for Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management.

Tuesday's report came a day after Data Quick Information Systems reported that house and condo sales were 22 percent higher in April than in March. Most of the sales were in areas hard hit by foreclosures, with homes less than $500,000 accounting for 66 percent of sales.

Torres predicted that prices will continue to fall, putting houses within reach of more potential buyers but also causing anguish for homeowners watching their equity evaporate.

He cautioned, however, that worries about inflation could result in higher interest rates that would again put a drag on affordability.

"We haven't been visited by our old friend rapid inflation, but he's out there and coming to dinner," Torres said.

The association's First-time Buyer Housing Affordability Index reflects the percentage of households that can afford to buy an entry-level home - one priced at 85percent of the median price in their area.

That factored out to a $390,450 home in Los Angeles County in the first quarter. A family would have had to earn $74,320 a year to qualify for it.

A year earlier, before the credit crisis took hold and the real-estate market tumbled, an entry-level home would have cost $496,120. That meant the qualifying income level was $100,000 then.

The index assumes a 10 percent down payment and an interest rate of 5.65 percent.

The association index also demonstrates how the current market conditions vary from community to community.

For example, affordability ranged from a high of 64 percent in the High Desert, which includes the Antelope Valley, to a low of 29 percent in Monterey.

"Essentially we're working our way out of the downturn and coming back up," said Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist of the Los Angeles-based association.

"The moderate to low part of the market - under $500,000 - is where you are seeing the activity. People are responding to lower prices," she said.

And mortgage rates are helping, too. The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan averaged 5.65 percent in this year's first quarter, compared with 6.3 percent a year earlier.

The association report also showed that:

The monthly mortgage payment for an entry-level home in Los Angeles County, including taxes and insurance, was $2,480.

Statewide, 44 percent of households could afford an entry-level home in the first quarter, compared with 33 percent during the last quarter of 2007. The increase was attributed to a 1percentage-point decrease in interest rates and a 14.3 percent drop in the entry-level median home price.

Statewide, the minimum household income needed to buy an entry-level home costing $356,350 was $67,830. The monthly payment would be $2,260.

In Ventura County, 43 percent of households earned the $86,400 a year needed to buy an entry-level home costing $453,890. The monthly mortgage payment would be $2,880.

In the Inland Empire, hard hit by foreclosures and price declines, 57 percent of households earned the $46,450 needed to buy an entry-level house costing $244,000. The payment would be $1,550.

Appleton-Young expects affordability to continue improving as more foreclosed homes come on the market and drive prices down further.

And that's good news for someone looking for a first home.

"I think they are going to make a dent in the supply. Is it going to evaporate overnight? Absolutely not. It will be a slow workout," she said. "We're still into the wave of foreclosures."

By Gregory J. Wilcox, Staff Writer
greg.wilcox@dailynews.com 818-713-3743

Ok first timers, what are you waiting for? Don't miss out on an excellent opportunity.

Start looking NOW!

Call me and I will help you get started!

See you around the neighborhood!

Why Ask For An FHA Loan?

There are lots of reasons to ask your lender for an FHA loan instead of taking a conventional or an expensive and risky sub-prime mortgage loan. Why not take advantage of the many benefits and protections that only come with FHA:



Easier to Qualify - Because FHA insures your mortgage, lenders are more willing to give loans with lower qualifying requirements so its easier for you to qualify.


Less than Perfect Credit - Even if you have had credit problems, such as bankruptcy, its easier for you to qualify for an FHA loan than a conventional loan.


Low Downpayment - We have a low 3% downpayment, and that money can come from a family member, employer or charitable organization. Other loans don't allow this.


Costs Less - Many times, FHA loans have competitive interest rates because the loans are insured by the Federal Government. Always compare an FHA loan with other loan types.


Help You Keep Your Home - The FHA has been around since 1934 and will continue to be here to protect you when the others walk away. Should you encounter hard-times after buying your home, FHA has many options to help keep you in your home and avoid foreclosure.


There is more to buying your home then the monthly house payment. Why not ask for an FHA loan that will help you buy your house and keep it too? Tell your lender you want an FHA loan for all the reasons above- FHA is a wise choice.

This is truly a great opportunity for all you first time buyers. The inventory is high, interest rates are low, aggressive sellers that NEED to sell, and FHA going strong. I'm noticing much more movement in the market, especially here in our neck of the woods, meaning that prices will not stay low for too much longer. ACT NOW, real estate will ALWAYS appreciate over time! For more info contact me and I will walk you through the qualifying process.

See you around the neighborhood!