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First Time Buyer Programs: The Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC)
This is a nationwide program for first time home buyers that helps them qualify for the loan by saving them even more money on their tax bill. With that said, however, the state of California accounts for more than 50...
Buyer's Agency, Due Diligence, and the Illusion of Comity
Somebody sent me this story via e-mail: Feeling Misled on Home Price, Buyers Sue Agent Marty Ummel feels she paid too much for her house. So do millions of other people who bought at the peak of the housing...
Buying and Selling Properties with Unpermitted Additions
Unpermitted additions are popular in California because of property tax implications. You see, due to Proposition 13 back in 1978, taxable assessments are based upon purchase price plus no more than 2% per year since acquisition (although if you...
Real Estate Agents and Mortgage Loan Officers Don't Want to Compete
It's the same reason the phone company doesn't want to compete, General Motors doesn't want to compete, Wal-Mart doesn't want to compete, Disney doesn't want to compete, and Microsoft will do everything in its power to appear as if it...
In Real Estate, You're Better Off Doing One Thing At A Time
Hi--I just found your site today. The best I've ever seen/read, etc. Thank You!! I do have a question I didn't see addressed regarding our current situation/dilemma: Our present home, which we've lived in for 8 years, is worth...
How Loan Providers Make Money
In an attempt to debunk some of the slanders that are floating around out there, this article is an itemization of how lenders and brokers make money on loans. The first method is obvious: Origination or discount points charged to...
The Future of Real Estate Agency is Expert Consultants, Not Controlling Market Access
Expertise and attitude, not control of an informational chokepoint, is the way that things are going. Let's analyze this from both sides of the problem. The current owner looking to sell really needs a marketer. For better or worse, most...
Fear and Greed, or How Did The Housing Bubble Get So Big?
(This was originally written February 16, 2006, but it's relevant still) One of the occasional questions I get from people has to do with why the housing bubble got so big (or if you're one of those still in denial...
Deciding Not To Pay The Buyer's Agent When Selling
A recent court case wherein it was decided that seller's have the right not to pay the buyer's agent (well DUH!) created a lot of furor. The truth is this has been well-established in law and precedent for I don't...
Full Service Agent For Discount Price? Demand Specifics!
There is no such thing as a free lunch, but lots of people will pretend there is. It seems to me that many people consider compensation earned by real estate agents as paying some kind of toll. They think of...
Issues with Family Transfers of Real Estate
We live in (A California city). In a 2 bedroom 1 bath home on approximately a 20,000 Sq. ft. lot. It is easily worth 500K to 600K with a current mortgage of $116,000. The mortgage/Title is in the name...
Forty and Fifty Year Mortgages
For a while there, the forty year mortgage had started to make a comeback, and a few lenders started introducing the fifty year mortgage. The reason, straight from the horse's mouth, the lender's representatives, is lowered payments. In an uncertain...
Impound Accounts Facts and FAQs
I've seen a fair number of questions on impound accounts in the last several months. An impound account, also known by the confusing term escrow account because the lender is holding it in escrow, is money that you give the...
Yield Spread is a Beneficial Tool That Can Be Misused
If you read the papers and the congressional record on the housing crisis, you might think yield spread is the central culprit for the entire meltdown. You would be wrong. Yield spread is a beneficial tool, offered voluntarily by lenders,...
Manufactured, Modular, and Site-Built Homes: How Lending Practices Drive the Sales Market
Many people are unaware how profoundly lending policies influence the market for residential property and the various kinds of housing and methods of construction. So I am going to go over the various gradations in available loans for various types...
Dual Agency: Using the Seller's Agent as Your Buyer's Agent
Is it unwise to use the listing realtor as your purchase realtor? A house I'm interested in purchasing is being sold by the realtor selling my house. Although she's done a decent job selling my house, I fear she...
Should I Buy A Home? Part 3: Consequences
Continued from Part 1: Preparation and Part 2: Process This is about the long term consequences of the decision to buy or not to buy a home, and economic benefits analysis into whether you should want to buy. In order...
Should I Buy A Home? Part 2: Process
Continued from Part 1: Preparation I am considering buying a home, although I have not made up my mind on the subject. This is not due to indecision, but rather due to a lack of necessary information. There are many...
Should I Buy A Home? Part 1: Preparation
I am considering buying a home, although I have not made up my mind on the subject. This is not due to indecision, but rather due to a lack of necessary information. There are many factors to be considered...
First Time Buyer Programs and Multi-Family Housing
Can I qualify for first time home buyer financing if I buy a duplex and live in one and rent out the other? I thought if I bought a duplex, lived in one side and rented out the other would...
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