One Year Blog Birthday

Today, January 31st, is the one year mark for my blog at http://www.sacreblog.com! I had been blogging for quite a while before, and just starting tracking my visitor traffic here a few months ago...thanks for all your visits, emails, and comments!

New Listing - 3660 William Way, Sacramento 95821

Offered at $200,000. 3660 William Way is an adorable home, at a really great price, and located on a quiet street off Whitney & Montclaire in Sacramento! This 3 bedroom, 1 bath home is loaded with charm and wonderful features. It is 1,319 square feet (per assessor), has a huge living room with a wood-burning fireplace, a wall of windows that lets in loads of natural light, covered backyard patio, new carpet throughout, kitchen with ample cabinet space, large bathroom with a separate tub and shower, ceiling fans throughout, and more! It has a new central heat & air system, composition roof, large covered carport with extra storage, and a HUGE .26 acre (per assessor) lot! The seller is offering a $6,000 credit to the buyer for closing costs...this is not bank owned, and not a short sale.

For more photos and a virtual tour, visit http://www.3660williamwaytour.com/!

Fed Rate Cut...again...

Well there was another rate cut by the Federal Reserve today. The central bank slashed its federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, by a half point to 3%, marking the fifth time rates have been cut since September.

No - the prime mortgage interest rates did not tumble 0.5%, this is an economic booster. The market had been anticipating a quarter percent cut, so we may see some neglible reductions in conventional mortgage interest rates as a result, but nothing substantial...

Update on Conforming Loan Limits...

Regarding new conforming loan limits...I have heard from my go-to lending source that there is some confusion in the marketplace with regard to the increast in conforming loan limits.

"The White House might consider calling for a temporary (one year) increase in the size from $417,000 up to $729,750 on mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase from mortgage lenders. An increase in the conforming loan limit would make it easier and less costly for borrowers in **high-cost areas to get loans because Fannie and Freddie would guarantee their purchase by investors. It appears that they are looking to only designate 12 "areas" as “high cost" areas, and there has been NO clarification on what 12 areas might be eligible for the higher conforming loan limits."

Hmm...stay tuned.

Loan Limits may Increase!

If ya'll are watching or listening to the news, I am sure by now most of you have heard that there is an "Economic Stimulus" package sailing its way through Congress. You are probably familiar with the piece of it that will provide up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for married couples, plus $300 per child if you earn up to a certain amount?

Well, another important part of this "package" (that is not getting really any media attention) is that it also increasing the conforming loan limit to $650,000 and the FHA loan limit of $729,000.

Why is this important? "Jumbo" loans (as of right now this is a mortgage over $417,000) that exceed the conforming loan limit are much more expensive and harder to find since August. The interest rates that accompany loans of this amount are 1-2.5% higher than the market rates that you hear all the time, plus the origination fees and other associated fees are much higher.

The Governator has been asking for the $417,000 conforming loan limit to be raised for a few years now; at least for California. $417k in Twin Falls, ID buys much more than Los Gatos, CA. Obviously this will have a huge impact to markets in parts of Southern California and the Bay Area, where prices are much higher and $417k gets you very little.

Plus, although prices have declined in the greater Sacramento area, there are still many transactions that happen well above current conforming loan limits (even with 20%+ down). I will be keeping my eyes on this...

Sacramento REO Inventory

The number of REO (a term for bank-owned / foreclosed property) listings in Sacramento has grown exponentially over the last year. If ya'll read my blog, you will know that I love stats. There are some interesting, yet predictable, trends with bank-owned property in Sacramento...

For the new reader of this blog - Sacramento is full of micro-markets. The mass media doom and gloom has its place in certain micro-markets here, but does not equally affect the entire Sacramento metro area. I don't want to bore everyone with a reiteration of the same old stuff, so for you folks who want to brush up on 'Erin's Real Estate Principles 101', you can check out some past posts (More on Market Conditions, November Statistics, and The East Sacramento Anomaly are good places to start).

Anyway, so let's explore REO inventory trends in Sacramento County. The graph shown above illustrates REO inventory for the entire county. You can notice the obvious upward trend...also take note that it seems that many buyers are taking advantage of this excess inventory and snagging these (note the sold and pending sales).

Now let's explore REO inventory trends in Elk Grove...you will see that this second graph illustrates that there has also been an exponential increast in Elk Grove REO property. If you put this graph side-by-side with the overall Sacramento REO inventory trend, they almost look identical.

Finally - let's take a look at the Sacramento core area - midtown / downtown Sacramento, Land Park, Curtis Park, East Sacramento, etc. Need I explain the difference?

Click HERE to see the graphs. Unfortunately they do not fit well in this blog format...if anyone wants to see any geographic areas specifically, shoot me an email at erin@erinattardi.com and I am happy to email them to you directly.

New Listing - 1135 10th Avenue, Sacramento / Land Park 95818

Location, location, location! This home is ONE BLOCK from William Land Park on one of Land Park's finest streets. Mostly original, it has 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 1,410 square feet, and sits on .17 acres. It is a blank canvas just awaiting your personal touches! Built in 1940, you will love the classic features of this home, including wood floors, detailed arched doorways, coffered ceilings, original doorbell, brick fireplace surrounded by built-in bookshelves, original bathrooms, large living room, and large formal dining room. It also has a 2-car detached garage, a large yard, updated kitchen, central heat & air, and a new composition roof. Click above to view the virtual tour, or visit http://www.1135-10thavenue.com/!

The Death of 100% Financing...

100% Financing is on its deathbed. I predicted this in a past blog a few months ago (click here), and I hate to say it, but we are returning to the world of a minimum of 3 - 5% down. Speaking with my go-to loan officer the other day, it appears that the zero-down programs of yesterday are all making the migration to 5% down starting on January 15th, which is the end of next week. That's right - if you have not closed escrow on your loan by then, your zero-down program will sunset (no longer be available).

If you meet certain qualifications, you may now be able to qualify for an FHA loan, with a 3% downpayment...There was a Senate Bill earlier this year that was attempting to change the FHA required 3% down to 1.5% down, but I do not believe that went anywhere.

Marlena found one program that offers an 80-20 scenario with pretty decent rates and terms that will not be going away abruptly January 15th, but who knows just how long that program will be available...

If you want to purchase a home with zero down, you'd better act fast - or start saving your pennies. If you want to talk to Marlena Olson with the Vitek Mortgage Group, she can be reached at 916-486-6900.

http://www.erinattardi.com/financing.htm