August 2007

Oakland Real Estate: Short Sale VS. Foreclosure, What You Should Know

Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 1:05pm. 698 Views, 0 Comments.

What is a Short Sale?

Basically a short sale is when a property is sold for a price which is less than the remaining balance owed on the property.

For instance: A buyer purchased a property in 2005 using and adjustable rate or interest only mortgage that was due to reset in two years. So today, the interest rate adjusts, causing the monthly payment to rise by 25-50%. This is one scenario, another one could be that the buyer simply lost a job or had some other financial hardship which is causing them to have trouble paying the mortgage. In this situation, once three mortgage payments are missed the buyer is heading toward foreclosure.

Sometimes a buyer can renegotiate the terms of the loan and have the lender add the past due amount to the "back…

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Home Loans Get Harder to Qualify for as Lenders Feel the Pinch

Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 6:44pm. 791 Views, 0 Comments.

The fallout over sub-prime mortgages continues, as several of the Nations largest lenders stopped taking loan applications last week. Today, the Dow took an over 300 point drop on news that a large lender in France is holding all withdrawls from it's mortgage fund.

What does all this mean to the average home buyer? Well it means more if you are a first time home buyer, because you are less likely to have a significant down payment which would offset the high monthly payments you typically would have.

Basically it's not as easy to borrow money as it was a year ago, or even 3 months ago! The lenders have tightened qualification standards in reaction to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown which we are still in the midst of. You may have heard of…

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Why Buy A Home?

Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 12:49pm. 765 Views, 0 Comments.

When entering the home market, you are making an investment in your future. Real estate has always been one of the most reliable areas of investment and this trend has held true to this day. In fact, real estate has consistently been one of the highest profit investment areas while other areas have languished. One of the main reasons for this is the constant growth of the real estate sector. Homes appreciate on a yearly basis, with an average of approximately 5% a year. Taken into consideration the instability of traditional investments such as the stock market, real estate provides a consist ant return on your initial investment.

Once you have purchased a home, you can start to reap the rewards. One of the most notable of these is a constant monthly…

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The Truth About Mold

Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 12:39pm. 760 Views, 0 Comments.

One of the most prevalent concerns on today's home market is the presence of mold in homes and condos. As many of us already know, mold can cause significant damage to a house and also has many negative health aspects. In order to better understand the growing mold problem, let's have a closer look at mold itself. Mold is a naturally occurring fungi that develops in dark and moist areas on organic materials. In regards to a home this is most likely drywall, flooring or support beams and other carbon-based products. Mold usually indicates the presence of some type of moisture leak within the structure of the home, although this is not always the case. Mold reproduces by sending out spores, microscopic in size and nearly undetectable, that thrive on…

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Investing In Rental Properties

Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 12:26pm. 707 Views, 0 Comments.

If you are seeking an investment with great ROI then investing in a rental property might be the project that you have been looking for. Like any investment, rental property ownership requires a lot of research and some soul searching.

The first thing that you may want to decide is if you are prepared to be a landlord. Being a landlord can be a trying experience, especially if you end up with bad tenants. Will you be able to evict someone if they are damaging or neglecting the property or not paying their rent? If you feel that you may not be able to do this, then consider looking for another form of investment. If you think that you are suited to be a landlord then the next logical step would be to begin looking at homes in your chosen area. Also…

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Why You Should Choose A Realtor

Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 12:00pm. 748 Views, 0 Comments.

Consider this: if you needed work done on your teeth, would you go to a dentist or do it yourself? The same theory applies to real estate. The art of selling a home is something that takes years to perfect. There are so many aspects of home sales that the average buyers and sellers are unaware of. Also there are many aspects of the process that are only easily available to a Realtor. The actual process of selling a home is very time consuming and right about now, the seller has many more important things to consider, such as the impending move.

Realtors spend years learning the art of selling and how to interpret the real estate market. They can offer you insight and information that only comes from years of experience. Realtors are also experts on…

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