From the category archives:

General

Out & about on the water

by Peter Toner General

My wife and I took a Harbor cruise last Friday night. It was one of those summer evenings with a little nip in the air while out on the water – quite refreshing actually. The night sky was clear enough to take a series of shots of Downtown San Diego with my iPhone and autostitch [...]

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FHA refi may help underwater owners

by Erin McBratney General

Last week the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) … … gave details on its "FHA Short Refinance" that will help lenders provide additional refinancing options to underwater borrowers. Starting September 7th, eligible homeowners will have the chance to qualify for a new FHA-insured mortgage through this program. This participation is voluntary and requires all lien holders' [...]

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Sales of San Diego homes on Court House steps

by Peter Toner General

San Diego foreclosures and home sales on the Court House steps. Kelly Bennett of the Voice of San Diego talks to NBC San Diego about sales of homes on the court house steps. This is a long time practice made worse of course by the sheer numbers of San Diego homes that are in the [...]

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Rapid rescoring program can fix your FICO score

by Erin McBratney General

Credit rescoring can help you qualify for a new home loan! The creator of the FICO score, Fair Issac Corp., says that millions of American's scores have deteriorated in the last 2 years. Roughly 43 million people (more than 25% of all consumers with active credit files) currently have FICO scores of 599 and below. [...]

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FHA changing seller “kick backs”

by Erin McBratney General

Or otherwise know as "seller concessions" San Diego home sellers and buyers will need to move quickly if they want to take advantage of maximum seller concessions on their FHA home purchase. The Federal Housing Administration plans to cut seller concessions from 6% to 3% sometime this summer Those concessions allow a seller to pay [...]

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Surfrider Bi-Monthly Beach Clean Up This Saturday!

by Peter Toner General
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This Saturday October 11th is another Surfrider Foundation bi-monthly beach clean up program! Join Surfrider and other volunteers in their efforts to keep the beaches of San Diego clean and safe! In San Diego County Surfrider meets on the second Saturday of each month to clean up at a North County San Diego beach and [...]

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What’s to Become of Fannie and Freddie?

by Peter Toner General
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This past weekend major changes occurred within the mortgage industry giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Formally government sponsored enterprises; the U.S. Department of Treasury will now act as their conservator. What does this mean? Among other things the government will be reviewing the financial condition for both institutions  on a quarterly basis as well [...]

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Existing Home Sales Rise… Just a Little

by Peter Toner General
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    According to The National Association of Realtors  in June 2008 there were 4.85 million home sales across the nation. In July, just one month later, sales rose to 5 million, one of the highest overall sales of the year since February. The jump is also a bit higher than the 4.9 million that [...]

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I-15 Express Lanes Opening Late Summer 2008

by Peter Toner General
I-15 Express Lane

If you often travel on I-15 you couldn’t help but notice the extensive construction being done to the freeway. The 20 mile long project continues up and down I-15 between State Route (SR) 163 and SR 78. Once completed it will be a state-of-the-art Express Lane facility. The billion dollar project is being completed to [...]

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First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit up to $7,500!

by Peter Toner General
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Just last week the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was signed into law. Part of this new law is a temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers. The credit will apply to home purchases settled on or after April 9th, 2008 through July 1st, 2009, with the later date being the expiration of [...]

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An Attempt to Save Seller Funded Gifts

by Peter Toner General
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Recently, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008” placed a hold on seller funded gift programs starting October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. The basis for putting a stop to seller gifts is due to the often higher default rate found with borrowers assisted by seller gift funds. Texas Democratic Rep Al Green [...]

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Act Now ~ Nehemiah Grant Program Expires Soon!

by Peter Toner General
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Seller Funded Down Payment Assistance has been available to first time and repeat homebuyers via the Nehemiah Grant Program for some time now.       How the program basically works is that 1%-6% of the final contract sales price is “gifted” to the buyer at closing. (If the buyer is approved for the max amount of [...]

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Buyers agent needed immediately – no prospecting!

by Peter Toner General

Are you a Real Estate agent living in South Bay, San Diego? Do you wish you had more business close to home… if only you had more leads! Our award winning team needs a full time experienced buyer’s agent, who has a positive attitude about today’s market and willing to go the extra mile. If [...]

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Key Indicators of the Housing Market’s Status

by Peter Toner General

When discussing the current status of the Housing Market you often hear “national” averages, although it is good data to review it doesn’t entirely display the full picture. Housing Markets are regional. One region of the country could be suffering greatly while another has yet to see any distress. The best way to find out [...]

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bv Back to Basics for Wachovia

by Peter Toner General
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In just a few days the Nation’s 4th largest bank will put an end to their wholesale lending division. Traditionally the wholesale division of a bank offers loans to mortgage brokers at a lower cost than their retail branches offer to the general public. The broker then sells the loan to their client, with a [...]

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