Please refer all inquiries to the Mannpower team at 714-334-4610 or email: mannpower@socal.rr.com

For optimum service and expert assistance the Mannpower Team will guide through the thicket of real estate marketing, negotiating, buying and selling.

I recommend that you visit www.miriammann.com to find out more!

This limited time offer is your opportunity to purchase a home and save on each monthly payment for the life of the loan. Read more below . . .

Exclusively offered by First Team Real Estate, this special program provides buyers of owner-occupied residential real estate with a substantial cash savings benefit simply for utilizing an agent of First Team along with First Team’s bundle of essential settlement services (escrow, title, and mortgage lending) in their purchase transaction.

Q. Why is First Team offering this exclusive Program?

A. Recently, Harris Interactive in partnership with the National Association of REALTORS® conducted a public opinion study of consumer preferences when it comes to real estate services. In the study, 96% of the consumers surveyed felt
that receiving all of the real estate services through one provider (known as “one-stop shopping”) would make purchasing a home “more efficient and manageable.” First Team has determined that offering our convenient one-stop shop of essential bundled services, which is the overwhelming preference of the consumer, also provides economies of scale that could enable First Team and certain of its affiliates to join forces in offering a financial reward back to these “one-stop shop” consumers in the form of our exclusive First Team Housing Stimulus Package – a win-win for everyone.

Q. Which Buyers are eligible to apply for the Program?

A. Any buyers of residential real estate who are purchasing as owner-occupants, meaning that the buyers intend to occupy the property as their residence after close of escrow.

Q. What are the requirements to receive the Program benefits?

A. The requirements to receive the Program benefits are relatively simple and straight forward:

1. Buyer(s) must use an agent of First Team to represent them throughout the purchase transaction and must execute a Buyer Representation Agreement, along with the Program Addendum.

2. Buyer(s) may be any purchasers of residential real estate as owner-occupants.

3. Buyer(s) must utilize all three essential bundled Preferred Provider Services affiliated with First Team: Hallmark/Coast Cities Escrow, Western Resources Title, and Bankers Funding (affiliated with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage). (Loans
are subject to GSE Conforming Loan Limit for the respective county of the transaction).

4. Buyer(s) must have an accepted offer on the transaction after August 21, 2010, and no later than October 31, 2010, and close escrow and record title by December 30, 2010.

Q. How are the Program benefits paid?

A. The Program benefits are paid in the form of mortgage payment reductions generated by a one-quarter percent (0.25%) buydown in the mortgage interest rate as published daily by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. This rate reduction is provided at no additional cost to the Buyer. Other normal loan costs apply, including the normal loan origination fee not to exceed one percent (1.0%).

Q. What’s the size of The First Team Housing Stimulus Package benefit?

A. The total amount of the Program benefit is dependent on the dollar amount of the mortgage taken by the Buyer to complete the transaction and the period of time the mortgage is held. While specific amounts can be calculated for the actual loan amount, examples of the payment reduction, and therefore the cash savings benefit, are estimated in the following page based on the loan amount and the period of time the loan is held by the Buyer:

Q. Is there a limit to the size of the mortgage loan?

A. Yes. The Program is limited to the current GSE Conforming Loan Limits as specified by Federal legislation. The loan limits are defined by the county in which the property is located and are shown in the table above.

Q. Is there a limit to the purchase price?

A. No. While the loan size is limited as shown above, there is no upper limit on the amount of the purchase price.

Q. Can I the Buyer buydown the interest rate even more?

A. Yes. If you wish to lower your interest rate and payments even more, you are free to do so. Consult your First Team agent and Bankers Funding loan officer for further details and costs.

Q. Do the reduced mortgage rate and reduced payments mean I can qualify for
a higher loan amount?

A. Probably so. In most cases reducing the monthly payment amount means that you will be able to qualify for a higher loan amount if you wish, meaning that you could buy more home for the same income. Contact your First Team agent
and Bankers Funding loan officer for more specific details.

Q. What if I as the Buyer am unable to meet all of the Program requirements?

A. While First Team wants every Buyer to take advantage of the excellent benefits of the Program, the benefits can only be paid if all of the Program requirements are met. As explained above, the economies of scale that allow us to offer the program benefits are dependent on the use of all of the essential bundled preferred provider services in the transaction.

Q. How do I get started with the Program?

A. That’s the easiest part. Contact your First Team agent, and we’ll take it from there. We’ll provide our complete services from identifying properties for your consideration to handing you the keys to your new home after closing.

The home purchase must be for a principle residence and it can include a boat, motor home or traditional house, condo or townhome up to an $800,000 limit. There are income limits to the new benefits extention. They are $125,000/yr for a single person and $225,000 for a couple.  A purchase by a dependent is not allowed. See your tax advisor for more details.

The good news is that more people can get tax relief when they purchase their next home through April 30, 2010 or have a binding contract to purchase on April 30th and close by July 1, 2010.

The other good news for home buyers is the historically low mortgage interest rate and the reduced market values for homes. This is a combination that probably won’t be seen again in our lifetimes. Contact your realtor to find the best buying opportunites in your area.

I have lovely coastal homes in all price ranges from Orange County to Long Beach, CA. I will find the right one for you. I’m only a click away!

Many of these first-timers bought “starter” homes that were bank owned or in the foreclosure process or distressed “fixers” that needed TLC.  The investor-buyer has also benefitted with the significantly reduced values (down 25% to 40%), often buying distressed homes in “bulk”, fixing them and selling them for a profit.  The inventory of “low-end” properties in California is down and the demand is up.

All of this activity has put a floor (of sorts) in the Cailifornia market so that the CAR is now forecasting a slight increase in values for 2010.  All real esate is local and markets vary.  So, it’s important to find a knowledgeable realtor to assess your niche market value.

The bottom line for California going forward is an opportunity for the “move-up” buyer = someone who currently owns their home and wants to move into the next bigger, better, newer home while the “getting” is good.  Mortgage rates are historically low for everyone.  But they won’t stay low forever. Property values are low, but they are destined to go up again. First-time buyers are buying. That’s why NOW makes sense for the move-up seller.

Some economists predict an increase in interest rates as early as the second quarter of 2010.  Home values may or may not go down a little more in the coming months.  The banks are not dumping their “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes, but releasing them slowly to maintain values or selling them in bulk to investors.  The window of opportunity will be open only so long.  Anyone who can buy a property and hold it for 2 to 3 years will be glad they bought in 2009/2010.

To qualify you cannot have owned a house/condo, etc during the past 3 years. There are income caps and credit hurdles to pass, but most first time home buyers can benefit from this government largess. 

It is important to find your next home now and get into escrow ASAP.  Most escrows will take 45 to 60 days to close.  So, don’t delay!  Get pre-approved for a loan with a direct lender and make the all-important appointment with your realtor.  

There’s talk of extending the program, but noone is certain. The government coffers are hard-pressed paying for so many bailouts and stimulus plans.  So, if you qualify for the $8,000.00 credit, get it while you can.  

You don’t have to pay someone else to do this. The process is simple, but there is a deadline of Sept. 15th for an assessment review. Good luck!

Property Type:   Residential       Status:   Active

#

Type

Address

City/ Area

TGNO

Bed

B t/f

St

Gar

SqFt

YBlt

List Price

1 

SFR 

HB/ 15 

827E2 

3 

2/1 

1 

2 

1,112 

1963 

$449,900 

2 

SFR 

HB/ 15 

857H1 

3 

2/2 

1 

2 

1,134 

1963 

$485,000 

3 

SFR 

HB/ 16 

858A3 

3 

2/1 

1 

2 

1,285 

1956 

$475,000 

4 

SFR 

HB/ 16 

828B6 

3 

2/1 

1 

2 

1,482 

1960 

$489,000 

5 

SFR 

HB/ 16 

828B7 

3 

2/1 

1 

2 

1,476 

1963 

$499,000 

6 

SFR 

HB/ 16 

828B7 

3 

2/1 

1 

2 

1,200 

1964 

$499,900 

7 

SFR 

HB/ 17 

827J4 

3 

2/1 

1 

2 

1,268 

1962 

$460,000 

8 

SFR 

HB/ 17 

827h4 

3 

2/2 

1 

2 

1,291 

1962 

$499,000 

Average

3

2

1,281

$482,100

Number of Properties: 8 Average ( ListPrice / SqFt ) : ( 482100 / 1281 ) = $ 376.35                                                  

        These are ALL the Huntington Beach single family homes under $500,000 list price on August 24^th.  There are only eight of them. Of these, only two are a standard sale. The rest are distressed sales in some stage of foreclosure. The fact that the inventory is so low in this price range is significant. It is establishing a floor for Huntington Beach. All real estate is local and this is what is happening in our local market today.

        Contact me if you or someone that you care about wants to buy a house in HB or the surrounding communities of Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Westminster, Garden Grove, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Buena Park, Anaheim or Santa Ana. There are buying opportunites and a bonus $8,000 credit to firsttime home buyers until November 30th. Don’t wait. You must close on your purchase by Nov 3oth.

There is a House bill, Neighborhood Preservation Act, passed before the summer recess which is a response to two important questions: 1.”When homeowners lose their houses to foreclosure, should they be able to stay in the property, leasing it back at fair market rent from the lender?” 2. “Should they also get an option to purchase the house from the bank at the end of the lease term, assuming they have the income to afford it?” 

The Neighborhood Preservation Act “would remove legal impediments blocking federally regulated banks from entering into long-term leases – up to five years- with the former owners of foreclosed homes. It would also allow banks to negotiate option-to-purchase agreements permitting former owners to buy back their houses”

If the bill is approved by the Senate, it would encourage banks to consider if it’s better to foreclose and take a loss now or to lease the property and then sell when values increase in a few years. There is a debate about who should own the home and control the lease agreement.

A San Diego realty broker, Al Hackman, and his partner, Tony Huerta, “contend that lease-backs with options to buy are the way to go – but not if banks run the show.”  They have a program called “the seamless short sale” where the homeowner can stay in the home before and after the settlement. The bank first sells to an investor who agrees “to lease back the house on a “triple net” basis - where the tenants pay taxes, insurance and utilities – for two to three years.”

The property value for the buy-back is pre-set to be more than what the bank sold to the investor and less “than the original price by the foreclosed owners.” For the investor according to Hackman “the internal rate of return . . . can depend on the rents and the buy back price but typically is in the 8% to 10% range. It’s a win-win. . . The owners stay in their houses. Private investors get a moderate return on what should be a safe investment and the banks are out of the equation.”

It is time to think outside of the box to solve the housing crisis of our time. The homeowner facing foreclosure should not have to bear the full burden of a lending experiment gone amok. For those homeowners who can afford the market rent rate, the seamless short sale is one solution.  Banks can slowly clear their books of toxic assets, investors can safely benefit and neighborhoods can remain intact while the country rights itself economically. 

There is still time to find good buying opportunities. The $8,000.00 first-time home buyer’s credit is still in effect through November 30th. There are still bank owned homes and short sales available. However, the room to negotiate a lower price is probably gone.

Here’s more information for the fence sitters to consider. Read the highligts of the NYT’s article. The information is from national survey’s such as the S&P/Case-Schiller Price Index, the NAR and from CAR’s chief economist, Leslie Appleton-Young.  Contact a Realtor in your local market to learn what is happening there.

The New York Times

3-year descent in home prices appears to be at end

According to recent reports and forecasts by housing analysts, the three-year descent in home prices appears to be at an end.  Eight cities, including San Francisco, showed price increases in May, up from four in April, and one in March, according to Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index.  For the first time since early 2007, the index of 20 major cities was virtually flat, rather than down.
 

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

·      Earlier reports show that sales of existing homes nationwide rose last month for the third consecutive month, while sales of new homes increased in June by the largest percentage in eight years, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) and the U.S. Commerce Dept., respectively.

·      Although some skeptics believe the market is pausing before home prices decline further, the median price in California’s housing market appears to be stabilizing.  June marked the fourth consecutive month of rising home prices and the second largest gain on record for the month of June, based on statistics dating back to 1979.  The year-to-year decline in June also was the smallest in the past 16 months.

·      The S&P/Case-Shiller price index for 20 cities showed a half-percent gain when May was compared with April.  It was the first month-over-month increase in the index in 34 months.  “It is very possible that years from now we will say that April 2009 was the trough in home prices,” said Maureen Maitland, vice president for index services at Standard & Poor’s.

·       One explanation for the increase in median prices is the rise in demand from buyers, especially first timers taking advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit, which expires in December.  The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) is lobbying for the tax credit to be extended and to be replaced with a $15,000 credit for all buyers.

·      Another factor in the market’s resurgence is the prevalence of foreclosures, which make up about a third of all existing home sales.  “Although another surge of foreclosures is expected later this year, demand remains strong, so the market may be able to absorb more distressed properties without significantly impacting the median price,” said C.A.R.’s Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.

O.C. housing analyst says ‘Buy now!  Lansner on Real Estate