California real estate is ‘on sale!’

And, if you needed more of a reason to buy now, other critical factors are also in your favor.

1. HOME AFFORDABILITY IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH.

The median mortgage payment on the median priced home as a percentage of the median household income is lower than it’s been in a generation. You could be buying your home under better circumstances than your parents did.

2. MORTGAGE RATES HAVE REACHED ROCK BOTTOM.

As interest rates start to inch back upwards, monthly payments and total loan costs will spike upwards. Buy now while prices are low, and lock-in that dream interest rate for the next 30 years.

3. BUY NOW; BUY LOW!

After declining nearly three years, home prices are stabilizing. You can’t accurately predict the absolute bottom of any market. But, I bet you’re closer to the bottom now than your parents were when they bought.

4. SELLERS ARE MOTIVATED.

This means that buyers have the upper hand! From banks looking to dispose of foreclosed properties to homeowners who are fiercely competing among an excess of housing inventory, buyers have untold choices and negotiating power. Trust me on this one. I represent people looking to sell their home. It’s a buyer’s market right now. Go after it.

5. FINANCING IS READILY AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED BUYERS!

Banks are getting back in the game and ready to lend to well-qualified buyers. I have yet to work with a home buyer that was declined for a loan after they received their pre-approval letter from a lender. Lenders are making loans again.

6. OWNING vs. RENTING IS INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE.

Since 2009, the average principal and interest payment has fallen below the average rental rates, and the gap is now wider than it’s been in the past 22 years. I have personally worked with buyers this year that are spending less per month on their mortgage payment than they did on their monthly rent payment.

7. HOME OWNERSHIP IS AT THE CORE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM!

Owning a home is critical to financial stability and wealth building. It’s a forced savings account, a place to live and a fabulous tax deduction. Plus, if you lock in your fixed interest rate for the next 30 years, you will no longer see you rent increase year-after-year.

You have to admit, that these are 7 great reasons for buyers to act now. So, please do us a favor. Click on one of the colored buttons below and share this article with your personal social network of friends and family. Others will definitely benefit from reading this as well. It only takes a second to do, and we would really appreciate it.

If you are currently home shopping, congratulations! I hope it has been a fun process for you so far.

Not to rush you or anything, but if you’re still on the fence about buying a home, you should know that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is increasing mortgage insurance premiums on FHA home loans as of April 18, 2011. This deadline applies to the FHA case assignment date.

MORTGAGE INSURANCE DEFINITION

Not sure what mortgage insurance is and how it might affect you and your loan?

Let me explain it briefly.

FHA mortgage insurance provides lenders with protection against losses as the result of homeowners defaulting on their mortgage loans. The lenders bear less risk because FHA will pay a claim to the lender in the event of a homeowner’s default. Loans must meet certain requirements established by FHA to qualify for insurance.

Put another way, if you are going to use an FHA loan to help you purchase your next home, and you are going to make your down payment a minimal amount, you will have to pay mortgage insurance.

Because you have such little equity in your home in the beginning, your lender is forcing you to pay for insurance in case you default on your loan. The insurance helps to protect your lender from losses on their investment in you, if you default on your loan.

MORTGAGE INSURANCE PREMIUMS TO INCREASE

Well, FHA has decided to increase those insurance premiums you will be paying on a monthly basis.

This increase could cost buyers more money each month for their total monthly mortgage payment.

What can you do? If you are close to contract, buy now before the new mortgage insurance premium takes effect.

You must have an active loan application for your home purcahse prior to April 18, 2011.

If you need a great California loan guru to chat with and ask questions of, let me know. I can e-mail you her name and number. She knows her stuff.

FRESNO REALTOR, JOSEPH HOLLAK

Real estate is definitely a people business, and it doesn’t matter if you are a Realtor, a buyer, a seller, a loan expert or an escrow officer.

Real estate transactions don’t get done without people being social with one another.

Couple that with social media sites like facebook and twitter exploding in the past five years, and you get real estate professionals moving to these platforms to better connect with others. People you never thought would be on facebook are posting on you wall or tweeting on twitter.

JOSEPH HOLLAK REAL ESTATE on FACEBOOK

If you’re on facebook (I know, who isn’t on facebook by now) look for real estate related news, information and the occasional behind-the-scenes look at my day as a Realtor, on my facebook business page.

Be sure to ‘like’ the page at the top to get access and connect with us.

Here in the U.S., carpet is by far the most popular choice in flooring, and for good reason.

Carpet warms a room, offers colors and designs that other flooring choices can’t, plus it quiets a room, cutting down on the echo that other flooring choices cause.

HOW POPULAR IS CARPET?

It covers roughly 70% all home floors.

It isn’t without its drawbacks though. Carpet has an average lifespan of about eight to ten years depending on traffic patterns and quality. In addition, carpet is the least durable choice in flooring when compared to ceramic tile and hardwood flooring.

So when choosing your flooring for your Fresno rental property, give consideration to the design effect you are looking to achieve and how soon you might need to replace the flooring.

Carpet has an average lifespan of about eight to ten years depending on traffic patterns and quality. If you are deciding on flooring for a Fresno rental property, keep in mind that renters might appreciate the look of more expensive flooring (like hardwood floors), but they will never treat it as their own.

Thus, making standard carpet the least expensive choice now and over the life of the investment.

Help us carpet the internet with helpful Fresno rental property articles by clicking on one of the buttons below and sharing this article with your social network.

A client of mine recently asked me for some sold price numbers from Fresno’s 93730 zip code.

I found the numbers interesting, and I thought you might too. So I decided to make a quick screencast for everyone to see what my client and I were looking at.

Although the video will speak for itself, Fresno real estate pricing in 93730 has changed quite a bit in just the past 12 months (as you will see).

After watching the video, if you want me to run the numbers on another zip code, leave me a comment below and let me know what you are looking for.

As a refresher, the median price is the middle price point of a group.

If we are talking about ‘sold properties,’ half sold for more than the median price and half sold for less.

Tracking the movement of median prices over time provides a good visual indicator of the direction market forces are pushing prices.

Average is calculated by taking the sum of the prices (sold in this case) and dividing by the number of properties that you had. If you had one very high selling price or one very low selling price, it could skew the number in one direction. It’s a less accurate depiction of the market as a whole.

One thing that the Sunnyside neighborhood will offer Fresno real estate buyers . . . huge backyards.

Could you imagine coming home to the backyard in this video everyday?

Not just large property lots, but the landscaping is decades-mature. And, this isn’t the only backyard in the neighborhood like this.

If you’re interested in previewing homes in 93727 -OR- you would like a list of houses for sale in Sunnyside, shoot me an e-mail below and let me know what you’re looking for. Give me your price range and square footage needs.

THIS MONTH IN REAL ESTATE

One “take away” from this video: When you’re ready to sell your home, it needs to be priced right and it needs to be professionally staged. Getting your home to look like it just popped out of a magazine is going to impress your potential buyers.

Think of it this way, NOT professionally staging your home for sale, is like NOT taking a shower before your big job interview.

In case you missed my previous article written by professional Fresno home stager, Linda Thompson, read “What is home staging & why do I need it when selling my Fresno home?”

You need your home to look its best from the start, or else it will sit longer on the market.

Also, getting your home on the market prior to the spring rush, could actually benefit you. There’s less competition to sell your home in the winter, so your property will probably stand out above the limited inventory.

Check out the video, and leave your comments below.

This is to say that housing is more affordable now than it was in 2007.

I don’t think any of us need a video to tell us that. We’re living it. But, still, take a look at the video below as it has some other interesting real estate facts.

THIS MONTH IN REAL ESTATE | January 2011

“Why would I want to hire someone to stage my house when I am selling it? It looks OK and besides the new owners can fix it up the way they want to.”

” I know my paint colors are a little bold, but won’t the new owner want to paint anyway?”

” Isn’t home staging expensive?”

These are some of the common questions that people ask when deciding to sell their Fresno homes. Most sellers do not realize that having their property staged by a home staging professional is an investment in their home that will pay off in a big way at closing.

The money spent on staging will pale in comparison to that which is lost when their home sits on the market for months, while the owner pays the mortgage and upkeep. Profit will also be lost when the home has to undergo price reductions.

AUTHOR BIO:

Linda Thompson, owner of Selling By Design-Staging, has been decorating and redesigning homes with her husband, an architect and builder, for over twenty years. Their work has earned praise for practicality and creativity.

After taking an early retirement from a teaching career, Linda began staging and redesigning homes. Her staging philosophy is to keep it simple while giving each home that WOW factor so necessary in real estate today.

THINKING OF PLACING YOUR FRESNO HOME ON THE MARKET?

At the time of this post, in the Harlan Ranch European Collection neighborhood, there are:

• 3 homes actively for sale
  • $129.84 average price per square foot

• 4 properties in pending escrow status
  • We won’t know the details behind the purchase offers until after the sale closes escrow, so if we assume they sold at asking prices, the average price per square foot is $123.60.

• 2 homes sold in the past six months
  • The two sales in the past six months averaged $137.75 per square foot.
  • One of these two ‘solds’ was a transaction where I represented the buyers and we were well under $137.75 per foot on the purchase price.

I wish we had more sales in the past six months in this small neighborhood to give us a larger sample size. It’s hard to arrive at a trend with only two data points, but it is what it is.

The property, I mentioned in the video above, that I was going to preview is a bank-owned home. Unfortunately for me, the key to the home was missing from the lock-box, so I wasn’t able to get inside and shoot video. Very disappointing. The listing agent can expect a phone call tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’m seeing some nice value in the Harlan Ranch European Collection neighborhood. If you don’t need a home over 1,700 square feet, but you still want the luxury of hardwood floors, granite counters and stainless appliances, the European Collection might be a neighborhood to explore.

Based on some information I have, I see at least one home that might be headed for foreclosure soon, adding to the number of active listings on the market, so we might see pricing ease still further yet.

If you know of someone that needs Harlan Ranch real estate advice, have them call my office.

Clovis Realtor, Joseph Hollak takes you on another video preview.

For this Clovis real estate video preview, he is near downtown Clovis inside a bank-owned property. The bank has completed some nice interior work prior to placing the home on the market – we see new interior paint, new carpet and a cleaned-up back yard.

This Clovis REO (real estate owned/bank owned) property might make a great first-time home for a starting family or might make for a great Clovis rental property.

PROPERTY DETAILS

• 1,008 square feet
• 3 bedroom
• 1 bath
• 93612 zip code
• Built in 1960
• Qualifies for HomePath financing

To schedule a private tour, call Joseph at the office with (559) 399-0004.

* Shot with permission for http://www.josephhollak.com. This specific property might not still be for sale by the time you view this video, but Joseph can help you find what will work for you and your family.

DO FRESNO MODERN HOMES EXIST?

Fresno real estate isn’t known for mid-century modern homes and that’s exactly why this one is so special. Rarely do you get the opportunity to own the coolest home on your block, but 5409 East Lane Avenue is just that.

For more on this rare opportunity, visit 5409 East Lane Avenue for an extensive photo gallery and property description.

For individual questions or concerns, contact Joseph Hollak.

Also, consider clicking the “like” button for us, or if you enjoy a twitter account, we would appreciate a quick retweet of this link.

And finally, if you have ever considered selling a home on your own, leave us a comment below and let us know how it went.

More times than not, there is a “to-do” list to get the property in shape to look it’s best and impress potential buyers. And, yeah, this might take a little bit of time and money on your part (the seller), but it will be worth it. Trust me.

Once we have professionally marketed your property, brought eyeballs to it online, brought bodies to see it in person and some one falls in love with it, the offer to purchase your property is going to be contingent on a few things that the buyer finds important.

WOOD-DESTROYING PESTS

One of those contingencies is quite possibly going to be a wood-destroying pest inspection and report. The buyer’s lender might require this inspection prior to agreeing to the loan and the buyer might find it important to know that they are not about to buy a home infested with wood-destroying pests.

Imagine how excited your potential buyer will be when they learn from a professional that the property is free of any wood-destroying pests and you have taken care of everything for them as a responsible seller. Can you imagine the deal moving along nicely towards closing because you were a responsible seller?

Here is what it looks like when a responsible owner / seller hires a pest company to tent the property and solve this potential hurdle before any buyer falls in love with your professionally marketed property.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Do the right thing as Fresno real estate seller and eliminate all potential contingencies that might come between you and a potential buyer completing the transaction.

The more reasons you eliminate from a potential buyer to purchase your property, the easier it will be for us to get you a closed escrow. Makes sense huh?

Now, to discuss your specific situation, call us at the office and schedule a confidential appointment – (559) 399-0004

When home sales jump, especially after what we have been through, I’ll welcome it.

According to N.A.R., the increase was 7.6% – were you a part of this increase?

ARE YOU STILL RENTING?

The video below also touches on the battle between renting vs. buying a home.

Give it a quick watch and let me know if there is anything we should be discussing in person.