All You Need is … Patience!
I recently celebrated the close of an escrow for my clients’ purchase of a beautiful home in South San Francisco. This transaction was one of the more meaningful ones for me due to the nature of my relationship with these clients. We actually met back in July 2008 at my company’s kiosk at the Serramonte Mall in Daly City. At the time, this couple was just looking into the possibility of purchasing their first home, and weren’t quite sure if they were ready to purchase a home just yet. Still, we kept in touch occasionally over the years, going out to see homes of interest and even submitting a couple offers that didn’t go through.
Open House Etiquette
For the last 17+ years, I have been selling real estate and, for the first 16 of those years, have hated doing open houses. I love meeting new customers, but if it is a slow day it can be incredibly boring. Nowadays, I enjoy them a lot more, because I bring my computer and can accomplish quite a bit (well, alright, sometimes I play word games and don’t actually accomplish too much, but I’m a lot happier!)
While doing my open house yesterday, I had plenty of time to contemplate, since it was pouring down rain and absolutely no one came. Fortunately, the house I was holding open was warm and cozy, so it was pretty comfortable. Since I had so much time, I began thinking about the whole open house process.
I thought it might be helpful for all of the buyers out there if I shared a few thoughts about the etiquette of open houses. A few helpful hints are: Read more
“I Have My Newborn in a Drawer!” And Other Tips On Balancing a Real Estate Career with Motherhood.
I write this post to encourage those, who would like to have a successful career in real estate AND have a family, to give it a try. It can definately be done!
December 20, 1999 was the day my first child was born! I lived in a studio condo that my husband and I had recently bought in San Bruno. He worked in a hotel as a waiter and worked most evenings and weekends! I was a new real estate agent with just one year in the business. I wondered how I was going to pull off a successful career with a newborn!
I made a pit stop at my office in San Bruno on the way home from the hospital to pick up a cradle for the new baby boy. He was a month early so I hadn’t even made a nest! Luckily, I had a friend who brought me her hand me down cradle for him to sleep in. I looked pretty funny walking in my office to pick it up in a hospital gown and bracelet still on my wrist! That was the day that I realized that I was going to make it in this business, baby or no baby! I could take the ridicule of looking funny and winging it when time didn’t allow preparation as long as I kept moving forward. Read more
Another Tax Credit for First Time Buyers in California?
Yes, the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit will end on April 30, 2010, but there may be some good news on the horizon for first time buyers in California. Bill AB-183 has been passed by both houses of the California legislature by near unanimous votes, and is expected to be signed by Governor Schwarzenegger very soon. This allows for up to $10,000 in tax credits for first time buyers, and the big difference between this and the previous California tax credit is that you can actually use it for the purchase of an existing home (not only for new homes). According to this bill, $100 million will be set aside for sales of existing homes, while another $100 million will be for sales of new homes. It will take effect from May 1st to the end of this year, but as there is a limited amount of funds, it probably wouldn’t be good to wait until November or December. More details will be forthcoming once the bill is signed and confirmed, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to help those who are stressing out over buying a home before the April 30th deadline. Unfortunately, this is only for first-time buyers, so those who are thinking to “move up” (sell their existing home and purchase a bigger and better one) still need to get moving (no pun intended).
Here’s the link to one article about Bill AB-183: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/24/2629239/schwarzenegger-expected-to-sign.html
Jean Joh: Visit my website at www.jeanjoh.com or follow me on twitter as jeanjoh.
Say NO to Extension of the Federal Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers!!! (???)
The deadline for the federal tax credit of up to $8000 for first-time home buyers is fast approaching. In order to take advantage of this credit, escrow must be closed by November 30, 2009. If one were to count backwards from this, allowing for a 45 day close of escrow (not uncommon these days), this means that buyers will need to be in contract, at the very latest, by mid-October which means NOW. Read more
Money to Spare
All that talk about TARP recipients withholding their bailout funds appears to be just that – talk. Lending among the top 21 recipients of bailout funds through the Capital Purchase Program within the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program posted growth in May, with mortgage originations rising by 7% over April’s figures.
Furthermore, there is more money available to lend to more people. A few weeks ago we mentioned Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s home affordable refinance program. It’s worth plugging again. The HARP affects millions of homeowners currently in Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans and permits first-mortgage loan amounts up to 125% of the home’s current appraised value, with and without a second mortgage already attached. In addition, closing costs and as many as two payments can be rolled into the loan and up to $2,000 can be taken out of the mortgage. Read more
Good News or Bad News?
The other day, I was manning our Prudential kiosk at the Tanforan mall, and a gentleman came up to me and asked how the real estate market is doing. I enthusiastically told him that our office has become quite busy lately and that we’re seeing a lot of activity, especially among first-time home buyers. His response surprised me.
He looked somewhat downcast and said, “Oh, that’s not good…” When I probed a little further, I found that his main reasoning was that he was Read more
Real Estate Jargon…What Do All of These Terms Mean?
We Realtors often bandy about tons of real estate jargon. We talk to our clients and friends about short sales, REO’s, contingency periods, etc. I have come to realize, however, that just because we know what all of this stuff means, not everyone does, so I thought it would be helpful to describe some of the terms we use. Hopefully, this will give you some idea of what we’re talking about as we rattle on and on and your eyes are going bleary! Here goes:
Contingency Periods: We, generally, refer to these when doing our contracts. As an example, we tell you that you will have a 10 day period to “remove your property condition contingency” or 20 days to remove loan and appraisal contingencies. What this really boils down to, is that these are the time frames during which you will have the right to get your deposit back if you cancel the contract. Once you “remove these contingencies,” you are no longer entitled to get your deposit back, unless you can prove some sort of fraud. Read more
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