Lee Ginsburg

Great Loan Options are Here!!!
September 9, 2011 · · 1 Comment
Dear Homeowners and Potential Home Buyers,
I want to let you know of a great opportunity. Interest rates!!!
Interest rates are at record lows. We have been hearing that for a few years and our government plans to keep it way for a few more. With that said mortgage interest rates do fluctuate daily.
Many people think loans are difficult to get. That is a misnomer. Just prove you can afford the payments and you get the loan. The bank might ask lots of questions and request lots of papers but they are willing to offer you a loan and guarantee to hold the same price for the next 30 years. Do you know of another product or service that guarantees the price for the next 30 years?
30 year fixed rates today are 4.25-4.5%. For your knowledge a 1% increase will affect a $500,000 loan by about $300. A 10% price adjustment will affect your payment by about $250.000. I am trying to show the influence of interest rate on your monthly payment.
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Many people believe you need 20% down payment or equity for refinancers to get a loan. Another misnomer, that is not correct. With all that has happened in our banking system it is unbelievable but you can still obtain a loan with only 3.5% down payment or equity.      Read more
Dean Rizzi

Now is the time to pay up to trade up
August 4, 2010 · · 2 Comments

There was an interesting article about trading up in the Chronicle today. Check it out.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=69044&tsp=1

With the vaules I see and the interest rates… this could be one of the best times to buy a home in years…. whether you are trading up or not.

Dean Rizzi
www.deanrizzi.com

Nicole Machado

Slow & Steady wins the race!
September 11, 2009 · · 9 Comments

What do you do when you have close personal friends who are in the market to buy, but can’t hire you as their agent out of obligation to a family member? I recently had a situation occur where my friends decided it was time to jump off the rental train and become home owners. I thought it was a great idea and a wonderful way to secure their financial future. The wife would call me and ask me questions and of course I would answer any and all that came my way. I even set them up with a loan agent to get them pre-approved and started sending them automated email alerts for new active properties.  Read more

Dean Rizzi

Lower Rates Aren’t In The Bag
June 24, 2009 · · 4 Comments

Last week’s drop in mortgage rates was a welcome relief, and you would think that more relief should be forthcoming. After all, inflation appears to be a dead issue, given recent data on producer and consumer prices. Inflation and interest rates are highly correlated: When one falls, the other usually falls in tandem.

But there is more to the story than inflation. All interest rates are determined relative to risk-free market interest rates, with short-term Treasury bills serving as a proxy. But most interest rates are not risk-free. Mortgages rates are certainly not risk-free, which is why they are higher than Treasury bill rates. What’s more, mortgage rates are heavily influenced by rates on mortgage-backed securities (MBS). MBS rates, in turn, are heavily influenced by yields on Treasury bills, notes, and bonds.

And there is the rub. Treasury securities prices tumbled last week after Read more

Kathy Wall

Real Estate Jargon…What Do All of These Terms Mean?
April 6, 2009 · · 11 Comments

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

Lee Ginsburg

Loan, Gift or Partner to Help Children Buy A Home?
January 9, 2009 · · 6 Comments

As parents we all love our children and only want to help them. In the Bay Area parents almost have to help with a down payment. Do you give your children a gift or a loan? Is it better to be a co-borrower with them? Maybe be partners. If you help one child, you have to help the others. California is a community property state and that creates other issues. It is difficult to bring it up but more than half the marriages wind up in divorce and gifting child money to purchase a home is possibly giving your child’s ex-spouse a very generous gift. Asking a child to sign a promissory note is not always comfortable. In many families Money is a “taboo” subject. I helped my son purchase a home with the idea he was to pay it back when he could. My wife and I always had a good relationship with my son so we did not see any need to have a signed document. Hope that does not come back to bite us. He got engaged a year later and married a short time later. Read more

Dean Rizzi

10 Reasons to use a Mortgage Broker
August 18, 2008 · · Comment here

1. Simply put, Mortgage Brokers will save you TIME and MONEY!

2. Brokers are driven to find you the best rate, your bank’s goal is to provide another service to you.

3. You can tell brokers everything, and they’ll present your information to the lender in the most favorable light; once you tell your bank something that’s not in your favor, it’s too late to take it back Read more