Rosalyn Santiago's Blog » General

Mortgage Rates in this New Year

Rosalyn Santiago — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:58:21 +0000

Happy New Year to all of you! I am thankful to all who encourage me and were part of my business in 2010. I wish the best to all of them as we progress into this New Year.

What better way to start it than by speaking about mortgage rates. According to a recent article I read mortgage rates were 4.17% in November, which was an all time low for mortgage rates. However, December the rates took a slight increase to about 4.83%. Some would say a steep increase but we all would agreed that they are still low since rates use to be 6% or even 8% way back when. The prediction by Mortgage Banker’s Association is that they will continue to rise through the end of 2011 to probably above 5%. Still a low for anyone who wishes to refinance or even purchase a home! Don’t you agree?

So let’s get busy with learning about new lender regulations and take advantage of the results of all the things that were implemented in 2010 – Good or bad – and invest wisely in Real Estate.

Eco-Friendliness or Just Business as Usual?

Rosalyn Santiago — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:37:40 +0000

Always been a skeptic but now I am going to be either proven right or turned into a true believer of using eco friendly products in both my home and business, because I just signed up as user of Melaleuca products. Very intrigued as to what I will gain from this new endeveour and hope to give back good feedback in 45 days. If all goes well, as I expect it will, this is a nice way to share the optimism of eco-friendliness with buyers who sucessfully close a transaction of an owner occupied property as well as sellers.

Anyone out there who have been a believer, please share your thoughts, love to hear your from you.

Wish me Luck!

All things NEW are always good

Rosalyn Santiago — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:13:38 +0000

Its the start of a new school year and my kids are excited but not because it is a new school year but because they are going to see all their old friends. All things new are nice but only if your friends are there to enjoy them with you.

What a concept, huh?

We love the smell of new things and the fact that nothing has been worn or stretched; but what good are these new things if they cannot be enjoyed with family and friends.

Same idea applies to the purchase of buying a new house but this market does not offer new new, if offers old worn out homes that have received much beating or neglect.

But let’s look at it from the perspective that it is new to you. New in the sense that you can break it in in order to fit your needs. You can change colors of interior walls, change interior flooring, and add a landscaping to die for; but it cannot be done if it can’t be enjoyed with family and friends. The fruits of your labor will make the old worn beat up house a new home.

Happy House Hunting!

Are you waiting for the flood

Rosalyn Santiago — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:12:06 +0000

Do not panic, the flood I am speaking of are of new bank owned properties. Merced County has been told to expect some kind of a flood of new listings to hit the market early part of 2010. We are all waiting in anticipation as things slowly recover from the holidays and start moving forward.

As we wait, lenders are releasing the new lending regulations that may or may not make it easier to borrow money for the purchase of a home; the state of california governor proposed a new round of $10,000 state tax credit for buyers of new homes and existing homes (go too www.ftb.ca.gov for further details); and the IRS will continue their tax credit until april 2010 (this one is old news but still good news).

This is good news even though some lenders are getting very strict with lending guidelines and taking longer to complete transactions. Yet with all these different stimulus and challenges, the california housing market expects a “3.3% increase in the median home price bringing it to $280,000.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34704789/ns/business-real_estate/).

I am excited for what this real estate market has to offer this upcoming year and the challenges that as a realtor, I will be facing. In conclusion, it will be good a year for some and still a better year for others.

Current Housing Activity in Los Banos

Rosalyn Santiago — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:48:21 +0000

Below is a preview of current active listings. We are comparing the current activity to the prior 2 months and trying to determine if we have more house selling for less or more houses selling for more.

July has a number of new active listing in each of the criteria shown below but the average marketing time as you can see is much less than 30 days in comparison to May and June 2009.

2 Bedrooms 3 Bedrooms 4 Bedrooms 5+Bedrooms

# Of Active Units 0 22 32 5

Average List Price $0 $118,889 $133,093 $185,960

Average Market Time 0 27 20 21

While in June, the average days on the market was less than the average days on the market in the month of May, June offered more new active listings than in the month May.

2 Bedrooms 3 Bedrooms 4 Bedrooms 5+Bedrooms

#of Active Units 0 21 16 0

Average List Price $0 $95,714 $158,906 $0

Average Market Time 0 56 58 0

May offered even less new active listings and the days on the market were long. Not many buyers.

2- Bedrooms 3 Bedrooms 4 Bedrooms 5+Bedrooms

# Of Active Units 2 17 5 1

Average List Price $115,250 $150,109 $144,600 169,900

Average Market Time 209 121 80 285

So why is it so hard to buy in Los Banos. For every new listing posted, the listing agent will get at least 4 offers on the first day is posted and up to 20 offers after 7 days on the market; at least 10 of those buyers are qualified buyers. Los Banos has bargains. For Example, the office received a new listing of a home built in 2006 with 3524 square feet and a backyard measuring over 9000 sq feet. The property listing price is $189,900 which comes out to be $53.89 per square feet. This is a real bargain especially on a home that is the size of mansion in comparison to older homes in Los Banos. Today’s market is about the highest and best offer even if the highest price is nowhere near the appraisal value. Of course, time will tell if in July all new listings indeed do sell above asking price and even above current appraisal values.

Hello world!

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:29:05 +0000

Welcome to your new blog website! This is your first post. Login to the admin and edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Loans thru US Dept of Agriculture

Tue, 30 Nov 1999 07:00:00 +0000

There are many prospective homeowners who could qualify to purchase a home in this market but are still strap for funds for the down payment and closing costs. We can find one source of mortgage loan provider that could help – The US Department of Agriculture! The loans under this program, although restrictive to areas of population less than 25,000 and eligible to individuals who can provide poof of a fixed income, the borrower is not require to issue a down payment. Their income can not be over 115% of the median income in their qualifying area.

A side note: The loans through this program are made by private lenders and are insured by the government and then sold to Ginnie Mae. And like any government program there is only certain amount money issued upfront, once those funds are exhausted new loans cannot be issued. What is most interesting is that $4.1 billion were allocated to the program but $7 billion in loans were created. It is stated that the program received additional funding from other department sources. Of course with the release of this new program there is an increased demand for the loan but not enough funds and administrators are asking for more money to cover the increase demand. It is speculated that the program could run out of funds in the next month or so even though it has been funded through March.

In the end, the program has great benefits to low income households who in the past would not have been able to buy a home due to the high home prices. But we cannot deny that this is the market to find and buy very affordable priced homes.

Los Banos – a Great City!

Tue, 30 Nov 1999 07:00:00 +0000

It has become a great concern that Los Banos is becoming a ghost town. This is the best time to invest in this little hub of central valley. There are a lot of great people here that love this little town. There are lot of great things coming such as the new community center which will bring lots of new technology and a place for the youth to visit and hang out. We have had 1 major retail store open in the last 6 months (TARGET) and a few more to come in the next year. This is schedule to be a hub for the futurist bullet train which will be a plus if and when the gas prices go up again.

Los Banos has a small town appeal and plenty of friendly business to visit and let’s not forget how Home Prices are the lowest they’ve been in a long time. The inventory is very appealing.