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NEW LISTINGS
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NEW LEASE
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COMING SOON
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806 N. Foothill Road,
Beverly Hills
price upon request |
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9225 Sunset Blvd,
Beverly Hills
$9,995,000
101 California Ave PH,
Santa Monica
$6,899,000
3075 Deep Canyon Drive,
BHPO
$11,000/month
30870 Broad Beach Rd,
Malibu
for lease - price upon request
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IN ESCROW
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928 N. Beverly Dr,
Beverly Hills
$3,495,000
1210 Casiano Rd,
Bel Air
$3,295,000
17441 Weddington St,
Encino
$2,995,000
505 N. Bonhill Rd,
Brentwood
$1,699,000
10101 Lovelane Place,
Cheviot Hills
$1,599,000
4118 Prado De La Puma,
Calabasas
$1,545,000
9914 Girla Way,
Cheviot Hills
$1,450,000
3547 McLaughlin Ave,
Mar Vista
$849,000
865 Comstock #8D,
Wilshire Corridor/Westwood
$830,000
815 S. Le Doux #101,
Beverly Center
$847,000
948 16th St. #105,
Santa Monica
$699,000
11870 Idaho Ave #201,
West LA
$629,000
11737 Darlington #101,
Brentwood
$625,000
1912 Broadway #308,
Santa Monica
$619,000
9664 Farralone Ave,
Chatsworth
$519,000 |
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JUST SOLD
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1044 Manning Ave, Little Holmby $2,295,000 12026 Rhode Island #204, West LA $849,000 11745 Montana Ave #101, Santa Monica $810,000 |
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GREETINGS FROM SALLY
| May 14, 2010
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As we move into the middle of May, there are signs that the market has definitely picked up its pace and springtime has proven once again that it is the busiest season for real estate sales. So far this month we have already seen a lot more new escrows opening up as buyers take advantage of exceptionally low interest rates and a great inventory of newly listed and attractively priced homes.
Also this month the U.S. Senate passed significant mortgage loan legislation as part of its effort to reform the financial industry in the wake of the mortgage and credit crisis. The new law will ban certain kinds of bonus payments to mortgage brokers and loan officers, ending what is believed to be one of the root causes of the subprime mortgage debacle.
The bonuses were paid by lenders to loan officers and mortgage brokers in exchange for selling loans at higher prices and higher interest rates - which generated more profits for lending institutions. Critics describe these bonuses as nothing more than thinly disguised kickbacks that became incentives for lenders to push unwary home buyers into mortgages that they could not actually afford and that were totally inappropriate. The ban on this practice should help to bolster consumer confidence, which will in turn add even more momentum to fuel the housing market recovery.
Meanwhile, there is an unprecedented flurry of activity as buyers who signed contracts by April 30th in order to qualify for federal tax credits, rush to finalize those transactions before the June 30th closing deadline. So if you are applying for a mortgage or planning to close on a home, start the process immediately. Order inspections and appraisals as soon as possible and go ahead and schedule a date for your closing to avoid any last many delays due to the backlog that experts predict will happen over the next few weeks.
Please don't hesitate to call or send me an email if you'd like further information regarding the market. Sincerely,  |
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| Senate votes to ban certain bonuses for mortgage brokers, loan officers
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| | LA Times
The legislation prohibits payments for signing borrowers to higher interest rates and more onerous terms than those for which the borrowers were qualified.
The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to ban certain bonus payments to mortgage brokers and loan officers, cutting off what experts have called one of the key causes of the nation's mortgage meltdown.
The little-known bonuses were paid for home loans that could be sold at higher prices because they carried higher interest rates and other more onerous terms than those for which the borrowers were qualified.
Amending financial reform legislation as it makes its way through Congress, the Senate also voted to outlaw stated-income mortgages - loans made without using tax documents, pay stubs or bank records to verify that borrowers actually earn as much as they say they do.
These so-called liar loans and the bonus payments are widely regarded as key factors leading to the subprime lending debacle that snowballed into the deep recession. Critics described the bonuses as thinly disguised kickbacks for steering borrowers into burdensome mortgages.
"Deceptive mortgage practices like hidden steering payments directly led to the Wall Street meltdown and resulted in millions of families losing their homes," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who sponsored the ban on broker bonuses for higher-interest loans.
The vote to ban the practices was 63 to 36.
Most subprime loans, along with other mortgages based on loose standards during the housing boom, were sold into the secondary market, then pooled and packaged to back mortgage bonds.
The securities became known as toxic when mounting losses on them threatened to poison the entire financial system.
Mortgage brokers opposed the legislation. They argued that it was flawed because although the measure restricts bonuses at the front end, it would still permit Wall Street firms and other loan investors to pay more for bundled mortgages with higher interest rates...
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| | Buyers scramble to close deals by June 30 deadline to get federal tax credit | |
| | LA Times
Reporting from Washington - For home buyers who scrambled to meet the April 30 federal tax credit deadline for completed contracts, there's a new challenge looming: Can they nail down their mortgage financing and get to closing before the program terminates?
As a result of toughened underwriting standards, confusing new federal disclosure rules, appraisal regulations and a long list of other potential obstacles, meeting that deadline could be tougher than expected. In fact, mortgage industry leaders say the clock will run out on some buyers.
Under the extended first-time purchaser and repeat buyer credits - the former carries an $8,000 maximum amount, the latter $6,500 - all deals must close by June 30. This shouldn't be a problem for buyers who've already submitted their applications, or who apply and are approved in the coming week or two, lenders say.
But credit-seekers who assume that closings can be done in less than 45 days - as was often the case in recent years - may be in for unpleasant jolts. And if a borrower's needed turnaround time from application to closing is 30 days or less, even the most resourceful lenders may not be able to deliver.
Based on discussions with national mortgage lenders, banks and mortgage brokers gearing up for a wave of applicants seeking to meet the June 30 deadline, here is a quick guide to what you need to know.
- Full documentation is now the rule, and assembling the documents you need can eat up a lot of time. Lenders shell-shocked from the mortgage bust want proof of everything - income, assets, tax returns, reserves and source of down-payment cash. If part of your down payment is coming from family members or friends, a copy of a gift letter no longer may be enough. Underwriters may want to see hard proof that the gift-givers have the spare money and that they aren't expecting it to be repaid as a short-term loan. Any omissions or seeming irregularities on income or assets will trigger underwriting red flags and potentially add days to the process.
- Property types matter. If you're buying a condominium unit, make sure the building or project qualifies under toughened Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules. If not, the lender may need to begin the time-consuming task of obtaining and reviewing the project's underlying legal documents, finances, unpaid homeowners association dues and other potential issues.
- Appraisals can scuttle financings and even sales transactions if they come in low because the appraiser used distressed home sales and foreclosures as comparables. You may end up needing more than one.
- Anticipate traffic jams and regulation-driven snares at title and escrow firms in the weeks and days preceding the June 30 deadline. Peter Birnbaum, president and chief executive of Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund in Chicago, said new federal loan disclosure rules have the potential to delay closings nationwide. For example, if the final HUD-1 settlement sheet contains discrepancies from the good-faith estimates issued by the lender upfront, expect delays, he said...
Read Full Article |
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| | Home appraisals still fraught with uncertainty despite new code of conduct | |
| | LA Times
The recently launched system is intended to provide more honest valuations. But the use of third-party appraisal management companies has led to complaints.
Little known outside the housing industry - and little understood inside the business - the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) was supposed to result in better, more honest appraisals. But a year after it was put in place there is still a question of whether home buyers are getting their money's worth.
Real estate professionals, home builders, mortgage brokers and even some appraisers themselves complain that lenders are using appraisers who lack experience, sometimes travel great distances to divine values in unfamiliar jurisdictions or base their determinations on sales that are not similar to the property they are appraising.
Negotiated by New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored secondary-mortgage-market institutions that help keep the money flowing to primary lenders, the code effectively blocks anyone who has a financial stake in a transaction from pressuring the appraiser to "hit the number" necessary for the lender to approve the loan.
That's a laudable goal that everyone agrees was long overdue. But the antagonists say their issues aren't with the HVCC itself but how the lending community has implemented it.
Instead of erecting their own firewalls between real estate agents and loan brokers on one side and appraisers and underwriters on the other, most lenders have turned the appraisal-ordering task over to third-party appraisal management companies. And, not surprisingly, the AMCs say the complaints are way overblown.
The Title Appraisal Vendor Management Assn., the trade group for AMCs, says that on average its member appraisers travel only short distances and have 15 years of experience. And the AMCs maintain that they use only licensed and certified appraisers who, under industry standards, must refuse assignments in unfamiliar markets.
On first blush, buyers and sellers may not think they have a role in this fight. But they do. Buyers need to know they are not overpaying for a property, and sellers, at least in the current down market, sometimes have to come to grips with the possibility that the old homestead isn't worth as much as they think it is. So if an appraisal isn't accurate, both sides suffer.
To some extent, agents, brokers and builders have to get real, too. AMCs aren't going away. The HVCC is now firmly embedded in the mortgage-approval system, and the market is what it is.
At the same time, though, their complaints have some validity, which raises the question of what to do if you have some reason to doubt the value an appraiser ascribes to your house.
For starters, if you or your agent believes the appraiser has violated the standards of his or her profession or is downright incompetent, by all means, report him - to his company, to your state licensing agency and even to the police or FBI if you think he may be involved in some type of fraud. Each has a procedure for filing complaints.
If you think the valuation has come in way too low, you need to appeal, but with as much finesse as possible. Realize that if the lender orders the appraiser to take a second look, it's like telling him he was wrong the first time...
Read Full Article |
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