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| NEW LISTINGS
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$39,995,000
10451 Revuelta Way,
Bel Air
The Chateau d'Or is situated on 2.5 acres in prime Bel Air. Your own private compound. Imagine life as it could be!
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$27,500,000
23402 Malibu Colony Rd. #105,
Malibu
Rare estate on a double lot in the Malibu Colony. Formerly Neil Diamond's home. Absolutely stunning!
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$7,945,000
9917 Sunset Blvd.,
Beverly Hills
Lavish gated estate with over half an acre of lush landscaping and beautiful water features including waterfalls, streams and a fabulous waterslide. |
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$3,295,000
1048 Loma Vista Dr.,
Beverly Hills
Beautiful Trousdale home with an amazing 4 bed 4 bath layout, including a stunning backyard that is designed around the art of lounging and entertaining. |
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$970,000
10660 Wilshire Blvd. #1206,
Wilshire Corridor
Huge views abound from this spacious newly updated condo on the quiet side of the building. |
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$299,995
1526 E Garvey Ave.,
West Covina
Totally updated single level home in a wonderful neighborhood! |
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| NEW LEASE
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$27,500/month
9925 Sunset Blvd.,
Beverly Hills
Gated street-to-street estate with a guest house and impeccable details throughout. Available furnished.
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| NEW UPCOMING LISTINGS
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720 Huntley #206,
West Hollywood
Superb location. Corner penthouse with two story ceilings! Price upon request. 23914 Lakeside Rd.,
ValenciaBeautiful updated home. Located in the exclusive gated community of Valencia Bridgeport! Price upon request. |
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| IN ESCROW
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10287 Century Woods,
Century City
$8,890,000
2383 Mandeville Cyn. Rd.,
Brentwood
$4,495,000
220 Carmelina Ave.,
Brentwood
$3,395,000
2967 Beverly Glen Circle,
Bel Air
$2,650,000
3823 Mandeville Cyn. Rd.,
Brentwood
$1,575,000
116 S Vista,
Beverly Center
$1,295,000
5972 Vista De La Luz,
Woodland Hills
$969,990
10701 Wilshire Blvd. #1701,
Century City
$689,000
8265 Fountain Ave. #202,
West Hollywood
$679,000
10433 Wilshire Blvd. #406,
Westwood
$539,000
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GREETINGS FROM SALLY
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November 22, 2010
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Many homeowners can be thankful that the big wave of adjustable mortgage resets may turn out to be not nearly as bad as economists anticipated. In fact, according to many mortgage experts, lots of homeowners may actually see their ARM payments stay the same or even shrink thanks to a drop in rates to all-time historical lows.
However, in the middle of November key underlying interest rates climbed enough to make headlines in the Wall Street Journal. That may indicate that over the next few weeks and months we will finally see the rise in mortgage rates that economists have been forecasting. My recommendation to anyone thinking of refinancing is to consider doing it now. By procrastinating in hopes that rates might drop a little more you may lose a rare opportunity to lock in one of the best mortgage deals in history.
It is far better to risk a fraction of a point in savings than to take the much more substantial gamble that rates could make a quick and substantial move upward. That would leave you with less to gain from refinancing and I would rather see you begin your new year on a totally optimistic note.
For starters, the Los Angeles Times reported that home foreclosures in California declined 23 percent in October compared to the previous month. The change may be because many lenders imposed a foreclosure moratorium, but even if it is short-lived it still helps the housing market at a time when California real estate - especially locally - was already picking up steam under its own power.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
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REFINANCING NOW COULD BE BETTER THAN WAITING FOR MORTGAGE RATES TO DROP FURTHER | |
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Los Angeles Times
Homeowners can start saving sooner by locking in rates that are already at multigenerational lows rather than waiting for a bottom that may not materialize.
When the Federal Reserve recently rolled out its plan to pump $600 billion into the credit markets, many homeowners and buyers might have figured that because mortgage interest rates are now likely to fall again, why not postpone the loan application they were contemplating?
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke offered implicit support for that scenario when, in a Washington Post op-ed column Nov. 4, he wrote that as a byproduct of the $600-billion infusion "lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance."
But wait a minute: Haven't 30-year fixed mortgage rates been hovering around 4.25%, the lowest level on record since April 1951? Aren't 15-year mortgages just above 3.6%? How much lower could rates possibly go?
More to the point on refinancings, since we're already well into a refi boomlet, with lenders reporting 70% to 85% of new mortgage volume going to refinancings, how much more of a market share can the Fed expect?
Housing economists generally don't anticipate seeing significant direct effects on mortgage rates from the Fed's move. David Crowe, chief economist of the National Assn. of Home Builders, says the likely effect will be to restrain rate increases that otherwise would occur over the coming year as the economy warms up.
Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist for mortgage giant Freddie Mac, says the $600 billion might only "tweak" rates downward from current levels. "Four and an eighth is far more likely than 4%" on 30-year fixed rate loans, she said in an interview, because the Fed is not buying mortgage-backed securities but rather Treasury bonds.
Which raises the question: Does it make more sense to wait around for a rate bottom that might not materialize, or to lock in rates now at what are multigenerational lows?
Cutts has a personal answer. She recently refinanced her home loan through a mortgage broker to 4.5% fixed for 30 years, and is saving $100 a month on payments. What is she doing with the extra $100? Plowing it back into her new mortgage, reducing principal to shorten the term of the note and paying it off sooner. David Crowe has refinanced two loans in recent months.
Peter Ogilvie, president of First Residential Mortgage Corp. in Santa Cruz, Calif., says that "refinancing makes sense for just about anybody with a rate over 5.25%" and often produces monthly savings even for people with notes in the upper 4% range - provided, of course, that they can qualify under the industry's toughened credit and loan-to-value underwriting standards. Read Full Article
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BIG WAVE OF MORTGAGE RESETS MAY NOT BE AS BAD AS FEARED
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CNBC.com
The much-anticipated wave of adjustable-rate-mortgage resets-which are beginning to hit many homeowners now-may not be as devastating to the housing market as experts had feared.
"I don't see much of a payment shock as long as interest rates remain low," says Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. "The Fed has been moderating policy and keeping rates low for treasury's that serve as an index for ARMs. I think that will continue into the end of 2011."
Over the last two years, many industry analysts were expecting the large number of ongoing ARM term changes to have a crushing effect on the housing market, with increases on interest rate payments-as well as principal-forcing thousands more foreclosures than are already taking place.
But historically low interest rates are reversing that expectation. In fact, Nothaft says, some ARM mortgage holders might even see their interest rates lowered when the loan terms change.
"That's not to say everyone with an ARM will see their rates go down, but some will as the rates have continued to fall for those ARM indexes," Nothaft adds.
And even with increases in principal-which are included in some ARMs-homeowners might not take a much of a hit, says Marc Schwaber, corporate development manager mortgage for First Choice Loan Services in New Jersey.
"One side may go up, the principal, but the other side, the interest rates, will more than likely go down with the new terms," Schwaber goes on to say. "I think it balances out more or less."
Still, some analysts are continuing to warn about the dangers for ARM borrowers and the housing market.
"A lot of ARMs were interest-only payments and the principal balances are going to increase as the loan terms restructure in the days ahead," says Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac.com. "People who have those type of ARMs are going to see big increases in their housing costs. I don' think many of them will be able to afford it."
Read Full Article
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| | HOME SEIZURES DECLINE 9% IN OCTOBER | |
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Los Angeles Times
Banks took over an estimated 93,236 homes nationwide last month. The notable drop from September is probably the effect of foreclosure freezes by major banks, a RealtyTrac analyst says.
Lenders repossessed 9% fewer homes in October, an indication that the foreclosure freezes put in place by several major banks could be slowing the record pace of home seizures this year, if only temporarily.
Whether the trend continues depends on how quickly the major banks correct their errors and resume foreclosing. Daren Blomquist, an analyst with real estate information site RealtyTrac of Irvine, which released the numbers, said the October data represented probably little more than a temporary slowdown.
"This is more of a blip," he said. "We would expect, even when we have seen the big decrease in [repossessions], that we would see a similar increase down the road in a few months."
Banks seized an estimated 93,236 homes nationwide last month, a notable drop from a record 102,134 homes seized in September but still 21% higher than the 77,077 in October 2009.
California experienced a decline of 23% from the previous month, with 13,754 homes seized. Home repossessions in Florida increased 1% to 13,434, but Blomquist attributed the rise to that state's slower reporting process and said he expected declines there when November figures are reported.
Several major lenders announced foreclosure freezes beginning in late September. The largest, Bank of America Corp., has declared a national moratorium on foreclosure sales - which clearly has affected repossessions in California.
Last month the bank said it had completed a review of its processes in the 23 states where a court judgment is required to take back a home, which does not include California and many other Western states. Of the 102,000 cases that were part of the bank's review, some are proceeding to foreclosure. That remains the only exception to the bank's national freeze.
Ally Financial Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also have halted foreclosures in the 23 states where court approval is required. PNC Financial and Litton Loan Servicing have said they were reviewing their processes.
Overall, the number of homes in the foreclosure process nationally decreased 4% from the previous month for a total of 332,172 and was unchanged from October 2009. A total of 100,575 properties received default notices, the first step in the foreclosure process, down 2% from the previous month and off 19% from a year earlier.
Read Full Article
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