What's Going on in the Market?
Placer County
February 2007 - Vol 2, Issue 2
In This Issue
Sign Up
Quick Links
Greetings!
Valentine

Happy Valentines Day (month)!
Do you have plans with your sweetie for Valentines Day??? For those of you trying to avoid crowded restaurants why not try making fondue at home, buy a few bottles of wine and conduct your own wine tasting, have a photographer take your pictures, go on a bike ride along the American River or on the trail at the base of Stoneridge in Roseville. Take a cooking class, go museum hopping in Sacramento, find live music...or better yet go see the play, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!!!

On to the love of my life - real estate...The year end figures are in and there are a few areas in the greater Sacramento area showing an increase in values: Midtown, Downtown, Land Park, Curtis Park, East Sac and the Arden areas. The 2,000 to 4,000 square foot home-size categories have seen the largest growth. We continue to see strong demand in these core areas of Sacramento due to the expansion of three major hospitals close by. Inventory in these areas is half that of many others.

There is an article below about builder financing. If you are thinking about buying a new home, contact me first to find out how I could negotiate the purchase price and/or incentives. Buyers not represented by realtors are limited when negotiating with builders.

If you make an offer on a home with me before Valentines Day I will treat you and your sweetie to a very romantic day!!!

1. Check your insurance coverage
Home values have risen over 50% over the past few years. That means you'll need more insurance for your home in case it needs to be rebuilt. To get a grip on how much coverage you need, get a contractor to estimate the cost of rebuilding your house using materials at today's costs.

Oh, and while you're at it, snap a few photos inside your home. That may prove more valuable than you think when it comes to making insurance claims.

2. Call a handyman
If fixing that leaky faucet or finally patching that hole in the wall is something you want to tackle in the new year, you may want to consider hiring a handyman.

If you need a handyman I have a list of great people to contact.

3. Trim your payments
If you pay private mortgage insurance because you didn't put down 20 percent when you bought your house, now is the time to take a close look at what you're paying. If you took out your mortgage after July 1998, and you've paid off about 22 percent of the loan, your lender must cancel your PMI.

Any gain in your home's value from appreciation may help you get rid of PMI. You'll have to prove to your lender that the value of your home - including price gains - has increased enough to let you off the hook for PMI.

This annoying burden can be up to $50 a month for every $100,000 worth of debt. A word of caution though...before you spend about $300 bucks for an appraiser to find out how much your home's value has risen, understand under exactly what terms PMI can be waived. Individual mortgage terms can vary.
Info from CNN Money
Money
Finding the right home mortgage loan provider is complicated enough, but when you buy a house from a builder who has an in-house lender, the complications multiply. The builder wants you to use his lender, and will offer significant inducements to do so.

In developing a strategy for dealing with a builder pushing an in-house loan provider, it is useful to know where the builder is coming from. He expects to make money on the lending operation, but the main reason for having a preferred lender is to provide assurance that home sales won't fall through because of lack of financing.

The builder wants to avoid investing significant marketing dollars in finding a buyer who then leaves him at the altar because his loan doesn't come through. This won't happen with his in-house lender because of some prior arrangement with the builder. While the arrangement can take many forms, the thrust of it is that in the event that a loan to a buyer can be closed only at a loss, the loan will nonetheless be made, since the profit margin on the house will more than cover it.

For example, if the buyer turns out to have previously undisclosed credit problems that make him unacceptable except at subprime loan terms, the in- house lender will make the loan and sell it at a loss.

To make up for these losses, other buyers are overcharged. Since the builder cannot require buyers to use the in-house lender, he encourages them to do so by offering concessions that he hopes buyers will value by more than the overcharge. For example, if the loan overcharge is $2,500, the builder might offer kitchen cabinets with a retail price of $3,000, but which cost the builder only $1,500.

It is a mistake for a buyer to commit to a builder with an in-house lender without knowing the financial part of the purchase. The true price of the house when using the builder's lender is P + O - C, where P is the posted house price, O is the overcharge on the loan, and C is the value to the buyer of the builder's concessions. This is the price that should be used in comparing houses offered by different builders.
Info from Inman News

FOR A FREE MARKET ANALYSIS OF YOUR HOME AND ESTIMATE OF VALUE CALL OR EMAIL ME! I WILL GET YOU THE INFO WITHIN 24 HOURS OF YOUR REQUEST. Please contact me with all of your real estate needs and questions. I am always available to you, your family and friends!

Happy Valentines Day,
Kia Kapci
Lyon Real Estate

phone: 916-960-7010
Email Marketing by