Every time you turn on the news or read the newspaper, you hear some sort of report about the real estate market. In most cases, however, the report is about the national real estate market and not the specific statistics for the city where you live.

Did you know that if you buy a home in San Diego, California, you could be eligible for an $6,500 tax credit? That’s right, $6,500 and it’s a credit, not a write-off. What this means to you is that if you field your taxes and were expecting a $2,000 refund from the IRS, you would now be receiving a $8,500 refund as a result of this credit.

You may have heard about the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit in San Diego and been saddened when you heard that this credit was only for first-time homebuyers. Now your in luck as theIRS has shown a little love to long-time resident homebuyers as well in the form of a $6,500 tax credit.

You may be asking yourself, “What is the definition of a Long-Time Resident Homebuyer?”. According to the IRS.Gov:

“To be considered a long-time resident homebuyer you and your spouse – if you are married – must have lived in the same principal residence for any consecutive five-year period during the eight-year period that ended on the date the new home is purchased. Additionally, your settlement date must be after November 6, 2009.”

To read the rest of this post, read our blog by clicking the link below:

San Diego Real Estate Agent Blog

Rental property can have very stable, respectful and reliable tenants. San Diego, CA

Yes, that’s right! It all depends on product, location and first rate tenant screening. If you don’t have all three, your vacancy rate will be elevated. Let’s discuss product first. We recommend to our students that they furnish their properties with clean functional items, new linens and art work on the walls. What you are creating is an environment that is very pleasing to the tenant, one that not only the renter will look forward to coming home to, but also one, through pictures on flyers, web sites and word of mouth, will draw new inquires. We are all for building and establishing a pipeline.

Many furnished rooms for rent are not clean and be full of old, thread bear chairs, sofas, and soiled mattresses. Would you want to stay any longer than you had to in a place that does not support a good sense of self-esteem? Nicely furnished rooms generate good paying tenants, who stay for extended periods.

Our favored tenant populations normally do not have their own transportation so proximity to public transportation is necessity.

Key to this equation within our system is good tenant screening, which oddly enough does not include credit or traditional background checks. Our tenants are referred to us, so we learn about them and their history though direct questioning of people who are familiar with each potential tenant individually. We discover personal background information and work experience. This type of screening done systematically will produce good paying tenants who stay for extended periods creating a stable house.

To discover more about establishing transitional housing, please download our free Ebook from the side bar on our main blog site.

Don't hesitate to contact us with questions. Learn about us. Learn our system. Learn what others have to say about us and our system.

John Arendsen's Blog

By John Arendsen | Builder/Developer in Encinitas, CA

Wow! I'd sure like to get a piece of this. It almost wants to make a good borrower go bad. This is almost as bad as Palosi buying all the jets for her family to travel around the world in. Things are rally starting to P___s me Off!!.......What Are Your Thoughts?

Daily Real Estate News | February 9, 2010 | Share

Will paying underwater borrowers to keep meeting their mortgage obligations prevent them from walking away?

Loan Value Group LLC says it is working with a major mortgage lender to test this theory.

Here’s the plan. The mortgage investor offers a cash reward to borrowers to keep paying. The amount varies by borrower based on income, negative equity, geography, and other risk factors. The more likely a borrower will default, the bigger the carrot.

The borrower can’t collect the payment until the mortgage is paid, although the rewards can be used to help pay off the mortgage if the property is sold.

The plan keeps lenders from having to mark properties to market and take big losses. Frank Pallotta, a founder of Loan Value Group and former executive at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, says the program will pay for itself if only a few borrowers stay put and keep paying.

Rate Lock Advice & Mortgage Market Update

DAILY RATE LOCK ADVICE
February 9, 2010, 10:30 PT

Lock Advice: LOCK
MBS prices are down 7/32, possibility of negative reprice.
There will be a 3-yr Treasury auction at 1:00 ET.

National Average Fixed Rate Mortgage
Unchanged at 4.99% on Feb.9

Fannie Mae Mortgage Backed Securities
MBS Opened at 4.699% Up 0.042%.

10 Year Treasury Currently 3.620% Up 0.03%

DJI Stocks $10,088.49, Up 180.1, 1.82%

European and Asian Markets Up 0.172%

Nymex Crude Oil Currently $73.79 Up $1.90

• OneWest Bank's sweetheart deal with our Bank Owned Government (BOG) Must See Video
• Barney Frank Named 'Porker of the Year' CNBC News
• Fannie Mae is providing 3.50% Buyer Assistance on HomePath Loans Story
• FHA is Effectively Out of Making Condo Loans Story
• FHA Suspends Four Lenders Story
• FHA UFMIP will increase from 1.75% to 2.25% effective April 5. 2010
• Other FHA Changes are in the wind accordingto FHA Commissioner David H Stevens announced on a conference call to reporters January 19th. besides changed UFMIP, FHA plans to lower maximum seller contributions from 6% to 3% and they will increase the downpayment requirement up to 10% for low FICO scores. The official FHA bulletin was released on Jan. 21st. Read Bloomberg report

California Rates 02-09-10, 8:30PT
30 Year Fixed to $417,000
Rate 4.750%, Point 0.750 APR 4.883%

APR Based on $350,000 Loan at 80% LTV
Above Rate can be locked for 30 days.
Call for Quotes on FHA and VA loans With Detailed Cost Estimates.
No Application or Credit Report required

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