By VICKIE ELMER – New York Times

IF your New Year’s resolutions include buying a house or refinancing, the Federal Reserve has you covered. It has committed to keep long-term interest rates low through next year, so a 30-year mortgage will be pegged about where it is now — 4.32 percent in New York — at least through spring, said Frank E. Nothaft, the chief economist at Freddie Mac.

“Rates are very much at the bottom,” Mr. Nothaft said. But, he added, they may start inching up in the second half of the year. “If you’re planning to refinance, do it sooner rather than later.”

In order to cash in fully on some of the lowest interest rates ever recorded, buyers and owners need to start taking steps now, experts say. Rather than look for a house you really want, they suggest first finding out how much money you can afford to borrow, and what you can do in the next three to six months to improve your creditworthiness.

“Sometimes it takes a few extra months to get your ducks in a row,” particularly if there are mistakes or blemishes on your credit report, said Gene Tricozzi, the president of Northern Funding Corporation, a mortgage brokerage in Clifton Park, N.Y. If your score is below 700, your mortgage interest rate could be a quarter to a half percentage point higher than for those with stronger scores, experts say.

Doug Reynolds, a Sacramento Area Realtor, takes a look at how buyers are purchasing homes in 2012 compared to 2005. In 2005, conventional financing dominated the market, now there is a balance between cash, FHA and conventional purchases. Take a look at the astonishing chart in the video to see how the market has evolved over the past 7 years. Some very shocking numbers when you look at it. What do you think? What type of financing did you use for your purchase?

By VICKIE ELMER – New York Times

IF your New Year’s resolutions include buying a house or refinancing, the Federal Reserve has you covered. It has committed to keep long-term interest rates low through next year, so a 30-year mortgage will be pegged about where it is now — 4.32 percent in New York — at least through spring, said Frank E. Nothaft, the chief economist at Freddie Mac.

“Rates are very much at the bottom,” Mr. Nothaft said. But, he added, they may start inching up in the second half of the year. “If you’re planning to refinance, do it sooner rather than later.”

In order to cash in fully on some of the lowest interest rates ever recorded, buyers and owners need to start taking steps now, experts say. Rather than look for a house you really want, they suggest first finding out how much money you can afford to borrow, and what you can do in the next three to six months to improve your creditworthiness.

“Sometimes it takes a few extra months to get your ducks in a row,” particularly if there are mistakes or blemishes on your credit report, said Gene Tricozzi, the president of Northern Funding Corporation, a mortgage brokerage in Clifton Park, N.Y. If your score is below 700, your mortgage interest rate could be a quarter to a half percentage point higher than for those with stronger scores, experts say.

By Jane Hodges - Reuters

About a third of first-time buyers in 2011 got either a gift (26 percent) or a loan (7 percent) from their families to help finance their home purchases, down slightly from 2010, but consistent with assistance levels seen during the last decade, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

But industry observers think the level of parental generosity is even higher, with some giving children money for home purchases so far in advance of a loan application that the gift isn't disclosed to lenders, or, if they've got the resources, buying homes outright for their adult kids and setting up an after-the-fact intra-family loan agreement.

In November, all-cash buys among first-timers hit a high of 13 percent, according to Guy Cecala of Bethesda, Maryland-based Inside Mortgage Finance, a mortgage industry newsletter publisher and researcher. That's up from 6 percent in 2009, when IFM first began tracking it. While the company's surveys don't ask about the source of cash, Cecala said that when first-time buyers buy outright, it's likely their parents who are purchasing on the children's behalf.

What's encouraging these all-cash purchases now? Home prices are way down - with the median price in November 2011 at just $164,200, down 3.5 percent from a year ago, according to NAR. Mortgage interest rates, too, remain at all-time lows. According to mortgage researcher HSH, the average rate on fixed 30-year loans fell steadily from 5.1 percent at the start of 2011 to 4.09 percent in December.

Many first-timers use FHA loans, requiring a 3.5 percent down payment or 10 percent down payment with poor credit, or VA loans, which require no down payment, but are eligible only to military personnel.

Indeed, in some markets, without parental help, many first-time buyers wouldn't qualify for the best rates or even a loan on the types of property for sale. To qualify for loans backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, borrowers need a 740 credit score and a hefty 20 percent down payment — or else they'll pay private mortgage insurance and additional "risk-based pricing" fees on their loan, IFM's Cecala says. As the government rethinks the role of the two mortgage giants, these tighter lending standards may be here to stay, or be tightened further.

To be sure, many baby boomers want to help. More than a fifth of them have co-signed a home loan for an adult child or given a gift or loan to help them buy, according to a September survey by Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and Research Solutions Inc. More than half of those earning at least $75,000 said they wanted to help their children finance a home purchase.

By Mark Glover Sac Bee

California landlords, who have long had the right to restrict pets, noise and even water beds in their units, can now prohibit smoking under a new law that took effect Sunday.

California Senate Bill 332, authored by state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 6.

With Brown's signature, Padilla said, "we will see the availability of smoke-free, multifamily housing grow throughout California."

The new law requires landlords to specify in their lease/rental agreements areas where smoking is prohibited on their properties.

Craig Powell, whose Sacramento company Powell Properties LP owns a handful of upscale apartment noted that many apartment owners already have smoking prohibitions, but the new law will reinforce their stand.

"I think what this does is provide legal clarity … putting (landlords) on solid legal ground if they choose to have those restrictions."

Powell said he has had in-unit smoking restrictions at his properties for nearly a decade without a serious challenge to their legality.

Padilla said he was troubled by the fact that no state laws specifically addressed smoking restrictions in multifamily housing units, such as apartments and condos. The senator said multifamily residences account for more than 30 percent of California housing.

"While more than 86 percent of Californians do not smoke, there is currently very little smoke-free housing in California," Padilla said. "Living in multifamily housing should not compromise the health of renters or their children."