Andrew Kim

For those that are looking to purchase an investment home, ever think about purchasing a residence out of the country?

I have relatives who live in Korea and they tell me that the housing in the areas are exploding. There are what we would consider apartment complexes in the US going for as much as 2 Million dollars for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath unit, that is around 1,400 square feet. That is just one apartment room on a floor that has 16 floors with 3 units on each floor.

There are new complexes going up in a city further south of Seoul that are going for around $200K. These would be a good investment to get in to since the city is growing.

That made me think that investing in other countries might not be a bad idea.

This might be a good idea to communicate to our clients who are interested in purchasing something to hold on to for a while.

I was just about to finish up a condo unit refinance, when I got the appraisal showing a multi use complex. The borrower didn't tell me that this was a multi unit and the property profile didn't show that it was a multi use unit.

Here I was looking to finish up the loan after getting all the conditions signed off except for the appraisal. To my surprise it showed retails shops on the first floor, office spaces from floors two to eleven, and residential from foors twelve to twenty two.

Now I'm stuck because I can't find a lender that will touch this loan. I may have to go to a commercial lender and see if they can do this loan.

So how do you find out if you can or can't do the loan before getting to this point? When the borrower themselves don't tell you that it's a multi use complex, you're pretty much in a situation where you have to wait until you get the appraisal back.

I'm now stuck with a mad client, not getting the money from the commision of the loan and wasted time trying to get this loan done.

If you know of any lender who is willing to take this on, I would appreciate it.

Here we are at the half way point of the year. How are you doing so far compared to the goals that you have set at the beginning of the year?

With the prices of the homes and the rates being low as they are, this is a very good market to be in. We need to find the buyers and get them off the fence. If we are listing homes, we need to make sure we price them out properly so the homes don't sit on the market too long.

With half the year gone, I'm at the halfway point of my goal and I'm on target at the moment. I've been fortunate to close loans and real estate transactions in the first half of the year.

I think it's important to check where you're at so you can make the necessary adjustment going forward the rest of the year.

I still get like death came over me when I speak with friends that I'm in the real estate business. They say, "I'm sorry, the market must be bad?". In fact, the market in the Santa Clara County couldn't be any better. The prices are low and the interest rates have remained pretty low for the year.

There are signs showing that the activity in our area is picking up. Homes in the market compared to last year is way less and the homes going pending increases every month.

Working with buyers right now is golden. First time home buyers can take advantage of low prices, low rates and incentives that will help them.

If the inventory in the market dries up quicker than homes coming on the market, soon we will see prices of the homes in the area climbing.

Let's get those buyers of the fence and get them in the homes now while everything is in place.

People ask me how long will the rates stay where they are?

Obviously from what we've seen today, it is not going to last.

Some lenders pricing adjusted 1.75 point compared to where it closed yesterday.

I was looking at a rebated of 1.25% yesterday for a 4.75% loan and today it is at .125% rebated.

What a difference a day makes.

The rates are still low compared to where they have been for the past year so I think it is very important to educate our clients that if they like the rate where it's at, we should take advantage of it.

We should also let them know that they may have to pay the point origination to get the rate instead of getting a rebate from the lender.

The rates now are priced primarily with the borrower paying the origination cost. The rates would be a lot higher if we were looking to get a rebate back.

Educating our clients is important and we should take advantage of the low rates now since they are here.