Zulma Villegas

RE/MAX Moved to New Location, 1835 W. Orangewood Ave., Ste. 101, Orange, CA 92868
Knowledge, Experience and Full-Service Amenities Will Be Showcase of RE/MAX Homes & Estates

September 21, 2009 - The RE/MAX California & Hawaii Region is proud to announce the moving to a new location of RE/MAX Homes & Estates in Orange, CA. Broker/Owner Al Villegas has been an Associate with the RE/MAX network for 12 years. RE/MAX Homes & Estates services North, Central & South Orange Counties. Along with residential real estate professionals, RE/MAX Homes & Estates specializes in income properties, Short Sales, REO properties and the luxury home market.
RE/MAX Homes & Estates Broker/Owner, Al Villegas, says, "There are many opportunities that exist in today's market, especially for first time homebuyers," said Villegas, "The real estate market fluctuates with time, and right now and a lot of people are going to be kicking themselves for not buying in this market" in Orange County, it's a great business to be in and an excellent way to serve members of our community."
In Al Villegas real estate career with RE/MAX, Villegas has been awarded the 100% Club, Platinum and Hall of Fame award..
The new office will be located at 1835 W. Orangewood Ave. Ste 101, Orange, CA 92868. For more information, contact (714) 453-3130 alvillegas@remax.net, www.ochomes-estates.net.

About RE/MAX International
RE/MAX was founded in 1973 in Denver, Colorado by Dave and Gail Liniger. It has grown to a global network of nearly 100,000 Sales Associates in more than 70 countries. No one sells more real estate than RE/MAX. Today, all U.S. home listings in thousands of cities and towns can be found at www.remax.com.
RE/MAX is proud to help raise millions of dollars and support charitable organizations like, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Children's Miracle Network and The Sentinels of Freedom Foundation.

Today, my RE/MAX office had the distinct pleasure of receiving a personal tour of the Children's Hospital of Orange County, an affiliate of the Children's Miracle Network. I am so grateful to our tour guide for having taken us through their beautiful hospital and letting us know how we can become involved community members and help. My previous real estate office was set up as a Miracle Office and each one of the agents made contributions from each of our commission checks. Although I had the pleasure of learning about CMN & CHOC through their websites and the annual RE/MAX conventions, nothing compares to actually seeing CHOC and the beautiful children they serve.

CHOC opened its doors in 1964 and has since provided the highest quality medical care to children. CHOC Children's is the only children's hospital in the state to earn the Silver Level CAPE Award from the California Council for Excellence (CCE). The CAPE Award is the highest recognition in California for performance excellence.

Upon entering the hospitals main lobby, our tour guide showed us Radio Lollipop, a hospital-based radio station that provides a stimulating mix of music and interactive games for patients. The CHOC studio is run by a team of volunteers who involve patients in recreational activities linked to radio programs that are child focused. Radio personality Ryan Seacrest and KIIS FM have assisted in raising awareness and funds for Radio Lollipop at CHOC. KIIS FM engineers and programming staff have been consulting on the project to help ensure it features state-of-the-art broadcast equipment.

We also got to see the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit which offers the highest level of care to critically ill or injured children. This unit has state-of-the art monitoring systems and specially trained nurses to provide special care for these patients.

My favorite was the Anaheim Ducks-themed wing on the oncology floor which includes a new playroom/school room, teen room, which includes a flat screen TV and video games, family lounge and storage space. The teen room is part of the CHOC Children's Cancer Institute Adolescent and Young Adult Program, which is the only program of its kind in the nation.

Our overall experience was wonderful and we were truly touched by how nice everyone at the hospital was. We were all touched by the hospitals focus on family involving each patient and his or her parents or caregivers in all aspects of treatment and recovery. There are rooms and accomodations throughout the hospital for parents to feel comfortable and be near their children while the children receive treatment.

As a non-profit hospital, CHOC relies on community support to provide leading-edge care for infants, children and adolescents close to home. There are many ways to help by going to www.choc.org/giving . You can help my team raise it's goal of $2,000 in The Torch Relay of Childrens Miracle Network. The Torch Relay is a unique multi-day event where participants walk, run and cycle at events throughout the country to raise money for their local Children's Hospital. To help sponsor my team and meet our goal of $2,000 please Follow This Link.

On July 30, 2009, the new Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act requirements will go into effect. Certain provisions of the Act require all mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers to help prevent deceptive lending practices and protect consumers by helping them become more informed. We're proud to say these goals align with the responsible lending practices for which Wells Fargo Home Mortgage - the nation's #1 residential mortgage lender* - has long been recognized.

Most of the changes will be transparent to the consumer and real estate agent. The new changes will impact settlement agents, so it is imperative that they have a strong understanding of the requirements of the Act and how they impact the closing process for consumers. Settlement agents will be required to do the following:

--Ensuring all fees impacting the APR are accurately communicated to the lender as soon as fees are identified. Any increase in the APR of more than .125% will require a re-disclosure of the Truth in Lending (TIL) and could delay closing. The re-disclosure requires the consumer be given an additional three (3)-business-day review period prior to closing, after receipt.

--Providing a preliminary settlement statement with accurate fees to the lender, allowing the lender sufficient time to issue a revised TIL disclosure (if necessary) seven (7) business days prior to the scheduled closing date.

--Scheduling signing/closing dates as accurately as possible in order to best estimate prepaid interest and avoid TIL re-disclosures.

Picture this: a 1400 sf single family residence, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, dried up front lawn, located in Anaheim drew in 63 offers before accepting an all cash offer for $320,000. And that, my friends, was actually $21,000 over asking price. The home actually sold for $608,000 during the peak of the market over 2 years ago.

The reality is that for months, all agents have been experiencing multiple offers on bank owned properties for quite some time now. And with the current moratorium in place, it looks as if it's going to continue. In fact, properties in Orange County priced below $300,000 commonly receive 10-20 offers. And condos under $200,000 are enjoying the all cash offers.

Last year my husband had a fantastic listing on a corner lot in the Mesa Verde area of Costa Mesa. That property drew in 33 offers in less than a week. That home had some nice upgrades (loved the river rock in the bathroom), large corner lot, and the highly sought after school district. That was the first listing we received in which we literally had to cut off offers after a specific date because they all started to look the same after a while. All buyers had FICO scores over 730 with 30% down, most offering asking or slightly above asking price.

The low asking prices on homes is drawing back former Orange County residents that had moved to cities in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in search of affordable housing during the peak housing market. Unfortunately, many of these well qualified buyers are making several offers before they actually get one accepted.

Through the C.A.R. Housing Affordability Fund's Mortgage Protection Program, first-time home buyers who lose their jobs due to layoffs may be eligible to receive up to $1,500 per month, for six months, to help make their mortgage payments. A qualified co-buyer also can participate in the program, and receive a monthly benefit of $750 per month for up to six months. Program benefits also include coverage for accidental disability and a $10,000 death benefit.

For more information including eligibility requirements please visit

www.car.org/aboutus/hafmainpage/carhafmortgageprotection/