San Diego Real Estate Blog

I just got finished watching an excellent report on Channel 10 News and I wanted to share it on my Blog because I think it’s worth watching. The show was a half hour and this is only one of the segments. It was very informative about San Diego real estate, auctions, loan modifications, and investment properties.

This story is called:

Builders Default On Land, Able To Buy It Back Cheaper At Auction

http://www.10news.com/video/21522316/index.html
 
Lauren Reynolds
10News I-Team Reporter
_____________________________________________________

If  you need help buying or selling a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

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San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

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San DiegoListing Book

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed. 

 San Diego Real Estate Blog

Seaport Village in San Diego California

If you live in San Diego and you haven’t been to the Seaport Village in Downtown San Diego you’re missing out. If you’re planning a vacation or a short visit to San Diego make sure you put Seaport Village on your list of things to do. Seaport Village is located in Downtown San Diego right on the San Diego Bay. The views are incredible to the city and to Coronado. Seaport Village is a collection of shops and restaurants in a fantastic San Diego Bay Front setting. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon and there’s plenty to do for grownups and the kids.

The day I went there was a man playing a Didgeridoo. A Didgeridoo is an Aboriginal Instrument that has a very unique and tribal sound. The man who played it was incredible – must see live to appreciate the sound.

Here are some videos of a man in San Diego playing a Didgeridoo.

Seaport Village is located at 849 West Harbor Drive in San Diego, CA 92101. This is a great resource.

Below are some videos of Seaport Village.

If  you need help buying or selling a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

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San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

San DiegoListing Book

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog   

I think “Making Home Affordable” the title and the name of the web site have it all wrong, it’s supposed to be “Buy a Home You Can Afford” but most things right now in the world are either upside down or just plain wrong.               

I checked out the Obama led web site “Making Home Affordable”. The standard Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline mantra with the HOMES of HOPE 888-995-HOPE number in red to get you to call for urgent help. This government has hijacked the word HOPE from day one and probably won’t stop until they’ve moved on. Which is HOPEfully soon. Not that the next elected group of thugs and profiteers will do much better … I’d settle for doing nothing than the direction we’re heading now.                         

It was the HOPE of homeownership for many who should never have qualified for the loan that drew them into this burden that now is destroying their lives …. THE MORTGAGE PAYMENT. A HOPE fueled by GREED that lent money to anyone with a faint heartbeat with little regulation and little to no verification of the homeowner’s real ability to pay it back after the ARM would readjust. Lenders were making money hand over fist and could sell the note quickly on Wall Street to a sea of buyers, so why should they care to verify or tighten up on their lending practices. Now the banks and mortgage holders are losing money hand over fist as taxpayer’s bailout them out as well as our government and their buddies…… hand over fist.  

The printing presses ($100 machines) are rolling at the Department of Treasury and the money going in every direction imaginable except to where it needs to go. The cost “PAYBACK” is left to our children and their children and so on….. while the baby boomers will have their nest eggs refilled with government pork, $4,500 car buying credit and free healthcare. WHOOOOPI. One of the saddest parts of this whole mess is putting the burden of this generation’s foul-ups on the children and their children. Well I guess they’re doing what they like to do, borrow and spend and expect someone else to pay or somehow get out of it. Their best answer is to pin it on the kids because they don’t have a voice, YET!                  

HOPE. I used to think HOPE was something like a wish, a dream that you wanted one day to be fulfilled, something in your life or in another’s life that would happen to bring joy into it. Now HOPE is a slogan, a word used by agenda pushers to play on people’s emotions and to get them to go in a specific direction. After all, who doesn’t want HOPE? Right?

Back to the web site …….

On the home page of this web site it asks

Are You Eligible? Please use the self-assessment tools provided on this websiteto see if you are among the 7 to 9 million homeowners who maybe able to benefit from Making Home Affordable.

Right below this is a “Find out if you are eligible” button.

The next web page will ask you to choose if you want to see if you are eligible for “Home Affordable Financing” or “Home Affordable Modification”. Select the one that best fits your desire.

Under “Home Affordable Financing” you have to answer YES to every question to be eligible. That means that you own a 1 -4 unit home, your loan is with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, your current on your mortgage payments and “the kicker”-  you believe that the amount you owe on your first mortgage is about the same or less than the current value of your house. Remember that last question asked about first mortgage only, not first and second. If you answered yes to all of these cross your fingers and toes and HOPE.

Under “Home Affordable Modification” you also have to answer YES to every question to be eligible. That means your home is your primary residence, the amount you owe on your first mortgage is equal to or less than $729,750, you’re having trouble paying your mortgage, you got your current mortgage before January 1, 2009, and your payment on your first mortgage (including principal, interest, taxes, insurance and homeowner’s association dues, if applicable) more than 31% of your current gross income? HOPEfully you can answer YES to all of the questions and then there’s HOPE.

I don’t want to give a sense of false HOPE to troubled homeowners so I want to be clear about this. Please try and use this web site to see if they can help you. From what I have seen in the San Diego area including Chula Vista is that most homeowners that purchased a home in the past 1-4 years can’t truly answer YES to all of the questions in either category. The ones that can are still only eligible for the Making Home Affordable program.

Most of the homes in many neighborhoods in San Diego County are short sales. This means that there was no loan refinancing or loan modification for the homeowner that allowed them to successfully stay in their home. If there was they would not be short selling the home, and many are short selling their homes and condos. Some truly just didn’t try, shame on them. Most are just way upside down in property value and can’t make the monthly payments since the ARM readjustment or loss of job.

Its simple math, let me show you;

Paid $800,000 for home … worth $500,000 – why do I want this home?

or

Monthly income $5,000…. house payment jumped to $4,900 – need to eat!

These short sale listings will either be sold short or be taken back by the bank through a foreclosure and end up on the market as a Bank Owned REO. I have spoken with many homeowners who just want to get out their homes or condos and just move on. They want to close that door in their lives and open the next one. The choice of keeping a home that has decreased in value 40% in 3 years and a monthly mortgage payment that is just not possible to pay is destroying families.

I have met many that have said “enough, I’ll take the credit hit and short sell my home or let the bank foreclose on it” and they have. I will always ask them if they contacted an attorney and a CPA to go over all of the ramifications of both. This is essential if the path of short sale or foreclosure is in any ones future.

I HOPE this review of the Making Home Affordable web site helps you.

http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/

If  you need help buying or selling a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog 

San Diego Realtors Conference and Expo 2009

The annual Realtors Conference and Expo will be held in my town, San Diego California. San Diego couldn’t have been a better choice for the 2009 Realtor Conference. Who wouldn’t want to come to San Diego anyway?  Now Realtors in other parts of the country will truly understand why San Diego is America’s Finest City. And why real estate in San Diego is priceless. The event is being held at the San Diego Convention Center in Downtown San Diego from November 13 – 16. Some of the guest speakers are Condoleezza Rice, Sugar Ray Leonard and Reba McEntire. Our great city will be gracious to all Realtors throughout the country coming to San Diego to experience this great event and the finest city in America.

Info from Realtor.org about the San Diego Real Estate Event.

THE 2009 REALTORS® CONFERENCE & EXPO

Chart your winning course through today’s turbulent economy!

The 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo delivers money-making strategies to help you succeed.
Four days of intensive training from real-world speakers in top-rated sessions.
Substantive programs for everyone who makes their living in real estate – brokers, agents, commercial practitioners, property managers, international specialists, and IT professionals.
Watch this week’s tip from a 2009 Conference speaker!
Sail confidently through troubled waters!
REALTORS® Expo has new ideas, products, and services to increase your productivity.
Ask questions, compare features and strike your best deal with 500 exhibitors, all under one roof.
Learn about opportunities to expand your market working with immigrants, foreign investors, and Americans buying property abroad.
Be part of a winning crew!
Network with the most successful real estate professionals in the country.
Build your referral network and increase sales opportunities.
A boat load of fun!
First REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego!
Enjoy a wide-range of Conference special events, including the REALTORS® Celebrity Concert starring Reba McEntire.
Combine business and fun — the Convention Center is right on beautiful San Diego Bay and in the center of nightlife, shopping, and dining!

Make sure you don’t miss out. See you in San Diego!

If  you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog

May 2009 - The Mortgage Reform and Anti Predatory Lending Act HR1728 passed on Thursday May 7, 2009. The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 300 to 114 and is said to protect homeowners from questionable and predatory lending practices that were partially responsible for the record home foreclosures and financial crisis.

This Mortgage Reform and Anti Predatory Lending Act sets up rules to ensure that lenders make loans that mortgage borrowers can afford to pay back. The act also bans prepayment penalties on ARMs Adjustable Rate Mortgages that are the real culprit loans in the foreclosure mess. This bill will also hold accountable the secondary mortgage market for following the same rules. One lawmaker said, “The message is simple. Lenders can’t give loans to people who can’t afford them. And borrowers have to tell the truth about their finances when they apply for a loan.” Not to be disagreeing with the administration of hope but isn’t this just common sense?

Nancy Pelosi the Democratic House Speaker said, “The simple fact is that our laws and enforcement efforts did not keep pace with the complexities of a global economy and a financial industry where the greed of some trumped common sense. Insisting on responsible borrowing and lending and ensuring that borrowers enter into mortgages they can repay or refinance will help families protect their most valuable asset — their home — and guard against another financial and housing market meltdown.” I would have to ask Nancy why she didn’t do something about it, she was a lawmaker at the time and there were many economists warning the government about this.

Many San Diego home owners and potential home buyers know the facts about the San Diego housing market and its foreclosure mess. This act, although very important for protecting potential home buyers when getting a mortgage comes in way too late. The damage is already done. I think if anyone dropped the ball it was the U.S. Government and there lack of proper legislation to protect home buyers and the greed that’s within the system itself. Isn’t that what we elect them for? It’s very interesting to see where all of the elected officials got their campaign contributions, the banks and companies now getting all of our future tax dollars in the form of a so called bailout? What a joke.

If  you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog

The San Diego Housing Commission or SDHC has several home buyer assistance programs for San Diego home buyers. Some of the different home buyer assistance programs include deferred loans, grants for down payments and closing costs, tax credits, and opportunities to purchase homes at below market rate prices. This San Diego home buyer assistance program allow a home buyer to purchase a home anywhere in the City of San Diego. This means that the area must start with the Zip Code 921. This encompasses a huge area of San Diego and includes thousands of homes currently for sale. 

Most of these home buyer assistance programs in San Diego are for first time home buyers except for the For Sale Affordable Homes Program. A San Diego First Time Home Buyer is defined as a buyer that has not owned any real estate in the previous 3 years. There are also maximum purchase price limits and area median income restrictions as well.

Some of the programs are:

* 3% Interest Deferred Loan
* Grants for Down Payments and Closing Costs
* Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCC). Can be used for San Diego bank owned properties.
*  For Sale Affordable Homes

For more information on the San Diego Home Buyer Assistance Programs please visit the San Diego Housing Commission Web Site.  http://www.sdhc.org/hafirstimebuyer1.shtml

Also Visit:

California $10,000 New Home Tax Credit

$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

If  you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog

This $10,000 tax credit in the state of California only applies to homes that have never been occupied and purchased between the dates of March 1, 2009 and March 1, 2010. The California home buyers must also reside in the home as their primary residence for at least 2 years from close of escrow.

A qualified home buyer is:

A taxpayer who purchases a single-family residence, whether detached or attached, that has never been occupied, that is purchased to be the principal residence of the taxpayer for a minimum of two years, and that is eligible for the homeowner’s exemption under California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 218.

A qualified principal residence – new home is:

-A qualified principal residence means a single-family residence, whether detached or attached, that has never been occupied and is purchased to be the principal residence of the taxpayer for a minimum of two years and is eligible for the property tax homeowner’s exemption.
- Types of residence: Any of the following can qualify if it is your principal residence and is subject to property tax, whether real or personal property: a single family residence, a condominium, a unit in a cooperative project, a houseboat, a manufactured home, or a mobile home.
- Owner-built property: A home constructed by an owner -taxpayer is not eligible for the New Home Credit because the home has not been “purchased.”

The State of California has set aside $100,000,000 in tax credits for new home buyers. This program is on a first come first serve basis and once the allocated new home tax credit money is gone it’s over. Make sure if your California real estate agent is unfamiliar with this tax credit you let them know about it. You should also contact your accountant. Some details include that the tax credit amount is equal to either five percent of the purchase price or $10,000, whichever is less. Taxpayers must apply the total tax credit in equal parts over 3 successive taxable years which is a maximum of $3,333 per year beginning with the taxable year of when the new home is purchased. This can also be used in addition to the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit in the Stimulus Package.

If you are interested in applying you will need to:

- Do the following within 7 days of close of escrow on your New California Home.
- The seller must complete Part I of Form 3528-A which is the Application for New Home Credit and certifying that the home has never been occupied as well as provide a copy to the buyer or escrow person.
- The buyer will complete Parts II & III of Form 3528-A.
- The escrow person on behalf of the seller and buyer will fax the completed Form 3528-A to FTB at 916.845.9754, and provide a copy to the buyer.
- Fax is the only delivery method that will be accepted and considered for credit allocation by FTB, as the date and time stamp on the fax will determine the order in which credits are allocated.
- Fax only one completed application per residence with all qualified buyers listed. Do not include information on nonqualified buyers. An incomplete application may delay or prevent credit allocation.
- Do not fax the application to FTB before escrow closes.
- Do not fax the application to FTB more than once. We will process the applications in the order received as quickly as possible.
- Escrow companies should only send one application per fax transmission.
- The buyer keeps a copy of the completed Form 3528-A for their records.
- The State of California Franchise Tax Board will have a fill able Form 3528-A online soon. In the meantime, if you fill out the form by hand, please print numbers as clearly and neatly as possible using CAPITAL LETTERS and staying between the lines. The faxes can be very hard to read.

For more information please visit the State of California Franchise Tax Board link.

If  you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog

San Diego - First Time Home Buyers Only – 8000 Dollars !

The $787,000,000,000 stimulus bill signed into law has some benefits for first time home buyers. In the bill signed by Obama there is an $8000 first time home buyer tax credit. This $8000 amount was sized down from $15000 in the original version of the stimulus package. Here in San Diego County California and rich foreclosure environments like Chula Vista in South County San Diego welcomes this first time home buyer $8,000 tax credit incentive.

Some of the details are that the home purchased must be the first time home buyers principal residence. There is a cap of $8,000 if the purchase price is higher than $800,000. A first time home buyer in San Diego or anywhere in the U.S. would be someone who has not owned a principal residence for 3 years. This will only apply to home buyers buying in 2009 so if you’re sitting on the fence of San Diego home buyers this could be the thing that gets you down off the fence and back in the market.

There are also income limits that state single buyers need a modified adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less to qualify for full credit and $150,000 for married couples. If buyers make more income than the amounts stated they could be eligible for reduced credits. Make sure you talk to your accountant about this. The $8000 tax credit is refundable. Buyers will have to own the home for at least 3 years if they want to capitalize fully on the tax incentive. The tax credit will have to be returned to the government if they sell early. There are situations that will be exceptions to this rule.

Make sure you contact professional tax consultants for full factual information on this $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

If  you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Real Estate Blog

Many people hear short sales and think “shorts for sale” these are not shorts for sale in San Diego. They are short sales or selling your home short of what is owed on it to the bank.

The San Diego MLS is filled with Short Sale Homes. Many buyers think that most of the homes for sale in San Diego Foreclosures or bank owned homes. The fact is that there are many more short sales in San Diego County than there are foreclosures. When buying a short sale home in San Diego there are many things that need to be taken into consideration. Things that you will need an experienced San Diego Short Sale Realtor to help you with. There are many reasons why a short sale home can be a better option over a bank owned home.

A short sale home is a home that is listed for sale and will sell for less money than what is owed by the homeowner to the bank or mortgage company. San Diego has many short sale homes on the market and will continue to through 2009, 2010, 2011 and maybe even further down the line. If the home doesn’t sell as a short sale it will in most cases become a foreclosure and will be taken back by the bank and become an REO or Real Estate Owned on the banks books. The banks will then sell this home or hire a San Diego REO Listing Agent to sell the home as a foreclosure.

Some of the benefits of buying a short sale home over an REO are that in many cases because the homeowner still owns the home the homes are in better condition. The homeowner wants their home sold before the bank forecloses on it and in most cases will have it well kept during the short sale process and in many cases be living in it. This is not always the case but it is more likely that a San Diego Short Sale is in better condition than a San Diego REO. The process for buying a short sale is usually much longer than buying a foreclosure. There is much more negotiation and bank processing time when purchasing a short sale.

If you are considering buying a San Diego Short Sale Home make sure you contact us. We have many to show you.

If  you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Foreclosures

San Diego REO Listing Agent

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All Information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

San Diego Realtors 

Dawn Lewis - San Diego Realtor® Since 1989

Hi,

I’m Dawn Lewis and I’m a San Diego Realtor. You have just found the best San Diego Real Estate web site for searching for San Diego Real Estate. I hope it helps you with your San Diego home or condo search and answers questions you have about San Diego real estate. Please use the tools and features like the San Diego MLS with its great maps and community information.

My Experience:

Realtor® in San Diego Since 1989
SOLD well over 1,500 Homes
San Diego Top Producer
San Diego Relocation Expert
Top Real Estate Negotiator
San Diego New Home Sales Expert
San Diego REO Listing Agent
San Diego Foreclosure Expert
Short Sale and Foreclosure Expert
Winner of many Real Estate Awards in Sales and Customer Service

As you can see I have been a real estate agent in San Diego for quite some time. Please put my experience to work for you and give me a call today.

I love what I do and I would love to help you.

Dawn Lewis
San Diego Realtor®

Start your San Diego Foreclosure Search today.

San Diego REO Listing Agent

Please use the links below to help you with your San Diego Real Estate Search and Information from your San Diego Realtor.

San Diego Real Estate               San Diego MLS 

San Diego Relocation                San Diego Home Search by Map

San Diego Home Buyers           San Diego Home Sellers

San Diego House Values           Local Real Estate Information

San Diego Real Estate Blog      San Diego Short Sales

San Diego Foreclosures            San Diego Green Homes

All information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.