CalHFA offers new 95% LTV mortgage
First-time home buyers should take a look at California Housing Finance Agency’s (CalHFA) new home loan option, the Cal30, a fixed-rate, 30-year loan that will finance up to 95 percent of a home’s...
View ArticleReal estate resolutions for 2010
Sure you can loose weight, get in shape, launch a business or find a new job. But haven’t you also procrastinated long enough about buying a home? How long has it been since you upgraded your home with...
View ArticleCalifornia’s improved home buyer tax credit a day late, but still great
A repeat windfall for home buyers, and once considered as hopeless as a balanced budget in the Golden State, California's popular home buyer tax credit is back -- and it's better than ever. In fact,...
View ArticleHow much home can you get for $200,000?
Fresno, CA home listed for $200,000 Inventories bulging with discounted properties and historically low interest rates are sending a distinct “buyer’s market” signal to first-timers, move-up buyers and...
View ArticleMarried couples ready to take another plunge
This time they aren’t putting the moves on each other. Eighty-six percent of married couples who rent plan to purchase their first home within the next five years and 62 percent of them say they will...
View ArticleLanding a home loan with a credit-challenged partner
Buying a home with another person – spouse, partner, friend or investor – also means landing a home loan for two. But what if one partner has stellar credit and the other has credit pox? If the loan...
View ArticleMortgage co-signing pros, cons
If you are unable to meet mortgage lenders’ tight underwriting guidelines, teaming up with a co-signer can be a solution. Co-signer vs. co-borrowers According to the Federal Housing Administration...
View ArticleSilicon Valley home buyers: ‘Bigger ain’t necessarily better, baby’
It's a change from boom times when buyers wanted the biggest, baddest, most expensive home money could buy. It's a lot like the change from the old fitness regimen of bulk and brawn to one of a more...
View ArticleMore renters move up to home ownership, still more returning to the nest
The trend of renters moving out to own homes is picking up speed at a pace not seen in 18 months. Unfortunately, home ownership rates are shrinking among those at the first-time home buying age and...
View ArticleWill the FHA ease condo certification rules, allow more condo buyers to use...
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) guidelines for condominium loans continue to depress condo sales at a time when the more buyers could seek out condos as a more affordable housing choice.
View ArticleAll-cash sales nosedive in Silicon Valley
In the past 30-days, ending July 26, all-cash sales represented 15 percent of purchases of all single-family and duplex homes in Santa Clara County. That's well off the March 25 percent share.
View ArticleBurns’ upbeat 2013 forecast for home buyers could go over a fiscal cliff
John Burns recently based his rosy 2013 real estate forecast for buyers on Capital Hill's residents coming to an agreement that will prevent the economy from falling off a fiscal cliff. The forecast...
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