BLOG - in Transition

Interest rate shot up during the past two weeks, caught quite a few buyers by surprise... and sellers get the ripple effect.... One of the mortgage broker said that the last time market is like this was 9/11....   

I checked with several trusted mortgage brokers/lenders on the rates for my clients, they are very careful about quoting the rates as the rates are quite fluid at this moment; sometimes the rates are adjusted several times a day.  If you are the buyers, you should be on your toes and be very diligent in locking in the rate, keeping good credit score, looking for good rates from trusted providers. 

I also checked on various internet sites advertising unbelievable rates (o.k. relatively speaking), when I submitted my criteria, the rates quoted are quite higher than the ones on the site.  So, be careful when you shop around. 

What's the trend?  I asked the mortgage brokers I work with, their consensus seem to be that the rates will go up, so lock in soon....  

This is affecting buyers in that some escrows fell through becaues the house the buyers are interested in become too expensive to pay.  A few buyers are looking at less expensive houses, and some are waiting for the rate to drop .. hopefully it's not too long....  

For sellers, . consider the above, be careful of how you price your house, make sure the price is realistic; when you are in escrow, make sure your agent is digiligent in follwing up and having conversation with the buyers' mortgage broker (with the buyers permission, of course), to make sure everything is going on track.....  Where a good agent comes in.... . 

I heard about 'phishing', but have never received one myself.

So, I got one today - An urgent 'Online Banking Alert' from Bank of America, warning me that they are not able to verify my online banking information and I need to update my information within two days.  The email came with BofA logos, and everything.  

It also provided a nice link for my convinence to go and update my account right away.

The only tell tale sign is that I do NOT have an account with Bank of America.

The link is actually trying to get me to somewhere that's not BofA. 

So I reporeted it to BofA Fraud division and here is part of email I got about how to tell Phishing to protect my personal info:

 
Stay safe from Phishing: Easy clues to help you keep your personal information secure.

The main goal of a phishing email is to get you to a site where you will provide your personal information.  With these basic, but powerful, clues, you can easily recognize the threat and ensure the safety of your identity and finances.

1.  Does the email ask you to go to a website and verify personal information? We won't ask you to verify your personal information in response to an email.

2.  What is the tone of the mail?  Most phish emails convey a sense of urgency by threatening discontinued service or information loss if you don't take immediate action.

3.  What is the quality of the email? Many phish emails have misspellings, bad grammar, or poor punctuation.

4.  Are the links in the email valid? Deceptive links in phishing emails look like they are to a valid site, but deliver you to a fraudulent one.  Many times you can see if the link is legitimate by just moving your mouse over the link.

5.  Is the email personalized with your name and applicable account information? Many phish emails use generic salutations and generic information (e.g. "Dear Customer" or "Dear Account Holder") instead of your name.

6.  What is the sender's email address? Many phish emails come from an email address not from the company represented in the email. 

7.  When in doubt, type it out. If you suspect an email to be phishing, don't click on any links in the email.  Type the valid address directly into your web browser.
 

The BAREIS' (Bay Area Real Estate Information Systems. A.K.A. MLS) April/May, 2006 vs April/May 2007 Closed Sales report is finally out.  Note that the high and low skewed the numbers.  Also, the average and median are both up from last year with DOM (Days on Market) slightly higher.  Total Units Sold in April 2006 and April 2007 are almost identical, but there is a surge in total units sold in May, 2007. 

Daily Real Estate News  |  June 12, 2007

Developers Home in on Retirees Who Stay Near Home

It’s a myth that most retirees pull up stakes and move to Florida or Arizona. In fact, retiring close to home is the norm rather than the exception.

An AARP analysis of U.S. Census figures from 1990 and 2000 shows that nine out of every 10 Americans 60 years and older were living in the same county they’d lived in five years before the surveys were taken; more than three-quarters had even lived in the same house.

Savvy developers are recognizing this reality and finding ways to benefit from it. Pulte has opened 53 Del Webb active-adult retirement communities since 2001, many of them in states not considered retirement meccas: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, and Illinois.

Dave Schreiner, a vice president for Pulte homes, says his company started out building retirement villages in Arizona and California, where they served a minority who wanted to leave home in favor of a warmer spot. But by the mid-90s, Schreiner says, the company had switched its focus to building retirement villages near population centers all over the country.

“It's perceived to be a trend, but really, we were just catching up," says Schreiner. "There was a market there always; it was just a market that hasn't been served."

Source: USA Today, Adam Edelman (06/11/2007)

Sustainability in Practice: Top 25 Greenest U.S. Cities

As Kermit the frog says, “It’s not easy being green.”

Country Home magazine, with help from Sperling’s Best Places, examined all 379 major metropolitan areas in the country, ranking them according to how green they were.

Qualifications for top ranking included air and watershed quality, miles of mass transit, power usage, farmers' markets, organic producers, and the number of green-certified buildings.

Editor-in-Chief Carol Sheehan says, “We wanted to find out who in America is actually taking action, where they are, and what they are doing.”

Here are the magazine's picks for the 25 greenest cities in America:

1. Burlington-South Burlington, Vt.
2. Ithaca, N.Y.
3. Corvallis, Ore.
4. Springfield, Mass.
5. Wenatchee, Wash.
6. Charlottesville, Va.
7. Boulder, Colo.
8. Madison, Wis.
9. Binghamton, N.Y.
10. Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
11. Ann Arbor, Mich.
12. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.
13. La Crosse, Wis.
14. Pittsfield, Mass.
15. Eau Claire, Wis.
16. Durham, N.C.
17. Norwich-New London, Conn.
18. Eugene-Springfield, Ore.
19. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.
20. Chico, Calif.
21. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.
22. Barnstable Town, Mass.
23. Utica-Rome, N.Y.
24. Missoula, Mont.
25. Asheville, N.C.

Source: Country Home (April 2007)

"The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline." - Time Magazine, 1947

"Houses cost too much for the mass market.  Today's average price is out of rach for two-thirds of all buyers." - Science Digest 1948 (Average price at the time $8,000)

"The goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more and more Americans." - Business Week 1969 (average price at the time $28,000)

"the era of easy profits in real estate may be drawing to a close." - Money Magazine, 1981

"If you are looking to buy, be careful.  Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore." - Miami Herald, 1985.

"Most economists agree ... a home will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was... ' - Money Magazine, 1986.

"We're stargint to go back to the time when you bought a home not for it's potential money-making abilities, but rather as a nesting spot." - Los Angeles Times 1993 (Note that 1993 was the absolute low-point for real estate values in Los Angeles.  Prices have sky-rocketed since.)

"Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment." - Kiplinger's Personal Financial Magazine, 1993.

"A hoome is where the bad investment is." - San Francisco Examiner, 1996