Affordable Housing in Oakland

A constant battle we have in California is that of affordable housing. In some cities, like San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, you often end up in bitter fights depending on which side you're on...As a resident in San Francisco we usually have long bitter fights. We all agree we need affordable housing. We need it for renters and we need it for home buyers. Renting and home ownership is beyond the reach of a lot people. Oakland will be dealing with the same:

"Oakland officials are ready to wade into one of the city's thorniest housing issues: whether to require developers to include below-market-rate housing in future projects.

The council deadlocked last year on the hot-button issue before then-Mayor Jerry Brown cast a tie-breaking vote against the rule. One of the hallmarks of Brown's two-term administration was his "10K" plan to build enough units for 10,000 new residents downtown as a way of revitalizing the city.

On Tuesday, a citizen panel formed to deal with housing will recommend that affordable housing be required in some cases, although not enough to appease some housing advocates.." San Francisco Chronicle, see sfgate.com

Dumping the First Time Home Buyer at the first signs of trouble

Where have all the lenders and agents gone? 

Has the real estate and loan industry abandoned the Latino
First Time Home Buyer? It seems they have. It was only a few months ago that most major companies and reports where announcing their plans to serve the growing latino home buyer. But that was until this subprime mess exploded.

What about all those first time home buyers that bought with adjustable loans
with a 2 or 3 year period. A lot of these loans are adjusting now and causing
great suffering to these home owners. Many of these borrowers cannot afford the
payment increase and or can no longer refinance, or sell due to current market
conditions. So now what. I recently wrote Senator Feinstein asking her to get
the lenders to waive various onerous conditions especially the Pre Payment
Penalty. This penalty imprisons someone from refinancing due to the high cost of
this penalty.  If borrowers wait until the penalty expires it may be harder
to get a loan.

I recently heard from a real estate agent at PruLatino (Prudential's Hispanic
Full Service real estate office) in northern California. He was complaining
about how Prudential has abandoned their focus on the latino home buyer due to
current subprime problems.

As Realtor Magazine states: "Reaching out to Latino customers in word
and deed.  Several years ago, the California Association of Realtors
release research showing that 20 percent of California home sales involved
buyers or sellers with a Hispanic surname.  Those findings motivated Ed
Krafchow, president of residential brokerage giant Prudential California/Nevada/Texas Realty, to conduct similar research on his company ... In response, Krafchow initiated a Hispanic outreach effort and this year launched  a Spanglish language listings magazine, Palacio." (Realtor Magazine, August 2007)

However, it seems the magazine has not been released, and if my friend at
PruLatino is correct, it seems Prudential was "reaching out for the easy
MONEY only and not in word and deed."

So for all of us involved in the real estate business, let's not forget those
buyers and future buyers who fed us and our families while it was good.

Rent and Eviction Control when buying a property in San Francisco

I attended the National Association of Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)
luncheon today. And  attorney Jeff Woo spoke about
the San Francisco laws for selling or buying a property with tenants.
San Francisco has rent and eviction control, and because over 62% of city voters
are renters, the laws will favor tenants over landlords. So as investors,
single family buyers, duplex or four plex buyers, etc. we have to know the laws in order to maximize our gains and to make smart buying decisions.

Jeff is an expert with over 20 years of experience in SF tenant law. You can
reach at 415.781.7900, and for the SF Rent Ordinance visit San
Francisco Rent Board

Letter to Senator Feinstein to remove prepayment

Here is a letter I sent to Senator Feinstein's office on 8/22/07 in which I identify that a big problem right now is the PrePaymen Penalty imposed by lenders which imprison the borrower from refinancing or selling due to the potential high amount of the prepayment: Here it is:

August 22, 2007
FAX MEMO
From: John Lira, publisher of LatinoHomeBuyer.com
(415) 609-3331

To: Honorable Senator Dianne Feinstein
Washington, D.C. office:
Phone: (202) 224-3841, Fax: (202) 228-3954
RE: Mortgage - remove the prepayment penalties.

Dear Senator: As a professional Real Estate Broker in San Francisco I know that the current mortgage/housing problem is cyclical and not easy to solve. However, the destruction that it is producing in families (especially lower income families) is tremendous.
I write to you after interviewing many clients seeking help with their loan terms. Unfortunately I have had to turn many away for not finding a way out. Most will end up losing their homes due to foreclosure or through short-sale.
However, there is one thing that I do believe is hurting borrowers unjustly: the severe lender's prepayment penalty.
The prepayment penalty prevents individuals from refinancing or selling due to the amount of the prepayment: usually 6 times the monthly interest; which on average is about $18,000 to $26,000 for a $500,000 home (subprime loan rates).
So if the prepayment penalty is removed then it would help some people refinance or sell and not be forced to sell at a loss which hurts them and the lender.

Thank you for your time,
John Lira

Senator Dodd and mortgage help

New number to help with mortgage problems. I was watching CNBC on 8/21/07 and heard Senator Dodd talk about what the government can do to help owners deal with the mortgage problems.  He announced this number to call 1-888-995-HOPE(4673).

Here is the website for it: http://www.995hope.org/we-can-help/making-the-call/


From the website: Things you should know
Homeowner's HOPE provides free counseling - we do not do refinancing, down payment assistance or provide loans. But we can connect you with local nonprofit resources that provide different kinds of assistance.

Although we have an excellent working relationship with many of the nation's largest mortgage companies, we cannot force a mortgage company to eliminate debt, forgive payments or dictate solutions.


We are here for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most importantly, we want to help. Remember, the sooner you make the courageous decision to call us, the more we can do to help you right your financial ship.

If my lender goes out of business do I still have to pay my mortgage?

Yes. Even if your lender goes bankrupt or out of business you still have to pay your mortgate. You will get a notice telling you where and to whome to send your payments.

¿Si mi prestamista cierra tengo todavía que pagar mi hipoteca?

Si. Aunque su banco deje de existir, usted tiene que segui pagando su hipoteca. Normalmente le llegara un carta en cual le dicen aquien y adonde enviar su pago.

Has the American Dream turned into a nightmare? ¿Se ha vuelto el Sueño Americano una pesadilla?

YES. And in my opinion this has to do primarily due to:
Greed! --buyer's, seller's, agent's, bank's. How can you buy something you cannot afford and with NO money down. I still remember some clients telling me "only in the U.S. can you buy something so expensive with no money down and still get money back." And they said with an incredible but satisfying smile.
Easy Credit! The industry (builders, banks, government) made credit so easy but with one fundamental basic mistake: How can you increase home ownership so fast so much with no increase in real income?

Why Latino Home Buyer? Por Que Latino Home Buyer?

Good question. Real Estate professionals are suppose to be color blind and help their clients achieve the American Dream whether they speak English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian etc. But you do need to help them in a way that they can understand. Therefore, language and culture are important to improve communication and to have a better informed buyer whose first language is not English. Also, many times you are dealing with an extended family who may not all speak English but who want to and will contribute to the buying process.

Lastly from a pure business sense: The demographics show that the biggest group of first time home buyers will be from the immigrant communities whose first language is not English. So it makes good business, relationship and sales sense to be more inclusive.

Mortgage Loan Documents In Spanish, Chinese, and other languages

Assembly Bill AB512 passed and now goes to the Senate. If it passes and is signed into law it would require a Mortgage/Loan Summary page in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean. Read below for more info:


En Espanol: Es posible que una nueve ley se apruebe que requira los documentos de hipoteca/prestamo de casa en varios lenguajes incluyendo espanol.

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Jun 9, 2007 - Knight Ridder Tribune Business News
Author(s): Barbara E. Hernandez

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Jun. 9--Non-English speakers could benefit from a proposed state law that will require home loan documents to be translated into five languages after the state Assembly voted to pass the bill late Thursday.
The bill, known as AB512, would require crucial mortgage terms to be translated into Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean if a business primarily negotiates in that language. The bill passed 47-29, with four Assembly members abstaining, along party lines, with most Democrats voting for the bill, Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, said. "It's a good bill," DeSaulnier said. "It will help consumer confidence about the integrity of their transaction." DeSaulnier said that negative stories about predatory lending to limited-English speakers have hurt the whole industry and the proposed law is an "appropriate and prudent" one.

(from MortgageNewsWatcho.com, 6/10/07
http://www.mortgagenewswatch.com/newsviewer.php?ppa=%3Aqsvv%5F%5BmroooopUTeb%7DGL%7Dbfem%5E%21)

Puede el banco comprar seguro de casa contra mi voluntad?

Si tienes una hipoteca sobre tu casa, tienes que tener seguro contra incendios (hazard/fire insurance) por requisito de banco.  Si no tienes hipoteca (la casa es 100% tuya) aun es muy recomendable que tengas segura por si se quema, etc. Si no tienes seguro el banco te manda un carta enqual te dice que si no obtienes seguro ellos van a obtener el seguro y tu lo tiendes que pagar.Si tienes seguro tienes que mandales copia de la "policy" como prueba.

The Power of the Latino Vote. Let's get something in return

Through our Vote comes Political Power. Through Political Power comes the power to change

how we live, how we are treated, our economic, educational well being, and of course home ownership

and  immigration.

 

So the 2008 Presidential  campaign has started and the Latino vote will be fought for.  Let's make them earn our vote,

lets make them keep their promises (which is very unlikely), and let's, therefore, get something in return for

our community as the candidates seek our vote and supports.

 

Let's get real just immigration reform, affordable housing, have banks better serve us, health care for all, and the list goes on.

 

Here are some highlights about the campaigns and Latinos, from from Cnn.com, http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/31/hispanics.2008.ap/index.html

Latinos are the U.S.'s largest and fastest-growing minority group
• Early voting states Florida, California and New York have large Latino populations
• President Bush captured 40 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, most ever for GOP
• As the Latino population has grown, so has the rate of voting participation

 

Hispanics tend to lean Democratic in national elections, but President Bush showed in 2004 that Republicans have much at stake. Bush captured about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote that year, the most ever for a GOP presidential candidate. His Democratic rival, John Kerry, won 53 percent, down from the 62 percent former Vice President Al Gore garnered in 2000.

California's Hispanic population is nearing 36 percent -- more than double the U.S. average. However, Latino historically vote in numbers well below their share of the population, in part because many are either too young to vote, unregistered or foreign citizens.

Are we making our living at the Cost of the working Poor?

A new study shows that subprime loans are affecting blacks and Latinos more than other groups.
And what is sad is that a lot of these groups could have qualified for non subprime loans.As a real estate and loan agent, I think that many of us perhaps don't intentionally want to hurt our clients, but we fail to do our work and chose the easy path of getting our
client subprime loans because (1) the banks tells that we should because they are easier to get,or (2) we intentionally do it to get a greater compensation.If we really do care about of clients then we should start questioning the loan programs the banks/lenders are asking to submit.
Are we making our living at the Cost of the working Poor?
For more info see
http://money.canoe.ca/News/Sectors/BanksFinance/2007/05/19/4193328-cp.html

Short Sales & Taxes / Venta De Casa Por Menos De Lo Que Se debe al Banco

Very simply: A short sale is when you sell (must sell) your house for less than what you owe the bank on your mortgage.The difference between what you owe the bank and what the bank accepts as sales price may be tax by the IRS as ordinary income, capital gains. Please see a real estate tax expert.

Usted vende su casa por un "Short Sale" cuando tiene que venderla por menos de lo que le debe al banco por la hipoteca. Usted podra tener que pagar impuestos (Federlales, Estateles) en la cantidad de lo que el banco le perdona.

Credit & Mortgages for Undocument people

Americans for Legal Immigraton(http://www.alipac.us/article1676.html) DOES NOT want
Banks to offer credit cards or mortgage to undocumented U.S. residents. They are fighting banks like Bank of America, Citibank and others working with ACORN
(a housing advocate, www.acornhousing.org) to faciliate borrowers getting home loans using their Tax Payer Id. Number(ITIN).

Also Representative John T. Doolittle R-California has introduced a bill in Congress that would prohibit financial institutions from providing home mortgages to anyone who lacks a Social Security number. The bill (H.R. 480) would amend the Truth in
Lending Act to make ITIN mortgage lending illegal.

As a real estate professional this will hurt our industry especially in the current slow market conditions, it will hurt banks,
and of all will hurt consumers who need credit cards, mortgages in order to participate in modern society. Isn't this hurting all of us?

SUBJECT: Late Mortgage Payments/Pagos atrasados

PREGUNTA:   Hi, mi nombre es XXX. ytengo un problema, estoy apunto de regresar la casa a los bancos ya que mis mensualidades subieron demasiado. no he podido refinanciar ya ke tengo dos pagos tarde, mi credit score es 603,587 y 562, no puedo obtener full doc. porke mis ingresos son $3250.00 por mes, lo que devo al banco por la casa es el monto de $310,000.00 tengo dos montos el primero es por $248,000.00 y el segundo por $61,000.00compre la casa en el 2005 por el precio de $310,000.00 solo 6 meses atras la casa fue valuada en $350,000.00 pero mis vecinos estan vendiendo sus casas por menos dinero la ultima que se vendio fue por $310,000.00, no se si ustedes hacen refinanciamientos tambien, espero me puedan ayudar con la informacion que les he descrito, de antemano gracias.

 

RESPUESTA:  Gracias por enviar su informacion muy completa.

De acuerda a su informacion, asumo que ya le llego una carta "NOTICE OF DEFAULT"?

Si ya tiende 2 pagos atrasados, y no ha llegado a un acuerdo con el banco, despues de el "NOTICE OF DEFAULT" viene el Foreclosure(remate, reposocion for falta de pago.)

 

Analisando su caso: credito score menus de 680, el total de hipoteca versus el valor de su casa, no sera facil un refinanciamento...

Soluicones posibles:

1. un prestamo privado (hard money loan) : estos préstamos son basados en la "equity" (plusvalia) su casa y el interes es mas alto que de los bancos tradicionales...Pero crea que no es opcion para usted debido a que no hay suficiente plus valia.

 

2. Puedo usted vender su casa ANTES DE FORECLOSURE en lo que se llame el SHORT SALE...en un Short Sale se negocia con el banco para que le autorizen vender su casa por menos de los que se debe.

 

3. Ultimamente, se busco aun amigo/familia que quiera comprar su casa.

 

Pero si la razon es que no puedo con los pagos mensuales opcion 1 es la mejo opcion entre ambas malas opciones.

 

WOMEN MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO RECEIVE SUBPRIME HOME MORTGAGES

For more info see : http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/WomenPrimeTargetsPressRelease.pdf


WOMEN MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO RECEIVE SUBPRIME HOME MORTGAGES
Women represent nearly 40 percent of subprime borrowers, making it more difficult for women-led households to build wealth through homeownership, according to a recent study by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). Last year, 32 percent of women borrowers received mortgages with interest rates exceeding the average prime mortgage rate of 5.87 percent compared with 24.2 percent of men. The study, which examined 4.4 million mortgage originations throughout the country where borrowers were identified by their gender, also found that more than one in 10 women received high-cost subprime loans with interest rates above 9.66 percent.

The disparity between the rate of subprime lending for men and women grows as income levels increase, according to the study. Women earning double the median income are 46.4 percent more likely to obtain a subprime mortgage than men with similar incomes. "Evidence suggests that women have slightly higher credit scores on average than men and similar credit usage patterns, yet the fact that women are more likely to receive more expensive mortgages at all income levels undercuts the lending industries calm assurances that borrowers are priced based on their creditworthiness," said Allen Fishbein, CFA's director of housing and credit policy.

The Hypocrisy of Money & Immigration

WE WANT YOUR MONEY BUT GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY:
I am in San Francisco, and the last few weeks there has been a lot talk about ICE(immigration police) rounding up undocumented people in the surrounding cities: Redwood City, Pittsburg, San Pablo, Richmond, San Francisco.

ICE it is only those who have deportation or criminal records, but the fact is there a families, children, long time residents (nondocumented) who being deported and whose families are being destroy.

The Church is silent and so are the financial institutions: Banks, Mortgage companies, etc.
And here is the hypocrisy of Money!

As a loan agent I see all the advertisement by Banks, Car Dealerships targeting the illegal person: Credit cards, mortgage loans, loans of any type with a Tax Payer Id (ie. No Social Security Number).

So the message is clear: Get out of our country if you are illegal, but we want your money. Open up bank accounts, credit cards, get home loans, refinance.

Since persception is reality, and since we are babies of the media/advertise age, these financial institution should do more to bring public awareness of how valuable this target group is for them and for all of us.

Negative Loans(also called Pick A Payment)

I am getting a lot of calls from borrowers who can longer afford their pick a payment loans. These are the loans that say that your interest rate 1, 2. 3%.A lot of the borrowers are saying that they never understood them or that this type of loan was never fully explained. As a real estate agent, I get a bit frustrated when buyers claim they are "innocent." I think a lot of buyers ignore the consequences of their decisions and DREAM that the problems will go away.However, I do believe that lenders have been very ,very agressive in their marketing of the Negative Loan programs, and we as Loan Agents, have been seduced by such marketingand as good "sales people" push these products even when we know THE NUMBERS don't make sense.For example, from day 1, a Wholesaler kept pushing us, kep training us to market/sell the Negative Programs. She explained how it all made sense and even brought us their calculators to quickly see 'HOW MUCH MORE MANY YOU COULD MAKE BY ONLY PAYING THE MINIMUM PAYMENT (LESS THAN FULL INTEREST" AND SAVE THE REST INTO A SAVINGS ACCOUNT."Example of what she said. You regular payment would be 3,000 interest only, principle & interest would 3,500, but your minimum would be 1,800.So pay 1,800, and the rest put into a savings account. When one of my colleagues challenge her by saying: that this only made sense if you earned enough in savings to make sense she got very upset at my colleague. Now almost 2 years later, we see the result of a lot of people losing their homes due to not being able to pay the deferred interest.So I have to tell borrowers and agents, if it is too good to make sense then it is.And as agents we owe a duty to explain the "worst" case scenarious to our buyers.It is very sad to have to tell my prospects when they call that there is nothing I can could to help.

¿Qué es un "Blog"?

¿Qué es un "Blog"? Es parecido a los foros o un tablón de anuncios/mensajes de un foro. La palabra BLOG viene de weblog. Quedó la "B" y se adirió a LOG, y quedó BLOG. Es "un sitio 'web' que contiene un diario personal en línea con reflexiones, comentarios y enlaces. El "blog" es semejante a un diario en línea. Cualquier tipo de información puede ser presentado en un blog, de historias acerca de una vacaciones de la familia al comentario exhaustivo en la política de mundo. Además, la mayoría de los blogs permiten a visitantes para anunciar las respuestas para bloguear artículos o entradas y salir la reacción para la persona que corre el sitio, conocido como un "blogger". En términos generales, un blog es una manera rápida, fácil y divertida de establecer una presencia en línea.

¿Quién puede vender bienes raíces?

¿Quién puede vender bienes raíces? Sólo una persona que tiene una licencia de bienes raíces lo puede ayudar a comprar una casa.Usted puede verificar si esta persona tiene una licencia en el internet http://www.dre.ca.gov. O hablenos para confirmar.

¿Que es el Good Faith Estimate?

¿Que es el Good Faith Estimate?

El "Good Faith Estimate" es un estimacion de los gastos del prestamo 'en buena fe.' Por ley esta lista de cargos se te tiene que entregar dentro 3 dias y en escrito de tu aplicacion.

new Contra Costa Ordinances. Buyers/Sellers/Agent be careful.

I recently sold a house in Richmond, CA and thanks to my client I realized that Contra Costa had passed several Point of Sale ordinaces that almost caught by surprise.

What is also alarming is that a lot offices/agents who work and live in Richmond don't them these and are not providing the disclosures and inspections necessary.

here are the ordiances, as far as I can interpret them:
1. Seller has to perform a lateral sewer inspection before selling. Or buyer has to do this 60 days after close of escrow.
If the Sever Inspection shows problems the Seller has to fix the problems unless the buyer signs to assume responsibility.
The City says that they will send the new Buyer a notice if not done.

2. The Gas Valve installation is necessary. Again, unless the buyer assumes responsibility, the seller has to order and pay for this.

The cost for sewer inspection(video) runs from $175 to $250, and if problems arise the cost to fix them will be from 3,000 to 6,000.

The Gas Valve cost is $275.00

Is an affordable REALLY affordable.

This is the story from the San Francisco Chronicle about a home buyer who waited many, many years to be able to afford your own home (a 450 square foot Studio Condo) in San Francisco.  The unit was bought through help from the Mayor's office of housing which helps you buy a condo below market price. So to make a long story short. She leaves a rent control flat, buys this studio unit, and then the HOA start increase, the Special Assessments start coming and she can not afford the Dues of Assessments.

 

I note that one of the problems with the mixed income levels of the buyers. Those with more money want more ammenties therefore increaseing the HOA dues.

more infor read at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/archive/2007/01/19/carollloyd.DTL

 

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Acorn Housing can you help a loan with better home mortgage rates.

Acorn has partnered with Bank of American and CitiCorp to offer home buyers discount and better home mortgage rates.

 

For loans using not a social security number but a tax payer id (ITIN), borrowers can work with CitiCorp. Visit www.Acornhousing.org for more informatino.They have offices in Oakland and San Jose.

 

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Everyone is raving about