Prudential California Realty took a real estate outlook survey in 2010 and found most Southern California and San Diego North County buyers think now is the time to buy.

There are only 10 of homebuyers that did not think this is the  time to buy.  If you have been on the fence, get in the game and find your Escondido home now.  Contact Gary Harmon, one of the top Escondido Realtors, for more information.

San Diego North County buyers see the market moving towards stability

The number of Southern California consumers who believe the Escondido real estate market and other San Diego North County real estate markets are stable outnumber the percent who believe the market is unstable.

There are only 29% of Souther California buyers that think the real estate market is unstable.  That leaves 71% implying that “the time to buy Escondido real estate  is NOW.”

Most Escondido real estate buyers believe the real estate market is on an upward trajectory

Over 26 % of homebuyers think the Escondido real estate market is stronger than it was a year ago.  And, one year from now, 51% expedct to see the San Diego North county real estate market even stronger.  The survey only saw 7% who thought it would be weaker.  With market and prices going up, now is the time to contact Gary Harmon, your top North County realtor.

North County buyers see potential for appreciation in both short and long term

North County buyers see appreciation coming.  Over 46% of Souther California buyers expect real estate prices to apreciate in the next year.  Current data for San Diego North County shows that is actually happening.  In the next 5 years, 79% expect prices to increase.  Don’t let this good market pass you by, contact Gary Harmon today.

Current interest rates help make the time to buy NOW

HomeServices Lending is one of Gary Harmon’s Winning Team members.  Contact them for current rates and to get prequalified today.

For an experience Escondido real estate agent, contact Gary Harmon, your top Escondido Realtor.

If you are buying Escondido real estate or other North County homes, the first thing you need to do is to determine if you can afford the payments.  If you like to do-it-yourself, the tables below will help get you off to a good start.  If you would like professional help, call me and I will put introduce you to one of my team members at HomeServices Lending. 

To estimate your monthly principal and interest mortgage payment, divide the loan amount by $1000 and multiply by the payment factors below for the interest rate and loan term you are considering.  This factor does not include San Diego North County property taxes.  You can estimate the basic anual taxes by multiplying 1.2% times the purchase price of the Escondido home.  You will also have homeowners insurance, possibly homeowners association dues, pmi, and maybe even Mello Roos taxes.  Too confusing, contact Gary Harmon, your North County Realtor for a personal explaination.

Gary Harmon specializes in Carlsbad ocean view property, Encinitas ocean view property, Oceanside ocean view property, as well as all properties in  Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido.  Contact Gary Harmon,  your top North County Realtor.

Do It Yourself?

Thinking of selling your North County home?  Want it to look its best?  Giving your San Diego North County home a minor facelift may equate to a larger investment than you are willing or able to make.   Should you try to do the minor facelift on your North County house yourself or should you hire a professional to do the job.  To make an informed decision, consider the level of skill required, do you have the tools necessary,  how much time will it take, and can you get the job done correctly the first time.  If you need professional help you should hire the help you need.

Doing it yourself when selling your North County home is very little different than the minor facelift.

Gary Harmon has the skill level and is the right North County professional for the job.  Gary has the right tools, see Gary Harmon’s Winning Team.  Gary has over 20 years of experience with Prudential California Realty, helping sellers get top dollar for their North County homes.  And finally, Gary has the time to dedicate to the sale of your North County home and will get it right the first  time.

For help selling your home today, contact Gary Harmon, you top North County Realtor.   Don’t loose money and time trying to “Do it Yourself.”  Put Gary Harmon and his team to work for you today.

Inserted article is courtesy of Joyce Nathan of HomeServices Lending San Diego North County.

Legislation was signed into California law in December 2009 effecting us here in North County. Escondido home buyers and Escondido home sellers should be aware of several points:

1.A seller of REO residential Escondido real estate with four or fewer units “shall not require directly or indirectly as a condition of selling the Escondido property that title insurance covering the Escondido property or escrow service provided in connection with the sale of the property be purchased by the buyer from a particular title insurer or escrow agent.” In plain language it means that the bank, selling bank owned property, can’t require you the Escondido buyer to user their title insurance company or their escrow company. This is only true if you the buyer are paying for these services. Gary’s winning team member, Pickford Escrow and The Escrow Firm have closed over 9,000 REO (bank real estate owned) transactions in the last 18 months.
2.The bill provides that “sale” is intended by the Legislature to “include the receipt of an offer to purchase that residential Escondido property.” – means it is intended to prohibit sellers from conditioning the receipt of an offer to buy an Escondido REO property on the buyer’s agreement to use a specific title insurer or escrow agent. That means the bank has to look at your offer reguardless of which title or escrow company you choose. California Title Company, one of Gary’s winning team members is also experienced in bank REO’s sales.
3.AB 957 does NOT prohibit an Escondido buyer “from agreeing to accept the services of a title insurer or escrow agent recommended by the seller” PROVIDED THAT “written notice of the right to make an independent selection of those services is first provided by the seller to the buyer.” That means it is ok to use who the bank recommends provided they disclose that it is your choice.
4.AB 957 only applies to title insurance or escrow services “purchased by” or paid for by the Escondido buyer. That means if the bank is paying for both sides, they get to pick.
5.A seller who violates AB 957 “Shall be liable to a buyer in an amount equal to three times all charges made for the title insurance or escrow service.” A violation of AB 957 is also deemed to be a violation of the seller’s license law which can subject the seller to discipline by its licensing entity.

For more information reguarding AB 957, contact Gary or HomeServices Lending.

• Do provide your confidential financial and personal info to your trusted mortgage lender.  Gary Harmon, your Escondid0 Realtor, has been in the Escondido real estate business locally and can help you choose a trusted lender.
• Do always be totally honest when completing the Escondido home loan application.
• Do request and keep copies of everything you provide to the lenders and everything you are ask to sign.  If you feel uncomfortable, call Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor for advice.
• Do review the Good Faith Estimate of Closing Cost carefully.
• Do ask about any parties being paid if you are unfamiliar with their names.
• Do ask about any fees that you may not understand.
• Do lock in your interest rate as soon as you get a rate you like.
• Do read everything presented to you before you sign.  Don’t let anyone rush you.

Follow the do’s and don’ts of these last post for a better Escondido home loan experience.   For more information, call Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.

HomeServices Lending

When you are in the market to buy Escondido real estate, the first thing you should do is to get pre-qualified with a lender.  I recommend HomeServices Lending and Charla Rueda at Bank of America.  During the process of buying your Escondido home and getting a loan here are some  “Don’ts” that can help avoid mortgage fraud.

When getting your Escondido home mortgage:

• Don’t provide false information about your job, income, credit or bank accounts.
• Don’t lend your credit info or social security # to anyone so they can take out a loan in your name.
• Don’t close on any loan on an Escondido house that has any false of misleading information.
• Don’t use appraisals that have incorrect or inflated values on the Escondido home.
• Don’t use down payment or earnest money that did not come from you.
• Don’t pay your good faith deposit to anyone except Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor or directly to the escrow company you are using for the Escondido home purchase.
• Don’t let anyone sign anything for you during the Escondido real estate purchase.
• Don’t expect to get “paid” for purchasing a home.  You will need to bring a certified check to escrow prior to closing on your Escondido property.
• Don’t pay anyone any additional fees or cost for the loan after it closes.  When in doubt, check with Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.

The Do’s of mortgage fraud prevention tips will be listed in a p0st to follow.  For Escondido real estate information that you can trust, contact Gary Harmon, your top Escondido Realtor.

The government is stepping in once again under a RESPA reform to try to protect the Escondido home buyer.  The problem has been where the lenders upfront “good-faith estimate” is way off from what the actual charges are on the Escondido real estate purchase at close of escrow. This has been especially true in title insurance and settlement charges. Starting January 1, 2010, there will be three categories of charges; Escondido home fees that cannot increase from upfront estimates, fees that have a 10% wiggle factor, and fees that can increase without limit.

Zero Increase Category

• Escondido home loan origination fees
• Points for a specific interest rate
• San Diego County transfer taxes
• Processing and underwriting charges

Basicially, if the lender has total control, they must be totally accurate.

10% Increase Category

Charges in this category apply to the total of all charges and not to any individual charge.

• Title services and the lender’s title insurance policy when the lender requires you to use their preferred services
• San Diego County recording charges
• Other services selected by the lender such as the appraiser, credit report, or upfront MIP

Note, the above charges are charges the lender has some control over, but not total control.  The government gives them 10% wiggle room.

Charges That Can Change Without Limit

These are charges totally selected by the Escondido buyer and the lender does not have any control.

• Initial escrow deposit
• Daily interest charges
• Escondido real estate homeowner’s insurance
• Borrower chosen Escondido home title insurance
• Escondido purchaser escorw charges where buyer chose escrow

Hopefully, these new RESPA guidelines will stop surprises at the closing of your Escondido home.   Questions about these charges, please contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor, or Joyce Nathan at HomeServices Lending.

1. Will you provide local in person services.  Sometimes Internet lenders are hard to work with?
2. Are you a licensed mortgage broker or mortgage banker.  Mortgage broker’s, like Joyce Nathan at Home Services Lending, usually have access to a larger variety of lenders?
3. Once I get a loan approval, is the approval guaranteed?
4. Do you provide a Good Faith Estimate to me and my Escondido Realtor, Gary Harmon?
5. Will you let me know up front what fees that you expect me to pay out of pocket?
6. How long does getting a loan from Home Services Lending take?
7. At what point in the process can we lock the rate on my Escondido home.
8. Is Home Services Lending available nights and weekends if I need to lock a rate or if I need to get answers to questions reguarding my loan?
9. What kind of loan conditions are there ( gift letters, proof or funds, bank statements, etc.)?Do you have a quick automatic underwriting process for my Escondido home loan?
10. Can Home Services Lending guide me in selecting the right loan program?
11. When do we get the Escondido real estate I  am buying appraised?
12. How far in advance of close of escrow on my Escondido property does the mortgage package go out?
13. Do I have to pay mortgage insurance and what determines how much?
14. Can you guarantee that you will meet my commitment date ?
15. Does Home Services Lending guarantee closing dates?
16. Do you review the final Hud-1 Settlement Statement before closing?
17. Do you do wire fund transfers?
18. Will you be available to answers even after closing on my Esocondido home?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac making reckless loans with low or no down payments have got us in one of the largest financial recessions in history.  Escondido sellers have definitely felt the pain.  Trillions are being spent to try to fix the problem, but is history just repeating itself in a different form.  This year FHA has been the financing resource that cash strapped Escondido buyers have looked to to buy Escondido real estate.  The problem in a nut-shell is that the buyers using FHA finaning have very little “skin in the game.”  These Escondido home buyers have been able to get loans with only 3.5% down.  The minute a Escondido home closes escrow the owner is already upside down if they needed to sell the home.  (It takes about 7.5% in commissions and cost to sell a home so if someone only put down 3%, they are already 4.5% in the hole when they close escrow.)   This just leads to less committment by buyers and more Escondido real estate foreclosures or short sales.  These problems cause the FHA financial problems.

An independent actuarial study has found that the FHA’s insurance fund reserves are far below where they should be and far below the congressionally mandated minimums.  Althought FHA won’t be going away, they must find ways to increase their reserves and to become more financially stable.

Higher Down Payments

One of the ways the FHA could improve their position is to require higher down payments than the current requirement of 3.5 %.    Fannie Mae’s chief credit officer in the 80’s who is now a mortgage industry consultant recommends 10%.    The new requirement will probably end up at closer to 5% which borders on more irresponsible lending.

Higher Mortgage Insurance

FHA currently charges 1.75% of the loan amount for mortgage insurance premiums.  These are paid through escrow and are paid upfront.  Most Escondido home buyers would just roll that into their loan.  In addition to the upfront mortgage insurance payment, FHA charges an annual premium, paid in monthly installments, of .5 to .55 percent depending on the down payment amount.  FHA is considering an upfront of 2% and and annual increase to .6 %. 

Cutting Escondido Home Seller Concessions

On of the attractive features of the FHA financing is that the agency has allowed seller concessions of up to 6% of the purchase price to go towards loan cost and closing cost.  Once again this encourages buyers to have little or no “skin in the game.”  Many in congress would like to see this decreased to around 2 %. 

Tighter Credit Standards

FHA is by far the easiest and most flexible player when evaluating a buyers creditworthiness.  It doesn’t even have a minimum FICO score requirement.  FHA is also more tolerant of Escondido buyers credit history than other lenders.  FHA tends to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  For example, I just had a buyer that could not get a conventional loan even with 47% down and FHA approved the same buyer’s loan with only minimum down.

It is clear that the FHA needs to improve and tighten up its practices .  Is FHA going away? No!  If your are considering buying Escondido real estate in the near future and are thinking of going FHA, you might want to get that Escondido home purchased before the FHA changes and tightens the rules.

Where to Start

In todays tough Escondido real estate market you have to be ready to make an offer on Escondido homes the minute the homes hits the market.  Many Escondido homes are short sales or bank owned properties (REO’s).  This type of Escondido real estate often sells the first weekend it hits the San Diego North County mls.  You can find these homes by using Escondido homes for Sale mls search.  

Pre-Approval from a Lender

Finding Escondido homes isn’t enough.  To be ready to buy you home you must already have a pre-approval from a good lender.  Gary Harmon has chosen Home Services Lenders ( a Wells Fargo affiliate) as a member of Gary’s Winning Team.  Joyce Nathan and Gary can guide you through all the steps of getting the right loan.  If you prefer an outside lender, Gary has gotten great results with Charla Rueda of Bank of America.

Write the Best Escondido Real Estate Offer

You now must write an offer to get the best possible deal on your Escondido home purchase.  A good agent like Gary Harmon will go over some of the things you might want to consider or include in your offer or counter offer.  Some of these things may make the difference in your ability to purchase.  Call Gary today at 760-745-1220 and get started buying your Escondido dream home.