Your house is underwater and you are considering a short sale in order to avoid foreclosure. It’s important to know your options.

This calculator will crunch the numbers for you and help give you a clearer picture of the cost involved with staying in your home.

Hit submit and then check your email for the results.

Even the best homes on the market still face the issue of getting the buyer’s attention to show them that it’s better. And that comes down to price because that is how buyers search for homes.

Today over 90% of buyers use the internet to search for homes. Also this is how the majority of agents notify their clients of the best homes they should see right away. Let’s consider how a typical online home search is conducted and you will immediately see why it is so important to price your home correctly.

The average home buyer enters in just a few search criteria. Price is first and then the city or zip code and then the minimum number of bedrooms and bathrooms. From this data the typical MLS (Multiple Listing Service) will display tens or hundreds of listings that meet the buyer’s needs.  From that list the buyer and their agent quickly scroll through to find a few homes they want to visit in person.

Search results group homes in price brackets or ranges which may be $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 dollar increments. It varies but the face that these brackets exist and drive what buyers ant their agents see is critical in pricing right. When you price your home out of it’s optimal price bracket, the buyer sees homes in the next price bracket which may be larger and have more features and amenities in comparison to your home your home. Effectively what you’re doing is insuring that people who view your home in the higher price bracket are finding your home among hundreds of homes that may be newer, bigger and perhaps have more amenities.

Keep in mind that the buyer and the buyer’s agent are eliminating choices immediately without ever setting foot in the home based solely on online photos, descriptions and price that may put your home at a disadvantage.

Essentially, by pricing your home in the next price bracket, your home may be eliminated by the right buyer, without them even having a chance to view it in person. What’s worse, the right buyers, those searching for a home just like yours and all that your home has to offer may not even see your home in their search results. And wouldn’t even have an opportunity to make it one of the few they decide to tour in person.

To compete and win, your house has to offer the most room and amenities for the best possible price compared to competing seller’s houses.

To find out how to price your home to sell quickly and for top dollar, contact Lee Williams Today.

In 1981 it took 36% of the average families budget to buy a home. Now it takes less than  15%. If you’re looking to buy it looks like history is on your side. For more reasons why now is a great time to buy real estate here in the Los Angeles South Bay give Lee Williams a call to set up a free strategy session to discuss your options. (310) 400-6389

Find homes in Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Harbor City, Hermosa Beach, Lakewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, San Pedro, Torrance, and Wilmington.

Are you waiting for the “Perfect Moment” to purchase a home here in the Los Angeles South Bay? Homes in Torrance, Palos Verdes and San Pedro are selling fast and at low low prices.

With mortgage rates hitting rock bottom, now is the perfect time to make the most of your money. Low interest rates mean lower monthly payments and you can build equity more quickly. That means building your wealth, not your banks!

House Flipping in the South Bay is Back. Once again investors are finding Foreclosure Deals in Carson, Torrance, San Pedro, Palos Verdes and other South Bay cities, fixing them up and flipping for a profit.

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  Dos and Don’ts of Homebuyer Incentives

  Homebuyer incentives can be smart marketing or a waste of money. Find out when and how to use them.

  Be sure you’re sending the right message to buyers when you throw in a homebuyer incentive to encourage them to purchase your home. 

  When you’re selling your home, the idea of adding a sweetener to the transaction—whether it’s a decorating allowance, a home warranty, or a big-screen TV—can be a smart use of marketing funds. To ensure it’s not a big waste, follow these dos and don’ts: 

  Read more: http://buyandsell.houselogic.com/articles/dos-and-donts-homebuyer-incentives/#ixzz1FTVlORYw

   Read

   

Freddie Mac analysts point to five features that they believe will likely characterize the 2011 housing and mortgage markets:

1. Low mortgage rates. With Fed observers expecting the central bank to keep the federal funds rate at its current target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent for most (or all) of 2011, relatively low mortgage rates will be a feature of the 2011 mortgage market. Thirty-year fixed-rate loans are likely to remain below 5 percent throughout the year, and initial rates of 5/1 hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages will likely remain below 4 percent in 2011.

2. Prices have hit bottom. House prices are likely to begin a gradual, but sustained recovery in the second half of 2011.

3. Housing will remain affordable. With affordability high, many first-time buyers will be attracted to the housing market in the New Year, likely translating into more home sales in 2011 than in 2010.

4. Refinances will dwindle. Many eligible borrowers have already refinanced and the federal Making Home Affordable refinance program is expiring on June 30. While fixed-rate loans are likely to remain low, they will move up gradually, making it even less likely that refinances will be attractive to most home owners.

5. Delinquency rates will decline. Based on the last several business cycles, the share of loans that are 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure proceedings — known as the “seriously delinquent rate” — generally crests within a year of the start of the recovery in payroll employment, and this economic recovery appears to fit within that pattern. Payrolls began to rise last January, and by the spring the seriously delinquent rate had begun to fall.

Source: Freddie Mac (12/09/2010)

When it was time for George Gabelman to cook up some offers for his home, he hired a real estate agent. And he picked one the same way most people do:

“He was a personal friend. I live in New Jersey and I come down here visiting and I met him one day and we got to be friends.”

Is that how you were hired where you work? Look, you’re paying 6% of your home’s value for this person. Make sure you get your money’s worth.

Boil it down, and agents get paid big bucks for two reasons: one, first, they have access to Multiple Listing, that exposes your home to the most potential buyers. Second, they should be good at marketing that house. .

And that’s where you separate the wheat from the chaff. How? By asking the same questions you were asked when you applied for your job. Like experience:

“I’m new. I’m new in the business. Only 28 years.”

And effectiveness. How much property have you personally sold in the last year?

“In the last year, I have sold nearly 20 million dollars.”

And then how are you specifically planning to market my property? What’s your plan?

“Newspaper advertising is usually done today just for the benefit of the owner. But that’s not how a piece of property gets sold. Internet. Internet, internet, internet.”

And then there’s the feeling you get…the same feeling that someone had the day they hired you.

Bottom line? Selling a home is tough, especially these days. If you’re going to hire help, get your money’s worth.

By August 1, 2010, all servicers who are participating in Making Home Affordable will be helping homeowners who are struggling to stay current because of unemployment.

Here are the details:

Forbearance Plan Eligibility:

A borrower must meet the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) eligibility criteria as well as:

• be unemployed when request is made;
• be entitled to receive unemployment benefits in the month of the UP forbearance plan effective date (servicers have discretion to require a borrower to have received unemployment benefits for up to three months before commencement of the forbearance plan); and
• request an UP forbearance plan before they become seriously delinquent (i.e., miss three monthly mortgage payments).

Forbearance Plan Evaluation:

Servicers must follow these requirements when evaluating a borrower for an UP forbearance plan:

• Unemployed borrowers who request assistance for HAMP must first be evaluated for an UP forbearance plan. If they qualify, they must be offered an UP forbearance plan before they can be considered for HAMP.
• Borrowers currently in a HAMP trial period plan who become unemployed may receive an UP forbearance plan if they have missed less than three monthly payments as of the first payment due date of the HAMP trial period plan. If they do qualify, their existing HAMP trial period plan must be cancelled and the UP forbearance plan must immediately begin without waiting until the borrower has received three months of unemployment benefits.
• Borrowers previously determined to be ineligible for a HAMP modification may request an UP forbearance plan if they meet the eligibility requirements.
• Borrowers in a permanent HAMP modification who become unemployed are not eligible for an UP forbearance plan.

Forbearance Plan Terms

• Term must be three months or upon reemployment (whichever is less). Servicers may extend this period according to their investor/regulatory guidelines.
• Monthly mortgage payment must be reduced to less than or equal to 31% of the borrower’s gross monthly household income and may be suspended in full.

Transition to HAMP

• Borrowers in an UP forbearance plan will be evaluated for HAMP at either reemployment or 30 days prior to the UP forbearance period expiring (whichever happens first).

For those with questions (after speaking with your servicer), you can talk with a HUD-approved housing counselor by calling 1-888-995-HOPE (4673).