Their Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams made the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.

Click Here to read about how USD surprised UCONN in the first round.

I would also like to note that USD’s business school was rated in the TOP 50 business schools for the 2nd year in a row.
I believe they were in the top 5 in the state!

If you are looking for a good suggestion for a great college experience I highly recommend the University of San Diego.

My deal of the week is 1401 Manzanita Lane, Manhattan Beach CA 90266 listed with Olivia Moreno of Real Estate West.

This is the cheapest Single family house in Manhattan Beach! And its not on Aviation or Rosecrans or Marine, its on Manzanita Lane (click to see map) one of the best streets in “Liberty Village”. It is small (approximately 884 sqft) but it looks to me like they use the attached garage as extra space, and it is nice sized lot (approximately 5,342 sqft.) It is 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. This house is ripe for the picking for a young couple or family that is willing to buy something in a great location and add on sooner or later.

OH YEAH the price just got reduced to $799,000!!! This will not be around much longer.

I asked Lorie to give me a quick recap on what she noticed going on in the market right now.
(For those who are reading this and don’t know who me or Lorie are CLICK HERE )

Well I’m no expert on really what is going on, I just know that property is still moving at a decent pace. I have clients call me and ask if a home they saw last year was still available? For the most part, the property sold but some just took them off the market. Its funny, when a home has some unique features such as a huge city view or ocean view, a west facing yard with the perfect access from a family room or a great floor plan. All of these type features are not always easy to find. So if its what you’re looking for why not buy it?
Their not a dime a dozen around here in the beach area.
Another thing that blows my mind are the people who spend anywhere from $3800 to $5500 per month or more for rent. Lets see, lets take the $3800 per month figure times 12 and that’s $45600 a year in rent, money down the drain, no interest write off. If you bought a house and it dropped $45,000 dollars while you are living there, at least you have the write off, a home to call your own and the opportunity that when the market turns around (AND IT WILL) you will reap the benefits rather than starting to look at homes that are rising instead of falling. Falling real estate prices are an opportunity for any buyer.
Of course let me say that here in the beach cities, we are not suffering like some of the other market areas. Those areas were saturated with tract homes and zero down buyers. We don’t have that over saturation here nor did most of the buyers jump into the market here with zero down. Look around you won’t find a lot of foreclosures here. If a seller doesn’t get a price that will make them somewhat happy, they will take it off the market or at a minimum, rent it.
I had an open house last weekend and 20 sets of “real” buyers” came through. It is totally a sign of buyers recognizing that now is a very good time to buy!

This is an email I received from Doug Smith of Stratis Financial. He is an amazing Mortgage Professional and a great person! I asked to explain what is going with the “stimulus package/increase in conforming loan rates”.

There has been a great deal of buzz in the media about the governments Stimulus Package, and in particular the increase to conforming loan limits. When the increase in loan limit to approximately 729k in Los Angeles County was made legal, the hope was that this would make it much easier for people to obtain financing on homes in the 600k to 900k price range. “Jumbo” loan programs have experienced an increase in rates, and more restrictive lending guidelines.

What may not have been thought all the way through is what would need to happen for these loan amounts to get carried out into actual loans. For this to happen, the loans need to have rates, guidelines, and credit standards that makes investors comfortable enough to buy them. Banks make loans, but they can’t stay in business if they can’t turn around and sell them. If this doesn’t happen, the increase in limit becomes somewhat moot. The best product in the world is no good if no one will buy it.

Thursday March 6th, Fannie Mae issued their first formal policy statement on this matter. It was an 8 page festival of numbers, so I will try to boil it down.

In a huge reach of creativity they are calling loans from 417k to 729k “Jumbo Conforming”, going into effect April 1. The big question has been what loan programs, what guidelines, and what rates they will offer:

Programs:

15 and 30 year fixed loans (no interest only), and a 5 Year fixed to ARM with interest only available.

Guidelines:

In Los Angeles County, it looks as though a minimum down payment of 15% is going to be required.

This is in stark contrast to existing Conforming loans below 417k, where a down payment of only 5% is required. In effect, these guidelines are at least as conservative as the guidelines for “regular” jumbo loans, so this part isn’t looking too “stimulating”.

The down payment, and other guidelines pertaining to credit, income, etc are almost exactly the same as the jumbo loan programs this program was supposed to supplement.

Rates:

They have not issued rate structures specific to these loans as yet, and are stating that they will do so in April. It is safe to assume that the rates on these loans will be somewhere between current conforming and jumbo rates.

What does this mean to us?

I know the media is barraging us with reports that it is here, and it is going to save the world, but unfortunately, it is not quite that simple. The credit markets will need to get used to this for us to be able to put it to any use saving money.

Right now the restrictions on loan-to-value, and the lack of clarity in rates are holding us back from making any moves.

I am continuing to watch these developments very closely for my best clients, and will let you know if I see something that will benefit you. I am not saying it won’t do anything for us, I am saying it can’t do so just yet. It is continuing to unfold.

Regards,

Doug Smith
www.StratisFinancial.com
Office (310) 370-9929

Hello….
After several bits of nagging from Dan, I have decided to add to his blog with some of my input of what’s happening in today’s market. First I must say, I’ve seen all the markets since 1979. I am officially reaching my 30 year mark of selling real estate, next year. I entered into the real estate field in 1975 but was not ready to jump into the trenches until 1979. I must have been selling real estate, which feels like 5 minutes, when the market in the early 80′s started to go south. Interest rates rose to a delightful 13% on first trust deeds and 18 to 20% on seconds. I know because I had an 18% second….yikes! (not to mention a 13.5% first).

That was then, this is now. Should I mention I also was at the party of the early 90′s when I didn’t think anyone had a job and everyone was fleeing California for Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. I had my best years in real estate. People still needed to buy and people still needed to sell. Prices were falling and deals were made. For all; those people who had the guts to buy in the 90′s…kudos to them! They well deserved the big pricing that occurred in 2000+. Yes, they deserved every penny of the equity they received. It was very hard to buy in the 90′s when prices fell and a “real” recession was here. We’re those the years of gas lines that made you wait 30 to 60 minutes, wrapped around the block, on your even or odd day?
Guts I say!
People bought homes for an investment but mostly for a place to live and call their own. If the market continued to drop…so what? We aren’t paying rent. When it turns around we hang on for the ride.

In 1993, A single mother of 2, commission sales in real estate and no alimony or any other source…I took the plunge and sold my small home to by a family home for me and my kids. I remember standing in the shower saying “I will make it, I will make it” and so I did, nose to grind, top producer in the biggest slump, I recognized myself and indicated to many of my clients, now was a great time to be a buyer. Did it pay off? I should say so.

So here today when the market is showing signs of some dropping, here I go again with my same speech. Why buy when the market is rising with in seconds and you are up against 5 to 10 other buyers for the same house, stressing beyond normalcy only to not get it OR to pay way beyond your means. Why not buy when the pressure is off, terms on YOUR terms and a chance to think about it. A chance to sit in the living room and get a feel for the home. 2 years ago, you made a decision about one of your most major purchases faster than making a decision on what pair of shoes to buy.

So if you get my drift, now is a great time to be a buyer. If you are also a seller, its all relative. Buy high, sell high, Buy low, sell low. If you sell for less now, you may not have as big as a capital gain tax. If you buy low you should have a lower property tax hit. If you buy now, you will probably get an interest rate in the 6′s. Hurry before they go to 13!!!!!!