Lender Heart

Today I conclude my series of articles answering the question, is now the right time to buy a home in Sacramento? Today’s final article is, “Do you know what you want in a home?” and can be seen over at Rocklin & Roseville Today in my real estate column. If you missed the previous articles and would like to read the entire series you can find it on my personal website.

This is a short holiday weekend and we have continued to be busy with Sacramento short sales. Most lenders, other than Countrywide, seem to have a pretty good process and appear to be working at getting as many closed before the end of the year. Countrywide seems confused and disorganized compared to other lenders and the impression we get is that they just don’t care if the house goes to foreclosure. Bank of America better start paying attention and get the bleeding stopped or we will be seeing yet another bank bailout.

Speaking of foreclosures the folks at ING Direct, a large internet based lender, have warmed the cockles of our hearts this week by announcing they would suspend all evictions through January 15th, “in the spirit of the holidays.” They are going to toss them out after Christmas rather than before, once again proving there are big hearts in the mortgage lending business.

Thanks Jim!

As much as I enjoy maintaining my blog there are days when I feel like I have to write a post and times when other tasks pressure me to publish and run. I was thinking about this earlier this week when I went to Mikie’s parent-teacher conference. The subject was writing and how much he has improved since last year. We were looking at some of Mikie’s writing and his teacher told Mikie he would be able to correct some of his mistakes if he took time to read what he wrote. She said, “All good writers read what they write.”

I think sometimes I am guilty of letting spell-check do my reading. If there are no red, green or blue underlined words it must be good to go. This morning I got an email from a good friend on the East Coast who, I like to believe, reads my blog occasionally to see what we are doing out here. He wrote, “I just wanted you to know the latest, fourth blog should have been proofed by someone other than the spell check! ;-) FOURTH not FORTH!”

Thank you Jim, I am going to take your email as a queue to slow down, enjoy blogging and do more than spell-check before I publish. I won’t promise there will not be errors or better ways to write something but you can be assured that I have read what I wrote.

Buying a Sacramento Home?

Today I published my fourth in a series of five articles examining the question, Is now the right time to buy a home in Sacramento. You can read it in my real estate column, “How much can you pay for a home in Sacramento,” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.

I think the question, is now the right time to buy, is important in light of the current market and economic conditions. So far I have received some positive feedback on the series and hope it helps a few potential buyers make the right decision in regards to purchasing a home in Roseville, Sacramento or anywhere in the area. You can see the entire series of articles on my personal website, http://www.jalone.com/. They are located on here.

As some of you know I am spending the week in Alaska. As much as I love living in the Roseville area, it is always nice to be back in The Last Frontier. This week it is very cold in Anchorage. Today is forecast to be the warmest since I have been here, 16 degrees. Yes, that is cold but it has been clear and very pretty too.

Back home the MagnumOne Realty office has been very busy, especially with some of our short sales. Dealing with the lenders can be trying and is takes much more time than it should but when you finally get an approval, it sure makes everyone involved feel good. Last but not least one of our agents just got her first contract signed. She helped her buyers find their “perfect home” and the offer was accepted by the seller yesterday. We have lots of work to get the sale closed but I want to congratulate Kara Green on her fist sale. Great job Kara, we know there will be many more!

Are you financially prepared for home ownership?

I just posted my third of a five part series dealing with the question, “Is it the right time to buy a home in Sacramento?” The article is posted over at Rocklin & Roseville Today as part of my real estate column, “Is it the right time – are you financially prepared to be a homeowner.” If you want to read the entire series you can find all five articles on my personal website.
Just being out and about today has to make you feel good. Here we are in the second half of November and the sun is out, the sky is blue and it is warm. What more could you ask for.

In the real estate business, we have been busy. I spent all day Friday out with a great new buyer. His company is looking for a home or multi-family unit where his employees can live while they are working on several projects here in the Sacramento area. We saw some interesting properties and went to a few neighborhoods I hope to never see again. In addition, our Short Sale negotiator has been having some success with a few lenders and getting short sales approved.

Working with the lenders is a difficult and long task. Unfortunately they appear to view us as the enemy rather than someone helping them avoid a larger loss. After you get them approved there is nothing more frustrating than having the buyer bail. This happened last week on one of our Sacramento listings. If you or someone you know is looking for a great investment or starter home, this property on 73rd Street is a great deal and the bank is ready to go!

Four Questions to Consdier When Buying a Home

Since I was a bit off my game last week I thought I would spend Veteran’s day morning catching up on my real estate column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today. Well as can happen when you have not been writing for awhile my article, which I try to keep not more than six paragraphs long turned out to be an epic on is now the right time to buy a home in Sacramento. I decided to publish in five parts and introduction and then examining the four questions I feel buyers, especially first-time buyers should consider to determine in now is a good time to buy a home. The questions I pose are, should you stay where you are, are you financially prepared to be a homeowner, how much can you pay for a home and do you know what you want in a home.

Check out the introduction, “Is now a good time to buy a home in Sacramento” and watch for the sequels over the next few days or you can find the index to the full series on my personal website, Jalone.com.

Veteran’s Day: I want to thank all of the people who have served our country and especially those who are on active duty today. Michael’s son Mark, who is a veteran of three tours in Iraq and has been awarded the Purple Heart, is currently stationed as an instructor at Fort Knox. We talked to him today to wish him a happy Veteran’s Day and sure enough he had to work!