Elizabeth Weintraub's Discussions

There are income guidelines for down payment assistance programs in Sacramento, and I am concerned that you probably make too much money to qualify for them. Lenders will want to look at your last two years' of income tax returns, plus a couple of payroll stubs to determine your past and future income.However, the good news is you have another option. You can go FHA, which has no income restrictions. The higher your FICO score, the better interest rate you will receive as FHA has pricing on tiers. The minimum down payment is 2.85%, and the seller is allowed to pay up to 3% of your closing costs. If you don't have the down payment, you are allowed to receive those funds as a gift (without repayment requirements), which most first-time home buyers typically receive from their parents or other family member.Hook up with a good real estate agent who understands financing and has worked with first-time home buyers. These agents can typically refer you to a lender who does a large volume of loans with these programs, and that lender can answer all your questions.Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Broker

According to MLS stats for Sacramento County, closed sales are up 40% for April and up 42% for May 2008 over the same time last year. Inventory has fallen by 1/3 over last year. Interest rates are attractive, hovering around 6%. Prices are almost slashed and on par with late 2003. If this isn't the bottom, we're very close to it.

I know FHA loans very well. Even as a REALTOR. :) That's why I do so many of them. The minimum down payment is 2.85%. With certain circumstances, sellers can pay more toward closing costs, but the standard, for most people, is 3%. Plus, there are tiers for getting the best interest rate, and they have a wide range as follows: 850-680 * 679-640 * 639-600 * 599-560 *559-500 * 499-300.Cheers.

It's easier to figure affordability based on gross monthly income instead of net. Even then, you can't really use a percentage, you need to rely on your situation, suitability and comfort level. You're pretty safe to use 28% of your gross monthly income as the qualifying number on the front end, then add your debt service to that new mortgage payment to determine if you're too heavy on the back end. You really don't want to go over 41% of your monthly gross on the back end and the lower, the better.

No good loans are available under those conditions, but there are always hard-money lenders willing to lend at a higher rate and cost.Another approach might be to team up with a partner who can lend assets and credit to help you buy in return for a portion of equity.

So, you're saying that a loan modification, which slashes the home owner's mortgage in half, reduces interest below 5% and drops the mortgage payment by 50% is not beneficial to the borrower? Or that selling on a short sale, avoiding foreclosure, restoring the ability to buy another home in 2 years or less, is somehow harmful?In Sacramento, cleaning up the foreclosure mess seems to be a priority for most people. 

I've been watching the numbers of foreclosures climb for months and wondering what happened to all those homes. They're not showing up in MLS. So, yes, I think banks are sandbagging, waiting for the spring market.It's unlikely that they are selling them all in bulk to investors. Some banks might be renting out the homes. Even though their charters may prevent this, all they have to do is deed the homes into a holding company and then rent them.But I do suspect a flood of foreclosures is coming. Whether they will all hit the market at the same time is questionable, but inventory appears to be superficially low. Keeping inventory down increases demand.

When you first arrive on the page with homes, you'll see a list of all the homes for sale. But you have to click on "comparable homes" to get a list of homes that have sold.However, if you're viewing the property itself, then the comparable sales are located to the right and the bottom.

I feel the same way. There is no reason not to pursue a short sale, which often sell around 10% under market value, and there are ways to prevent another buyer from swiping the home will waiting for approval.All I can say is more business for us Sacramento short sale agents and less for other agents around us. :) Sshhh. Don't let the secret out, LOL.

You can wait several months for short sale approval and just before the approval letter is issued, another buyer can come along, submit a higher offer, and the seller can insist that the bank consider that offer instead of yours. If the bank takes the second offer, you're out on the street, especially if you signed a short sale addendum, which specifically allows the seller to continue marketing the property and send other offers to the bank.Your short sale offer is contingent upon bank approval. It's a contingent offer.