Mortgage Impound Accounts - What are they?

Mortgage Impound Account Payments

The purpose of a mortgage impound account is to have you pay the lender each month:

-your regular loan payment

-income taxes

-hazard insurance


The first charge is a lender charge. The other two charges are third party charges that you must pay periodically or annually. Instead of waiting around to pay these amounts, the lender collects this from you monthly.

Mortgage Impound Account Purpose

The lenders collects this money and pays it on your behalf, in theory. In practice sometimes they are late with this, so you need to keep on top of this.

Lenders often give a borrower a discount on their interest rate if they agree to pay their additional expenses such as taxes and insurance on a monthly basis.

The purpose of this is to make sure you don't get behind on paying these other charges.

Some lenders can require that you do this every month. This is usually if the size of your loan is over 90% of the value of your property. This can vary from lender to lender and state to state.

When comparing offers from lenders you can check to see if the rate reflects these impound accounts and the discount that goes with it.

It is also important to know what your total monthly payment will be after you get your new mortgage loan. If it includes impounds this can end up being several hundred dollars more per month extra.

Below Market Rate Housing in San Francisco (Lotttery)

The San Francisco Below Market Rate ("BMR") Inclusionary Housing Program requires developers to sell 15% of units in new, private developments at a "below-market-rate" price that is affordable to low to moderate income households. The program is administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing (known as "MOH") and currently includes over 750 ownership units. At least 100 new units to become available each year.

To get into a BMR an applicant is placed into a lottery and there are no guarantee!

Program Highlights:

How the BMR Units are Priced?

Most BMR units are priced to be affordable to median income households spending no more than 33% of their income on housing expenses. We price the units to include condominium association fees, property taxes, the current interest rate, and we assume a 10% down payment from the buyer.

Maximum Income

The majority of projects will be available to households with a combined income of no more than 100% of median income, although some will be available to households whose income is at 80% or 120% of median income. The amounts are adjusted on an annual basis. Our office will update these income maximums between March and May of each year.

100% of Median Income for the City and County of San Francisco 2008

*
A one person household can make no more than $58,050
*
A two person household can make no more than $66,300
*
A three person household can make no more than $74,600
*
A four person household can make no more than $82,900
*
A five person household can make no more than $89,550


For more information please visit the following website: San Francisco BMR

6 Month Increase in Home Prices - San Francisco & San Mateo Counties!

The chart above shows the index levels for the U.S. National Home Price Index, as well as its annual returns. As of the 3rd quarter of 2009, average home prices across the United States are at similar levels to what they were in autumn 2003. The 3rd quarter values show improvement over the previous two quarters of 2009 and have risen well off their recent bottom.

The 10-City and 20-City Composites continue to show monthly improvement in their annual return figures. Both composites emerged from double-digit annual declines with September's report, the first time in 21 months. In addition, 19 of the 20 metro areas saw improvement in their annual returns compared to the previous month, Cleveland being the only exception.

San Francisco and Washington DC have reported six consecutive months of positive returns. Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego and the two Composites were close behind with five consecutive months of positive returns. In addition to the two Composites, nine of the MSAs reported positive monthly returns for September and four of those -- Chicago, Detroit Minneapolis and San Francisco -- were greater than +1.0%.

Winter Home Sales - Normally Slower...NOT this Winter!

House shopping usually slows down in the winter, as people put their home searches on hold to trim the tree, buy presents to put under it and avoid the chilly weather. This winter, however, might be different!

What is different for the Real Estate Market this Season?

Reason #1:

We're going to see far more interest in the fourth quarter than we generally do because of the tax credit. Traffic surged on Trulia.com on Nov. 5th due to the extension of the home buying tax credit. The new law extends tha tax credit for First-Time home buyers. This will create a higher volume of interest this Holiday Season.

(To Read more on the tax credit click on link: $8,000 Tax Credit)


Reason #2:

Low interest rates will create a desire for home buyers to take action this Winter Season. The Real Estate makret along with other aspects of the Economy have seen positive improvement creating the "act now" attitude with buyers in Today's market. Rates will not be where they are at Today a year from now. if positive movement continues with the Economy, the cost to borrow money will become higher to balance inflation.

Reason #3:

The Winter Season has always been a great time to get a "deal' in the Real Estate market. If you were Selling your home, would you want buyers coming through while you were getting ready for family and friends? Sellers that stay on the market during this time "need to sell". This allows buyers to negotiate better terms and price on homes still on the market. Also, because there will be less amount of buyers out there looking, in turn this will be less competition for you as a buyer.

If you would like a FREE buyer Consultation contact George today! (415) 336-8191

Happy Holidays!
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Bay Area Real Estate Makes A Comeback!

Bay Area home prices have begun to rise from the depth of a 3 year slump. Homes are now selling for 3.8% more.

Prices on bank owned properties are driving the market. There was an 11% surge in home sales over $500,000. We are now seeing multiple offers and homes going for over asking price.

Inventory of homes is about 50% less than a year ago. Buyers seem to have confidence that the market has hit bottom and are taking action.


If you would like a market analysis on homes in your area please feel free to contact me and I will provide a detailed FREE report.

To watch a full report click on link! http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6982902

Dine! Shop! Drink! Join us Tonight!

On Wednesday, November 18, 2009 thousands of friends, neighbors and associates in San Francisco will support loved ones and friends living with HIV/AIDS and battling breast cancer by supporting local participating restaurants, merchants and bars. They will join hundreds of Zephyr Real Estate agents by simply spending a day and/or night out in their neighborhood dining, shopping and drinking with friends, family and colleagues.

Click Here For Participating Shops, Restaurants & Bars!

Spend a night out for AIDS and Breast Cancer
Participation is affordable and fun!
Dine Around at neighborhood restaurants
Shop Around at local merchants
Drink Around at your favorite bars
Invite your friends, family and colleagues out to support local chefs, merchants and business owners
Participating restaurants, merchants and bars will donate a portion of their proceeds for the day to AIDS Emergency Fund and Breast Cancer Emergency Fund
AEF and BCEF provide emergency assistance to more than 2700 clients each year when they are too sick to pay their bills
Due to our low overhead, nearly 100% of proceeds benefit AEF/BCEF’s clients in need

FREE Home Buying Seminar! RSVP Today!

9 Tips for Improving Your Credit Score

Below are 9 Tips to Help Improve your Credit Score.

1) Review your current credit report or accuracy. Everyone is entitled to one free credit report a year. You should get one from each credit bureau - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Check to make sure that the information (Name, Social Security Number & Address) are correct. It's very common for your credit reports to have mistakes and incorrect information. At minimum make sure the information you are being evaluated on is correct.

2) Repair credit report mistakes. If you find something on your credit report that is incorrect or missing you should dispute the mistake by contacting the credit bureaus. Each bureau has their own dispute procedures on their website. They are required by law to investigate it and have a response within 30 days.

3) Pay your bills on time. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Payment history accounts for roughly 35% of yoru credit score.

4) Increase the length of your credit history. This accounts for about 15% of your score. Don't cancel old cards or open a lot of new ones in a short time span.

5) keep credit card balances low. It's a good idea to keep the balances below 25% of your available credit. This account for roughly 30% of your score.

6) Keep new credit requests to a minimum. This accounts for 10% of your score. If you are trying to get a loan don't apply for credit cards first.

7) Beware that paying off collection accounts will NOT remove it from your credit report. It will stay on your credit for 7 years.

8) Pay off your debt rather than moving it around. The most effective way to improve your credit scores is to pay down your debt. in fact, owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts may lower your score.

9) Beware of credit-repair scams. By all means, don't pay someone to wipe away the negative items in your file. If they don't follow through, the damaging items will reappear in two or three months.

Weekly Poll - Take the Quiz!

I am trying a new Weekly Poll. This will be done every Friday!

Please type your answer below. Results will be posted at the end of the weekend!


What's the most impressive feature you'd love in a kitchen?

A) Two Dishwashers
B) Wine Steward
C) Modern Lighting
D) Lot's of Cabinets
E) Granite Countertops
F) Built-In Expresso
G) Two Sinks
H) An Island
I) 6 Burner Professional Stove


*** Please type your answer below under comments. You may only choose one**

Home Improvements under $5,000 and benefit Sellers!

Top 12 do-it-yourself Home Improvements that Cost under $5,000 and benefit Sellers.

*Please not ROI stands for Return On Investment

1) Cleaning and De-cluttering ($200 Cost/ $1,700 price increase / 872% ROI)

2) Home Staging ($300 Cost / $1,780 price increase / 586% ROI)

3) Lightening and Brightening ($230 Cost / $1,300 price increase / 572% ROI)

4) Landscaping ($320 Cost / $1,500 price increase / 473% ROI)

5) Repairing Plumbing ($385 Cost / $1,250 price increase / 327% ROI)

Rounding out the top 12, the list of low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements includes: updating electrical, replacing or shampooing carpets, painting interior walls, repairing damages floors, updating kitchen, painting outside of home, and updating bathroom/s.

The home improvement projects with the highest price increases to a home's resale value are updating the kitchen ($1,200 cost / $2,850 price increase), followed by painting outside of the home ($900 cost / $1,815 price increase) and home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 [price increase).

Cleaning and de-cluttering continues to rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2000), recommended by 98% of Realtors, costing less than $200 and returning a value of nearly $1,700 to the home's sale price, or an 5872% return on investment.

Information provided by HomeGains.com

What is a "Good Faith Deposit?"

So you have found a home that you love and want to place an offer.

The agent says "Bring your check book for the initial deposit." What does this mean?

In the contract on page 1 (California Residential & San Francisco), there is a place for the buyer to state how much of an initial deposit they are placing into Escrow for the home they would like to purchase. This does not mean that the property will be held for you or that it gets taken off the market. Although it does show 'Pending show" on the Multiple Listing Service. This allows the seller to still market the property, but advises agents and buyers that and offer has been place on the property. Until the release of contingencies from the buyer the property is still on the market. Contingencies allows the buyer to investigate the property, disclosures and secure the appropriate financing. The initial deposit is more like a goodwill gesture, indicating to the seller that you are serious about the prospective purchase.

How much is a typical initial deposit?

A typical initial deposit is 3% (Three Percent) of the purchase price. Ex: On a $500,000 home the deposit would be $15,000. The check is made out to the Title Company and dated according to the purchase agreement. Once the offer is accepted or ratified the check is deposited into the Escrow account within 3 business days.

What happens to the Deposit when we close Escrow?

When it's time to close Escrow, the 3% will be applied toward the required funds needed from the buyer. Required funds could include lender closing costs, inspections billed to Escrow, down payment, points paid, escrow fees or anything that is non-recurring.

For a FREE Buyer Consultation on the Home Buying Process call George Today!
(415) 336-8191

Building Built in the 80's? Sorry, you're out?

If you don't live in an apartment built after 1979, you might not realize that such buildings aren't covered by the city's rent control ordinance.

That means tenants in those buildings can be evicted at the whim of the landlord.

That would change under a proposed ordinance from Supervisor John Avalos that would extend so-called "just cause" eviction rights to basically all renters in San Francisco, meaning they could only be evicted for about 15 approved reasons, such as failing to pay rent or the owner moving in.

The proposed ordinance would not confer rental price controls to post-1979 properties.

Avalos said the economic crisis has made the need for the legislation acute because tenants were being evicted from buildings that were foreclosed on. Foreclosure is not an approved reason for evictions from pre-1979 buildings.

"Tenants are being hit hard in the city," Avalos said at a Board of Supervisor's committee hearing Monday. "It seems to me like we want to make sure the playing field is even."

Berkeley has similar eviction rights for almost all renters, and supporters call it a matter of basic fairness. The Housing Rights Committee, tenant advocates who back Avalos' proposal, said between 16,000 and 23,000 rental units in San Francisco don't have "just cause" eviction protection.

Landlords and builders, though, said more regulations will dry up construction loans and kill incentive to create rental housing, shrinking available apartment stocks and city tax revenue.

"Enough is enough," said David Fix. "I was an excellent landlord, but you drove me out of the business. ... This is another solution in search of a problem."

The board's land use committee is to further consider Avalos' measure next week.

Four Ways to Stage Your Home. Create Well-Rounded First Impression

Feeling good about a home and a neighborhood is part and parcel of making the decision to buy, so staging a home should involve more than just raising the charm factor. Look for ways to also make the house say "safe and secure" to ensure a more well-rounded first impression.

Here are some options for sellers to consider:

1. Hedging your bet-Trimming the bushes at the front entry and near the windows of the home adds curb appeal and opens sight lines around entrances.

2. Security with style- choose attractive storm doors and entry doors with more secure locking options.

3. Light it up- Motion-activated lighting, timer controls and dusk-to-dawn options paired with path lighting and landscape lighting means the curb appeal of the home doesn't go down with the sun.

4. High-tech peace of mind- Easy-to-install, whole-home wireless security systems and monitoring means you can control locks, lights and cameras from a computer or cell phone.

Leverage the opportunity to show a home's strength by marrying curb appeal and charm with few upgrades that deliver on peace of mind.

Call George today for a FREE Consultation on Preparing your Home for Sale!

Great News! $8,000 tax Credit Extended until April 2010

Today the Senate passed the extension on the $8,000 tax credit. The home buyer tax credit was due to expire in 28 days. The Senate has passed the extension until April 30th, 2010.

The $8,000 maximum first-timer credit will continue and will now be available to couples with income up to $225,000, a nearly $55,000 increase above the level in existing law.

What is new in the law?

$6,500 maxiumum credit would be available to move-up homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years.

The tax credit has fired the housing market, driving existing home sales to the highest level in over two years. Sales jumped 9.4% according to the National Association of Realtors!