It's the Time of the Season for Buying

You've heard the news. You've read all the opinion polls, waiting for the perfect time to jump into the market and buy your first home...your second home...your dream home. You scan Zillow, Redfin, Trulia & Realtor.com daily, filling every weekend with open houses in your desired neighborhoods.

But fears of market volatility and uncertain futures may be hindering your search, preventing you from taking the next step. Considering our economy's last 5 years, no one would blame you. The question, though, is when?

When will you know the time is right? With the endless barrage of available information, pro & con, positive & negative, red & blue; how do you cut through the noise, make an informed decision and step toward your goals for homeownership?

That next step is finding an informed and trusted professional to help your search along.

Though mortgage rates have risen over the past weeks, they are still quite low by historic standards, and buying remains cheaper than renting as long as rates are below 10.5%. At 4.26%, the current 30-year fixed rate according to Market Watch, buying is now 45% cheaper than renting. Even at 5%, buying is still 34% cheaper, and there's no indication of a drastic increase approaching.

Instead, we're seeing inventory beginning to swell after last year's drought, with sellers enticed by the promise of higher returns and dwindling negative equity. Hopefully this will bring some regulation to the spike in prices since last year (28% year-over-year in June), though prices will continue to rise steadily...

...which makes NOW the perfect time to enter, or re-enter, a market that is gaining steam but remains affordable to first-time buyers. Lock in your low rate, find your right home in our expanding pool of inventory, and invest in your dreams for homeownership!

The first step is just a phone call (or email, or text, or tweet) away...

RELATED ARTICLES:

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/expectation-for-rates-to-rise-spikes-in-latest-fannie-mae-survey-2013-07-08

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130708-904360.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/26/business/la-fi-mortgage-rates-20130626

http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2013/06/14/buying-cheaper-than-renting-til-mortgage-rates-hit-10-5/ 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2013/06/14/tight-housing-inventory-levels-ease-as-home-prices-rise-negative-equity-retreats/

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-fixed-mortgage-rates-drop-15-basis-points-current-rate-is-426-according-to-zillow-mortgage-rate-ticker-2013-07-16 

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/report-traditional-buyers-needed-to-fill-widening-void-from-cash-2013-07-16

Need to Buy or Sell? Check My Recent Sales & Listings!

Home Prices See Strong Gains in Q1

Data through March 2013, released May 28th by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, showed that all three composites posted double-digit annual increases. The 10-City and 20-City Composites increased 10.3 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively, with the national composite rising by 10.2 percent in the last four quarters. All 20 cities posted positive year-over-year growth.

In the first quarter of 2013, the national composite increased 1.2 percent. On a monthly basis, the 10- and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 1.4 percent. Charlotte, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and Tampa were the five MSAs to record their largest month-over-month gains in more than seven years.

Check out the S&P/Case-Shiller Los Angeles Home Price Index here!

Natalie's Newest Yelp Review!

Thanks for the great review, Helen!

"Natalie helped me buy my house 2 months ago. She knows this neighborhood really well, and seems to have sold most of the houses here at one time or another. She wrote a bazillion offers, with not a single complaint, and was not afraid to advise against certain properties, which saved me some big headaches!

She has tons of energy and is very straightforward and honest. I've recommended her to two friends already."

Click the Yelp button below to visit Natalie's business page for more rave reviews!
 

2239 W 24th St, Los Angeles, CA 90018

OFFERED at $999,000, 5 bd, 5 ba, 4200 sq.ft.

REMARKS:  The one we’ve been waiting for! Spectacular Southern Colonial all gussied up ready to make her debut! Done to the nines!–From the welcoming foyer with its dramatic staircase to spacious living room with handsome brick fireplace–opens to dramatic dining room that in turn opens to sun room with entertaining bar area…powder room & study with aqua glazed tile fireplace next to cooks kitchen perfect for entertaining, and expansive deck overlooking grassy backyard and garage and patio room. Second floor features 4 bedrooms, 3 baths,including the master suite with gorgeous master tile bath including claw foot tub, separate shower, as well as the large light filled den/sleeping porch. The third floor offers a huge open fifth bedroom and another bath. plus access to the portico balcony and the upper level back rooftop deck, with views of the Hollywood sign. Located in West Adams Terrace HPOZ, this Vintage charmer offers today’s amenities with the gracious charm of yesteryear!

DIRECTIONS:  South of Santa Monica Fwy, East of Arlington, west of Gramercy Place

Follow this link to visit the property website and click below for the photo tour!

1585 Park Grove Ave 90007

Loft alternative!!! Close to DTLA & USC--and near major freeways--so conveniently located! This Adorable Victorian Cottage circa 1896 will steal your heart! Corner lot with fenced yard and wrap around Veranda--the ideal place to sit a spell after a days work downtown--(also in the USC incentive zone--Faculty and Staff take note!) Double parlours, spacious foyer, 3 BR--2 sans closets, Formal Dining, updated kitchen and bath, new floors.

OFFERED AT $550,000

MLS#:  13-661993

BEDROOMS:  3

BATHROOMS:  1

APX SF: 1,663/VN

APX LSZ: 4,488/VN

 

Click below for the photo tour!

Guest Blogpost: Breaking Down the Shadow Inventory

By Sarah Parr

Recent statistics portray a positive picture for the real estate industry and consumer economy. A recent Corelogic report shows that the shadow inventory of homes has decreased 28 percent from when it peaked in 2010. As of early this year, the shadow inventory comprises approximately 2.2 million housing units, or in real estate terms, nine months of supply. CoreLogic calculated the number of very delinquent homes, properties in foreclosure and homes held as REOs (real estate-owned) by mortgage servicers, but are not yet listed on multiple listing services (MLS) to determine the shadow inventory figure.

The shadow inventory

The shadow inventory can refer to all of the homes held by banks, but not offered for sale, and homes that people are waiting to put on the market because they are expecting better prices in the future. The shadow inventory also consists of vacant “zombie foreclosures.” A lot of homeowners anticipate foreclosure and then move out of their house, leaving it vacant for a period of time while the mortgage lender contemplates foreclosure.

How it’s created

RealtyTRAC states that the finalization of the National Mortgage Settlement in April 2012 contributed to the growth of the shadow inventory because of a 59 percent spike in properties in some stage of foreclosure. Under the settlement, banks and lenders have been obliged to work with homeowners on loan modifications, preventing foreclosure and keeping these homes off the market. The states in which the shadow inventory grew are mostly judicial process states, and as Pine Hills, FL foreclosure lawyers will tell you, they are more prone to having a buildup of lengthy foreclosure cases in their courts.

Its impact on real estate

Experts in the real estate field initially feared properties in the shadow inventory would be listed simultaneously, leading to a decrease in property values in certain communities. According to Reuters, though, properties in the shadow inventory have been listed in small batches, and the low inventory has actually caused an increase in prices in some areas. Investment firms have also helped diminish potential flooding of the market by purchasing some of the shadow inventory, according to a TIME article. Investors buy out distressed real estate when it first hits the market. They often beat individual buyers with cash offers, sometimes before properties are listed.

Even so, a shadow inventory can create uncertainty both for homeowners looking to sell and for predicting when a specific local housing market can expect full recovery. The shadow inventory can also skew housing inventory data.

Sarah Parr is a Central Florida-based writer who blogs about foreclosure issues.

Shadow Inventory down 28% from '10