Wait A Sec...Costco Realty?Some people are Starbucks junkies, others are devout Mac users, many are followers of the House of O aka Oprah and then there are those, like me, who are campaigning that Costco be recognized as it's own religion...ok maybe it's not that serious. But Costco is one of my favorite places to shop. Have you ever been to one? They have everything there. The prices are great for what you get. And let's not forget to mention the food. Not only can you snack while you... Read Full Story

Housing Bill: What It Means for Buyers by Hassan Nicholás As you may or may not know a Housing bill, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, was signed into law about a month ago, on July 30th. We’ve received some questions about it from some of our “viewers” so we’d figure we would put together a summary of what this new bill means for first-time home buyers. Incentive for this legislation came out of the need for more foreclosure prevention measures. The tax credit feature of... Read Full Story

News Wire: Charitable Down Payment Assistance Programs...Gone by Hassan Nicholas OK, so...remember that entry I wrote about the legitimacy of charitable down payment assistance programs? I had my suspicions and it appears I wasn’t the only one. Recently the Department of Housing and Urban Development aka HUD announced a rule intended to exclude “quid-pro-quo” down payment assistance programs. The popular program permitted FHA borrowers to receive cash gifts/contributions, directly or... Read Full Story

Hassan's 6 Picks for First-time Home-buyers WalkSource - A very interesting site that lets you type in an address and measure the 'walkability' of that area. The score takes into account amenities, parks, business listings, etc. but does not take into account proximity to public transportation, crime, and other factors. All in all, it's still an interesting site and another tool to help in your house hunting. I input our organization's address to see how we faired. Look at the image below... Read Full Story

News Wire: CalHFA's Community Home Loan Program The State has just launched a new program to help those first-time home buyers interested in purchasing Real Estate Owned (REO) properties located in selected counties and zip codes in California. Under the Community Home Loan Program participating financial institutions will provide a special sales price on their eligible REOs located in specified areas, at below market interest rates and 100% financing. Remember that other CalHFA 1st loan... Read Full Story

News Wire: Citi's ACCESS program will give first-time home buyers more access by Hassan Nicholás Citibank sheds a little hope for anxious first-time home buyers. If you are an anxious buyer waiting for the City of LA to replenish funds into it's first-time home buyer program you are surely not alone. In fact, these days it seems as though there is a collective frustration with down payment assistance programs in general. Subject to local government budget allocations, strict income... Read Full Story

New Homebuyer FYI #5 Pocket Listings - Think the MLS is the home buyer's panacea for all house hunting needs? The MLS may not be as comprehensive as you thought simply because many properties for sale never make it on to the MLS. These properties, called "pocket listings" are bought "in-house" or "off-market" to a preferred buyer - usually someone who has a special relationship with a seller or real estate agent. In some large real estate brokerages it is common practice to give their agents... Read Full Story

Charitable Down Payment Assistance Programs: Friend or Faux? Charitable organizations that offer down payment assistance programs have been under heat in general for the potential "loop hole" risks and other issues outlined by HUD, the IRS, and real estate professionals. Typically offering between 1 and 3%, charitable organization offering down payment assistance receive a contribution from participating seller while simultaneously giving the buyer a gift to be used as assistance for... Read Full Story

New Homebuyer FYI #4 by Hassan Nicholás Supplemental Tax - Most home buyers are unaware of or don’t understand supplemental property tax, but if you’re not prepared it could be quite a payment shock. The tax is an additional tax beyond the normal annual tax you would pay for any increase in the value of the property as determined by the assessor. For a home buyer, this means any increase of value from the former assessed value, an addition of a room onto the house, a new pool and any... Read Full Story

Down Payment Assistance using Real Numbers by Hassan Nicholás By request we have been asked to do a demonstration of how using a down payment assistance program could work with alleviating higher costs and narrowing the affordability gap between buyers and home prices. The bottow example uses the County of Los Angeles HOP (Home Ownership Program), ADDI (American Dream Down Payment Initiative), and MCC (Mortgage Credit Certificate) programs to illustrate this concept: HOP offers a... Read Full Story