Fremont Real Estate Blog

Just got this bit of news from BayEast. -sunil Government Affairs Action for the Week of February 21, 2010 by David C. Stark, Public Affairs Director Masonic Homes pulls plug on Union City Development: On Friday, Feb. 26 representatives of the Masonic Homes (a senior housing facility in the foothills north of Union City) announced the cancellation of plans to develop land on parcels just north of Mission Blvd. Current economic conditions were cited as the primary reason for not pursuing the development. The proposed development would have included a variety of residential and commercial uses along with a recreation center and a church. Development of the site would have required Union City voters to approve a ballot measure moving the boundaries of the existing hillside protection ordinance. The development of the site had already become a political hot potato with members of the City Council split on the issue and community groups organizing to oppose the project. It was anticipa

Pete Stark, Forwarded me the following, and he’s right. Let’s focuses on building good values and opportunities. -sunil   OPPOSING DEFENSE SPENDING Congress passed a $636 billion defense spending bill in December.  The  bill included almost $137 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan — which  doesn't even include the cost of the 30,000 additional troops  announced by the President.  I have never voted for a Defense spending  bill in my career in Congress, and I did not vote for this one. The President now wants to freeze non-military spending for three  years, ignoring that defense is the biggest source of waste in our  budget.  Much of the money in the 2010 spending bill is for projects  the Pentagon doesn't want -— like $2.5 billion in unrequested funds  for C-17 aircraft, and $465 million for a new jet engine for the Joint  Strike Fighter.  We are still spending $10.3 billion on missile  defense systems that don't work. The United States accounted for 41.5 perc

I didn’t see much press on this.   Thanks First Tuesday, for passing this along. You only raise rates when you think it’s time to put some brakes on.     Discount window interest rate raised by 0.25% Effective February 19, 2010, the interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) to banks for emergency loans...     -sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Sunil Sethi / Broker, President, REALTOR, MBA / SUNIL SETHI  REAL ESTATE 38750 Paseo Padre Pwky Suite B3 / Fremont, CA 94536 Main 510 200 0505 / Cell 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046   sunil@sunilsethi.com     My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com      My blog: http://fremontrealestate.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766  

That’s all good, but I was thinking about this during the open houses I held this weekend.   On the one hand you have the Fannie and Freddie who’s lending guidelines still allow DTIs (Debt to Income ratios) up to 45% . That means 45% of a household’s gross income can go toward housing payments, and then you have President Obmam’s loan modification plan which says if your DTi is greater than 31% you might qualify for a loan modification. Obviously, you can see the quagmire. Fannie and Freddie (two government agencies) are continuing to be aggressive in their underwriting standards, to support the housing market, but as soon as the loan are originated they are considered unaffordable according to the Obama’s loan mod program and good be modified as a result. That’s nuts!!!   Let’s do the right thing.     -sunil   From: FDIC Subscriptions [mailto:subscriptions@fdic.gov] Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 2:20 PM Subject: FDIC Subscriptions Press Releases Update

Sunil Sethi | SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE | 510-200-0505 1960 Barrymore Common, Unit E, Fremont, CA Beauitful Condo - Next to Central Park, Library, BART 2BR/2BA Condo offered at $265,000 Year Built 1981 Sq Footage 991 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors 1 Parking 1 Covered spaces Lot Size Unspecified HOA/Maint $307 per month DESCRIPTION Regular Sale - (not REO or Short sale) Newly painted inside, with new carpeting and new baseboards. Fantastic location, walk to BART, Central Park, Fremont Main Library, Police Station, central Fremont. HOA offers pool, clubhouse & beach volleyball. Safe community. OPEN HOUSE SAT/SUN 1-4PM FEB 20-21 see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Tile floor - Living room - Dining room - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Washer - Dryer - Laundry area - inside COMMUNITY FEATURES - C

State Income Tax on Cancellation of Debt in a Short Sale Here's a nice post from CAR legal discussing California's taxation of Cancellation of Debt Income. Posted using ShareThis

Those Who Wait Will Pay Thousands More This Spring Waiting a few extra days or weeks to purchase a home this spring could cost buyers thousands of extra dollars as the office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implements several changes for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Coming just weeks before the April 30 deadline for the Home Buyer Tax Credit and just days after the March 31 expiration of the Federal Reserve Board's mortgage backed securities purchase program (which has kept home loan rates artificially low for over a year), these FHA changes make it even more important to act now to save big. Here are a few reasons why: On April 5th, the cost of required up-front mortgage insurance for loans guaranteed by the FHA will increase from 1.75% to 2.25%. For a borrower purchasing a $200,000 home with a $7,000 down payment, the up-front mortgage insurance will increase by $965. Up-front mortgage insurance is typically financed in the final loan

Arrow Lecture: Jeffrey Sachs (Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University) February 18, 2010 If I wasn't married with kids, and living in the East Bay, I'd be at this event at Stanford to hear Jeffrey Sachs. -sunil

BofA Quadruples Completed HAMP Modifications In January, BofA completed 12,700 permanent loan modificatios under the Home Affodrable Modification Program (HAMP), which is a a 4 fold increase over December's 3,200 permanent loan modifcations. Yes, that's good news, but tell us what this means in context to number of applications in the pipeline. It's hard to determine meaning of statistic in isolation. -sunil www.sunilsethi.com

Video Marketing and Mortgage News Designed for Mortgage and Real Estate Sales It's definitely worth an inquiry into the transaction. These guys hold true to their story that OneWest got a sweet heart deal on the purchase of IndyMac assets. Can someone confirm the truth? -sunil

David Ellison: New Haven board flip-flops once again - San Jose Mercury News David, I agree with you. The board's decision making defies any financial logic. Their recent decision to re-open Bernard White, while having to consider closing another elementary, goes against any sort of common sense. In the end you can't spend more than you have in your pocket. As an institution, your decisions have to be based on budgets. Showing fiscal responsibility, teaches all to live within their means.

Rebuttal from FDIC from TBSW’s blog about their relationship with OneWest (see below)   Maybe Sheila doesn’t need to be chastised after all.   Sorry Sheila I thought the boys at TBSW had their facts right.   -sunil   Press Release FDIC Provides Additional Information on its Loss Share Agreement With OneWest Bank February 12, 2010 FDIC Director of Public Affairs Andrew Gray said, "It is unfortunate but necessary to respond to blatantly false claims in a web video that is being circulated about the loss-sharing agreement between the FDIC and OneWest Bank. Here are the facts: OneWest has not been paid one penny by the FDIC in loss-share claims. The loss-share agreement is limited to 7% of the total assets that OneWest services, and OneWest must first take more than $2.5 billion in losses before it can make a loss-share claim on owned assets. In order to be paid through loss share, OneWest must have adhered to the Home Afforda

I've been so busy, since the Grand Opening of my new office, I forgot to put up photos of it. To the left is Jamie, whose mom was the winner of Rum Cake Contest. I understand all proceeds of which will go back towards her downpayment. We drank a lot of my signature martini, and ate plenty of snacks. It was a lot of fun having you all over. I'll plan on something similar in the summer. Cheers, Sunil

Video Marketing and Mortgage News Designed for Mortgage and Real Estate Sales How can the common person take advantage of this money machine offer from the FDIC. Sheila I thought you were supposed to being the sensible one. This why government should be small and stay small. Get rid of insurance, reduce goverment, eliminate welfare and you will see people act more intelligently. -Sunil

FTC Rule Bans Up-Front Fees for Modifications DS News just informed me, that "The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule that would prohibit third parties, including loan modification specialists and loss mitigation attorneys, from collecting payment for foreclosure prevention services until after they obtain a documented offer from a lender or servicer for a modification or other form of mortgage relief." I think this is great news. You know I'm against anyone paying anyone for a loan modifification, since it's something anyone can do on their on. However, if they choose to be lazy, than ayone taking on the task should only be paid for accomplishing a loan mod, not just faxing over income and asset documentation. I'll be keeping my eye on this one. Cheers, Sunil www.sunilsethi.com

Did you know that the California Association of REALTORS offers 1 st time buyers a Free mortgage protection plan.   Get the details and application here to apply for the C.A.R.’s Free Mortgage Protection Plan   EXTENDED INTO 2010! Due to the popularity of this program, the qualifying period has been extended to December 31, 2010 or when allocated funds have depleted, whichever occurs first. On April 2, 2009 the Housing Affordability Fund launched a new program designed to provide peace of mind to first-time buyers who are hesitant to enter the housing market due to concerns about potential job loss, and subsequently being unable to meet their monthly mortgage obligations. Qualifying buyers can receive up to $1,500 a month for up to six months in the event of job loss, a qualified co-buyer can also receive a $750 benefit for up to six months to help pay the mortgage. Funding for this program was made possible by the generous contributions of REALTORS® and supporters of