Sing up for drawing

To sign up for a $25.00 gift certificate at Christel's Boutique in the Marketplace--check commennts on this blog and leave me your name and email address.

SCPD Statistics for July '08

As of July 31 there are 132 active listings from a "Short Sale" (pre- foreclosure) listed at $240,000 for a Christofle to $1,015,000 for a Marseille on a privacy lot.

There were 12 pending sales in July from $205,000 for 1128 sq. ft. to $675,000 for a Monterey on a privacy lot (2439. sq. ft.)

There were 9 closed sales from $250,000 for a California Casual (110 sq. ft) to $525,000 for a Victoria (2430 sq. ft. )

The average price per sq. ft of closed sales was 196.98 and the average price was $376,000
Of the closed sales 5 were under $350,000 a 4 were between $430,000-525,000.

Of interest: In Palm Desert : # of sales Average sales price
Jan. to June 2007 382 $559,639
Jan. to June 2008 567 $472,209

In Sun City Palm Des. 127 $448.720
119 $408.071

Coming to the Valley

Coming to El Paseo:
1. Lucky Brand Dungarees--youth oriented brand--owned by Liz Claiborne Inc
2. Janie and Jack--A children's Store--owned by Gymboree
3. Mastor's Steakhouse--known for its elegant ambiance.
4. Banana Republic will move to larger space at El Paseo Village
5. Kate Spade
6. Juicy Couture and bebe

Buckles is open at Westfield Mall---geared to the younger shopper.

Body Balance for Perfomance on Dinah Shore--to improve health and golf

Reverse Mortgages

First of all I am not advocating for reverse mortgages. But this might help someone who needs money in these tough times.

Seniors, 62 or older, who have small or no mortgages on their homes are eligible to participate in HUD's reverse mortgage program. The program allows homeowners to borrow against the equity in their homes.
Homeowners receive a lump sum, or monthly payments fro as long as they live in their home.
Homeowners whose circumstances change can restructure their payment options.
The size of reverse mortgage loans is determined by the borrower's age, the interest rate and home's value. The older a borrower, the larger percentage of the home's value that can be borrowed.
There are no asset or income limitations on the borrower. There are no limits on the value of homes qualifying for a HUD reverse mortgage, but the amount borrowed is capped by maximum FHA limit up to $160,950
There are fees for borrowing . HUD's program collects funds from insurance premiums charged to borrowers. Seniors are charged 2% of the home's value, up front plus on-half percent on the loan balance each year.

Borrower Requirements;
age 62 or older
Own your property
Occupy your property as primary residence
Participate in a consumer information session by an approved counselor.

There are other reverse mortgage programs out there that are more generous. If you go back to one of my early blogs, I have an article on reverse mortgages.

CA home stats for June

From DataQuick:

A total of 35,202 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 6.6% from 33,024 in May and down 6.1% from June of last year. Last month's total made for the slowest June in DataQuick's stats since 1988.
Of the homes sold in June, 41.9% were foreclosure resales, up from 40.1% in May
Sun City Palm Desert had 19 homes sold in June with the median price $330,00.

Reducing Property taxes

You can apply for a reduction in property taxes at the Riverside County Tax Assessor;s office in Palm Springs. It costs nothing, so don;t reply to a letter from "Home Owners Tax Review where they want you to send $95.00 to them to apply for a reduction. The homes they used as comparables have nothing to do with your home.
Basically, people who bought before 2004, probably won't get much relief, but it is worth a try.
Let me know and I can get you the comps you will need to make your claim.

Financing still available

If you took every recent media report on the mortgage industry at face value, then you might think you could never get financing again. But the truth is that affordable financing is still available --and from a very familiar source.

The FHA--Federal Housing Administration -- is back. In reality, they never went away. Affordable loan programs from the FHA have been helping people buy the home of their dreams for over 70 years.

But when the subprime mortgage industry collapsed under its own weight last year, the news media was quick to report that the entire lending industry was in deep trouble. In truth, this is simply not the case.

What the media doesn't report is that since 1934, the FHA has been the steady source of insured loans for hundreds of thousands of Americans. These loans are not cycle-driven like the rest of the mortgage industry. What this means is the FHA loan underwriters look at your payment history, not the state of the market.

You are also not hearing the recent resurgence of VA loans. Like FHA loans, VA loans provide a level of security for families who might not qualify for a traditional bank loan.