Infinite Investment Realty

Bank of America is making a change in it’s short sale process that could make the transactions easier than ever before. Bank of America now allows real estate agents to submit a backup offer on a transaction if the original buyer has walked away from the sale. This means you will no longer have to initiate a new short sale; instead, you can continue with the original transaction in Equator and still work with your same short sale specialist. This change will save you time by not having to repeat a number of process steps.
Statistically, 50% of San Jose short sale contracts the first offer fails because the buyers walk away. The delay’s caused by starting the process all over again with a second offer made things frustrating for the sellers, buyers and their agents. This guideline will save time and I welcome the new change. I hope other lenders will followe Bank of America’s lead and allow short sale agents to work on backup offers if the original offer felt through.

Alan Nguyen, Broker
Brokeralan.com

I just refinanced 2 of my three investment properties. I pay the same mortgage but trimmed 6 years off of the previous mortgages. That is over $100K of saving per properties, and my payments to principles are increased monthly. So the question is, is refinancing your mortgage worth the cost?

There’s no hard-and-fast rule; it depends also on your balance. A 1 point drop on a $50,000 balance wouldn’t be as good as a half-point drop on $500,000.

What you really need to look at is how long it will take you to recoup your refinancing costs. These costs vary by lender and by the amount of your loan. Let’s say you got a $157,000 loan three years ago at 6.25 percent for 30 years. Your payment would be $967, and you’d have a balance of about $150,000.

If you refinanced that at 5 percent, your new payment would be $805. That would be a savings of $162 a month. If your closing costs were $3000, it would take you 15 months to recover your costs. Assuming you planned to be in the house for at least a little more than a year, the refinancing would be worth it.

Alan Nguyen, Broker

Governor Schwarzenegger today announced his 2010 proposals for California. Included in the proposals is a recommendation to set aside $200 million for a new round of $10,000 state tax credits for first-time home buyers. The proposal expands upon the initial $10,000 state tax credit by including both new and existing homes. Last year’s tax credit applied only to new homes.

The tax credit could be combined with the recently extended and expanded federal tax credit for home buyers.

Alan Nguyen, Broker