1^st time buyers can apply now for the addional bonus funds from the state of California Mortgage Credit Certificate program (MCC program)

What is MCC PROGRAM?The Mortgage Credit Certificate Program for First-time Home buyers is available for first-time home buyers purchasing their first home anywhere in

Santa Clara County. The Mortgage Credit Certificate Program gives first-time home buyers a federal income tax credit of up to 15% of the interest paid on their first mortgage loan each year the home buyer keeps the same mortgage loan and lives in the same home as their primary residence. What is the income requirement:

The Maximum Income Limits are:
1 or 2 person household = $94,500, low-income=$63,300 and for a

3 or more person household = $108,675, low-income=$72,795.
The Maximum Purchase Price Limits forResale homes are: $570,000 and New home (never been occupied) Units= $630,000

 

Note: MCC Programs CANNOT be combined with CalHFA first mortgage loans, but may be combined with other CalHFA second and third mortgage programs; ask your loan agent for details).

The realtor will help the 1^st home buyers go through the home buying process of finding their homes. The lender will determine if the applicant is eligible based on income, credit score, prices, property location and tax liability. This lender

determine if the applicant is eligible based on income, credit score, prices, property location and tax liability. This lender will help the buyers to apply the loan. If you have any question regarding the MCC program, you may contact the office of affordable house at sccgov.org.

Grace Keng, CRS, Rated number #2 featured Cupertino Realtor on Activerain.com and Localism.com. California relocation, local events, homeowner information and fun! Contact Grace at For more information on Grace Keng 408 733-8887, RE/MAX RES, Santa Clara County, San Mateo County of California 

MCC Santa Clara Coutny 1st time home buyer assistance program

Sunnyvale Bank own homes for sale

This Sunnyvale Bank own home just cute as a button.

It is at a beautiful trees-lined street in old Sunnyvale.

It has two bedrooms and one bath plus an office in the fornt part of the house. It will be perfectly for the home office. I like the large opened living room with fireplace and remodeled kitchen with granite countertops and oak cabinets, nicely landscaped in front yard. You will fall in love with granite. Move in ready.

 

Another Incredible bank owned

Sunnyvale home. Very low price and could go to the excellent

Homestead high schoo.l List Price in mid $ 500,00. For more information please contactgracekeng1@gmail.com for more information.Grace Keng, 408 733-8887 RE/MAX RES, CRS, Rated number #2 featured Cupertino Realtor on Activerain.com and Localism.com. California relocation, local events, homeowner information Silicon Valley homes, Santa Clara County, San Mateo County of California

Sunnyvale Bank owned home Sunnyvale foreclosure homes Sunnyvle REO homes

Before                                                                     After

A Santa Clara  investor  flipped a home in 3 months and walked away with profit.This home is 1865 CABRILLO AV, Santa Clara 95050. It was a bank owned home on May 30, 2008 which is an extremely lowed price for $375,250. It was a clean flat-top roof home with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath the 1 car garage converted to another living quarter with living room and 1 bedroom plus1 bath. The lot size is 7140 sf. I showed it to my client. He did not like the add on. Little I know…It sold in 3 days with 38 offers for $382,000 and it closed on July 2 2008. Two months later the house is painted in and out with new window covering. It is back on the market again for $499K on September 4 2008. It is sold again and closed on October 10 for $490,000.

Let me put the dates as follows:

5/30, 2008 listed $375,250

7/2/2008 closed & closed $ 382,000

9/4/2008 listed again $499,000

10/10,2008 sold & closed $490,000

It is pretty good for an investor to walk away $108,000 (before the cost) in short 3 months. I see the investor are flipping the house but the buyers are waiting.If you are have questions, please email or contact me.

Grace Keng, CRS, Silicon Valley, Northern California Real Estate Residential Specialist 408 733-8887

Rated number #2 featured Cupertino Realtor on Activerain.com and Localism.com. California relocation, local events, homeowner information and fun! For more information on Grace Keng Silicon Valley homes

First time home buyers who purchase a home on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009 are to receive a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price, up to $7,500 from the federal government. Check on http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/ for more detail

Who Qualifies for The First Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit.· Home was purchased between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

· Single taxpayers with the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI defined by IRS) up to $75,000 and married taxpayers with incomes of $150,000.

· The home you have purchased or plan to purchase has to be your principal residence supportLists

· You have not owned a home in the past 3 years.

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

· The tax credit is available for first-time home buyers only.

· The maximum credit amount is $7,500.

· The credit is available for homes purchased on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009.

Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. The tax credit works like an interest-free loan and must be repaid over a 15-year period. The $7,500 is a one time credit and is applied to the year in which the home purchase was made. However, this Tax Credit has to be repaid, interest free over the next 15 years back to Uncle Sam, starting 2 years after the home was purchased. Hence this government credit functions more as an interest-free loan. After receiving the Tax Credit if you decide to sell your home, the balance of what is not paid back to the Federal Government becomes due at the time of sale. If you are interested in receiving this tax credit, You can simply claim this $7,500 tax credit on your Federal Income Tax Return.If you have more question, regarding this please check with your tax consultant.

Grace Keng, CRS, Silicon Valley

408 733-8887 Rated number #2 featured

Cupertino Realtor on Activerain.com and Localism.com.

California relocation, local events, homeowner information and fun! For more information on Grace Keng Silicon Valley homes, RE/MAX RES, Santa Clara County, San Mateo County of California Click on gracekeng.com

The biggest financial news from yesterday and today is Fannie Mai and Freddie Mac takeover by government. In another words that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been placed into “conservatorship” and will be overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This takeover means that the government will temporarily run Fannie and Freddie until they are able to recover. As a consumer you may wonder what is going to do with me?

I found an excellent video made by California Association of realtors. I like share this video with you: ” Fannie and Freddie: Why they matter to you “ You may click the link to see and hear this video.

 

Two Cupertino almost identical homes but sold for a lot difference in price.

Yes! There are two Cupertino Rancho homes both are located at the same street Wunderlich Dr.

A street with mixed sized of homes some are about 2000 sf for 1.2 millions and the other tiny homes are about $650,000 range.

The 10415 Wunderlich past owner applied the building permit and approved by city of Cupertino for an addition to become a 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Will this city permit costs $55,000?? I don’t think so.

 

Cupetino	inside	bd/ba	lot	COE date	Sold price
10295 Wunderlich Dr 10415 Wunderlich Dr	814 sf 814 sf	2bd/1 ba 2bd/1 ba	4947sf 4947sf	7/28/08 7/28/08	$625,000 $680,000	REO

Cupertino homes Cupertino real estate market

The rencent NY time reports that, “Allegations that granite counter tops may emit dangerous levels of radon and radiation have been raised periodically over the past decade, mostly by makers and distributors of competing counter top materials.

The Marble Institute of America has said such claims are “ludicrous” because although granite is known to contain uranium and other radioactive materials like thorium and potassium, the amounts in countertops are not enough to pose a health threat. “

The Silicon Vally Chris form the Holmes & Watson Inspection answered some of questions about the possible dangers of radon emitted from the granite counter tops. He said: “Granites often contain trace amounts of material that can produce measurable amounts of radon gas but the key word is “measurable”. As an illustration, imagine turning on a burner on your stovetop. The burner emits heat, but has little to no effect on the overall temperature of your house. Similarly, if your countertop emits a small amount of radon, it will generally be insignificant when diluted with the air in your entire home. There are hundreds of times more likely to be at risk for radon emanating from the soil beneath your home. The US EPA states it in the Consumer’s Guide to Radon Reduction: “In a small number of homes, the building materials (e.g., granite and certain concrete products) can give off radon, although building materials rarely cause radon problems by themselves. In the United States, radon gas in soils is the principal source of elevated radon levels in homes.”

Indeed, health physicists and radiation experts agree that most granite counter tops emit radiation and radon at extremely low levels. Chris recommended airing out the house a couple of times a week. The concerned homeowners can buy an inexpensive test kit at their local hardware store to test the granite counter top. If you need more reading material you can find the book of “What is home buyer should know about radon?” from EPA. The photo is credited to cbsnews.com

The credit score (FICO) score is a number based on the information of your credit profile to show how likely you are going to pay a loan back on time. Obviously, the higher the better. The score can be in between 300 to 850. The higher score you get a better interest rate. What is a good credit score made of? The 35% score is made of the payment history, 30% amount owed and 15% is the length of the history. To start this process, you need to know your credit score.
You may obtain one free copy of your credit report annually. Try the following links: www.annualcreditreport.com or http://www.freecreditreport.com/
or you can call 1877-322-8228 to obtain your own copy.

Once you know your score and you decide to boost your credit score. You may following the tips from the MSN 7 fast tips to improve your credit score:

1. Pay down your credit cards and pay your bills on time. The longer you pay them on time, the better your score will be. The late payments are the major problems. If you have an average score, you can raise it by as much as 20 points by paying all bills on time for 2-3 months.

2. Use your card lightly: What typically report IS the last month payment. If you can lower the charge of the credit cards do help.

3. Check you limit: The credit bureaus typically use your highest balance as a proxy for your credit limit.

4. Dust off the old card: The older your credit history, the better. But if you stop using your oldest cards, the issuers may stop updating those accounts at the credit bureaus.

5. Get some goodwill. If you have been a good customer, a lender might agree to simply erase the one late payment from your credit history. You usually have to make the request in writing, and your chances for a “goodwill adjustment” improve the better your record with that company and credit in general.

6. Dispute old negatives. If you fighted with your phone company over an unfair bill a few year ago resulted in a collections account. You can continue protesting that charge to your credit company also.

Another great article about boosting credit score is do and don’t to boost credit score.

1st Time home buyer advices buyer advice Real Estate bits & pieces

What short sale is:

• When the owner cannot make the monthly payment and a short sale is when a bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic hardship
• It is pre foreclosure situation.
• The owner’s hardship could be divorce, job loss, sickness, bankruptcy or combination the financial problems all together.
• The owner’s credit will hurt badly, but it is better than a foreclosure.
• The short sale is a long process. It could take 2 – 3 months easily. The closing rate of short sale is improving from 12% January 2008 to mid-year about 40%.
• The short sale is avoidable if the lender offers a loan modification to the owner.

What short sale isn’t:

• Not all the short sale is a bargain. It really depends. Buyers beware. Again location, location, location. Hire an experienced real estate agent to help you buy home.
• It isn’t a way for the owner walk away the loan free without trace. This owner’s credit score will be damaged.

Why the short sale happens:

• It all begins with the owner cannot make the monthly payment.
• The owner pays option ARMS there is no equity build up.
• The owner purchased with 100% financing (another no equity).
• The owner refinanced 100% or above 100% without equity.
• Owner’s economic situation is upside down and the owner missed payment.
• The home was bought over price and it is devalued.
• The owner cannot refinance anymore.

1st Time home buyer advices buyer advice foreclosure homes Home Selling Advice

“Short sale” becomes a buzz word nowadays but what is that?

According to About.com the short sale is

A short sale occurs when a property is sold and the lender agrees to accept a discounted payoff, meaning the lender will release the lien that is secured to the property upon receipt of less money than is actually owed.

For example: In 2004 said Lisa bought a townhouse in Campbell for $344Kwhen the market is up in either 2005 and 2006. Liza taps into her equality. She borrowed $425K from the home. Something happened she cannot make the payment. The lender filed the notice of default and the lender requests she to pay. Lisa sells her home on the market for sale as $380K. The lender receives less then what was loaned out.

There are a few steps to short sale a home:

1). Contact lenders: To find the exactly what you need to get out the loan and home.

2). Do everything the lenders needs:

That the owner need to provide a personal financial hardship letter, proof of income and assets, Preliminary Net sheet etc.

3).The accepted offer. You have to hire the realtor to sell the home.

4). Submit the offer to the lender and wait for the lender to accept this offer.

The whole process could take up to 2 to 3 months to finish a short because backlog the lender and or asset managers to handle the demands. In the beginning of 2008 the success rate of short sale was about 12%. Now it went up to 40% because the handlers are more experience to do so.

1st Time home buyer advices buyer advice foreclosure homes Home Selling Advice Real Estate bits & pieces Seller advice