Real Estate Information

This just in — the tax credit for first-time and repeat home buyers has been extended by Congress.

The legislation will now go before President Barack Obama for approval. Assuming he signs the legislation and it becomes law, buyers sweating the June 30 deadline to close on homes and receive a credit can relax a bit — they will have an extra three months to finalize their purchases.

We’ve had one home buyer tax credit or another since 2008. The credit was modified and extended once and then again in November.

Under the terms of the most recent tax credit, first time and repeat buyers were required to get a home under contract before May 1 and then close on it before July 1. Qualified first time buyers could claim up to $8,000 while repeat buyers were to receive up to $6,500 — quite an incentive to purchase a house.

Ah, but some people have had trouble closing in time. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has estimated that up to 180,000 Americans, in fact, were in danger of missing out on the credit unless they were given more time to close on their homes.

Why haven’t people been able to close on their homes prior to July 1? It seems that banks were hit with a lot of mortgage applications from people rushing to beat the deadline — just the thing to delay closings.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed HR 5623 — a bill extending the deadline to Sept. 30. Bear in mind, the extension will only apply to qualified buyers who purchased homes prior to May 1.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 409-5 and then moved on to the Senate. Ah, but a problem popped up — the Senate bill was attached to a bill that would extend unemployment benefits and cost $33.9 billion.

The unemployment bill has met with resistance, thus threatening to derail the last-minute passage of the tax credit extension that the NAR and a lot of homeowners have been demanding for at least a week. The Senate passed the extension by unanimous consent, this stripping it from the unemployment legislation.

Stay tuned — we’ll have more information when it’s available.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

Until recently there has been confusion among the various government lending agencies as to what is allowed for the buyer to pay on behalf of the seller and when.  As short sales have increased the need for clarification has grown, Government agencies have always had very strict guidelines about what a buyer is allowed to pay with most guidelines putting the extra costs unto the seller. Without equity in the property the strict guidelines have made it difficult for short sale escrows when the borrower is asked to pay seller fees. At one point earlier in the year the local HUD offices were saying it was allowed on FHA loans for the borrower to pay customary fees while HUD Washington said nothing was allowed. Finally, we have received clarity surrounding the policies from the government agencies and have been told the steps that need to be taken.

Effective June 24^th, 2010 on FNMA, FHLMC, FHA and VA loans the following guidance has been released.

 1)  Allowable fees paid by the buyer include: short sale processing fees (also referred to as short sale negotiation fees, buyer discount fees, and short sale buyer fees), payment to a subordinate lien holder and payment of delinquent taxes or delinquent HOA fees.

2)  The Servicer who is agreeing to the pre-foreclosure or short sale must be provided with written details of the fees or payments and has the option of renegotiating the payoff amount to release its lien.

3)  The borrower (buyer) must be provided with written details of the additional fees or payments and the additional necessary funds to complete the transaction must be documented.

4)  All parties (buyer, seller and servicer) must provide their written agreement/concurrence of the final details of the transaction that includes the additional fees or payments.

5)  The HUD-1 Settlement Statement must include all fees and payments included in the transaction.

While the lenders will still have the right to disallow fees that are determined excessive to be paid by the borrower on behalf of the seller, we now know all agencies recognize the need to facilitate the short sale transaction.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

As reported by the OC REGISTER, 6/25/10

• $450,000 median selling price that is up 7.1% from a year ago. However, that’s still 30% below June 2007’s peak of $645,000.
• Single-family home prices were up 9.5% to $520,000. If prices remain unchanged for the full month, it will be the highest house price since June 2008.
• Condo prices were up 6.9% to $310,500 — down slightly from May’s median price of $305,000.
• Despite that gain, single-family homes still sell for 29% less than their peak pricing (June ‘07) while condos sell 36% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 28% below their February ‘05 top.
• In this most recent period, O.C. shoppers bought 3,349 residences — that’s up 11.5% from year-ago buying activity. (From 1997-2006, monthly sales averaged 4,304 per month.)
• May was 22nd month in the past two years to see sales gains vs. the year-ago period. That followed a 33-months slump where sales failed to beat the previous year’s pace.

How did your neighborhood fare? Check our ZIP-by-ZIP data HERE!

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

As reported in the OC Register, 6/22/10

What to consider if purchasing a home on leased land:

• How much time is remaining on the lease? What happens to your interest in the property at the end of the lease term? The length of the lease could also affect your ability to finance and sell the home.
• What are the terms of the “surrender clause?” Check the terms of the surrender clause if the lease will run out while you still own the house.
• How much do you have to pay every month for the land lease? How often does it adjust, and by what amount? 
• Are you better off renting? “The two are similar in many ways, including a payment of monthly fees that are determined by another party.”

.Some ways to discern quickly if a property you spot may be on leased   land:

• Steep homeowners’ association (HOA) fees, more than in nearby areas.
• Homes are closer together than usual and are extremely similar to one another.
• In a typical neighborhood, there are homes with pools. In a leased-land community, individual homes will not have pools.

Advantages:

• You buy the home for less because you’re not purchasing the land.
• Leased-land homes are often better than apartments for people with kids and pets.
• You can live in a pricey area you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
• The community might have such amenities as club houses, a pool or tennis courts.
• Property taxes are usually lower.

.Disadvantages:

• The risk of losing your equity when the lease expires, depending on the terms of the surrender clause.
• The resale of the home probably will be tougher than selling a traditional home.
• Leased-land properties are often part of an HOA, which means extra monthly fees that can rise annually. The HOA can also levy a special assessment for major community property repairs or upgrades, resulting in an unexpected bill. 
• A traditional home can be a good hedge against inflation, but a leased-land property is not. In a leased-land community, your monthly lease payments and HOA fees will probably go up  at least by as much as the rate of inflation, while your home’s value will decrease with the approach of the end of the lease term.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

As reported in the OC Register, June 21, 2010

Click to enlarge

The median price per square foot paid to buy an Orange County house hit $296.32 in May, the highest that measure has been since August 2008, figures from MDA DataQuick show.

The price per square foot for an existing, single-family home has been on an upsurge after bottoming out in January 2009, increasing from the month before in 10 of the past 13 months.

The latest data show also:

• May was the seventh straight month in which the price per square foot increased on a year-over-year basis.
• May’s price per square foot was up 6.2% from May 2009.
• It also was up 10.5% from January 2009, when price/sf hit a post-boom low of $268.16. (See chart at right)
• On the other hand, it still was down $148 or 33.3% from the all-time high of $444.36 reached in June 2006.

The price per square foot is valuable since it compensates for monthly variations in the size of homes sold.

DataQuick’s figures don’t include recent home-size additions, however, so recently remodeled homes may appear to be pricier than they actually are. DataQuick maintains that it’s price/sf data provide a good indication where the overall trend is headed, but is not a precise barometer.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO HOME HAS IT'S OWN 'SOCCER FIELD'.....

As posted in the OC REGISTER, June 17, 2010

A new listing in San Juan Capistrano just hit the market two days and has some nice features to it.

The home for sale is asking $2,295,000 and has 5 bedrooms, 5.25 baths, 5,700-square-feet of living space on a .64-acre lot and a pool.

That breaks down to $403 per square-foot.

This home has been on and off the market before.

Per the listing description:

“Absolutley magnificent grand estate! Priceless upgrades throughout! This estate is beyond your expectations! Home illuminates class and quality with a very warm touch! All rooms are oversized. Handcrafted everything! This spectacular estate boasts an entertainer’s dream backyard! Oversized pool, outdoor fireplace, barbeque, only to top it off with a free-standing pool house w/ an approx 20′ rock fireplace, superb for outdoor dining + outdoor bath! Beyond this, your own soccer field for all types of events! Only to be topped off with your own private orchard & VIEW! 4-car garage, bonus room, enormous master suite with fireplace, simply one of the best homes to come on the market in Orange County! Too much to mention!”

HOA fees are $419 a month and there are no Mello-Roos taxes.

You can see in the last photo where the soccer field starts. It isn’t fully shown in the listing photos, but can be seen from an overhead map.

CLICK on photos for larger images.

Call me if you would like to view this special home @ (949) 922-2200.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

Let’s deal with who needs a trust first.... 

Everyone! 

If you own property or have what can be described as significant assets, you need a trust, otherwise when you die (not if) your estate, which is everything you own regardless of value, becomes under the control of the state.  You have a savings account with $3,500 in it and get hit by a bus, can your brother or sister walk into the bank and say, “My brother died, can I have his money?”  What happens to your car, can they legally sell it?  Now imagine a house with a $350,000 mortgage that is worth $475,000.  Who has the ability to sell that house? What about the mortgage payments until it is sold?
 
Many people are single or in a committed or formalized domestic partnership relationship; just as important to have a trust. What if your partner gets hit by a bus and there is no trust or estate plan?  Looks like his brothers and sisters, or children from a prior relationship, just became your partners in your home. If not it can cost you plenty of legal fees to keep them off title and any claims to his estate that you share. 
 
Estate plans do not just deal with property and assets, they also detail who will have guardianship of your children and providing for their future should a bus make them orphans. 
 
The term ‘hit by a bus’ is being used instead of saying ’if you die’ because very few of us know when, or about when, we will die. If you are hit by a bus tomorrow are your assets protected and will pass along to those you would intend them to be passed along to?  What about your children?  What if you spouse or partner gets hit by a bus tomorrow, are you protected and able to retain all assets you consider joint? 
 
Not easy questions for us to think about, and very easy to put off the answers and solutions.  Make sure your loved ones are spared the onerous dealings with the legal system merely to remain in their homes, especially while they are grieving your loss.
 
If you already have a trust and it has not been reviewed in at least five years I suggest you make that appointment as well; laws and assets have probably changed and you want to make sure your trust is protected.

If you need assistance in how to prepare a trust, please contact me:  (949) 922-2200.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

.

Reported by the OC Register, 6/11/10

• $445,000 median selling price that is +9.9% vs. a year ago.
• Current price is $200,000 — or 31% – below June 2007’s peak of $645,000.
• Still, the most recent median is 20% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000.
• Don’t forget, that bottom was 43% below the peak.
• The current median selling price of a single-family homes is 30% less than their peak pricing (June ‘07) while condos sell 37% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 25% below their February ‘05 top.
• Single-family homes were 75% more expensive than condos in this period vs. 75% a year ago. From 1990-2009, the average house/condo gap was 58%.
• In this most recent period, O.C. shoppers bought 3,273 residences — that is +14.6% vs. year-ago buying activity. This current sales pace is 91% of the average 3,597 homes sold per month in the 20 years ended in 2009.
• Builder’s new homes sales were 7% of all residences sold in the period vs. 5% a year ago. From 1990-2009, builders did 14% of the selling.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

As reported in the OC Register, 6/2/2010

Apparently, shoppers want new Orange County homes.

The Irvine Co.’s sales success at its Woodbury projects in Irvine helped push Orange County’s total for new homes going into escrow to the highest level in two years, according to figures from Costa Mesa-based Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.

Sales contracts signed in the first three months of the year were up 56% vs. a year ago, Hanley Wood’s figures show.

Specifically:

• Buyers signed contracts to purchase 523 new homes in Orange County during this year’s winter quarter. That’s the highest number of sales contracts for any quarter since the spring of 2008. (Click on charts to enlarge).
• That includes more than 300 homes sold at Woodbury since the Irvine Co. launched its 2010 New Home Collection in late January.
• But other projects also did well, since January’s contracts, which don’t include the Irvine Co.’s New Home Collection, were up 100%.
• Sales contracts saw the highest quarterly percentage gain in records dating back to 2007. New home contracts declined on a year-over-year basis in 10 of the past 13 quarters. They only increases were: Spring 2007, up 5.7%; fall 2009, up 6.2%; winter 2010, up 56.1%.
• Sales contracts increased steadily from January’s 146 units to March’s 212. But January had the greatest year-over-year gain of 100%, vs. 72% in February and 28% in March.
• Single-family homes contracts increased the most, up 110% in the first quarter. Buyers signed 344 single-family contracts this year, vs. 164 the year before.
• Contracts to buy new townhomes or buildings with 2 to 4 units increased 15.8% to 110 units.
• Contracts to buy new condos increased 11.3% to 69

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

My wife, Michele, and I are thrilled to announce our new son, Hayden Briggs Ziejewski !

I hope that Hayden will be taking over the Ziejewski Real Estate Empire in approximately 25 years.  For now, he is loving life and getting to know his new mommy, daddy, and big sister, Clover (our dog) !  Hayden was born Thursday, May 27^th, and is healthy and very handsome if I must say.  We were blessed to have received our new son Hayden by way of adoption and God's grace.  We are so thankful for all the love and for everyone that helped and supported us throughout the process. A very special thanks to the staff at Kinship Center (Orange County), A Loving Alternative (San Clemente) and Catholic Charities (Las Vegas).  It's great to finally be a very PROUD DADDY and start my share of DIAPER DUTY!