Beth's Blog

FHA appraisal requirements

Rosemont Financial Inc — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:28:08 -0700

FHA announces new appraisal requirements this week. Borrowers will have to have two appraisals if they meet the following criteria’s:

The loan amount, excluding the upfront mortgage insurance premium, will exceed $417,000, and

The LTV excluding upfront MIP, equals or exceeds 95%, and

The property is determined as being in a declining market.

How is a declining market determined?

By the appraiser: The appraisal report requires the appraiser to indicate if the property is located in a declining area in both the neighborhood section of the appropriate appraisal form as well as in the housing trend section, and/or determine if there is an “over-supply” of properties. The certifications contained in the appraisal reporting forms are supplemental standards to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and Certification # 14 specifically requires an appraiser to consider and report on all conditions that impact value. Appraisers must provide specific support for any conclusions noted in the Housing Trend section of the appraisal report and research local price trends, relying upon such services as local Multiple Listing Services or others as described below.

By the lender: The lender may determine through services such the S&P/Case-Schiller Index, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) Index or National Association of Realtors (NAR) statistics, or through an automated underwriting system, e.g., Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter or Freddie Mac’s Loan Prospector, that the property is located in a declining market area.

Most of L.A and Ventura County are in a declining market. FHA is going to take the lower of the two appraisals.

For FHA rates please go to www.bethbastian.com

My Dad and the White House

Rosemont Financial Inc — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:47:54 -0700

This week my father Lance my step-mom Sandy, my son Dillon and my niece Avalon are in D.C. My father has not been to D.C. since he got home from Viet Nam and was really looking forward to this trip and getting a tour of the White House.

My father is a very quite man who does not talk about Viet Nam, or much else for that matter, so I really have no idea his thoughts on Viet Nam. Today I received this email from my step-mother about the White House and my father:

An interesting thing happened at the White House. Lance had something metal "not allowed," and had to make a decision today. It is his P-38, a tiny metal (sharp) can opener thing he used in Viet Nam to open the food cans (c-rations), and it is the only remnant of his Army days that he has kept for 40 years.

This morning, as we all checked and double checked our stuff, and knew exactly that only money, I.D. cards, and keys were allowed, Lance never bothered to think about his P-38 on his key ring. We checked the kids many times before leaving the hotel. I could not have a purse, camera, nothing...which sure felt strange for me to walk out with just money and I.D. and nothing else.

When we got there for the behind the scenes tour...Lance had to give them his P-38, and they said they do not store things, so no, he would not get it back. He said okay, and that the tour was more important, but we all could tell it was tough for him to do that. He said, "I've had this on my key ring for 40 years from when I was in Viet Nam." Another security guard talked to Lance about the Army, and they exchanged dates of when they both were in Viet Nam.... Well, after that, you'll never guess what happened.

The other security guard who took it from him walked over when no one was paying attention, gave it to Lance and told him to keep it in his pocket and not take it out at all.

That was a real cool patriotic moment for us! Those veterans have quite a bond!

Beth

FHA and the buy down loan

Rosemont Financial Inc — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:54:57 -0700

FHA and the buy down

If you know that you are only going to be in the house for a few years, or you know that in a few years your income is going to go up FHA has a loan for you.

In a nut shell the first year you will have a low rate, the second year the rate will go up one point, and the third year the rate will go up again and stay that rate for the rest of your loan. Now for the example:

Your loan is for $300,000

The first year your rate would be 5% with a payment of $1610.46. This is only your payment before taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance.

The Second year your rate would be 6% with a payment of $1798.65. Once again this is only your payment before taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance.

The Third you’re your rate would be 7% with a payment of $1995.91. This is your payment before taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance. From this point on your rate would stay 7%.

Now these numbers are very close to what you would get today with an FHA buy down loan, however all of this has been simplified so I can explain the process of the very basic terms.

If you think this type of loan would be good for you please give be a call at 805-857-0484

Beth

FHA and Ventura County

Rosemont Financial Inc — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:33:21 -0700

FHA and the new loan limits hit Ventura County, but with the good intentions of our government, there are some hick-ups. The powers that be deemed it that we should have a loan limit of $729,000; they did not give any other directions. So the first few weeks of this new FHA limits there were some issues. Now time has gone by and lenders are learning how to work with these new numbers.

The million dollar question is will this help the California real estate market? Well my answer is “it can’t hurt”. FHA offers low down payments that can be a gift from Mom and Dad, the rates are not bad in reality they are pretty good. Today, if you were to buy a home with a 600 fico and full doc and 3% down you can get a 6% rate on a 30 year fix. Not bad….

This new product will open the door to homes that people would not have been able to buy, that means more houses will sell and the real estate market will get better.

www.bethbastian.com

Simi Valley Home

Rosemont Financial Inc — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:59:46 -0700

Beth Bastian | Exit Family Realty | 805-857-0484

4041 Valley Fair Street, Simi Valley, CA

This Simi Valley home offers two brand new bathrooms, a pool and plenty of room for RV and boats!!

3 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $430,000

Year Built	1961
Sq Footage	1,220
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1 full, 1 partial
Floors	2
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	8,100 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

This home is very cute, with a lot to offer. Very large lot allows for plenty of room for all your outdoor toys, there is a built in pool and still plenty of room for your bbq. In the inside of the home the features two new bathrooms, and a great living space.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Fireplace	Tile floor	Living room
Breakfast nook	Dishwasher	Stove/Oven
Swimming pool

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Beth Bastian

Exit Family Realty

805-857-0484

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Oct 1, 2007, 3:14pm PDT

1000 Comments

Rosemont Financial Inc — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:02:44 -0700

Score: Members Invited/Referred:
Blog Posts: Rank in California: Featured Posts: Rank in Ventura County: Comments Received: Rank in Simi Valley: Comments Made:

59226		3
		115
29		2
2 (Featured Member)		646
1 (Featured Member)		1000

Rico.Corner.round( "score_ranking");

One aspect I love with AR is the ability to comment. On AR we have so many talented bloggers with such good topics, that I find that commenting comes easy to me. Now I just need to find the blogger with in and start post more of my own blogs. Thanks all of you for being so creative.

Show me your numbers

Rosemont Financial Inc — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:24:52 -0700

Simi Valley is a town with approximately 36k homes, we are an hour north/west of Los Angeles. I thought it would be interesting to show you are current sold numbers, and I wonder what your sold numbers are.

Sept 01-24 2005 131 homes sold

Sept 01-24 2006 101 homes sold

Sept 01-24 2007 23 homes sold

This is both attached and detached; prices are starting to fall so I hope we will start moving inventory.

Avon Breat Cancer Walk

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:50:46 -0700

This weekend a fellow Active Rainer Inga Czech and I are walking in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, we will be walking 39.3 miles over two days, in order to due this we each had to raise $1800...and we just made it. So come and check out website CATTS.

If you find yourself in Long Beach California and see a large group of women wearing pink be sure to honk your horn and show support, we will need it!!

Any well wishes would be great.....

The Fed has spoke....and I am happy

Rosemont Financial Inc — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:44:06 -0700

Admitting you made a mistake is the first step. Or at least that is what we all have been told. This morning Ben Bernanke spoke, and something wonderful happened, he finally said what we all see is going on. Ben stated that “credit markets could dampen future economic activity” remember he used to say “subprime was contained”. Ben gets it, the fed get it…right now I am smiling ear to ear.

Nobody knows how bad the future economic impact will be, but at least the fed is finally admitting there is something to watch.

My book Meme

Rosemont Financial Inc — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:08:23 -0700

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand-This is a must read for every high school graduate. It is worth the 1400+ pages

Hitch Hikers guild to the galaxy by Douglas Adams Funniest book every written....ever

Angels and Demons- Dan Brown This book scared they hell out of me...they went after the Vatican...

I just liked this one

I read far to many books, however I can thumb through the IKEA catalog for hours.

Ana Connell your up!!

The lending Conspiriacy Theory

Rosemont Financial Inc — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 13:44:29 -0700

They way mortgage have been generated and sold in the last decade or so is, a lender would package millions of dollars worth of mortgages and sell them to one of the six Wall Street firms.

Last year I started to hear the “Conspiracy Theory” that these Wall Street firms where buying average lenders and turning them into their lender of choice. After owning their own lender they would stop buying from other lenders. At the time, that sounded crazy.

Within the last year or so most if not all of the wall street firms have bought there own mortgage companies. For example Deutsche Bank bought MortgageIT.

This month Deutsche Bank CLG Sellers stopped buying mortgage from any other lender outside of MortgageIT. One (of many) reasons lenders are going under is because they have no one to buy there loans.

I think this is a new trend we will start to see as Wall Street cuts out the middle man or in this case the lenders. How this will effect our borrowers is yet to be seen.

The 55 rule

Rosemont Financial Inc — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:30:52 -0700

I read this in a book called Swanepoel Trends Report, and in the book I found the “Rule of 55” I am quoting from the book, however I think every agent should take it to heart.

It seems that as a general rule of thumb, 55% of a group tends to gravitate toward the next level. For example, approximately 55% of the licensed agents are members of NAR: 55% of NAR members take basic skills training; 55% of that group advances to obtain a designation or certification; 55% of designees move on to obtain advanced skills; and 55% of those use coaching, mentoring or shadowing as a method to become a Top Producer. This supports the general rule of thumb that ultimately approximately 7% of the agents do approximately 93% of the business.

I think that sums it up!

Swanepoel Trends Report

Rosemont Financial Inc — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:36:54 -0700

A good friend of mine l Ana Connelgave me the “Swanepoel” Trend Report. This is a book that is released every year about the real estate market, and what a book. Every broker should buy this book for the office.

One of my favorite topics is about our associations needing to evolve to meet the agent’s needs. The book highlights associations that are doing a good job, and what other associations should be doing.

The books also talks about franchises and the internet. This is a complete book and a must read!! It is also a very fast read, I could go on and on….this will be in my top five every year.

PICK UP THE PHONE

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:14:00 -0700

Today I had two referrals, one client that wanted to sell two houses. My first thought was finding an Exit agent; however there was no Exit’s where my referral was located. So my next thought was to turn to Active Rain.

Now, I really do not know the protocol regarding giving referrals to other active rain members. I went to the county that my property was located in, where I was faced with a list of my fellow active rainers. First I check to see if I know anybody, nope I do not recognize any of them. So next I do the only logical I can think of.

I start with points, the agent with the highest points. At this point, I am in a hurry, I have a meeting I need to get to and I just want this referral to be taken care of. So I call the agent with the most points, I got her voice mail, then I called the next agent again I got the voice mail, so then I called the third agent and he answered the phone.

Although he had never had a referral before, he seemed knowledgeable and I look forward to working with him.

Now the real reason for this blog is, two agents missed out on two listings because they did not answer their phone. PICK UP YOUR PHONE PEOPLE!!! YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN MONEY IS CALLING.

Ok I am done.

Ventura County Fair

Rosemont Financial Inc — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:30:24 -0700

Where else to you get a true country fair at the beach? That would be the Ventura County Fair!!! You will find all the rides and games that you could want. You will also find my favorites the Alpaca’s and the Quilts…..come on every body love a Quilt.

You better hurry the fair closes this weekend.

www.bethbastian.com

Simi Valley's Lawn Mower Exchange

Rosemont Financial Inc — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:33:42 -0700

After reading Ana Connell’s blog about what Burbank is doing for the environment, I got to thinking what is Simi Valley doing…..well hers the answer.

Ventura County is helping you become greener. If you own a gas powered lawn mower, and you turn it into the city they will give you a huge discount on any electric mower at Lowes. This is for a limited time only, so if you would like more information regarding this program click here.

Stop chasing the market, now really is the time to buy!

Rosemont Financial Inc — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:10:47 -0700

So I know you have heard every Realtor tell you this before, however now is the time to buy especially if you are a first time home buyer.

This might sound crazy but follow me. I have heard through out the years that real estate is on a 6 or 7 year cycle. I really don’t know if this is complete true, in my local market it feels more like a 3 year cycle. Three years of declining, three years of balance and three years of appreciating. I have no real data to back me up on this, however I have been in the Real Estate industry for 15+ years, and it always seems to follow that pattern.

So let’s say I am right with in a year or two.

Where I am located 2004 was the peak, boy that was a good year if you were the seller, here we are three years later. Now if you are a buyer, you are in control. I am not saying prices will not go down a little from here; I am not the Great Houdini, and my magic 8-ball is not trustworthy.

Here is the truth, if you buy a property today, and it goes down 10-20k in the next year, it really does not matter. Now how can I say that? Well NAR says that average home owner moves every 8 years. Let’s go back to the formula; that would put you in the three years of appreciation. Then you will be the seller, and all will be good for you.

I was once told “people like to buy high, and sell low”, what does that mean? People like to wait to see if the market is going to be strong to buy, so they chase the prices up, and sellers want to get the most money for there home. So they wait until it’s a buyers market and chase the market down.

I am here to say, never mind the headlines, now is the time to buy.

Wow you will not beleive the upgrades.

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:56:01 -0700

Beth Bastian | Exit Family Realty | 805-857-0484

722 Chantry Cir, Simi Valley, CA

4 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $925,000

Year Built	1987
Sq Footage	3,187
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3 full, 0 partial
Floors	2
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	10,235 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

This is the most beautiful property you have ever seen. Now homes have nothing on this property. Everything is new and upgraded.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
High/Vaulted ceiling	Walk-in closet	Hardwood floor
Tile floor	Family room	Living room
Bonus/Rec room	Dishwasher	Refrigerator
Granite countertop	Stainless steel appliances	Washer
Dryer	Yard

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Beth Bastian

Exit Family Realty

805-857-0484

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jul 25, 2007, 11:57pm PDT

Simi Valley Starter Home-House not a Condo

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:39:05 -0700

Beth Bastian | Exit Family Realty | 805-857-0484

4041 Valley Fair Street, Simi Valley, CA

This Simi Valley home offers two brand new bathrooms, a pool and plenty of room for RV and boats!!

3 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $475,000

Year Built	1961
Sq Footage	1,220
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1 full, 1 partial
Floors	2
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	8,100 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Fireplace	Tile floor	Living room
Breakfast nook	Dishwasher	Stove/Oven
Swimming pool

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Beth Bastian

Exit Family Realty

805-857-0484

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jul 17, 2007, 5:18pm PDT

The perfect simi valley home

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:06:48 -0700

Beth Bastian | Exit Family Realty | 805-857-0484

2621 N. Bancock, Simi Valley, CA

Simi Valley's perfect home.

4 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $630,000

Year Built	Unspecified
Sq Footage	2,028
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2 full, 1 partial
Floors	2
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	6,600 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

A beautiful 4 bedroom 3 bath, central Simi home, the one word that describes this home is updated. Updated kitchen, bath, pool and floors, with a pleasing color pallet through out the home, the outside of the home is just as charming. The front of the house offers enough room for your RV or boats, the back of the house has a large built in swimming pool.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
Dining room	Breakfast nook	Dishwasher
Refrigerator	Stove/Oven	Granite countertop
Laundry area - garage	Swimming pool

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Beth Bastian

Exit Family Realty

805-857-0484

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jul 25, 2007, 11:00pm PDT

Simi Valley Texas Tract

Rosemont Financial Inc — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:32:29 -0700

Beth Bastian | Exit Family Realty | 805-857-0484

4857 Abilene, Simi Valley, CA

3 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $545,000

Year Built	1964
Sq Footage	1,452
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2 full, 0 partial
Floors	Unspecified
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	8,092 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

This home has one of the most sought after floorplans in the Texas tract. There is an extra bedroom or office off the garage. There are three well sized bedrooms with two baths. The guest bath has just been redone. A few other highlights are recessed lights, new appliances, and two barns in the backyard.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
Breakfast nook	Dishwasher	Laundry area - garage

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Garage parking

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Beth Bastian

Exit Family Realty

805-857-0484

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jul 23, 2007, 10:42am PDT

Chad passed the exam!!!

Rosemont Financial Inc — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:50:51 -0700

Chad Frank is a fellow Active Rainer, and one of my agents. Before he passed his test, he was at our trainings, on active rain and willing to learn all that he could about the industry.

Well like a very proud mother, I am happy to say Chad passed his test last week, and now is officially a Realtor…..I know he will do well in our industry, so I would like all of the experienced realtors to give him one piece of advise…

Active Rain Burn Out

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:13:07 -0700

I was at 49,000 points, blogging or at least commenting everyday, then it happen, I fell off the active rain saddle. Since June 25, the day my office manager took a two week vacation, I have been averaging 60 hour work weeks. I know the market is tough right now, so I am trying to work every lead I can. Not to mention run the mortgage company and Exit Family Realty.

So by the time I get home, and would get the kids into bed, and finish all the work I did not get a chance to do, I was just not up to blog. I think I had blogging burn out….so this week, I think I might be down to 50 hours or even less I will try to get back on to the active rain saddle.

But on a great note I hit 50,000 points today!!! Sweet Dude

www.bethbastian.com

good by 2/28 hello 5/25

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:48:37 -0700

Yesterday the mortgage world took another blow, so there are a few changes that are coming in the next couple of days. Mainly the 2/28 is dead, a lot of lender got rid of that product yesterday these lenders are opting for the 5/25 instead. Personally I think this is a good thing for buyers, so you will not hear any complaints from me.

On a sadder note, stated income also took another hit; right now it is very hard to get a person with a job a loan on stated income. Right now we have the option to place these people on a No Ratio loan, however No Ratio’s loan have stricter guidelines and higher rates. However at this point we still have this option.

I think a lot of these changes are going to protect some of the public, however with less people being able to obtain mortgages; this will hurt values and hurt the rest of the public.

So where does this leave us? As Realtors you must make sure that the buyer is qualified, if you where given a pre-qual letter last week you should call this week to make sure it is still good.

Loan officer tip #2

Rosemont Financial Inc — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:39:37 -0700

I am often asked by loan officers what is a way to get Realtors to give them loans. I have only one simple tip for them.

Find a company with 1800 call capture, I use www.phoneahome.com but any one will do. Then ask the Realtor if you could put the call capture rider under there listings, tell them you will pay for the service.

The service is a basic concept, when people driving by the home want information about the home, they will call this 800#. Once they hear about the home they can push # to talk to you, or they can hang up. If they hang up you will get a text message with their information. Then you can call the potential buyer ask them if they had any questions about the house….have you been pre-qualified for the loan….are you working with a Realtor.

If you find a buyer who is not working with a Realtor, you can refer them to the listing agent. This service has a lot of benefits….