Best Realty's Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

Short Sale Help is here! 
Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives ( HAFA)
There are over 7 million families that are currently distressed!
HAFA is a government-subsidized Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program for distressed homeowners to sell their homes to avoid foreclosure, even if the sales price is not enough to pay off their existing mortgage loans.Under HAFA, a participating lender will pre-approve the terms of a short sale and give the borrower at least 4 months to market and sell the property using a licensed real estate professional.
Many homeowners may feel that they can no longer afford their home, but want to avoid the negative effects of foreclosure. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program offers homeowners, their mortgage servicers, and investors an incentive for completing a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. With these options, under HAFA, a homeowner leaves their home to transition to more affordable housing and alleviate the mortgage debt they owe.
These options are available for homeowners who: 1. do not qualify for a trial mortgage modification under the Making Home Affordable Program; 2. do not successfully complete the trial period for their modification; 3. miss at least two consecutive payments during their modification period; or 4. request a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure
The idea is to get as many homeowners in a position to keep their homes. However HAFA now provides a standardized program allowing the borrower to chose to do a modification if eligible or to proceed with a short sale. 
Realty World  is currently putting together an informational class that will be offered to distressed homeowners looking for a way out, wether it is to modify the loan and keep your home or choose the short sale process or deed in lieu.
Stay tuned for times and locations of the class or email me to add your name to the list.
Take Back Control of your Situation- Knowledge is Power! 
 
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Find homes on Trulia from your phone!

Ever been driving by a home and wanted more information?
Now, get even more Lake Oroville and Paradise real estate info on the go. Search Trulia directly from your mobile device for homes. Perks from their mobile website include price history data, neighborhood info (eateries, grocers, banks, etc.) and even driving directions. They have even updated the Trulia iPhone App to include My Trulia, putting your saved searches and favorite properties right in the palm of your hand. Nice!

 Feather Fiesta Days are among us!

  
       See Event Calendar for full list of event locations & details

   Parades
   Car Show
   Vendor Fairs
   Chili Cook Off
   Ishi Gathering

 
Feather Fiesta Days is a week long celebration of the history of Oroville , “The City of Gold”.  It kicks off on Saturday May 1st with Bidwell Bar Day where you can take a step back in history with docents in period clothing demonstrating crafts, gold panning, and more.  Some other activities throughout the week include: open house and free tours of museums, band concert, Ishi Gathering & seminars, fashion show, home tour & tea, car and bikes shows, and more.

One of the impotant things to look at in this market is supply and demand of homes. Here is a graph that really shows you what the Lake Oroville real estate market has been doing in the last year. Mar-09 vs. Mar-10: The number of for sale properties is down 28% and the number of sold properties is up 4%

 
 

A Good Faith Estimate is a lenders proposal as to what closing costs and loan fees will be associated with your home loan. Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)  now mandates home buyers receive a standard, three-page Good Faith Estimate within three days after they apply for a  loan.
The Good Faith Estimate form requires lenders to combine all of the bank’s fees into one “origination charge,” enabling consumers to compare one lender’s fees with another’s. These mortgage fees, also called settlement or closing costs, cover every expense associated with your home loan: inspections, title insurance, taxes and other charges.  An accurate Good Faith Estimate is essential for a prospective home buyer to make a informed decision about their exact settlement or closing costs.
Lenders also are prohibited from increasing the origination fee from the estimate. Some additional charges, including title services and recording charges, can increase by as much as a combined 10 percent. Estimates for other charges, such as homeowner’s insurance and other services provided by third parties selected by the borrower,may not be subject to such limits.
It is important to have your lender fully explain your Good Faith Estimate to you. All charges typically paid for by the buyer must be disclosed on the GFE regardless of  whether the charges will be paid for by the buyer, the seller or other party. Remember, dont be afraid to ASK QUESTIONS!
For example: Lets say the seller is paying the buyers closing costs of  5% on a purchase price of $250,000 that would be a credit to the buyer of $12,500. That is now going to be shown on the buyers GFE as a buyers cost. DONT PANIC! At closing the seller will still be giving the credit to the buyer but it must show as a cost for the buyer to give the buyer a true picture of what the costs for the loan are.