Tuesday, March 29, 2016

HAS IT REALLY ???

*** Mortgage Growth Has Stalled, and Homeowners Are to Blame *** By: John Carney *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lots of people would like to blame the banks for holding lending standards too tight. The banks often blame the regulators—for making them hold standards too tight. But it turns out that it may just be the fault of homeowners. They’re just paying down their mortgages far more than in the past. The latest report on household debt from the New York Fed shows that mortgage debt—the largest category of household debt— has been more or less flat since 2012. This is all the more surprising because home prices have been recovering at a brisk pace in recent years. Prior to the financial crisis, home prices and mortgage debt moved together. Between 2000 and 2006, both roughly doubled. That made sense, as rising home prices both meant that people had to borrow more to purchase homes and had more equity in their homes to withdraw through refinancing or home equity loans. That’s not happening now. Home prices are up by around one-third since the recovery, but mortgage debt is up just 1%. So rising prices are no longer driving up mortgage debt. So what’s going on? A team of researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York looked at the phenomenon for their blog, Liberty Street Economics. They found that a major factor is the growth of principal pay-downs. Back in 2006, households paid down 2.1% of their mortgage balance. Last year, they paid down 3.5% of their balance. Low interest rates play a role here. When rates are lower, the same dollar amount of mortgage payment allows a household to pay off a greater portion of their principal. We’re not only in a low-interest rate environment, we’re also in a tighter lending environment in which a much larger share of mortgages go to people with good credit scores. So you have lending skewed toward those who can borrow at the lowest rates in an already low rate environment. A double whammy. What’s more, the rising interest-rate differential between the 30-year and the 15-year mortgage has given households an added incentive to shorten the term of their loans. This means that each dollar of their monthly payment pays down more of their mortgage principal. Meanwhile, the existing inventory of loans is getting older, which means the payments due are getting more and more tilted toward principal repayment. The results are quite dramatic. Since 2008, the aggregate mortgage payment has fallen by 8%. But principal payments have risen 41%. People are paying less on their mortgages overall while still paying down more of their principal. Other factors are at play, as well. Purchase loans, which add to the outstanding balance because of home price appreciation and because sellers have often paid down some of their principal, haven’t been adding as much as they once did. Equity withdrawal from home equity lines of credit and cash-out refinancings are down too. This isn’t likely to change soon. The households who refinanced during the 2012 and 2013 refi boom are not likely to refi again, which means their loans will continue to age and their payments increasingly tilt toward paying down their principal. Unless home equity loans or purchase mortgages pick up by a lot—which doesn’t seem in the offing—the pattern should hold. So don’t expect rapid mortgage growth any time soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call CJ for your Real Estate needs @ 909/ 910-2481

Monday, March 28, 2016

THINKING OF SELLING YOUR HOME THIS SPRING?

~~~ Folks .... Here are some Tips for your Spring Listing .... Call Cj at 909/ 910-2481 .... If you have any questions, I'm here to get you answers !~! ~~~ * Spring Tips * ... * Go for Sparkle: Impress buyers with a clean, good smelling house. Open up windows and let fresh air flow in and scrub your home from top to bottom to make it glisten. * Ac-scent: Infuse your home with spring like aromas. Scents can change the overall feel of a space, so consider adding candles, diffusers, or fresh cut flowers to change the mood. * Bring Spring Indoors: Create a fresh inexpensive look by replacing the pillows on your couch or throw pillows on your bed with ones that have brighter colors. * Enhance the Exterior: Welcome buyers with an inviting and clean entry. Paint the front door if needed and add seasonal plants and a welcome mat by the front door. Clear any debris from the yard to make it appear cleaner. * Pare Down Possessions: De-clutter closets and pare down possessions to create the illusion of more space. If there are dark corners in the house, get rid of clutter and paint the area a lighter color that will reflect light. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************** *~* Organic Lawn Care 101 *~* With the West facing an historic drought, many people are ripping up their grass to save on water. But what if you can save water and keep the lawn? **Consider This** Ditching the lawn just to replace it with gravel may save water but it isn't a perfect solution to our drought. In fact, loss of green parcels adds to urban heat islands—a phenomenon that occurs when a city is significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas due to human activities. So before you ditch the lawn entirely, have a plan for a low-water landscape to take its place. If you're not ready to make the leap to lawn-free, go organic with your maintenance regime. A lawn maintained organically has much more water-holding capacity than a turf fed with conventional fertilizer. No matter how you've cared for you lawn in the past, making the switch to organic practices will save water, money, and effort. ** Tenets Of Organic Lawn Care: ** Add Compost ** Incorporating compost is the best way to create healthy, living soil—and all of that organic matter will improve water retention, meaning you need a lot less water to keep the lawn green. Top dress lawn with compost: Spread small piles of compost around the lawn and use a rake create a layer measuring 1/4-inch-thick. ** Choke Weed ** Seeding lawn more densely is the natural way to prevent weeds from having light and room to germinate. Fall is the best time to overseed. ** Watch The Water ** Water early in the morning to keep disease and evaporation loss at bay. Deep, infrequent irrigation will force roots to grow deeper, creating a lower-water patch of grass. Triple check to ensure your sprinkler system has no leaks, sprays only lawn, and has no runoff flowing away from the planted patch. Install a smart irrigation controller to manage your watering. Get one with Wi-Fi connections or in-ground sensors that will adjust watering according to the weather. Grasscycle. **** Invest in a mulching blade for the mower and leave the grass trimmings on the lawn to decompose, add nitrogen, and replace the need for synthetic fertilizer. Use organic fertilizer. Follow package instructions to avoid overfeeding. Lawn generally typically needs to be fed once in spring and once in early fall *** By Johanna Silver

Friday, March 25, 2016

<:> Yes.... Tee Hee <:>

** EASTER SMILES ARE SPREADING LIKE BUNNIES ** LET ME SPREAD SMILE TOO BY SELLING YOUR HOME OR GETTING YOUR OFFER TO PURCHASE ACCEPTED ** CJ @ 909/ 910-2481 **

Thursday, March 24, 2016

<:> HAPPY EASTER <:>

<:><:> WISHING YOU A OLD FASHION EASTER CELEBRATION! <:><:> FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS <:><:>... "C.J." ... ADVANTAGE REAL ESTATE

Monday, March 21, 2016

** TOP TEN **

** Hi Folks ... When considering the largest Purchase you will make .... consider Professional Help ... Call Cj at 909/ 910-2481 **

Sunday, March 20, 2016

<><> DID YOU KNOW ?? <><>

** Hi Chino Valley Residents ** Here is a little History that you may find of interest and if you are thinking of Selling or Purchasing ... Give Cj a call at 909/ 910-2481 **

Saturday, March 12, 2016

*** COMING SOON TO THE MLS ***

*** WATCH FOR MY NEW LISTING *** READY TO SHOW IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO *** NICE REMODELED HOME IN AZUSA, CA. *** PRICED RIGHT *** KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR ALL THE DETAILS *** 909/ 910-2481 ***

<><> MY AD IN CHINO CHAMPION <><>

*** HI FOLKS .... TIME FOR AN OPINION ... DID YOU SEE MY AD IN THE CHINO CHAMPION ??? WHAT DO YOU THINK??? ALSO READY FOR SOME HELP WITH YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS JUST CALL 909/ 910.2481 ... CJ ***

Thursday, March 10, 2016