The Ten Commandments of Lending

The Ten Commandments of Lending

Okay so one of the guys here in my new office brought this flyer in to me.  It's a very useful tool for buyers to make sure they don't sabotage their own loan while in the process!

1.  Thou shalt NOT change jobs or become self-employed until after closing

2.  Thou shalt NOT buy a car, truck or van unless you plan to live in it

3.  Thou shalt NOT use your credit cards or let payments fall behind

4.  Thou shalt NOT spend any of the money you saved for your down payment

5.  Thou shalt NOT buy furniture before you buy your house

6.  Thou shalt NOT originate any new inquiries on your credit report  

(Don't test drive cars as they sometimes pull your credit without you being aware...)

7.  Thou shalt not make any large deposits into your bank account(s)

8.  Thou shalt NOT change banks or bank accounts

9.  Thou shalt NOT co-sign for anyone

10.  Thou shalt NOT purchase anything until after closing

So a big thank you to Steve Chavarria for providing this useful tool and for giving me permission to use it!

If you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings.  I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer, Realtor
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

The Other Side of The Coin - Part 2

The Other Side of The Coin - Part 2

Okay so here's my second post on our personal experience of short-selling our home and finding a home to lease.  It's always nice for a seller or buyer to know that we understand what they are actually going through and how they are feeling.  And I especially now can understand the buyers perspective and the sellers perspective from a whole new viewpoint. (If you missed Part 1, click it to read the first installment.)

My husband, in all his wisdom, has decided that he needs to read every piece of mail offering to short sell, modify or otherwise help with our house situation.  He even sits through the continuous phone calls to hear their spiel in order to  help tell me how to better do my job.  (Like I haven't been doing this for a long time now...).  

Honestly, at first he made me upset - I guess the stress of having to short sell your home is frustrating anyway.  I mean after the like 50th call and the 100th piece of mail, you get a little sick and tired... but he saved me this one piece of mail that he really liked.  It had some wonderful ideas of what to say and how to say it.  What a great guy to put up with it all!

So by now, I am totally positive that the pieces of junk mail and the phone calls are extremely overwhelming to the seller/buyer.  It's making me stop and think from the other side of the coin.  Game changer, maybe.  We shall see!

Stay Tuned for PART 3.

If you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings.  I understand where you are coming from as a seller/buyer/renter, and I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer, Realtor

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

The Other Side of The Coin

The Other Side of The Coin

Okay so, most of these blogs have been written from the Realtor's perspective.  But since we are in the middle of short-selling our home, I decided to write about it from a sellers/renters perspective.  It's always nice for a seller or buyer to know that we understand what they are actually going through and how they are feeling.

Let me start with trying to lease a house.  For starters, we looked at like 15 homes in the area we wanted to be in.  My husband gets easily tired of doing the same thing, so this was broken up in to different days and times.  And we finally narrowed it down to two.  We submitted an offer on choice number one about a month ago.  No answer, no answer, no answer. Finally I had to threaten to go to another home if I didn't get an answer.  REALLY?  How do some agents stay in business? And the things he asked for to lease the house... pictures of the dogs, pictures of the family, he came over and took pictures of our current home... again I ask, REALLY?

On home number two, the agent kept contacting me.  What a difference.  He suggested three or four different homes for us to preview.  He texted me repeatedly letting me know he was really trying to help us out.  He never asked to see the dogs or come to our home.  He was courteous and friendly.

Anyway, long story short, we got our home and will be starting to move October 15th... the dogs will be happy, the kids are excited and we got a DEAL.

Stay tuned for part two!

So if you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings.  I understand where you are coming from as a seller/buyer/renter, and I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer, Realtor

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Wordless Wednesday - Let's Call Him Wilbur, Shall We?

Wordless Wednesday - Let's Call Him Wilbur, Shall We?

Okay so, I have always loved pigs.  But most especially recently since there were teacup pigs at the Los Angeles county Fair.  I even went to far as to ask for one on my Christmas List.  But in searching where to get one, I discovered that these little beauties (who only grow to about 20-30 pounds) are expensive... I mean REALLY expensive.  They start at $3500 and then there is shipping (all the way from England) and food.

(You really didn't think I was wordless, did you?)  Anyway, here's a 3-day old piglet we saw at the Oklahoma State Fair a couple of weeks ago.  He's beautiful, but he's gonna get really BIG... I mean REALLY BIG! But he's still beautiful.  Let's call him Wilbur, shall we? (Charlotte's Web comes to mind.)

  

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer, Realtor

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Last Week's National Real Estate News, Week of September 17-23, 2012

Last Week's National Real Estate News, Week of September 17-23, 2012

Okay so, I have decided to start publishing national real estate and mortgage articles so you guys can see the bigger picture.  Simply click on the link to read the article. As always, keep in mind that these areticles represent the entire nation, and all real estate is local - even down to the neighborhood.  

1 Million Failed Modifications!

Home Building Gains Impressive But Not Convincing

Investor Group Raises $8B to purchase REO's

Four Common Mistakes To Avoid When Refinancing

Renters Burdened by Higher Costs

August Home Prices Down Slightly

Home Prices Up Year over Year, Inventory Down

New FHA Condo Rules

Women Rate Homeownership Higher Than Men

Multiple Offers Doesn't Mean You're Overpaying

So if you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings.  I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

A Fabulous Place To Find Southern California School and Demographic Information

A Fabulous Place To Find Southern California School and Demographic Information

Okay, so I was reading a blog today on the world-famous Active Rain.  Robert Farrell of New York posted a blog and included this amazing website called Zip Skinny.  It's where you go to get "the skinny" on a certain area.

Now, there have been many other sites I have visited for the best information on demographics of a certain area or school information and test scores.  (Many people want to check this information out before they move into an area, especially if they have kids.) , I have referred others in the past, but this website is amazing!  You simply put in the zip code and it gives you so much information. And if you are not sure about the zip code, or want information on a city with more than one zip, you simply click on the state and then click on the city.  

One thing I did discover by clicking on Glendora, California is that it only gave me one of the two zip codes.  So it may be better to know which zips you are thinking of moving into beforehand.  Of course, if you are using a great Realtor, they send you listings complete with zip codes!

Zip Skinny gives you much more than school information.  It gives you social indicators such as levels of education, how many housing units in a city and the size of the city in sq miles.  It has economic indicators, race indicators, male vs female and even the average age.  There are even tabs with charts and comparisons to other nearby zip codes.  Very useful when thinking of moving to a certain place.

So if you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings.  I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to home ownership!

Serving the 210 Corridor - The cities of Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

So Many Things to Blog, So Little Time

So Many Things to Blog, So Little Time

Okay, so, two months later, she comes back swinging.  Yes, I can FINALLY walk and show homes.  And I didn't really blog much due to the fact that pain meds really do mess with your mind - badly.

So now, I can think of a bunch of things to say.

1.  I am in Oklahoma City, OK.  I came with my husband as he has a two-week class.  Why in the world the government put all the FAA classes in OKC, I will never know.  But the compund is impressive and a bit like Fort Knox.

2. Yes, I AM working from here.  I actually have clients coming in next week from Washington State and have been on the phone and email with themevery since I arrived here.  I am excited to be back up and running (well, that's a total figure of speech!) The doctor said the swelling in my foot won't go down for about a year.  But, hey, what's flip flops for a year compared to not walking!  Oh, and did I mention the Oklahoma State Fair is here right now!

3.  The housing market reports are looking really good.  However, when you look below the surface on things such as pricing, there isn't as rosey a picture.  Take the areas I work in: There has been an inventory shortage of houses on the market.  This has once again started many a bidding war and driven prices up a bit as reflected in the reports.  But really, when the banks start unloading their vast supply of bad loans (foreclosures and short sales) which Obama said had to be done by 2014, the market will once again be flooded and in turn the prices will once again drop.  Check out this article!

Anyways, more to come in future blogs.  Stay tuned for adventures in OKC and more real estate news.

And if you are thinking of moving, definitely pick a local expert and someone you can trust.  I will be more than happy to answer your questions or help you with your real estate needs.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website