[HLS]

We are witnessing the slow painful breakdown of the largest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world.

So many people still don’t get that BANKS do not own most of these loans, they are SERVICERS.
They make more money by dragging out foreclosure due to contractual agreements.

I completely agree with the outrage but what nobody seems to understand is that if foreclosures
were all completed ASAP and homes were put on the market and listed at current market prices, it would push prices down further leading to even more underwater borrowers which would lead to more people walking away leading to even more distress sales.

There are not enough QUALIFIED buyers to buy these homes at current levels. At lower prices houses will get sold.

It’s a vicious cycle that if allowed to happen would cause the economy to collapse.

It’s a Catch-22 for the govt. They are counting on more people to be stupid & worried about their credit scores and having an emotional attachment to a house rather than being financially intelligent.

There are govt idiots making decisions but even they are aware of what the consequences are.

The money simply does not exist to buy all these homes. The derivitives market has been built on a shaky house of cards, based on risky loans.

[HLS]

Of course there are opportunities.

That’s actually part of the point. Condo’s were new in the 70’s and had far less risks than they do today. 60-80 yr old complexes are going to need help.
Not enough data history on condo’s, they became popular in the 70’s, not many before then.

I’m a conservative contrarian and remember that real estate AND the stock market were not the sickness that they are today. Many people think they are both guaranteed road to riches.

Far too many people may be way too complacent & optmistic about what they expect from the future based on past results when in reality it’s a completely different environment.

I don’t think that real estate over the next 20-30 yrs is going to represent anywhere near what it was over the last 20-30yrs.
I will be a very happy camper if I am wrong, but I have zero expectations.

I wasn’t popular with some friends in 2005 when I pleaded with them not to buy a house and my views today about certain things are still twisted.

[HLS]

SDS..
No offense taken in any way. It’s an opinion.
Please do not regret chiming in.

My first property that I bought in 1980 was a condo. I lived in it before renting it out for awhile.
I have been a landlord for 30yrs with various types of properties.

I am not saying that one cannot make money from a condo OR that it wont cash flow; at least in the short term.
There are many things that people do that work out fine through nothing more than dumb luck, without realizing the real risks.

In the stock market, there are terms like smart money & dumb money. Dumb money often buys at the top and smart money was in at the bottom, (and sold out at the top)

IMHO condos are a much riskier investment than SFR’s, duplex-triplex-4plex. I am a huge believer in being a landlord, but never on a shoestring budget.

A condo assn may have been fine for the past 20yrs but the shoe could drop at any time. Complexes can deteriorate quite rapidly.

PERSONALLY, I’m not going to be an owner of a unit that is subject to 1000 different possible reasons for major litigation, and I’m not going to wonder what the next scare is going to be(i.e. lead paint, asbestos, bad piping, Chinese drywall, etc)

Many don’t seem to understand that a condo only gives you ownership rights to the airspace within the walls.
You dont ‘own’ the walls out, nor the dirt underneath the unit.

It’s a personal decision, but I would rather own
SFR’s or multi-units out of the area and employ property a manager rather than own a condo just becuase it’s local. If a SFR burns down you still own the lot.

I wish you all the best and hope that nothing aggravating comes to you as the result of being a landlord of a condo.
ONE bad owner or tenant can make things really miserable around a condo complex, and may not something that they can be forced to change.

You don’t know what tomorrow will bring and you have very little control over a major problem in the complex that you WILL BE partially responsible for.

Lots more could be discussed.

[HLS]

[quote=sdduuuude]Isn’t the Jumbo limit 546K not 417K in San Diego?[/quote]

Yes, but rates/pricing are slightly higher for loans above $417K.
OP is considering lower his loan to $417K to get lower rate.

[HLS]

You have choices if you decide to refi $417,000

If you continue making the same payment that you are making now, approx $2250mo.
Your $22,000 ‘investment’ will save you $144,000 (GUARANTEED) in interest payments over the life of the loan and you will pay the loan off in 23yrs and 2months rather than 28.5 years.
OR
If you save the $300 every month and just make the lower minimum payment each month, the $22,000 investment will save you about $114,000 in interest over 30yrs QED

[HLS]

Did you buy a brand new house OR an older home ?
The taxes are too high according to who ?

If you bought an older home:
The current property tax bill is based on the assessed property value in 2011, which had a basis of the previous owners cost + adjustments.

The 2011-2012 bill was sent out in October 2011 with the first half due by Dec 2011 and the 2nd half due by April 2012.
Property taxes on that bill cover from July 1st 2011 to June 30th 2012
That is the amount that MUST be paid to the assessor.

Through escrow, you would have been charged the old owners property tax based on the number of days that you owned the property after July 1st 2011.
If your basis is lower, you could eventually get a supplemental bill with a credit/refund.

Your new property taxes will be based on your purchase price, but it could take the assessor a while to catch up to this.

2012-2013 bills will not be sent out until Sept/Oct
and will probably reflect the value on January 1st 2012, which still could be more than you paid.
This bill will cover the period July 1st 2012-June 30th 2013.

1. Exactly what date did you close on the house
2. How much did you pay
3. Is there Mello-Roos on this property
4. How much are the current taxes

Call the county assessors office for an explanation of what you can expect in the way of a refund, if any.

[HLS]

1. You aren’t paying $22,000, you are reducing your debt by $22,000.
**According to your comment, you are not paying anything to get the loan.

2. The payment (& tax) savings is irrelevant. Mistake to even consider it.

3. You can still pay the loan off in 28.5 yrs if you want by adjusting the payment.

4. You will save around $3500 in interest just the first year, and a declining amount each additional year.

5. If you can spare the cash, it’s a no brainer to refi.

[HLS]

If the HOA had raised your monthly fee instead of adding submeters do you think that you would be entitled to raise the rent for that reason alone ? (answer is NO unless it was in the lease)

What part of “water is included in the rent” that you put in to the rental agreement is confusing ?

It sounds like you bought a condo as a rental property, which is the worst type of property anyone can buy as a rental, and an even worse decision for a first time investor.

I can almost guarantee you that your monthly fee will never go down, and it will not stay the same, it will only go up.

Wait until you get a $500 or $1000 assessment for an HOA deficiency that you cannot dispute.
You cannot pass these on to your tenant.

HOA’s are ticking time bombs, often run by inexperienced people who think they know what they are doing, but really don’t.

If they had not done the submeters, they would have raised your monthly fee.

ALL HOA’s need money to maintain the complex and reserves and there are only a small group of people who MUST pay that money.

[HLS]

[quote=Former SD resident]or amerisave? currently offering 4% with $3430 credit[/quote]

Understand that the $3430 credit may be needed to cover your closing costs. Make sure that you understand the hard costs and what will be left over.

You are on the right track. I told you that the quote you received yesterday was ripoff-ridiculous. 😉

Also realize that pricing does change daily (up or down) but you still should be able to get 4.00% or less at zero cost and still possibly get additional credit.

[HLS]

[quote=UCGal]I was thinking north county.
Sorry about that. :)[/quote]

Never a need to apologize for having a sharp mind that is capable of seeing things that others may not see!
(Doesn’t make you weird either) 😉

[HLS]

[quote=sdrealtor] I have seen and heard of numerous loans getting denied because the owner occupancy was too low. Perhaps it is only some but not all loan programs.[/quote]

1. % of owner occupancy usually only matters when buying a condo AS A RENTAL PROPERTY.

2. % of owner occupancy should not be a concern when buying a condo as a PRIMARY residence (or 2nd home)

Are you saying that loans have been denied for PRIMARY RESIDENCE purchases due to % of occupancy ??
I am not aware of this happening.

NO LOAN is easy today, regardless of credit score, income, assets or equity. ALL guidelines must be met whether it is a 95% loan or a 25% loan.

The most difficult loan by far is an INVESTMENT CONDO loan.

There are 3 major lenders for condos:
FHA, Fannie and Freddie, each has their own rules.

For FHA the condo complex must be FHA approved or it is not eligible for an FHA loan.

Fannie Mae requires at least 10% down to buy a condo. (minimum 5% down to buy a house)
The guidelines will make anyone’s head spin.
Even an experienced underwriter cannot remember everything there is to know.
Here is a link to recent updates regarding FNMA condo loan approvals: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/relatedsellinginfo/condogls/pdf/projectreviewsummaryfaq.pdf

Is your head spinning yet ?? It gets worse & more complicated.

There are numerous reasons for condos to be ineligible for financing, not limited to budget, financial strength, litigation, insurance, delinquencies, one party owning more than 10% of complex, condition, reserves, fidelity bond etc.

[HLS]

I had not seen that thread from Feb..sorry

It seems that there has been updated info about this in just the last few days.. (??)
Not sure if this differs from what was discussed then..

In an April 13 memo, FTB Executive Officer Selvi Stanislaus said: “Under current law, the deductibility of real property taxes is generally a matter of federal law to which California conforms. As such, the FTB will be waiting to review the revisions to the IRS forms and publications to provide comparable revisions to California tax form instructions. The FTB does not anticipate that these revisions will be made prior to the due date for 2011 tax returns (April 17, 2012). We will remove material from our website that limits the deductibility of real property taxes to taxes imposed on an ad valorem basis. We are also revising our tax form instructions to reflect this update. Once the IRS forms and instructions are revised we will provide revised California forms and instructions that are consistent with the revisions made by the IRS.”

[HLS]

UCG…
Thank you.
Former is in North Carolina.

Unfortunately I don’t know who they should use.

For anybody, It is very difficult to shop for the lowest pricing. Pricing changes constantly based on the bond market.
There was an intra-day pricing change for the worse today which changes credit/cost that someone would have been quoted an hour ago.

[HLS]

[quote=sdrealtor] The problem is that when they require cash for an extended period of time owner occupancy drops making the day they can be financed that mcuh further away.[/quote]

% of occupancy usually only matters when buying a condo AS A RENTAL PROPERTY.
It is not a concern as a primary residence.

There are many other reasons why the complex wont qualify for a primary loan, but occupancy shouldn’t be one.
They WANT primary owners to buy condo’s.

**Many complexes are ticking time bombs.

[HLS]

[quote=Former SD resident]1. 5.125% and 265K (with 20% equity)[/quote]

In most cases servicers do not own the loan and could not care less about losing a loan.

The reality is that most people who stick with their current lender get screwed by staying with them. Most take advantage of the situation. BAC rates have been terrible lately.

Existing loans get paid off and new loans require qualifying to get the best rates. Can’t just modify an existing loan for the best rate.

With your balance, you will save around $3000 in interest JUST THE FIRST YEAR, and it can be done at zero cost, and you may end up with additional credit.
(you are wasting $8 a day in interest at your current rate)

[Author]

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