[TemekuT]

Actually, it is sold and something is not right with the facts surrounding the transaction. I am speculating here – but there may be a reason the listing agent doesn’t want to call attention to the close price. And I almost can’t conceive of a buyer being so uninformed (dumb? naive?) as to pay over $200,000 for the exact same house on the same street.

Mortgage fraud speculations, anyone?

[TemekuT]

This KB home originally sold 01/22/03 for $299,000. It was resold 09/25/06 for $579,000 with 100% financing with ResMae.

This is where the strange part starts – resold (COE) 03/16/07 for $652,000, 100% financing with Security National Mortgage Corp., but…the listing history is odd in that it was listed 02/15/07 @ 3% comm and then changed to 4% comm 02/26/07…and still shows as available. Plus, in the current sales market, it seems odd that the listing shows “no keysafe, call the (out-of-area) agent for appointment to show”. I believe it is incumbent on the listing agent to change the MLS data to pending and then closed, but this wasn’t done, hence, the MLS still shows it as available, when searching the tax history in the MLS clearly shows the change of ownership.

[TemekuT]

Also, the combined prop tax rate is approx. 1.9% and the HOA changes monthly, based on phase releases. It’s been anywhere from approx. $80-150 monthly in the last 2 years, but is estimated to be $85 at build out.

Whatever, that’s a lot of $$$…I get the impression lots of neighbors are living paycheck to paycheck.

Don’t know how they do it, especially with all the BMW, Mercedes, and Hummers…oops, I do know! I check all the new listings tax records, and the refi’s (above basis) and the Helocs are always there.

[TemekuT]

This house is in Morgan Hill, in McMillin’s “Blackstone” tract. Blackstone is McMillin’s largest, most expensive tract to date in Morgan Hill. This house is plan 3, the “Salinas”, elevation 3A. Size is from 3836 to 4573 sq. ft., with options of 5-7 bdrms and 4-6.5 baths. The Blackstone homes began sales in 2006 and are close to sold out. I can’t find any resales on the MLS, but McMillin did post a new home, which closed 11/02/06 at $715,000.

There are other larger, more expensive homes in Morgan Hill. One recently sold for over 1.2 million.

My eyeball survey of Morgan Hill leads me to believe there are considerably less flippers in Morgan Hill than other places in Temecula, perhaps because the prices are higher than most tracts in Temecula. I think Paseo Del Sol is the real flipperville of Temecula.

[TemekuT]

The FDIC insurance coverage total is related to the number of individuals. In the case of a trust, the number of trustors and the bequest % to the beneficiaries affects the coverage total. And, the coverage for IRA accounts is different. You can look this up at http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/index.html for comprehensive examples and clarification.

Regarding the requirements to set up a CD, here are my experiences:

1. Countrywide – required, under separate cover 10 days after the account was opened, that we mail proof of our residence address in the form of a house payment coupon copy. They also required extra documentation upon initiation of the account “due to September 11 Federal requirements”. Who knows? Perhaps they ran a credit check on us and didn’t tell us.

2. Orange County Teachers’ Federal Credit Union – no problem, I love my credit union. They allow me to set up and roll CD’s online.

3. Downey Savings – no problem with the set up, which was done recently. No excess documentation or credit check required. We’ll see how it goes.

4. World Savings – no problem with the set up, which was done recently. No excess documentation or credit check required. We’ll see how it goes.

[TemekuT]

Do you think perhaps that when the bankruptcy law changes were enacted that *someone* was looking ahead and, anticipating the coming wipeout from the housing sector, conveniently, proposed the changes in advance to protect the $$$ of the *powers that be*?

This is not to excuse the average consumer…”don’t buy stuff you can’t afford!!!”

[TemekuT]

Oops – please disregard this off-topic post – I’ve started a new thread

[TemekuT]

FDIC Worries – Where do you fellow bloggers park your cash these days? Which banks do you think are the least exposed? And does anybody out there know anything about the financial strength and housing loan exposure of the Orange County Teachers’ Federal Credit Union?

[TemekuT]

My point in posting about the all-too-easy, quasi-academic requirements in order to sit for the CA agent or broker exam was to illustrate the low caliber of the CA state requirements. IMO this lack of standards has contributed in no small way to the current situation. That said, I worked with a wave of career transitioners, starting in 2000, who left the tech field in the Bay Area due to layoffs. For the most part I found those highly educated newbies to be ethical and competent.

I do immediately dismiss those bloggers who, painting with a broad brush, characterize all agents and brokers as charlatans who will ultimately flip burgers at MickeyD’s (which I did in high school).

As in any field, there are the incompetent…the competent…the superstars…and always the ethical and those lacking ethics.

[TemekuT]

The qualifying courses needed to sit for the agent and broker exams are a joke. When I applied for the agent exam, my undergrad transcripts were analyzed and I was allowed credit for business law (3 semester units), economics (total 9 semester units), and accounting (my major). I was denied credit for finance (6 upper division units!) because I hadn’t taken “real estate finance”. The exam was a joke also…if you can memorize lots of arcane information and understand junior high math, you’ll pass.

Later, through an approved on-line school, I completed the so-called coursework for the broker exam, including “real estate finance”. The class consisted of more memorization of factoids, such as learning all the acronyms – FNMA, FreddieMac, FIRREA etc., and very basic explanation of topics such as the monetary system, the secondary mortgage market, loan, deed of trust, beneficiary. Not even an iota of the rigor of my non-real estate finance classes, and no mention of details such as IRR, present value, investment analysis and comparison.

When I compare the coursework and exam requirements for becoming a real estate broker to the coursework I had to complete and the exam I passed to become a CPA, it becomes apparent that no great intellect or reasoning abilities are required for the former.

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