Guest Author: Mondie Pic'l

As I work with Pasadena home buyers, the number one question that I get is have the mortgage rates bottomed out?

I recently had the opportunity to watch the movie Ghostbusters. Its hard to believe that this movie is over 25 years old having been originally released in 1984. However, for those of us who saw it in the theaters when it was originally released there are some things that really date the movie.
For starters my eight year old had no idea who the Stay Puff Marshmallow man was, Dan Ackroyd was much thinner, Bill Murray was funny and they walk out of a bank have just secured a 19% home mortgage to start their Ghostbusters business. Yes, that is correct 19%.

I know, only a mortgage banker would notice something like this but believe it or not these were the actual rates in the early 1980s. Even more astounding was that the rate was 20% (the rate home equity lines and credit cards are tied to).
I have always said that getting a great rate is a matter of perspective.

When rates are bouncing between 18% and 17.5% and you are able to lock a 16.875% its natural to think you got a great rate. When I purchased my first home in 1989 I locked a 10.25% rate on a 10/1 ARM and was thrilled. 30 Year fixed rates were 12%. When I purchased my second home in 1999 I secured a Jumbo 30 year fixed rate at 6.25% and again thought I was brilliant since rates had been hovering a 7%. Today those rates sound crazy!
Today rates on a 30 year fixed rate conforming loan (under $417,000) are hovering between 4% and 4.25%. We have never seen this rate before on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage going all the way back to 1964 (the oldest chart I located).

So why are some home buyers waiting for lower rates?

Everybody is an optimist thinking rates are going lower ...until they dont. The bond market (which determines mortgage rates) can be fickle. The one thing it has taught us is that rates can go up much faster than they come down. Since everybody has a different tolerance to risk it is good to know what you are risking by waiting for rates to drop further. Many times people get hung up on the rate itself. After all 3.75% sounds so much better than 4% without realizing what this equates to in a monthly payment.

For instance:

$250,000 Home Mortgage

4% rate for 30 year fixed

$1193.53 Monthly Principal and interest payment

3.75% rate for 30 year fixed

$1157.78 Monthly Principal and Interest Payment

You will save an additional $35.74 per month by waiting for a 3.75% rate.

However if the market is volatile you may be risking as much as a .50% rate swing up which would cost an addition $73.18 per month over the 4.00% rate available today.

This volatility makes timing the bottom very difficult. One thing that can hedge your decision to lock is to find a lender that has a written float down policy so that if interest rates decline while you are in escrow you have the security of a locked rate with the opportunity to improve that rate should the market drop, taking the risk out of the situation for you.

I cant help but wonder what we will all say in 2035 when we are watching an old movie and a character mentions just having secured a 4.00% rate on their home mortgage. Just how unbelievable will that sound?

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Mondie Pic'l is the Branch Manager for Fairway Mortgage. She has over 25 years
mortgage banking experience and has demonstrated a lasting commitment to
providing personalized customer service.

Please feel free to visit Mondie's web site at www.mondiepicl.com. Her
direct line is 626-233-1303

Guest Author: Mondie Pic'l

Some people love to shop. However when it comes to shopping for a loan, shopping isnt exactly fun! It can be complex and overwhelming. However there are some key things you can do to make sure you get the best terms.

When shopping rates it is always imperative that you shop rates on the same day. Mortgage rates change daily so if you talk to lender A today and lender B tomorrow you are not comparing the same data. Call Lender A back to get an update on their rates. The time to shop is when you are ready and able to lock a rate. I always advise my clients to pick one lender to prequalify with and then shop the rate once an offer has been accepted. There is no need to prequalify with multiple lenders and any rates you are given prior to an accepted offer will be different by the time you are actually ready to move forward. The same holds true when refinancing.

Know your credit score. In todays credit environment a credit score can make a difference in your rate and terms. In some cases it will alter the rate by .125%. If you have been prequalified and are shopping for a rate be sure to get your middle credit score from the lender who prequalified you so that you are shopping with comparable parameters.

It is also important to get a breakdown of fees from each lender. You need to know what you are paying for in advance from each lender you are working with. One lender may quote you an origination fee but fail to disclose a discount point (an upfront cost to secure a lower rate over the term of the mortgage). On a purchase you need only compare the lenders fees. Title and escrow will be estimates as the lender has no control over who is selected to perform those services.

On a refinance the total of the fees including title and escrow are important. A line item total will tell you who has the best cost vs. rate.

READ MORE: What kind of closing costs can you expect?

When you are ready to commit to a lender you will need to cover a few basic questions with them:

When can I lock my rate?
Due to the number of low appraisals and more stringent credit criteria many lenders will not offer a rate guarantee until your appraisal is completed OR your loan is fully approved. This makes shopping for a rate very difficult. The rate may be very attractive when you apply only to find that it has changed when you are able to lock a loan. A rate lock at application is always the best

How long is my rate lock good for?
On a purchase you want to make sure your rate guarantee covers the length of your escrow. A 30 day rate lock does you no good on a 45 day escrow. On a refinance many of the larger banks are offering a 90 Day rate guarantee which sounds great until you find out it will take 90+ days to get your loan closed and you are in fact paying a higher rate and or points to go with the 90 Day guarantee rather than selecting a lender that can offer a 30 day guarantee and close your loan within 30 days. Remember the longer the rate guarantee the more expensive the cost to you.

Can I float my rate down?
There is sometimes an option to float your rate down if rates decrease during the processing of your loan. It is an important question to ask as most lenders will not volunteer their policy. Some lenders offer to float down your rate as much as .375% at no cost. Other lenders offer to renegotiate your loan and get the rate within .125% of the current market. More often you are not offered any type of float down option in writing which makes it difficult to negotiate in the event rates drop. Whatever the float down you are offered it should be in writing. It may be the deciding factor why you select one lender over another.

What happens if my rate lock expires?
Most lenders will cover the rate extension if it is due to a delay on their part. However, if your escrow is delayed it can cost you up to .25% of your loan amount for each 10 day extension.

Make sure you have a good faith estimate or closing cost breakdown before you lock your rate and cut the competition loose.

Many borrowers assume they were quoted a 30 year fixed only to find it was a 5/1 ARM and by the time you get back to another lender to secure the rate they quoted you that rate could be gone. Review your good faith estimate with your lender and ask lots of questions.

Asking questions of your loan consultant is the key to getting the best loan at the best terms. It doesnt make the shopping for a loan any more fun but it will certainly give you more confidence when making the decision of which lender to select.

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Mondie Pic'l is the Branch Manager with Fairway Mortage. She has over 25 years
mortgage banking experience and has demonstrated a lasting commitment to
providing personalized customer service.

Please feel free to visit Mondie's web site at www.mondiepicl.com. Her
direct line is 626-233-1303

I was exposed to ˜HOME STAGING several years ago when I heard Barb Schwartz, founder of StagedHomes.com and THE 'inventor' of the term ˜STAGING speak on the subject. I remember sitting in the audience of about 500 real estate agents thinking to myself - this makes a lot of sense.

Barbara, who has been staging homes since 1972 had single handedly created this brand new industry - STAGING. Barbara uses the following analogy to help us understand what Staging is all about:

Think of going to see a play in a theater. When you walk in, you see the stage, an audience, actors. You also know that theres a producer and the director behind the scenes. For the play to be a success, you need the play to be captivating and for all the seats to be full.

Now... lets say that your Pasadena house is a ˜set on a stage of that play. We would need to ˜Stage your house for the audience - potential buyers - who will be coming through to see it.

The seller would be a producer because the seller owns the home. The Realtor would be the director since she will set the scene for how each room should look, with the help of a stager, to ensure a ˜sellout performance, i.e. buyers coming through to look at the house. And, there would be critics - yes - critics! Who are the critics? The critics are the other Real Estate Agents who will decide whether or not to bring their clients to see the house. They will also spread the word about the house to the rest of the agents that didnt get to see it themselves.

I have staged quite a few homes since the time I met Barbara. Some homes were staged by myself and others with a Pasadena staging professional like Michelle Minch from Moving Mountain Designs.

Let me tell you - Staging works!!! Its that simple.

Of course, Staging works in concert with the Pricing of the home. But, with everything being equal, a home that is priced right and staged will sell quicker and for more money than a home that has not been staged!

Stay tuned for my next post where I will show you some statistics and provide you with some specific staging ideas.

In the meantime, if you would like to see some before and after pictures, please visit my Staging Show by clicking Play the Show button below.

If you are living in Sierra Madre or are thinking about relocating to Sierra Madre, you've come to the right place.

This post will be updated monthly, around the first week of the month, for the previous month and will give you key real estate market indicators for Sierra Madre California. Bookmark this page and visit it each month to see how Sierra Madre homes and condos are faring in today's real estate market.

If you are already a Sierra Madre homeowner and would like to get a monthly email sent to you with real estate activity around your Sierra Madre home, please click here and order your real estate monthly market report. You will not be contacted by me or anyone on my team and the information will be generated automatically via email based on the criteria that you list.

If you are seriously considering selling your Sierra Madre home and would like a private consultation, please contact me at 626-629-8439 or Irina(at)Irina4RealEstate(dot)com.

Sierra Madre Homes for Sale Real Estate Statistics for the Summer of 2010:

Lowest price home sold in August 2010 in Sierra Madre was at 618 Woodland Drive and sold for $265,000.

Highest price home sold in August 2010 in Seirra Madre was sold at $720,000 and was located at 71 N Lima Street.

There are only 28 single family homes for sale which is 1/2 of 1% of avaiable housing units. There is defintiely not a lot of inventory available right now. On average, homes stay on the market for about 2 months before they are sold.

See all homes for sale in Sierra Madre by clicking here.

Here are some of the homes for sale as listed in the MLS (Multing Listing Service)

Sierra Madre Real Estate Market Report for the month of June 2008:

Sierra Madre Real Estate Market Report for the month of May 2008:

*Data gathered from ITEC MLS

Posted By: Irina Netchaev - Pasadena California Real Estate Agent

Guest Author: Mondie Pic'l

When the credit crisis hit two years ago one of the
immediate casualties was the ability of Pasadena home buyers to purchase a new home with
a low down payment. The main
reason was the retreat of mortgage insurance companies and their unwillingness
to insure loans with less than a 10% down payment. Any financing with less than a 20% down payment will require mortgage
insurance.

After the credit crisis the only alternative for low down
payment financing was FHA which allowed a 3.5% down payment. However, FHA mortgage insurance is also
going through changes of its own. As of October 1st the financed portion of FHA
mortgage insurance will drop from 2.25% to 1.00% of the base loan amount
($100,000 Base x 1% = $1,000 financed insurance vs. $2250).

Sounds like
good news right! Not so fast.

FHA has also increased the monthly premium from .55 to .90
(loan amount x .90 divided by 12) or .85 on greater than 5% down. This will
have a large impact on the monthly payment increasing it by roughly $29.25 per
$100,000 borrowed.

The good news is that the mortgage insurance companies are
stepping back into the market again giving home buyers another option with
Conventional financing. Within the
last six months 5% down conventional financing came back into play for loan
amounts under $417,000 and 10% down financing became available for loan amounts
over $417,000 but under $625,500. This was improvement by 5% in each category. PMI, one of the largest insurance
companies, recently announced that as of October 8, 2010 they would begin
insuring 3% down conventional loans on loan amounts up to $417,000 in non distressed markets. Surprisingly the
distressed market areas have been shrinking and are limited to mostly non
metropolitan areas in each state. In addition to the market restrictions a 720
FICO score is also required.

FHA and Conventional Financing each have their own niches. For
instance the new lower down payment requirements for Conventional Financing
will enable Pasadena home buyers to purchase condos without having to ensure they are
FHA approved. FHA will allow home buyers with lower FICO scores to secure low
down payment financing. So it is
even more important with this ever changing lending market to make sure your loan
consultant is knowledgeable in both FHA and Conventional financing to determine
which is the right fit and more cost effective for your situation. Having more options is good news for
the Real Estate Market as long as the home buyer is well informed as to the
pros and cons of each option.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mondie Pic'l is the Branch Manager for Fairway Mortgage. She has over 25 years
mortgage banking experience and has demonstrated a lasting commitment to
providing personalized customer service.

Please feel free to visit Mondie's web site at www.mondiepicl.com. Her
direct line is 626-233-1303

A few days ago, we looked at Pasadena's single family home sales performance. However, Pasadena California has a huge condominium and townhome market. The condos range from small studios starting below $200,000 to luxury penthouses in the million dollar range.

Currently, there are 182 condos available for sale with an additional 12 or so condos coming on the real estate market each week.

There are only 68 townhomes available for sale with an additional 4 to 5 townhouses going up for sale each week.

In August of 2010, about 4 condos and 2 townhouses sold each week.

Pasadena Condo and Townhouse Statistics for May 2010 through August 2010:

The highest priced condo sale in August 2010 closed escrow at $1,050,000 at 700 East Union #301. This condo also closed significantly higher when looking at price per square foot at $603.45. Compare that to the average price per square foot of closed sales at $351.48. This 1,740 sq. ft. condo is located in the Playhouse District in the Wallace Neff inspired Granada Court complex.

The highest price townhome sale in August 2010 closed at $999,000 and was located at 378 California Blvd. This townhouse sold a little under the average price per square foot of $360.60 and closed escrow at $321.02 per square foot.

Let's take a look at Pasadena Condos from a historical perspective.

Pasadena Condo Sales Price Historical View

Sold price of Pasadena condos has stayed pretty consistent and has dropped less than 1% from August 2009 to August 2010.

However the average time it takes to market the property and get it sold went up significantly by almost 50%. It now takes almost 4 months to sell a condo in Pasadena. Last year it took only 85 days on average to sell a condo.

Pasadena Townhome Sale Update

Average sold price of Pasadena Townhomes increased by 7.4% from August 2009 to August 2010!

The number of days it takes to sell a townhome in Pasadena has also increased from last year this time by 45.7%.

If you are interested in seeing all Pasadena condos and townhomes available for sale, click on the links below for the most up to date, real time information as it gets entered into the MLS service.

Pasadena Condos and Townhomes for Sale in North East Pasadena

Pasadena Condos and Townhomes for Sale in North West Pasadena

Pasadena Condos and Townhomes for Sale in South East Pasadena

Pasadena Condos and Townhomes for Sale in South West Pasadena

For additional information on the trends in the Pasadena real estate market, give Irina a call at 626-629-8439 or email at Irina(at)PasadenaViews(dot)com.

See all South West Pasadena Condos and Townhomes for sale  by putting in your search criteria in the search box below for the most updated home listings.

When we are looking at Pasadena home sales data for August 2010, please keep in mind that most of these homes have actually went under contract sometime in June or July. Hot summer months - in more ways than one. Yes... it was hot. :) But, for real estate purposes, this is also the busiest home selling activity.

Many Pasadena home buyers take advantage of vacation time or kids being out of school to go shopping for their next home.

August in itself, had the lowest number of new home listings in Pasadena at only 77 comparing to close to 100 in the previous months.

The lowest priced home for sale listed in Pasadena was $220,000.

The highest priced home for sale listed in Pasadena was $6,650,000

Pasadena Single Family Home Sales statistics:

Let's take a look at the actual Pasadena home sales prices by area:

South West Pasadena

Average price per square foot for homes in the South West Pasadena neighborhood increased by 40.3% from August 2009 to August 2010 from $423 per sq. ft. to $593 per sq. ft.

The South West Pasadena homes also sold 54% faster in the same span of time. The average time on the market for these homes in August 2009 was 93 and in August 2010 was 43 days.

On average the homes in South West Pasadena sold at 98% of list price.

See all Pasadena South West homes for sale here. These home listings are updated "real time".

South East Pasadena

Average price per square foot for homes in the South East Pasadena
neighborhood increased by 38.2% from August 2009 to August 2010 from
$437 per sq. ft. to $605 per sq. ft.

*****Now... take this number with a grain of salt... there was a huge $6.9 million sale (1620 Lombardy) in the area that skewed the price per sq. ft. data. Most of the homes in the South East area sold in the high $600K range****

The South East Pasadena homes, on the other hand, took longer to sell. The average time on the
market for these homes in August 2009 was 56 and in August 2010 was 81
days.

On average the homes in South East Pasadena sold at 93% of list price. Down from 98% in August of 2009

See all Pasadena South East homes for sale here. These home listings are updated "real time".

North West Pasadena

Average price per square foot for homes in the North West Pasadena
neighborhood decreased by 14.8% from August 2009 to August 2010 from
$378 per sq. ft. to $303 per sq. ft.

The North West Pasadena homes
also sold 59.8% faster in the same span of time. The more affordable prices helped move these homes faster and allowed opportunities for first time home buyers. This area has also seen more foreclosures and short sales. The average time on the
market for these homes in August 2009 was 82 and in August 2010 was 33
days.

On average the homes in North West Pasadena sold at 97% of list price.

See all Pasadena North West homes for sale here. These home listings are updated "real time".

North East Pasadena

Average price per square foot for homes in the North West Pasadena
neighborhood dropped slightly by 3% from August 2009 to August 2010 from
$364 per sq. ft. to $353 per sq. ft.

The North West Pasadena homes
also sold 6% faster in the same span of time. The average time on the
market for these homes in August 2009 was 67 and in August 2010 was 71
days.

On average the homes in North West Pasadena sold at 101% of list price. So... yes... we are still seeing multiple offers and overbids in the Pasadena real estate market.

See all Pasadena North East homes for sale here. These home listings are updated "real time".

READ MORE: Pasadena City Guide for all your Relocation Needs

Pasadena Real Estate Guide for all your real estate questions

Interested in seeing what foreclosures are available for sale? Click on the home search button below to search for full access to the Multiple Listing Service. 

READ MORE:  Pasadena real estate update 2012 – see luxury home sales.

Irina is a Top Realtor and the founder and President of Pasadena Views Real Estate Team™. She is available to assist you in all of your Real Estate transactions. Email or call her today at (626)629-8439.

Are you relocating to Pasadena?  If so, take a look at our 365 Things To Do In Pasadena® .  Call us at 626-629-8439 to schedule a time for your free home buyer or home seller consultation!