Erase a Short Sale or Foreclosure from your Credit Report

If you are one of the unfortunate who have experienced a short sale or a foreclosure you MAY (and I stress MAY) be able to have it removed from your credit report.

With a short sale, or a foreclosure looming large on your credit report, you can just about forget about getting a mortgage to purchase a new home for a very, very long time. In today's real estate climate, you no doubt would love the opportunity to buy a new home, enjoying a much lower interest rate than what you had before loosing your home.

I have just learned of an opportunity (notice I did not say loop hole) that may allow you to start shopping for that new home very soon.

Julie Macc, a certified credit specialist with Century Law Group says that where there is a will there is a way to make purchasing a Santa Cruz home possible. She has been spending her work hours reviewing credit reports from clients to have been through the Short Sale and Foreclosure experience.

What Julie has found is that in most cases there are some major errors on those credit reports. These include errors in dates, names, address, late charges and much more. In several instances there has been reports of late mortgage payments on a property that had already been taken back, or sold though a short sale.

Once Julie has reviewed your credit reports, and located errors such as these, she has been able to have the entire item removed from the credit report.

This is not to say that your lender is not going to ask you if you have ever been though a short sale or a foreclosure (red flag) but having something of this nature taken off your credit report will go a long way to repairing your credit rating.

If you are reviewing your own credit report be sure to pull reports from all three agencies Tansunion, Experian and Equifax. What you locate on one may not show on the other two. One way to access your credit report

Now the disclaimer, While I have heard Julie speak, I have never referred a client to her or to Century Law Group. On the chance that this might actually work it should be worth the half of your time for Julie to review your reports.

Are you interested in Santa Cruz Real Estate,Buying or Selling Homes in Santa Cruz? Feel free to email me at Contact Me and I will be happy to provide you with information,listings and a FREE market analysis.

Reverse Mortgage

What an interesting way to continue the Santa Cruz lifestyle to which one has become accustom, in these tough economic times.

A reverse mortgage on your Santa Cruz home can do so much for so many, at a cost. If you are a member of the "older peoples" club and are sitting on equity in your home this may be a way for you to enjoy the fruits of your labor, or if you are short on cash or in need of medical or long term in home care the equity in your Santa Cruz home can help.

The simple explanation is that you borrow against the equity in your home, either receiving structured payments or a single sum. When your heirs sell your Santa Cruz home the reverse mortgage is paid, or in some cases the reverse mortgage company sells your home to re-coup their money.

A reverse mortgage carries a heavy upfront fee, in many cases that is not a concern as there is no out of pocket costs. An example would be if your home is valued at $600,000.00 and is full paid off. You can receive a portion of the equity in cash to use to carry you for the balance of your life. In the case where you many have a small mortgage, that can be paid off and you can still receive a portion of the equity in cash.

If you are planning to will your Santa Cruz home to your heirs, this may not be for you. In several cases at the time of your death, when your home is sold there is nothing left for your heirs after the reverse mortgage is paid.

I know two people who recently have taken out reverse mortgages, and both are thrilled that they have cash available for day to day expenses, and some fun mindless joys as well.

Are you interested in Santa Cruz Real Estate,Buying or Selling Homes in Santa Cruz? Feel free to email me at Contact Me and I will be happy to provide you with information,listings and a FREE market analysis.

Honey, let's Buy the BIG House

I just finished reading though the 9,0000 Real Estate related informational emails I get weekly.

In the times of downsizing and localizing, there was an article on Buying the Big House. This surprised me, even my husband talks of going smaller. He says our Santa Cruz home is too big. We have 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, just for the two of us. I think the size of our house is in direct correlation with the health of our marriage. I like room to spread out, I like have an option of which bathroom to use, I like being able to sit in the living room reading a book while he watches TV in the family room.

I admit that our one bedroom only gets used when my best friend visits, the other when my husband lifts weights. I do use all the bathrooms, because I can.

In the article they rank the square footage of homes by state. In Utah the average house is 2305 sq. ft.(no comment) in Washington D.C. 1000 sq. ft. My Aptos house is just over 1900 sq. ft. By contrast my Mothers house within Santa Cruz City limits is just over 1600 sq. ft. with a 3/2 configuration.

As a Santa Cruz Realtor I think it all comes down to price/value per square foot. I would venture that the 1000 square foot high raise in Washington D.C. is valued at a higher price point than the sprawling 2305 sq.ft. McMansion in Utah.

Ultimately it is about what fits and suits your needs and lifestyle. I never thought that 22 years ago we would still be living in our Aptos tree house, but we are because it still fits. It is my retreat, sure sometimes I wish it was sunnier, sometimes I wish the property was vast and sprawling. At the end of the day it is home and that is what really matters.

Are you interested in Santa Cruz Real Estate,Buying or Selling Homes in Santa Cruz? Feel free to email me at Contact Me and I will be happy to provide you with information,listings and a FREE market analysis.

The BAD Blogger

It is an interesting fact, at least for me, that I am a bad blogger. I did not start out this way, it seems to have just happened along the way.

When I started out, I wrote about what was on my mind. Next I started looking for information to share, stories and Santa Cruz Real Estate market insight. Then I moved on to sharing real life situations that I came across dealing with Santa Cruz home buyers and Santa Cruz home sellers.

Lately, I have been stumped, I have not had any mind blowing thoughts or ideas to share. Sure, I could talk about how the Santa Cruz Real Estate market has some terrific deals, and some real dogs. I could share about the house that just sold where they buyer only had to put down $5,000.00 and the sellers financed his purchase, he is a pretty damn happy buyer.

It just seems there is so much going on, that I have a hard time wrapping my head around just one thought. Honestly, I talk all day long-sometimes I am just flat out of words.I did make a commitment to blog. I have been failing at living up to what I promised, I will try to do better.

Are you interested in Santa Cruz Real Estate,Buying or Selling Homes in Santa Cruz? Feel free to email me at Contact Me and I will be happy to provide you with information,listings and a FREE market analysis.

Why Do We Always Screw Up New Technology?

Why Do We Always Screw Up New Technology?

Staying Current

Having just spent an entire week at Keller Williams Agent/Leadership Mega Camp in Austin Texas, I can share a few insights.

There is absolutely no way a Realtor in today's fast paced world can stay on the top of their game, ahead of the pack without treating their business like a real business. Treat this business like a hobby, and you are out of date and out of luck.

You need to take the time to learn and grow, mix and meet and share best practices.
There is always someone who has a keener sense of how to maximize exposure to their listings and themselves. In order for you to stay current, you must spend time learning.

This last week was filled with so many ideas, best practices and concepts that I doubt there was any single agent who regrets spending the time, money or energy in Austin.

With close to 11,000 in attendance, I promise you there will be a renewed sense of purpose and goals surfacing.

I have shared a link of just one presenter,Chris did a great job on sharing information in a fun and insightful manner. Why Do We Always Screw Up New Technology?">

Now I am off to facebook..Interested in sharing your insights.


Are you interested in Santa Cruz Real Estate,Buying or Selling Homes in Santa Cruz? Feel free to email me at Contact Me and I will be happy to provide you with information,listings and a FREE market analysis.

Bright Spots/Tara-Nicholle Nelson

5 bright spots in real estate recession
Mood of the Market

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News™
Share This

The real estate market meltdown was much more severe and has lasted much longer than even the most bearish housing market observer would ever have predicted. Rather than values taking a dip, they've taken a double dip in many places; and the housing sector drama has infected the job market and the entire world's economy.

Yet, there are some very shiny silver linings to this whole mess -- a handful of ways in which our mindsets, habits, behaviors and approaches to money, mortgage and even life decision-making -- have been changed by this real estate market debacle. As I see it, here are the five best things about this otherwise terrible housing recession:

People now buy for the long term. Even Jeff Lewis, that reality TV house flipper extraordinaire, has declared that he's tapped out of the flipping business for the foreseeable future, trading in his real estate wheeling and dealing for the design business.

Recently, he mentioned having lost six homes in the real estate market crash. While Lewis flipped homes as his business, just five years ago, many Americans -- homeowners and investors alike -- took a short-term view on their homes, buying them with the idea that they could count on refinancing, pulling cash out or even reselling them anytime they wanted, at a profit.

Reality check -- those days are gone. Now, buyers know they'd better be prepared to stay put for somewhere between seven and 10 years (shorter in strong local markets, longer in foreclosure hot spots) before they buy if they want to break even. And this is causing them to take mortgages they can afford over time, and make smarter, longer-term choices about the homes they buy.

Dysfunctional properties are being weeded out and creatively reused. Municipalities like Detroit and Cleveland are demolishing blighted and decrepit properties in dead neighborhoods en masse, intentionally shrinking their cities to match their shrinking populations. These efforts are also eliminating breeding grounds for crime, and focusing resources on the neighborhoods that have a better chance of surviving and thriving in the long term.

In the so-called "slumburbias" of central California, Nevada and Arizona, McMansions are being repurposed into affordable housing for groups of seniors, artist communities and group homes.

American housing stock is getting an energy-efficient upgrade. The news would have you believe that every American has lost his or her home, walked away from it, or is now renting by choice. In fact, the vast majority of homeowners have simply decided to stay put.

Instead of selling and moving on up, homeowners are improving the homes they now plan to stay in for a long(er) haul. And this generation of remodeling is focused less on granite and stainless steel, and more on lowering the costs of "operating" the home and taking advantage of tax credits for installing energy-efficient doors, windows, water heaters and more. And while the first-time homebuyer tax credit is a thing of the past, the homeowner tax credits for energy-optimizing upgrades are in effect until the end of this year.

People are making more responsible mortgage decisions, and building financial good habits in the process. Buyers are buying far below the maximum purchase prices for which they are approved. They are reading their loan disclosures and documents before they sign them. And, thanks to the stingy mortgage market, they are spending months, even years, in the planning and preparation phases before they buy: paying down their debt; saving up for a down payment (and a cash cushion, so that a job loss wouldn't be disastrous); being responsible and sparing in their use of credit to optimize their FICO scores; and creating strong financial habits in one fell swoop.

Our feelings about debt and equity have been reformed. Americans no longer use their homes like ATM machines, to pull out cash, pay off their credit cards and then start the whole overspending cycle over again. Many can't, because their homes are upside down and cannot be refinanced in any event -- much less to pull cash out.

Others have been reality-checked by the recession, and are dealing with their non-mortgage debt the old fashioned way: by ceasing the pattern of spending more than they make, and applying the self-discipline it takes to pay their bills off.

Home equity, in general, is no longer viewed as an inexhaustible source of cash. Rather, we see it as a fluctuating asset to be protected and increased -- not so much through the vagaries of the market, but through the hard work of paying the principal balance down. Many of those refinancing into today's lower rates aren't doing it to pull cash out, as was the norm at the top of the market; instead, they are refinancing into 15-year loans to pay their homes off sooner than planned, or reducing their required payment so their extra savings can be applied to principal.

Of course, it remains to be seen how lasting these changes will be if and when home prices go up and mortgage guidelines loosen up. But since neither of these things look likely to happen in the short term, hopefully there's a chance that these behavior shifts will become part of a permanent mindset reset for American housing consumers.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.