Long Beach California Real Estate Loans

Long Beach, Ca.  In the current economy where Americans are strangled at the pump, squeezed in the grocery market, worried about finances, and trying to save every dime possible.  It is with pleasure that I share with you how my personal family recently accrued an approximate savings of $285.00-$300.00 a month by changing our mobile phone service company.

In the old days, before mobile phones, every household had at least one hard land-line phone.   Granted, if there were teenagers, an occasional second line was installed to handle the traffic.  Nevertheless, telephone service was pretty straight forward:

one home+one phone=one bill.

Today in America Life, with the advent of mobile technology, mobile phones have become considered "essential."   Phones are not just for talking anymore, they supply the tools for web access, photography and video, text messaging, video gaming and e mail not to mention contact management and calendar access, and emergency life line.

A simple 4" mobile phone has become a mobile Computerized World Access Portal(CWAP) and if we modify the letter "W" to an "R," we as parents can relate to what it is our children are spending their time doing with these devices besides using them for there best and most important use: Parent/Child communication.  That said,

unfortunately, the world is not as safe as it was when I was growing up and today, it is considered good parenting to make sure that your child has emergency phone access and a mobile phone is the best child locator tool. As long as it is monitored carefully, I agree with allowing youngsters access to a mobile phone, if not on a daily basis on a case by case basis.  For example, if they are going on a field trip at school, a Sporting event, or some other supervised outing wherein it is convenient and smart to be able to communicate via a phone.

Meanwhile, the old formula of one home+one phone=one bill has morphed into:

one home+one phone(a land line)+internet service(DSL)+cable access+several mobile phones=multiple outrageously expensive monthly multimedia bills that can cost thousands and thousands of dollars a year.

Let's take a residential phone service at home that with taxes can cost a min. of $50-$100 a month, sometimes the DSL is provided by the same phone company, sometimes you have to pay for the internet access separately.

Cable television access that routinely runs between $50- $100 a month for a minimal plan.  Again, you may be able to combine cable with hard wired internet access for an extra charge.

Then there is the litany of mobile phone service providers including:  Sprint/Nextel, AT&T,Trac Phones, Cingular, Verizon, etc.  Although, most of these have some type of family savings plans, I have to share with you the recent advent of Metro PCS in the Southern Californian Market Place  and how it is saving my family a considerable amount of dough.  Hopefully, without sounding too much like a commercial, for a limited time, Metro PCS is offering four lines with unlimited calls for $100/month.  Although, the phones are limited in area coverage(not so good outside of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange Counties, the service is inexpensive and meets most families needs.)  Note that is $25/ month per phone with unlimited calling including local, text messaging, and long distance.  Best of all, Metro PCS did not require my family to sign a contract. 

If you are a business traveler, this system will simple not work for you.  This is not as of yet, a nationwide company.  The coverage is mostly local.  There is no coverage as of this writing in Portland; however, Las Vegas in connected.  Also, another draw back is as of today, this plan does not work with the Blackberry Phone. 

The draw back for the plan is that you must pay for the phones up front and this plan does not include web access.  But for $5/month more per phone you can add the web access. 

Now, compare what I was recently paying at a competitor:

For unlimited web access and phone calls my old phone was $135/m.

I added a second phone for my wife which cost another $100/m.             

My daughter was paying at least $50/m for her own service.

Our land line at the house is normally around $70/m.

Imagine putting out almost $400/m just to be able to communicate via mobile and home service.

This was costing us an average of $285-$300/m with taxes for just three mobile phones and an additional $70/ month for our home line! Imagine putting out almost $400/m just to be able to communicate via mobile and home service. Now, with Metro PCS's plan, we have increased the amount of mobile phones from three to four phones.  We use one for my business, one for my wife, one is being used by our 17 year old daughter, which leaves a spare at the house for any of the other four younger children that might need it for a special occasion all for only $100/m.

Now, because of the unlimited long distance part of our plan,we can cut back our land line service to a more basic plan and save an additional $35/month.  All together the total savings for my house hold by utilizing the Mobile PCS is between an astonishing  $215/m-$250/m.  Now that's a monthly savings of between $2500-$3000/year.

I see that my family members are going to be able to fill our gas tanks, after all this summer!

Long Beach, Ca.   In these difficult times, American families are trying to save every penny possible.  Today, I read in the paper about how large Super Market companies like Kroger's and Walmart are re-packaging certain food essentials in smaller containers in an attempt to make the pain at the register more acceptable.  In other words, you may be getting the same product for the same price that you did last year in a smaller portions.  For example, instead of buying a regular gallon of milk you are getting three quarts of milk for the same price that you did last year.  Also, you may see eggs on the shelves in six packs instead of the regular dozen. 

This is the result of food retailers trying to meet consumer demands.   Pinched consumers are only buying today what they need for tomorrow or by the end of the week.  Little food stocking is being done in American households and people are heading to the market now two times a week vs. say, once a week as in the old economy.

In regard to home savings.  Home-ownerL Insurance Policies have all kind of available savings if the American consumer is aware of the options.   The following are six ways to save money on your home insurance policy:

1.  Increase the amount of the deductible.  By increasing a deductible from $500 to $1000 it can give you an immediate benefit.  Of course, remember that when you make an insurance claim that it is monitored and recorded by the insurance companies in a national database so that if you have a history of making a lot of claims then you will be billed accordingly on future premiums.  Likewise, if you do not have a lot of claims you will benefit from being a "good customer."

2.  If you have the money available, pay the entire annual insurance premium upfront.  Paying up front your home insurance policy can help you save between five and ten percent on the premium.  Remember, if you don't pay your home insurance inside your monthly mortgage payment, you will have to pay the annual premium alone or break the premium down into twelve monthly payments.  Traditionally, only home buyers who put 20% down had this option of paying insurance separately from their mortgage; however, in the last seven years this requirement was softened similar to the credit requirements of buying real estate.

3.  Consider allowing the same insurer of your home insure your automobile(s).  Most of the major carriers offer great savings if you insure your motor vehicles with the same company.  This will simplify your billing process making complicated modern American life a little easier by having just one insurance professional to call instead of two or three. 

4.  Install an electronic security system in your home and consider Central monitoring stations.   Most of us are familiar with the generic security systems that are associated with burglar-proofing a home.  This is considered a good edge of protection by the insurance companies.  More obscure would be central monitoring systems that some of the same security hardware may function as to shut off the water if a leak is detected while the homeowner is not there, or raise the temperature in the water pipes to avoid freezing pipes.  Also, Make sure if you live in a gated community that this is reflected in your payment.  Gated communities are considered a better and safer risk by insurance companies, too.

5.  Disaster Preparedness.  Although we have not seen hurricanes in Southern California(yet).  Storm shutters and shatter proof glass can help reduce premiums.  Question:  With modern Earth changes.  If hurricanes do hit Baja California, and they do, then why couldn't they hit San Diego, Los Angeles or Orange Counties?

Long Beach, CA.  Finally, Jack Kyser, an honest real estate economist and Senior Vice President of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.,  discussed the State of Southern California Real Estate at the annual Income Property Lending Conference in Long Beach.  Mr. Kyser, recently gave an address on the way the economy is moving.  In regard to the housing market, Mr. Kyser was the first economist that I have ever heard talking about a housing ‘Depression.’

As serious as that sounds, this was actually refreshing since no other economist, to my knowledge, in a public forum has had the guts and fortitude to call a spade a spade, address the problem, offer some solutions, and get on with it.  Mr. Kyser detailed the current housing situation, and addressed the question, ‘How much further will prices fall?’

     ‘Between 15-20%,’ more was his answer.

Considering that since February of 2007 until April of 2008 the medium sales price in the five Counties in Southern California, including:  Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside has fallen from $505,000.00 to $375,000.00, it appears that an additional slide will be a boon for people interested in purchasing real estate at bargain prices with unbelievably low interest rates. 

Now, if Mr. Kyser is right and the average property in Southern California goes down to between $300,000.00 and $320,000.00, it will be a great buying opportunity that only seems to come along every 15-30 years. 

Consider this, that while food prices in the last year have gone up between 30% and 40%, and gasoline prices have gone up by almost 100%, that real estate is going down 20-25%. This is an amazing figure when you consider that this percentage in reduction does not include regular inflation.  Remember that the government figures of 4% does is not a real number in that it does not take into account the aforementioned prices of gas and food stuffs.  The truth of the matter is that the true inflation rate when these are included is between 10-15% a year.  Add this inflation number to the current correction in housing prices and true prices are really off between 25% and 40% depending on what market youre in.  

Also consider the fact that current interest rates for thirty year fixed rate mortgages are between 5.5%-6% and you get housing at the most affordable price in years.

Long Beach, CA.  Attached you will find an article written by a friend of mine, Steve Manos, Steve has cleaned up the credit of several clients of mine and has prepared their credit so as to be acceptable to the banks.  In his article, ‘Short Sales and Foreclosures,’ he discusses the ramifications of a short sale to a borrowers credit.  This is extremely relative information to our current market place. 

Many borrowers are opting out of their mortgages and attempting to see if they can just get free of their debt burdens.  Steve Manos, who works in association with attorneys, says that when a bank accepts less money then what is owed to it, then the debt is deemed legally satisfied. 

I encourage all readers to consult with their Legal Counsel and CPA before deciding to let their homes go into foreclosure, because there are other ramifications besides your credit ranking.  This author does not endorse the following article, but has posted it in an better effort of discussing the market place and current events affecting everyone that either owns real estate or would like to purchase real estate.

Short Sales and Foreclosures

 A mortgage account that is satisfied by short sale is a ‘payment in full.’
 A creditor, mortgage holder, does not have to agree to accept less than what
is due on a loan contact. But, once the lender agrees to a lesser payment
in full satisfaction of the loan against real property, i.e., agreeing to a

‘short sale,’ a new contract exists and the earlier obligation is thereby
eliminated, i.e., extinguished. An extinguished agreement is one that never
existed [or in legal terms], can never be considered to have existed.

 The account is thus paid in full and resolved by way of ‘Accord and
Satisfaction Agreement’ which extinguished the underlying debt and replaced
it with a new agreement thus eliminating any of the past credit history
associated with the account. The creditor agreed-to and authorized this
payment as ‘Full Satisfaction’ of the debt thereby replacing any previous
obligation. As such, this item must only be reported as paid in full and
all other past credit history associated with the account must be deleted.
It is no longer relevant to the new agreement the lender authorizes.

Even if the short sale isnt consummated, but the lender gets the property
back, the account is still deemed legally satisfied. It must be listed as

account paid, satisfied or otherwise resolved by disposition of collateral
after contract termination. The reporting of this account as a foreclosure
is inaccurate, incomplete and misleading because the exchange of the

property, the collateral, for satisfaction of the debt fully resolves the
underlying debt. That is the purpose of a Deed of Trust and for having the
property as collateral for a loan, to protect the lender. Additionally, the
‘one form of action’ rule prohibits the misleading reporting of the status
of a real estate secured loan in that the creditor has a right to the
property or money, but not both. An account satisfied by collateral must be
listed as paid in full, not as foreclosure. An account satisfied by a
‘short sale’ must be listed as paid in full because thats what the lender
agreed-to. This is simple stuff and legal. The credit reporting companies
know this, but they are in the business of ‘trashing’ ones credit, so these
legal rights have to be aggressively invoked on behalf of consumers.


Sincerely;

Steven J. Manos
President


Center For Better Credit
3857 Birch Street No.630
Newport Beach, CA 92660


A Non-Profit Corporation Dedicated To Informing And Helping Consumers
 Deal With Their Credit Issues & Resolve Their Credit Problems.


(949) 200-7507 Phone
(949) 553-1746 Fax
(714) 277-8583 Cell
(800) 359-0455 Toll Free

Long Beach Ca.  Today I was talking with a real estate agent and a close personal friend of mine.  He has taken six months out of his life to learn about BPOs; that is, Broker Price Opinions.  He gave me a litmus test that the banks are using to even consider these sales comparables before they list the properties or accept a short sale offer.   This is extremely relevant in todays volatile real estate market considering that over 60% of the current sales production in our market area in Long Beach is based on short sales. Facts to consider when pricing property in Long Beach: 

1.  Properties that have actually sold count, REOs are not considered comparables.

2. Comparables should be no more then a mile away.

3.  Sales should be no more then six months old.

4.  A square footage variance of no more then 15% of the floor area will be accepted.

5.  The year that the property was built should be considered and is noted by the Banks.

In a market where every buyer smells blood and wants the best deal possible, and every despertate Seller wants to get out from under the burden of a bad mortgage, the offers that realtors should be presenting should be as close to the banks criteria as possible so as to facilitate these sales.

If you are a seller in Long Beach, Ca.  and are curious about how much equity that you have and would like a free comparative market analysis, contact us so that we can send you a free market report