Long Beach California Real Estate Loans

CalHeights, Long Beach, Ca.  On November 14^th, 2009,  between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:00 pm,  over seventy residents of the Cal Heights neighborhood  located in area of Bixby Knolls will be hosting a Community Garage Sale.  All kinds of items will be available, for sale. 

The Community Garage Sale came about when Shelly St. Denis and Kirk Mulhearn went through the community and asked who would possibly like to participate, expecting possibly fifteen to twenty households in the quad between Wardlow on the South, 37^th on the North, Atlantic Ave on the West, and Orange Ave. to the East. 

Is it too late to sign up?   Unfortunately, yes, it is too late to sign up because October 29^th was the last day to sign up. 

Will there be more Community Garage Sales in the future?  Yes, we are planning another Garage Sale in the summer of 2010. 

Does it cost any money for me to participate?  If you sign up with Prudential California Realty and RSVP in time there will be no charges; however, if you miss the dead line and you still want to sign up, there may be a late fee due to the City of Long Beach. 

Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker co-manages Prudential California Realty, "The Bixby Knolls Office," and a Net Branch of, GEM Mortgage, a direct lender specializing in FHA, VA, and Conventional financing.  Contact him at:  562-989-4608 ext. 110

Subscribe to this site at:  www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com

Long Beach, Ca.  In our lives it is worthy to aspire to greatness.   Sometimes society only recognizes success by revenue, money, or sales statistics which is wrong when you look at the big picture.  There are many ways to measure success.  What we need to do as a society is to rediscover who we are as a nation.  The human spirit is a grand creation that has unlimited potential.   It is only when we surrender our dreams that we lose.  For most people, life is a struggle, scratching out an existence in this very challenging world.  However, just surviving is not living life to its fullest.

Recently, I interviewed a real estate agent who was on a National Championship team under the great Hall of Famer, John Wooden.  Unfortunately, for this past champion player, the lessons learned on the basketball court did not transfer into success in the real estate profession, he had not made a sale in over twelve months.  This is sometimes the case, a great player used to a certain type of success in physical sports languishes in the mental challenges of the business world. 

But whatever your opinion, let us take a quick look at the success of John Wooden,  he started coaching College basketball back in 1946.  It took him twenty years to win the National Championship.  Wow, what was he doing for 20 years?---building his finely tuned basketball machine, his philosophies, his character, his pyramid of success.  

The point is that too many people put the emphasis on the actual Championships rather then the road that was travelled to get there.  Let us all reflect on that even when our lives feel challenged or depressed that there is a Championship with your name on the Trophy, if you really desire it.

Some great quotes from John Wooden

"Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights."

-John Wooden

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

-John Wooden

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

-John Wooden

Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker co-manages Prudential California Realty, "The Bixby Knolls Office," and a Net Branch of, GEM Mortgage, a direct lender specializing in FHA, VA, and Conventional financing.  Contact him at:  562-989-4608 ext. 110

Subscribe to this site at:  www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com

Long Beach, CA.   As California grapples with the largest State deficit on record, it has cut off the $10000 tax credit for first time home buyers seeking money back for investing in new constructed housing, Sacramento announced last week. 

Will California be able to balance its budget in time to avoid massive lay offs?  Or, will it continue to, "kick the can down the alley,"  as the Governor likes to say in regard to the legislatures inability to address formulating a government that spends within its means?

Last Thursday, the State of California began issuing IOUs in lieu of its normal checks as an emergency measure on how to deal with the situation....Today, Wells Fargo decided to tell the State of California they will accept their IOU's until July 10th.   Thereafter, they will no longer accept the IOU's for deposit.  We understand BofA has said the same thing: 

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) said today it will accept registered warrants issued by the State of California from its retail and business customers for a limited time. It will begin accepting the registered warrants for deposit on July 2, 2009 and stop accepting them no later than July 10, 2009. "Were very disappointed, as are many Californians, that California has taken the unfortunate step of issuing IOUs in lieu of its payments to some businesses and individuals," said Lisa Stevens, head of Community Banking for Wells Fargo in California. "Wells Fargo has a long history of taking extraordinary measures to help our customers and will accept registered warrants from our customers, but only for a limited time, to allow them time to make other arrangements. We are reluctant to take this step, but are doing so to help our customers who are not at fault and with the expectation that the Legislature and Governor will complete the budget within days. We join all Californians in urging our Legislature and our Governor to take the appropriate steps as soon as possible to resolve this budget crisis."

 This week a flood of treasuries: 

There will be an auction this week of 65 Billion in treasuries.   If demand is not real strong, it will mean that our rates cannot go lower than the level you are currently seeing and you should consider locking your rate depending on how the market absorbs this large amount of bonds.

Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker co-manages Prudential California Realty, "The Bixby Knolls Office," and a Net Branch of, GEM Mortgage, a direct lender specializing in FHA, VA, and Conventional financing.  Contact him at:  562-989-4608 ext. 110

Subscribe to this site at:  www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com

Long Beach, Ca. As you may be aware, last week on Friday,  the House passed by a 219-212 vote and energy bill commonly referred to as "Cap and Trade" because it puts "caps" on the carbon emissions from every U.S. company and industry and imposes trade limits and tariffs on imports.  Proving no industry is immune from the hand of the Federal government and global climate activism, the Cap and Trade bill has some provisions that are very detrimental to the real estate industry, and especially in Southern California where real estate short sales consist of over 50% of closings and many sellers simply do not have the funds to bring their properties  up to the standards required by the new law if it passes through the Senate and is signed into by Obama.

As part of the legislation every existing home sold in the United States using FHA financing will require an energy audit, paid for by the seller.  The audit will cover all appliances, water, gas, heat, cooling; all energy systems will be audited to see if they meet federal standards.  If any system or appliance fails to meet the standards the house cannot be sold until it is retrofitted to meet the new standards.  The standards are being set to achieve a 20% improvement in energy usage.

You list a home built in 1960 with elderly owners who have lived in the home since 1988 and have not retrofitted the home since purchasing the home almost 21 years ago.  What are the chances the home will meet the new federal standards?  If the buyer is not an FHA buyer they may not need to worry about it but the market is now limited to mostly FHA  buyers because conventional loans require a minimum of 10% down wherein FHA only requires 3.5% down.   What if you have a qualified buyer, but they are only qualified using FHA financing? Many sellers may not take their offer because they do not want to go through the energy audit and retrofit.  Many banks may wait until a conventional loan offer comes in; thus, shutting out many sales opportunities in an already hurting industry.

The Cap and Trade bill as passed by Congress is discriminatory against FHA buyers and sellers--typically the lower income and first time buyers in our market.  Our current market in Long Beach, Californis and indeed; the nation  is still reeling from a devastating period.  Fortunately because of FHA financing we have increased sales, Cap and Trade will kill much of this market.

The real estate industry needs to fight this bill and specifically this provision before it gets adapted by the Senate.  Please contact CAR, NAR and Senator Feinstein and Boxer, plus encourage your colleagues to do the same to kill this bill before it goes any further.

Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker co-manages Prudential California Realty, "The Bixby Knolls Office," and a Net Branch of, GEM Mortgage, a direct lender specializing in FHA, VA, and Conventional financing.  Contact him at:  562-989-4608 ext. 110

Subscribe to this site at:  www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com

Long Beach, Ca.  I remember one day my father took me to some homes he was building in Hacienda Heights in the early 1970s.  He was so proud to show me how the homes were built into the hills.  I was nonplussed and told him that I wanted an "action job like being an army man, a fireman or maybe even a policeman."  He laughed and found much pleasure in those statements. Although not a civil servant, a guess today proved that being a real estate broker can be an action packed job. 

Fast forward almost 40 years and I find myself putting together an open house in Bixby Knolls.  A beautiful listing by Mr. Mike De Martino.  The property at 4641 N. Cerritos, in Bixby is a beauty with over 2000 sq. feet featuring 3/4 inch oak floors throughout, brand new Dynasty Omega cabinets in the kitchen and baths.  Definitely a handsome contribution to Long Beach, Californias real estate repertoire. 

I smile when I think of the hectic day we had when holding this home open.  There were no less then 15 couples that came through the open house, all interested and most were definitely qualified. 

Although the home appears rather humble on the outside, after you pass through the courtyard wall, you enter into an enchanted and peaceful world.  The pineapple fountain dribbles and splashes a greeting to you as you enter through the courtyard giving the home a feeling of privacy. 

You stroll down the path to the main entrance door which is all glass.  A benefit of having a security door at the courtyard is that you can have a lot of glass doors opening up into the courtyard which really makes the house breath and flow.

As you enter the foyer, there is a partition wall separating the Family/Living area and Kitchen form the bedrooms hallway.  The layout is an open plan which makes the home feel very large.  In fact, the spacious 10000 sq. foot lot is well utilized.  Even more French doors open into the garden in the rear which makes the back patio feel like another outdoor room.  

If you are considering purchasing in  Bixby Knolls and interested in seeing a finely staged home, take the time to see this home.

Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker co-manages Prudential California Realty, "The Bixby Knolls Office," and a Net Branch of, GEM Mortgage, a direct lender specializing in FHA, VA, and Conventional financing.  Contact him at:  562-989-4608 ext. 110

Subscribe to this site at:  www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com