What is happening here in the local Southern California real estate market? Do you believe that prices are flattening out and we are “at the bottom” of the market or do you believe that we have a ways to go and we wont see prices flattening out until well into 2009?
Brief snippet from an article I read an last week:
“LATE PAYMENTS: One in 11 mortgaged houses was at least 30 days late or in foreclosure at the and of March, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The delinquency and foreclosure rates are the highest in the 36-year history of the MBA’s quarterly survey. In California, 1 in 19 mortgages are delinquent (5.26 percent) and 1 in 32 are in foreclosure (3.13 percent). Combined, 1 in 12 houses are delinquent or in foreclosure. That’s better than the national combined rate, but the state numbers aren’t seasonally adjusted. If they were, they would be higher. The national numbers are seasonally adjusted.”
Most of us in this business have now seen the adjustable rate mortgage reset chart, below, that’s been floating around now for about the last 8-9 months. What’s interesting and changing is that at the beginning of this market decline, loans that were in default were hitting the REO market about 7 months after a homeowners first late payment. Now we are seeing banks hold off on issuing the notice of default for 5-6 months before issuing the NOD. We wont see these homes as REOs until mid 2009.
“What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.”
~ Joseph Addison, writer, statesman
Janet and I would like to extend a special thanks to all who attended our event last night. We hope that what we teach will become a part of the sculpture that you will pass on for many generations to come.
I read a startling statistic in an article this morning . After watching the 2 videos (especially the “annual review” video), hopefully you’ll begin to understand why we are so adamant about what happens AFTER we close a transaction. When reading the article below, please ask yourself:
“If the one in eleven households had at least a 6 month cash reserve for unforeseen circumstances such as job loss, higher gas and food prices, accidents, etc., would they have been late on their mortgage payment(s) which will ultimately result in a drastically lower credit score and hundreds of dollars in late fees?”
Hmmm….did I mention that establishing such a cash reserve is the very first step in our “4 Steps to Building Financial Security” process that we put together for our clients? Imagine that! =)
Over the last couple of days, I have been at a Mortgage Planning Summit in Las Vegas. I have been surrounded by several top mortgage planners in the country, peers and business coaches who have the insight and wisdom to help us through the tough times. And lets face it, it’s a tough time in our industry right now!
I wanted to share with you a couple of insightful thoughts that I find meaningful and extremely valuable and I believe you will too.
Trust and Stress
Don Hutson, co-author of The One Minute Entrepreneur talked about the inverse relationship of trust and stress in business. When trust is high, stress is low and vice versa. When I think about this in perspective to my clients, I realize that when I trust in myself, my clients place higher trust in me, our relationship or transaction is smooth and there is very little stress. However inversely, when I do not trust that I am going to create new business, work with a particular client or earn enough money, my fear about not having enough money and my finances creates lack of trust in my own abilities and then projects out to my clients and referral partners and I manifest just that, lack of new business. Nobody wants to do business with someone who is not confident in their skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Vision (I made “vision” realllly big because it takes as much energy to think BIG as it does to think small. Pretty cool, right?)
“People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to look forward to…to work for and hope for.”
Dr. Maxwell Maltz
Author and Psycho-Cybernetics
The inspiration for my video this weeks comes from a very personal story of mine that happened last week and it has everything to do with asking the right questions of your paid professional before AND during the loan process. A great point that I mention in my video this week is the importance of knowing what your trusted advisor is going to do for you AFTER your escrow is closed. I mean, don’t you want to know? If you are working with someone who isn’t a cheerleader for what his/her company does for their clients after a transaction is closed, well, I hate to break this to you but, there probably isn’t a whole lot that company AND that person has to offer you by way of continuing education and debt management. It’s an unfortunate part about the mortgage industry. We are doing our part to fix that problem!
Please take a few minutes to watch this video (that was supposed to go out two days ago….arrrrgh!), then read the rest of my email:
Do Something Different
“A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”
~ Thomas Watson Jr., executive
Only Successful People Fail “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
~ Steve Jobs, entrepreneur
If you are unable to view the video, simply cut and paste the YouTube information and paste into your browser.
If you know anyone that would like to avoid this last resort, please give me their name and number or simply forward this email to them. Preparing for the future NOW is the best and most efficient way to plan, no matter when you plan to retire. It requires pro-active thinking and a team of experts. If you’re already retired, even better! Let’s make that retirement the best it can possibly be before values fall even further….and they will, fortunately! Why do I say fortunately? Just ask me and I’ll tell you…
Today I talk about what I have been seeing and hearing in the real estate market. There is a lot of fear about buying property because values are still dropping and yet when you look at the facts, homes are on sale, interest rates are still at historic lows and money is still available. BUT, it’s next to impossible to time the bottom of the market AND money is getting harder to get every week and interest rates are expected to rise.
You have a choice. Risk is waiting until you think prices have hit rock bottom and hope that you can still get financing OR be stoked that homes are on sale today and financing is still relatively decent.
And that brings me to my Quote of the Week….
“When you realize that by changing your perspective, big things can be seen as little things, it becomes much harder to worry about anything at all.” ~Tut - A note from the Universe
80% of all millionaires in this country made their money in real estate, and it wasn’t simply because they owned investment property! Owning real estate as an investment is a great tool because you can leverage the asset to further your wealth. BUT of course you have to own it first before you can take advantage of appreciating and declining home values. Shouldn’t you get to be one of the 80%? Absolutely!
Do Something Different
“A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”
~ Thomas Watson Jr., executive
Only Successful People Fail “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
~ Steve Jobs, entrepreneur
Watch this video first!
If you know anyone that would like to avoid this last resort, please give me their name and number or simply forward this email to them. Preparing for the future NOW is the best and most efficient way to plan, no matter when you plan to retire. It requires pro-active thinking and a team of experts. If you’re already retired, even better! Let’s make that retirement the best it can possibly be before values fall even further….and they will, fortunately! Why do I say fortunately? Just ask me and I’ll tell you…
Stocks are under selling pressure today, after touching resistance exactly on their 200-day Moving Average. Should Stocks continue to move lower, Mortgage Bonds should benefit somewhat. We’ll keep an eye out for any major moves.
No real market excitement this week and it may be a good thing. Mortgage Bonds are trading slightly higher this morning and with not many economic reports due this week, prices may take some direction from trading in the Stock markets.
