[schema type="organization" orgtype="LocalBusiness" url="http://4salebydonna.com" name="Real Estate Agent Donna Baker" description="Real Estate Agent showing homes for sale and available real estate in Monrovia, Pasadena, Arcadia the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California." city="Monrovia" state="Ca" postalcode="91016" email="donna@4salebydonna.com " phone="(626) 408-7766 "]

For Some Monrovia Home Loan Applicants, a Surprise Boost

For a few Monrovia mortgage applicants, next week may see a one-time favorable change in how they are viewed by home loan lending institutions. It’s a technical change that could amount to a significant difference in the results they get when they apply for Monrovia home loans.

The first evidence of what the Washington Post calls “a surprise boost” will be triggered on Saturday, which marks the July 1 beginning of a changeover in the information gathered by the three national credit bureaus. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have been working with a number of states to handle an awkward technical problem: many states have outmoded computer reporting systems that result in “troubling error rates” in official public records.

Translation: they’re frequently outdated, scrambled, missing identity information—just plain wrong.

The data in question—tax liens and monetary damages from civil court judgments—has too often been the basis for depressed credit scores for unfortunate home loan applicants. And because some governmental agencies can be excruciatingly slow to respond to requests for corrections, when time is a factor (as it often is) those mistakes can be decisive. For any Monrovia home loan applicant whose own credit score has suffered, it’s not an abstract problem.

As part of an initiative by the credit bureaus to increase the accuracy of their scoring, beginning in July they will purge the dubious information from their files and stop collecting it altogether. FICO estimates that between 12 and 14 million U.S. consumers have tax liens or judgments in their current files: they can expect an abrupt jump in their scores. Consumers with no other negatives in their files could see their FICO scores instantly jump by 40 points or more. The result could be better home loan offer terms as well as lower interest rates.

Inevitably, there is a downside. Those with legitimate judgments and tax liens against them will also show elevated scores, which could be misleading to loan companies and landlords who rely on the numbers to make informed risk evaluations. The size of the problem is expected to be limited, though, since most people with judgments and liens have other negatives in their files.

In case you are uncertain whether your own credit score might be affected, that probably means it’s been a while since you checked…and that’s never a good thing! Keeping on top of your credit reputation is certain to pay off in the long run, especially when the time comes to begin looking for your next Monrovia home—which is also when you’ll want to give me a call!

Despite Fed Move, Monrovia Mortgage Picture Remains Rosy

Last week, following the Fed’s hike in the rates they charge banks, you might expect a matching rise in mortgage rates for Monrovia home buyers and refi applicants. If the experts are right, that’s far from a done deal.

The Washington Post headline said it all:

Mortgage rates move slightly higher but could be headed back down again.” 

Mortgage News Daily reported the same: a slight nudge upward, then back down:

By holding flat, rates remain very close to the best levels seen in more than 8 months.”

The consensus was all but unanimous, with even Freddie Mac predicting that “mortgage rates are likely to follow” Treasury yields—that is, downward.

When the Fed raises the rates banks must pay, it’s only logical to expect the move to echo through the money markets, finally reaching home loan lenders. After all, they must raise rates to maintain the same profit level. But following the Fed announcement, investors drove Treasury rates sharply lower. The reason for the market’s seemingly reverse reaction wasn’t due to the Fed’s move: rather, it was because of “a surprisingly weak” Consumer Price Index report (which the Fed had chosen to ignore). In other words, investors believed the CPI instead of the Fed.

The likely effect on Monrovia home buyers and sellers remains very good news. With Monrovia mortgage rates holding at the “best levels seen in more than 8 months,” more families’ budgets allow moves to bigger and better homes. And for those who read the Fed rate news and feared it might be too late to take advantage of historically low interest rates, the Mortgage News Daily offered a further prediction about mortgage rates that even “stand a shot at going lower this summer.”  

Monrovia mortgage rates do rise and fall daily—and knowing for certain where they are headed is famously impossible. As Bloomberg.com noted by the end of the week, “it’s been an especially rough six months” for those charged with predicting trends. What needs no crystal ball to establish is that it now seems likely that this year’s spring-summer busy season will continue to produce real estate bargains that would have seemed almost inconceivable in earlier inflation-ridden decades.

With both sellers and buyers seeing Monrovia mortgage rates that translate into more house for lower monthly payments, it remains prime time to check out the market—and to give me a call!

Another happy client!

For my home sellers, my goal is always the highest price possible in the shortest amount of time with a solid buyer. I did my homework and shared with the client that the Monrovia home sales data and the location within our town pointed to a list price of $639,000. My client wanted to shoot higher. We worked with her price for 3 weeks. No bites. Then we lowered it to $639,000. Within the week, we had a full price offer from a happy buyer. I was pleased to represent her and get her home sold so she could move on to her next adventure.

Since she was a first time seller I had two goals in the escrow process. First, we wanted to make sure felt that all of her needs were addressed and questions were answered.  Second, I directed my staff to keep her updated at every step in the process. Here are the nice comments she just wrote about me:

Donna did an awesome job of navigating the process of selling my first home. Donna and her team work VERY hard for their clients. I have to say Donna is the “Rock Star of Realtors”!!!

If you are interested in selling and want a “Rock Star” realtor who will fight for the highest price in the shortest amount of time, and will keep you up to date at every step of the way, give me a call.

Is your situation complex with multiple owners, trusts, tenants, liens on the property, etc? I manage these dilemmas frequently. We always find a solution and work with your family members together or separately. I am right here in Old Town Monrovia, ready to answer your questions and ready to help you achieve your real estate goals.

Monrovia, yes. That’s my specialty. However, I currently have listings in Glendora, San Dimas,  Azusa, and Temple City. I can help you anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley.  Call me!  626-487-0820

 

Next Page »