Decorate Your Home With the Scents of the Season!

 

'Tis the season to cozy up to a gloriously-scented candle— Whether you prefer the smell of fresh pine, wafting mulling spices, or the essence of a roaring fire, there's a gorgeously fragranced flame here for every winter mood. Make the holidays extra scent-sational with any Holiday collection. Notes of pomegranate, mandarin, pine, cloves and cinnamon with a hint of vanilla and amber evocative of holidays spent fondly with family and friends.

One Sure Way Californians are Making Money in Real Estate

Are
you new to real estate investing? Learning how to invest in real estate
doesn't need to be complicated, difficult, or expensive. Learn how to get started investing in real
estate from beginning to end - with no hype, false promises, or pitches.



There are many different places you can stick your money other than
under your pillow, including stocks, bonds, savings, mutual funds, CD,
currencies, commodities, and of course, real estate. There are positive
and negative aspects of each investment option, but since we're here to
learn about real estate, we'll focus on that and that alone.

One of the most commonly stated reasons that people give for
investing in real estate is that they are seeking out financial freedom,
but there are others as well -- of course, each person will have their
own personal reasons why. They are typically seeking one or several of
the following: Learn more!

Deciding a 30- vs. 15-Year Mortgage

The right answer will depend on your circumstances, but some factors play a role in deciding which way to go. Today's record-low mortgage rates are giving
consumers the choice of two great options -- 30-year mortgages that
charge just over 4% interest or 15-year loans with rates nearly down to
3%.

The first thing to look at is the difference in monthly payments
between a 15-year mortgage and a 30-year loan of the same size. You want to look at what that 15-year payment will be and decide
if you can handle it. If you can't, that will decide it. Fifteen-year mortgages do charge lower interest rates than 30-year loans -- but carry higher monthly payments because you have to pay all principal back in half the time. 

For example, borrowing $300,000 for 15 years at 3.25%
average rate means you'll have a $2,108 monthly mortgage payment
(excluding the effect of any origination fees). That's nearly 50% higher than the $1,441 you'd pay if you take out the
same-sized loan for 30 years at 4.05% average rate (again,
ignoring origination fees).

 

You can check out your potential monthly payments by plugging in specifics from your own situation into the CHASE mortgage calculator. 

Many buyers would be well served if they opted for a 15-year
fixed-rate mortgage instead of a 30-year mortgage. A lower interest rate
and shorter term mean that you will pay considerably less for your
loan. And There’s not a single person who’s
paid off their house that has ever felt bad about it. Right? of course. The message is a
higher monthly payment, and it is sensible to weigh the value of a less
costly mortgage against other savings priorities like college,
retirement and a rainy day fund.

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How The Property Brothers Built Up A Real-Estate Empire

Think you know everything there is to know about the Property Brothers? Read on to find out if you're as much of an expert on Drew and Jonathan Scott as you thought.

The brothers bought their first house when they were only 17 years
old! In college, they didn’t waste any time before flipping a house for a
$50,000 profit.

They own Scott Brothers Entertainment with their older brother, JD.
When he’s not impressing home buyers with his amazing finds, Drew’s
passionate about directing and producing.

Because of their Scottish heritage, Drew and Jonathan were
competitive bagpipers as children. Jonathan claims to have taken home
all the medals.

We knew they were a hilarious duo on the Property Brothers,
but did you know that Drew and Jonathan Scott have their own sketch
comedy group? If you’re lucky, you might even see them doing stand-up.

They grew up on a ranch in Vancouver, Canada, and started riding horses by the time they were 3 years old.

Drew is in a relationship with Linda Phan, who is Scott Brothers
Entertainment's Creative Director. They recently attended a friend's
wedding...so are they next?

Jonathan fans, you're in luck! The rugged, flannel-shirt-outfitted
half of the Property Brothers duo is currently single. But, he is the
proud papa to two pint-sized dogs, Gracie and Stewie.

Big banks are leaving the building when it comes to the mortgage market

L.A. housing is expensive, sure. But are you paying too much for your rental? 

It would be reasonable to expect that the increases we’ve seen in
rents and purchase prices in recent years would be roughly proportional
throughout Los Angeles, but this is not the case. In actuality, purchase
prices can soar while rents remain stable, and vice versa—even within
the same neighborhood.

We used standard 28 percent "front-end" debt ratios and a 20 percent down payment subtracted from the NAR’s median-home-price data to arrive at our figures. We've incorporated available information on property taxes and homeowner’s insurance costs to more accurately reflect the income needed in a given market. Without a significant ramp-up in new home construction and more homeowners listing their homes for sale, buyers are likely to see little relief in the form of slowing price growth in the months ahead. 

The housing market is overheating and you can sense it when you speak to house humping enthusiast.  The housing market can do no wrong and a correction isn’t even in the realm of possibility according to their views.  But even recently, the National Association of Realtors recognized reality when they stated the obvious: rising home prices with no rise in household incomes is not good.  This is why in California we are facing rental hijacking.  People are now desperate to buy and are getting all kinds of odd mortgages including those that come with zero percent down basically shifting a large part of the risk to the lender.  These mortgages only make sense if you believe housing will never go down.  Many Millennials are still struggling to buy given their weak income growth.


Is the New American Dream to rent?  At least that is what it looks like if we track the home ownership rate over the last decade.  Millennials are moving into their prime house lusting age yet somehow, a flood of buying is simply not happening.  Renting continues to dominate the recent trend of household formation.  It was interesting to see that out of the top 10 metro areas for renters, 6 of them reside here in California.  There is a bit of hope, Poppy-loan is trying to capitalize on the low down payment crowd.  What has become clear is that California is now trending towards renter-heaven.

Search for Homes by City

Ask The Agent: What Is Your Best Advice For Folks Looking For A New Home?

Pick Your  New Home: here

The real estate market can be difficult to navigate. How can you know if it’s a good time to buy? What should you be looking for in a home? Well, if you’re thinking about buying a home, send me an email.

 “If you find a place that feels like home, buy it without delay. Good homes in good condition are selling quickly, so you want to get your home before someone else does.”

Why Prop 13 is Fair

To understand why Proposition 13 is fair, one must understand how it works. Proposition 13 curbs property taxes by restricting the maximum rate (1%) and, more important, by limiting increases in assessed valuation (2% annually). With the latter provision, it is easy to see how a home’s current value can greatly exceed it’s taxable value over a span of just a few years.
The substantial difference between a property’s actual value and its taxable value disappears when the property changes hands. When this occurs, county assessors reassess the property at full market value. Thus, recent purchasers derive no immediate benefit from the limitation on annual increases in taxable value.

Shortly after Proposition 13’s adoption by the voters in 1978, the California Supreme Court recognized its inherent fairness. Justice Frank K. Richardson, speaking for a nearly unanimous court, concluded that “an acquisition value system…may operate on a fairer basis than a current value approach.”


Yet Proposition 13 has been mostly fair to homeowners, though inequities have crept up in the commercial property market and the resulting tax structure has become increasingly vulnerable to ups and downs in the economy, resulting in the yearly deep budget deficits we have seen over the last several years.

But looking strictly at homeowners, Proposition 13 has worked pretty well for two main reasons: one, the short-term inequities of neighbors paying different property tax bills even out over time as taxpayers move around and, two, it gives taxpayers certainty, the key to fair taxation.


I was in middle school in VUSD when Prop. 13 passed and remember the quality of the schools I attended somehow eroding after that (obviously due to a lot more than just Prop. 13). At the same time, I appreciate that many members of my family have been able to retire in the homes they purchased before Prop. 13 due to affordable property taxes. I also appreciate that Prop. 13 has helped commercial property owners stay in business. For me, however, Prop. 13 means that my generation is paying far more in property taxes for homes smaller than older property owners living in larger houses.

As voters, we have passed a lot of propositions that sound good when we vote for them, but when you put them all together later they appear to have tied the hands of legislators to do their primary job—draw up a reasonable spending plan every year for the state.