San Fernando Valley Real Estate Blog

You should check your own credit before searching for a home. The reason is that you will become aware of any negative items that you may not have known about. A mortgage lender will run your credit in order to "qualify you" for a mortgage so it is recommended that you check your credit preliminarily to eliminate any future problems. Being eligible for the best interest rates and discounts on homeowner's insurance are benefits to those who have excellent credit. It is free and easy to obtain a copy of your credit report.

You may request a free credit report from Experian, Trans Union or Equifax once a year. The three credit reporting agencies are:

1) Experian www.experian.com (888)397-3742 P.O. Box 949, Allen TX 75013-0949

2) Trans Union www.transunion.com (800)888-4213 P.O. Box 390, Springfield, PA 19064-0390

3) Equifax www.equifax.com (800)685-1111 P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

You may also call (877)322-8228 or visit www.annualcreditreport.com to request a copy of your free credit report.

The first step in beginning the home buying process is to get prequalified or preapproved. When you submit an offer on a property with a preapproval versus a prequalification you will be a stronger candidate in the seller's eyes. Having a preapproval will be beneficial to you especially if there are other offers on the table from other prospective buyers.

A prequalification means that you have filled out an application and a mortgage lender has checked your credit. A preapproval is going a step further and providing your income documentation (bank statements, tax returns, pay stubs etc) to the lender to verify your income and assets. A benefit to being preapproved in advance is that it enables you to close escrow sooner.

There are two ways a mortgage lender determines how much you can afford. First, the most amount of debt you can have cannot exceed 30% of your gross income including your mortgage. Secondly, your mortgage payment cannot exceed more 28% of your monthly gross income. The ratios above are standard requirements for most lenders in order to get a conventional loan.

However, there are other types of loans that are easier in which to qualify and may offer flexible down payment options, rates and terms. Some of them include FHA or VA loans. You should contact a reputable mortgage lender to discuss the different financing options available to you. You can ask your Buyer's Agent, friends, family or associates for whom they have had good luck with in the past.

It is important to have your interest rate locked in as soon as possible after finding a home and getting preapproved. A rate lock is good for a specific amount of time and has an expiration date. You must finalize the loan and close escrow before it expires otherwise the interest rate can go up and cost you more money each month in the end.

Dear David and the Coldwell Banker Community Foundation:

On behalf of the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission and the guests we serve, I want to personally thank you for your generous donation of $2,500.00 to help us purchase double-decker sleeping cots for our homeless families. Your contribution allowed us to purchase an additional 10 double-decker cots, increasing our overnight sleeping capacity by twenty. While cots are not a permanent solution to our homeless crisis, they are a temporary solution providing homeless families an opportunity to sleep in a safe, secure facility.

At the Mission, we could never do what we do without the support of people like you. We realize there are many excellent organizations you can support and we are humbled and honored that you have selected the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission. We hope you will consider us again for any future allocations or disbursements.

The San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission currently is the ONLY emergency homeless shelter for families in the Valley. Over 50% of our guests each night are children under the age of 12. As a Mission we provide our guests 3 meals per day, showers, clothing, over night shelter and individual case management designed to help our guests break the cycle of poverty and move into their own home.

Again, thank you for your compassion, generosity and support.

Sincerely,

Ken Craft, Director

San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission

kcraft@erescuemission.org

You have some important things to consider when searching for the perfect home to buy in the San Fernando Valley. It can be a distressing task to sort through all of the homes on the market as well as deciding on what neighborhoods in which to focus especially if you are unfamiliar with the area. Your Buyers Agent can be especially helpful with this because they can refer you to reliable resources to gather important information you will need to make the right decisions.

It is important to research neighborhoods thoroughly as well as drive through certain areas to get an idea of which ones might suit you best. Here are some important factors to consider are:

a) Homeowner statistics-average family income, family type, occupation and education levels.

b) Profile of the neighborhood-amount of commercial development, density. Type of area-suburban, rural, city or small town etc.

c) Schools-test scores, number of national merit scholars and college students, school performance and student spending.

d) Crime statistics-you can usually get this type of data by calling your local Police Department-Public Affairs or visit their website.

e) Conveniences and amenities-proximity to parks, nightlife, transportation, shopping, restaurants, employment, schools, recreation and places of worship etc.

There are many ways to analyze areas you might be interested in. One way to go about looking at a particular area is to determine the "supply and demand". How many "For Sale" signs are in the area? How many of these properties have sold? What is the ratio between listing prices to sales prices? Are homes selling with multiple offers?

In popular areas home values are usually higher than others. If affordability is an issue you may try to look in an area that has not been discovered yet or that is on the outskirts of a metropolitan area. You might also consider buying a townhome or condo in the beginning in order to live in a better area if finances are a concern.

NAR statistics show that 80% of consumers are going online to websites such as Realtor.com, real estate brokerage and individual agent's sites to gather information on homes before contacting a Realtor. This statistic is growing daily because the internet has made is ever so easy to access important information online such as buying a home, crime statistics, neighborhoods, schools, etc.

You will want to narrow your search as much as possible otherwise you can be "searching for the one" for a very long time. To start off you should write down all of the important facts about each area you are considering on paper side-by-side to make it easier to analyze. Once you have selected the homes you want to see it is time to make an appointment with your Buyer's Agent to show them to you. Take notes on each property you view to be able to analyze them in detail later.

Once you have compared each home and have selected the one you are most interested in it might be time to write an offer! If the property is a new listing and there is a lot of interest you might have to move fast otherwise you run the risk of possibly losing it.

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