Santa Clarita Real Estate Blog

Evictions by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been put on hold through February 2009. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced this month that they will go into the rental business, allowing both current renters and foreclosed homeowners to remain in their homes as renters on a month-to-month basis. Evictions have apparently been [...]

Santa Clarita single-family home sales continue to increase as inventories begin to drop. Single-family home sales in the Santa Clarita Valley were up by 10.1% in 2008, with total sales of 2,194 vs 1,993 homes sold in 2007. Bargain-hunting buyers, whether purchasing homes to live in or as investment properties, are driving the market with [...]

New “required use” rule would prevent home builders from offering incentives or discounts to buyers that use the builder’s designated lenders. Home builders have been providing “incentives” for homebuyers for a long time now, with buyers typically getting allowances for rate buy-downs, flooring and other upgrades as part of their new home purchase package, as long [...]

The Hope for Homeowners, or H4H program, is designed to help decrease mortgage payments so homeowners can stay in their homes. Many Santa Clarita residents are having troubles paying their mortgages, with higher interest rates and smaller paychecks combining to force many families out of their homes. The Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program is one [...]

The Los Angeles County auction for tax-defaulted properties is just around the corner. If you’re looking for properties on the cheap, the next Los Angeles County tax-defaulted properties auction is scheduled for February 9-10. However, you need to take action NOW if you want to bid at this auction, since you must pre-register by this Friday [...]

Many Los Angeles County homeowners are opening their property tax bills to find higher tax amounts than last year. When you opened your Los Angeles County property tax bill this year, you may have noticed that your tax amount increased, even though we’ve been experiencing declining values in most areas. This doesn’t seem fair, does [...]

Veterinary services in California will be taxed at 9 percent if current proposal is passed. As part of the continued effort to decrease the California budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger is looking to create a 9 percent tax on veterinary services as well as furniture repair, vehicle repair, golf, amusement-park fees and sporting events. This proposed [...]

A wide range of financial protections are available for individuals entering the military, called to active duty, or deployed servicemembers. With foreclosures on the rise throughout the country, military families face special challenges as soldiers and sailors often head off to war while their homes are facing foreclosure. Fortunately there is help for military families, but many [...]

What to do when an appraiser’s opinion of value for a home is lower than the purchase price. Appraisals are a necessary evil when it comes to buying or selling a home, since the value provided by the appraiser is what the lender will use as a basis for deciding how much money the buyer [...]

Fannie Mae will start pre-approving short sales in an effort to make them more attractive to buyers. Fannie Mae has announced that it will start pre-approving short sales, or preforeclosure sales, starting with pilot projects in Phoenix and Orlando. They will begin with mortgages with Countrywide that are Fannie Mae backed, and hopefully expand out [...]