Keep Your Home California is a program that was developed in collaboration with numerous community partners, foreclosure counselors, housing advocates and others directly involved in helping struggling homeowners.

Eighteen states, including California, have been designated as “hardest hit,” either because they are struggling with unemployment rates at or above the national average or steep home price declines greater than 20 percent since the housing market downturn. The Hardest Hit Fund® was created by President Obama to provide targeted aid to families in these states.

On June 23, 2010, California received approval to develop four unique foreclosure prevention proposals with Hardest Hit funding. California was ultimately awarded nearly $2 billion in funds to help at least 100,000 eligible California homeowners avoid preventable foreclosures. You can read about these different programs by clicking here…

You can check out the UT post here…

If you’re a struggling homeowner in California with a mortgage owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, then you may have a shot at a home-loan reduction through this program. Here is the link to the UT article so you can check it out.

One thing the UT article did not point out is where a homeowner goes to find out if their loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and so potentially eligible.

You can use these links to do that:

Click here to see if Fannie Mae owns your loan

Click here to see if Freddie Mac owns your loan

Now, from what I have read this sounds like a great program, but much like the others that have come out so far, the eligibility criteria is pretty restrictive. The first step is to educate yourself and then if it sounds right you need to find out if Freddie or Fannie own your loan. From there reach out to a certified counselor by calling into the program directly.

If the program is not right or you are not eligible and you think a Short Sale might be your next step please call me directly. You can also learn all about Short Sales by clicking here and checking out my other website, www.CaseyStopsForeclosure.com.

I hope that was helpful!

Thinking of selling your North County Home?

I earned my spot as the #1 overall agent AND the top listing agent at Coldwell Banker Vista Village for 2011 by listing more homes for sale than any other agent in my office.

My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. I have a very detailed, written marketing plan designed to drive more traffic to your home and get it SOLD quickly, and for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle.

Call me directly at 760-216-6604 or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village and was the overall #1 agent for 2011

License#01845539

Phone  (760)216-6604

Casey@CaseyCooke.com

As showings go...so do the sales!

I came across this post/article and thought I would share it.

As a busy listing agent I am able to stay in tune with the local market by the overall buyer demand for my listings and how many showings that demand manifests into. If I list a home that I know is priced right and I get a more activity that usual it could be just that home. If that activity trends across all 8 to 10 or 12 homes I have listed across North County, well then that is indicative of something greater going on and also of what is to come. It is no secret that the current market has heated up tremendously. It started in February-March with a spike in buyer demand which manifested in more showings and multiple offers. We are now seeing that this activity has led to lower inventory as homes continue to get snatched up quickly. We are also seeing and will continue to see (for the immediate future at least) a spike prices.

I have to give credit to the team at Showing Suite for putting this data out as I have swiped the graph from them. Showing Suite provides a 3rd party product that tracks home showings and then automatically solicits feedback on the listing agent’s behalf from the agent who showed the home. The product is very slick and I highly recommend it to all listing agents. This allows Showing Suite to track the average number of showings each month across thousands of homes listed for sale.

The graph tells the story in advance. The number of showings plunged toward the end of last year, so did offers and values. But they ticked up at the start of the year and were on a near vertical climb from late December through March. It is no surprise that total number of sales have gone up and now so are values as the available inventory trends down.

So if you are curious how hot the market is, just find a busy listing agent(I mean just call me) and ask them how many showings they are generating on their current listings.

Thinking of selling your North County Home?

I earned my spot as the #1 overall agent AND the top listing agent at Coldwell Banker Vista Village for 2011 by listing more homes for sale than any other agent in my office.

My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. I have a very detailed, written marketing plan designed to drive more traffic to your home and get it SOLD quickly, and for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle.

Call me directly at 760-216-6604 or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village and was the overall #1 agent for 2011

License#01845539

Phone  (760)216-6604

Casey@CaseyCooke.com

What a crazy market we are in huh? You refinance to 5.5% and then rates drop lower? Then even lower?

A common question I get is when should you look at refinancing again?

Those who refinanced their mortgages a year or so ago, when interest rates averaged just below 5 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, may already be wondering whether it’s time to refinance yet again now that rates are at least a full percentage point lower.

7 Ways to Stage your Home for Maximum Value Here!

Below are a few tips offered by the NY Times you should consider. My advice is pretty straightforward. Call a mortgage professional like my friend Andre Kwan at Prime Lending (619) 623-9393 and have him run the numbers. Compare you current payment to your new payment to see how much you could save. Then from there figure out how much that refinance is going to cost you in closing costs. Figure out how many months at the lower payment you need to stay in the home to recoup the cost. Anything you save after that is pure savings. Now you also need to realize that when you refinance you are starting at the very beginning of your loan amortization(paying nearly all interest) and you start a fresh 30 year term, so you want to keep that in mind. Also, rates are so good right now that you may want to look at a 15 year loan instead of a 30 year. You may be able to keep you payment about the same but pay it off in half the time. For some that may be a very smart decision!

Here are those tips and a link to the whole story, let me know what you think!

• As of Thursday 5/10/12, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, the average rate on a 30-year loan was 3.83 percent, down from 4.63 percent a year ago, setting a record low.

• According to financial planners, homeowners considering refinancing first should delve into their financial goals, specifically the length of time they plan to live in the home.

Short Sales Explained Here!

• Some homeowners decide it makes more sense to stay with their current mortgage, especially if the savings are small or they plan to move within a year or two.  According to one financial planner, when homeowners refinance, they’re not building equity; they’re starting at the beginning of the amortization tables.

• Amortization schedules work like this: In the first few years, almost all of the payment goes toward interest, so the longer the homeowner has the loan, the more is put toward the principal.

• Those who refinanced in the last year or two don’t have to consider amortization tables, but they do need to know their equity position – and when refinancing would begin to pay off.

• To calculate that, start with a rundown of all the closing costs, then divide the closing costs by the amount expected to be saved on each monthly payment.

• Depending on the lender, most homeowners likely need to have at least 20 percent equity, and maybe a little more, if they want to wrap closing costs into the new mortgage.

You can check out the full story by clicking here!

Thanks for reading!

Thinking of selling your North County Home?

I earned my spot as the #1 overall agent AND the top listing agent at Coldwell Banker Vista Village for 2011 by listing more homes for sale than any other agent in my office.

My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. I have a very detailed, written marketing plan designed to drive more traffic to your home and get it SOLD quickly, and for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle.

Call me directly at 760-216-6604 or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village and was the overall #1 agent for 2011

License#01845539

Phone  (760)216-6604

Casey@CaseyCooke.com

•    6 million delinquent or in some stage of foreclosure
•    2.5 million likely HAMP/HAFA eligible 60+ day delinquent loans
•    As of 2-29-2012, there are 974,000 active permanent HAMP modifications
•    Total U.S. delinquency rate 8% (4 million)
•    Unemployment rate nationwide 8.3% (nearly 13 million Americans unemployed) with California at 11%
•    5.3 million estimated “long-term unemployed”
•    $1.4 trillion in loans will have come into adjustment between 2010 & 2011
•    There has been a 50%-75% increase in HAFA transactions started over each prior month. Approximately 35,766 completed.

According to RealtyTrac these numbers may be increasing as well. Foreclosure starts have been trending down but over the recent past we are starting to see them pick up. This is due to a few reasons. First, the “Robosigning” scandal is now over so banks are able to move forward and foreclose on delinquent homeowners without nearly as much scrutiny. Second, the wave of modifications we saw when Obama took office are now failing in large numbers and there is a change in the approach. When Obama took office we saw short sales go down and loan mods go up. This plan has failed miserably and now thousands of these modifications are falling apart. When this happens the lenders are going to push them through the foreclosure pipeline. Many of these homeowners will be smart and attempt to avoid foreclosure by doing a short sale, but not all. Nationwide nearly 80% of all homeowners who lose their home to foreclosure never even try to do a short sale. This is staggering to me. I have seen short sales succeed in large numbers so I know they work. They are not perfect, but they are often much better than foreclosure.

*Source: Making Home Affordable Program Servicer Performance Report Thru February 2012 (as of 4-2-2012), Housing Scorecard www.financialstability.gov March 2012 (04-06-2012); U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics February 2012 (04-2012).

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at                         760-216-6604             or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village and was the overall #1 agent for 2011

License#01845539

Phone             (760)216-6604

Casey@CaseyCooke.com

Coldwell Banker On Location is #1 on YouTube!

Why Video?

Simply put, the market demands video. Not just photos. Not virtual tours. Full-motion video. That’s why Coldwell Banker is leading the way with innovations like On LocationSM. Now, whenever a Coldwell Banker agent like myself posts a video, it appears on YouTube’s most visited real estate channel, and gets published at coldwellbanker.com and the Coldwell Banker App for iPad.

Take a look at the numbers and you’ll understand why Coldwell Banker is dedicating unmatched resources to helping its agents develop and market their own videos:

YouTube has more than 3 billion video views per day
Coldwell Banker On LocationSM is the #1 most visited YouTube™ channel for real estate
More than 3 million visitors since launch
More than 2 million video views and counting
More than 100,000 user-generated videos uploaded
Listings with video generate 20% more leads at ColdwellBanker.com
73% of consumers prefer to list with an agent who uses video

Remember, only a Coldwell Banker agent like myself that uses video in their listings and takes advantage of  technology like Coldwell Banker On LocationSM to extend the marketing reach of your home. If you are trusting the sale of your home to anybody else, you’re putting yourself at a huge competitive disadvantage with the other homes on the market.

Don’t sell yourself short. Hire an experienced Coldwell Banker agent like myself to sell your home and make sure they are using video.

Here are a few examples of recent videos I have done:

www.240DelRoyDrive.com (in escrow in less 2 weeks)

www.2843DoveTailDrive.com (in escrow in 7 days)

Click here to learn more about how video can help you sell your home quickly and for top dollar as well!

Click here to take a look at CB OnLocation for yourself!

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at             760-216-6604       or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village and was the overall #1 agent for 2011

License#01845539

Phone (760)216-6604

Casey@CaseyCooke.com

1.    Don’t deposit cash into your bank accounts. Lenders need to source your money and cash is not really traceable. Small, explainable deposits are fine, but getting $10,000 from your parents as a gift in cash is not. Discuss the proper way to track your assets with your loan officer.

2.    Don’t make any large purchases like a new car or a bunch of new furniture. New debt comes with it, including new monthly obligations. New obligations create new qualifications. People with new debt have higher ratios…higher ratios make for riskier loans…and sometimes qualified borrowers are no longer qualifying.

3.    Don’t co-sign other loans for anyone. When you co-sign, you are obligated. With that obligation comes higher ratios, as well. Even if you swear you won’t be making the payments, the lender will be counting the payment against you.

4.    Don’t change bank accounts. Remember, lenders need to source and track assets. That task is significantly easier when there is a consistency of accounts. Frankly, before you even transfer money between accounts, talk to your loan officer.

5.    Don’t apply for new credit. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a new credit card or a new car, when you have your credit report run by organizations in multiple financial channels (mortgage, credit card, auto, etc.), your FICO score will be affected. Lower credit scores can determine your interest rate and maybe even your eligibility for approval.

6.    Don’t close any credit accounts. Many clients have erroneously believed that having less available credit makes them less risky and more approvable. Wrong. A major component of your score is your length and depth credit history (as opposed to just your payment history) and your total usage of credit as a percentage of available credit. Closing accounts has a negative impact on both those determinants of your score.

The best advice is to fully disclose and discuss your plans with your loan officer before you do anything financial in nature. Any blip in income, assets, or credit should be reviewed and executed in a way to keep your application in the most positive light.

Thank you very much for reading my blog! I hope you found it helpful. If you enjoyed reading this, please let me know by adding a comment below or sending me an email. If you have any additional questions please submit those as well and you may see them on a future blog post.

Here are a few additional articles you may find useful!

1. Attention Home Buyers- Avoid these Common Mistakes when buying a home
2. Attention Buyers-Are Short Sales a Real Deal?
3. How long will it take me to buy a short sale?

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at 760-216-6604 or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village, License#01845539.Phone (760)216-6604. Casey@CaseyCooke.com

Here are some record numbers we found interesting in Fannie Mae’s March report.

1.  Thirty-three percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, the highest level over the past 12 months.
2.  The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy rose to 73 percent, the highest level in over a year.
3.  Forty-eight percent of respondents think that home rental prices will go up, the highest number recorded to date.
4.  On average, respondents expect home rental prices to increase by 4.1 percent over the next 12 months, the highest number recorded to date.

Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae, capped the report off by stating:

“Conditions are coming together to encourage people to want to buy homes. Americans’ rental price expectations for the next year continue to rise, reaching their record high level for our survey this month. With an increasing share of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates and home prices over the next 12 months, some may feel that renting is becoming more costly and that homeownership is a more compelling housing choice.”

I have been saying it for quite some time now and it appears the rest of the country is falling in line. 2012 is the BEST year to buy we have seen in quite some time. I beleive at the entry level in San Diego we have hit bottom and will bounce along there for quite some time. The upper end still has some falling to do since the “move up” buyers are gone, but the entry level market is robust with buyers and the mid- tiered homes are moving as well.

If you are thinking about selling and have been sitting on the fence, now may be the time to get off that fence while the spring market is upon us.

If you have been thinking about buying now is  a great time to take advantage of pricing we have not seen in years and record low interest rates.

Thank you very much for reading my blog! I hope you found it helpful. If you enjoyed reading this, please let me know by adding a comment below or sending me an email. If you have any additional questions please submit those as well and you may see them on a future blog post.

Here are a few additional articles you may find useful!

1. Free help for people in Foreclosure! Click here for some great resources.

2. 5 tips for checking out a neighborhood before you buy!

3. How does a mortgage application effect your credit score?

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at             760-216-6604       or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village, License#01845539.Phone             (760)216-6604      . Casey@CaseyCooke.com

I often get asked the question, am I an “expert” in Real Estate?

Or would I consider myself an “expert” in a certain field of real estate, such as listing homes or short sales? Or a certain neighborhood? I saw this post and thought I would share it.

What exactly does it mean to be an expert? Does that mean we should know everything there is to know about Real Estate? I had a client tell me last year that I was like a “Real Estate Encyclopedia”. I completed two very difficult sales for him and he had lots of questions for me.

Either way, if you are buying or selling a home in today’s market, you need a real estate expert. However, we must realize what the term ‘expert’ actually means. An expert in any area cannot give perfect advice as no one can predict the future.

But they can give excellent advice based on their insight into their field.

If you go to an attorney with a legal challenge, he/she will look over your case and give you your options. They realize they cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the options. Still, they give the best advice possible and allow you to decide the option with which you feel most comfortable. They then will put together a strategy which hopefully will bring about the most favorable conclusion.

If you go to a doctor with a serious ailment, he/she will give you your options and work with you to develop the best treatment program. They cannot guarantee any program’s success. They will, however, monitor your progress and adjust your treatments or medications. They will stand next to you until the best result is achieved.

Real estate is no different. A true real estate professional will understand your options and simply and effectively explain them to you and your family. Once you chose an option, they will strategize a plan to help you accomplish your goals. They will standby you as the process evolves and will help you make the necessary adjustments if necessary.

They cannot see the future any better than doctors or attorneys and thus their advice will never be perfect. However, just like those other professionals, an expert agent will give you excellent advice that will bring about the best possible outcome.

This post appealed to me because this is exactly how I approach my job. I have a vast amount of transactional experience to draw from which means I have experienced most scenarios before. I also have an ongoing appetite for education and I regularly attend seminars and training events. This means I can sit down with my clients, learn what they are trying to accomplish, then give them a list of possible actions and outcomes. This means I can predict with a high degree of accuracy which course of action may be the best.

Does this make me a “Real Estate Expert”? Absolutely. ;~)

Thank you very much for reading my blog! I hope you found it helpful. If you enjoyed reading this, please let me know by adding a comment below or sending me an email. If you have any additional questions please submit those as well and you may see them on a future blog post.

Here are a few additional articles you may find useful!

1. 7 Ways to get TOP value for YOUR home!

2. Using comparable values to price your home correctly

3. What is a “Strategic Default?”

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at 760-216-6604 or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village, License#01845539.Phone (760)216-6604. Casey@CaseyCooke.com

Enough Said...

Thank you very much for reading my blog! I hope you found it helpful. If you enjoyed reading this, please let me know by adding a comment below or sending me an email. If you have any additional questions please submit those as well and you may see them on a future blog post.

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at             760-216-6604       or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village, License#01845539.Phone             (760)216-6604      . Casey@CaseyCooke.com

Bernanke discusses pros and cons of principal reductions…

Principal reduction is a huge topic of concern right now. Many believe it to be the key to solving the crisis for many underwater homeowners and if the stubborn lenders and their investors would implement it we could get through this! Others believe it would start a slippery slope and lead to move and more defaults by those current on their payments just so they could get their loan written down as well.

In the article below courtesy of Housing Wire, Ben Bernanke weighs in on the issue…

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012, 2:46 pm courtesy of Housing Wire

Principal reductions on mortgages could prove helpful in reducing home loan delinquencies if they are structured correctly, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.

While Bernanke did not take a definite position on principal reductions and loan modifications, he told journalists at a press conference following the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee that…

http://www.housingwire.com/2012/01/25/bernanke-discusses-pros-and-cons-of-principal-reductions

Thank you very much for reading my blog! I hope you found it helpful. If you enjoyed reading this, please let me know by adding a comment below or sending me an email. If you have any additional questions please submit those as well and you may see them on a future blog post.

Here are a few additional articles you may find useful!

1. 3 Surefire Tips to get Top Dollar for your Home even in a slow market.
2. Attention Buyers-Are Short Sales a Real Deal?
3. 8 tips for buyers to clean up in the year to come

Thinking of selling your North County Home? My team of experienced professionals can help you whether in Carlsbad, Vista, Oceanside, San Marcos, Escondido, or elsewhere in North County. We specialize is helping sellers sell their North County homes for top dollar with minimal stress and hassle. Call me directly at 760-216-6604 or email me at Casey@CaseyCooke.com.

When we talk, I will explain the process in detail and answer any questions you may have about the process.

Thank you for reading this, I hope I have been helpful!

Casey Cooke is a licensed Real Estate agent at Coldwell Banker in Vista Village, License#01845539.Phone (760)216-6604. Casey@CaseyCooke.com