Interest Rate Update...Marathons and Calistoga!

Rates have hit record lows again! I feel like a broken record saying the same thing, over and over… Suffice it to say rates have hovered at or near record lows the last few months and at this point it appears only an economic recovery to spur inflation will cause them to rise. Here goes:

For 30-yr fixed-rate loans:
3.875% (under $417,000)
4.125% (over $417,000 up to $625,000)
4.75% (jumbo over $625,000)
For 5-yr ARM loans:
2.75% (under $417,000)
3.25% (over $417,000 including jumbo)

Rates vary depending on Loan-to-value, FICO scores, loan purpose , occupancy, and points.

MARATHONS and NORCAL

I flew to the Bay Area to root for my daughter Katie as she ran a marathon in Santa Rosa the last weekend of August. She finished in a very respectable time under 4 hours, but missed her goal time to qualify for Boston. She’d experienced a quad pull earlier in the week, so was happy with her race.

We enjoyed exploring downtown Santa Rosa, but left for the drive over the hill to Calistoga after she recovered --for a little wine tasting.
Calistoga is one of our favorite places to relax and walk. Monday we visited Rombauer for chardonnay and zinfandel tastings, and then drove to the Frank Family Vineyards’ for a picnic and more tastings. Frank Family offers fine chardonnays, as well as champagnes. Both are family-owned and operated with some of the best wines in the valley.

Our dinner Monday was at Jolē, the farm-to-table restaurant located in the lobby of the historic Mt. View Hotel. www.jolerestaurant.com The food was outrageous! We brought in our leftover wines to enjoy with dinner (you can’t take them with you) and they were gracious about letting us drink our wines with their food. Their heirloom tomato salad was fabulous.
We also recommend Brannen’s Grill, named for the founder of Calistoga. www.brannensgrill.com

Although we’ve stayed at the Mt. View in the past, we elected to stay at the recently renovated Stephenson Manor, a Best Western, which was more economical and offered larger and more comfortable accommodations.

SEPTEMBER

The end of the summer has brought us thunderstorms, hailstorms, The Dana Pt. Tall Ships Festival, football…and weddings!
My eldest son Drew is marrying the lovely and talented MaryGrace this Saturday, so I will tell more about that event next time. I will see all three of my children together for the first time in almost two years this weekend. Kenny (best man) flies in from Spain, and Katie (bridesmaid) from Ann Arbor. Never a dull moment!

Dog Days of Summer -- 2 Important Updates!

The Top News is interest rates have officially hit their lows of 2011 on the economic news...and we are very near last year's ALL-TIME lows.

Number Two News:


I have moved my office to 542 N. El Camino Real in San Clemente. New office phone is 949-373-7673 and my cell phone remains same at 714-290-6940. I am working out of a satellite office of Catalyst Lending, a full-service mortgage banker.

July - The Heat is On!

Rates continue to hit records lows, and property values are following suit. Sales volume appears to be picking up. Of course, this is the traditional buying season!

Reminder: if you’re holding onto a loan with a rate over 5.5%, you most likely should refinance. Rates are in the low 3’s for 5,7 and 10 year loans, and in the mid-4’s for 30 year fixed rates. Specific rates all depend on loan size, property value, and FICO score; and for loan approval you’ll need to offer up your firstborn child. NOT! But sometimes it feels that way these days!

Fun in the Sun:




Our Fourth of July was spent with old friends on their boat in the Dana Point Harbor. We kayaked around the harbor, and witnessed the water fights in the main channel where young and old alike—on all kinds and sized watercraft -- enjoyed splashing each other with power hoses, water guns, buckets of sea water, etc. What a sight to see!


We’ve attended the first two free concerts in the park here in Dana Point: a Fleetwood Mac cover band, and last week --the Parrot Heads. You’ve got to love Dana Point and all their community events. The parks offer harbor and ocean views in the Sunday afternoon sun while participants of all ages dance and socialize.




We’re loving summer. We had a short camping trip to Santa Barbara, where I crashed on my mountain bike. Then Steve and I explored the Jalama Beach Resort north of Gaviota, which we’d read about but never seen. It’s beautiful but very remote. www.jalamabeach.com We camped at our favorite spot in El Capitan. And, I’ve recovered from my knee injury!

Steve is still commuting to Dallas, and I’ll accompany him later this month. I hope it isn’t sweltering! At least I’ll have a swimming pool…What have you been up to

First of Summer Update

Rates are moving south again! We’ve officially hit the lows of the 2011 on poor economic and employment reports. If you’ve been putting off a refinance, don’t wait. And, it is better than ever for home buyers with home values at a five-year low.

3% down, no Mortgage Insurance

Fannie Mae has a program for home buyers called Homepath, offering minimum down payments of 3% with no mortgage insurance, and no appraisal! This is for a new primary residence only, but they also allow 15% down for a rental property purchase. The program only applies to homes owned by Fannie Mae. Find out more at www.homepath.com

Reverse Mortgage News

Reverse loans aren’t only for refinancing…they are becoming a more popular way for seniors to buy a “retirement” home or new primary residence. I actually closed a reverse mortgage purchase loan for a client a few years ago, and I was told it was the first in California.

Depending on the buyers’ ages (and they must be 62) these loans will provide anywhere from 60% to 75% of the purchase price in a reverse loan. The buyer must provide the balance of purchase price in cash, typically from the sale of their existing residence. Assuming they own their home outright, or have a low-balance mortgage, this frees up cash for investment/liquidity, and eliminates the need to “qualify” for the payments associated with a new mortgage.
Best of all, the rates are as low as 4% fixed.

Bezerkeley

I visited my son Kenny in early May in Berkeley. He was there to present a paper at a conference in the School of Architecture. We had only a few days together, but we had a great time, and glorious weather. I’d forgotten how beautiful the UC Berkeley campus is, with the creek running through it, rolling lawns, huge old trees, and expansive views down to the Bay and beyond, to the skyline of downtown San Francisco.

Our first stop Sunday was the outdoor deck of the Paragon Café at the Claremont Resort for an afternoon cocktail and a view of San Francisco in the distance. Afterwards, we took a stroll at the Cesar Chavez State Park on the Bay. During our time Monday, Kenny preferred to hang out in coffee houses, studying and talking to students.



We had dinner Monday evening at an old favorite, ẦCộté, a charming tapas restaurant in the Oakland Rockridge district, on College Avenue. It felt a little like old home week for me, since I had visited Berkeley so often while Katie was in school there.

This was my first sighting of Kenny since last September, when he left for Europe for his graduate program. So far, he’s been to Cottbus and Berlin, Germany; Tallinn, Estonia; Lisbon, Portugal; Wroclaw, Poland, and London in-between. He’s been in each location for at least six weeks studying architecture at various universities participating in his program. He won’t be home until this September for his brother Drew’s wedding! Best Man...

Claremont Colleges

I’ve seen my daughter Katie, who lives in Ann Arbor, a number of times this spring around her visits here to Cali, most notably on her 27th birthday in April while she was out here with her team for water polo games in San Diego and Claremont. The Claremont campuses were wonderful to visit on a warm April Sunday. You sort of feel like you’re back East on an Ivy campus. Katie’s also been out to visit for Mothers’ Day and Memorial weekend. What a treat!

Local News


Sunset’s is still our favorite local haunt in Capo Beach. As the name implies, it has great sunset views and offers music and dancing every Thursday through Sunday. Walking distance from our home, we frequent it for happy hour, or after dinner and almost always run into friends there! They are hosting a special event this Saturday with music and dancing all day, a live band starting at 6:00 p.m. and a caribbean themed buffet with mojito and sangria bar. Join us! www.sunsetsbar.com

The California Wine festival at Doheny State Beach, held the end of April, was a great time as usual. They hosted even more wineries than last year’s event, more breweries, and the food selections were fantastic! We found a new local restaurant that was serving a killer salmon ceviche…the Next Door. Steve and I visited the restaurant last week and sampled the ceviche, and bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese. Yummy!

Steve continues to commute to Dallas regularly for consulting on Museum Tower, a high-rise luxury residential development. I’m planning to visit again soon, but in the meantime we have a camping trip planned to our favorite Beach campsite at El Capitan overlooking the Pacific with panoramic views. We take our kayak and bikes, and fill our days with exercise, reading, relaxing…and Steve paints. We are hoping for warm weather!

Hope your Memorial holiday weekend was wonderful! Happy June!

Mortgage Rates under 3%!

Calling all mortgages with rates over 5.25%! 30 year fixed at 4.5% …

Today rates are below 3% for a 5-year ARM loan; and as low as 3.5% on a 7-year ARM, depending on loan size. It is harder to qualify for the 5-year loan than the 7-year, since the rates is bumped up for underwriting purposes.

Quick Rate Update for April

Rates have steadily improved during the month of April, and are hovering just on this year’s lows, while property values are also at their lows in most areas. Great time to buy, and also to refi!

Up to $417,000

5/1 ARM – 3.125%
15 YR FIXED – 4%
30 YR FIXED – 4.75%

$417,000 to $729,000

5/1 ARM – 3.5%
15 YR FIXED – 4.125%
30 YR FIXED – 4.75%

True Jumbo loans (over $729,500)

5/1 ARM – 3.875%
15 YR FIXED – 5%
30 YR FIXED – 5.5%

FHA rates are a bit lower, but they come with mortgage insurance which increases the monthly payment. That said, it is still possible to make a purchase up to $729,000 with as little as 3.5% down. WOW!

Rates, Industry Updates, and Dallas Arts District

The mortgage market closed up yesterday by 52 bps, which is a nice improvement on news of the increased danger in Japan and an overall weaker economic outlook. Bad economic news = good news for interest rates.

Mortgage rates are currently running in the 4.75% to 5.125% range for 30 year fixed rate loans up to $729,000, depending on loan size, FICO score, loan to value and occupancy. Rates are lower for shorter terms, i.e. five, seven, and 15 year fixed terms.

The “conforming jumbo” program allowing lower rates for loans over $417,000 and up to $729,000 is scheduled to sunset this September 30th. The government could extend the deadline again, but it is unlikely given the fact that the government wants to get out of the business of guaranteeing mortgages. This is also a precursor for a sunset of the 30 year fixed rate loan. So, if you want one, get it now while they are still available. Rates will rise for those loans over the current conforming limit of $417,000 and it is possible that the limit could drop due to average home values having dropped since the limit went into place.

Dallas and the Arts



I visited Dallas last week to attend various events revolving around the Dallas Art Fair. Steve has been handling the marketing of a high rise luxury home project called “Museum Tower” that is closely aligned with the arts--both fine and performing-- in downtown Dallas.




We toured individual galleries; attended the Gala preceding the opening of the Art Fair; attended a private event at the Trammel Crow Asian Art Museum; had a private tour in the Dallas Museum of Art with the curator of the Gustav Stickley exhibit (think Craftsman home movement); and attended an event for the unveiling of a new sculpture at the Nasher Sculpture Garden. Amazing works of art and sculpture were all around us! I was floored by the sight of many famous pieces I’ve only seen in books.

All of the above were attended by lots of waiters offering food, champagne, wines, etc. Also attending were lots of beautiful and fascinating people. All I could say was WOW.

Dallas seems to have more trendy restaurants and bars within walking distance of the “Uptown” area and the “arts district” than anywhere I’ve been. And, those people love to party! I even had a glass of wine on the terrace of the fabled Mansion on Turtle Creek.

I can’t wait to go back to visit, and will follow up with more in-depth reports on hotels, museums, restaurants, the Katy Trail, etc. I even found a great 24 Hour Fitness downtown with a great Zumba class on Saturday morning…what could be better?