Burbank Real Estate Blog

The Economic Week in Review:

• Existing Home Sales rose 2.9% in February, housing supply is sitting at 9.6 months nationally.
• The Case Shiller Index came out with LA County down 16.5%.
• Consumer Confidence continued it’s downward spiral to lowest level since 2003
• New Home Sales were down 1.8% to a 13 year low.
• Durable Goods dropped for second month in a row, giving credence to the fact that we are already in a recession.
• Jobless Claims were improved.
• Personal Income and Outlays rose more than expected, but they cite technical reasons for this, such as Medicare Part D payments and government assistance that were given out.
• Consumer Sentiment showed slight weakness, not enough to upset the markets.
• Markets ended the week down 1.2% at 12216.40. Of the 30 Dow components, 22 posted losses.
• Bonds…2 year 1.69%, 5 yr. 2.54% and the 10 yr. 3.48%.

More at Burbankmarketreport.com.....

Housing stats for February 2008 for Burbank, Studio City, Hollywood Hills, Glendale, Valley Village and surrounding areas!

 

Click here! 

 

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City of Burbank was recently named one of the top 100 communities in the nation for young people.  Burbank was the only city in Los Angeles County to receive this honor that was given out by America's Promise Alliance.

The Alliance has been conducting this contest for 3 years and it chose the winners from over 300 cities in the United States. Many factors contributed to the City's placement including the recently passed No Smoking Ordinance, YMCA's youth exercise and nutrition program and exercise programs offered at the elementary schools.

Through this recognition the Alliance hopes to recognize community based efforts to provide a safe and healthy environment for youth.

In California, there is a proposal on the books, called the revocable transfer on death deed, or Tod Deed, that would give homeowners a simple, one page method to hand down property. This bill was introduced by Assemblyman Chuck Devore (R-Irvine) back in 2004! It was quickly downgraded to a study bill by the Assembly Judicial Committee as the California Bar’s Trusts and Estates Section battled it tooth and nail.

Despite the lobbying effort against the bill, the State Assembly approved AB250 last June. It’s due to hit the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2008.

While this one size fits all form may not be the solution for everyone, it seems beneficial for many looking to avoid probate and who don’t have the money to hire an attorney or have other assets. One of the main benefits of utilizing this method of transfer is that nothing happens until the death of the homeowner, so the chances of someone not exercising their intent are minimized. There are many pros and cons to this method, but other states that have this transfer vehicle report that it has worked well.

Read on...... 

The Economic Week In Review is back!

We had a very interesting week to say the least!  

 

Today the markets are closed in observance of Good Friday.

• Yesterday the market rose 262 points(2.2%) after a better than expected Philly Fed Manufacturing Index report. The financial stocks led the way, although I want to point out that, as a whole, this has been a very volatile week. The bottom line seems to be that traders are looking for any positive sign to try and bring back the bull. The other factor was quadruple witching and it appears that alot of buying to cover short positions was occurring.

• The Fed cut it’s key lending rate 75 basis points to 2.25% and this spurred a rally in the dollar, much needed as it had reached it’s lowest level since 1973. The rate cut also set off one of the biggest commodity collapses in 40-50 years. Commodity prices had been spiraling upwards on inflation fears. Gold, for example, had reached $1033.90 per ounce on March 17th, came down, over 3 days, to $920.ounce. Crude Oil closed at $101.84, down from $110 on Monday……I remember the days when $70 per barrel seemed high.
• Both the 10 and 30 year notes(3.33% and 4.17% respectively) closed at their lowest yields since June of 2003. This is troubling because it is not indicative of a rebounding economy. Rates, in theory, tend to be going higher on the long end if things are improving, not always the case but many times that’s the pattern.
• Last Friday, in order to avoid the bankruptcy of the nation’s 5th largest brokerage house, the Fed stepped in and bailed out Bear Stearns by devising a plan for JP Morgan to buy them out at $2 per share(52 week high $170/share), with the Fed providing all of the funding. Additionally, the Fed is allowing securities firms to borrow money at the same interest rate as banks. This is huge and represents the first time, since the Great Depression, that the central bank has helped institutions.

• Single family home starts and permits hit lowest levels since 1991.

More at burbankmarketreport.com!

 

Some of the most important elements of buying a home is knowing how much home you can afford to buy. How much money you have to put as a down payment and how much money you can afford to pay on a monthly basis may not only determine the size of your home, but which neighborhood you choose.

Here are some tips to make your life easier:

• Clean up your finances

Pull a copy of your credit report to see exactly what all three credit agencies are reporting about you. Not only do you want to know your credit scores, but you want to know if your balances and payment history is being properly documented. Check with Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

Years ago when purchasing a home I found out during escrow that a credit card I had closed years earlier was reporting late payments, impossible since the account was closed before the alleged late payments were made. Regardless I had to obtain a letter from the company reporting the late payments stating that this was erroneous information, it was, unfortunately, not an easy task. Needless to say, my life would have been much easier had I known about this problem before entering escrow!

• Meet with your lender to get pre-approved for a loan

Pre-qualification is different from pre-approval, because it is only an estimate of what you'll be able to afford. Pre-approval is a more conventional process where a lender examines your finances and agrees in advance to loan you money up to a specified amount.

Get a lock in rate letter along with a loan commitment if you can. That will make your offer that much more enticing to a homeowner.

Continued at the Burbankmarketreport.com!