Inland Empire Area Real Estate For Sale

Real Estate Solutions For Real People

Keisha Hosea
877-534-7421
KHosea@KASIHomes.com
 

Four Things To Think About When Buying A One Bedroom Condo in Fountain Valley CA

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Four Things To Think About When Buying A One Bedroom Condo in Fountain Valley CA

1. A one bedroom condo can be a good entry into the housing market if you are on a limited budget.

2. With rising rent rates, you are making a wiser financial decision by purchasing a one bedroom Fountain Valley condo than by renting a condo.   

3. Remember, just as much as you are buying a home to live in you are also buying an area. The advantage to buying a one bedroom condo in Fountain Valley is that Fountain Valley remains a highly desirable area of Orange County.

4. Consider creating a highly functional, efficient living space. Instead of just purchasing a regular sofa for the living room, consider a pull out sofa that can double as bedding for overnight guest. There’s a way to live a “less is more lifestyle.” Creating dual purpose living spaces is one of them.

How Do You Determine Whether To Buy A Home in Chino Hills or Rent?

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Many people are wondering with today’s staggering economic downfall, whether they should buy a home or simply rent a home.  Forbes had an article, The Next Mortgage Crisis, that laid out some interesting points.
You should considering buying a home if:
1. you can afford to buy
2. you want to build equity in a home as a source of retirement security
3. you want to take advantage of the tax benefits of home ownership with mortgage interest and property tax deductions
You Should Consider Renting If:
1. you can’t afford to buy
2. you have not saved an emergency fund of at least 3-6 months worth of expenses
3. you do not qualify for a reasonable interest rate on a mortgage
4. your income is unstable
5. you like having the option of moving around frequently

What Steve Jobs Knew About A Trust That You Should Know Too

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The sad passing of an intellectual genius such as Steve Jobs leaves people with lingering thoughts as they ponder their own immortality. In 2009, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and his wife placed at least three properties into trusts. A trust is an arrangement under which one person (the trustee) holds legal title to property for another person (the beneficiary). The act of placing the properties in trust may have been his way to ensure that his assets were not disclosed upon his death.The advantages of placing stock and real estate into trusts can be to  minimize estate taxes upon a person’s death, and keep assets from being publicly disclosed in probate court. While most of us do not quite have the type of holdings that Steve Jobs had, many of us would rather that our assets remain a private affair upon our passing. Even if we don’t  have huge holdings in Apple stock or Disney shares as the late Steve Jobs held, it is important to provide as much protection as possible.

Real estate transfers in California are recorded in county records. According to California law, wills must be filed in court within 30 days of a person’s death. Once assets such as real estate are placed in trusts, a person can write their will to say that everything is left to the trustee, she said. The assets would be then administered according to the trust rules, which are almost always private.

In 2007, a study by Harris Interactive for Martindale-Hubbell revealed that 55% of adult Americans do not have a will. This means that when these individuals die, the estate must go through probate. Probate is a Superior Court procedure to determine a will’s validity and any creditor’s claims. Probate also establishes the identity of the beneficiaries.

Undeniably, Steve Jobs was a genius in his own right. He was far ahead of his time and made some pretty smart moves in his lifetime. Steve Jobs obviously recognized that with the kind of wealth he had attained, he certainly did not want his entire estate to go through probate if he could help it.

Disclaimer-All information contained herein is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. You are advised to consult a reputable attorney for all legal advice or a reputable tax advisor.

Why Do We Have To Be “Cross-Qualified” By The Sellers Lender If We Are Already Pre-Approved With Our Own Lender?

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“Cross- qualification” is when a lender examines assets and income of a borrower without doing a complete pre-qualification necessarily. Sometimes a seller will require that a buyer be “cross-qualified” with the lender of their choosing for several reasons:
1. To ensure that the borrower has indeed been pre-approved and can purchase for the amount specified
2. To ensure that in the event the buyers lender finds that they are unable to provide the loan, the sellers lender can complete the loan and thus save the sale of the home.We’ve encountered a pretty tumultuous Real Estate market in many parts of the Country recently and many people are just looking for any added assurances they can get. As a buyer, don’t despair if you are asked to get “cross-qualified.” It actually may even be a benefit to you when you least expect it.

Inexperienced Short Sale Agents Costs Everyone Time and Money…Be Careful Who You Jump Into Business With

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Inexperienced Short Sale Agents Costs Everyone Time and Money…Be Careful Who You Jump Into Business With

Just recently I wrote a cathartic blog entitled, What Do You Do When Your Cooperating Agent Does Not Have A Clue??? venting some frustration I was having with a cooperating agent on a short sale. Turns out that my gut never seems to fail me. The last two days have been spent re-iterating to the cooperating agent that the lender has already issued the approval letter and they have already stipulated what item they will and won’t pay for. Now I know that we all wish that this were a “standard sale world” again (at least I do), but hey if it’s not our reality then we must do what we can with what we have.  As I found myself debating the issue with this agent, once again I realized that their attempts to strong-arm the bank into doing certain inspections and reports was more a matter of their inexperience with short sales than anything else. The time to negotiate hard for your client on a short sale is BEFORE the lender issues the approval letter with your client’s name on it– NOT AFTER.
Fighting hard and negotiating on your client’s behalf is exactly what agents are hired to  do, but they probably should know when to swing and lay their punch or lie any “wanna -be boxer”, they are going to end up on their butt. Sadly, this type of inexperienced agent costs everyone, including the lender, investors, homeowners, buyers and agents, a heap of time and money. As if there is not enough to worry about out there already, right?
Keisha Hosea is a local Market Expert and Chino Hills Realtor. Keisha Hosea and the KASI Homes team offer help to home buyers and home sellers in the Inland Empire, including Chino Hills homes, Fontana homes, Diamond Bar homes, Chino homes, Ontario homes. With a Master of Arts Degree in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling, Keisha has worked extensively with families in transition such as divorcing couples selling homes and probate real estate. KASI Homes is the place where you find Real Estate Solutions for Real People. Whether you are in need of selling your home with a short sale or are interested in buying short sales or foreclosure homes, we can help. For more information call direct at (909) 261-6377.
Disclaimer-All information contained herein is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. You are advised to consult a reputable attorney for all legal advice or a reputable tax advisor.

Listen To What Other People Say Before You Decide On Your Next Realtor

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There’s no better way to really know about a business than to hear what other people have to say about them. Listen to what some of our clients are
saying about us….

Disclaimer-All information contained herein is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. You are advised to consult a reputable attorney for all legal advice or a reputable tax advisor.

Every Buyer Deserves A Chance To Get Their Offer Accepted

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In a competitive market, buyers often wonder why their offers are continually not accepted. One thing that buyers must understand is that the “cleaner” and more competitive the offer is, the better chance they will have of getting their offer accepted. When a buyer’s agent submits an offer, it is equally important that the offer does not contain ambiguous language. Most certainly, however, the offer needs to appear to be one that is based on a genuine desire to go forward with the purchase barring any unforeseen events.

We received an offer recently on one of our seller’s homes that stated the following,

“NOT WITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION TO THE CONTRACT, PURCHASER SHALL HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO PURCHASE THE PROPERTY AND NO TRANSFER OF TITLE TO PURCHASER MAY OCCUR UNTIL COMPANY HAS PROVIDED PURCHASER AND/OR SELLER WITH A WRITTEN DETERMINATION ON THE BASIS OF A FEDERALLY REQUIRED REVIEW AND AN APPROVED FOR RELEASE OF FEDERAL FUNDS THAT PURCHASE OF THE PROPERTY BY PURCHASER MAY PROCEED SUBJECT TO ANY OTHER CONTINGENCIES IN THIS CONTRACT OR MAY PROCEED ONLY CERTAIN CONDITIONS TO ADDRESS ISSUES IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW SHALL BE SATISFIED BEFORE OR AFTER THE PURCHASE OF THE PROPERTY. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPANY SHALL USE ITS BEST EFFORTS TO CONCLUDE THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW OF THE PROPERTY

DEPOSIT FUNDS OF $XXXX ARE REFUNDABLE TO BUYER IF TRANSACTION FAILS TO CLOSE.”

At best, such language added into the offer to purchase was not only absolutely ambiguous and confusing, there was an element of absolute non commitment on the buyers part. When an agent includes a ton of amateur legalese and to top it off also includes a clause that basically creates an absolute sham of an offer because the buyer really does not have to make any type of real investment in the property whatsoever and can walk away at will.

Every Buyer Deserves A Chance To Get Their Offer Accepted. Every buyer deserves an agent who will look out for their best interest while at the same time craft an offer that will actually have a chance for consideration by a seller. Working with an agent who knows the art of crafting a winning offer and the art of negotiation can be the difference between simply submitting offers on homes or actually becoming a homeowner.

Stressful Life Events: Your Move May Be One of Them

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Stressful Life Events: Your Move May Be One of Them
Moving along with several other life events can produce stress. There is good stress and bad stress. Here’s a little test to see just how stressed you may or may not be. The relative stressfulness of each event is indicated by the number on the left. The most stressful life event was assigned a value of 100, and other events were assigned lower values in proportion to their effects on stress. Divorce, for example, caused stress in 73% as many individuals that experience this event as was true for the death of a spouse. Notice that change is a common factor in many of these events, often in either direction (e.g., marriage as well as divorce).

To calculate an index of the amount of stress in your life, list all the life events from this table that have affected you in the last year and add up their total scores. Persons with higher scores are much more prone to experiencing major illness or other stress-related conditions in the coming year.

STRESSFULNESS LIFE EVENT

100 Death of spouse

73 Divorce

65 Marital separation

63 Jail term

63 Death of close family member (except spouse)

53 Major personal injury or illness

50 Marriage

47 Being fired from work

45 Marital reconciliation

45 Retirement

44 Change in health of family member (not self)

40 Pregnancy

39 Sex difficulties

39 Gain of new family member

39 Business readjustment

38 Change in financial state

37 Death of close friend

36 Change to different occupation

35 Change in number of arguments with spouse

31 Mortgage over $40,000

30 Foreclosure of mortgage or loan

29 Change in responsibilities at work

29 Son or daughter leaving home

29 Trouble with in-laws

28 Outstanding personal achievement

26 Spouse begins or stops work

26 Begin or end school

25 Change in living conditions

24 Change in personal habits (self or family)

23 Trouble with boss

20 Change in work hours or conditions

20 Change in residence

20 Change in schools

19 Change in recreation

19 Change in church activities

18 Change in social activities

17 Mortgage or loan less than $40,000

16 Change in sleeping habits

15 Change in number of family get-togethers

13 Change in eating habits

13 Vacation

12 Christmas

11 Minor violations of the law

We have all experienced and continue to experience stress on varying levels. Moving is one of the biggest stressors which is why selecting a Realtor who understands your needs and who is skilled at creating smooth transactions is vastly important. Make sure you choose someone who will ease your burden whether your home move is due to a job relocation, divorce, short sale, probate, etc.

Disclaimer-All information contained herein is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. You are advised to consult a reputable attorney for all legal advice or a reputable tax advisor.

 

How Do I Use A Homestead for My Fontana CA Home?

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How Do I Use A Homestead for My Fontana CA Home?

A homestead is used to limit the amount of liability for certain debts by unsecured creditors against which a home can be used to satisfy a judgment. It will not, however, protect a homeowner from foreclosure on a trust deed, mechanic’s lien, real property taxes or a lien filed prior to the filing of the homestead. A properly recorded homestead will protect the first $75,000 of a home’s value to satisfy a judgment against a head of household.

In order the take advantage of a homestead, a Fontana CA homeowner would file a declaration of homestead. This declaration for the County of San Bernardino can be found at the County of San Bernardino website. Fontana CA homeowners should double check at all times to ensure that this is the most current information available with the County of San Bernardino.