Did you know that mortgages sold to FHA, VA, Fannie and Freddie are allowed to exceed to the traditional 43% DTI (debt-to-income) ratio? The rule that allows it is known as the QM Patch, which expires in 2021. But bankers are fighting to keep the exemption from the 43% DTI ratio in place, and are playing the race card to make their point:
Four of the largest mortgage lenders in the country are leading a coalition that is calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make to changes to the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage rule.
Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Quicken Loans, and Caliber Home Loans joined with the Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and others to send a letter to the CFPB, asking the bureau to eliminate the 43% DTI cap on “prime and near-prime loans.”
“Elimination of the DTI requirement for prime and near-prime loans would preserve access to sustainable credit for the new generation of first-time homebuyers in a safe and sustainable way and in accordance with the fundamental ATR requirements,” the group writes.
“This change is especially important for reaching historically underserved borrowers, including low- to moderate-income households, and communities of color.”
Just to have 30+ brokers come to your new listing must mean something – the price has to be close. But the listing agent has to be able to sell it, which is the missing ingredient for all of the disrupters.
Old-time agents gather their evidence and then go all out to convince buyers and agents the property is worth it. Look around – we are selling the whole lifestyle:
How did you like Donna being on duty for the first hour? Wasn’t it great to meet wifey?
Thanks to Bill Iannelli who sent in this tour of the Palace Bar in Prescott, Arizona.
It brought back fond memories of the summer of 1976, when I spent a week there with a landscape crew. We hung out at the Palace Bar during the annual Fourth of July party, which is insane every year!
If you are thinking of moving to Prescott, this will be a great primer:
Bill Iannelli is a long-time realtor in Prescott – try him out HERE.
There have been home sales of $22 million and $23 million on the Del Mar oceanfront in the last 60 days. Hat tip to Richard and ‘just some guy’ for sending this in (the next Coastal Commission meeting is tomorrow):
Del Mar is gearing up for a tussle with the California Coastal Commission over the best way to adapt to rising sea levels, an issue with statewide implications.
The city has taken the position that one of the Coastal Commission’s basic strategies, called “managed retreat” or sometimes “planned retreat,” will not work in Del Mar.
“We have a plan, and we stand by our plan,” Del Mar Councilman Dwight Worden said Friday.
The City Council is scheduled to review its sea-level rise adaptation plan tonight (Oct 7) in preparation for a Coastal Commission hearing on Oct. 16. The commission’s staff has recommended its board reject Del Mar’s plan unless the city agrees to a list of 25 modifications that Worden said could be a “back door” to managed retreat.
Let’s flashback four months to the height of the selling season to check on prices:
Price
May 13 #Actives
Avg LP/sf
#Pendings
Oct 14 #Actives
Avg LP/sf
#Pendings
0-$1M
102
$470/sf
78
82
$478/sf
54
$1M-$1.5M
201
$497/sf
131
171
$546/sf
94
$1.5M-$2M
159
$599/sf
72
177
$608/sf
79
$2.0M+
507
–
88
517
–
80
The MLS doesn’t want us to know what’s happening to pricing above $2,000,000, but the average list pricing under $2,000,000 is higher today than it was four months ago.
The price point that everyone thought would have the most trouble this year ($1M-$1.5M) due to the tax reform is actually doing the best. The average list price has risen 10% in four months!
Solana Beach suffers the same fate as many well-established high-end areas.
There aren’t many comps to begin with, and it’s ripe for off-market sales.
Three of the last four on the street were off-market sales – were they low?
I’m hanging my hat on the cheapest one, 424 Pacific. The story poles are already up, so the $2,555,000 was really just land value – and that corner is much busier than at the subject property.
But let’s also consider that Solana Beach has been remarkably under-valued for years, and we are just now starting to see what buyers are willing to pay. It wasn’t long ago that the non-oceanfront homes struggled to get more than $4,000,000.
Now look:
Three recent sales over $6,000,000, with one of them back on the market for nearly $10 million!
Chances are, you have had the thought of moving away and being surrounded with the people you love the most. These best friends are actually doing it.
While your ideal “get away from it all” escape may be an island retreat, or mountain cabin in the middle of a forest, these 8 friends had another idea: build an eco-town made out of tiny homes in good ol’ Texas.
“The cabin designed by architect Matt Garcia cost around $40,000 each and is environmental-friendly. The cabins are designed to be sustainable and make the most of the surroundings. The four couples named their settlement ‘Llano Exit Strategy’ and are looking to retire on the property,”
Even though they already lived close to each other, they didn’t see each other as often as they liked due to their busy schedules. Apart from the cabins, there is also a large communal kitchen and a guest bedroom for when other friends and family come to visit. There’s large, stainless-steel appliances, including a commercial range and clear-glass fridge.
In today’s market, sellers should consider an offer that is contingent upon the sale of the buyers’ home.
If the seller’s home has been on the market for 30+ days, the showings have probably slowed down – and a contingent offer might be the only hope of getting a sale done this year.
Above is a copy of the form we use – the Form COP. Paragraphs 1-7 are self-explanatory, and Paragraph 8 is where the fun begins.
Buyers include this form with their purchase offer, so they go first on completing #8.
If you don’t touch it, then once the offer is accepted, Paragraph 8A applies – and the seller can cancel this sale within three days if an acceptable back-up offer is received.
Paragraph 8A isn’t favorable to the buyers, so they should check Paragraph 8B and buy more time.
Once checked, the form gives the buyers a 17-day period where they can’t get cancelled, and you can also fill in the blank to dictate a longer period – OR check the last box and lock out all other offers for the duration. The sellers probably won’t go for that option though.
If buyers request a period longer than 17 days, the sellers will probably counter-offer with a shorter time period – and even the boilerplated 17 days might be too long if the listing agent is compelled to throw their weight around and show everyone who the boss is.
End result?
You can probably get a contingent offer accepted today, but it will include the threat of getting cancelled in the first 10-17 days if a non-contingent offer is received.
Key Point?
Buyers making a contingent offer need to have their house ready to sell!
You don’t want to waste the first few days of your exclusive period on house-cleaning and clutter patrol! Though it isn’t that likely that the seller will get another offer if they’ve already been languishing on the market, you don’t want to chance it.
Buyers making a contingent offer are smart to have their house ready to hit the open market right away – preferably, on the day of acceptance. Plan ahead!
