www.TeamShanahan.com

This weekend June 4-5th is “National” Open House Weekend. Continue to check www.sacrealtor.org for the updated list of opens in our whole Greater Sacramento Areas. Happy hunting & call if you need me!

Borrowers can monitor home-lending rates. Every Thursday, Freddie Mac officials calculate average mortgage rates by compiling rates from lenders across the U.S. on Monday through Wednesday. Rates can be found at www.freddiemac.com/pmms

Even if your home purchase is months or years away, having good credit history is essential. A few points on a FICO score can mean the difference between a higher or lower interest rate offered on a mortgage loan. Go to www.creditscore.com to monitor your score. If you need help cleaning up your credit, the professionals at www.fixmyscore.org can help.

As soon as you’re even thinking about contacting a mortgage broker, be sure you’ve organized all the necessary documents most lenders require, such as those that prove employment and income. Typically, lenders want two recent pay stubs, two years of tax returns, bank statements, proof of assets, such as 401(k) and trusts, and debts, such as credit card statements. Documents are especially important for borrowers who are self-employed. Having documents ready will speed up the loan process. And take note…in this market, you cannot make an offer without a loan approval letter, so don’t let that dream house slip away. Do your homework and be prepared.

Are you still paying rent? According to Trulia, Over 72% of  the largest U.S. cities have starter homes, condos and apartments  that are becoming more affordable as “owned” rather than “leased.” My suggestion is to find a good lender and see what you qualify for and then compare that with local rents in the areas you like to see if renting is cheaper or not! Go to www.zilpy.com for the cool tool tab to find estimated rents to compare. If you don’t have a lender, contact Dave Trillo at www.PlatinumMortgageNetwork.com and tell him I referred you. They run a top notch lending group.

The IRS is sending a letter to taxpayers who claimed the credit that explains if, when, and how the buyer has to repay the credit. There are different IRS letters for different situations, including a purchase of a home in 2008, 2009, or 2010; a sale of a main home; or a change in the use of the main home.

The IRS website at www.irs.gov contains detailed information about repayment requirements for the federal home buyer tax credit. This is a great resource to help sort out any confusion.

Buyers interested in purchasing a distressed property…but lacking the funds to fix it up…might want to check out FHA’s 203K loan. Primary home owners (not investment owners) can cover the costs of renovation as well as the purchase price with as little as 3.5% down. More details: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/203k/203kabou.cfm

Anyone interested in living in the beautiful “Campus Commons” townhome community near University and Howe Avenues in Sacramento should stop by 1-4pm this Sunday, Sept 26th. Agents have pulled together a group open house event for listings in this fabulous neighborhood. Come say hello to Team Shanahan at our great REO property at 1102 Dunbarton Circle. See my website listings for more details. This REO is in wonderful shape w/ immediate bank response. You can’t beat that! Hope to see you there…

Check out the new “city tab” for GRANITE BAY located along the top of my blog page. I appreciate the fine folks at Granite Bay Country Club and Johnson Ranch Racquet Club for their warm welcome in touring the spectacular grounds of each facility. Granite Bay is fortunate to have such wonderful amenities in their community!  Hope you like the new video…

A big thank you goes out to all who stopped by our Realty World and Platinum Mortgage Network booth last Thurs night. It was really nice getting to know many members of the community. If you have any ?s, feel free to give Denise a call at 916-708-2017  or Dave at 916-715-7215. We’re always here to help!

The whole event rocked because of the superb coordination of Jim Crosthwaite of FirstStep Sports Marketing Group. Check out the many events he and his team have coming soon:  www.firststepsportsmarketing.com .

Good news for home buyers! Governor Schwarzenegger signs $10,000 homebuyer tax credit legislation making a move to encourage Californian first time homebuyers and new construction purchasers to buy homes. I urge anyone looking at property ownership to call their tax accountant to understand how this bill will affect them. Read more http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/14712/