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.

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.

We just spent our 3rd night at the Folsom Thurs Night Market and it was a blast! Stop by the next  Market on July 8th and visit our booth. Team Shanahan and Platinum Mortgage Network President, Dave Trillo  http://www.platinummortgagenetwork.com/ will be there then and every week till it ends on July 29th  to help with your real estate and mortgage questions.

Vendors of all kinds, dancers, muscians, games, kareoke,  food stations & more are present  from 6-9pm.  There are 4 more fun-filled nights coming up, so check it out! http://www.folsomtnm.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/

“Howdy” goes out to all the nice people and business owners we met at the Folsom Chamber of Commerce “Folsom Connection 2010″ event yesterday. Plus BIG THANKS goes to the organizers for such a superb job! It was a pleasure seeing such great turnout in support of keeping business strong in Folsom. Reatly World Team Shanahan raffled off a Flip Mino HD Video Camera. The WINNER was Phillip Kwong! Congratulations Phillip… have fun shooting, recording, & connecting w/ the FlipShare software experience. 

Extended until Dec 31, 2010, first time home buyers who lose their jobs due to layoffs may be eligible to receive up to $1500 a month for up to 6 mos to help pay their mortgage.  A qualified co-buyer can also participate in C.A.R.’s (Calif Assoc of Realtors) Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program & receive $750 a month for up to 6mos. This free protection program received $1 million from C.A.R.’s & an additional $420,000 from N.A.R.’s (National Assoc) housing affordability funds & are available until the funds run out. Contact your Realtor for an application.

I’m always up for passing on great tips for new business I hear about. So I checked out SKIN 360 http://www.skin360medicalaesthetics.com/index.html, a new medical aesthetics clinic at 2575 East Bidwell Street, suite 210 in Folsom. The state of the art office featured everything I could possibly want for improving my skin from head to toe. From the clean, crisp new office to the warm, professional staff–I felt completely at ease & in good hands w/Nurse Practioner Jessica Finsley. She performed a precision laser treatment for me. I couldn’t be more happy with the results thus far. Go check them out for yourself & don’t forget to mention my recommendation for a 10% discount. Be sure to let me know how it goes!

According to author Mark Di Vincenzo of Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon, there are “best times” to move your household in order to save $$$. Feel free to pack on a weekend, but don’t move the family possessions and little Fido until the weekdays. Moving services & suppliers offer bigger discounts for Mon-Thurs gigs.

In addition, he recommends mid-month dates for your relocation because apartment leases affect supply & demand allowing moving companies & suppliers to obtain premium rates near the 1st & end of the month. So monopolize on timing & skip out during the lull.

The big no brainer in his book  is that summer is NOT the best time of the year to move if you’re looking to save money. I think everyone would agree on that point. Approximately 60% of relocations take place during May-Sept, so I’d like to add to his money saving tips by actually giving you a plan…

Buyers should consider savings on moving by purchasing a home as early birds in January to beat the springtime competition. Serious buyers should figure their taxes immediately & try to coinside tax returns for a purchase asap in the new year. They’ll save on the price as well as the physical moving costs by being so pro-active!

Sellers should list their home on the market as soon as possible after the holidays for similar reasons. Beating the competition of other sellers at the springtime rush will help you close escrow sooner & avoid the extra $ involved with moving in the May-Sept premium months. 

There’s no time like the present…to save money!