Buying a West Hills CA Home? Some Choices May Make Borrowing Difficult

Mortgage availability has declined enormously in recent years. By some estimates the products available have dropped by as much as 25,000 or 90%.

Many people worry that the impact of this will be to force them to borrow less, have a greater deposit and a cleaner credit record. In other words they fear mortgages will be harder to get. This is true but it ignores probably the biggest change there has been.

From 2003 to 2007 there was an enormous growth in the number of lenders seeking to provide mortgages. To compete with the bigger players with established customer bases and retail networks these new banks decided to compete by breaking new ground. Where historically some people with adverse credit records had been rejected products were now available, and where the property itself was previously impossible to get a mortgage on this changed.

We now have a situation where there are literally hundreds of thousands of properties that currently have a mortgage on them which you would not be able to find funding for now from current lenders. Many millions of properties will have some funding availability but this will be severely restricted.

Flats over shops will now only attract lending in very specific situations, lending for flats above shops where there are restaurants, pubs, hairdressers or after hours opening will find pretty much no lender wanting to entertain them. Equally some building types will rarely get cover such as steel framing, concrete walls, post war timber structures, cob built buildings, apartment blocks over six or eight stories and ex-council flats.

The effect of this is not widely recognized yet but will be drastic for those affected. Those with a mortgage will find it near to impossible to switch lender and where the existing mortgage is at penal rates (as many from the newly departed lenders are) they may come under intolerable financial pressure. Those looking to sell may sadly face an even worse dilemma as they will more than likely find that without financing being available for their kind of building the “value” of it will plummet as it will now only be of appeal to cash buyers or specialist investors with access to commercial funds.

What we may see is huge amounts of property plummet in value simply because it’s impossible to get mortgage financing on it. The Financial Services Authority whose remit partially involves ensuring markets are orderly may well look into this whole area as it’s clear that those lenders who have left the market suddenly have left some quite serious issues behind for hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Harrisson

House Hunting? Sit Back, Relax, and Surf…

In the past finding a West Hills CA home for sale was a full time job. Both for you and your real estate agent. Your agent needed to have a clear understanding of what you were looking for in a home. Once they felt they had a solid idea, they would choose homes, set up appointments, and drive you there. Together you would evaluate how close they were to what you wanted. If it didn’t match your needs, you both just wasted a lot of time and energy.

As the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) developed to the point where each real estate agency could put their listings online with digital photos, longer descriptions, contact information, and even Google maps to find the property, “finding a house” took on a whole new meaning.

Today, most real estate agents are contacted by potential buyers who have already found homes on the Internet that interest them. A buyer’s first question is no longer, “Can you help me find a house?” Now they ask, “I found three homes on your website. How can I get in to see them?”

These educated consumers no longer depend on the agent to know everything about every house. The buyer now knows as much as or even more than the agent does. The buyer can see the 360 degree photo tours, architectural drawings and floor plans, real photos of the front and back yard, and of course the all important kitchen and bathrooms.

On many websites, banks and lenders have paid for advertising space and there are links to loan officers to talk about pre-qualification letters (a real handy document that agents and sellers love to see the buyers equip themselves with).

Not sure if you can afford the home? Use the handy mortgage calculator up there in the corner and play with some numbers. You might be better off than you think!

What’s new with online house hunting? Some savvy FSBOs (For Sale by Owners) have web cam access! If you still aren’t sure, you can “walk” through the property while sitting at your desk.

The Challenge of Selling Your West Hills Home

When it comes to selling your West Hills CA home in today’s market, it seems to be easier said than done. People more than ever are very apprehensive about buying real estate. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to sell your home, you’re probably not going to find one. If you really need to sell your home fast, you could always try the old reliable options. You could lower the price, throw in some extra incentives or look into renting to own.

If you need to sell your house so badly that you don’t even care if you make money on the sale, then an easy way to get your house to move is to lower the selling price to below market value. However, you are probably competing with plenty of neighbors who are trying to sell their homes quickly as well. If your house is comparable to those homes but more reasonably priced, you will have more potential buyers knocking on your door. While reducing your price means less of a profit for you, this option is the way to go if you need to move sooner rather than later.

Reducing the sales price of a home might not be the answer for all homeowners. If you bought your house at an inflated price during the last housing boom, if you reduce your house price to a more reasonable level, you will most likely take quite a hefty loss on the sale. If you already have purchased another property and can’t afford to pay the two mortgages at the same time, renting your current home out is one option that you can pursue. Many homeowners are choosing to have renters move into their homes rather than selling. You might even choose to make your house one of those easy home rent to own properties. This means that you can give your renters the option to own their own after renting from you for a while. This is a great option for those who can’t sell their home and are ready to move into their new one.

If you have many potential buyers knocking on your doors, you might just need to give yourself a new competitive edge. Most people take the refrigerator with them when they move out, but you could consider throwing the fridge in with their purchase. Your easy home rentals option might be a good one, but if you can sell your house simply by including an appliance, then you should jump on the chance.