Today's Interest Rates

15 year fixed - 4.5%
30 year fixed - 5.0%
30 year 5/1 ARM - 4.0%
30 year 7/1 ARM - 4.5%
FHA - 5.0%
VA - 5.0%
Cal PERS - 5.375%

All of these rates assume loan amounts $417,000 or less ($368,750 for FHA in Kern County), 720 credit score (640 on FHA), 20% down payment (3 1/2% for FHA) and a 15 day lock on owner occupied properties.

Today's Interest Rates

15 year fixed - 4.75%
30 year fixed - 5.25%
30 year 3/1 ARM - 4.5%
30 year 5/1 ARM - 4.25%
FHA - 5.375%
VA - 5.375%
Cal PERS - 5.75%

All of these rates assume loan amounts $417,000 or less ($368,750 for FHA), 720 credit score (620 on FHA), 20% down payment (3 1/2% for FHA) and a 15 day lock on owner occupied properties.

Number of Bank Owned Foreclosure Listings Is Increasing

Banks are slowly but surely being able to increase the number of foreclosed properties they have for sale. This will quickly counter-act the current problem of many buyers and not enough inventory to fill their demand. However, this may also lead into increased interest rates as well, demanding upon the market. That is why it is IMPORTANT and VITAL to be sure you are completely pre-qualified and ready to go to purchase a home for this market!

Contact Marisa Cornejo today at 661-835-5331 to be all prepared to submit offers on homes for sale!

BRAND NEW: Sign up for Kern County Home Search E-Mail Report!

To provide better service to our clients, we have begun the "Kern County Home Search E-Mail Report." This free e-mail report will be sent to you, at no obligation, to help you fell better informed about the current real estate market in Bakersfield and surrounding Kern County, CA. With topics like: Overview, Loans & Interest Rates, Buyer's Options, Today's Insider Secret and more, this short but full e-mail report is just what you need to set yourself apart from other buyers who are frustrated in this market because their offers are not being accepted. With our discounts (up to $20,000!), experience, qualified lender, and home-buying systems and procedures, you will quickly realize how benefiting it is to use our services! For a quick and free e-mail report, feel free to call us, or you can email me at:

miketowers@cbbakersfield.com

I look forward to your real estate success!

California Homebuyer's Downpayment Assistance Program Is Back

The CHDAP provides a deferred-payment junior loan – up to 3% of the purchase price, or appraised value, whichever is less – to qualified borrowers to be used for their down payment or closing costs. This junior loan may be combined with a CalHFA or non-CalHFA first mortgage loan.

For more information, contact Marisa at 835-5331 or Mike at 706-6922 today!

Right This Minute...

Right this minute, there are 2,484 homes for sale in Kern County. Right now is a terrific time to buy!

Of these, only 596 are bank owned foreclosures. Right now is a terrific time to sell!

Right now, interest rates are hovering around 5%. Right now is a terrific time to get a loan!

If you are upside down in the value of your home and can't afford your monthly payments, you can short sale your home and be positioned to buy again while prices are still low!

Right now is a terrific time!

Scott Recommends: "Home Prices Edge UP In February"

Scott: "With good interest rates, NOW is the time to buy!"

From cnnmoney.com:

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Prices of U.S. single-family homes rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in February from January but were down 6.5% from a year earlier, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Wednesday.
The regulator's monthly home price index for January was revised down to a 1% increase from a previously reported 1.7% gain.
The index is 9.5% below its April 2007 peak.
For the nine Census Divisions, seasonally-adjusted monthly price changes in February ranged from a 1.2% decline in the East North Central Division to a 3.8% increase in the Pacific Division, FHFA said.
The index is calculated using purchase prices of houses financed with mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by mortgage finance sources Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
FHFA regulates Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500), Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.

Scott Recommends: "Yes, You Can Afford A House"

Scott Farley, loan officer at Riverlakes Mortgage, asked me to pass this information along to you. From Diana Olick at CNBC.com:

Yes, You Can Afford A House

I know we’ve been saying over and over that home affordability is soaring to record levels, but a report today from John Burns Real Estate Consulting really puts it into hard numbers, which I thought I’d share.
Let’s start with the big number: the cost of homeownership has fallen 43 percent from the peak in this cycle, with more than half of that due to the decline in home prices and the rest due to lower mortgage rates and increases in income.
Okay, so what does that mean on a real monthly payment basis, because the base sticker price is often less important than the actual amount of the check we’re going to write at the end of every month. How much of your income are you going to spend each month to pay for the house? (Assume that you put 20 percent down on a conforming loan).

In Oakland, CA you will pay 28 percent of your income. That’s down from 84 percent at the peak of the market. I realize, that’s one of the most drastic change scenarios.
But how about here in Washington DC? You are now going to pay 25 percent of your income on your home. That’s down from 53 percent at the end of 2005.
In Nashville you will now pay 22 percent of your income, down from 31 percent in 2007, and in Philadelphia you will now pay 28 percent of your income, down from 36 percent.
Now for my fave: in Los Angeles you will now pay 45 percent of your income on a home. That’s a lot right. Well at the peak of the market, in August 2007, you were paying 102 percent, yup, more than your income, on your home.
So for those of you sitting out there on the fence, waiting for prices to be ever-so-favorable, open your eyes! Prices may fall more, but you’re already in a pretty good place. Historically, a 31 percent debt-to-income ratio on your mortgage was considered fiscally healthy.

Today's Interest Rates

15 year fixed- 4.625%

30 year fixed- 4.875%

FHA- 5.0%

VA- 5.125%

Cal PERS- 5.125%

$417,000 loan or less ($368,750 for FHA), 720 credit score (620 for FHA), 20% down (3.5% for FHA).

Buy A Home For As Little As 3.5% Down!

Conventional loans require 10%, or sometimes 20% down payment in order to purchase a home. Many interested home buyers do not have that amount of money on hand to use as a down payment and decide they need to still rent for several years. NOT SO! You may qualify to purchase a home for as little as 3.5% down! For a $150,000 home purchase, instead of $15,000 down, that would only be a down payment of $5,250!

IN ADDITION, YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR UP TO $8,000 IN A TAX REFUND IF YOU BUY A HOME ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2009!

With great interest rates and amazing deals, this is definitely the time to buy!

Call for more information!

661-616-3601 (office line)