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Archive for the 'Market News' Category
Star Real Estate’s Donna Horn Brings Snow to Surf City’s Seagate
Donna Horn
While coastal Orange County enjoyed a balmy, sunny Saturday before Super Bowl XLVI, tons of snow fell at the Surf City community of Seagate, just 2 miles from the coast in Huntington Beach. Hundreds of residents showed up with inner-tubes, saucers, mittens and boots for an afternoon of sliding and snowballs in the neighborhood’s central park and greenbelt.
Donna Horn, a 13-year veteran Realtor with Star Real Estate, sponsored the event which included 5 tons of snow for a toddler play area in addition to the 35 tons groomed for four runs on the park’s hillside. Thirty gallons of cocoa and water, along with plenty of cookies, kept the crowd energized all day.
A resident of Seagate herself, Donna has enjoyed hosting community events in this neighborhood for 13 years. It’s a way for neighbors to get together for some fun with family and friends. Every season has a reason for an event in the beautiful community park, a 13-acre open space with a playground, a basketball court and protected wetlands. The 4-acre Peter Green Park also includes a tot lot and basketball, volleyball and tennis courts.
In the spring, children look forward to finding thousands of eggs hidden in the park for the annual Seagate Easter egg hunt. Summer events have included Big-Screen outdoor movies, picnics and Olympic competitions. It’s not fall without a “Halloweenie roast.” And winter holidays mean a visit from Santa with sleigh rides, the Academy for the Performing Arts holiday choir, or this year’s “day in the snow” — without the drive to the mountains!
Seagate is bordered by Goldenwest Street, Ellis Avenue, Main Street and Garfield Avenue. It includes the communities of Promenade, Cape Ann, Greystone Keys, Crystalaire, Bel Air and Sherwood. These neighborhoods offer a variety of home styles and floorplans ranging from 1,250 to 3,186 square feet.
If you’re considering coastal Orange County for your next home or investment, call Donna, the area’s real estate specialist, at 714-746-1670. Donna began her real estate career in 1999 and was an immediate Top Producer at Star Real Estate, and has been every year since. She was again honored with special recognition by Orange Coast Magazine in its selection of Orange County “Top Real Estate Agents – Highest in Service & Overall Satisfaction” who provide exceptional service and overall satisfaction. A 34-year Huntington Beach resident, Donna specializes in the Seacliff and Landmark communities. She is an experienced agent of short sales and income properties as well as equity home sales. She would love to show you what the wonderful beach-close communities of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley have to offer. Visit her website http://www.donnahorn.com/. “You will be SOLD on her Service!”
Star Real Estate, one of the largest family owned real estate companies in Southern California, has been providing residential real estate services for more than 34 years. The company has over 325 agents in seven area offices and two affiliated offices in South Orange County. Its agents, experienced in navigating the complex housing market, are continuously trained in all facets of residential real estate, from equity sales to foreclosures and short sale properties.
The company’s goal is to bring its clients the total property-ownership experience, all under one roof — from residential and relocation services to commercial real estate transactions — with the expert assistance of its ancillary services, Terra Mortgage and Advantage One Escrow.
To learn about Star Real Estate and its innovative programs and extended training for Realtors, call Diane van der Goes at (714) 378-3496 for a confidential interview. Catch her on Twitter @StarREInOC. Follow Star and the latest trends in real estate at www.facebook.com/StarRealEstate, or visit http://www.StarRealEstate.com.
Star Real Estate moves from Mortgage Broker to Mortgage Banker.
Star Real Estate is constantly evolving and, for over 25 years, Star’s ancillary divisions – Terra Mortgage and Advantage One Escrow – have provided services that have gone beyond the exchange of real estate. In August of this year, the company reached another milestone. Terra Mortgage has now gone from mortgage broker to mortgage banker and is now a direct lender.
“As a direct lender, we now have full authority over what we can offer the consumer in terms of lending,” said Kevin Piel, executive vice president of Terra Mortgage. “The homebuyer can now choose to go from A to Z with us. This benefits buyers because they can get lower rates when their loans are funded through us. In my 23 years in the industry, this is the best option I have seen for the consumer,” Piel said.
In this one-stop shopping approach, the entire home-buying process becomes streamlined. The team at Terra Mortgage can verify all information provided and pre-approve the buyer for a specific loan amount. This differs from the typical prequalification process, which is based on unverified information. During a typical transaction, the pre-qualified homebuyer may go through a broker who will then act as a third party in the home-buying process. A pre-approval by Terra Mortgage eliminates the extra time it would then take for a homebuyer’s file to go through different channels for verification.
“In a time when foreclosures are being snapped up fast, our clients will now have the advantage of being able to move faster by becoming pre-approved through our process of verification.” Piel said.
As a result, a homebuyer who works with a Star Real Estate agent can get an edge over other buyers interested in the same home. To expedite the process, Terra Mortgage’s team will process the loan, underwrite the loan, and approve the loan. They will draw up the loan documents and fund the loan, all under the same roof.
“When a buyer chooses to work through us to obtain a loan, their file never leaves our hands. This results in a faster closing, giving our clients a tremendous advantage. This allows all of us to keep one step ahead of competitors,” Piel said.
Terra Mortgage knows what it takes to be a successful lender. Take advantage of the company’s experience and flexibility and overcome the potential roadblocks in obtaining a home loan. Star’s dedicated mortgage professionals are committed to making the entire process, from application to funding, as fast and as smooth as possible.
Star Real Estate, one of the largest family owned real estate companies in Southern California has been providing residential real estate services in southern California for more than 34 years. The company has over 325 agents in seven area offices and two affiliated offices in South Orange County. The company leads the way in cutting-edge technology. Its agents, experienced in navigating the complex housing market, are continuously trained in all facets of residential real estate, from equity sales to foreclosures and short sale properties.
To find out more about Terra Mortgage programs, call 714-500-5151. For more information about Star Real Estate, visit http://www.starrealestate.com, or call 1-888-887-1897 or your Star Real Estate associate to begin the new real estate experience – the “all about you” experience.
Happy Holidays from our CEO, Frank!
I want to offer my warmest wishes to you and your family for this holiday season and as always let you know how humbled and so very grateful I am that you are a member of the Star family. Whether involved at Star, Terra Mortgage or Advantage One Escrow, I really do appreciate each and every one of you.
In reflecting back on this year, I think most of us will agree that 2010 was one of the most challenging years on record of our business. But we made it through and even though we aren’t expecting a booming turnaround next year, I do believe, and media reports seem to concur, that we have weathered the worst. As we move into the New Year, just remember, “Heaven” rhymes with 2011 and that’s a good sign.
More than ever, this year teamwork has been the key. All of you, whether a Realtor, a member of Management or Staff, have, working as a team, achieved significant successes in 2010 for which I am very proud. We celebrated 33 years in business and our market share is strong and holding steady. We launched our new website, added new technology and not only renewed our contract with DocuSign and Realtor.com but formed a partnership with Trulia.com so that our listings have a higher web visibility. Our presence on Twitter and Facebook has grown tremendously and as a result we have captured more “Google Juice”. And all offices now have new copiers, color printers, and scanners.
Throughout the year, we had excellent educational and motivational presentations by talented people like Tom Ferry, Vince MacIssac, Alan Dalton and Bruce Miller. Our own Diane and James “The Computer Man” held ongoing classes for the purpose of improving our computer and social media skills. Furthermore, we began our One on One Coaching Program with Myna McCutheon, which has been a real success.
We were also involved in the community on many levels… from shredding events and neighborhood garage sales to Santa Day and collecting toys for Orangewood Children’s Home. Those were all wonderful community contributions and I’m proud we were a part of them. However, I must say my favorite was our Project Flamingo Fundraiser. Susan G. Komen is a great cause and the women who walked in the 3-day walk are incredible. We were able to raise a lot of money and community awareness, but I also had a lot of fun flocking your front yards with pink flamingos!
Although the world is changing around us at a very fast pace, there are some very basic truths that we can live by that will greatly improve our chances for success in 2011 and the future. First and foremost is having a positive attitude, followed by delivering fabulous service and lastly engaging in teamwork. Henry Ford said it best, “a business absolutely devoted to ‘Service’ will have only one worry about profits… they will be embarrassingly large. Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
In closing I want to sincerely thank each one of you for being part of our team. My words are hopelessly inadequate when expressing my feelings of how proud I am to be associated with each of you. Simply said, I would not want to work with any other group of people.
I wish you Good Health, Great Happiness and Much Prosperity in 2011.
Frank
Mortgage Interest Deduction Vital to Housing Market
Article From HouseLogic.com
By: Dona DeZube
Published: October 29, 2010
The home mortgage interest deduction saves the average home owner thousands of dollars at tax time, supports home values at the community level, and helps American home buyers get into their first house.
Having a tax deduction for mortgage interest makes owning a home more affordable because the deduction lowers the amount of tax you pay. U.S. Census data shows 37% of home owners with mortgages spend more than 30% of their income for housing. Paying less for housing means having more disposable income for savings and other household expenses.
Increasing housing affordability increases the number of renters who can afford to buy a home of their own responsibly; increasing the number of home buyers helps keep home prices stable for those who already own homes by ensuring a steady stream of new buyers.
How the deduction works
In general, any home owners who pay U.S. taxes and who itemize their taxes can deduct mortgage interest attributable to primary residence and second-home debt totaling $1 million, and interest paid on home equity debt of as much as $100,000.
Mortgage interest deduction threatened
In recent years, the mortgage interest deduction has come under attack. Among the suggestions for cutting it back to deal with the deficit:
• Reduce the mortgage interest deduction for upper-income taxpayers-they’d only receive 28 cents on the dollar, even if they’re in a 33% or 35% tax bracket and can now deduct 33 or 35 cents on the dollar. ?
• Reduce the $1 million cap by $100,000 a year.
• Change the mortgage interest deduction to a 15% tax credit.
In the past, members of Congress have suggested other mechanisms for eliminating or limiting the mortgage interest deduction. None of those has ever gained traction.
Arguments against mortgage interest deduction
Arguments against the mortgage interest deduction center on who benefits and whether the government should support home ownership. They say:
• It primarily helps the wealthy, since high-income taxpayers are more likely to itemize their deductions and to own homes. About 90% of taxpayers earning more than $100,000 itemize, while only 18% of those earning less than $50,000 follow suit, the Tax Foundation estimates.
• Taxpayers who don’t itemize deductions get to use the “standard deduction.” They do that because it gives them a bigger tax break than itemizing to use the mortgage interest deduction.
• Ending or reducing the mortgage interest deduction would create a deep source of money for reducing the budget deficit.
• In the aftermath of the mortgage crisis, the U.S. needs to rethink its favored tax treatment of home ownership.
Arguments for mortgage interest deduction
Those who favor keeping the mortgage interest deduction say it helps middle-income families, who already pay nearly all U.S. income taxes. Plus, getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction would hurt home prices.
• More than 60% of the families who claim the mortgage interest deduction have household incomes between $60,000 and $200,000, estimates the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
• A disproportionate number of those high-income taxpayers live in areas where housing is especially expensive, such as California and New York. In high-cost housing markets, lowering the $1 million cap would add a tax burden on families who already must pay high prices for homes.
• Home owners already pay 80% to 90% of the income tax in our country, and among those who claim the mortgage interest deduction, almost two-thirds are middle-income earners, says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. So home owners, who are the pillars of federal income tax revenue, would have to shoulder a bigger tax burden.
• Home values could fall 15%, says Yun, as buyers discount the value of the mortgage interest deduction in their purchase offers.
• It’s faulty to link the mortgage meltdown to the country’s support for home ownership. The meltdown is rooted in lax underwriting and faulty ratings by credit rating agencies of the securities backed by the mortgage, says Yun.
Protecting the deduction promotes housing. In supporting the mortgage interest deduction, you help ensure that tomorrow’s families can follow the same path to home ownership that so many of us have already traveled.
Dona DeZube, HouseLogic’s News Editor, has been writing about real estate for over two decades. She lives in a suburban Baltimore 1970s rancher on a 3-acre lot shared with possums, raccoons, foxes, a herd of deer, and her blue-tick hound.
Home Prices Plateau
Median home prices seem to be plateauing this month, after rising during the summer months. Interest rates are still incredibly low. Let us know how we can help you find your dream home or investment property today!