Who says you can’t buy a home these days!?!?!

Lenders are lending & there are some great deals out there!

Faithful readers of “Off the 23” have presumably noticed that we’ve been on something of a summer hiatus. We wish we could report that we’ve been sunning by the sea. Truth be told, we’ve been working hard!

Reports to the contrary, sellers are selling their homes, buyers are buying those homes and lenders are still lending money to make those deals happen – and there are deals out there!

This home could be yours!

Take this one! It’s a lovely home (yes, we realtors do use phrases like “lovely”) in Simi Valley, right across from the Simi Valley Post Office. Gated community, low HOA, three bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms, two-car garage with lots of storage. A perfect starter home! Click here for a sneak peek! Our lender can get a buyer into that home for under $12,000!

No, we’re not miracle workers, although we often think our lender – Scott Gilman at Prospect Mortgage – is. Actually, it’s simply a matter of knowing what kind of mortgages are out there. In this case, it’s an FHA loan. Of course the next question is, what’s an FHA loan?

First, a history lesson! During the 1930s Great Depression, ours was a nation of renters. With banks in trouble, it typically took a 50 percent down payment to buy a home and most home mortgages were only short-term, as little as three to five years. Construction workers were out of business and the government wanted to stimulate the housing market. (Sound familiar?)

So, Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in 1934 to encourage home ownership. To this day, the FHA, which essentially works as a mortgage insurer, gives lenders more flexibility when deciding who should get a loan.

“The beauty of the FHA loan,” Scott tells “Off the 23,” “is that it allows buyers to put down as little as 3.5 percent on a home. It’s easier to qualify for the loan – we can be more flexible with credit scores – and the only requirement is that the buyer must occupy the home. It is a wonderful, wonderful loan!”

And, just in case you were interested, the FHA operates entirely on self-generated income.

If you want more information about FHA loans, please feel free to call Scott on his direct line, 805-367-3446, or his cell phone, 818-438-7719. And, if you know anyone who wants to buy a great starter home, please call the Robin Hagey at 805-338-1700 or Robin Martino at 818-519-2111.

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As you know, we do love to talk about real estate but, even more important, we love to talk about what’s happening “Off the 23.” If you have an event or know of something or someone who you think would be interesting to our community, please feel free to contact us at therobins@therobinteam.com.

Don’t Sell Short Sales Short

If you’re under water, a short sale could keep you from drowning

In recent days a number people have asked me about short sales and – with all the information out there to help people who

Thousand Oaks Short Sale

are having trouble making their mortgage payments – I was surprised by some of their questions.

So, here is The Robin Team’s quick primer on why a short sale can be a lifesaver.

First, some background.

While real estate Off the 23 is not in as dire straits as it is in other parts of the country, everyone seems to know someone whose home is “under water” – the homeowner owes the lender more than the house is worth.

An informal search of homes for sale Off the 23 shows some 400 are short sales or foreclosures – ranging from a $99,000 condo in Simi Valley to an Agoura Hills home for $1,665,000.

There are a couple of options for homeowners who are under water – the most common are foreclosures or short sales. In a foreclosure, the homeowner simply walks away from the house, believing they’re making a quick clean break. With a short sale, the homeowner works with the bank to sell the house for the best possible price. It will be “short” of what the homeowner owns and it can be a cumbersome process.

So, why – in most cases – does a short sale make more sense than foreclosure? Here, according to the Distressed Property Institute (DPI), are a couple of excellent reasons:

Your credit score. A foreclosure will lower your score from 250 to more than 300 points and it will stay on your record for three years. With a short sale, your score will drop 50 points and stay on your record 12 to 18 months.

Your credit history. A foreclosure becomes part of your permanent public record and stays on your credit history for 10 or more years. A short sale is not reported on your credit history since the loan is typically recorded as “paid in full, settled.”

Future mortgages. Loan applications require you to answer the question, “Have you had property foreclosed upon or given title or deed in lieu thereof (love the legalese!) in the past seven years?” If you answer “yes,” as you must with a foreclosure, you may have to accept a higher interest rate. Since you are not required to report a short sale, there is no negative affect on the rate you are offered.

Future employment. Many employers require credit checks; others require security checks. The DPI says, “A foreclosure is one of the most detrimental credit items an applicant can have and in most cases it will challenge employment.” A short sale is not reported on the credit report so it should not affect your job application.

This is a basic explanation of how short sales stack up against foreclosures. If you, or someone you know, is “under water” please feel free to contact us. Just like the owners of the home pictured above did. We’re helping them sell their home, a single-story three-bedroom, two-bath in Thousand Oaks. It’s a short sale but, in the end, the owners will come out on top.

Sterile-ness is just fine & dandy

Sterile & Darn Proud Of It!

OK, I’m over The New Yorker sterile thing. Really. In fact, I’m embracing the whole concept. Sterile must be a good thing, I’ve decided because sterile, methinks, produces amazingly talented kids!

What leads me to this conclusion? A photo spread in another magazine, the less snobby People, which featured Hailee Steinfeld, the Thousand Oaks teenager who survived being raised in a sterile community to be nominated for an Academy Award, at the ripe ol’ age of 14, for her role in the movie “True Grit.” Hailee allowed the magazine to follow her while she was getting ready for the Oscars to benefit an Off the 23 charity – the National Charity League, Conejo Valley Chapter.

Which leads me to other talented youngsters who have thrived in their sterile environment. A good friend and her daughter, Amanda Feinberg, were extremely active in the Charity League while Amanda was in high school. Amanda and my daughter were on the competition cheer team at Westlake High School together almost four years ago. (First rule of rubbing elbows with the future famous is to explain the connection!)

Who knew that the sweet little girl who would flip and cartwheel her way through competitions would produce extraordinarily detailed pictures that prompted a UCLA publication to call her the “Salvador Dali” of her generation? Click here to read all about it. Check out www.amandafeinberg.com to see more of her pictures.

Then there’s the tow-headed boy who used to live across the street from us in our first home in Thousand Oaks. Nelson Wells and my son, Justin, were joined at the hip for years. When I saw the book Nelson just illustrated, “Around the World With Lilup,” I was blown away by his talent. “Mom,” Justin admonished me, “Don’t you remember, Nelson was always drawing something.” I confess I didn’t remember (not that that should be a shock!). 

In our brave new technology world, the only way to read Lilup is with an iPad but it is surely worth the price of about $3. Lilup is an interactive bedtime story that teaches kids to read. Click here for more info.

Of course, Amanda and Nelson aren’t the only talented kids who live Off the 23, in Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Simi Valley. We’ve got singers, dancers, musicians and actors – not to mention members of the math teams and debate teams, science clubs and Spanish clubs. Tell us about the extraordinary kids living in your neighborhood!

So, not only am I over the sterile thing, I’ve embraced it. Thanks to The New Yorker, The Robin Team has a new slogan: “Off the 23! Sterile and darn proud of it!”

Moorpark Women Help Make-A-Wish

It goes without saying that one of the best reasons to live Off the 23 is the many wonderful people who are dedicated to helping others. One of my personal favorites is the Moorpark Women’s Fortnightly Club, which is getting ready for its annual Spring Tea, although this year it will be a spring luncheon.

Proceeds from the luncheon and Silent Auction will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The event takes place at the Moorpark Country Club on May 15, beginning at 11 a.m. Tickets are $35 each.

MWFC is collecting items to be included in its silent auction baskets. The Robin Team is donating a “First Baby, First Home” basket, complete with handmade baby blanket and helpful hints for first-time homebuyers. If you’d like to make a contribution to the MWFC, either by sponsoring a basket or making a monetary donation, please contact them at MPfortnightly@yahoo.com.