Curb Appeal

The ten ways to make your home more desirable to buyers.  Curbside Appeal will draw them in.

Front door decorated with simple Fall Leaves- curbside appeal

Fresh Coat of Paint and a Little Handmade whimsy. This Fall decoration on an ordinary Tract Door in an Orange County Condominium complex says "welcome." The owners collected leaves, tied with twine and hung above.

urns at garden entrance

Art is in the eye of the beholder but what you are looking for as a homeowner is - How will a buyer see my entrance from the curb? Symmetry works with these urns in Laguna Beach. The balance and repetition works nicely with the glossy painted black gate. You don't need to be a professional landscape architect or designer to use repetition to appear well put together.

fun crates recycled

I'm fond of home made and funky. I love this arrangement of birdhouses, wine crates and old windows from Laguna Niguel. The owner took out the broken window panes and attached the chipped wooden frame to mirrors to reflect the yard landscaping.  All the items in the photograph were found for free. The ladder above is hung with heavy twine. Even though all the artifacts are older, the balance again of using two windows framing both sides works well. Also you will notice everything is painted in muted browns and a darker barn red, thus pulling everything together while still saying: unique, homey, and loved

picket fence

House in Ladera Ranch with a gorgeous use of white wisteria and white picket fence. Notice the white bird houses on the fence that lead you to the door.

contrasting colors for curb appeal

Here is another style of picket fence. Isn't this Laguna Beach home just charming? The terra cotta pots with golden flowers lead your eye to want to bring them the newspaper in the mailbox on the left. Owners used broken pieces of concrete and dug a trench about five inches deep, filled with sand and seeded the grass right over the stepping stones. Simple, Cheap and charming front entrance.

roses blooming at the curb

Flowers add excitement if you take care of them. This climbing rose around the mailbox and picket fence are multiple shades of corals and yellow. Roses require trimming after booming and like some fertilizer to keep blooming. Choose a cultivar that blooms more than once a year for the front and that is suitable for your climate.

This trellis entrance is very beautiful.

lush tropicals at the curb

This Laguna Beach home has the most fabulous arrangement of bromeliads, orchids, ferns and exotic plants right at the curb. They have used recycled concrete pieces, found local stone and gravel back filling the walls that act as planters. The loose construction feels relaxed and is barely noticeable among the lush green variety. Don't you want to enter this gate and see the secret garden and tree house?

white gate

At the top of Laguna Beach a homeowner added a gate with a Dutch door. The light sconces are especially well done in this arrangement. For my taste it is a little too cold, needs annuals with reds in pots on both sides.

The cheapest ways to improve the curbside appeal of your home:

1. New Paint

2. Annual Color in pots

3. Scrub and clean hardware, clean windows

4. Trim plants not in balls but in natural lacy shapes to see the house

5. Clean up weeds and much beds to look neat

6. Add some personal touches

7. Use balance and color to create a theme

Being on a budget doesn't mean ugly. Go take pictures of other homes with similar bones to yours. If you have brick façade- find houses that feel good and inviting from the curb with the same brick. If you have clapboards hunt around your neighborhood -Laguna Niguel  and Newport Beach are pretty restrictive about paint palettes, so look to Laguna Beach for more whimsy. You won't need to get a new mortgage to finance these suggestions.

Low Payment Condo Orange County California

10 Mira Mesa Rancho Santa Margarita California
Condominium for Sale $ 539,500.00

 

1750 Square Feet Three Bedrooms 2 3/4 baths
Listing Agent Jared Ricco  (949) 677-2791
Sausalito Tract

Conventional Loan five percent down payment =$ 26975.00

30 Year Fixed Rate mortgages rates are still at amazing lows!

$512,500.00 loan amount    payment principle and interest  $ 2409.96
                                                                     property taxes                     585.00
                                                                     hazard HO6 policy                35.00
                                                                     HOA fee
This low payment is cheaper than renting.

 

 

 

This condo is in the Sausalito tract. It has a lovely community pool.

Laguna Niguel Home For Sale

BEACON HILL SINGLE FAMILY LAGUNA NIGUEL FOR SALE see slide show here link : http://www.flickr.com/photos/40719545@N02/sets/72157633468846230/show/  37 Haverhill, Laguna Niguel, Ca. 92677    New ocean view listing Home For Sale  $850,000 - $899,000 Model perfect 3 bedroom, 2.5 Bath 2000 Square feet,  lot is 5880 square feet. A quiet location at the end of a cul-de-sac . Two community pools, tennis courts, and Malcolm Elementary School a highly desired elementary school in walking distance. A happy house in Orange County!    Everything in this home is remodeled.  Lovely ocean views off the master deck, 5/8" Birch hardwood floors downstairs and new Berber with quality padding upstairs. The kitchen has granite counters with Oggi bullnose finish and Valspar Lacquer Cabinets, 16 gauge commercial quality stainless steel sink and Hans Grohe faucets.   The upstairs bath has new 18" travertine floors and tub surround. Relax in a big Kohler drop tub 62" and new Moen brushed nickel hardware. The Master bath has a new full size tiled area with a seat, new Martin shower enclosure with 1/2" thick glass, a new Kohler toilet, a Crema Marfil counter top with double Kohler sinks and a Moen fixture set in the shower and sinks. The exterior is recently painted with Dunn Edwards Everlast Hickory with DE Swiss Coffee Trim. The entire yard is re-landscaped with flowers and sod.   $880,000 sales price 20% down = $176,000   MORTGAGE TERMS   $704,000 Jumbo 5 year interest only first 3.25% APR 3.31% (rate as of today and rates change several times  a day)   $1906.67 interest only     916.00  property taxes     100.00 fire hazard      136.00  Home Owner Association Fees Subject to qualifying, this is not a rate or loan commitment   30 year Fixed payment   $ 3299. principle and interest         Contact:   Tony English English Realty(800) 723-8676 (949) 203-8721

 

English Realty | Tony English, Broker #01363194  | Laguna Niguel California   | 92677

 

High Priced Mortgage Rule

High cost mortgage loans

Buzzards in Lending Tree

 

Office of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) issued the “final rule” to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act's amendments to the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act with the intention that this would protect consumers from getting bad loans. The final rule expanded the types of mortgage loans that are subject to the protections of the Home Ownership and Equity Protections Act of 1994 (HOEPA).  Consumers who want to move ahead with a high cost mortgages receive information about homeownership counseling providers.

Certain practices were banned with the intention to help borrowers who 1. Didn’t read the disclosures they signed or 2. Couldn’t find a better deal. The rules were supposed to help the individual consumer but in some circumstances the rule harms them. This is exampled in loans under $10000, loans with layered pricing adds and certain high loan to value HARP and HomePath products.

High cost mortgage rules limited the following situations:

• Balloon payments were banned, unless they are for the seasonal or irregular income of the borrower, or part of a short-term bridge loan, or they are made by creditors meeting specified criteria, including operating predominantly in rural or underserved areas.
• Creditors are prohibited from charging prepayment penalties
• Late fees are restricted to 4% of the payment that is past due, fees for providing payoff statements are restricted, and fees for loan modification or payment deferral are banned.
• Creditors originating HELOCs are required to assess consumers' ability to repay.
• (Creditors originating high-cost, closed-end credit transactions are required to assess consumers' ability to repay under 2013 Ability-to-repay. Ability to repay by either tax returns, w-2 forms, or bank deposits?
• Mortgage brokers are prohibited from recommending a consume default on a loan to be refinanced by a high-cost mortgage.
• Before making a high-cost mortgage, creditors are required to obtain confirmation from a federally certified or approved homeownership counselor that the consumer has received counseling on the advisability of the mortgage.

HIGH PRICED MORTGAGE LOANS ARE NOT Saleable to the GSE’s so  a lender who finds the spread exceeds 1.5 percent over the Average Prime Offer Rate must either reduce the costs or eat the loan.

WHAT is the HPML TEST?  DODD FRANK are two guys who don't understand consumers or mortgage banking.

If a current loan scenario is unsellable because it failed the federal HPML test, the lender is stuck. The APR exceeds comparable Average Prime Offer Rate by 1.5% or more (or 2.5 for Super Jumbo).

Based on the date the interest rate is set (locked or re-locked), lenders must compare their APR with the Fed’s APOR index. The loan will be considered a higher-priced mortgage loan if the APR exceeds the APOR index by:

–        1.5 or more percentage points on First Liens

–        2.5 or more percentage points on Jumbo First Liens

–        3.5 or more percentage points on Subordinate Liens

There are several things that may cause a loan interest rate to go above the

APOR:

 Lower loan amounts – the impact of fees on the APR increases as the loan

amount decreases. A $100,000 loan is more likely to trigger an HPML than

a $300,000 loan. Unfortunately there are fixed costs that are the same for a $300000.

mortgage or a $80000. loan

Mortgage insurance on loans over 100% LTV – The loan may have MI over

a longer period of time because the LTV is in excess of 100% (common in

HARP loans).

 Shorter loan terms – APR fees are averaged over the term of a loan, so the

shorter the term the higher the fee (a 20 year loan will have a higher APR

than a 30 year loan).

Certain products such as HOME PATH that has high loan to value and no mortgage insurance

Borrowers who apply for smaller loans with layered risks will hav difficulty finding a lender. For example a borrower with lower FICO score wants to purchase a condo in Laguna Woods as an investment. There are so many pricing adds, that no rate can accommodate the request. Catch 22.