10/28/2019

Zillow Flipping Your Home

How long will this venture last for Zillow?
Zillow Offers- Low offers 
Here's what they do:
Target single family homes valued around $400000.
There are a number of tools that can be used to access
the previous appraisal, view square footage, check your payment records
and bingo they start advertising to your Facebook account and yahoo email.
You click on their website and read about the too good to be true deal.
Sell your house without cleaning, don't bother doing repairs, no messy people
marching through your house with muddy feet, no agent bugging you for showings.
All you have to do is click and an "evaluator" sets an appointment to view the interior. 
So easy peasy.
Excepting when there's a delay in the check, and you realize it's not s six percent
discount for commission; but a  twenty percent discount for expenses.
Then you see your home on the market for a huge increase.
Meanwhile your discounted sale appears as a recent sale and reduces the
value of the neighborhood. I guess you can smile on the way to the bank?

Cities where they are active as of October 2019
  • Arizona: Phoenix
  • California: Riverside
  • Colorado: Denver
  • Georgia: Atlanta
  • Nevada: Las Vegas
  • North Carolina: Charlotte, Raleigh
  • Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston

If Zillow is actively buying in your market I want to know how it went. Generally I see them buying a single  family house for $300,000. - giving the seller cash gift cards to move fast and re listing for $400000. with no improvements completed. Please respond in comments if you have experienced this as I am tracking for appraisal issues



10/23/2019

Single Unit Condo FHA Approval Loans


FHA Single unit approval











This month I see several new laws implemented to allow home ownership opportunities. This post is about the FHA new single exception to buy in a condominium complex that is not currently on the approved list.

Several individual condominium units are eligible for FHA mortgage insurance even if the condominium project is not FHA approved. The policy is effective October 15, 2019.

  • Introduces a new single-unit approval process to make it easier for individual condominium units to be eligible for FHA-insured financing;
  • Extends the recertification requirement for approved condominium projects from two to three years;
  • Allows more mixed-use projects to be eligible for FHA insurance.
There are 150,000 condominium projects in the U.S., only 6.5 percent or less than ten thousand are approved to participate in FHA’s old mortgage insurance programs. HUD estimated that 20,000 to 60,000 condominium units may be eligible for FHA-insured financing after October 15th. 2019.

How to get the one-off exception here is what HUD says I summarize:

Individual units may be eligible for Single-Unit Approval if:
  • The individual condominium unit is in a completed project that is not approved;
  • No more than 10 percent of the individual condo units are FHA-insured (properties with 10 or more units) or properties with fewer than 10 units have no more than two (2) FHA-insured units.
Minimum Owner-Occupancy Requirements
Approved condominium projects must be 50 percent owner-occupied.
FHA Insurance Concentration in Condominium Projects
FHA will only insure up to 50 percent of the total number of units in an approved condominium project.
Commercial/Nonresidential Space Limits
FHA will require that the commercial/non-residential space within an approved condominium project not exceed 35 percent of the project’s total floor area.
Think of Single-Unit Approvals as the borderline complexes which “almost” made the approved list or were approved and failed to update HUD.
If you have a listing in a complex this makes the real estate more "sale-able", as buyers with smaller down payments can purchase.
Call me let’s talk about getting your one – off approval for a buyer.
(949) 784- 9699
C G
NMLS 324982

Equal Opportunity Lender

10/22/2019

Rent Cap California


























California home prices continue to rise. Our State has the second highest poverty rate in America and growing homeless populations. A couple recent laws were passed which attempt to fix these problems.
The Rent cap bill, AB 1482 made rent control the law of the land in California this month. Landlords can only raise rent for an existing tenant by 5% after inflation. 

 The cap initially applies to California apartments built before 2004. It exempts single-family homes (unless owned by a corporation) and duplexes where the owner lives in one of the units. Buildings constructed in the last 15 years will be folded in on a rolling date, meaning units built in 2006 will be covered in 2021, units built in 2007 will be covered in 2022…

(The rate of inflation is tied to the Consumer Price Index in each metropolitan area)





New laws for granny flats and Accessory Dwelling Unit Laws also passed in 2019. One law addresses home owners that created accessory dwelling units (ADUs) without the required building permits may have the opportunity to bring their ADUs into compliance. For ADUs that were constructed without building permits, local building officials now have the option to inspect an ADU and bring to code. Cities also have newer building codes allowing for a garage unit or tiny house.

What do these trends mean? Housing is tight in California. Homeowners need to find ways to adapt to waves in housing. Real Estate investors need to be ahead of the trends. What do you think is ahead for real estate? 

Rates are at all time lows.

Caroline Gerardo Barbeau   C G
(949) 784- 9699
NMLS 324982
CMG Financial





10/21/2019

Bolognese RECIPE




NONI’S Recipe 

for Bolognese Sauce







Our Noni was known to smoke a cigarette while stirring and sometimes a few ashes or as she would say, “Secret sauce,” might fall in…
I don't smoke; but there is magic in the vegetables being invisible once you are finished.
She might substitute with what she had or what was fresh, growing up in the Great
Depression makes a cook become a special chef. Sometimes she would put a few fennel seeds. Sometimes she would count the seeds and say a prayer for each grandchild as the five seeds dropped into the sauce. You can substitute and make this vegan by: (change the meat out with 3 cups of a variety of mushrooms, add a half teaspoon of cumin and half teaspoon of paprika - change the chicken stock to veggie and cup of coconut cream instead of the milk) 

Chop, and chop again on the diagonal and vertical to make everything small.
This winter or Autumn delight will be appreciated by children and adults.
Make the sauce on Sunday and serve this delicious luxury up on Tuesday in less than ten minutes to the table.
Put a candle on the table, if you don’t have candle holders, use a bottle, and turn off the cell phones.
Have a glass of Pinot Noir with this. 
This is not gluten free, but you could make with gluten free pasta and be fine.
This is not a low carb, Keto diet item, this is pure comfort food. You could cheat and buy the chopped mire-poix from Trader Joe's (in the cold case and then chop to act like you did all the work – thus omitting the onion, celery,
Carrot) but you will still need to chop everything else. This is a dish that sings love.
Noni is in heaven she would be happy you are making this recipe.

If you have one diner who likes the sauce spicier - offer them red chili flakes.
If you have one "eater" who likes the sauce saltier- offer soy sauce (yes) 
We aim to please; but not a vegan offering, sorry for my daughter who would
have the noodles with a little homemade pesto- that's another recipe.
That's Italian !


INGREDIENTS:
·         1 medium onion, chopped fine, repeat the chopping
·         1 celery stalk, chopped fine
·         1 carrot, no peeled, chopped fine
·         1 green bell pepper chopped fine- Into 1/8 inch pieces
·         3 cloves garlic chopped tiny super tiny
·         3 Tbsp.  olive oil this doesn’t need to be extra virgin
·         ½  lb. ground beef chuck (20% fat),  dry off the blood with paper towels
·         ½ lb. ground pork again dry it off
·         1 tsp Kosher salt
·         3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped
·         1 cup dry white wine – left over wine or cook’s wine but not bad wine
·         cup tomato paste is about a small can
·         two bay leaves
·         Pinch of finely grated nutmeg
·         2 cups (or more) homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
·         1 cup whole milk
·         Cup or two of Great Parmesan cheese at least 2 ounces I’d say 4
·         Sprigs of fresh basil
·         An old can to put the grease in. "Don’t put down the drain," as Noni would say, this too had a second purpose

DIRECTIONS:
Brown the meat in large heavy pot two batches over medium heat for about 6 minutes
Remove meat and put in a bowl.  
The meat is not dry or fully cooked.
Drain grease from the pot.
Put 1 Tbsp. olive oil in same pot with pancetta- brown until crispy. Remove from pot.
Put on top of half cooked meat in bowl. If you prefer to reduce the fat you can put on
A paper towel and dry off some grease before adding.
Don’t drain the pot again
- add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and all the vegetables. Sauté for 4 minutes stirring
Slowly.
Add the meat and pancetta to the vegetable pot, add 1 cup white wine, small can tomato
Paste, bay leaf nutmeg and stock – allow to simmer on lowest setting for two hours with the lid off.
Can also be put into crock pot; but then you have another pot to clean. Stir every 15 minutes so the
Bottom doesn’t brown. Add milk. Simmer on lowest setting for 30 more minutes
It is Vital that you watch the sauce in the last hour- if it gets dry add more chicken stock at 1/8
Cup at a time and stir.
Sauce can be made on Sunday and used on Tuesday – refrigerate in tight sealed container.
Tuesday night:
Get out your favorite pasta. Boil water with salt and pepper then add the dry pasta for
About 3 minutes. Drain in a colander very well.
Grate some wonderful Parmesan cheese – a cup or how much you desire
Find the Bay leaves and throw away. Reheat the sauce for 4 minutes stirring.
Add the drained pasta into the sauce pot.
Serve hot
Put the cheese in a bowl and allow everyone to add cheese as they prefer
Snip a few sprigs of basil on top for color.

TIME TO COOK:
Sauce takes 10 minutes preparation time
 and two and a half hours to cook time
To boil the pasta about four minutes
Reheat another five.
Total three hours to table


Nutritional FACTS:

A 75g portion of spaghetti contains 260 calories (13% of the Reference Intake (RI) for calories) and 0.2g of sugars (less than 1% of the Reference Intake for sugars).
As you can see from the second label, 125g of Bolognese sauce contains 50 calories (3% of the Reference Intake for calories) and 8g of sugars (9% of the Reference Intake for sugars).
The mince contains 190 calories (10% of the Reference Intake for calories) and no sugars.
In total, the meal contains 500 calories (26% of the Reference Intake for calories) and 8.2g of sugars (10% of the Reference Intake for sugars).
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Serving Size: 1 serving
Serving is about a cup

Calories
351.4
Total Fat
22.9 g
Saturated Fat
8.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat
10.3 g
Cholesterol
75.0 mg
Sodium
392.7 mg
Potassium
616.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate
11.7 g
Dietary Fiber
1.9 g
Sugars
3.1 g
Protein
20.8 g

Vitamin A
4.6 %
Vitamin B-12
39.3 %
Vitamin B-6
21.3 %
Vitamin C
15.8 %
Vitamin D
6.4 %
Vitamin E
4.9 %
Calcium
4.2 %
Copper
14.2 %
Folate
7.8 %
Iron
17.7 %
Magnesium
9.5 %
Manganese
17.6 %
Niacin
33.7 %
Pantothenic Acid
10.4 %
Phosphorus
20.1 %
Riboflavin
24.5 %
Selenium
32.0 %
Thiamin
10.0 %
Zinc
28.8 %
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Cuisine: Italian
Author: Caroline Gerardo
Easy