Team Reba Real Estate

I’ve been giving blood at Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC) for about 15 years or so now.  While I will admit that I haven’t been giving as much as I used to (1x - 2x per year versus 6x) the change in frequency has mostly come from changes in my own personal circumstances of work location, being out of town more frequently, and general convenience factor.  Factors that I recently provided in the survey PSBC sent out to see how they could improve repeat giving of blood.

Having a strong local blood supply is important and many people do not realize that blood has a shelf life, like any other fresh supply product you can think of - such as fruits and vegetables.  So, to keep the supply full and to get as many types of blood possible the PSBC must constantly work to remind and urge the public to give. 

My own blood type is AB+, which is the 2nd most rare type of blood.  Although AB patients can also receive type O, it’s usually preferred that the same blood type be used for certain medical procedures.  I get contacted regularly via email with reminders to give.  I used to give at a location in Bellevue (on 112th) that was down the street from my old work office at Westmark Electronics.  Then, when I went into software sales and worked remotely from my employer, I went to a location on 105th in Seattle near Hwy 99.  Now that I live in Renton I haven’t found (ok, I need to look) what the closest location is to me.  I keep thinking I’ll look and see if the local hospital (Valley Medical) has a program since they are only about a mile from my house.

Given the blood transfusion my dad needed after my parent’s accident last year it’s been on my mind more than ever.  Give blood, and give often.  There will be many families that will be thankful for your gift of life.

A HUD home is a foreclosed property owned by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In an Effort to reduce it’s inventory of homes, HUD is temporarily offering a $100 down payment to purchase a HUD home for owner-occupants using FHA financing!

Here is some information on the $100 down payment program for purchasing HUD homes:

• Sizable sales allowances that can be used to pay closing costs, make repairs, or pay down the mortgage amount
• Broker bonuses for real estate brokers that close owner-occupant sales
• As an added incentive, HUD can give borrowers up to $5,500 at closing for repairs to the property.

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Countrywide provides FHA financing for these sales, subject to the terms of the contract executed by HUD.

 Here is a link to search current HUD homes for sale in the area.  There are not too many HUD properties in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties yet… but that could change: 

http://www.hud.gov/homes/index.cfm
As with any government program, there is a bit of red tape and a few hurdles to jump over.  For more information, give me a call. 

 Happy Hunting!

Up until the last 6 months, I was the Block Watch captain for my little neighborhood in Phinney Ridge.  One of the benefits of being in contact with so many neighbors was the involvement in the annual Seattle Night Out which usually happens in early August - for 2008 it’s on Tuesday, August 5th. 

Most neighbors thought the party was just a big block party and didn’t always realize that it’s tied into a crime prevention.  I got my usual email providing me the link to register our block.  For neighbors that want to throw their block party they must register their street with the city so they know who is going to be blocking off their roadway.  One of the fun things that also happens at these events, at least in some neighborhoods, is that the local fire department and police department employees will get out to meet the folks that they help protect.  It’s pretty cool.

If you want to invite your neighbors you can use this invitiation that the city has prepared.  It’s a great way to get to know the people in your neighborhood, which helps to make a safer environment for everyone because when you know people it’s hard to turn your back when you see something bad happening to them. Given the sad things we read in the paper or see on the news on a daily basis, it’s always nice when there is an event that can help create a positive effect for the beautiful place where we live, work and play.

A loan officer I know at HomeStreet Bank recently sent out a message regarding an FHA loan program that is for WA residents who may have children going to school at one of the universities/colleges in our state.  I’ll paste in below the parameters he provided that are required to meet to qualify.

I’m not sure if this is a program that is available outside of WA State so if you’re reading this blog from another area of the country you’ll want to check with your local lending resources.

Parents can help their children enrolled in college to buy a home with an

FHA 3 % down loan.    Here are the details:

1.  The child must be enrolled in college, and use the property as his/her residence.

2.  The property must be within a reasonable distance to the college.

3.  The child does not need to have income or a credit score.

4.  The parent(s) must qualify for the payment, plus their own debts, and go on title.

5.  It doesn’t have to be a condo; single family houses are eligible too.

6.  The new FHA loan limit of $567,500 applies!

My guess is that since it is an FHA loan that it can be available through a number of lenders, so you’ll want to ask your contact if they have access to this loan.  I haven’t checked to see how competitive the rates are to other programs, but with only a 3% downpayment opportunity - and most lenders are requiring more down payment right now - it’s a way for many people to still buy in some of our higher priced markets without having to break the bank for a down payment and college costs at the same time.

Since the parent and child are on the title together you should check into any estate and financial planning issues that this may bring up.

This is a composite account of many cases we have worked on over the years.  The names and events have been changed to avoid disclosing confidential client information.

The out of state vacation home can be a wonderful family retreat – generating years of happy memories for your family.  Dennis and Margaret adore their waterfront home on Maui and own it in both their names.  Sam and Betty love the desert and own a home in Tucson through their limited liability company (LLC).  Robert and Alice are looking to buy a vacation home in British Columbia - close to Robert’s family.

However, things that can be so wonderful during life can cause some real headaches at death, unless you plan ahead.  When Dennis or Margaret dies, it will be necessary to open a probate in Hawaii to transfer title to the survivor of them and if the survivor does not take corrective action, another probate in Hawaii will be needed at his or her death.  A Probate in Hawaii often costs eight to ten times more than one in Washington.  Those extra fees can be avoided by transferring title to a revocable trust.

Sam and Betty’s interests in their LLC will not be subject to Arizona probate, but may be subject to the Washington estate tax.  Depending on the value of their estate, their heirs may unnecessarily pay state estate tax on the property.  At present, Arizona does not have an estate tax so if Sam and Betty transferred title from their LLC to a revocable trust, they would still avoid the Arizona probate system and would also avoid the Washington state estate tax.

Robert and Alice need to be cautious of the Canadian tax system.  Canada does not have an estate tax, but its income tax applies to many transfers that are tax-free in the U.S.  For example, transfers at death are subject to income tax in Canada.  Moreover, the Canadian real estate excise tax applies to a transfer by gift, which is not the case in Washington.  A combination of a Canadian revocable trust and a Washington LLC will allow Robert and Alice to avoid the Canadian probate and income tax systems at their deaths.

Consult with your attorney before buying real estate outside of Washington – do not tarnish years of happy memories for your family by failing to plan properly for your vacation property.

We believe estate planning is about people; let us know if we can be
of service to you or those you care about.

For assistance, questions, comments or to be added to our mailing list, please contact Timothy C. Burkart, Garvey Schubert Barer, 1191 2nd Avenue, Suite 1800, Seattle, WA 98101-2939, tburkart@gsblaw.com, (206) 816-1467

A new series of laws are coming into effect on June 12th in Washington State and some are sure to affect the loan originators, agents, buyers and sellers.  Read the full text below that came from the Washington Association of Realtors recent Friday Facts, Legal Q&A column, written by Annie Fitzsimmons.

I’m happy to see things like fraud for lying about the loan being for an owner occupied purchase when an investor is actually buying to rent the place or flip it.  Team Reba has walked away from a lot of business over the past many years when we’ve heard the plans a prospective client would share with us regarding their loan strategy.  I’ve actually said to several people that my business, career, and reputation isn’t worth the extra $5,000 or whatever else they’d make in interest savings.  It’s actually been astounding to learn how many people didn’t even realize that doing this was mortgage fraud and a felony. 

About 3-6 months ago when I was speaking with a reporter on a different topic of real estate we somehow got diverted into a discussion about this.  She was shocked when I shared with her the stories I had about walking away from clients because of this issue.  At the time she thought about turning that over to an investigative segment of their news office but I never heard back from her about it.  Odd to see it turning up in the legislative session, but not surprising given the number of folks who did this when buying property over the past many years.

I have to say from an agent liability standpoint some of the language is a little scary because while agents are often involved in our client’s financing, there are many buyers that are reluctant to get agents involved in financing issues for fear of feeling pushed or thinking that their agent will try to oversell them if they know the full level of their buying capacity.  To these buyers I say, if you don’t trust your agent on this issue, you’re with the wrong agent.  These kinds of topics should be discussed up front and the buyer should feel confident that the agent is looking within a range of prices that are comfortable for the client, no matter what the actual pre-approval cap is set at.

Enjoy Annie’s article below!

Criminal Sanctions for Mortgage FraudMuch like there is no way to be a little bit pregnant, there is no lawful way to engage in just a little bit of mortgage fraud. There is no forgiveness for the “little white lie”. Pursuant to SHB 2770, it is a felony to receive a commission or any other funds paid from the proceeds of a buyer’s loan if the recipient of the commission knows that the borrower engaged in any effort to deceive or mislead the lender. Said differently, if the borrower, seller or any other person makes any misrepresentation to the lender during the lending process, that person is guilty of a felony and any person who receives any of the proceeds of the loan is equally guilty if the recipient of the proceeds had knowledge of the misrepresentation. Many may shrug this off knowing they do not engage or participate in mortgage fraud. That would be a mistake. REALTORS® must be aware of this law and the minimal involvement required to result in significant consequences. Think of all the times that you, as an agent, have been aware of any of the following things occurring in one of your transactions: the list price is increased to match the sale price; a financial issue is handled “outside of escrow”; the seller feigns a carryback intending to destroy the note or deed of trust after closing; a buyer claims to purchase owner-occupied when that is not true; an inflated value is assigned to a property by an appraiser; borrowed down payment funds are labeled as gift funds; or a borrower overstates their income or exaggerates their financial condition. While this list is not exhaustive, it represents a variety of ways that an agent could be guilty of a felony if the agent is aware of any of these circumstances in a transaction and takes a commission from the transaction. Likewise, seller will be guilty of the felony if seller is aware of the deception and accepts the sale proceeds. The felony level associated with this mortgage fraud crime is serious. Conviction under this statute would most likely result in jail time. Be aware of this new law and be diligent about policing the affairs of the transactions in which you are involved.

I’m a member of Active Rain, a national online networking site for agents, and there are all kinds of blogs that talk about staging.  One in particular highlighted not so much the usual work of staging but rather the ability to identify the difference between a historical look and a dated look.  It’s a good topic because I think there are times that a property owner thinks it’s just fine to leave a house in the condition it’s in because it was the original look of the home and it is appropriate for its decade or period in which it was built.  I personally don’t agree.

Here is a great book (via the link) called Interior Desecrations that is a hilarious look back at some of the painful designs of the past.

If you recognize any of your home fixtures or furnishings you might want to consider an update!

A few months ago, I wrote an article on Rain City Guide about agent safety and an alert we’d received in the Seattle area via the MLS about a person who seemed to be preying on female agents.  Today, I received an email from a concerned citizen in the Portland area who seems to have been in contact with the person I wrote about and is now worried that agent and public safety in her area is in jeopardy.

Please read the original post to garner more details.

If you are a local Portland area agent, be careful of this individual. 

If you are a seller, don’t forget that having your home for sale does NOT mean you throw all safety to the wind and allow anyone and everyone into your home.

http://www.nwmls.com/discover/library/announcements/Warnings/Heath_SuspiciousPerson.pdf