Featured Townhome in Poway, CA

This townhome is located in the city of Poway, CA; also known as the City in the Country!  An added bonus for this home is the ability to expand the back fence with HOA approval to create a beautiful yard.  Where else can you get a 4 bedroom townhome, with an inside laundry, a 2 car garage and yard?  This home has it all!

Mortgage Rates are Great, IF You Qualify

By TOM LAURICELLA

With interest rates near rock bottom and home prices down, this ought to be a great time to buy a home. But for most people, it's a lousy time to get a mortgage.
Years after the collapse of the real-estate market and resulting financial crisis, it takes nearly pristine credit scores and hefty down payments to get the best rates.

Andy Rash

"Since 2009, credit has become a lot tighter," says Greg Reiter, who follows mortgage-backed bonds at RBS Global Banking & Markets.

Top 5 DIY Staging Tips

If you are preparing to put your home on the market this summer, it’s important to realize that every prospective home buyer that comes through your doors will view your home differently. And with today’s highly competitive market, it’s critical to include effective staging as part of the marketing of your home. The objective is to make sure your home stands out and garners the broadest appeal possible. An experienced real estate agent can help you select a home stager to work with, or you can work with your agent to stage the home yourself. Here are five great tips to get you started:

10 Tips to Survive the Housing Downturn

The economy is starting to improve but the housing market has yet to show any significant signs of recovery, which has some homeowners nervous.  Home prices are hovering near their recession lows, hit in April 2009, according to the latest Case-Shiller home-price report.  It's a buyer's market and by many projections, it won't shift to a seller's market for a good year or more.  So how do homeowners, who have most of their equity in depressed real estate, slog through until it becomes a seller's market?  Here are 10 tips from real estate moguls who have survived several housing-market downturns.

Answers to 5 Common Questions About Default

Unfortunately, in today's slowly recovering economy, many homeowners continue to find themselves in financial trouble. There are many options available to distressed homeowners -- unfortunately, most people are not aware of what these options are. To help clarify confusion and shed light on optimal homeowner options, real estate finance expert Marian Anthony, answers five questions distressed homeowners often have:

Easy Energy-Saving Ideas for Spring

Spring is finally upon us, which means things will be heating up in no time...including your electric bill.  In today's economy, it's important to reduce expenses wherever possible, especially those costs related to your home. I have seen how seemingly small steps in home maintenance can yield big results in terms of savings. Whenever working with clients, therefore, I make sure to point out the various ways they can save energy. Not only is it good for the environment, it's good for your household budget as well. Here are some great energy-saving ideas to look at this spring:

How to Qualify for a Mortgage in Today's Credit Crunch

There may have never been a better time to buy a home than right now. Earlier this month, interest rates dropped again -- the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.79% from 4.93%, according to loanrateupdate.com -- and there is still plenty of inventory, keeping home prices relatively low in our area. Those positive factors, however, are often offset by tighter lending standards, causing many to shy away from applying for a mortgage. As a Member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, however, I have learned that it really boils down to four main factors that will impact a lender's decision:

• Your ability to make a downpayment - usually between 3% and 20% of the purchase price -- of course, the larger the downpayment, the better your odds of securing the mortgage.
• Two years of steady employment - at the same job or in the same field.
• Good (but not necessarily perfect) credit score - these days, around 660 may do it.
• Monthly income between two and three times the estimated monthly mortgage payment.

I have had many clients, however, who have qualified for a mortgage without completely meeting the above criteria ... so don't rule yourself out too soon. There are several other steps you can take to secure a mortgage, such as these ideas from BusinessWeek: