All About Credit!

All About Credit

This class will describe the FICO scoring methods that the bureaus use for credit scoring. We will discuss what score thresholds are best for different loan types. We will discuss how to manipulate your FICO score based on account balances. We will provide handouts and be available for questions. Instructors will be John Easterbrook and Patty Aguon. John is a Real Estate Broker and Mortgage Loan Officer. Patty is a Mortgage Loan Officer and former underwriting manager for a nationwide lender. Sign up now. Also be sure to sign up for the February 8th class on Credit Repair to get the ins and outs of credit score improvement. 

https://homeloanworkshop.org/calendar-of-classes

Please visit the site above to register for your seat!

The Easterbrook Team

806 Bidwell Street Folsom, CA 95630

916.850.6050

EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com 

Difference Between Homeowner's Insurance & Mortgage Insurance

Homeowners insurance covers your property itself. Each insurance plan is different, but it typically protects damage to the structure of your home and your personal belongings, and liability in the case of a lawsuit.  Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) protects your lender if you stop making payments on your loan. It typically comes in the form of a monthly payment that is added to your existing mortgage payment, and is usually required for those who make a down payment of less than 20%. Want to know more? CLICK HERE for article.

Call The Easterbrook Team Today!

916.850.6050

"We Make the Loan Process Easy!"

EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com

Defaults are Down!

Defaults are Down – DTI’s are UP!  

There is great news for potential homeowners – existing homeowners are paying their mortgages on time at a rate higher than any time in 10 years (Article CLICK HERE).  Why?  Lower default rates lead to loosening of underwriting guidelines. Fannie Mae signaled this in late July by increasing their debt to income ratios on conventional loans, citing lower default rates as a major factor (Article CLICK HERE).


The Easterbrook Team is your source for mortgage lending.
916.850.6050  EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com
"We Make the Loan Process Easy!"

China’s mortgage debt bubble raises spectre of 2007 US crisis

Many young homeowners in booming cities owe more than they earn, and some even falsify salary details to get bigger mortgages


Young Chinese like Eli Mai, a sales manager in Guangzhou, and Wendy Wang, an executive in Shenzhen, are borrowing as much money as possible to buy boomtown flats even though they cannot afford the repayments.


To Read The Entire Article Click Here!


The Easterbrook Team is your home loan source.  Call Us Today! 916.850.6050

Neighborhood Envy

Neighborhood Envy?

In a recent survey of 500 Sacramento area homeowners, 50% of them said that they would prefer to live in another neighborhood.  If you’re a Realtor, your antennae just went “bing”!  Of the group that responded, 34% wanted to live in the suburbs and 22% pined for the hip downtown area.  Of those that responded to the survey, 64% believed in the value of homeownership.  Check out the Sacramento Bee article HERE.

Here’s more data about the demand for housing – the Sacramento region has a steady influx of people that are steadily increasing our population.  Experts have also predicted the Sacramento region to be one of the fastest growing areas in California in the coming years (Census data for 2017).

Our take on the Easterbrook Team is that this survey confirms a healthy demand for our real estate market – not only from within our borders from homebuyers upgrading, but also from new blood coming to our area to enjoy everything that we love about the Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer areas.

We truly mean it when we say that “We Make the Loan Process Easy”.  The Easterbrook Team is Patty Aguon, Lorae Oliver, and John Easterbrook.

Who's Buying?

Housing is Back!  Who’s Buying?

 

Realtor.com has an article that claims the US is right on track and has by and large recovered from the housing crisis.  On the sales front, there were more sales of both existing and new homes in 2015. Judging from the data reported through November, new-home sales were up 13% and existing-home sales were up 7%. That higher volume of sales was supported by strong household formation (1.4 million households formed in the past four quarters ending in September) and another year of solid job creation (an average of 210,000 jobs per month through November). Normal, non-distressed sales increased among first-time and repeat buyers, and buyers who were relocating and/or changing jobs. CLICK HERE for ARTICLE

 

Here’s the kicker though: Most of the new households forming are renting households, and that’s where the demand-supply imbalance is most acute. Apartment vacancies are at multiyear lows, and correspondingly, rents are now rising faster than home prices. While it may sound like a real estate agent’s dream to say that it’s cheaper to buy than rent in more than 75% of the country, that sound bite doesn’t bode well for the future.  When renting households are so burdened by making rent payments, they’re less able to save up to own.

            To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

Bye Bye Foreclosure Hell

We’re Finally Out of Foreclosure Hell!

It actually wasn’t all bad, was it?  At least you didn’t have to make appointments to show properties – they were all vacant.  Remember? The problem was that you couldn’t find anyone that could afford or qualify to buy one.  The numbers have been tabulated and foreclosures are at their lowest level since the housing crisis began.  Foreclosures plummeted almost 27%, from 603,028 in 2014 to 476,000 in 2015, according to CoreLogic.  CLICK HERE for ARTICLE

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635

First Impressions!

A Few Suggestions on How to Impress Your Buyers

Here’s the thing…almost everything anyone would want to know about real estate is available for free.

So, what can you do to provide “value” when the buyers that you are working with are searching for properties online? Learning how many times it has sold and for how much? Researching public records? Using Google maps?

The one advantage that YOU have is knowledge of the local market. Guidance that will save your clients money. Helping them understand the positives and negatives when showing them homes. While they may be able to find information pretty much everywhere, the other advantage you have is your ability to “interpret” what it really means in terms they can understand.

Here’s are some suggestions on how to impress your buyers:

• Preview the homes you plan to show them – Contact the listing agent for additional property information that you can provide to them when showing them the home.
• Ask them about their “Home Wish List” – Pay attention to make sure that the homes they want to view meet some of the items on their wish list. Share information about the homes you previewed that don’t meet some of their requirements.
• Pay attention to their “hot buttons” – During the showings, read their body language, pay attention to how they react to certain features of the home. You may discover that some of the items that were on their wish list are not as important as they thought they were.
• Provide detailed information – This includes local MLS stats, average days on the market, price range of sold homes, property taxes of other homes in the neighborhood, etc. This would be like a mini-CMA to help buyers evaluate each home you show them.
• Google is your friend – Search what’s going on in the neighborhood. Check with local government to see if there are any proposed projects or new developments planned. Map out all the homes you plan to show them so they have a good idea of their location to each other.
• Personalize your information – Take the time to put together a packet of information. Include their name and maybe the “wish list” they shared with you.

By providing MORE information than buyers can find on their own, you are showcasing your expertise and setting yourself apart from other agents who just put buyers in their car (or meet them at a home) to view the homes THEY request to see.

 

The Easterbrook Team 916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com

3 Home Improvement Projects that Last a Lifetime

Thinking of remodeling your home? Before you splurge on a finished basement or a new kitchen, make sure you choose a home improvement project that will add to your home's lifetime value. Check out Remodeling Magazine's 2015 Cost vs. Value report for projects with the highest ROI. Three home improvement projects we like:

To Read This Article Please Click Here!

To Discuss Purchasing a Home Give Team Easterbrook a Call or Email!

916-850-6050

easterbrookteam@spmc.com

Ask for John or Patty!

John Easterbrook

NMLS#226555

916-224-7653

Patty Aguon

NMLS#994635

916-833-5063

Mortgage applications jump a solid 4.7% in last week of July

Mortgage applications increased 4.7% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 31, 2015.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 5% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 6% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 3% compared with the previous week and was 23% higher than the same week one year ago.

“Despite recent concerns about the economy, both purchase and refinance applications increased strongly in response to lower interest rates last week,” said Lynn Fisher, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Refinance activity was the highest since May when rates were last at this level. The increase in purchase activity was also notable for this time of year, up 23% relative to a year ago.”

To Read The Complete Article Click Here!

To discuss starting your loan application with The Easterbrook Team, give us a call at    916-850-6050 or email: easterbrookteam@spmc.com

John Easterbrook

NMLS# 226555 

Patty Aguon

NMLS#994635

Why You Shoud Be Your Own Landlord!

Super basements proliferate in Silicon Valley

MENLO PARK, CALIF. 

When architect Roger Kohler began designing them years ago, basements weren't luxury statements.

He would tuck a subterranean guest room here, a mechanical room there. The lighting was only adequate, the ceilings sometimes just 7 feet high. You practically had to stoop while walking through: "It was grim," he said.

But it's dank and dark no more.

"You see the light in here? It's incredible," Kohler said, walking through a client's sunny - yes, sunny - basement, all 2,200 square feet of it, airy with 9 1/2-foot ceilings. There's a fitness center with a row of exercise machines, flat-screen TV and plush armchairs for hanging out. There's a window-lined living room and a spacious bedroom with glass doors opening onto a European-style courtyard that sits at the base of a 12-foot whitewashed retention wall.

Dig, dig, dig.

There was a time when California houses often sat on concrete slabs. Now basements are everywhere as land values skyrocket in Silicon Valley and around the Bay Area.

To Read The Entire Article Please Click Here!

To Discuss Your Financing Options Please Contact The Easterbrook Team

916-850-6050 or email easterbrookteam@spmc.com

Sierra Pacific Mortgage

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article29522818.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article29522818.html#storylink=cpy

Do you have the skills to survive homeownership?

So consider these 47 tips a crash course in homeowner self-confidence. And study them well. 'Cause owning a house means you're going to have questions. Lucky for you, we've got some answers.

Click Here to Read the Article!

To discuss becoming a homeowner in this current market of low interest rates and various available programs to fit your financial needs contact the Easterbrook Team today!

Patty Aguon

NMLS: 994635

PH: 916-833-5063

Patty.Aguon@spmc.com

John Easterbrook

NMLS: 226555

PH: 916-224-7653

John.Easterbrook@spmc.com

Sierra Pacific Mortgage

Bidwell Branch

806 Bidwell Street

Folsom, CA 95630

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