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Spring and all its glory is right around the corner—just take a look at the signs all around you.
This will be a competitive home-buying season—so if you snooze, you may lose out on that four-bedroom colonial you’ve been eyeing. Spring House-Hunting Tip #1: Close That Laptop—and Canvass Old-Fashioned Open Houses These days, using real estate sites to explore your options is par for the course: 90% of people search for listings online during their home-buying process. Kicking off your search online is a good move, but don’t dawdle too long behind the computer screen—inventory is expected to be tight in many major markets, so you literally want to hit the ground running. Plus, what you view online may not necessarily reflect what you see when you pull up to the curb. “Buyers should be careful. The Internet can tell only part of the story—and it’s usually the part the seller wants you to hear. Spring House-Hunting Tip #2: Educate Yourself on Market Values and Trends Buyers need to get up to speed quickly on market values so they know the right decision when it presents itself. The more quickly buyers can educate themselves, the more successful the home search will be. Spring House-Hunting Tip #3: Nab Low Mortgage Rates—Now Another reason not to dawdle too long? You want to take advantage of low interest rates while they last. Mortgage rates are still historically low, allowing buyers to wrap up the most house their money will afford them at payment levels that should be affordable for decades. In fact, interest rates are so low that, in many markets, monthly mortgage payments are less than rent. Most predictions are that the fabulously low interest rates will stay that way through the spring, and that the variety of loan packages available to buyers will continue to multiply. Bottom line: It’s a prime time to jump on a home loan. After all, mortgage rates can be unpredictable—and a decision by the Fed to raise interest rates mid-year, as many economists predict, could cause them to climb. Spring House-Hunting Tip #4: Build Your Home-Buying Dream Team Before You Bid If spring-cleaning season has you in a hyper-organized mood, channel some of that spirit into your house hunting—in order to be a serious frontrunner in a bidding war, you’ll need to have all of your ducks in a row. So not only will you need a savvy real estate agent, but you’ll also want your lender, inspector and attorney at the ready so you can act fast. And let’s not forget completing your mortgage application and having your loan amount determined in advance
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HomeSearch is an online auction site for real estate.
The business practice's used by HomeSearch are highly devious. For example, if you are a homeowner with a NationStar serviced mortgage and you accept an offer to do a short sale on your property, NationStar will not honor that offer. Once your agent submits the short sale offer to NationStar, the servicer will require you to sign an agreement that will force you to participate in their short sale validation program. If you do not sign the agreement, then you short sale will be denied. Once your short sale is denied, then you will no longer have any legal protections from foreclosure. NationStar will be legally cleared to move forward with the foreclosure process at whatever timeline that they choose. Another tactic that NationStar will use is to take advantage of the homeowners distressed situation by verbally telling them that they can qualify for a loan modification when they know that they will not qualify. They will tell the homeowner that in order to participate in the loan modification program, they will have to cancel the short sale. Once the homeowner cancels the short sale, then the legal protections that the homeowner has against foreclosure are waived. A month or so later, the loan modification is denied and NationStar has a clear path to foreclose on the homeowner. NationStar argues that the point of the short sale validation program is to ensure that their investor is getting a fair market value for the short sale. The short sale validation program consists of placing the home on auction using homesearch and in an ideal situation, the fair market value is obtained using the bidding process. Well, this leads to another issue from the buying end. Homesearch uses artificial bids in order to bid the sale price up. When you register as a buyer on homesearch.com then you will have to sign a document called an event agreement. In this event agreement, you will find a section that authorizes the auctioneer to place bids on behalf of the seller. These bids that are placed by the auctioneer are placed with no intention of buying. The only purpose that these bids serve is to deceive the participants of the auction into thinking that there is demand present for the property. Now as a buyer, you might be willing to pay $400,000 for a property but if the highest bid on the property is $300,000 and a fake bid is submitted by the auctioneer for $375,000 and you respond to that bid with a $400,000 bid then you have just been fooled into paying an additional $100,000 for a property. Please take a look at the following links on Zillow and Trulia to see other people's experiences when working with homesearch.com: Trulia Zillow Additional Info Regarding Experiences with Homesearch Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. The town is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Sacramento, and 55 miles (89 km) from San Francisco. As of the 2010 census, Vacaville had a population of 92,428, making it the third largest city in Solano County.
Personal incomeThe median income for a household in the city is $57,667, and the median income for a family is $63,950. Males have a median income of $43,527 versus $31,748 for females. The per capita income for the city is $21,557. 6.1% of the population and 4.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.4% of those under the age of 18 and 4.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. IndustryThere are biotechnology/pharmaceutical facilities operated by Genentech, ALZA Corporation, Kaiser Permanente, and Novartis International AG. On May 14, 2014, ICON Aircraft announced they would consolidate all company functions in a new 140,000-square-foot facility in Vacaville. TourismThe city holds annual Vacaville Fiesta Days, which includes a parade that features the public school marching bands, gymnasts, and even an electric car showcase, among other things. Other sites for tourists include the Vacaville Premium Outlets and the Nut Tree, which is home to a train for children and even a life-size checkerboard, as well as numerous stores and places to eat. Every December, the city holds a Festival of Trees in the ice skating rink and the Tree Lighting Ceremony in which residents of Vacaville gather in downtown to see a 50-foot (15 m) tree illuminate and enjoy festive music played by the Jepson Band, hot chocolate, and horse-drawn carriage rides. GovernmentTwo state prisons are located in Vacaville: California State Prison, Solano and California Medical Facility. The latter prison houses inmates undergoing medical treatments It is predicted that home values in Vacaville, CA will rise 9.6% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Vacaville, CA, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 25.7% lower than the national average. This lower local number could help home values in Vacaville, CA to rise more quickly than other cities. Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is the tenth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is located on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay. Vallejo is named for General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and the neighboring city of Benicia is named for his wife.
Vallejo is home to the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom theme park, the now-defunct Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and the regional office for Region 5 of the United States Forest Service. The colleges and universities in Vallejo are California Maritime Academy, the Vallejo Center campus of Solano Community College, and Touro University California. Ferry service runs from a terminal on Mare Island Strait to San Francisco, through the BayLink division of SolTrans. Vallejo has twice served as the capital of the state of California: once in 1852 and again in 1853, both periods being brief. The State Capitol building burned to the ground in about 1858. The only surviving picture of the capitol was taken about 1858 and appears to show hay being stored on the second floor. and the Vallejo Fire Department requested aid from the Fire Department at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. As there were no bridges at that time, the Mare Island Fire Department had to be ferried across the Napa River, arriving to find only the foundation remaining. This was the first recorded mutual aid response in the state of California. Some of the first Europeans drawn to the Vallejo area were attracted by the sulfur springs; in the year 1902 the area was named Blue Rock Springs. It was also known as White Sulfur Springs and that was the name of the road leading to it from town, today shorted to "Springs Road". According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are the following: Kaiser Permanente, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo City Unified School District, Kaiser Permanente Call Center, Sutter Health Medical Center, City of Vallejo, Sutter Health, Touro University California, United States Forest Service, Petrochem. It is predicted that home values in Vallejo will increase 12.4% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Vallejo, CA, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 76.2% higher than the national average. This higher local number could prevent home values in Vallejo, CA from rising quicker than other cities. Walnut Creek is an affluent city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located 16 miles (26 km) east of the city of Oakland in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Although not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as a hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa County, due in part to its location at the junction of the highways from Sacramento and San Jose (I-680) and San Francisco/Oakland (SR-24), as well as its accessibility by BART. The city's total estimated population, as of 2011, is 65,211. Companies based in Walnut Creek include Carollo Engineers, Central Garden & Pet (makers of AvoDerm, Amdro, Kaytee, among others), American Reprographics Company, and the PMI Group. Walnut Creek is the headquarters of the Pac-12 Conference. It is predicted that home values in Walnut Creek will increase 4.6% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Walnut Creek, CA, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 74.3% lower than the national average. This lower local number may cause home values in Walnut Creek, CA to increase quicker than other cities. Windsor is an incorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is situated north of Santa Rosa. The population was 26,801 as of the 2010 census.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Windsor had a population of 26,801. The population density was 3,675.0 people per square mile (1,418.9/km2). The racial makeup of Windsor was 19,798 (73.9%) White (60.6% non-Hispanic white), 227 (0.8%) African American, 594 (2.2%) Native American, 810 (3.0%) Asian (0.6% Filipino, 0.5% Chinese, 0.5% Vietnamese, 0.4% Indian, 0.2% Japanese, 0.2% Korean, 0.1% Hmong, 0.1% Laotian, 0.1% Thai), 51 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 4,052 (15.1%) from other races, and 1,269 (4.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8,511 persons (31.8%): 28.5% Mexican, 0.4% Puerto Rican, 0.4% Spaniard, 0.3% Spanish, 0.3% Salvadoran, and 0.2% Nicaraugan. The Census reported that 99.8% of the population lived in households and 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 8,970 households, out of which 3,863 (43.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 5,349 (59.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 906 (10.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 453 (5.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 545 (6.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 76 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,742 households (19.4%) were made up of individuals and 840 (9.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98. There were 6,708 families (74.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.40. The population was spread out with 7,517 people (28.0%) under the age of 18, 2,218 people (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, 6,833 people (25.5%) aged 25 to 44, 7,301 people (27.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,932 people (10.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.0 years. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.3 males. There were 9,549 housing units at an average density of 1,309.4 per square mile (505.5/km2), of which 75.8% were owner-occupied and 24.2% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.7%. 74.0% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 25.8% lived in rental housing units. It is predicted that home values in Windsor, CA will rise 7.7% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Windsor, CA, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 39% less than the national average. This lower local number may cause home values in Windsor, CA to rise quicker than other cities. Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It has a council–manager system of government. The population of the town was 5,287 at the 2010 census.
Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the United States. The median household income in the town is $212,917. The 2010 United States Census reported that Woodside had a population of 5,287. The population density was 450.6 people per square mile (174.0/km²). The racial makeup of Woodside was 4,717 (89.2%) White, 23 (0.4%) African American, 4 (0.1%) Native American, 332 (6.3%) Asian, 4 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 63 (1.2%) from other races, and 144 (2.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 243 persons (4.6%). The Census reported that 5,287 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 1,977 households, out of which 643 (32.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,313 (66.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 124 (6.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 50 (2.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 54 (2.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 19 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 383 households (19.4%) were made up of individuals and 171 (8.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67. There were 1,487 families (75.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.01. The population was spread out with 1,243 people (23.5%) under the age of 18, 244 people (4.6%) aged 18 to 24, 823 people (15.6%) aged 25 to 44, 1,909 people (36.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,068 people (20.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48.8 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males. There were 2,157 housing units at an average density of 183.9 per square mile (71.0/km²), of which 1,721 (87.1%) were owner-occupied, and 256 (12.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.7%. 4,749 people (89.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 538 people (10.2%) lived in rental housing units. It is predicted that home values in Woodside, CA will increase 4.3% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Woodside, CA, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 65.7% lower than the national average. This lower local number could help home values in Woodside, CA rise more quickly than other cities. Yountville is an incorporated town in Napa County, California, United States. It is in the North Bay portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 2,933 at the 2010 census. Almost one third of the town's population lives on the grounds of the Veterans Home of California.
The town's name is derived from the name of early pioneer George Calvert Yount. Yount was considered responsible for establishing the first vineyard in the Napa Valley. Yountville is a noted destination for gourmet diners, and has four Michelin starred restaurants. Major employers in Yountville include the Veterans Home of California The Vintage Estate, Domaine Chandon California and Newton Vineyard. It is predicted that home values in Yountville will increase 3.8% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Yountville, CA, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 79% less than the national average. This may result in home values in Yountville increasing quicker than other cities. South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 63,632 at the 2010 census.
South San Francisco lies north of San Bruno and San Francisco International Airport in a small valley south of Daly City, Colma, Brisbane, and San Bruno Mountain, east of Pacifica and the hills of the Coast Range, and west of the waters of San Francisco Bay. Locals often refer to the town as "South City," in much the same way that San Francisco is called "The City." Despite its name, the South San Francisco does not border San Francisco, with Brisbane being between them. Most of the valley faces San Francisco Bay, affording bay views from higher levels. South San Francisco has mild winters and dry cool summers. The hills to the west shield the city from much of the fog that prevails in neighboring areas. The population has tripled since World War II with the opening of such subdivisions as Buri Buri, Winston Manor and Westborough on the slopes west of El Camino; it grew from 4,411 in 1920 to 66,174 in 2013. The city is noted for the South San Francisco Hillside Sign on Sign Hill, which rises to the north of the city, with large white letters that proclaim "South San Francisco, The Industrial City". The sign, a tribute to the city's industrial past, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Much of what is now South San Francisco was initially agricultural land, and was originally known as Baden. Small pockets of farmland still exist near San Bruno Mountain, but these lands are disappearing quickly because of the demand for housing and retail development. Acres of Orchids, founded by the Rod McLellan Company in the late 1920s, was one such victim of housing development. Once one of the largest facilities in the United States producing orchids and gardenias, the nursery closed in 1998.[18] A new housing tract now sits upon the land formerly occupied by Acres of Orchids greenhouses, off El Camino near Hickey. The flat land east of Bayshore Freeway (US 101) is the R&D Campus of South San Francisco and carries on the tradition of the moniker on Sign Hill, "The Industrial City." South San Francisco's office parks and industrial zoning are favorable to meet needs of industry, and the property taxes levied from the extensive industrial park provide revenues for the city. South San Francisco is home to one Fortune 500 company, food wholesaler Core-Mark. South San Francisco is home to Genentech, one of the world's largest biotech companies, as well as a satellite office of Amgen, the world's largest biotech firm. Many other biotech companies, such as Exelixis, have also started or moved to South San Francisco to be in proximity to the UCSF, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley; all are within a one hour's drive. A Genentech-sponsored sign declares South San Francisco as the "Birthplace of Biotechnology. The headquarters and factory of See's Candies is located in South San Francisco. Air China operates an office in South San Francisco. Galoob had its headquarters in South San Francisco before Hasbro bought the company in 1998. Hudson Soft USA, a subsidiary of Hudson Soft, and Sanrio, Inc., had its headquarters in South San Francisco. It is predicted that home values in South San Francisco will increase 4.9% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In South San Francisco, the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 72.4% less than the national average. This lower local number may cause home values in South San Francisco, CA to rise quicker than other cities. Castro Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, it is the fifth most populous unincorporated area in California, and the twenty-third in the United States.[citation needed] The population was 61,388 at the 2010 census.
Castro Valley is named after Don Guillermo Castro, who was a soldier in the Mexican army and a rancher. First known for chicken ranches, Castro Valley eventually became a bedroom community. The 2010 United States Census reported that 61,388 people, 22,348 households, and 16,112 families resided in the CDP. The population density was 3,690.3 people per square mile (1,424.8/km²). There were 23,392 housing units at an average density of 1,382.6 per square mile (533.8/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 58.0% White (49.5% non-Hispanic), 6.9% African American (6.6% non-Hispanic), 0.5% Native American, 21.4% Asian, 0.7% Pacific Islander, 6.1% from other races, and 6.3% from two or more races. 17.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The Census reported that 98.0% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1.5% were institutionalized. There were 22,348 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 54.3% were opposite-sex married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present. 5.0% of households were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships and 1.0% were same-sex married couples or partnerships. 21.7% of households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.15. The population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 7.6% aged 18 to 24, 24.5% aged 25 to 44, 31.1% aged 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.2 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males. There were 23,392 housing units of which 69.0% were owner-occupied and 31.0% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%. 68.8% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 29.2% lived in rental housing units. It is predicted that home values in Castro Valley, CA will rise 4.7% next year. Foreclosures will be a factor impacting home values in the next several years. In Castro Valley, CA the number of foreclosures waiting to be sold is 46.7% less than the national average. This lower local number could cause home values in Castro Valley, CA to rise quicker than other cities. |
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