California Real Estate Escrows up in April

By admin | Published April 24, 2012

Lead by the Orange County properties open escrow at best pace since 2007

When the National Association of Realtor’s Chief Economist Lawrenece Yun says the Spring of 2012 is bright and if trends continue we could see the best home selling season in 5 years the real estate industry listens, and escrow officers everywhere brace for the wave.  Mr. Yun made the statements about the positive condition based on a large sample size of sales not only in California but nationwide.  These trends have been predictors for future trends before they materialize which leads NAR to believe the rise in new real estate escrows and completed sales is here to stay.  Even better news is the trend that this new data is “notably above the pattern from a year ago”.

California is the largest real estate market in the country and for times, as goes California.  Ow break down the California real estate market into more of a county by county basis and other trends begin to emerge.  Orange county is seeing a reduction in inventory and an increase in homes completing the escrow process and closing which means more qualified buyers are completing the process and become home owners.  As was stated by Yun, our market can expect to see a “7 to 10 percent increase in 2012″

Real estate closing can still be a tricky and complex, as a California Department of Corporations licensed independent escrow company we are here to close your escrow one time with exceptional customer service at a competitive price. . If you have questions about how to hire Reliant Escrow feel free to contact us or have your real estate professional give us a call.

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Are FHA Loans an Option for California Home buyers?

By admin | Published March 7, 2012

As we ended February the Wall Street Journal proclaimed that banks were at least revving up lending, meaning the purse strings were about to loosen and more borrowers were going to be eligible for home loans.  As a borrower you have to ask, is this for the local, regional or national lenders?  What is an FHA loan?  How do I get one?

An FHA Loan is actually a loan that originated by a lender other than the FHA, however it is guaranteed by the FHA.  The FHA shares a portion of the risk of the loan which allows the lender to loosen credit requirements.  As with anything their are positive aspects of the program and negative aspects which we will let the pros cover in greater detail.

The current state of the California housing market can use any crutch we can find to place homes into escrow and get them sold to viable home owners.  With the number of borrowers in California who carry strong financials yet have a severely damaging credit event in the recent past, these programs can be a huge help.  The FHA lending program does carry higher premium on mortgage insurance, with the median house price in California requiring a $100,000+ down payment in may areas to comply with dodging mortgage insurance this can be an issues.  At the end of the day, as long as the lending practices are  sound Reliant Escrow is all in favor of any boost to the California Real Estate market so we can open additional escrows!  Let us know if we can help you close your escrow.  Contact us at info@reliantescrowinc.com

 

Posted in California Residential Real Estate | Leave a comment

Orange County Real Estate to pick up in Spring 2012

By admin | Published March 5, 2012

Orange County Real Estate has taken it’s bumps and bruises over the last few years and to have a ‘Home Sales Buying Season’ would be a great thing, and last week the National Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, proclaim as as much.

The Spring of 2012 has given Orange County real estate outlook a strong indicator of growing optimism which being buoyed by an upward trend in the national “pending home sales” numbers. NAR’s Yun references January’s pending home sales which have risen to the highest level since April 2010. The number rose from 95.1% in December 2011 to 97% this January – a 2% increase in one month.

When compared year-over-year, the January home sales level rose 8%, from 89.9%.  This could be the positive marker buyer have been looking for while trying to feel out a fickle California real estate market. Pending sales are defined as homes that are under contract but have not yet closed escrow.(If they were using Reliant Escrow they would be closing quicker!) They are a leading indicator of the housing market since they represent future business that will only be confirmed statistically in the months ahead once the properties close escrow.

January’s figures are significant for a number of reasonss. First, year-over-year comparisons are valid comparison versus ubiquitous data that has random annual references points, and 8% represents a significant gain and could point towards real, positive growth in sales.  When compared to April of last year the data trend is even further validated.

The NAR’s figures are the highest seen since April 2010, which was seen as the rush to take advantage of the Federal First Time Buyers program.  Economist, Yun sees these newest figures as translating into what he terms a “meaningful gain” this year as the California Real Estate market continues to stabilize.

At Reliant Escrow, based in Orange County we have seen the positive trends noted by Yun, as our office increased escrow openings in January and February.  Hopefully these positive trends continue for the Orange County real estate market as we enter into the “buying” season.   With a number of unknown factors still threatening the economy at large, if these can be kept at bay we should see both buyers and investors coming back to purchase real estate.

 

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Note Sales and Bulk Notes sales Escrows

By admin | Published December 14, 2011

Today we wanted to look at how to handle note sale transaction escrows in California.  When looking at handling a note sale transaction it is important to know the escrow officer handling your transaction is experienced in handling notes sales as they can have very different requirements to a traditional residential escrow.  For instance, some note sales have very short escrow time lines, is your escrow officer available to handle your closing timeline, do they handle communication with all parties efficiently.

Real Estate escrows, i.e. commercial, multifamily or residential escrows, tend to have significant time between various check list items to communicate and move the escrow timeline forward, this is often not the case in note sales where timeline are greatly condensed and surprise issues need to be addressed immediately.  At Reliant Escrow Inc we employee only experienced professionals who have had experience handling everything from very complex, multi tiered commercial transactions to simple note sales transactions, and since we have an efficient indepent escrow operation we have also provided a flat pricing structure for our cleints.  We have found that title companies and other escrow providers who do not handle note sale transactions tend to put forth pricing that is out of touch with the work and time frames involved in handling note sales.

If you would like to find out more about our flat fee pricing for Note Sale transactions please contact us at info@reliantescrowinc.com

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