Buyer and Seller information You should know - OMARLTY

June 14th, 2019

6/14/2019

Japanese garden and rec center at 22373 N 3rd St Hayward, CA 94546
Cost=free
Garin Park Regional park at 1320 Garin Ave Hayward, CA 94544
Cost=Free
Play a round of golf at Stonebrae Country Club at 202 Country Club Dr Hayward, CA 94542
Cost=However much you play
Enjoy the sunset at Stonebrae Park with the kids at 202 Country Club Dr Hayward, CA 94542
Cost=Free
Talk a stroll through the Hayward Shoreline interpretive Center at 4901 Breakwater Ave Hayward, CA 94545
Cost=Free
Grab a bite to eat at Ghazni Afghan Kabob house at 1235 A St Hayward, CA 94541 Cost=however much you eat
Another favorite food spot is Beep's Burgers at 24703 Amador St Ste 3 Hayward, CA 94544
Cost=how hungry are you
Eat brunch at Amy’s Grill at 31103 Mission Blvd Hayward, CA 94544 Cost=$
Chill with the locals at this cool bar Brews and Brats at 1061 B St Hayward, CA 94541 Cost=Are you a drinker?
Our final spot is Dirty Bird Lounge which is a cool spot for coffee and pastry in the morning and beer and some tacos at night at 1061 B St Hayward, CA 94541 Cost=moderate

Tech companies in the Bay Area and how it affects real estate in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

6/12/2019

The influx of tech jobs have boosted real estate prices to an uncomfortable high as of recent. So what does this mean to you? Well as real estate prices increase finding a home to some can seem impossible and for good reason, I mean who wants to pay 4-8k a month on a mortgage when you can rent for way less. Well here are some tips for buying a new home and what real estate companies are offering.

Find out county down payment assistance programs. Working with an agent and then a lender sometimes can feel like they have a big disconnect with each other. That's why OMA RLTY is licensed in both so we can help our clients on information needed on both ends.
Finding a crafty lender that can put lending packages together on fixer uppers. A Lot of people turn a blind eye to fixer uppers just because of the horror stories behind a lot of them but sometimes you get a good deal on a home that has a lot of potential.
New developments! OMA RLTY offers commision rebate programs on new homes developments so you can get a little extra money in your pocket to soften the down payment blow.
Make lenders fight for your business. Some are more comfortable with big bank lenders and some take advantage of brokers. Now most of the time in our experience you get a better deal with a broker because they do the shopping around for you but if you want to go with a big bank these are some tips. Make them fight for your business. If one bank is offering one rate; take that rate to another big bank and make them beat it, then to another and another until you just can't go any lower.
Last on the list will be using an experienced lender and broker to help with the transaction. Remember this is a business deal and thousands of your hard earned dollars we are dealing with. Using family and friends is not always the best option especially if they haven't had enough transactions under their belt. I mean would you trust someone to work on your car after watching some youtube videos or someone that's done it hundreds of times?

for more information call or text 949-491-3583

Loan Assistance Programs for Low income and First time Buyers

6/11/2019

Now a lot of people have heard of loan assistance programs but no one will explain. Now hopefully i can help you understand some of them and how they work. Now each county has specific called MCC which stands for mortgage credit certificate program (i guess they forgot about the P). Now MCC is for first time home purchasers and low income families that need help getting into a new home. Now without getting off topic and just to piggyback off of this you also have BMR (below market rate)properties which mostly all counties have which have income brackets and housing price brackets. Now back to the MCC program.. Each city within the county has a certain amount the can distribute so sometimes you will have to wait but in the bay area you just need to. Now these are homes that also have criteria for instance you have to live in the home and not rent it out and each city has its own time frame. BMR properties cannot be rented in the bay area. Now you also have FHA loans that can do as much as 0% down up to 3.5% if you qualify. We have a lot more programs that you can qualify for but you'll have to give us a ring so we can see how we can. Now to see if you qualify give us a call to see how we can help.

Home Buyer Assistance Programs Bay Area-Silicon Valley

6/3/2019

REAL ESTATE BAY AREA AND BUYING PROCESS

5/30/2019

Big lenders vs Mortgage brokers San Francisco, tri cities and Silicon Valley

5/16/2019

Most people don't know where else to get money for a home unless it's a big bank and very few people know mortgage brokers. Let me help you understand the difference. Now first with the big banks… they have certain limits that they can lend as far as pricing goes, and loan programs available that's why you see one bank have different rate than the other and you wonder why. Well i'm not a fan of big banks so i say who really cares. Now you have two types of brokerages- 1. A brokerage that dumps a lot of money into marketing so they will pop up on some big loan search engine but you'll pay for that marketing dollar they spent and who knows where they are. 2. Now i am a little biased because i'm a local lender and i prefer to see my clients (a little old school i guess) but i get to keep cost low, charge less (most of the time) since we don't have huge marketing money to spend, and i get to do the same thing by shopping most wholesalers to see what the best pricing will be. I'm a firm believer that if i take care of you then hopefully i get to be lucky to do your loan, your kids loans and there kids loans.

Work where you love and live where you work. Why it's important to live close to where you work in the bay area.

5/9/2019

Now according to the traffic within the past ten years, the bay area and silicon valley area has had traffic increase like no other. The dreaded commute has taken a toll on all of us. Now we know financial limitations, family size will limit where we live but when working and communicating it comes to a point to know what you can do with and what you can do without. Now i've lived in southern california and northern california and i can tell you that the traffic in the bay area has come equal to southern california if not surpassed it. Who wants to really add 2-3 hours of commute along with their work day? I don’t. Now when looking for a house these are our top suggestions.
Know exactly what size home and or condo you need. Most times bigger is not always better. Floor plans make a big difference and pay close attention to where most of the family hangs out the most and then pinpoint those areas when shopping around. Make the drive from from where you are looking to move and make sure to get calculate the amount of time you'll be in traffic. This will allow you to see if you can actually tolerate the commute. Worst thing in the world is to buy a property and then realize that the drive is taking a toll on you and making you a grump when you get home. What amenities are you looking for and what you just can't do without. Most of the time the most important features most people end up looking for are attached garage (very important on rainy days), open floor plan for the kitchen to living room (if you're anything like my family then you know we always stay close to the kitchen and the tv), washer dryer hookups, central heat and air. Location, location, location. Now this is important to most people because the location of your property will determine almost every aspect of your life. Socially, family, relative location to your job. Sacrificing a few things will definitely be worth if you have to just to make sure your quality of life does not diminish. Now with all of our suggestions you should always chose what works best with your family. Making a pros and cons list with your family and or yourself if you're purchasing alone. Try to make sure your decision is not emotional but yet logical, if you need any help please give us a call and we can bounce some ideas off of one another.

FORECLOSING AND WHY SHORT SALE MIGHT BE A BETTER OPTION

4/29/2019

Steps to a foreclosure and why you should short sale. Now before we get started let me tell you the difference. Foreclosures happen when the bank has sent you a summons you to pay the whole amount which is exercised via an acceleration clause or you can see if you can work out a deal with them to make up the payments missed. Calling the lender is highly encouraged because meh it can't hurt but only help. In the case you've exhausted all your options and you just can't make your mortgage payments then you can either let it go to foreclosure where the bank will go through the legal process of getting the property back or you can short sale the property. We at OMA RLTY hate doing short sales or dealing with foreclosures since we hate it when property owners get put into a hard position. However being in real estate now for 20 years i've become pretty good at it. If i can save your property we will but if not we will try to salvage your credit at least and figure out all options. Please note that we are not attorneys and will always recommend talking to an attorney since we are a lending and real estate company and cannot provide any legal advice.

HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

4/25/2019

Home equity line of credit. The good the bad and the ugly. So home equity line of credit is exactly what it states. It’s a line of credit against the equity in your home. The good is that for 10 years you have that money at your disposal whenever you need, so why not have that option available just incase for the rainy days. So for those ten years you get to pay back and or pull out if you need just like a credit card but at a lower interest rate than that of a credit card. The bad- you get a line of credit that's way more than most credit cards have available and some people use more than they need, for instance if you have a HELOC for 500k to get better initial rate, usually called a teaser rate you get let's say about 100k initial draw (which is the mandatory amount that you would have to initially take out) you use it. Then you think to yourself i have another 400k at my dispose so the kids need a new toy, the wife needs a new car and a couple of vacations later you're at 250k. The ugly- now what happens when the 10 years comes to an end? Well it goes to an adjustable rate 2nd mortgage. Now since rates are increasing and you have so much in equity this might come to a shock for some that went a little overboard. What to do if you went a little overboard? Well you have a few choices but all at a cost. You can ride out the adjustable and hopefully you didn't accrue that much debt to pay if off and do it quickly. Second if you can refinance but you'll need to be strategic in your refinance. Look into all options like 5/1 arms 7/1 arms or 10/1 arms. Now you might be asking yourself why is this guy telling me to do the same thing that got me into this headache to begin with? Well the reason is that you already gotten into a bad spot so put some stability on your mortgage for a bit a hope (and this is a big hope) that rates go down so you can refinance one more time to get yourself and keep yourself into a more stable financial position. As a lender and real estate company our responsibility is to always make sure everyone does not get in over there head because the last option is the worst and i hate this one. Short sale and foreclosures!!!!! Sometimes it gets to this and short selling your house is way better option than foreclosing. Now we specialize in all these categories and have programs to try and help save your house and if we can't then at least salvage your credit. Please note that we will always recommend talking to an attorney for any legal help since we are only a lending and real estate company and cannot give any legal advice.