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Selling to a VA Home Buyer

Selling to a VA Home Buyer

If you’re selling your home, it’s time to get familiar with the VA home loan — yes, even if you aren’t military yourself. Here’s why. Veterans or active duty military homebuyers are likely to use the VA loan when purchasing a home.

 

What you’ll learn in this article:
  • What is the VA loan?
  • Preparing Your Home to Sell
  • Research Housing Rates for Your Area
  • Market to Military
  • Meeting VA Requirements
  • The VA Home Inspection

What is the VA loan?

For those of you unfamiliar with it, the VA helps those who are eligible purchase a home at a competitive interest rate, often without requiring a down payment or private mortgage insurance. That means that they not only offer zero down payment loans, but also have lower credit requirements than alternative financing options.

As you can imagine (or have used yourself), the VA loan is a popular choice. So if you’re near a military installation, the likelihood of your potential buyers using this lending option skyrockets. Don’t be mistaken, while there are duty stations tucked away on their own, there are plenty positioned in the heart of major cities that you might not even realize. The point? Thorough research can help you to consider all aspects of the buyers in your area. As a home seller in a heavily dominated market, consider getting to know the lending terms of the VA loan and how to market to VA home loan buyers.

Preparing Your Home to Sell to a VA Home Loan Buyer

There are a couple of key things to know about selling your home to a VA home loan buyer.

“One is that there isn’t a safer bet to close on the market. VA loans have had a higher average closing success rate than conventional loans over the last five years. The other piece is that sellers are not required to pay any costs on behalf of a VA buyer. There’s a misconception that sellers have to pay a VA buyer’s closing costs or are on the hook for repairs if the VA appraisal turns up issues. This isn’t a zero-sum situation, and both are matters of negotiation between buyer and seller.”  — Chris Birk, Director of Education for Veterans United Home Loans and the author of The Book on VA Loans: An Essential Guide to Maximizing Your Home Loan Benefits.

Research the Local Housing Rates for Your Area

Here’s an interesting fact: you can look up how much military servicemembers and their families are allotted each month for housing. It’s called the Basic Housing Allowance (BAH). While it isn’t a perfect representation of each family’s personal budget, it does provide a decent baseline to understand where your property falls into the mix.

How?

  • Use the Department of Defense’s Basic Housing Allowance calculator to learn how much service members in your area are paid each month.
  • Enter your zip code and a pay grade. Unless you live close to the Pentagon, you’ll be better served by estimating housing rates on low to mid-level pay grades, such as an O3 or E5.

Estimate the mortgage payment for your property. 

Using a mortgage calculator, such as MortgageCalculator.org or Bankrate’s mortgage calculator, you can input your asking price, property tax, and estimated homeowner’s insurance. Consider adding two to three percent to your asking price to account for the VA funding fee for first- or second-time VA homebuyers.

Do the math.

Given the BAH for the local area and the cost of your home, will military homebuyers in your area be able to afford the monthly mortgage payment for a zero down payment VA loan? If your home sale price fits the military homebuyer’s budget, then great! It’s time to market to the military community. If not, homebuyers have the option to purchase your home with an alternative loan product—like state down payment assistance programs and FHA loans. However, for those who qualify, the terms of the VA loan are hard to beat.

If you’re in a tough selling market, consider working with your real estate agent to target homebuyers who may be eligible for these products.

Market to Military 

When you market to military homebuyers, you’re working with a unique clientele who, unlike any other homebuyer, operate on a time crunch.

Since military families receive PCS orders for an average of three years, they don’t have the luxury to take weeks or months to find a home to buy. Instead, many families find a home within just a few days.

Knowing this about the military home buying market will help you understand why it’s critical to have great photos, a detailed description of your property’s layout, and a video home tour. Each of these marketing tools will help ensure that you make it onto your military homebuyer’s shortlist of potential homes.

The Logistics: Meeting the Requirements of the VA

The process takes longer when you sell to someone who is using a VA Home Loan than that of most other mortgages. 

One way to expedite this process is to make sure that there aren’t any repair issues with your home that may cause either delays for repair or an outright rejection of your home. While the home buyer is required to pay for the inspection and appraisal, it’s not a bad idea to conduct your own pre-inspection with the intent to get your house ready to sell quickly.

For a few hundred dollars, you can mitigate this situation by hiring an inspector who is familiar with VA requirements. Consider it money well spent, as the VA loan follows a set of Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs) set to ensure that the property is safe, sanitary, and habitable.

VA Home Appraisal 

“The appraisal process looks a bit different. Beyond the typical home valuation, the VA also considers broad property condition requirements. These Minimum Property Requirements are rooted ensuring Veterans are purchasing homes that are safe, sound, and sanitary. This assessment isn’t as in-depth as a home inspection, and any issues raised by the appraiser can be addressed in order to keep the deal moving forward.” — Chris Birk

Common things evaluated by the home appraiser: 
  • Heating and electricity. If the home has a wood-burning stove, is there a backup system?
  • Water. Does the home have a water heater and access to drinking water and a working septic?
  • The roof. Does the roof have a substantial amount of life left? Are there any leaks?
  • Access. Can you reach the property by foot or car by way a private or public road year-round?
  • Defects and deterioration. Is the home free of defects to include poor construction, or wood-eating insects like termites?
  • Paint. Is there any lead-based paint that’s chipping or peeling that needs repaired?
  • The location. Is the home located on a gas or petroleum pipeline or near high-voltage electric lines?

Tips for finding a home inspector: 

  • Get recommendations. You can’t be expected to know the local professionals when you’re new to the area. Check with your real estate agent, loan officer, or experienced friends who can point you in toward a respected home inspector.
  • Look within reputable organizations. Organizations like the American Society of Home Inspectors and the National Association of Home Inspectors require certifications for membership. Finding a local who belongs to one of these groups assures a high standard of service.
  • Know your state laws. Licensing requirements vary from state to state. If you’re unsure of yours, ask your real estate agent and make sure your home inspector meets the criteria.
  • Ask for a sample inspection report. Nothing is better to determine the quality of someone’s work than viewing a sample of their job. This can tell you a lot about an inspector’s level of experience. You’re looking to make sure the report is clear and that it includes images of any identified issues around the property. You’ll also want to see recommendations made for potential homebuyers.
  • Consider your budget. Home inspections aren’t free. The cost can vary depending on the provider, the size of the home, and location. However, they most often fall within $300 to $500.

VA Home Inspection 

Things the home inspector looks for: 

  • Structure. What’s the condition of the property’s construction (walls, floors, foundation, roof, and ceilings)?
  • Exterior.  How much life is left in the current siding, windows and trim? Looking at other features– how’s the exterior lighting and fences? Is there proper drainage based on grade and elevation?
  • Plumbing. What are the pipes made of? Is everything up to current standards to include the toilets, showers, sinks, faucets?
  • Systems. Are the chimney, fireplace, water heater, furnace, A/C unit, and septic system all in good working condition?
  • Roof and attic. Is the framing sound? Is there proper insulation and ventilation?
  • Electrical. Is the electrical wiring properly grounded?  Are all the light fixtures and the main electrical breaker safe and working correctly?
  • Appliances. What’s the condition of the appliances like the dishwasher, range, built-in microwave, garbage disposal, smoke detector, and any other relevant small appliances in the home?

At the end of the day, remember that VA home loan buyers want the same thing as everybody else: location, good schools, and more. The basics to preparing your home to sell for a VA home loan buyer are the same as most others; it’s simply a few particulars that keep you on your toes.

By Danielle Keech

https://www.militarybyowner.com/resources/selling-to-a-va-home-loan-buyer/

 

Johnson’s Sierra Lifestyle Team is experienced in working with VA buyers and sellers. We are here to guide you through the process.

J

How To Monitor Your Credit

How To Monitor Your Credit

 

Way too many of us have a story about our credit card getting hacked or about being a victim of one of the massive data breaches in recent years. As technology becomes more and more a part of our financial lives, it becomes increasingly important to keep a close eye on our personal credit.

By monitoring your credit score and credit report, you can make sure you know if someone has opened unauthorized accounts in your name.

Monitoring your credit has the added bonus of helping you make sure your credit rating is where you need it to be.

The Easiest Ways To Monitor Your Credit

To put this task in “set it and forget it” mode, you should set up an account with at least one website designed to monitor your credit. (If you’ve frozen your credit, you’ll need to unfreeze it with at least one credit bureau first.)

Monitoring Your Credit With Credit Karma and Credit Sesame

When we talk about monitoring your credit, we’re talking about keeping an eye on both your credit reports and your credit scores.

Credit reports include all the details on your credit accounts, both current and closed. The reports track payments and other information for every loan, credit card and line of credit you have. 

Your credit scores are numbers based on that credit history and activity.

If you have any credit history at all, the “big three” credit bureaus — TransUnionExperian and Equifax — will each have both a credit report and a credit score associated with your accounts. The good news is that you can access all of this information for free online.

Credit Karma

Money expert Clark Howard’s favorite site for monitoring your credit is Credit Karma. This site lets you keep tabs on your credit score and view credit reports for free. Once you set up your account, you’ll get:

  • Your estimated credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax
  • Access to your credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax
  • The option to get an alert when your credit score changes or something is added to your credit report (credit monitoring)
  • Additional services including identity monitoring, free tax filing, and access to your auto insurance score

Again, you will need to set up your Credit Karma account before you freeze your credit, or you’ll need to unfreeze your credit in order to sign up.

Read more about signing up for Credit Karma here.

Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame is a site similar to Credit Karma but doesn’t offer quite as many services. It’s also largely free and signing up gets you:

  • Your estimated credit score from TransUnion
  • The option to get alerts when your credit score changes or something is added to your credit report (credit monitoring)
  • Additional services such as identity protection and limited identity theft insurance

Unlike Credit Karma, Credit Sesame does not give you free access to any of your credit reports.

Read more about signing up for Credit Sesame here.

Other Ways To Monitor Your Credit

You may have noticed that neither Credit Karma nor Credit Sesame gives you access to your Experian credit report and score. But you can get your reports for free directly from both Experian and Equifax by creating online accounts with them (Experian also includes your credit score):

TransUnion does not currently provide free access to your credit report.

However, by law, you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report per year from each of the bureaus. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only place authorized by the federal government to give you access to all three at once.

Read more about the different ways to get your free credit reports here.

Final Thought: Freezing Your Credit

While monitoring your credit is crucial, it still means that you’ll find out if someone else has opened a credit line in your name only after the fact. So you should freeze your credit with all three major credit bureaus.

With a credit freeze in place, no one (not even you) will be able to open a new line of credit in your name without first unfreezing your credit — which only you should be able to do.

Get step-by-step instructions for freezing your credit with all three credit bureaus here.

 

Written by Clark.com Staff

https://clark.com/credit/how-to-monitor-credit/

 

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

By Eric Kim

Dane Tashima for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Time

15 minutes

 

Often described as “dragged through the garden” — referring to all of the vegetable toppings — this hot dog is a joy to eat in honor of the Windy City.

A proper Chicago dog is an all-beef frankfurter (such as Vienna Beef) in a poppy seed bun, topped with yellow mustard, neon-green sweet pickle relish, chopped white onion, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, pickled sport peppers and celery salt. This stovetop recipe is very forgiving, and there are ways to adapt: No poppy seed buns? Just sprinkle a pinch of loose poppy seeds over regular hot dog buns slathered in melted butter. No neon-green sweet relish? Stir a drop or two of green food coloring into regular sweet relish. If you can’t find Chicago-style sport peppers, then sliced pepperoncini works in a pinch. Don’t skip the celery salt; its herbal lightness makes these dogs shine.

Featured in: Welcome to Chicago, Hot Dog Town, U.S.A.

 

Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

  • 4tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4split poppy seed hot dog buns
  • 4all-beef hot dogs, preferably bun-length
  • Yellow mustard
  • ¼cup sweet pickle relish
  • 1small white onion, small-diced
  • 1small tomato, halved and thickly sliced lengthwise
  • 4dill pickle spears
  • 4 to 8sport peppers
  • Celery salt

 

Preparation

  • Step 1

In a large skillet over medium, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Without splitting them in half completely, gently flatten the hot dog buns and place them seam-side up in the pan. Move them around to catch all the melted butter and cook until very lightly toasted at the edges, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove the buns and set aside.

  • Step 2

Raise the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pan. When the butter is melted, add the hot dogs and cook, rolling occasionally until all sides are browned and looking crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. (See Tip if grilling.)

  • Step 3

Place the cooked dogs in the buns and top each with as much yellow mustard, relish and onion as you like. On one side of each dog, place a couple of tomato slices; on the other side, place a single pickle spear. Top with as many sport peppers as you can handle. Generously season with the celery salt and serve immediately.

Tip

  • If you’re grilling, just cook the hot dogs over direct medium heat until charred and blistered in spots, 8 to 10 minutes, and meanwhile toast the buns over the open flame as well, about 30 seconds.

 

 

ENJOY SUMMER’S ENDING AND FALL’S BEGINNING FROM ALL OF US AT JOHNSON’S SIERRA LIFESTYLE TEAM!

 

WEEKLY MARKET MINUTE, August 2022

WEEKLY MARKET MINUTE, August 2022

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS WEEKLY MARKET MINUTE


August 22, 2022 – Housing sentiment continued to sink for both the supply side and the demand side as market’s buying conditions remained sour.

Not only did homebuilders scale back in production as suggested by the dip in building permits, but potential homebuyers have also hit the brake hard as market uncertainty and high costs of borrowing lingered on. Closed sales for existing single-family homes have taken a beating as the market has shifted in response to the recent surge in interest rates, while pending sales suggested that the market could remain soft in August.

The pace of sales declines is expected to decelerate in the coming months, however, as rates continue to stabilize, market volatility begins to subside and supply conditions further normalize.

A bounce back in California’s employment situation, was perhaps the silver lining in last week’s news, as it hints on an economy that could remain resilient in the third quarter, despite a back-to-back decline in GDP in the first and second quarter of the year.

Rising interest rates and affordability crunch drag down July home sales and prices: Housing demand in California cooled further in July as the effects of rising interest rates and high home prices hit would-be homebuyers, dragging home sales below the annualized 300,000 benchmark level for the first time since May 2020. Existing single-family home sales totaled 295,460 in July on a seasonal adjusted annualized rate, down 14.4% from June and 31.1% from July of last year. The statewide median home price was $833,910, down 3.5% from June and up 2.8% from July 2021. 

While high home prices and rising interest rates depressed housing affordability and in turn dampened demand in the midst of the peak home-buying season, buying opportunities remain in the coming months for those who have been waiting on the sideline as more listings become available, competition continues to cool off and rates begin to stabilize.

Homebuilders’ sentiment turns negative: According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, homebuilders have become more pessimistic as their sentiment towards the housing market dropped another 6 points in August to 49. This marked the eight straight decline in the index and the first time it dipped below 50 since June 2014, excluding a very brief plunge at the start of the Pandemic. Of its three components, current sales conditions saw the largest drop by 7 points, though sales expectations in the next six months and buyer traffic also declined by 2 and 5 points, respectively. Homebuilders’ confidence has deteriorated as buyer demand continued to be diminished by affordability constraints.

Despite higher costs for land, labor, and buildering materials, about 1 in 5 builders in August reported lowering prices by about 5% in the past month in an effort to increase sales or limit cancellations. 

Housing starts decline sharply in July as building material prices rise and demand for housing softens: Higher mortgage rates upend residential construction in July with total housing starts falling 9.6% from June and 8.1% from July of last year. Single-family starts declined 10.1%, and while upward revision to starts during June helped take some sting out of July’s sharp decline, single-family starts have now declined for five consecutive months. The pull-back was attributed primarily to higher mortgage rates, which have significantly worsened affordability and caused buyers to hold off on their housing demand.

With building permits declining 1.3% in the latest report, starts will likely fall further in the upcoming months. 

California employment improves as hiring rebounds in July: 

After a bit of a slump this spring, hiring perked back up in July. California’s employers added a nation’s best 84,800 jobs in July, marking the largest gain since February.

The job gains were broad based but the resurgence in hiring appears to have been driven by a rebound in tech hiring. The state’s unemployment rate dipped to the new low, dropping 0.3% to 3.9% – the lowest level since 1976. While this rebound in hiring is good news for California’s economy, it is also becoming more evident that the labor market is cooling off as job openings fell 212,000 in June. California’s 15.7% drop was by far the largest of any state and brought job openings back down to the lowest level since August of last year. 

 

Don’t hesitate to call The Sierra Lifestyle Team for free evaluations of your home’s value or to tour homes on the market you have an interest in. We are here for you, and Alisa (almost) always answers her cell phone, 530-559-4871.

 

Smoky White Bean and Beef Sloppy Joes

Smoky White Bean and Beef Sloppy Joes

By Sarah DiGregorio

  • YIELD4 servings
  • TIME20 minutes

This update on the kid-friendly classic uses half the meat as a traditional sloppy Joe recipe, but retains the qualities that everyone loves: a tart-sweet savoriness and a quick cooking time. You can substitute ground pork, turkey, lamb or plant-based ground meat for the beef; the key is to use a protein that’s not too lean. A little fat helps carry the flavor of the meat through the entire dish. (If you use plant-based meat or you only have lean meat on hand, add another tablespoon of olive oil or your preferred fat.) The addition of adobo sauce from a can of chipotles imparts smoke, with just a hint of heat. (If you’d like a spicier version, by all means, chop up one or two of the chipotles and add them.) The leftover chipotles keep for at least two weeks in the fridge or indefinitely in the freezer, and they are a welcome addition to many dishes, like chicken tacos or chili

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  •  Kosher salt
  • 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, finely chopped
  • ½ pound ground beef, preferably 85 percent lean
  • 1 packed tablespoon light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¾ cup canned or jarred tomato purée
  • 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotles in adobo)
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini or pinto beans, drained
  • 4 hamburger buns, preferably potato buns
  •  Tomato slices and pickle chips, for topping

 

PREPARATION

  1. Warm the oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over high heat. Add the onion, season with 1 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the bell pepper, then spread out the vegetable mixture and let it cook undisturbed for about 1 minute. Stir well and repeat, letting the vegetables cook undisturbed for another minute or so at a time. You want the onions and peppers to get softened, seared and browned in spots, about 5 minutes total.
  3. Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan, making an empty spot in the middle of the pan, and add the ground beef. Season the beef with a pinch of salt, and smash it flat with a spatula, letting it cook undisturbed for 1 minute until brown underneath. Break up the beef with the spatula and cook 1 to 2 more minutes, until completely browned with no visible pink spots.
  4. Combine the vegetables and beef, then add the sugar and tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute to toast the tomato paste. Add the garlic powder and cumin, then the tomato purée, adobo sauce and vinegar. Stir in the beans. Reduce the heat to medium and let simmer to thicken slightly, about 3 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, toast the buns.
  6. With a fork, roughly smash some of the beans to thicken the mixture. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve on toasted buns, topped with tomatoes and pickles.