Real Estate Realities With Robert "the Rebelbroker" Whitelaw

From home insurance to car coverage, insurance companies are deciding to just not do business in California any longer. So what has to happen to force companies to abandon a huge market? Well, despite the headlines, it is not just weather issues and corporate greed. Today, we take a look at the latest news that State Farm decided last week to stop offering home insurance in the state of California and what that will likely mean for homeowners going forward. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————  ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/

In this thought-provoking episode, we delve into the often overlooked drawbacks of low-income buyers availing themselves of 1% down loans. Today we will specifically be talking about the Rocket Mortgage ONE+ loan program. While these loans may seem appealing on the surface, they can harbor hidden pitfalls that can leave borrowers vulnerable. Join us as we explore the cautionary tales and shed light on the potential downsides of this financing option. Episode Highlights: Understanding 1% Down Loans: We begin by explaining the concept of 1% down loans, which have gained popularity as an attractive option for individuals with limited financial resources. These loans enable borrowers to put down only 1% of the home's purchase price, while the remaining 99% is financed. At first glance, this may seem like an excellent opportunity, but closer examination reveals significant downsides. Even in the case of the Rocket Mortgage 2% grant, these issues remain. Higher Interest Rates and PMI: One of the primary downsid

Business bankruptcies are up 216% and we are not even half way through 2023 yet! What does this mean for unemployment and the world of real estate? Let's take a minute to chat about all that!   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/  

The headlines today sure do seem to be sending out a positive message relating to real estate. Many tell us the great home value drop is over. The most recent numbers prove we are out of the woods. Do they really?   In todays show we will take a closer look and see if we should be optimistic or not.   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/  

Fasten your seat belt folks, today we get a classice Rebelbroker rant podcast! Let's play pretend for a moment. You find yourself in a situation where you are behind on your property tax payments. You owe $5,000 dollars. One thing leads to another and the state is going to take your property and sell it to pay your tax debt. The state does its thing and sells your home for $500,000. Expecting to get a check for $495,000, you wait patiently at your mailbox for that payment. Surprise! It will never arrive. That's right, the law says that no matter how little you owe, the government gets to keep ALL of the proceeds from the sale of your home! It is all legal and you are screwed. To make it even worse, you later find out that a business was allowed to buy your home for what you owed - $5,000! Of course, the fact that this buyer was a HUGE political contributor to those that decided who gets to buy your home had nothing to do with it. Don't even suggest that crazy conspiracy theory you nutjob! ———————————————————

Are you a responsible borrower? Have you saved diligently for that 20% downpayment on your first home? Did you educate yourself and work toward improving your credit score so that you reached your goal of a score higher than 680? Well, then the FHFA (Federal Housing and Finance Association) would like to take this opportunity to completely screw you over! How will they screw you over? With higher rates and fees! But wait, for those folks who did not save, have a poor credit score and have not managed their financial lives responsibly there will be discounts and incentives!   Here are a few past shows related to this topic: https://rebelbroker.libsyn.com/site/subprime-lending-againreally https://rebelbroker.libsyn.com/site/more-subprime-style-shenanigans https://rebelbroker.libsyn.com/site/alternative-credit-scores https://rebelbroker.libsyn.com/site/subprime-lending-in-2016 https://rebelbroker.libsyn.com/site/banks-are-not-doing-us-any-favors —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagr

The media at large seems very excited about FHA loans being able to be adjusted to 40 year terms in cases where the borrower is in a tight spot. But does it make sense to extend the indebtedness of someone that is already in financial trouble? Extending a mortgage out to 40 years takes all the worst elements of a loan and makes them worse. In todays show we are going to discuss this and see if we can cover the issue and come to some conclusions.   Links: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/government-policy-could-help-keep-170000286.html https://www.jvmlending.com/blog/why-i-hate-40-year-mortgages/

In todays show we will take some time to review the latest buyer and seller sentiment data. We also take some time to consider what the data says about buyers vs what we are seeing buyers actually do in the marketplace.  We will also talk a bit about thoughts relating to when to buy and what might be good options relating to taking advantage of the market now in anticipation of interest rates dropping sometime in the next year or two when the Fed starts to reduce interest rates to fight recession.   SOURCES: https://www.realtor.com/research/march-2023-hpsi/   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/  

If you think of predatory lending as any borrowing scenario that has a high probability of causing issues for the borrower, I think that there is a good chance we should chat about the "California Dream For All" loan program from CalHFA (California Housing Finance Agency).   Schemes like this are predicated on the idea that the price of real estate will continue to rise. As we all know, that is not always true. During the last downturn, nothing was more saddening than trying to help people who had tried to take advantage of these programs and been left completely upside down and being forced into bankruptcy and short sales. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————  ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/

If you are desperately searching to find your home or to uncover a great investment property - you just might want to consider looking for an off market property! Finding off-market homes can be a great way to gain access to properties that are not available through traditional real estate channels. These are often properties that the owner is looking to sell privately and does not want to list publicly. While it may seem difficult to find off-market properties, there are several strategies that can be used to identify these opportunities. Networking Networking with real estate professionals is one of the most effective ways to find off-market properties. Real estate agents, brokers, contractors, investors and other industry professionals often have access to properties that are not publicly listed, and can provide valuable insights and guidance on potential opportunities in the local market. By joining real estate investment groups, attending industry events and conferences, and connecting with profess

I came across an article a little while back on Redfin where they were discussing the pros and cons of living in San Francisco. As someone that is pretty familiar with San Francisco, I was surprised more by what they left out than what the included. San Francisco has long been considered a desirable place to live, thanks to its stunning architecture, rich cultural diversity, and thriving job market. However, recent years have highlighted some of the significant downsides of living in the city. In this podcast, we'll discuss a recent Redfin article that left out some critical cons to living in San Francisco, including higher crime rates, car break-ins, homelessness, drug paraphernalia, human and dog waste on the streets, and an unwillingness on the part of the city to deal with these issues. San Francisco is home to some of the most beautiful and iconic landmarks in the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and Fisherman's Wharf. The city is also renowned for its thriving arts scene, vib

The recent increase in national interest rates has caused quite a stir in the real estate industry, and it is not surprising that many prospective homebuyers are feeling the pinch. With interest rates hovering around 6.97%, it's no secret that home sales will decline. The real question, however, is how buyers and sellers can navigate this situation to ensure that their interests are protected. In Morgan Hill, San Jose, and Gilroy, the 30-year fixed loan interest rates for those with excellent credit are about 6.46%. While this may seem like a small difference, it can add up to thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage. So, what can buyers do to get the best deal in the current market? One strategy that buyers could use is to "house hack" by purchasing a multifamily home instead of a single-family home. In this scenario, the buyer purchases a property with multiple units, living in one unit and renting out the others. By doing so, the buyer can offset their mortgage payments with rental income, which

When headlines imply things are better than they feel, it is always good to take a closer look. January home sales headlines are a good example. The Latest Headlines In the most recent headlines for the home sales number in January, you could be forgiven for thinking that things are looking up. Sadly, that is not the case. At least, it is not giving the right overall impression as they focus on month to month numbers instead of year over year numbers. So today, we are going to look at the real numbers, but also compare those national and regional numbers to what we are seeing right here in Santa Clara County. New Home Sales The U.S. new-home sales rose 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 670,000 in January, up from a revised 625,000 in the prior month, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. However, the year-over-year new-home sales are still down by 19.4%, which indicates a decline in the housing market. Regionally, the South led the U.S. in the number of new homes sold, with the figure surging by 17.

One of the more strange points of contention in the world of real estate is open houses. How does something so simple result in so many different opinions? Today, I want to take you on a journey to discover the bottom line truth about open houses using some common sense - which frequently seems to be left out of the discussion - and 30 plus years of experience from a real estate professional (That’s me!). The Common Points About Open Houses The argument against open houses usually goes something like this. First, buyers today use the internet to browse for homes and narrow down their choices. One little nugget they like to use to support this claim is that a National Association of Realtors survey found that only 7% of buyers found the home they bought by visiting an open house. Next, and probably the most commonly used point by real estate agents in listing appointments is that open houses are really more about Realtors getting new clients at open houses and far less about selling the home. A line home selle

For almost a decade, the momentum of the real estate market has nearly guaranteed that if you list a home it will sell. The quality of your real estate agent could definitely help you make more - or less. But in the end, your home would sell.  Today, things are different. Sellers need to make sure that the key elements that influence the sale of their home are handled correctly. So lets talk about all those critical elements and what sellers need to do to make sure they are done well.   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/  

The data is clear, rent control does not work. Pushing for national rent control just makes a bad idea worse as the federal government attempts to impose a one size fits all policy for the wide variety of markets across the country. Unintended Consequences National rent control policies, while appearing to be a solution for the affordability crisis faced by renters in many cities, are actually a bad idea in practice. Such policies often come with unintended consequences that do more harm than good to both renters and landlords. Reduces New Construction One of the major drawbacks of rent control is that it discourages new construction. When landlords are not able to increase rent in response to market demand, there is less financial incentive for developers to build new rental properties. This can lead to a shortage of housing units and make the affordability crisis even worse. Additionally, many landlords may choose to convert their rental properties into condominiums or other forms of ownership, further r

It is hard not to see all the media outlets painting a tolerable picture of what to expect in 2023. Most of the mainstream folks point to a possible 4%-6% value drop over 2023. When this comes up, the favorite line seems to be "2023 is very different from 2007". What is interesting is if we actually take a look at the points they use to support this idea, every single one of them would tend to more accurately indicate that 2023 is more like 2007 than any of us would like. So in todays show, we are going to chat about these claims and run down why, at the very least, there is a good chance that 2023 could turn out to be nearly as bad as 2007 - if not worse!   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/  

  As the market shifts, inventories grows, sales prices drop and the the time it takes a home to sell stretches further out. It has been years since we have seen a market like this, and many of todays agents have never even seen a market like this. So now more than every, you need to make sure you are finding a real estate agent that can deliver the best results for you. So in todays show, lets chat about some real estate questions you can ask to try and pin down that right agent.   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/  

Dealing with big egos in a real estate transaction can be challenging, but it is important to remember that at the end of the day, the goal is to close the deal and have a successful transaction. Here are some tips on how to handle big egos in a real estate transaction: Keep the focus on the deal: It is easy to get caught up in personal egos, but it is important to remember that the main focus is on the real estate transaction. Try to keep the conversation centered on the details of the deal and avoid getting sidetracked by personal egos. Be professional: Even if the other party is acting unreasonably or letting their ego get in the way, it is important to remain professional. This means not getting into personal attacks or letting your own ego get in the way of finding a resolution. Find common ground: Look for areas where you can find common ground and focus on those rather than dwelling on differences. This can help to defuse tension and make it easier to find a solution that works for everyone

Determining how honest the people you are interacting with can be critical in protecting your interests. In real estate, where you are usually selling your greatest asset or buying your biggest asset - being able to root out the truth can save you thousands and a big pile of headaches. Today we will discuss the truth about lies, how to spot them and what to do about it when you do!   —————————————————————————————————————————————————— ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelbroker/ ➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebelbroker ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitelawre/