Interest Rates at Historic Lows…

I just learned from a long time acquaintance and mortgage broker that she offered clients of mine a rate of 4 5/8th percent on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage – I couldn’t believe my ears.  So I did a little research to try and understand the current lending climate:
Last Tuesday, the Fed slashed the Federal Funds Rate (the rate banks charge each other to lend money overnight) by .75% to the lowest target range in history of 0% to .25%. The Fed also lowered the Discount Rate (the rate at which banks can borrow directly from a Federal Reserve Bank) by .75% down to .50%. In response, home loan rates dropped to the lowest levels that have ever been seen.

With home loan rates at historic lows, there has never been a better time to examine your own home loan situation and plans for the future. Sometimes human nature drives people to be a little greedy and attempt to wait for even lower rates before acting…but the opportunity cost of missing the savings that could be benefited from right now – by waiting for something that may never happen – could quickly mount up into thousands of dollars.

Now is the perfect time to get in touch with your mortgage broker or banker. If you need help or a referral, just give me a call!

IRS Bean Counter: Great Way to Calculate your Withholdings

If you are thinking of buying a new home to take advantage of the historically low interest rates, take a moment to understand how your take-home pay may be affected by a change in withholdings:
Believe it or not, the IRS actually makes it easy to calculate!

The IRS offers a nifty IRS Bean Counter calculator for free, which lets you see how a change in withholding will affect your paycheck.

Take advantage of this calculator today to see how changes can impact your take-home pay.

Remember, before you make any changes, you want to be sure you are balancing the amounts carefully and correctly, so it’s always a good idea to check with your tax professional.  If you need help or a referral, just give me a call!

Property Pick of the Week

Our pick this week is a brand new listing on Sea Ranch Road, bordering Hope Ranch.  This gracious home with contemporary lines boasts over 2,000 sq.ft. and sits on a 1.8 acre lot nestled at the base of Campanil Hill.  Of course, the most stunning aspect of the property is the gorgeous ocean view, seen from almost every room in the 3 bedroom, 2 bath house.  The asking price is $1,995,000.

Earlier this year a property down the street, listed for $1,960,000, received multiple offers and closed at $2.3 million.  It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this new offering, which is superior in many ways.

If you would like to see this property, please give one of us a call.  We would be delighted to show it to you.

Property Pick of the Week #3

Yes, this is my third best buy of the week!  I wouldn’t have thrown in this third one except I think that it is a very, very great buy.  1379 Camino Meleno is 2422 sq. ft. on .83 acres with ocean and mountain views.   To top it off, it is in the Mountain View school district.  View properties this big, with views in Mountain View school do not come along that often, especially at the list price of $1,060,000.

Property Pick of the Week #2

I decided to post two property picks for this week as I couldn’t decide between this listing on Sierra Vista and the one I posted below on Picacho.  The interesting thing is that both properties are in Montecito.  Not sure if this is anything more than a coincidence, but we are seeing a bit of a slow down in activity there.

300 North Sierra Vista is quite a bargain and at 1,499,000 is less than half the price of Picacho.  One thing that might be scaring off potential buyers is that it is a short sale,  so anyone looking to offer on it must be ready for a long drawn out affair.  That being said,  how often can one find a 2000 + sq/ft home on over an acre in Cold Springs School are for a price like this?

Property Pick of the Week #1

While it might be hard for some people to believe that a home listed at $3,595,000 can be a best buy, 661 Picacho certainly fits the bill.  It is a 4 bedroom 3 bath home on a beautiful 1.14 acre parcel with great bones.   But what makes the home truly a great value is that it is on one of the most desirable streets in Montecito.  You are surrounded by true estate properties and it is not unusual to see homes on Pichaco sell for $5 – $12 million or more.  The interesting thing about this property is that it had multiple offers as soon as it hit the market, but for various reasons, none of the buyers where able to actually close.  Additionally, this is an estate sale and there may be some room to negotiate.