Doug Buenz
Real Estate Broker
Alain Pinel Realtors
(925) 463-2000
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I am a local Real Estate Broker with Alain Pinel Realtors serving the Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley area. I am an avid watcher of the local real estate market, as well as cultural and political events. But that is what I do, not who I am... » read more
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How low can they go? Pretty darn low. This week the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.94 percent, the lowest rate ever, Freddie Mac reported.
And the Associated Press reports that rates could fall even more because the Federal Reserve plans to reshuffle its portfolio of securities to try and lower long-term …
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After seven months of falling interest rates, this week marked the fifth straight week that rates on fixed mortgages surged. Mortgages are following the lead of long-term treasuries that are rising due to expectations of higher inflation ahead.
“Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 4.83 percent …
You might think there wouldn’t be a need in the affluent Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, or Danville area for a federal loan program that helps people purchase and repair fixer-uppers. While we may not have the older stock of homes that you see on the east coast, there are still many homes out …
I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) instituted new changes at the beginning this year regarding disclosures that home buyers and refinancing homeowners must file to obtain a loan. It was all intended to reduce shady loan practices and make …
What will the financial reform bill just signed into law by President Obama do for you as a home buyer or seller and when will it do it? Good questions! There are likely to be many as-for-now unforeseen consequences of this law since much of it states that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau …
I used to get excited about record low mortgage rates. Generally speaking, low interest rates help fuel the economy in general and prompt people to buy real estate in particular. But we have been bouncing along the historical low for mortgage rates for over a year now, and the general reaction seems to …
Seeing the words “as-is” is can conjure up some scary images. The thought of renovation and getting the money to pay for it can be daunting. Did you know that there has been an FHA program in place since 1978 that allows buyers to include renovation costs into their mortgage? It’s the …
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced new rules on Wednesday that will make it harder and more expensive for first time homebuyers to get an FHA backed loan. Some potential buyers will be priced out of the market altogether.
The new rules are designed to help the agency reduce the number of foreclosures …
New federal regulations went into place on January 1 requiring lenders to issue new Good Faith Estimates (GFE) regarding loan fees and closing costs. The lender is now required to provide estimates on lender related charges that are the same as or nearly the same as the actual fees charged at closing. There …
It used to be easy. Walk into a bank and ask for a home equity loan. The banker would give you a one page form to fill out, and hold a mirror up to your face. If you fogged it, you would walk out with a loan up to 100% of the …
What are the holidays without catching at least part of It’s a Wonderful Life, the timeless classic with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. (little known fact… the movie was a complete flop when it debuted in 1946. It is only later that it became quintessential holiday fare).
And you no doubt remember …
Now that our government has pledged almost a Trillion dollars to attempt to solve the continuing financial crisis, I thought it would be interesting to figure out what went wrong. Fortunately in the digital age we have access to an overwhelming amount of information that can be used to explain what the hell happened.
Check …
At the risk of stating the obvious, the current financial situation for banks and mortgage lenders is dicey is at best. Credit markets are tightening. Banks are so reluctant to lend money that many of them are not even lending money to other banks. The mortgage market is kind of like climbing …
The mortgage market continues to adjust to the turmoil in the credit markets. The trouble lies in the secondary mortgage market, where institutional investors purchase mortgage loans typically bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities. The yield that these investors demand is a function of perceived risk (how safe is the investment) and the typical …
