Zen's Blog

Motivated by falling home prices, buyers got moving  and pushed sales up 17 percent over last year, ending a 33-month homebuying slump in July. DataQuick reported that last month's sales jumped to 2,799 houses, condos and new residences, topping the July 2007 number by 408 units. The last time O....

In July, Orange County's unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent from a revised 5.3 percent in June. As local employers shed 10,000 jobs in July, the state's Employment Development Department said Friday. This is the highest unemployment rate since July 1995 for Orange County. The number of residen...

Here's your last chance to get some FREE Rock n' Roll in Rancho Santa Margarita.  The final free concert of the summer begins at 6pm this Sunday August 17th, 2008.  The Roling Stones tribute band, Jumping Jack Flsh will perform in Central Park at 30842 La Mirnada.  For more info see www.cityofrsm...

According to RealtyTrac, an Irvine-based company that tracks foreclosures nationwide, bank repossessions of homes in Orange County has jumped to 1,503 in July from 1,093 in June, a 37 percent increase. Such repossessions, also known as REOs (real-estate owned) in the trade, are running way ahead ...

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today said the Golden State will get more than $105 million to produce more affordable housing and support community development in the state. The money also goes to "down payment assistance to first time home bu...

The number of homes listed for sale continues to drop in many metropolitan areas, though supplies remain ample. In July, the supply of homes available for sale in 29 major metropolitan areas was down 0.5% from a month earlier, according to figures compiled by ZipRealty Inc., a real-estate brokera...

When working with your buyers, they may be shy of meeting all the financial requirements to purchase a home. Here are sources and strategies that may help. First off, consider seller financing. The use of seller financing-in which the seller agrees to take a promissory note from the buyers for th...

Lenders may be getting more responsive to short sales. The view of real estate professionals is mixed, with some saying yes and others saying no, depending on the lenders they work with and where they are. But one aspect of short sales that has proved troublesome across the board is compensation...

According to The Orange County Register, for the 22 buisness days ending June 15 2008, Orange County home sales decreased 0.6 percent. The median sales price fell 26.3 percent. The median is where half the homes sold for more and half for less. The types of homes that are selling along with the h...

Fannie Mac is making bold cutbacks that will send shock waves through the mortgage market, after posting a quaretly loss Friday that was three times larger than Wall Street had expected. The mortgage finance giant lost $821 million or $1.63 a share for the quarter that ended in June 30 2008. In o...