Credit Scares

Unless you are among those who are currently focused on the search for a new Costa Mesa house, this week’s Halloween celebration has probably captured a goodly bit of your attention. As Halloween night draws near, most other Costa Mesa residents find themselves preparing kids’ costumes, carving suitably horrifying jack o lanterns, stocking up on goodies for the onslaught of the costumed throngs, or, alternatively, making plans for going dark convincingly enough to avoid the wrath of the trick-or-treaters. But actively engaged house hunters can be forgiven if they’ve been preoccupied with their more urgent real estate pursuit.

That doesn’t seem fair, so in order to preserve the spirit of Halloween week for house buyers, here is a theme-appropriate…

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When it comes to Costa Mesa home loans, Ellie Mae has the inside scoop.

“Ellie” is a tech company that provides automation software to a large chunk of the mortgage finance industry, including Costa Mesa lenders. Since more than a third of all U.S. home loans flow through its systems, Ellie Mae gets a first-hand look at what’s going on in residential home sales and financing. Up there from its perch on the electronic balcony, it gets a very accurate picture of the action in real time.

Ellie issued a news release last Wednesday that contained some interesting tidbits that might benefit Costa Mesa homeowners or about-to-be homeowners. These releases are timely glimpses of the tides of U.S. home loan trends and specifics of what’s being…

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 Last Wednesday and Thursday’s stock market nosedive had analysts debating whether the Fed’s hike in interest rates was to blame. Since Costa Mesa mortgage rates are likely to also be affected, local selling-minded homeowners might well have begun to wonder whether we are headed into a less-than-favorable selling environment.

If so, would listing your home now make sense? Would holding out until lower Costa Mesa mortgage rates reappear be worth the wait? The benefit to potential buyers would be immediate: more affordable monthly payments for the same asking price.

Ultimately, the answer to that timing question will always be uncertain, but one clue can be found in the history of mortgage rates in recent decades. According to the Freddie…

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When it comes to selling your Costa Mesa home, kitchens get the Grand Prize for being the room that gets the most attention. But it’s increasingly possible for bathrooms to give them a run for the money.

Kitchens take first place because so much of a typical Costa Mesa family’s “together” time is spent there. Preparing and serving meals is, for most of us, a positive part of the day we look forward to. As a result, the quality and practical layout of a kitchen get a lot thorough going-over during showings and open houses. It’s amazing how frequently prospective buyers stop to chat with the showing agent right there in the kitchen. People just like kitchens—so having one that’s especially appealing is an indisputable plus for selling any Costa Mesa…

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