Picture Perfect San Diego

Jan 5th

Adrienne’s January San Diego Events Calendar: Art,Comedy,Whale Watching and Tons More…

Posted by Adrienne Dimeno | Leave A Comment »

LA JOLLA

Pilobolus, matinee
Saturday, 1/14/12, 2:00PM PST Birch North Park Theatre
San Diego, CA, USA

Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Friday, 1/13/12, 8:00PM PST MCASD Sherwood Auditorium
La Jolla, CA, USA

Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Septet
Friday, 1/27/12, 8:00PM PST Birch North Park Theatre
San Diego, CA, USA

SAN DIEGO

Holiday Wine Tour Food Walk

12/08/11 – 1/03/12

Eat and walk and drink through beautiful La Jolla. This 3-hour tour is guaranteed to please!

All-Inclusive Special Holiday Price: Only $65 per person

Meeting Place: Empress Hotel in the Village of La Jolla. (Free parking available.)

Guided tour includes:

Award-Winning Wine Tastings

VIP Gourmet Food Pairings e.g. seafood, pasta, sushi, and chocolate!

Laugh Out Proud Comedy Show w/Headliner Vicki Barbolak

Thursday, January 12, 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm Performing Arts
Martinis Above Fourth, San Diego, CA

California International Music and Art Festival

Sunday, January 15, 6:00 pm Music
Poway Center for the Performing Arts, Poway, CA

Michael Summers Show, “Seeking Balance”

Saturday, January 14, 6:00 pm – Sunday, January 15, 5:00 pm Visual Arts
Exclusive Collections Gallery, San Diego, CA

Sycuan’s Fantasy on Ice: Ice Skating at Horton Square Now thru 8th
Location: Downtown
Price: Children – $12
Adults – $14

Holiday Wine Tasting Dinner Tour Thur the 9th
La Jolla Wine Tours
Location: La Jolla
Price: $78 per person

Portrait of a Proud Community: Norman Baynard’s Logan Heights 1939-1985
Museum of San Diego History and Research Library
Price: $2-$6
Watercolor Exhibition”Starting Fresh” Jan 28th
San Diego Watercolor Society
Price: Free

Balboa Park Always lots to do! Click

Whale Watching all over coast!Fron Jan -april Click

Adrienne DiMeno GRI #01817433
858-353-8588
Real Living Life Styles

San Diego Ca 92130
www.92130carmelvalley.com
www.pictureperfectsandiego.com/author/adimeno
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It’s not if I can help it’s when!

I value Your Business And Support and always welcome your call. Your Referrals will always be appreciated and handled with the utmost of professionalism!

Nov 22nd

SSFG: FHA High Cost Area Loan Limits Increased

Posted by Russ Schreier | Leave A Comment »

Published by Alex Manessis and Russ Schreier of Samuel Scott Financial Group

President Obama signed into law Friday H.R. 2112, a bill that among other things has raised the mortgage limit on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. On October 1^st of this year, the lending limits for high cost areas was slashed, with the national maximum being reduced from $729,750 to $625,000 and San Diego County’s maximum also declining from $697,500 to $546,250. This bill will extend the pre-October 1^st high cost area limits from now through December 2013. This increased limit only applies to loans backed by the FHA, as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans were not included in this bill.

This raising of mortgage limits was done for those in high cost areas who simply cannot get a home for the same prices as those in other areas of the country. FHA was created to help low and middle income families acquire loans with very little down payment, encouraging home buying for those who can afford their monthly mortgage payment but otherwise might struggle to come up with the down payment. San Diego is a prime example of a high cost area. The national limit for FHA basic standard mortgages is now 271,050.00. A quick Zillow search of single family homes yielded 21,279 homes on the market in San Diego County. Of those only 9,844 were priced lower than the national limit, the majority being condos or apartments. San Diego is an expensive market to live in, therefore what is considered middle class housing here is atomically higher than in places such as the Midwest. This bill will remove the penalty of living in an expensive region of the country and provide opportunities to purchase great homes for the middle class. If one couples the FHA loans low down payments with the historically low interest rates, this bill will enable more middle class families to afford homes in the county.

This bill will be beneficial to San Diegans, as there will be far more homes eligible for FHA loans and refinancing. Another Zillow search for homes between the prices of $546,250 (previous limit) and $697,000(new limit) shows 1521 homes. This means that 1521 homes in San Diego are now eligible under the FHA programs that were previously ineligible. The FHA wants to encourage home buying, as it stimulates economic growth. With so many more eligible homes home buying should increase helping both our local and national economies after what has been a rough few years. Purchasing a home now while prices, down payments, and interest rates are low is an excellent investment in ones future, and the FHA can make this possible for you. If you are interested in learning more about FHA loans and would like to see if you qualify, you can start by contacting a

Samuel Scott Financial Group

loan professional.

The Time is Right: Take Advantage of Low Interest Rates and Buy that Home

Posted by Russ Schreier | Leave A Comment »

By Russ Schreier and Alex Manessis, Samuel Scott Financial Group

Everyone across the globe has had serious questions about the direction the economy is headed over the past 4 years. Many of the questions that first arose in 2007 and 2008 are still unanswered today. What is going to happen to the banks? Are my investments safe? What happened to Wall Street? Despite all this uncertainty, this might be the best time to buy a home in decades. Interest rates are extremely low, and the advantages of buying now outweigh the advantages of holding out for the lowest possible purchase price.

Interest Rates are at historic lows. Since 1972 the average rate on a home loan was 9%. Today if you were to obtain a loan from Freddie Mac for $500,000 you could get an interest rate of 4.5%. That is half average rate over the last four decades. (Don’t believe it? Take a look for yourself). That is worth repeating. HALF! What does this mean for the potential home buyer? Well to start, it will save the buyer a substantial amount of money on interest during the life of the loan. That current $500,000 loan from Freddie Mac would have a monthly payment of $2,533.43. If you were to obtain that same $500,000 loan at the average of 9% how much more would you spend a month? The monthly payment would be $4,023.11 or $1489.68 more than at today’s interest rate. Over the course of the loan one would save $536,284.80 in interest payments.

The counter argument to this is what if housing prices drop another ten percent? Well that home you intended to buy will drop in price by $62,500. That little “if” suddenly has become a big “IF”. Is it worth waiting on housing to prices to drop, which may or may not ever happen to save $62,500 when you could save over half a million dollars in interest? The simple answer is that although waiting could save you a small chunk of money in the present, you risk interest rates rising to what have been historical levels, causing you to pay out on a lot more money on interest over the course of the loan.

There are people out there willing to loan you money at low interest rates, even in these times of uncertain economic future. Take advantage of this and go out and purchase that dream home. Interest rates have never been more accommodating to buyers and likely have no where to go but up. Remember home loans are a long term agreement; would you rather save some money now upfront? Or a whole lot more money over the next 30 years? Make the best out of the current financial market, take advantage of the deals that come your way. You do not want to look back at 2011 fifteen or twenty years from now and say “I should have bought my home when interest rates were low,” every time you write that mortgage check out each month.

SSFG: Veterans Affairs Loans: Get the Word Out

Posted by Russ Schreier | Leave A Comment »

by Russ Schreier, Director of Sales at Samuel Scott Financial Group

Veterans Day is a few weeks away, but that does not mean we should wait to thank veterans of the United States Armed Forces for their service and sacrifices.

We all know at least one person who has served to protect the liberties that we all hold dearly in this country. But the reality is you probably know more than one veteran. They come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and professions. In fact, there are 22.8 million veterans in the United States and 253,000 in San Diego County! Roughly 1 out of 12 people you know is a veteran, and thus likely qualifies for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. Among those benefits is assistance in obtaining a home loan through the VA Home Loan Program.

Sadly, many veterans do not know all of the benefits of having a VA loan. One major benefit is that qualifying veterans in San Diego County can get a loan of up to $537,500 for zero down. What they might not know however, $537,500 is not the ceiling when it comes to the amount of money one can get from the VA. By simply putting some money down a qualifying veteran can receive much greater loan amounts. For example say there is a $1,000,000 home that a veteran is looking to purchase. If they were to put $115,625 down on the house (that is just 11.5 %!) they would be able to receive a VA loan for $884,375. Most jumbo loans today require a down payment of 20%. Imagine how beneficial it would be to this Veteran to save $84,375 on the down payment!

Another major advantage of the VA loan is its low interest rate of around 4% on a 30 year fixed. Let us again look at the veterans million dollar home. His monthly payment would be roughly $4222.14 a month. Compare this to an equivalent Jumbo loan of 5% with a monthly payment of $4747.52 a difference of $525.38. Over the life of the loan the difference is $189,137! To a veteran 1% might not sound like a huge difference, but it takes merely minutes to inform them of this simple benefit that can save them tens even hundreds of thousands dollars.

Now going through basic training, deploying oversees, facing life or death situations routinely, and serving our nation is a lot to ask of these young men in women. In return, the least we can do is aid them in settling down, starting a family, buying a home, or moving up to their dream home. We would all appreciate the help if we were in their shoes. According to the philosopher Francis Bacon “Knowledge is power.” Well if this is true we should provide veterans with the power to control their financial future by informing them of their VA benefits. If you are a veteran you can start by speaking with a Samuel Scott Financial Group loan professional or visiting our website (http://www.samuelscottfg.com ) to find out if you qualify and what type of paperwork you need to fill out.

If you are a real estate professional helping someone in their search for a home, ask them if they are a veteran and find out if they qualify for VA benefits. As previously mentioned 1 in 12 Americans is a veteran, thus the answer is going to be “Yes” a whole lot more often than you would think. You may not realize it, but that man who is looking for his retirement home might have served in the Air Force when he was 18. That mother of two young children served in Operation Iraqi freedom. They don’t maybe always fit the mold for what you think a veteran looks like, but that is what made their commitment and sacrifice so important. They are just everyday people who answered their call to duty. Now they are looking for a home and it is our duty to help them do so. After everything they have done for our nation, they deserve all the help we can give them.

Related Posts: Buyers, Home Loans, San Diego