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Simple Ways to Make Your House Smell Like the Holidays

Simple Ways To Make Your House Smell Like The Holidays

Several behavioral studies have demonstrated that smells trigger more vivid emotional memories and are better at inducing that feeling of “being brought back in time” than images. Never is that more apparent than during the holiday season.   Winter holidays would not be the same without the warm, cozy scents of the season.  How can you incorporate this memory inducing phenomenon? Here are a few suggestions from the experts:

  1. Fresh greenery:  Wreaths, garlands and arrangements filled with winter foliage.  You can add to your sensory experience by adding sprigs of sage, rosemary or pine into your centerpieces at the table.
  2. Make pomander balls:  These are citrus fruits pierced by whole cloves, creating a great smelling decoration.  They are believed by some to bring strength and fortune…something we can use during the holidays!  To make these, use any firm citrus such as oranges. Carve a design into the skin of the fruit using a vegetable peeler.  Poke a row of holes into the fruit with a toothpick to make you design. Push the cloves into the holes and place the arrangement in a bowl to be used as a centerpiece.
  3. Light a scented candle:  This a simple way to bring home a sense of the holidays.  Choose a favorite scent and keep it consistent throughout the house…even the bathroom!  
  4. Simmer a pot:  A quick, easy way to fill your home with delightful seasonal scents is to simmer a pot with water (or use a slow cooker) and fill it with orange or apple peels, cranberries, nutmeg, cloves,  and/or a stick of cinnamon.
  5. Bake some treats:  There is nothing like the delicious smells of gingerbread, apple pie, or sugar cookies baking in the oven.
  6. Essential oils:  Add essential oils to a bowl of pinecones.  Unlike burning candles, essential oils are safe to use round the clock and provide a continuous mood-enhancing aroma. 

Have a memory-filled holiday season enhanced by the many scents of pine, cinnamon, cranberry, and gingerbread.  And enjoy with friends and family! 

Financing From Long-Time Lenders

Financing From Long Time Lenders

You no longer need to worry about having unexpected charges added to closing costs or being “turned down elsewhere” at the last moment!  You can trust The Guys in the White Hats to be honest with your loan, from start to finish. 

And for someone who just missed qualifying for conventional financing, take advantage of our new Alt-A Hard Money program with rates as low as 6%*. 

Call today 707-523-2099 or email back with any questions or scenarios.  We will let you know quickly how we can help!

Recently Funded Loans

Location:  Napa, Napa County
Why Came To Us: Had difficult to prove income and was self employed so not having success with other lending institutions. 
Loan Program: Non-Owner-Occupied property, cash-out for business purpose.
Loan Size: $525,000 with 66% LTV
Days To Finish: 2

Location:  Murrieta, Riverside County
Why Came To Us: Had a couple of late payments on mortgages so wasn’t qualifying for financing with others. Needed additional cash for property fix-ups and this issue does not conflict with our finance requirements. 
Loan Program: Investment property refinance with cash out. 
Loan Size: $650,000 with 64% LTV
Days To Finish: 17

Location:  Geyserville, Sonoma County
Why Came To Us: Owned multiple properties with debt-to-income ratio in question with other lenders, so taking too long for financing. 
Loan Program: Non-Owner-Occupied property, cash-out for business purpose. 
Loan Size: $450,000 with 46% LTV
Days To Finish: 20

Location:  Apple Valley, San Bernardino County
Why Came To Us: Had credit issues and wanted to do debt consolidation to improve scores
Loan Program: Primary Residence Refinance
Loan Size: $235,000 with 67% LTV
Days To Finish: 19

 

*APR for this rate based on a $200,000 first mortgage is 6.31%. 

Taking the Fear Out of Home Buying

Taking The Fear Out Of Home Buying

The present state of the real estate market is classified as a “Seller’s Market”.  That alone is enough to frighten any potential home buyer. Add to that a first-time buyer’s anxiety and you have every reason for “buyer’s paralysis”.  It doesn’t need to be that way, though. With a well thought out plan, a trusted realtor, and a savvy mortgage broker anyone, even a first-timer, can find their dream home without losing their mind.  

Here are five tips included in a recent Realtor.com’s article:

#1:. Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Before You Start Your Search. 

Understanding your budget is critical to a satisfactory search.  The last thing you want to do is fall in love with a home that is out of your price range.

#2:  Know the Difference Between Your Must-Haves and Would-Like-To-Haves. 

Before you start your search, list and qualify all your “needs” and “wants” and “absolutely must haves”.  This list will help you stay focused on what is important as you view properties.

#3: Research and Choose a Neighborhood Where You Want to Live.

Take a test drive of the neighborhood you are considering.  It is wise to do this during commute time and in the evenings to see how much time it takes to get to school and work.  Check out the amenities and the school district.

#4: Pick a House Style You Love and Stick to It. 

Not every style home is a fit for every family.  Placement and number of bedrooms become critical in families with children.  

#5: Document Your Home Visits. 

It is a good idea to take pictures as you tour homes, because as you see many homes, the houses may begin to blur together.  Keeping notes on what you liked and didn’t like about each home can be helpful.

After you find the home of your dreams, and you are looking for a trusted mortgage lender, give Sun Pacific Mortgage a call at 707-523-2099.  We are a Hard Money Lender and we have alternative finance programs for those who are looking for stronger purchase offers with all cash or fast closes. We also can help those who don’t quite qualify for a conventional loan.  We have helped thousands over the past 31 years, and we would be happy to help you too.

Furniture Arrangement Matters

Furniture Arrangement Matters

It is important to consider the use of the space when designing furniture placement in a home. Be it staging a house to sell quicker or catch a higher purchase price; How about setting up one’s home for better comfort and entertainment. 

Furniture makes the room, but the placement of the furniture matters just as much as the individual pieces.  Placement sets the mood of the room and signals the overall tone. To state the obvious, too many pieces of furniture in a room can cause the layout to feel cramped.  For instance, if when entering a room, you immediately walk into the back of a chair or sofa, the space will feel closed off and uninviting. Each piece of furniture should have its own space to breathe.

Pathways within a room should feel natural and provide the best flow within the room as well as between rooms.  Space between the sofa and coffee table, as well as the sofa and an accent table, should allow room to walk around. This placement will make the room feel much lighter.

Strategic placement of seating in the TV room is paramount for optimal viewing. With that in mind, place your couch parallel to the TV and angle the side chairs on each end with a table available for drinks and food.  

Balancing the weight in the room is an easy way to create visual flow.  Too many chunky pieces (e.g. sofas) need a more delicate coffee table to help the room from becoming too heavy.  Pops of color and similar shapes are other ways to tie together the look of a room.

In the bedroom it is best to focus on maximizing comfort and functionality.  For instance, it should be easy to get in and out of the bed, even in the middle of the night, without stubbing your toe on the dresser.  Additionally, there must be enough space to fully open dresser drawers.  

The dining room should have enough space to circulate around the table comfortable for food and plate delivery.  And there should be enough space to get in and out of chairs comfortably.

Measuring your space before purchasing a new piece of furniture is advisable in order to save yourself heartache and money.  Otherwise, that sofa you fell in love with, in the store may become a decision you regret for a long time!

 

Smart Home Gadgets to Increase Your Rental’s Appeal

Smart Home Gadgets To Increase Your Rental’s Appeal

If you are looking to upgrade your rental property without spending a fortune, here are some high-to-moderate tech improvements you can implement that can appeal to potential renters: 

  • Smart Door Locks-$200:  These allow the renter to remotely lock and unlock the doors with a mobile app allowing contractors to access the property without a key.  It also records who enters the property when. 
  • Smart Thermostats-$200:  The most important benefit of this improvement is the potential to save energy when no one is home.  They are also controllable by a smartphone. (example: Nest)
  • Smart Security System-$200:  These systems allow you to monitor what’s going on at home from anywhere.  You can also set up alerts to notify you if motion or sound is detected. (example:  Canary)
  • Smart Smoke & CO Detectors-$100:  False alarms can be silenced through your mobile app.  This feature is especially appreciated when you burn dinner, and your smoke alarm shrilly announces it to the entire neighborhood.  Low battery chirps can be controlled, too. 

 

These suggestions can also be implemented in your own home to simplify your life and add a sense of security.  

If you want more information on these gadgets see:   https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2016-07-07-landlords-invest-smart-home-tech7-gadgets

What Are Buyers Looking for in Homes Today?

What Are Buyers Looking For In Homes Today 1

Sellers are always curious about what features will make their home stand out to possible buyers.  Based on a recent survey conducted by realtor.com, Millennials are more interested in a big backyard than air conditioning.  Other findings included:

  • Updated kitchens with new appliances are more important than updated bathrooms.  Most people surveyed ranked updated kitchens in their top three features.
  • Some results were skewed one way or the other dependent on the age of the buyer.  For instance, Millennials, who are just starting families, prefer a larger yard, while the Silent Generation (72 years and older) prefer an updated kitchen.
  • Boomers were more interested in the community around the property, while the Silent Generation wanted to be close to health facilities.
  • Millennials also placed top schools high on their wish list.
  • All groups ranked quality grocery stores near the top of their list.

Millennials had several definite “don’t care about” items on their list:

  • They don’t want “fussy” landscapes.  With family time at a premium, they are looking for easy to maintain outdoor space.
  • This group of buyers enjoy cooking and eating in their kitchen and consider the formal dining room an unnecessary room.
  • Millennials want wide-open spaces inside their home, no more mapped out floor plans. They are looking for multifunctional rooms.
  • Millennials are moving away from carpeting in favor of bare floors with statement rugs.  They consider this type of floor covering pet-friendly and childproof.
  • Since Millennials are more attached to their digital world, a media room with a large TV and even surround sound is more appealing to them than “game rooms”.  

Keeping these surveys in mind before you list may help move your property  faster than your competition.  

Recently Funded – Scary Good!

Recently Funded – Scary Good

Getting approval for a home loan or refinance does not have to be painful – or scary!

With our new Alt-A Hard Money program, you can get rates as low as *6%, fast approvals and many loans funded in less than 1 week.

If you or a client is trying to get a loan, give us a call at 707-523-2099 and we will show you how getting a home loan can be less scary!

Recently Funded Through Our Office:

Location:  Santa Rosa, Sonoma County
Loan Size: $882,500 with 61% LTV
Days To Finish: 17
Program: Non-Owner Purchase
Scenario: Was looking for a stronger purchase offer, with short closing date and no loan contingency, which we could offer.

Location:  Covina, Los Angeles County
Loan Size: $455,000 with 62% LTV
Days To Finish: 11
Program: Primary Residence Temporary Refinance
Scenario:  Borrower had poor credit and wanted to consolidate debt on high rate credit cards and some other overdue bills.

Location:  Vallejo, Solano County
Loan Size: $560,000 with 70% LTV
Days To Finish: 15
Program: Non-Owner Occupied Business Purpose Refinance
Scenario: Difficult to prove income.  Looking for cash-out to get capital for business.

Location:  LA, Los Angeles County
Loan Size: $382,000 with 61% LTV
Days To Finish: 18
Program: Primary Residence Temporary Refinance
Scenario: Other Lending institution was unable to carry through on prior loan approval so got turned down at the last minute due to question about debt to income ratio.  

Landscaping 101: Blunders and Remedies

Landscaping 101 Blunders And Remedies

Landscaping can be an expensive item on one’s household budget.  Making mistakes can be costly and disappointing. Here is a list of some factors to consider that can assist getting a greater yield on your investment:

  • Improper Plant Placement:  Sunlight and exposure are extremely important to the health of any plant.  You need to be aware of how big the plant will get. Check the tag on your plant or ask advice from your neighborhood nursery. 
  • Trees:  One of the quickest ways to kill a tree is to plant it too far into the ground. This is the surest way to encourage root rot. The hole should be the size of the root ball.
  • Plant Like a Painting:  Place your containers where you want them, and then go inside and look through your window to see what they’ll look like before you plant.  It should look like a painting framed by your window.
  • Curb Appeal:  Instead of putting your energy and money into the backyard, which many homeowners do, improving the front of the house where first impressions are made could be a better use of your funds.  Three simple improvements go a long way: paint the front door, keep the grass trimmed, and plant colorful flowers.
  • Make a Plan:  Buying plants without a plan can be tempting, but very expensive.  Before setting out to the nursery, decide on a color palette that you would like.  Consider the color of your house and then choose one color that really frames it.  

 

Landscaping can be 30% more expensive than any other type of home improvement project.  There is always a lot of sticker shock at the nursery. We tend to think, “It’s just a couple of plants.”  When we are faced with the total bill for the wagon load of beauties we have chosen, we realize we just blew the entire budget!   Avoid unnecessary do-overs or “buyer’s remorse” by doing your research before you go to the garden center. 

Sun Pacific Mortgage Offers New & Unique Alt-A Hard Money Program

Sun Pacific Mortgage Offers New Unique Alt A Hard Money Program

We have been a Money Lender for over 3 decades and have recently begun offering a new type of loan Program for the many home buyers and borrowers who are turned down elsewhere for a real estate loan: an Alt-A Hard Money Program!

We are located in Santa Rosa (Northern California) and are licensed for lending throughout the state. This one of a kind Alt-A Hard Money loan is the perfect solution for a home buyer or borrower who just cannot get approved for a home loan, by another conventional or traditional lending institution.  They miss qualifying by a slim margin; In other words, they are almost qualified for a standard bank loan but not quite. 

Here at Sun Pacific Mortgage, this Alt-A Hard Money loan provide the solution to those who want to buy a home or refinance but get told “no”.  These typically have rates from *6-8% – which is considerably lower than the average Hard Money rates. This program is for borrowers and home buyers with a credit score of 640 or higher, a 35% or more down payment, and on a property in good shape and in a good neighborhood. Many borrowers with this type of loan will end up refinancing in a year or two when their credit improves or the other disqualifying circumstance(s) resolves. 

Sun Pacific Founder, Owner, states “Because of the demand from both borrowers and Investors, we have begun offering this new loan, in addition to our traditional Hard Money Loan Programs. We have many Investors who are interested in these types of loans. For borrowers who are just shy of qualifying for “A” paper, you can quickly get approved for this lower-rate Alt-A Hard Money Program. And we can turn these loans around quickly, in 2 weeks or less.”

He continued, “Just recently we funded a loan. A real estate agent called with a rush request from her home buyer:  He needed a $599,000 short term loan to buy an investment property in Mill Valley.  His current lending institution was confused by his company being the buyer so was not approving the loan. His credit was over 750, he had a good down payment allowing for 59% loan-to-value, he made great monthly income and had a lot of other real estate assets as well as excess funds in the bank. He was a perfect borrower. Except he had to wait too long due to unnecessary confusions from his lender, so now he needed fast loan performance.  This is where we stepped in with our Alt-A Hard Money Loan program with a 6%* rate and had his loan funded in just under 1 week!”.

Our family company was founded in Sonoma County in January 1988, to provide honest real estate transactions and alternative financing to the community.  To this day it is still family owned and operated. 

We offer their traditional Hard Money Loan Programs and Alt-A Hard Money for real estate needs throughout all of California. From the moment the company started, we have specialized in borrowers and home buyers who were “turned down elsewhere”.  This financing is known as Hard Money or Private Money and is our specialty. Such loans are funded by individuals who live locally, therefore there are less qualifications and it is faster to get the funds – unlike other lending institutions which require much more qualifications and require 30-90 days to funding. 

Our website can be seen at https://www.sunpacificmortgage.com/ or we can be reached at (702) 523-2099.  We stand ready to get help you with a Hard Money loan where others turn you or a client down!

 

*APR for this rate based on a $200,000 first mortgage is 6.31%

Are Bay Area Real Estate Statistics Fluctuating?

Have you been wondering what happened in the real estate market last month?  Below find some interesting facts regarding average sales prices for single family homes that might either surprise you or confirm your suspicions:

  • San Francisco: $1,840,343.  Down $126,907 from July
  • Menlo Park:  $2,744,629.  Up $159,895 from July
  • Foster City: $1,900,846.  Down $29,862 from July
  • Belmont:  $1,755,391. Down $29,784 from July
  • San Carlos: $2,223,333. Up $18,162 from July
  • San Mateo:  $1,738,810. Up $14,421 from July
  • Burlingame: $2,691,071. Up $27,759 from July

In general, the number of homes for sales fell, for example in San Francisco 509 homes sold in July 2019 and 406 sold in August 2019.  Likewise, the current inventory of active homes for sale fell slightly from 722 in July to 719 in August.

On the other hand, several agencies believe homes sales will increase steadily over the next year. If you’re a homeowner who has considered selling your house, now may be the best time to put it on the market.  Below is a chart showing their predictions:

Are Bay Area Real Estate Statistics Fluctuating


Rest assured that there does not seem to be any big decline in real estate values soon according to these trusted prognosticators. 

Bottom Line:   Playing the waiting game may not be the best strategy if you are planning to sell or to buy in the near future.

If you need an alternative approach to mortgage financing, give Sun Pacific Mortgage a call at 707-523-2099.  We have a toolbox full of creative financing for those who do not quite qualify for a conventional loan.

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