Selling a Hollywood Hills Home

In a down market, whether you're selling a multi-million dollar mansion or a condo, pricing it well affects how long it sits on the market. When it's a buyers' market, time is of the essence, and the longer a house sits, the less it will eventually sell for. Especially if you have a high-quality property, don't be afraid to sandbag the listing price to garner more interest. Chances are the money you lose here will be less than if you listed it higher and subsequently reduced the price.

Tip #1: Proper Pricing

Economists, brokers and home sellers agree a mispriced home sits on the market longer, and eventually sells for less than a similar, correctly priced home. The same theory holds for trophy properties. Slightly lowballing a price upfront often results in a higher sales price, because it generates greater interest and more offers. It is also less likely to languish; when this happens, buyers wait, hoping its price will go further south. In a down market, that's a good way to go for houses that, in an up market, would have multiple offers.

Tip # 2: Employ An Internet Savvy Hollywood Hills Realtor
More often that not, realtors add enough value to the sale of your home to make up the 6% of the sale price they will receive in commission. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimates that three-quarters of home buyers start their searches online. The most important thing is to choose a realtor with online presence and who is familiar with your neighborhood. Search online on sites such as Craigslist.com or type in Hollywood Hills Realtor in Google.com. Pick a realtor with heavy internet presence. In a down market, a realtor with internet marketing knowledge becomes critical, because he or she knows how to market to not only local buyers but also to potentially thousands of buyers searching for a Hollywood Hills Real Estate Listings on the internet.

See Hollywood Hills Homes for sale in your area.

Diverging Jumbo Rates, should you take an ARM?

Jumbo Mortgage rates are highly sensitive to expectations for the U.S. economy.
When the economy is expected to sag, mortgage rates tend to fall
When the economy is expected to surge, mortgage rates tend to rise


Currently, the economy is expected to sag and surge in the later half of the year. I disagree but what we live with what the market gives us. This is why adjustable-rate jumbo loan mortgage rates are holding their ground as fixed-rate jumbo mortgage rates increase.

Fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages are not as interchangeable as in the past and it's mostly because the Federal Reserve's routine has created expectations of runaway inflation later this year.
The "Fool in the Shower" bit goes like this:
A fool gets in the shower and it's freezing cold
To get warm, he flips the hot water on to full blast
Before long, the water goes way past warm and into hot. It burns him.
The fool turns the water back to cold and repeats the process in reverse.

The Federal Reserve is following the same pattern. The economy showed signs of weakness (i.e. being cold) last year so the Fed took steps to warm it up. Since September 2007, the Federal Reserve has shaved 2.25% from the Fed Funds Rate. With each successive cut, though, the Fed is turning the proverbial water farther towards "hot". This makes it more likely that the economy will go from "ice cold" to "scalding hot" sometime later this year.


Overheated means inflation comes back and now investors are taking notice and a quarter of all jumbo mortgage loans are owned by foreign investors and they don't like our falling dollar.
The growing likelihood of inflation is now priced into longer-term mortgage rates. Inflation erodes the value of mortgage bonds so it's causing long-term mortgage rates to rise.
Meanwhile, short-term rates are still reflecting the short-term economic weakness to which the Fed is responding. In the near-term, the absence of inflation is holding rates low for a host of products, including:
The 1-year ARM
The 3-year ARM
The 5-year ARM

And that's where it ends. There is a increase right at the 7-year marker. The 7-year ARM along with the 10-year ARM and the fixed products are all priced for the Fool in the Shower bit, jacked higher for inflation and the eroded dollar. Of every client is different, you should match your time frame for the home with your mortgage as best as possible. With all the consumer choice comes enormous responsibility.

Two months ago, the spread between a fixed-rate mortgage and a shorter-term adjustable-rate mortgage was .125%. Today, the gap is 0.625%. We are currently advising clients to consider the 5Y and the 10Y jumbo loan interest only. We often advise to go interest only and max out all retirement accounts with the funds otherwise allocated to the mortgage principal.

For a customized proposal from a banker contact us anytime. Having a solid financing plan locked in allows you to work with a premier Hollywood Hills real estate agent of the Rivas Group to find a home or estate that provides a lifetime of happiness.