Northern California Real Estate BlogRecently posted or modified blog posts in the category - Homeownershttps://www.viewnorcalhomes.com/blog/Copyright ViewNorCalHomes.com2021-01-26T14:50:25-07:00tag:viewnorcalhomes.com,2012-09-20:12448How Can You Leverage Your Home to Build Wealth Over Time?
You can use your current home’s equity to build your real estate portfolio.<br />
With interest rates so low, demand so high, and the market value of homes rising so dramatically throughout 2020, a lot of people ask me whether they should sell their current home when they’re buying another property.
As always, the answer depends on your situation and whether you can qualify to buy that next home. It’s a question of whether you have enough equity and income to rent the home out and use that equity to put a down payment on another property. Thus, you’d be able to own two rental properties instead of needing to sell one house to buy another, and build wealth over time and retire early (if you’re earning enough passive income).
"It all starts with leveraging your current equity."
There are two ways to start building wealth this way. The first is to get a home equity line of credit (HELOC), which allows you to tap into your equity. The cool thing about a HELOC is that it’s not like an amortized mortgage. It involves simple interest that’s charged to your monthly balance—not compound interest that you have to pay back over time. As long as you have rental income coming in, you can use that to pay down the home equity line. Essentially, it’s like getting a free house because the second home you purchased is being paid off by the tenant(s), and your HELOC is being paid down by the tenant(s) in your first home. Basically, you’re leveraging one property to buy another.
This brings us to the second way of building wealth: the BRRRR Method (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat). You can do a cash-out refinance and pull out all the money you invested for a down payment to buy another property. You can recycle the same money to keep buying properties, and your cash-on-cash return is potentially infinite.
It all starts with leveraging your current equity, and with interest rates under 3%, the time to do this is now. The day before I recorded this video, I locked in a rate of 2.875%. Rates this low allow you to get the owner-occupied rate.
So if you’ve owned your home for long enough and have paid down your loan balance, now’s the time to utilize the money you can pull out of that home.
As always, if you have questions about buying, selling, or investing in real estate, feel free to call or email me. I’d love to speak with you.2021-01-20T16:18:00-07:002021-01-26T14:50:25-07:00Andrew Lambtag:viewnorcalhomes.com,2012-09-20:8195How to Knock 8 Years Off Your Home Loan
Here’s how you can turn your 30-year mortgage into a 22-year mortgage..
There’s a way you can shave eight years off the life of your mortgage, turning a 30-year mortgage into a 22-year mortgage.
The process is actually quite simple. Essentially, by making one extra payment each year over the life of your loan, you’ll knock off eight years of payments and additional interest from your mortgage total.
Following these tips can help you knock years of added interest off your mortgage.
Now, if you’re thinking that sending one extra payment per year isn’t as easy as I make it sound, there’s another way to do it: Just take your current monthly payment, divide it by 12, and then add that amount to each of your monthly payments. This should be more manageable than simply sending in a whole check every year. After all, you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time.
Another way you can accomplish this goal is to pay your mortgage bi-weekly. There are 52 weeks in a year, so if you pay every two weeks, that will come out to 26 payments a year. Because of the way our calendar is set up, you’ll actually get two extra half-payments this way, or one full payment, each year.
Following these tips can help you knock years of added interest off your mortgage. If you’d like more tips and tricks on how to save time, save money, and build wealth, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We hope to hear from you soon!2020-03-03T11:33:00-07:002020-03-09T09:29:17-07:00Andrew Lambtag:viewnorcalhomes.com,2012-09-20:3533Family Living: The Green Valley Neighborhood in Fairfield<img src="/blogphotos/thumb/968/3533-green-valley.jpg" />
As home values in the Bay Area continue to skyrocket; many retirees, empty-nesters and new millennial parents have begun searching outside of San Francisco, Contra Costa and Marin for their next home. The Green Valley Lake neighborhood, a community of 1,314 residents located in the city of Fairfield, is an option many have turned to in the recent years and, for those still looking, certainly worth considering. Recognized on <a href="https://www.viewnorcalhomes.com/NeighborhoodScout.com">NeighborhoodScout.com</a> as one of ‘The Best Neighborhoods in California,’ this unsuspecting community offers moderately priced homes to high-end estates in a quiet, safe community. The residents love the rural feel, spacious properties, excellent schools, countless local amenities and, as they are settled just a short hop to the Bay Area, wine country and the mountains—the Green Valley neighborhood seems to have it all. That is—if you can still find a home there.
Highly desirable indeed, the current vacancy rate is in this Fairfield neighborhood is 2.9%, which is a lower rate of vacancies than 87.8% of all neighborhoods in the U.S. This means that the housing supply is much lower than the current demand and, overall, it is a strong seller’s market. This also means, if you own a home in the area you are in a prime position to cash in big right now, as property values almost always increase when supply is lower than demand. And, for those still searching, if you find a home in Green Valley that you are able to buy—don’t hesitate!
The Green Valley neighborhood has earned the amazing distinction of having one of the highest rates of detached, single-family homes of any neighborhood in the U.S. With 97.9% of the residential real estate made up of free-standing single-family homes, there is a greater proportion of single-family homes here than in 96.8% of all neighborhoods in America. Although this is a varied community, with homes representing a wide range of time periods and styles, the majority of Green Valley real estate is made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to large (four, five or more bedroom) single-family homes and townhomes. The majority of listings are priced between $445,000 – $685,000 and have generous quarter-acre lots. When we compare these prices and square footage sizes to homes for sale in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, it’s already sounding too good to be true.
But it’s not just the size and price of homes that are bringing in new residents. This community has numerous amenities that all ages appreciate – plenty of local shopping, parks and entertainment options. Green Valley’s top-notch park system, public library, local spa, antiques stores and several high-rated restaurants (including local’s favorite Asian spot, Sticky Rice) are just a few of the many perks residents enjoy, and all just minutes from their doors! As you drive through ubiquitous gated communities, you’ll see locally-owned boutiques and European-influenced cafes tucked in and between the neighborhoods. Most major retailers and grocery stores are within a 15-minute drive (including Costco, Ross, Safeway and the list goes on!). Although the peaceful mountain views and sprawling estates will have you feeling like you’re in the country, all of the favorite places to eat and shop can be accessed just as quickly as in more urban areas. Win-win? I think so.
And, for those that aren’t quite ready to say ‘Goodbye forever!’ to big city life—you don’t have to here. Green Valley’s easy access to I-80 and being located right smack between San Francisco and Sacramento, residents are just an easy 45-minute drive to their respective metropolis. The other two freeways (also just five minutes from Green Valley) are I-680 headed towards Benicia and Highway 12 towards Suisun or Napa and, as most any Californian that is familiar with traffic in the bigger cities will agree, it really doesn’t get more convenient than this.
If you come to the area in search of the perfect place to raise children, you will rest easy as this neighborhood has been rated more family-friendly than 95.6% of neighborhoods in the entire state of California! Its combination of quality public schools, low crime rates and owner-occupied single-family homes makes this area the American dream incarnate and the perfect place where little ones are sure to thrive. There is also a high number of college-educated parents in the area which makes Green Valley an excellent choice for families with school-aged children. Highly educated executives and urban sophisticates looking for a community with likeminded neighbors will feel at-home here as well. And, with so many well-educated and affluent families nearby, new residents will find it easy to socialize and quickly develop a strong sense of community.
To learn more about buying or selling a property in this highly desirable neighborhood, please call me, Andrew Lamb, Fairfield’s Top Real Estate expert, at (707) 450-1453 and my team and I will be delighted to assist you. 2019-04-16T07:52:00-07:002019-04-16T12:38:49-07:00Andrew Lamb Teamtag:viewnorcalhomes.com,2012-09-20:3532The Standard: e-Edition - April 2019Welcome to my new publication, The Standard - The Real Estate Newspaper for Fairfield. Download the April issue <a href="https://indd.adobe.com/view/c7549e9f-47a4-4e04-bc8b-098597e1af46" target="_blank">here.</a>
<a href="https://indd.adobe.com/view/c7549e9f-47a4-4e04-bc8b-098597e1af46"><img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/968/image/LAMB_paper_pages.jpg" width="360" height="516" /></a>
In the April edition, I’ve included valuable information about important steps when you're selling & buying simultaneously in nearby markets, The Green Valley Neighborhood in Fairfield one of ‘The Best Neighborhoods in California’ , the latest housing market updates, and more.
I sincerely hope you enjoy my new monthly newsletter. If you’re interested in receiving a copy in your inbox, suscribe here. And don’t forget to pass this along to your family and friends!2019-04-11T07:35:00-07:002019-03-25T14:51:43-07:00Andrew Lamb Teamtag:viewnorcalhomes.com,2012-09-20:3338Featured Home – January 2019<img class="alignleft wp-image-25" src="http://our-community-news.com/andrewlamb/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2019/02/2317-Sanctuary.jpg" alt="" width="473" height="248" />
2317 Sanctuary Dr, Fairfield CA 94534 | $765,000
Welcome home to this beautiful Sanctuary subdivision property. Gorgeous hillside view from Master bedroom balcony and backyard.<br />This property features 7 bedrooms & 5 baths including a Junior Suite. Kitchen offers a lot of upgrades granite counter, large island, cabinets, backsplash. Stamped concrete front and back, pergola with fans and fresh landscaping. This is the house with plenty of room for everyone!
<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-24" src="http://our-community-news.com/andrewlamb/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2019/02/2317-Sanctuary-5.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="998" /> <img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-23" src="http://our-community-news.com/andrewlamb/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2019/02/2317-Sanctuary-4.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="998" /> <img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-22" src="http://our-community-news.com/andrewlamb/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2019/02/2317-Sanctuary-3.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="998" /> <img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-21" src="http://our-community-news.com/andrewlamb/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2019/02/2317-Sanctuary-2.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="998" />2019-02-26T01:00:00-07:002019-02-08T08:54:12-07:00Catherine Lambtag:viewnorcalhomes.com,2012-09-20:3337The Standard: e-Edition - January 2019Welcome to my new publication, The Standard - The Real Estate Newspaper for Fairfield. Download the January issue <a href="https://indd.adobe.com/view/0e82a642-a8f8-426c-a80d-73773e0ce5ad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a>
<a href="https://indd.adobe.com/view/0e82a642-a8f8-426c-a80d-73773e0ce5ad" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="wp-image-19 aligncenter" src="http://our-community-news.com/andrewlamb/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2019/02/LAMB_paper_pages.jpg" alt="" width="336" height="482" /></a>
In the January edition, I’ve included valuable information for anyone owning a home (or planning to own a home). Inside, I share my winning “seller’s market” pricing strategy, the latest housing market updates, and more.
I sincerely hope you enjoy my new monthly newsletter. If you’re interested in receiving a copy in your inbox, suscribe here. And don’t forget to pass this along to your family and friends!2019-02-20T01:00:00-07:002019-02-08T08:52:49-07:00Catherine Lamb