Category: Real Estate

AB832 and Its Impact to Landlords

Indeed a confusing period with the CA AB832. Yes we want to extend the tenant protection since many of them suffered losses from the Pandemic, and the AB832 is a great bill to offer government assistance. During the last whole year, many of the small landlord/buy n hold investors were hurting too. What started of being part of the retirement cash flow are either completely non-paying or under-paying. And they may have to file forbearance to get by. All of a sudden, it is an endless source of financial worries. Fortunately, AB832 covers these investors as well and it goes retroactively back to April 2020, and forward to 9/30/21. The only catch is, owner cannot apply on his/her own, need to apply along with the tenant.

Question arise in all sorts of situations which may be subject to interpretation and therefore very confusing on what is/isn’t allowed. Video has some possible moves landlord can make, but most are so tricky one would need legal advice to proceed. Safest is to wait till moratorium expires and then follow normal procedure. If that does not work for your situation, then seek legal advice. I can always be a good sounding board, but cannot provide legal advice.

To apply for assistance, along with your tenant, visit: https://housing.ca.gov/ (HousingIsKey website)

To see Governor Newsom announcement of AB832: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/06/28/governor-newsom-signs-nation-leading-rent-relief-program-for-low-income-tenants-eviction-moratorium-extension-additional-legislation/

To see AB832 bill text, see: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB832

And I always welcome your comment, like or subscription. Let me know what questions you have and I can chime in with what I know. Thx!

Michael.Chu@exprealty.com
Zen Realtor Serving Silicon Valley
Know anyone buying/selling/investing? Send them my way and I will reward you with a gift upon COE. (Or $1,000 donation to charity of your choice, in your name)

Vacant Property?

As unlikely in this heated market, there are still owners with vacant properties around the country. Here is a video pleading to those owners to take action so the renters and buyers can benefit, and generate either cash flow or cash liquidity for owners.

Cash Offer in SF Bay Area Explained

There are many benefits to a cash offer, but only for the right seller. Watch the video to find out the formula investor buyers uses to evaluate property, and what sellers may go through to either accept or reject the offer! Of course, use a realtor with good understanding of both sides to ensure entering and completing the purchase agreement!

Over 55? Disabled? Fire Victim? – Prop19 is Here

Find out what property tax relief just went into effect today (No April Fool) for a portion of Californians. In a nutshell, being able to move the lower property tax base to a new home provides relief as a buyer. Consult CAR site www.Prop19.car.org or your real estate attorney for details.

This legal change may encourage some seller to choose to move, and buy again, so potentially could increase some inventory and still allow the seller (now as buyer) to take advantage of the lowest interest rate seen in years. Spread the news to this group of homeowners and see if they would consider taking advantage of the new law. Please comment, like, share, and follow. Thanks,

Moratorium Extended – What it Means

Straight from NAR (National Association of Realtors), The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced today that it is extending its nationwide eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021.  Even though it is good news for renters, and mom-and-pop property owners, it is not a free ticket to not pay rent nor waives the eviction due to other reasons. And this also means that for the renters planning on using the moratorium, to have a good write up to provide to the landlord. And the landlord will need this declaration along with their own write up to protect themselves. The original article follows:

The order was put into place Sept. 4, 2020, but has been challenged in court across numerous states and localities in the months since. In addition to the court challenges, the National Association of REALTORS® has fought successfully for federal rental assistance—and will continue to advocate to ensure the moratorium doesn’t lead to a spiraling crisis for housing providers and tenants.

“NAR helped secured $25 billion in 2020 and another $21.55 billion earlier this month in federal rental assistance funding, which can be paid directly to property owners,” says Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer of NAR. “This was critical to averting a multifamily real estate crisis, as many of our nation’s housing providers are mom-and-pop operations. Our focus now turns to ensuring there is not just enough funding but also a smooth implementation of rental assistance while the various challenges to eviction bans work their way through the courts.”

Under the terms of the CDC order, residents must declare that they have pursued all appropriate government assistance; met certain income and employment requirements; and are using best efforts to make timely partial payments, among other qualifications. Today’s announcement expands the order to include people “who are confirmed to have, who have been exposed to, or who might have been exposed to COVID-19 and take reasonable precautions to spread the disease.”

Covered persons must now provide their housing provider with a copy of a signed declaration form stating that they meet the requirements to be a “covered person.”
 
As with previous CDC orders, property owners may still evict tenants due to criminal activity, damaging property, or for violating other contractual obligations.

“Rental assistance averted two crises—one for mom-and-pop property owners who did not have a reprieve from their bills and relied on their rental income and one for tenants who would have been responsible for months of back rent when the eviction moratoriums expired,” McGahn says. “We must continue to look for ways to protect tenants and property owners from further financial turmoil while ensuring housing in America remains safe and stable for decades to come.”
 Read the CDC order.
 Read NAR’s Coronavirus: Housing Provider FAQs.
 See all NAR resources related to COVID-19 at nar.realtor/coronavirus.
Please comment, like, share and follow. Thanks,

First Time Home Buying

Since home buying is the largest personal purchase for most people, the first time will be the most overwhelming.  You do want to go into a home buying experience with expert guidance to avoid any major issues and smooth out the impact of the minor ones.  To help new home buyers, here is just a non-exclusive list of things to look out for.  Happy house hunting!

1st Time Home Buyer Checklist

  • Cash purchase or financing?
    • Have you spoken to a lender recently?
    • Do you have a preapproval letter?
    • Have you kept up a good credit score?
    • Who can help you with down payment?  Did the transfer/gift letter season?
    • Special financing options for 1st time buyer
    • Less conventional financing
  • Do you know what type of property you want?
    • Hoa or no hoa?
    • Yard? Distance to work, family
    • Appreciation potential
    • What is tax deductible?
    • Neighborhood crime statistics
    • Age of property/maintenance budget
  • What’s market like today?
    • Seller market currently, multiple offers is the norm
    • How to make you stand out
      • How much above listing?
      • Escalation clause
      • Other methods
    • Write offer with inspection contingency
    • Offer negotiation (may need to accept counter offer)
    • When offer is accepted, more work starts
  • Buyer checklist/time table
    • Why is appraisal important
      • If higher than, its great; if its lower than purchase price, we have work to do
    • Other contractual/escrow obligations
      • Open escrow, order title report
      • Complete inspection within and determine if anything needs attention
      • Ensure all financial obligations met and collected all necessary disclosures
      • Close of Escrow date set
      • Verify repair work/title issue included in contract is completed and accepted(if specified)
      • Understanding closing statement and buyer expenses
      • Monitor close process until close date, obtaining signatures as required
  • Smooth Close/Key turnover/Celebrate
    • Post-close checklist

      Please comment, like, follow or share! Thanks,
Photo by Binyamin Mellish on Pexels.com