Great news for the Palm Springs desert area! Several airlines have added new non-stop flights from major cities (in addition to the list below), making travel to this desert resort area even easier. Click the following link to see the added flights): visitpalmsprings.com

Palm Springs International Airport Seasonal Expansion

This local real estate market continues to offer extraordinary value, made even more attractive by historically low interest rates.

Please contact us @:

love@palmspringsgreathomes.com
www.facebook.com/loveofthedesert
www.palmspringsgreathomes.com

Harsh winter has snowbirds seeking warmth

More direct flights from WestJet

Strong Canadian housing market

Valley home prices often offer extraordinary value

Insurance fees, other costs lower than East Coast

First-time buyers purchasing before Bank of Canada raises interest rates

Investment properties provide rental income

Potential increase in local vacation rental rates

A search by the Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors staff showed 1,329 Canadian buyers and another 98 purchasers from other countries acquired homes or condos over the past year, based on a tally of those who registered international addresses. 

San Diego-based DataQuick Information Systems noted cash purchases accounted for 30.5 percent of home sales in Southern California last month, up from a 10-month average of 13.3 percent. Absentee buyers — mostly of second-home purchasers and investors — bought 26percent of homes, DataQuick reported.

• Challenges and opportunities
• Various ways to own real estate in the US
• Pros and cons of the various ownership methods
• Income tax implications and savings
• Income tax and other filing requirements
• Nonresident US estate tax and why it is usually not a problem
• US probate and ways to avoid it
• Financing options
• Resources for buying real estate

Check out the Desert Sun story this morning about The Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism now participating on Foursquare.com - http://bit.ly/hp8CBD.

To clarify, the Bureau apparently has a list of 600 local vendors using Foursquare at its office rather than on its Foursquare page, and its page is actually Palm Springs Tourism Center rather than PalmSpringsCA.

It is great to see local businesses making use of social media and the creation of a Palm Springs group of vendors benefits everybody. Follow us on this blog and our primary blog (www.lovepalmspringshomes.com) to see how we creatively bring this marketing potential to reality through extensive use and expert understanding of the full possibilities of social media.

Hey, while you're on Foursquare, please "Friend" me (Stephen Love, Rancho Mirage) and also don't forget to Check in at Love of the Desert c/o Windermere Real Estate, Rancho Mirage!

Barron's list of Top 15 Second-Home destinations includes Palm Springs area among best resort areas to buy luxury property! Click on link for story.

Greater Palm Springs area makes the cut ! Click on the Article. If you're here for the BNP Tennis Tournament take the time and check out some of the desert's real estate values. You will be pleasantly surprised.

5 Real Estate Scams You Need to Know About

Don't be duped by mortgage fraud. Here are a few common scams and the red flags you should look for in a transaction.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey | August 2010

 

Mortgage fraud is pervasive: An estimated $4 billion to $6 billion in annual losses result from mortgage fraud, according to FBI reports. “An entire community can be damaged by mortgage fraud,” says Rachel Dollar, a lawyer from Santa Rosa, Calif., and editor of the Mortgage Fraud Blog. Mortgage fraud can lead to a spike in foreclosures, home values plummeting, and lenders raising their rates and fees to recover losses.

 

The crimes are often complex, involving several parties and occurring over multiple transactions. To protect you and your clients, educate yourself about mortgage fraud and be on guard for any warning signs in a transaction. You can start by reviewing these five scams, and then test your knowledge by taking our Mortgage Fraud Quiz.

 

 

1. The Foreclosure Rescue Scheme

 

The Scam: “Rescuers” promise cash-strapped home owners that they can save their home from foreclosure. The rescue, which involves paying upfront fees, can take multiple forms, such as the perpetrator obtaining a new loan on behalf of the owner or by having the owner sign over the home’s deed and then rent the home until they can repurchase it. Eventually, the home owner loses the home, either to foreclosure or the fictitious rescue company.

 

Red Flags: With foreclosure rescue programs, borrowers are often advised to sign over the title of their house to a third party, become renters of their home, not contact their lender, or send mortgage payments to a third party, according to Fannie Mae, which provides fact sheets on mortgage fraud.

 

 

2. Loan Documentation Fraud

 

The Scam: This fraud involves numerous schemes in which a borrower provides inaccurate financial information — such as about their income, assets, and liabilities — or employment status in order to qualify for a loan with lower rates and more favorable terms. Occupancy fraud is one growing area: Borrowers say they plan to live in the property when they actually intend to rent it.

 

Red Flags: Documentation may raise suspicion if the employer’s address is shown as a post office box, accumulation of assets compared to the person’s income appears too high or low, the new house is too small to accommodate occupants, the person has no credit history, or the application is unsigned or undated, according to Fannie Mae.

 

 

3. Appraisal Fraud

 

The Scam: A faulty appraisal — saying a property is worth more than what it really is — is connected to many types of mortgage fraud. It entails manipulating or overstating comparables, market values, or property characteristics in order to obtain a higher appraisal. The higher property appraisal, which generates false equity, is done by falsifying an appraisal document or using an appraiser accomplice to obtain the higher value.

 

Red Flags: Be skeptical of appraisals that are dated prior to the sales contract, list comparable sales that do not contain similarities to the property or are outside the neighborhood, the owner is not the seller listed on the contract or the title, or a third party participating in the transaction orders the appraisal, Freddie Mac warns.

 

 

4. Illegal Property Flipping

 

The Scam: This entails purchasing properties and reselling them at inflated prices. These scams usually involve faulty appraisals and inaccurate loan documents. The property is then refinanced or resold immediately after purchase for an inflated value. The home is purchased at a higher price, often by straw buyers working with the “flipper,” and eventually falls into foreclosure. 

 

Red Flags: Some key things to look for are rapid refinancing of a property; the seller recently having acquired the title or acquiring the title concurrent with the transaction; an appraisal that comes in too high; a property that was recently in foreclosure being purchased at a much lower price than its sales price; or the owner listed on the appraisal and title not matching the seller on the sales contract, according to Fannie Mae.

 

 

5. Short Sales Schemes

 

The Scam: Borrowers owe more than the current value of their home so they fake financial hardship and no longer make their mortgage payments. An accomplice of the borrower then submits a low offer to purchase the property in a short sale agreement. The lender agrees to the short sale, unaware that it was premeditated. The property, after being purchased at the reduced price, is then often resold at the home’s actual value for profit.

 

Red Flags: The borrower suddenly defaults on the mortgage with no workout discussions with the lender, an immediate offer is made to a lender at a short sale price, the short sale offer is less than current market value, or a cash back is offered at closing to the delinquent borrower (disguised as “repairs” or other payouts, for example) and is not disclosed to the lender, according to Fannie Mae.

 

You can report instances of suspected mortgage fraud to Stopfraud.gov.

 

 

Learn More: Take the Mortgage Fraud Quiz >

Have a look at this link: http://www.slideshare.net/StephenLove/grant-deed-scam

Some unscrupulous people are preying upon the uniformed by soliciting payment for Grand Deeds that are available gratis. Riverside County has been one of the main targets for this fraudulent campaign. Be warned and please contact us (http://www.palmspringsgreathomes.com or email love@palmspringsgreathomes.com) for help or information about how to obtain your Grant Deed for free.

You have been hearing from us about our new Facebook City Group Pages for the Palm Springs area. Palm Springs: Love of the Desert (http://bit.ly/apOwQN) is accompanied by Facebook Groups for its sister cities, searchable slightly differently as "Love of the Desert: (City Name) for Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio.

As you know, we are in the process of inviting local residents to be video interviewed (3 minute segments) and featured on our "Love of the Desert TV" channel, distributed to many Internet video outlets, including You Tube, Vimeo, Viddler and Daily Motion, among others. Please contact us at love@palmspringsgreathomes.com if you are a local entrepreneur, business owner, professional or just plain interesting.

You've also heard us talking a lot lately about our inclusion of www.foursquare.com in our Facebook City Groups. Have a look at this article by Clement Yeung published by Social Media Examiner on March 16, 2010. Geo-tagging is a very effective way to drive traffic to business. Foursquare has combined geo-tagging in a very compelling game application that provides rewards from businesses to the business clientele. And friends can check in from locations and report on the peeps, menu, action, etc. The customer also enjoys making her discovery of the business public and becoming the "Mayor" or other leading friend, which in turn can be parlayed to more recognition.

For more information and to discuss scheduling an interview, please contact us: love@palmspringsgreathomes.com

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Home sales in the Coachella Valley rose 22 percent while the median price jumped 19 percent in January, proving the area to be more resilient as sales sputtered across California.

That was all good news compared to the state. California's 27,858 sales of new and resale homes and condominiums were down 5.4 percent compared to January 2009.

The valley's median home sales price was $215,000 for all homes and condominiums combined in January. That reflected a 19.4 percent gain compared to the 180,000 in January 2009.

One home in Palm Desert sold for $7.5 million.

In the Coachella Valley, MDA DataQuick reported 748 total sales.

Condominiums led the way, posting 152 percent sales gains in January over the same month last year with 197 sales at the median price of $236,000.

Resale home activity was up nearly 4 percent with 513 sales at a median price of $198,000, according to DataQuick, the nationwide real estate monitoring firm.

New home sales fell 5 percent, with just 38 sales closing escrow that month. The new home sales median was reported to be $259,750, nearly 14 percent less than the median in January 2009.

Greg Berkemer, executive vice president of California Desert Association of Realtors, said sales data collected from Multiple Listing Service sales shows that existing home and condo sales rose by 51 percent from a year ago.

But because the inventory has remained flat for the past three months hovering at 8,100 properties it appears that even with increased sales, a replacement supply of new listings are coming onto the market. The steady supply continues to put downward pressure on pricing, he said.

It suggests that distressed properties and low-cost inland homes, such as those in the Coachella Valley, are grabbing the attention of buyers.

DataQuick reported that 44 percent of the existing homes sold in January in Southern California had been foreclosed on during the past year.

That was up from 40.8 percent in December, but down from 58.2 percent in January a year ago.

Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent last February.

The January stats underscore just how atypical this market remains. A huge chunk of what's selling is still distressed,'' MDA DataQuick president John Walsh said in a statement.

Investors and first-time buyers continue to dominate many areas, while the move-up market has yet to kick in.

For Riverside County, MDA DataQuick reported a 4.8 percent drop in year-over- year sales, from 3,320 in January 2009 down to 3,162. The median remained at $195,000.

The obtainable value of Palm Springs area real estate is nothing short of amazing. Have a look at our listings on our website for examples (or search the entire desert area MLS from our site).This is especially striking when compared to prices in cities form which people come to this area (Los Angeles, Seattle, Calgary, Minneapolis, etc).

Here's another in a series of local stories (The Desert Sun) that offer empirical proof that the Palm Springs area real estate market is rebounding. Now is the time to buy and sell homes in the Coachella valley. If you're waiting for the market to hit bottom...you've missed it!

Also have a look at the relevant, important information at the following link: http://bit.ly/bSY6rN (copy and paste to your browser).

Contact us at: love@palmspringsgreathomes.com to discuss.

Workshops

• Back to Full Listing

Cross-Border Living Workshop

2/2/2010

Location

Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa
41000 Bob Hope Drive
Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs), CA
92270

Contact Information

Kathy Bayer
Phone: 800-678-5007
Contact via Email

You may already know how complicated owning property or investing in the U.S. can be. However, you may not know how to title your property correctly or which U.S. investments Canadians can make that are exempt from U.S. income tax. Keats, Connelly and Associates would like to invite you to attend one of our Cross-Border Living Workshops where we will provide answers to these questions.

Experienced professionals from Keats, Connelly and Associates, including Robert Keats, author of a Canadian bestseller entitled The Border Guide, will conduct the workshops.

We will provide you with strategies on how to:

• best work with the Canadian and U.S. tax systems;
• buy a retirement home and deduct mortgage interest from your Canadian return;
• take advantage of Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rates;
• receive your Canadian RRSPs tax-free or nearly tax-free in the U.S.;
• find investments exempt from U.S. income taxes and withholdings; and
• maximize Medicare benefits.

A general question and answer session will follow the presentation to address your specific concerns.

The registration fee is US$125 per person (or US$175 for married couples). It includes a continental breakfast, lunch, as well as all workshop materials. Advance registration is required and space is limited, so make your plans early! Visa, American Express, and MasterCard are accepted.

Workshop hours are from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. The continental breakfast and workshop registration begin at 7:30am. Lunch will be served at 12:15pm. During lunch, KCA professionals will be seated among you to answer further questions.

If you or someone you know would like to attend, please contact us at (800) 678-5007.

We look forward to seeing you!

I am looking forward to meeting and assisting the Canadian workshop attendees with Palm Springs area real estate. Please look for me (will be wearing my Windermere Real Estate/Stephen C. Love name tag). Otherwise, our email address is love@palmspringsgreathomes.com and our website at www.palmspringsgreathomes.com has complete contact information.

This is one of several 2010 Economic Forecasts that we will bring you over the next few weeks in an effort to provide balanced perspective about what to expect in the housing market. Diane C. Swonk is Mesirow Financial's Chief Economist & Senior Managing Director. Keep in mind that this is a broad national view of the overall economy. As you'll soon see, our local forecasts expound upon this and provide even more reasons for optimism for the real estate market in the Palm Springs area.