Pricing for Yesteryear: Nationally, home values have fallen 27 percent since the market peaked in 2006. In some markets, total declines are in the 50-60 percent range. Yet, many sellers are tempted to list their home for sale based on what they paid for the home, not on their area’s current real estate market conditions. If you set a price too high, your house will sit. This will inevitably lead to price reductions, which could signal to buyers there is much more room for negotiation. In the past 30 days, 23 percent of homes listed for sale on Zillow have had their price reduced.

Tip: Arm yourself with information on comparable home sales, percentage of listings with price cuts in your area, and find out how long homes are typically on the market. Then you can have an informed discussion with your agent about the appropriate price for your home, given local market conditions.

Focusing on Comps: Don’t concentrate solely on the recent sales of homes in your area. Make sure you look at the listing price for homes that are on the market right now. These homes are your competition. Based on your competition, would a potential home buyer think they are getting a good deal on your home, or theirs?

Tip: Go see homes for sale in your neighborhood. Ask your agent what current buyers are looking for in a home these days and ask yourself objectively how your home stacks up against the competition.

Hiring the Wrong Agent: Choosing the right real estate agent is a crucial part of the selling process. You need to find someone who demonstrates knowledge of your area, expertise in the process, and strong marketing skills. You also want to make sure your communication styles mesh. Yet, many people just hire someone based on one friend’s recommendation and wind up frustrated during the process.

Tip: Before choosing an agent, research online agent ratings and reviews. Knowing the experience several people have had with a particular agent will help you make a more informed decision. Make sure to interview at least three agents before making a final decision.

Limiting Your Marketing Exposure: Real estate is often thought of as a local business, but in addition to marketing your home to a few local web portals, be sure to market your home on social media sites and to national real estate sites. Remember — home shoppers are not always local; businesses transfer employees and people move. They need to find your home easily.

Tip: Make sure your agent is active on the top online home shopping websites and has experience using social media to market your home (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). Even if you aren’t active online, 90 percent of buyers use the Internet to search for a home, according to National Association of Realtors. Don’t forget to use your own social networks to build online buzz and use sites like the Zillow-Yahoo! Real Estate Network to expose your home on a national level.

Ignoring Web Appeal: When marketing your home online, display as many photos of your property as possible. Help buyers visualize themselves in your space by posting lots of interior shots. Focus on what people care about, namely, the kitchen, living spaces, and even the bathrooms. Make sure to clean up and de-clutter, it’s amazing how many messy rooms are shown in listing photos. And remember — as more and more people use mobile apps to shop for homes, the quantity and quality of photos matter. High-resolution is best.

Tip: Make sure your agent uses a camera that produces high-resolution images when he or she photographs your home. Also, check to see that the main display photo of your home is the one that best represents your home.

Don’t Follow Buyers Around When Showing: Whenever possible, don’t be home when showing. Lurking sellers make buyers nervous — they don’t feel comfortable inspecting the house when they feel like they’re being watched. It’s easier for buyers to visualize the home being theirs when they have a chance to critique and discuss the home among themselves.

Tip: Unless there’s a real reason for it, don’t ask your agent to be present for all showings. Other agents want privacy with their buyers and they don’t usually have time to work around your agent’s schedule.

via zillow.com
Selling a Home? Avoid These 6 Common Mistakes

Please visit our website at www.JonMahoney.com
For a detailed 11 page report on specific information on How’s The Market in your specific area or for a
FREE market analysis for your property, Please contact Jon Mahoney at (805) 689-0532

Looking to buy or sell a luxury estate, home, condominium or investment property?
Let us help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling a home. Call or email us today!

Because the Real Estate industry is becoming more sophisticated and challenging every day, you need a professional that understands the industry and is positioned to stay ahead of the game.

We go the extra mile to help you achieve your goals. That’s why I constantly research the market and property values so your home is priced effectively from day one. I also make sure the public knows your home is for sale by using innovative advertising and marketing techniques to attract potential buyers. Your Santa Ynez Real Estate Agent is only a phone call away.

Call or email me today!
Jon Mahoney
(805) 689-0532
Or send me an e-mail: Info@JonMahoney.com
www.JonMahoney.com

The Jon Mahoney Real Estate Group at Keller Williams gives you a 90-day Market Update & statistics for homes & condominiums for sale & sold information on all areas of Santa Barbara. For more information on the Santa Ynez area click below. To view more information on properties in all of the Santa Barbara Area, or questions about Real Estate, Foreclosures, Short Sales, Etc. Visit Jon Mahoney’s website – www.JonMahoney.com or contact him directly at (805) 689-0532. To view this months deal in Santa Barbara click the following link http://www.jonmahoney.com/550-la-cumbre.html

Riviera Tours

Riviera Tours
Website: www.riviera-tours.com
Email: Info@Riviera-tours.com
(805) 899-2266

We invite you to experience the riches of California’s Gold Coast. We offer a variety of tour packages covering California’s most scenic and romantic region. Visit with us the historic landmarks of old Santa Barbara, experience the Danish charm of Solvang, or stop by some of the region’s finest wineries.

Santa Barbara Winery

202 Anacapa St.
Santa Barbara, CA.
(800) 225-3633
Tasting: 10-5 seven days a week
Fee: $5 includes wineglass
Wine Club available

This winery is located a block off of Cabrillo Blvd. and the beach. If you don’t plan on taking a full wine-tour in the Valley, visiting this winery will at least give you a sense of what wines mean to this area.

Stearns Wharf Vintners

217G Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, California 93101
(805) 966-6624
Hours 10-6
Fee: $5 for 6 wines
805-966-6624

This is a tough one to place. They do a broad range of tasting of California wines but they are in the process of reintroducing their own label. For now, however, they are an excellent place to taste local and California wines. The store is located near Moby Dicks, right on the wharf.

Bridlewood Winery

3555 Roblar Ave.
Santa Ynez, CA.
(805) 688 2443
Tasting: 10-5 daily
Fee: $5

Bridlewood is a lovely winery that produces a broad range of award-winning wines including Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Arabesque (a proprietary Rhone-style blend), Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Gainey Vineyard

3950 E. Hwy. 246
Santa Ynez, CA.
(805) 688 0558
Tasting: 10-5 daily
Fee: $5 includes glass

Gainey Vineyard is a wonderful place to visit – not only is it relatively close to Santa Barbara, but the wines are wonderful, the tasting room is well-designed, the picnic area is large and well-groomed and the staff is well-informed.

Sunstone Winery

125 N. Refugio Rd.
Santa Ynez, CA.
800-313 WINE
Tasting: 10-4 daily
Fee: $2.50 to $5 glass included

You must visit this winery, even if you never go to another winery or actually prefer margaritas. Come here at least once. Those are strong words but we really fell in love with this place. It has and does everything a winery should do and it does it very well.

Rideau Vineyard

1562 Alamo Pintado Rd.
Solvang, CA.
(805) 688 0717
Tasting: 11-4:30

This winery has the most unique ambience of any of the wineries we visited. The Victorian style tasting room, which is an historical landmark, probably had something to do with it.

Sanford Winery

7250 Santa Rosa Rd.
Buellton, CA.
(805) 688 3300
Tasting: 11-4 daily
Fee: None

Sanford Winery, established in 1981, produces wine from grapes grown in well-established vineyards throughout Santa Barbara County and a few from Monterrey. They also have beautiful vineyards of their own.

Contact Jon at 805-689-0532 or visit www.JonMahoney.com

With its mix of sophisticated lifestyle, natural beauty and rustic Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Santa Barbara, already a big draw for Hollywood, is luring more big-name residents than ever before.

In December, George Lucas spent in the $20 million range for a beachfront retreat. A few weeks later, Drew Barrymore paid $5.7 million for a Mediterranean-style mansion in the tony enclave of Montecito (population 8,900), part-time home to Oprah Winfrey, writer-producer David Crane and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Even so, Santa Barbara and its nearby Santa Ynez wine country continue to have a relaxed vibe. Right now — with the grape harvest in full swing — is one of the best times to make the drive to The American Riviera.

FRIDAY
Evening: Check in at one of Montecito’s two five-star hotels, both owned by Ty Warner. The Beanie Baby billionaire’s SAN YSIDRO RANCH (900 San Ysidro Lane, rooms from $650) and its lavender-filled gardens sit nestled at the foot of the Santa Ynez Mountains, while the posh FOUR SEASONS BILTMORE (1260 Channel Drive, rooms from $425), opened in 1927, lies inside the cres cent of picturesque Butterfly Beach. “You’ve got Santa Cruz Island in front of you, a great beach and a five-star hotel. It’s the best of all together in one place,” says director and resident Ivan Reitman.

Golfers who want convenience to the top-flight Sandpiper course — a favorite of Twentieth Television chairman Gary Newman — should book an ocean-view suite 15 miles up the coast at the secluded white-stucco BACARA RESORT (8301 Hollister Ave., Goleta, rooms from $475), which was just purchased by the investors behind the Montage.
In downtown Santa Barbara, the CANARY HOTEL (31 W. Carrillo St., rooms from $485), with an updated Mediterranean-inspired decor by star designer Michael Smith, is a winning option.

On a recent night, diners at LUCKY’S STEAKHOUSE (1270 Coast Village Road, Montecito) included Reitman, Robert Zemeckis, Rob Lowe and Dennis MIller at separate tables. “It’s Montecito’s version of the Palm,” says ICM agent and part-timer Brian Bunnin. The chophouse — located in a bungalow attached to the Montecito Inn (opened by Charlie Chaplin in 1928) — has non-carnivore options. Says Kathy Freston, author of the new book Veganist, who has a house there with her husband, Tom: “After a little haggling, they put a tofu dish on the menu. It’s sliced and braised over a bed of miso spinach. It’s divine.”

For those who want Lucky’s food without the scene, head down the coast to SLY’S (686 Linden Ave.) in Carpinteria, opened by a former chef at Lucky’s. Castle actress Susan Sullivan is a regular. Or grab a plate of fresh pasta at Montecito’s TRATTORIA MOLLIE (1250 Coast Village Road), adored by Dick Wolf (“Everything is authentically Italian”).

SATURDAY
Morning: Make sure to book a reservation at Lotusland, a truly one-of-a-kind garden of succulents, palms and water lilies (tours $35, closed mid-November to mid-February, 695 Ashley Road). For a bite before the 90-minute tour, Reitman recommends downtown’s D’ANGELO BAKERY (25 W. Gutierrez St.), known for its poached Eggs Rose on homemade olive bread with artichoke spread.

Afternoon: Dig into Italian at OLIO E LIMONE (17 W. Victoria St.), a favorite of Zemeckis’ wife, documentarian Leslie Zemeckis (Behind the Burly Q), who loves the pear carpaccio salad with Gorgonzola. Next door is the newly opened, more casual OLIO PIZZERIA.

If you have kids, take them to the Santa Barbara Zoo (“It’s intimate,” says Bunnin), to the Sea Center on the pier and to enjoy the stunning views atop the Santa Barbara Courthouse’s bell tower.

Adults, of course, come for the wine. A tasting scene has sprung up in downtown S.B. that starts with the Urban Wine Trail, with 12 stops centered around the scruffy Funk Zone neighborhood near the beach. It includes CARR VINEYARDS’ low-key room (414 N. Salsipuedes St.). The must-sample is the Carr 2009 Sangiovese, pride of winemaker Ryan Carr (progeny of music producer Budd Carr).

Evening: Stay downtown and stroll State Street, where many stores stay open late and the dining options are plentiful. The current hot spot is recently opened Spanish-influenced CADIZ (509 State St.) for tapas and flatbreads. Further up the main drag are ARIGATO (1225 State St.) for inventive sushi loved by director Andrew Davis and the local outpost of L.A. seafood spot HUNGRY CAT (1134 Chapala St.).

Later, if you can stomach just one more glass of vino, one of the coolest places in town is new wine shop/bar LA TOUR (224 Helena St., open till 2 a.m. daily), whose owner, Graham Pressley, is particularly knowledgeable about local vintages.

SUNDAY
Morning: Even some locals don’t realize that top Italian restaurant TRE LUNE serves an equally commendable breakfast. Roll in late morning for the Italian Benedict on toasted rye with prosciutto. It’s going to be a full day.

Afternoon: It’s time to make the 35-mile jaunt northeast to the land of Sideways, the oak-tree-shaded mother lode of wineries and tasting rooms (more than 150 at last count) in the Santa Ynez Valley.

The big event now is the Santa Barbara Vintners’ Association’s Celebration of Harvest wine fest on Oct. 8 at Santa Maria’s RANCHO SISQUOC WINERY (6600 Foxen Canyon Road).

Standouts for sipping in and near the quaint town of Los Olivos are BRANDER (2401 N. Refugio Road), CARINA and TENSLEY (2900 Grand Ave.), QUPE (2963 Grand Ave.), MELVILLE (5185 East Highway 246) and KALYRA (343 N. Refugio Road), one of Armageddon screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh’s picks.

A rising star vintner is Mikael Sigouin of KAENA WINE COMPANY (2933 San Marcos Ave.). His Spanish-style 2008 Kaena Hapa is a sublime Priorat-inspired experiment, and he honed his chops at BECKMEN VINEYARDS (2670 Ontiveros Road), a scenic spot complete with duck pond.

Later, explore the antique stores of Los Alamos village. A new addition is gourmet shop and picnic-basket purveyor BELL STREET FARM (406 Bell St.), owned by former ad exec Jamie Gluck, whose husband, John Wentworth, is CBS Television Distribution’s head of communications. Newman — whose own JORIAN HILL VINEYARDS is just a few miles away (no tasting room) — is a fan.

If you need to clear your head before heading home, tackle one of the area’s many hiking trails. In Montecito, Freston likes the Romero Canyon and Hot Springs loops. “We’ve run into a bear who was happily eating berries from a bush,” she says. “You really feel so far away from the city.”

If you are looking for Real Estate in Santa Barbara and its surrounding areas, Call Jon Mahoney at (805) 689-0532. You can also E-mail him at: info@jonmahoney.com or visit his website www.JonMahoney.com

Chef Parks sources local, sustainable food, whenever possible, from the Santa Barbara Central Coast region like herbs, mulberries and radishes from Ojai’s BD Farms; red abalone, halibut and Ogo seaweed from Goleta’s Cultured Abalone; blueberries, raspberries and boysenberries from Arroyo Grande’s Mama’s Berries; spot prawns, crab, and sea urchin and rockfish from local fisherman Steve Escobar; heirloom tomatoes, fava beans and English peas from Oxnard’s Tutti Frutti; and peaches, apricots, cherries and nectarines from Oxnard’s Rieger Farms.

These and more highlight his homegrown menu with starters like roasted baby abalone with Ogo-cucumber mignonette; green bean salad with fennel, tomatoes, celery, watercress and garlic-caper vinaigrette; and Kampachi crudo, with Cerignola olives and radish salad. Star entrees include line-caught salmon with English peas; roasted trout with herbs de Provence, spring onions and tomato butter; roasted black cod with corn and fava bean succotash, baby heirloom tomatoes and Bloomsdale spinach; grilled rib eye with Verdalaga and heirloom tomatoes and truffle tater tots. These artfully composed dishes sing of summer’s bounty.

A special, creative prix fixe menu, priced at $30 per person, is presented each night. Ours listed chilled fruit de mer of spot prawn, uni and tuna; diver scallops with red quinoa, pea tendrils and market carrots; butterscotch pudding with blackberries and chocolate. And speaking of desserts, they are wonderfully concocted here, especially the berry and fruit tarts.

Coast has undergone a welcome physical transformation over the years. A cozy new 30-seat dining room on Chapala, swathed with gauzy, billowing white curtains and wicker chairs, seems made for casual hotel dining. And the darker old dining room off the busy bar is slowly evolving into a lounge and can also be used for noshing, both serious and snacks. The wine selection is heroic anywhere you sit.

Are you looking to buy a property in the Historic Downtown area of Santa Barbara?Let us help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling a home! As the preeminent Real Estate professional in my community for over 12 years, I am dedicated to providing the finest service available while breaking new ground.
Because the Real Estate industry is becoming more sophisticated and challenging every day, you need a professional that understands the industry and is positioned to stay ahead of the game.
We go the extra mile to help you achieve your goals. That’s why I constantly research the market and property values so your home is priced effectively from day one. I also make sure the public knows your home is for sale by using innovative advertising and marketing techniques to attract potential buyers. Your Downtown Santa Barbara Real Estate Agent is only a phone call away.
Call or email me today!Jon Mahoney(805) 689-0532Or send me an e-mail: Info@JonMahoney.comwww.JonMahoney.com
The Jon Mahoney Real Estate Group at Keller Williams gives you a 90-day Market Update & statistics for homes & condominiums for sale & sold information on all areas of Santa Barbara. For more information on the Downtown area click below. To view more information on properties in all of the Santa Barbara Area, or questions about Real Estate, Foreclosures, Short Sales, Etc. Visit Jon Mahoney’s website – www.JonMahoney.com or contact him directly at (805) 689-0532. To view this months deal in Santa Barbara click the following link http://www.jonmahoney.com/550-la-cumbre.html

Are you looking to buy a property in Goleta?
Let us help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling a home! As the preeminent Real Estate professional in my community for over 12 years, I am dedicated to providing the finest service available while breaking new ground.

Because the Real Estate industry is becoming more sophisticated and challenging every day, you need a professional that understands the industry and is positioned to stay ahead of the game.

We go the extra mile to help you achieve your goals. That’s why I constantly research the market and property values so your home is priced effectively from day one. I also make sure the public knows your home is for sale by using innovative advertising and marketing techniques to attract potential buyers. Your Goleta Real Estate Agent is only a phone call away.

Call or email me today!
Jon Mahoney
(805) 689-0532
Or send me an e-mail: Info@JonMahoney.com
www.JonMahoney.com

The Jon Mahoney Real Estate Group at Keller Williams gives you a 90-day Market Update & statistics for homes & condominiums for sale & sold information on all areas of Santa Barbara. For more information on the Goleta area click below. To view more information on properties in all of the Santa Barbara Area, or questions about Real Estate, Foreclosures, Short Sales, Etc. Visit Jon Mahoney’s website – www.JonMahoney.com or contact him directly at (805) 689-0532. To view this months deal in Santa Barbara click the following link http://www.jonmahoney.com/550-la-cumbre.html

Melissa and Jeff Joy got a pleasant surprise in January when their Dexter, Mich., home was appraised for a refinance: Its value had grown to $235,000 from $225,000 when they purchased it in 2010. That’s no small thing in a state where home values are down 25%, on average, from 2007.

Then they got more good news: By adding $300 to their monthly mortgage payment, they could pay off the loan twice as fast, in 15 years instead of 30. They jumped at the chance to get rid of house payments in 2027, just when they’ll need to start paying their son’s college tuition.

When the Joys bought their home, their 5.25% interest rate seemed an excellent deal for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan. They knew they’d end up paying $144,000 in interest if they kept the home 30 years. But that’s how mortgages work: The longer your loan term, the lower your monthly payments — but the more you pay in total interest.

What’s the best interest rate you can get?

Unheard-of low interest rates make this a remarkable moment for homeowners to shorten their mortgage terms, at least if they can qualify for a refinance and can afford a larger payment.

Here are benefits and drawbacks to refinancing your mortgage to a shorter term.

Benefits

- Own your home outright faster. You’ll be free of mortgage payments sooner, too. You still must pay taxes and insurance, though.
- Save on interest. The savings are potentially massive. Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and co-owner of The Center for Financial Planning in Southfield, Mich., says she and her husband will save a whopping $128,190 in interest if they keep the new mortgage with its 3.375% interest rate for the entire 15 years.
- Equity builds faster. “It was noticeable right off the bat” says Melissa Joy, who sees equity piling up quicker on her monthly mortgage statements. Even if the Joys sell their home before the new mortgage is paid, they’ll pocket more cash from the sale than they would have with the old mortgage.

For example, if the Joys had borrowed $200,000 over 30 years at 5.25% and sold their home in the 10th year of the loan, they would have accumulated $38,424 in equity from their payments. But by borrowing the same amount over 15 years at their new rate of 3.375%, they’ll have roughly $129,000 in equity after 10 years.

Drawbacks

- You may not qualify. You’ll need a strong mortgage application to satisfy lenders, and your home’s appraisal must be high enough to support your loan request. That could be a problem if you have low or negative equity.
- Your payment may grow. Depending on the fees, the size and term of your loan, and the difference between your old and new interest rates, your new monthly payment is likely to be higher, maybe much higher. Or it could remain the same. The Joys’ payment grew from $900 a month to $1,250.
- It’s expensive. Fees of $5,000 or more could wipe out any benefit to refinancing. These charges may include an appraisal fee, inspection fee, private mortgage insurance, prepaid interest, application fee, loan origination fee, homeowners insurance, and points and fees imposed by the Federal Housing Administration or other government lending programs. The Federal Reserve’s Consumer Guide to Mortgage Settlement Costs explains mortgage fees and estimates costs.
- The paperwork is a headache. Lenders may demand a lot of documents, from tax statements to old divorce papers. It can seem invasive.
- It takes months. Lenders are so busy now, and their lending requirements are so strict, that it can take months to get a loan approved. TD Bank, for example, averages 51 days to process a refinance from the time the application is submitted, says Michael Copley, executive vice president for retail lending at TD Bank. That’s relatively quick. Some banks can take as long as 120 days. When choosing a lender, ask several about their turnaround times, Copley says.

Making the call
Nearly 80% of all mortgages in the U.S. are refinances, according to Freddie Mac, the government-managed mortgage company. Most have fixed rates. In addition to 30-year loans — the most popular option for banks such as TD Bank — there are loans with terms of 10, 15, 20 or 25 years. Adjustable-rate mortgages can have terms of three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years.

One of these shorter-term mortgages could be a good idea, but it’s a personal decision based on a lot of factors. “It depends on the individual, their equity position, their savings, where they are on the retirement spectrum,” says Michael S. Rosenbaum, a loan officer with W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital in San Diego.

As attractive as freedom from mortgage payments may sound, it’s a mistake to stretch your finances too far, Joy says. The evidence is all around, in the stories of thousands who lost their home to foreclosure because they took on payments too big for their income.

You may feel more financially secure sticking with the lower monthly payment and a 30-year term.

“It should be taken into context with everything else in your life, including your cash flow from month to month,” Joy says. “You want to build in a margin of safety. You don’t just want to consider the best-case scenario,” she says. If you or your spouse lost your job, could you swing that higher monthly mortgage payment?

Here’s a checklist that Joy uses for herself and clients. It can help you decide if refinancing into a higher payment is safe for you:

Are you funding retirement savings, including contributing at least enough to trigger the maximum amount of any matching contributions from your employer?
Have you saved three to six months’ worth of living expenses in a separate account for emergencies?
Would you have enough cash left over each month to keep paying down any other debts?
If you are a parent, could you contribute to your children’s college savings?
If you answer yes to every question, a shorter-term mortgage may be a great idea now, especially because ultralow interest rates may not be around forever, Joy says.

There’s a safer, middle way to go if you really want to pay down your existing loan fast but are worried about locking in higher payments: Pay something extra each month. Or make one or two extra payments each year.

You can use a mortgage-payoff calculator to run your own numbers. If you want to pay off your mortgage in 20 years, you may just need to make one extra payment a year, Copley says.

When shorter terms work
No single solution works for everyone, Rosenbaum says.

One of his clients, a man in his late 30s, has lowered his interest rate by 1.75% by refinancing four times in less than four years. In his recent refinance, he chose a 30-year term after briefly considering a shorter mortgage. But, Rosenbaum says, this client is “all about the cash flow. The idea of throwing too much toward the principal doesn’t make sense right now. He isn’t about paying it off 30 years from now. The home, great as it is … will be something they’ve sold off or converted to a rental property at that point.”

The client’s new 3.75% rate also includes his loan fees. That cost him about a quarter of a percentage point, or $30 to $40 more a month.

Another of Rosenbaum’s clients refinanced out of a 30-year mortgage and into a 10-year fixed term at 3% — while lowering his monthly payments. Reducing the loan term and the monthly payment is “pretty rare,” Rosenbaum says. But this homeowner had some advantages: He had been paying off the loan for 12 years, and his rate dropped from 6.5% to 3%. Also, years of payments had shrunk his mortgage balance enough so he could borrow considerably less money this time.

For him, a 10-year term “was a no-brainer,” Rosenbaum says. Also, the man is in his 60s, and retiring with a paid-off home is important to him. He has plenty of cash, so lowering his monthly payment through a 30-year term doesn’t matter as much as it might to someone else.

Rosenbaum tells of a third recent client who chose a five-year mortgage for his refinance. What’s more, the man wanted an interest-only, adjustable-rate mortgage, a loan that many consider risky. The rate is reset periodically, and it can rise. Also, paying only interest never gets you any closer to owning your home outright.

Interest-only mortgages were sold aggressively to lower-income borrowers by some lenders during the bubble. That led to defaults when the escalating payments grew beyond what homeowners could afford.

Before that, however, short-term interest-only loans were marketed primarily to high-income homeowners as a sophisticated financial tactic. Because these loans’ interest rates are cheap, at least initially, wealthy borrowers can use the savings to earn a better return on their money elsewhere — a rental property, business investment or annuity, for example, Rosenbaum says.

The client, an attorney, has more than 50% equity in his $850,000 home and plenty of savings.

“In a conservative, responsible way, I have to admit it makes sense for him because the downside and the risk is not there for him,” Rosenbaum says. If the rate rises too far, “He can pay it off tomorrow.”

These tales illustrate the experts’ point: Homeowners should tailor the products and terms they choose to their individual situations. It may be a complex decision. You can get free help from a Department of Housing and Urban Development housing counselor by calling 1-800-569-4287.

The decision
The low-rate window for cutting your mortgage term is likely to stay open for a while. Rates should remain low through 2014 and maybe into the first half of 2015, Copley says.

Since January, when the Joys refinanced, rates kept dropping, to an average of less than 3% for 15-year fixed mortgages and less than 4% for 30-year, fixed-rate loans.

But there’s no promise they’ll drop further. If you try too hard to time the decision, you could miss your chance.

“Rates have come down a little bit from where we were at, but there’s no regret about making the decision when we did,” Joy says. “It’s always going to be a moving target. You just need to get it generally right.”

Please visit our website at www.JonMahoney.com
For a detailed 11 page report on specific information on How’s The Market in your specific area or for a
FREE market analysis for your property, Please contact Jon Mahoney at (805) 689-0532

Looking to buy or sell a luxury estate, home, condominium or investment property?
Let us help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling a home. Call or email us today!

Call or email me today!
Jon Mahoney
(805) 689-0532
Or send me an e-mail: Info@JonMahoney.com
www.JonMahoney.com

The Jon Mahoney Real Estate Group at Keller Williams gives you a 90-day Market Update & statistics for homes & condominiums for sale & sold information on all areas of Santa Barbara. For more information on the Montecito area click below. To view more information on properties in all of the Santa Barbara Area, or questions about Real Estate, Foreclosures, Short Sales, Etc. Visit Jon Mahoney’s website – www.JonMahoney.com or contact him directly at (805) 689-0532. To view this months deal in Santa Barbara click the following link http://www.jonmahoney.com/550-la-cumbre.html

Please visit our website at www.JonMahoney.com
For a detailed 11 page report on specific information on How’s The Market in your specific area or for a
FREE market analysis for your property, Please contact Jon Mahoney at (805) 689-0532

Looking to buy or sell a luxury estate, home, condominium or investment property?
Let us help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling a home. Call or email us today!

Because the real estate industry is becoming more sophisticated and challenging every day, you need a professional that understands the industry and is positioned to stay ahead of the game.

We go the extra mile to help you achieve your goals. That’s why I constantly research the market and property values so your home is priced effectively from day one. I also make sure the public knows your home is for sale by using innovative advertising and marketing techniques to attract potential buyers. Your Montecito Real Estate Agent is only a phone call away.

Call or email me today!
Jon Mahoney
(805) 689-0532
Or send me an e-mail: Info@JonMahoney.com
www.JonMahoney.com

The Jon Mahoney Real Estate Group at Keller Williams gives you a 90-day Market Update & statistics for homes & condominiums for sale & sold information on all areas of Santa Barbara. For more information on the Montecito area click below. To view more information on properties in all of the Santa Barbara Area, or questions about Real Estate, Foreclosures, Short Sales, Etc. Visit Jon Mahoney’s website – www.JonMahoney.com or contact him directly at (805) 689-0532. To view this months deal in Santa Barbara click the following link http://www.jonmahoney.com/550-la-cumbre.html