How do I know if I qualify for the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan Program?

?? New Approach to newsletter???

Here’s the breakdown of this week's newsletter?

#1: Topic Of The Day: Funding Available???

While my main industry is real estate, my goal is to bring visibility to any extra money available to entrepreneurs.?

#2: Real Estate Red Flags ??

(Every newsletter I will list 3 different red flags to watch out for )

#3: Real Estate Tool Of The Week! ??

I hate junk fees or gatekeeping info so I'll post one of the things that I use or have heard that could be helpful for the buying or selling process.

Feedback is appreciated, always looking to see what topics people would like to see discussions about so please reply or send a comment if you have any particular questions!

California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan Program

EVERYONE SHOULD APPLY! This is a loan, not a grant. However, in the short term it functions fairly similarly to a grant since it gives a buyer 20% down (up to $150,000) as down payment assistance. Due to the $150,000 limit,?the focus of this program is for those buying property up to the $700,000 range.

Upon sale or transfer of the home, the homebuyer repays the original down payment loan, plus a share of the appreciation in the value of the home. I say that it functions as a grant because you are not paying any of this loan during your regular payment schedule. Once you sell the property or refinance the property, the money that CalFHA gave you is paid back, along with a 20% or 15% cut of the appreciation. In a way it's kind of an extra tax on the profits you’ve made by owning.?

To keep it simple CalFHA has provided illustrations to show repayment.?

How do I know if I qualify for the California dream for all program?

EVERY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER (individual who has not owned a home or been on title for the last 7 years) and to their best of their knowledge is a FIRST GENERATION HOME BUYER (meaning to your best of knowledge parents have not owned property) SHOULD apply to this program.?

If you've been in foster care you qualify as first generation.*

The best part of the program is that it's NOT first come first serve. This time, there will be a randomized selection from the pool of buyers who apply to the program.

Qualification Requirements:

There’s income limits. But don’t be scared! In cities like San Francisco, CA, the income limit is $277,000 so it's a really generous income limit.

• You need to have a CalFHA pre-approval in the month of April 2024 to submit to the Dream For All program. To start the application, contact a CalFHA Preferred Loan officer like?Austin Braaten ! The full list of preferred lenders can be found at https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/apps/PLO/

Be prepared to send whoever you choose from the lenders list :

1. Pay stubs
2. Bank statements
3. Employment history
4. Previous tax returns

In April, there will be a 30 day pre-approval submission period. The faster you start the application, the less rushed you will be to submit all the required documentation.

The lender will be Pre-approving you to a CalFHA loan. As part of the requirements for this type of conventional loan, there are supplemental requirements

(9 hours in total is not so much, but the earlier you start the better)

• First-Time Homebuyer Education Course:

ONLINE: You can take eHome's eight-hour Homebuyer Education course online (fee: $99)

IN-PERSON: face-to-face Homebuyer Education through NeighborWorks America or any HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency (fee: varies by agency)

There are some free education courses that could satisfy the course requirements. There's plenty of counseling services like https://operationhope.org/how-we-help/homeownership/ that provide these courses at no cost.

However, make sure you ask your lender if the course you're taking satisfies the requirement before spending the time to complete a course.

• California Dream Education Supplement

Take this 1 hour course that you will need to complete to submit to the program.

https://www.calhfadreamforall.com/

For the direct info, visit https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/dream/ and register for updates!

The submission button will open in April.

Real Estate Red Flags ?? ?? ??

1.“I've been doings this for 30 years/ I’ve always done it this way“.

This statement might initially seem like a positive affirmation. But saying that “ I’ve always done it this way”?could suggest a resistance to adapting to new trends, technologies, and strategies for negotiation. Truth is, one could have been doing things wrong for the last 30 years. The real estate industry is really bad at regulating itself, so it allows for repeated bad behavior. In my opinion, this lack of flexibility is obnoxious. As a consumer myself, I want to work with someone who understands that every single deal is unique and that being creative might win deals. There’s definitely patterns that only experienced real estate professionals can identify. But with the increase in AI and the internet at our fingertips…let’s be honest…for the first time ever the real estate industry is 100% going through an evolution. Do not accept years of tenure as an excuse to be complacent, make sure your agent is improving.?

If an agent does not want to try new things, question it. If they’re answer is simply? “I know what I'm doing“ without further context, RUN.

2. “I'm a licensed realtor“.

There is no such thing as a licensed realtor. Ask your agent why they have that on their profile. If they don’t know, that means they don’t know what they are doing. They're simply misidentifying the fact that being a realtor is a designation, not a license.

I’ll use California licensing requirements as examples.

In California there are two licenses:

Real Estate Salesperson License

This is what is usually referred to as a licensed real estate agent and what most Realtors are. 135 hours of education requirements and a test to receive license. A real estate Salesperson cannot work independently and must have a Broker that supervises and is responsible the licensee.

Real Estate broker

Stricter Requirements. You need at least two years of experience and further education as well as a test.

What's a Realtor?

Being a realtor means that you have joined the National Association of Realtors (NAR) or its state board, like the California Association of Realtors (CAR). It's marketed as an exclusive association, but the reality is that most agents are forced to join.? Most people are simply forced to join NAR? because without it they could not subscribe to the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) of their area. The MLS is the place where properties are listed for sale, this is how properties are shown on Zillow or Redfin. Worst part is that it’s super easy to join! There’s no strict vetting application process. If you receive a real estate license, you pretty much request to join, pay your dues, and that's it. There’s an alleged code of ethics that realtors are said to follow and it's what realtors usually mention as their value proposition. Guess what, plenty don’t, and there’s no enforcement of violations. That’s why there’s multiple lawsuits pending. Here’s the other reality. Even if you are not a realtor, states have adopted the NAR code of ethics as the states guideline of behavior. By general standards, everyone should follow the code of ethics. Issue is that there's conflict of interest. If a realtor breaks the code of ethics, there’s no incentive to kick them out since they’re a paying member. NAR has no real power in being able to do things like revoke a license due to unethical behavior. So the reality is that everyone is bound by the simple tenet. If it's legal, it’s ethical.?The intention behind these statements is not to diminish the value of the extensive supplemental education many Realtors pursue to excel in their field. Rather, it's to highlight that being a Realtor, while valuable, is not the sole determinant of one's ability to offer exceptional and ethical services. There are numerous outstanding realtors who enrich their professional expertise continuously. However, my priority is to deliver superior service without passing the cost of my NAR fees onto you. ??

To learn more on these topics:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/29/homes/nar-president-resigns/index.html

https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/articles/what-the-2-billion-realtor-lawsuit-means-for-homebuyers-and-sellers

https://journal.firsttuesday.us/where-is-the-dres-code-of-ethics/64496/

?? In the next couple years, you will slowly see less and less Realtors ??

3. “Let’s go see this property right now”.

Wanting to pressure you to go see properties immediately is a pressure tactic technique that is used to convince people to use their services. A respectable agent, will make sure that there is proper preparation, like having a fully-underwritten pre-approval before scheduling showings, or making sure properties actually align with the buyers priorities by finding out more information. Without the right context, an agent wanting to go show properties immediately can be construed as an agent just wanting a quick sale or guilting you into using them vs wanting you best interests. (CONTEXT IS KEY)

Real Estate tool of the week:

Realmhome.com - Home Renovations?

• 3 vetted bids only when you are ready from their network of local contractors?????
• Negotiation and contract review - save thousands off quotes !???
• Assigned an expert Realm Renovation Advisor with local project experience
• Access to our local data and knowledge to crunch the numbers for all of your options

Use my link to get a discount for their proposals!?

https://calendly.com/d/ykc-2jb-ty8/realm-referral-consultation?month=2024-02

I want to be a part of the process, so talk to me about me paying for this fee for you up front!

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time!