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Converting Home Equity to Cash

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By Rick Tobin

The average American homeowner has the bulk of the household’s net worth tied up in the equity in their primary home where they reside. As noted in my past Equity Rich, Cash Poor article, the average US homeowner at retirement age has 83% of their overall net worth tied up in home equity (or the difference between current market value and any mortgage debt if not free and clear with no liens). As a result, the typical homeowner only has about 17% of their overall net worth available for monthly expenses.

Real estate isn’t as liquid, or the ability to quickly convert to cash, as a checking account. We can’t just go to our local grocery store and ask the cashier to deduct the full grocery cart from our debit account tied to our home’s promissory note or deed of trust. Yet, we all have to eat, so what are some ways to gain more access to cash that originate from the equity in our primary home or investment properties?

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Let’s take a closer look at ways to convert equity in real estate into spendable cash:

● Sell your primary home or rental properties: If so, where will you live? Are rents nearby lower or higher than your current mortgage payments if you need to move? Are there any potential unforeseen tax consequences or benefits? Will you miss the monthly rental income from your investment properties?

● Sale-and-leaseback: You find an investor willing to purchase your primary home while allowing you to stay there for months or years as a tenant.

● Cash-out 1st mortgage: Pay off some or all forms of consumer debt (credit cards, auto loans, school loans, business loans, tax liens, etc.) with a larger mortgage while possibly lowering your overall monthly expenses significantly with or without any verified income.

● Reverse mortgage: A combination of a mortgage and life insurance hybrid contract that gets you cash out as a lump sum and/or with monthly income payments to you while not requiring you to make any monthly mortgage payments. Lower FICO scores are usually allowed and minimal sourced monthly income like from Social Security may be sufficient to qualify.

● Business-purpose loan as a 1st or 2nd: A type of loan that may be tied to an owner-occupied or non-owner-occupied property for so long as the funds are used for business or investment purposes such as assisting your self-employed business or buying more rental properties. These types of loans have much less paperwork and disclosure requirements and can be funded within a few weeks with or without income or asset verification.

Declining Dollars and Rising Expenses

Although U.S. wage earnings rose 5.1% nationwide between the 2nd quarter of 2021 and 2022, the published Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate reached 9.1% in June 2022 which was the highest inflation rate pace in over 40 years. As a result, the purchasing power of our dollars continues to decline while consumer goods and service prices rise too quickly.

In July 2022, credit card rates and overall consumer debt balances across the nation reached all-time record highs. This was partly due to more Americans relying upon their credit cards to cover basic living expenses to offset inflated prices.

Simultaneously, the Federal Reserve increased short-term rates a few times so far this year while making consumer debt balances more expensive. At the June and July meetings for the Federal Reserve, they increased short-term rates 0.75% at each meeting. This was the largest back-to-back or consecutive rate hike for the Federal Reserve in their entire history.

To bridge the gap between expenses and income, total credit card debt balances surpassed $890 billion in the second quarter of 2022. The increase in overall credit card debt rose 13% in the second quarter of 2022, which was the largest year-over-year increase in more than 20 years. Near the start of 2022, the average American had close to $6,200 in unpaid credit card balances as per the Federal Reserve and Bankrate.

An additional 233 million new credit cards were opened in the second quarter. This was the largest new credit card account increase in one quarter since 2008 (or near the start of the Credit Crisis). A consumer who pays just the minimum balance for a credit card with a few thousand dollar balance may need more than 30 years to pay off the entire debt partly due to the horrific annual rates and fees that are generally much higher than 30-year mortgage rates.

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Short-Term Cash Supplies

It would take 64.4 days for a Californian to run out of cash if they had average American savings amounts of $9,647 based upon a recent study from ConsumerAffairs.

Here’s the top 10 most expensive regions in the nation and the estimated time that it would take to run out of cash:
Hawaii (62.5)
California (64.4)
Washington, D.C. (72.1 days)
Massachusetts (73.6 days)
New Jersey (74.8 days)
Connecticut (76.3 days)
Maryland (77.9 days)
Washington (79 days)
New York (79.9 days)
Colorado (80.8 days)

Living Wages, Debt, and Wealth Creation

Another survey conducted by GOBankingRates that was published in July 2022 found that the median annual living wage, which is defined as the minimum income amount needed to cover expenses while saving for retirement, is $61,617 per U.S. household. However, the Top 14 most expensive states required much higher annual household income or living wages as listed below:

1. Hawaii: $132,912
2. New York: $101,995
3. California: $94,778
4. Massachusetts: $86,480
5. Alaska: $85,083
6. Oregon: $82,926
7. Maryland: $82,475
8. Vermont: $78,561
9. Connecticut: $76,014
10. Washington: $73,465
11. Maine: $73,200
12. New Jersey: $72,773
13. New Hampshire: $72,235
14. Rhode Island: $71,334

Nationally, the lowest required living wage income for households was $51,754 in Mississippi.

These Top 14 expensive living wage regions also share something in common in that they have some of the highest median-price home values in the nation, especially Hawaii, New York, and California. While the monthly living wages may be highest in these regions, the net worths for homeowners is probably much higher due to so many properties valued well over $1 million dollars.

Ideally, we should all focus on keeping our monthly expenses as low as possible while investing in prime real estate to boost our overall net worth. If so, you’re more likely to retire sooner rather than later while your money works hard for you (or rapidly increasing annual home value equity gains) instead of you working too hard for your money.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Inflation, Tappable Equity, and Home Value Trends

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Image from Pixabay

By Rick Tobin

Historically, rising inflation trends have benefited real estate better than almost any other asset class because property values are usually an exceptional hedge against inflation. This is partly due to the fact that annual home prices tend to rise in value at least as high as the annual published Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers.

However, inflation rates that are much higher than more typical annual inflation rates near 2% to 3% can cause concern for the financial markets and Federal Reserve. As we’re seeing now, the Fed plans to keep raising interest rates to combat or neutralize inflation rates that are well above historical norms.

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The true inflation rates in 2022 are at or above the published inflation rates back in 1981 when the Fed pushed the US Prime Rate up to 21.5% for the most creditworthy borrowers and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was in the 16% and 17% rate range. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, rising energy costs were the root cause of inflation just like $5 to $7+ gasoline prices per gallon in 2022.

All-Time Record High Tappable Equity

Image from Pixabay

In the first quarter of 2022, the collective amount of equity money that homeowners with mortgages on their properties could pull out of their homes while still retaining at least 20% equity rose by a staggering $1.2 trillion, according to Black Knight, a mortgage software and analytics company.

Mortgage holders’ tappable equity was up 34% in just one year between April 2021 and April 2022, which was a whopping $2.8 trillion in new equity gains.

Nationally, the tappable equity that homeowners could access for cash reached a record high amount of $11 trillion. By comparison, this $11 trillion dollar amount was two times as large as the previous peak high back in 2006 shortly before the last major housing market bubble burst that became more readily apparent in late 2007 and 2008.

This amount of tappable equity for property owners reached an average amount of $207,000 in tappable equity per homeowner. If and when mortgage rates increase to an average closer to 7% or 8% plus in the near future, then home values may start declining and the tappable equity amounts available to homeowners for cash-out mortgages or reverse mortgages will decline as well.

All-Time Record High Consumer Debts

The March 2022 consumer credit report issued by the Federal Reserve reached a record high $52.435 billion dollars for monthly consumer debt spending. This $52 billion plus number was more than double the expected $25 billion dollar spending amount expectation and the biggest surge in revolving credit on record. In April 2022, the consumer spending numbers surpassed $38 billion, which was the #2 all-time monthly high.

Image from Pixabay

For just credit card spending alone, March 2022 were the highest credit card spending numbers ever at $25.6 billion. The following month in April, credit card debt figures exceeded $17.8 billion, which was the 2nd highest credit card charge month in US history.

While many people are complaining about mortgage rates reaching 5% and 6% in the first half of 2022, these rates are still relatively cheap when compared with 25% to 35% credit card rates and mortgage rates from past decades that had 30-year fixed rate averages as follows:

● 1980s: 12.7% average 30-year fixed mortgage rates
● 1990s: 8.12%
● 2000s: 6.29%

In the 2nd half of 2022, it’s more likely that many borrowers will fondly look back at 5% and 6% fixed rates as “relatively cheap” if the Federal Reserve does follow through with their threats to increase rates upwards of 10 times over the next year in order to “contain inflation” while punishing consumers at the same time who struggle with record consumer debt (mortgages, student loans, credit cards, automobile loans, etc.).

Financially Insolvent Government Entitlement Programs

There are published reports by the Trustees of both Social Security and Medicare about how the two programs are potentially on pace towards financial insolvency in the not-too-distant future. The Social Security Trustees claim that their retirement program may not be able to fully guarantee all benefits as soon as 13 years from now in 2035. Over the next decade, Social Security is calculated based upon current income and expense numbers to run budget deficits of almost $2.5 trillion dollars.

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As per the Trustee’s published report linked below, it’s claimed that the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) trust fund may deplete its reserves as early as 2034.
Social Security report link: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2022/tr2022.pdf

If and when the Social Security trust fund starts operating with cash-flow deficits, all beneficiaries, or Americans who receive the Social Security benefits, may be faced with an across-the-board benefits cut of 20% as suggested by the Trustees. For many Americans who struggle to get by on 100% of their Social Security benefits, the threat of a possible future reduction in amounts of 20% or more can be quite scary to think about.

The average Social Security benefit paid out nationwide in 2022 is estimated to be $1,657 per month or $19,884 per year. A 20% reduction in monthly benefits without using future inflation adjustments would be equivalent to a reduction of $331.40 per month in benefits and a new lower monthly payment amount of $1,325.60.

The Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund is also on track to exhaust its cash reserves over the next six years by 2028, as predicted by the Medicare Trustees in their own gloomy report that’s linked here: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2022-medicare-trustees-report.pdf

Let Your Money Work For You

Image from Pixabay

As noted in my past published articles, the bulk of a homeowner family’s overall net worth comes from the equity in their primary residence. The average US homeowner at retirement age has approximately 83% of their overall net worth tied up in the equity in their home and pays monthly expenses from just the remaining 17% of overall net worth that is held in checking, savings, or pension accounts.

While inflation usually is beneficial to pushing up real estate values at a rapid annual pace, inflation is also devastating to the value of the dollar in your pocket as purchasing powers decline. Inflation for real estate does have a ceiling level at which it becomes detrimental to housing values if the Fed starts doubling or tripling mortgage rates to slow down the inflation rates.

Equity in properties isn’t so easy to access to buy food, gas, clothing, or to pay your utilities as having cash on hand. If and when future government entitlement benefits decrease and inheritance and property taxes may increase, then being self-sufficient while earning monthly income from tenants in your rental properties or by pulling cash out of your properties near peak highs may go a long way towards allowing you to maintain the same standard of living that you’ve been accustomed to over the years.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Equity Rich, Cash Poor

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Image from Pixabay

By Rick Tobin

As of February 2022, there was an estimated $10 trillion dollars’ worth of tappable equity in residential properties that owners can access by way of cash-out loans, home equity lines of credit, and/or reverse mortgages with no required monthly payments. The average US homeowner who retires has approximately 83% of their net worth tied up in home equity and pays their monthly expenses from just 17% of their overall net worth found in savings, checking, and/ or pension accounts.

The typical homeowner has the bulk of their individual or family net worth tied up in the equity in their primary residence where they live. It’s estimated that close to 37% of all US households live in residential properties (one-to-four units) that are free and clear with no mortgage debt. This number is approximately 5.5% higher than 10 years ago.

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For those Americans who are fortunate to own their own home, the massive equity gains over the past several years have likely more than offset their rising monthly living expenses. This is especially true in states like California where the median price home statewide reached close to $850,000 in March 2022. Many homeowners gained more than $120,000 in new equity gains in 12 months or less.

Rising Inflation

Inflation severely damages the purchasing power of the dollar as we’ve all seen firsthand in recent years. Many consumer product prices have risen as much as 10% to 50% over the past year alone, sadly.

Image from Pixabay

Historically, real estate has proven to be an exceptional hedge against inflation as property values tend to rise right alongside or above published inflation rate numbers like a buoy with a rising tide. In March 2022, the published annual inflation rate reached 8.5%. This was the highest inflation rate in more than 40 years dating back to December 1981.

Between December 1980 and December 1981, the Federal Reserve raised the US Prime Rate to as high as 21.5% for the most creditworthy borrowers and 30-year fixed mortgage rates hovered in the 16% to 17%+ range in order to combat or quash those high inflation rates. Here in 2022, the Federal Reserve will likely raise rates significantly yet again like back in the early 1980s in order to slow down these incredibly high inflation rates that are actually much higher than the published rates.

Falling Cash Supply

Some financial planners or wealth advisors suggest that their clients maintain at least a three month supply of “emergency” cash reserves for their clients. More than half of Americans (or 51%) surveyed had less than a three months’ worth of expense supply, according to Bankrate’s July 2021 Emergency Savings Survey. This total included 1 in 4 respondents (or 25%) who said that they had no emergency cash fund supply at all.

Image from Pixabay

A more recent January 2022 survey conducted by Bankrate found that some 56% of Americans did not have $1,000 in cash savings available to access for emergency expenses. As a result of minimal cash reserves available for many people, they are likely to use credit cards, take out personal or mortgage loans, or borrow funds from family or friends to cover their daily expenses.

Lower cash reserves also adversely affect people who are planning to lease a home. For tenants, they may need enough cash to cover moving expenses and to put up the first and last months’ rent and/or security deposit money.

For home buyer prospects, they may need at least 3% to 5%+ of the proposed purchase price to qualify for the conforming or FHA loans. With the median home nationwide priced near $400,000 in the 1st quarter of 2022, many buyers will need somewhere between $12,000 and $20,000 for the down payment and additional funds for closing costs unless the seller or other family members are gifting them some of the funds.

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With mortgage rates continuing to rise in recent times, the bigger challenge for many home buyer prospects is coming up with enough of a cash down payment rather than qualifying for a monthly mortgage payment that’s a few hundred dollars more per month today than several months ago.

Homeownership Trends

Let’s review some eye-opening numbers associated with housing trends across the nation as per the US Census Bureau and Statista:

  • The national homeownership rate is 64.8%.
  • There are over 79 million owner-occupied homes in the US as per Statista.
  • Approximately 65% of homes are owner-occupied and 35% are rented or vacant.
  • Real estate prices have increased at least 73% nationwide since 2000.
  • An estimated one-third (33%) of all home buyers are first-time buyers.

Mortgage Debt vs. Unsecured Debt

Debt can be like an anchor holding us back. Yet, some debt is better than others like seen with mortgage debt secured by an appreciating property. Other forms of debt such as unsecured credit cards with annual rates and fees that may be within the 20% to 30%+ range can be especially bad. The higher the rate for the debt, the longer it will take to pay it off unless the borrower later files for bankruptcy protection.

Image from Pixabay

The average American has close to $6,200 in outstanding or unpaid credit card balances, according to data released by the Federal Reserve and Bankrate. Many borrowers pay the minimum monthly payment. If so, it may take them on average more than 30 years to pay off the credit card balance in full.

With a 30-year fixed rate mortgage that may be priced near 3% to 7% (or 20%+ lower than some credit cards), the mortgage principal or loan amount decreases as the years go by and the property value is more likely than not to rise as much as the annual published inflation rate. If so, the home value may increase $50,000, $100,000, $200,000, or $300,000+ per year, depending upon the region and latest economic trends.

If inflation rates continue at a sky-high rate, then real estate investments may still be your best option as the purchasing power of the dollar rapidly falls. The future equity gains from real estate will then allow you to pay off consumer debts like credit cards, school loans, and car loans at a faster pace while your net worth compounds and grows.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Short-Term Rentals and DSCR Loans

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Image from Pexels

By Rick Tobin

Over the past several years, most short-term and long-term rental property owners created the bulk of their wealth from the annual equity gains related to buying and holding their properties as values increased anywhere between 10% to 40% per year. In California alone back in 2021, it was reported that the average home statewide increased in value $11,000 per month or $132,000 for the entire year. If so, I doubt that many Airbnb or VRBO hosts collected more than $132,000 in gross or net rent profits.

Image from Pixabay

Did you know that San Diego, California was ranked as the #1 for having the highest gross revenues of any Airbnb region in the world in 2021? Please see the complete Top 10 list of the highest grossing rentals in the world later in this article.

Let’s look next at just some of the short-term rental listing companies which assist vacation rental property owners with the leasing of their properties:

  • Airbnb
  • VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner)
  • Booking.com
  • TripAdvisor
  • Expedia
  • HomeToGo
  • Tripping
  • Homestay.com
  • Atraveo
  • OneFineStay

The prominent travel booking company named Expedia purchased VRBO back in December 2015. As a result, Expedia continues to be one of the most dominant short-term rental companies in the world.

As per published Airbnb data, here are the Top 10 states for average annual host or property owners earnings for 2021:

  1. Hawaii: $73,247
  2. Tennessee: $67,510
  3. Arizona: $60,448
  4. Colorado: $58,108
  5. California: $54,461
  6. Florida: $53,209
  7. South Carolina: $49,641
  8. Utah: $48,568
  9. Oregon: $42,964
  10. Alabama: $41,937

Image from Pixabay

If a rental property owner confides in you that he or she collected $50,000+ in gross income from Airbnb last year, this number may only represent a small percentage of their overall total revenue collected from both short-term and long-term tenants (30 days+) because they may have multiple income stream options by way of VRBO, Booking.com, or other companies that help supply them with consistent tenants. This is especially true when the property is located in a populous metropolitan region or a prime vacation getaway area like those found in San Diego, Santa Barbara, or Miami.

No Income Verification Loans for Rentals

Most real estate investors usually need third-party mortgage financing to purchase one or more rental properties even if they are very wealthy themselves. Many years ago, it was quite challenging to qualify for a rental property because you were asked to provide two years’ worth of tax returns, a detailed profit-and-loss statement, and the mortgage underwriters would only give you credit for 75% of your gross monthly rents when attempting to qualify or deny your loan request. This 75% number was due to the fact that lenders assumed that you had property management fees, vacancy rates above 0% throughout the year, and operating expenses for repairs.

As a result, that $2,000 gross rent turned into just $1,500 (75%) and many investors were later denied because few lenders wanted to lend on a rental property with negative monthly cash flow if the proposed monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, and homeowners association fees, if applicable) was $1,501 or higher.

Image from Pexels

Today, many investors are qualifying to purchase short-term and long-term rentals by way of non-QM or DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) programs which don’t require borrower applicants’ tax returns, W-2s, or other formal income documents to qualify. Now, some lending programs take the closest look at the subject property before determining if the rental property can at least break-even at a 1.0 DSCR number where 100% of the gross monthly rents are at least equal to the proposed mortgage payment. In these underwriting scenarios, 100% of the gross rents are used to qualify instead of just 75% like was more the norm in years past.

For a DSCR loan, it allows borrower applicants to use the market rent (actual or future, in some cases) of the property to qualify rather than the borrower’s business income. This is especially beneficial for self-employed business owners or investors who have a lot of tax write-offs and minimal net income shown on their tax returns.

Some of these DSCR program highlights include:

  • 640+ FICO
  • Up to 80% LTV
  • Available on investment properties only
  • Finance up to 20 properties
  • Loan amounts up to $2M per property

Some of my other lender programs allow negative cash-flow for rental properties up to 70% LTV for cash-out or purchase transactions while not requiring any additional income from the borrower applicant.

Airbnb Statistic

Image from Pexels

Because Airbnb is the biggest name in the short-term rental business sector, let’s review some of these shocking numbers that confirm how successful this investment property model has been for Airbnb corporate and for individual hosts or property owners.

Airbnb History

  • An average of six guests every single second check into an Airbnb listing.
  • Airbnb listings represent 19% of the total demand for lodging in the US.
  • Over 150 million people have booked over one billion nightly stays.
  • The average US Airbnb occupancy rate is 48%.
  • The average stay is 4.3 nights.

2021 Data

  • The global Average Daily Rate (ADR) was $137 per night in 2021 as compared to $110/night in 2020.
  • California properties had a much higher nightly average of $258 per night.
  • In December 2021, there were 12.7 million listings worldwide.
  • There were 2,249,434 listings in the US in 2021.
  • 356.9 million nights were booked on Airbnb in 2021.

Highest Gross Revenues Worldwide for Airbnb Properties

Image from Pixabay

Surprisingly, these populous metropolitan regions such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Paris, London, or Hong Kong weren’t ranked #1 for being the most profitable Airbnb region in the world with the highest gross revenues. No, the honor for the most profitable Airbnb region in the world in 2021 was San Diego, California.

In 2020, seven of the Top 10 highest gross revenues for Airbnb properties were all in the US. One region that stands out is Big Bear, California, which is the best-known mountain resort community in Southern California. Listed below are the 2020 gross revenue numbers for the Top 10 regions in the world:

Compounding Wealth With Equity Gains

There are many individual or family investors across the nation who have acquired 5, 10, 15, or 20+ short-term rental properties. The bulk of their family’s net worth doesn’t usually come from the net annual rental income. No, the family’s net worth is compounding each year with double-digit appreciation rates like we’ve all seen for several years now.

To better understand how the acquisition of multiple rental properties is more likely to create the bulk of your net worth, let’s take a look at a fictional California property owner who saw each of his rental homes appreciate $11,000 per month or $132,000 for the entire year in 2021:

Investors can apply any excess net rental income each year to paying off their mortgage faster. With consistent annual rents, a 30-year mortgage or a shorter-term 5-year or 7-year interest-only mortgage with much lower monthly payments than the best 30-year fully amortizing rates can be paid off much faster as more principal is paid off with extra payments.

The sooner that your homes are free and clear, the earlier you can retire and live off of the monthly cash flow while not touching your equity gains. A fairly consistent plan of buying and holding short-term and/or long-term rental properties is a prime example of letting your money work hard for you instead of the other way around.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

The Non-Owner, No Income (NONI) Loan Solution

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Image from Pexels

By Rick Tobin

Are all loans second to NONI (Non-Owner, No Income) for cash flow purposes? Does your investment property give you a positive annual cash flow with or without significant vacancy rates, repairs, nonpayment of rents due to tenant moratoriums or other reasons, and costly management expenses? How many investment property owners are stuck with high 7% to 10%+ private money or an expensive 30-year fixed mortgage that creates negative monthly cash flow? The NONI interest-only loan or fully amortizing loan with 7, 10, 30, and 40-year fixed terms is an exceptional financial choice.

NONI Interest-Only Loans

First off, can you afford your monthly mortgage payment? Without positive cash flow and the ability to pay your mortgage payments on time, your investment properties may be at risk for future forbearance, loan modification, or distressed sale situations where you could later lose your positive equity in a future foreclosure. The combination of positive cash flow and compounding equity gains should be the primary goal for investors instead of having unaffordable mortgage payments.

Here’s some eye-opening NONI loan products highlights that keep customers coming back for more NONI products, especially if the investor owns 2, 5, 10, or 20+ rental properties:

  • Starting interest-only rates as low as 3.875%*
  • Designed for business purpose 1-4 unit residential loans in most states
  • No income or employment collected on the loan application
  • Loan amounts to $3.5 million for non-owner properties
  • No 4506-T, tax returns, W-2s or pay stubs
  • Qualification is based on property cash-flow, NOT borrower income
  • First time investors allowed
  • Multipurpose LLC allowed
  • Unlimited cash-out up to 75% LTV
  • As little as 0 months reserves (use cash out for reserve qualifications)
  • NONI doesn’t care how many properties a borrower owns
  • The lower I/O payment (when I/O option is chosen) is used when calculating DSCR and cash reserves
  • 85% LTV available for purchase and rate/term transactions (680+ FICO)
  • Rental income is taken from an existing lease or the rent survey from the appraisal and compared to the mortgage payment to determine debt coverage ratio. (all program guidelines and rates subject to change and qualification)

For traditional loan programs, many lenders will take 75% of your gross rents to qualify for a new mortgage loan because the lender assumes that you have vacancies, repairs, and property management fees. For easy math, a rental property with $1,000 per month in gross income is underwritten as if it were $750 per month and another pricier property with $10,000 per month in rental income is analyzed as if it were $7,500 per month.

Image from Pixabay

For NONI, on the other hand, you can qualify at 1.0 DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) or break-even levels. For example, your rental home averages $2,000 per month, so your newly proposed mortgage payment (including property taxes, insurance, and homeowners association fees, if applicable) must be equal or lower to that same gross rental income. As a result, it’s much easier to qualify for a NONI loan product than any other residential mortgage loan that I know of today.

30-Year Fixed vs. 10-Year Interest-Only

A 30-year mortgage payment doesn’t usually begin to pay down any significant amount of loan principal until after the 7th year. The average mortgage borrower keeps their loan for nearly 7 years, so an interest-only loan product can be a much more solid choice today for many borrowers.

Let’s compare the fully amortizing 30-year fixed payment with a 10-year interest-only payment with cash-out options to see the difference for the same 3.875%* rate:

Loan amount: $250,000
30-year fixed rate payment: $1,175.59/mo. (principal and interest)
10-year fixed interest-only: $807.29/mo.

Loan amount: $500,000
30-year fixed rate payment: $2,351.19/mo. (principal and interest)
10-year fixed interest-only: $1,614.58/mo.

Loan amount: $750,000
30-year fixed rate payment: $3,526.78/mo. (principal and interest)
10-year fixed interest-only: $2,421.88/mo.

Loan amount: $1,000,000
30-year fixed rate payment: $4,702.37/mo. (principal and interest)
10-year fixed interest-only: $3,229.17/mo.

Loan amount: $2,000,000
30-year fixed rate payment: $9,404.74/mo. (principal and interest)
10-year fixed interest-only: $6,458.33/mo.

Loan amount: $3,000,000
30-year fixed rate payment: $14,107.11/mo. (principal and interest)
10-year fixed interest-only: $9,687.50/mo.

*APRs from 4.79%: The 10-year fixed loan converts to an adjustable for the remaining 20 or 30 years with 30-year and possible 40-year loan term options. There are also 30-year and 40-year fixed interest-only loan programs at higher rates (all rates and programs subject to change)

Increasing Inflation and Rates, Decreasing Dollar Value

The more money that is created together between the US Treasury and Federal Reserve, the lower the purchasing power. Inflation can severely damage the purchasing power of the dollar while generally benefiting real estate assets.

US M1 Money Supply (February 2020): $4 trillion
US M1 Money Supply (March 2020 – October 2021): From $4 to $20 trillion

Image from Pixabay

Or, 80% of today’s M1 Money Supply, or an additional $16 trillion dollars in circulation, was created within just 22 months (March 2020 to October 2021).

Most Americans create the bulk of their family’s net worth from the ownership of real estate, not hiding cash under their mattress or holding stocks or bonds. Inflation is also a hidden form of taxation. One of the best ways to offset weaker dollars is to buy and hold real estate as a hedge against rising inflation while also generating monthly cash flow.

Today’s younger investors may not remember 10% to 20% fixed mortgage rates from years past. If your rental properties are losing money at a 3% or 4% fixed rate today, then any future properties purchased with higher rates will lose even more money unless you select a much more affordable interest-only loan product.

Let’s take a look next the average published 30-year fixed rate for owner-occupants who qualify with full income and asset documentation by decade:

● 12.7% in the 1980s
● 8.12% in the 1990s
● 6.29% in the 2000s
● 4.09% in the 2010s

The common link between each of these decades was that perceived inflation risks were usually a core reason why the Federal Reserve increased interest rates in order to quash inflation. Today’s published inflation rates are at 40-year highs. Yet, they are still underreported and are actually much higher as partly noted by annual used car prices rising almost 48% in just 12 months near the end of 2021.

Doubling Asset Values

If you keep the old Rule of 72 (how long it takes to double an asset value by the annual gain or interest return projections) in mind with rising inflation trends continuing to boost housing prices, you will clearly see the potential to boost your net worth. For example, a home doubles in value based upon the gains such as a 7.2% annual increase that will take 10 years for the home to double in value (72 / 7.2% = 10 years).

Image from Pixabay

Between November 2020 and November 2021, it was reported that the average home price, including distressed properties, increased more than 18%. If that home price gain trend continued at the same annual pace, the average home price could double in value every 4 years (72 / 18 = 4 years). In many pricey coastal regions, homes have appreciated 30% to 35%+ per year over the past few years. As a result, many investors have seen their home values double in just two or three years.

As rates are more likely to increase than decrease in the future, the interest-only loan products that can be fixed for 7, 10, 30, or 40 years make more sense from a cash flow and peace of mind standpoint.

While NONI keeps your payments low, your net worth may be boosted sky high as the soaring inflation trends continue and properties may double or triple in value!

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Forbearance Bailouts and Refinances

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Image from Pexels

By Rick Tobin

The 2020 and 2021 years have been two of the most unusual time periods in world history, especially for the real estate sector. For example, millions or tens of millions of homeowners and tenants have been severely delinquent with their mortgage and rent payments while unemployment numbers rose incredibly high. However, home values have absolutely skyrocketed to all-time record high annual percentages and prices.

How is it possible for us to see record delinquencies with or without approved forbearance (“no mortgage payments paid and the lender agrees not to foreclose”) or loan modification agreements in place and record price growth at the exact same time? Don’t these two opposing situations contradict one another in a cognitive dissonance sort of way? In past years, record mortgage delinquency numbers would typically cause declining property values nearby because these home delinquencies or foreclosures would become the latest lower sales comparable for the neighboring homes.

The true irony of record delinquency numbers is that most homeowners created much more equity in their properties by just sitting there and not making any mortgage payments. As reported by CoreLogic’s Homeowner Equity Report, the total US homeowners’ annual equity grew $2.9 trillion between the second quarters of 2020 and 2021 with an average individual mortgage borrower’s gain of $51,500 in just one year. A deferral of 12 months’ worth of $2,000 per month payments that totaled $24,000 would still be less than half of the new equity gains.

Image from Pexels

In this article, you will learn about how you can refinance out of a forbearance or loan modification plan instead of losing all of your equity in a future foreclosure sale. For most American families, the bulk of their net worth originates from the equity in their owner-occupied residential property (single-family home, condominium, townhouse, duplex, triplex, or fourplex), so this topic point is quite relevant to millions of people today.

Let’s review next some of the most mind-blowing delinquency data that’s been published here in 2021:

$833 Billion in Unpaid Mortgage Balances

  • An estimated 15 million people lived in households that owed more than $20 billion in unpaid rent as of July 2021.
  • 7.43 million rental property units were not current.
  • 5.95 million owner-occupied housing units weren’t current.
  • 8.71 million lived in owner-occupied homes where the homeowners have little or no confidence in their ability to pay their mortgage.
  • 12.71 million lived in rental properties where the heads of household had little or no confidence in their ability to pay their rent.
  • Serious mortgage delinquencies were up 20% in July from June and were the highest recorded since 2010.
  • By mid-August 2021, 3.9 million homeowners were in active forbearance, which represented 7.4% of all mortgages nationwide and $833 billion in total unpaid principal.
  • An estimated 11.6% of all FHA and VA loans were in active forbearance.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and Black Knight Mortgage Monitor

How Hyperinflation Creates Wealth

Most people should know by now that historically low mortgage rates for borrowers is one of the main reasons why real estate values have boomed since 2013, depending upon the region. The vast majority of homeowners need third-party loans to buy their properties. Over the past decade, a very high percentage of homebuyers purchased their homes with 0% to 3.5% down payments with or without their own personal funds for loan programs like FHA, VA, or conforming that allowed gifted funds from family or seller credits.

Image from Pixabay

Historically, 7-year to 10-year boom cycles for real estate have been the norm. Yet, we haven’t seen significant price drops in a major metropolitan region, state, or across the nation. Do we still have at least another few years of potential double-digit home appreciation growth in our future or not?

Few investments have been a better hedge against inflation than real estate. On an annualized basis, home values generally increase in value on average at least as high as the published annual rates of inflation. The Federal Reserve must continue to keep rates artificially low or they may risk causing the housing bubble to pop.

The Federal Reserve’s ongoing policy of Quantitative Easing (create more money to boost asset values related to housing and stocks, especially) and their lesser-known Operation Twist policy (the simultaneous buying and selling of long-term and short-term bonds to artificially drive down mortgage rates) that they seem to turn on and off as needed with or without notifying the general public. With record high government debt levels today, the Fed has really no choice but to keep pushing inflation higher because one of their biggest fears is massive asset deflation like seen in Japan in the early 1990s after their own Quantitative Easing program failed miserably.

Rising inflation trends for various consumer goods and services like food, clothing, cars, and gasoline are not usually viewed favorably. However, rising home values tied to meteoric inflation trends are welcomed by homeowners who see their home values rise $50,000 to $100,000+ in a year.

Year-over-year inflation trends for August 2021:

  • Used vehicle prices: +31.9%
  • Energy costs: +25%
  • Southern California home prices: +22.1%*
  • National home prices: +19.7% (a new annual US record)*
  • Export prices: +16.8%
  • Apparel / clothing: +15.52%
  • Import prices: +9.0%

*July year-over-year housing price trends

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CoreLogic, and California Association of Realtors

Forbearance and Loan Modification Refinance Solutions

A homeowner who hasn’t made a mortgage payment in several months, a year, or almost two years probably has a few options to exit out of this dire financial situation. First, they can sell the home and lease another property if their credit scores aren’t too negatively impacted.

In September 2021, multifamily apartment units reached an all-time record high of $1,558 which was an all-time record annual 11.4% increase, according to Yardi Matrix. For single-family home rentals, the monthly rents are normally much higher in the $2,000 to $5,000+ per month range, depending upon how close they are to an ocean or prime metropolitan region.

Image from Pixabay

Or, the homeowner can attempt to save their home and end their existing approved or unapproved forbearance (“no payment, no foreclosure”) or loan modification situation, and refinance with a new loan that may allow cash out, a lower rate, and better monthly payments. The mortgage companies or lenders that will consider refinancing a mortgage which is severely delinquent are likely to request that the homeowner exit out their forbearance agreement, make a few payments, and then complete the new refinance closing.

Oftentimes, a homeowner who has been in forbearance cannot provide tax returns or more formal income verification. As a result, more lenders today may consider qualifying the borrower applicant with anywhere between zero and 24 months’ worth of bank deposits while closely analyzing the averaged bank deposits. In some cases, a government-backed mortgage product may allow an almost “No Doc” loan program with a financial hardship letter that may reduce the monthly principal and interest amounts by 25%, as recently announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

For more details in regards to these new financial solutions to exit out of forbearance and loan modification programs, refinance, and save your home, please visit my website at www.realloans.com.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Limited Home Inventories & Soaring Prices

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By Rick Tobin

Nationwide during the first quarter of 2021, homeowners with mortgages saw their home equity jump by a staggering 20% as compared to one year earlier. The dollar amount gains for the first quarter (January 1st – March 31st) alone for homeowners across the nation amounted to a whopping $2 trillion in total homeowner value gains, according to CoreLogic.

The average US homeowner gained $26,300 in additional home equity over the past year. According to Experian and CNBC, the average Generation X consumer had $32,878 in non-mortgage related debt such as credit cards, student loans, and car loans. When equity growth exceeds debt in just a few months or within one year, this is usually a positive for homeowners.
In California, the average homeowner gained $11,000 per month in equity during the first quarter of 2021 ($33,000 in three months) as the average statewide home appreciated 39% in just 12 months ending in May 2021 to reach $818,000 per California home. In April 2021, the top three metropolitan regions for year-over-year home price gains were Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle. The median sales price for the Southern California region in the same April month reportedly appreciated at a pace of $1 every two minutes, according to DQ News/CoreLogic. Each day has 1,440 minutes (24 hours x 60 minutes), so this would be equivalent to a price gain of $720 per day and approximately $21,600 per month over 30 days.

Declining Home Listings and Rising Demand

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Values for products or services usually fluctuate up or down based upon supply and demand. When demand is strong and home listing supplies are low, then home prices rise. Let’s take a look next at some of the primary factors for these suppressed listing supplies and why there’s so much demand in spite of an ongoing pandemic designation: 1. Near record low mortgage rates: Most buyers need mortgages from third-party lenders or mortgage brokers. The lower the interest rate, the more affordable that the monthly mortgage payment is for the borrower. Many younger Generation Z or Millennial buyers or tenants have seen incredibly low mortgage rates for the past 10 years, so they may not remember that mortgage rates in the 2% to 3% rate ranges are shockingly low as compared with previous decades. To better understand how low mortgage rates have become in recent times, let’s review the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate by decade dating back to the 1980s: ● 12.7% in the 1980s ● 8.12% in the 1990s ● 6.29% in the 2000s ● 4.09% in the 2010s ● Near 3% in 2020 and the first half of 2021 2. The CARES Act and foreclosure and tenant eviction moratorium: The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act was passed on March 27, 2020 by Congress as an attempt to minimize the economic hardship for homeowners and tenants nationwide. These moratoriums or legal postponements included within CARES prevented lenders from foreclosing on delinquent borrowers and stopped landlords from evicting tenants for missed rent payments. In addition, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) also issued their own guidelines which prevented landlords from evicting tenants or landlords would face both significant civil fines and criminal prosecution. As a result, the foreclosure inventory dried up as well because there were so few foreclosure auction sales or tenant evictions which would’ve allowed investors to sell their properties to new buyers and the overall supply of distressed homes for sale plummeted.
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3. Declining home construction numbers: Freddie Mac, one of the largest national secondary market investors along with Fannie Mae, had claimed last year that there was a new home supply shortage of 2.5 million units as compared with the estimated buyer demand. Yet, the US hasn’t surpassed more than 1 million units, or 40% of this 2.5 million unit number, since 2007 when 1.046 million new single-family home units were built. During the depths of the Credit Crisis meltdown, new housing units declined to 430,600 in 2011. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) did forecast that 2021 might finally break 1 million units again nationwide by reaching a projected 1.134 million unit number. California’s new housing start numbers, however, are not as positive as the rest of the nation. Back during the peak of the previous housing market boom in 2005, there were 150,000 new single-family home units built. In 2020, there were only 59,000 new single-family homes developed for a state with a population trending towards 40 million residents.
Some key factors why there are so few new homes being built in California are related to rising and unaffordable prices for land, lumber, steel, appliances, building permits, and environmental-impact or “sustainable living” fees. If a home builder can’t make a profit, they aren’t very likely to take a risk to develop a new housing community.

Multiple Bids and Quick Sales

As per the May 2021 Zillow Market Report, the average time that a listing took to sell, or days on market (DOM), was just six days in spite of home prices reaching all-time record highs in most US regions. The National Association of Realtors defines days on market (DOM) as the number of days the property is listed for sale on the local multiple listing service (MLS) up until the day that the buyer and seller have mutually agreed to the terms signed in the sales contract.
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Because it’s very likely that a listed home for sale will probably have multiple offers, sellers can pick and choose between the best offers that may include all cash offers, 7 to 14 day closings, waiver of all third-party reports such as appraisals and home inspections, and even the option for the seller to remain in the home for another 30 to 60 days rent-free so that the seller has enough time to find a new place.
Most buyers usually need a mortgage to purchase a property. In today’s hot housing market world, buyers and their advising buyer’s agents don’t have much time to get pre-approved from their local bank or mortgage broker. Some lenders may need a few days to a few weeks to formally pre-approve a borrower, depending upon how complete the original loan application package is at time of the loan submission.
Fewer sellers in multiple bid situations will even consider accepting a purchase offer from a buyer who is not formally qualified before the buyer writes up the offer. This is why it’s so important to get pre-approved first before going out with a knowledgeable real estate licensee who understands the local housing trends and searching for properties. If so, you’re much more likely to be successful as a buyer, seller, tenant, landlord, or advising real estate licensee.

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Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

California’s Gold Rush for Valuable Land

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Image from Pixabay

By Rick Tobin

California’s nickname is the “Golden State” for many reasons as it relates to the gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill by James Marshall near the city of Coloma in 1848, skyrocketing real estate prices, a Top 5 global economy ranking, and consistent warm sunshine. Of all of the assets ever discovered in California’s history since it joined the union as the 31st state in 1850, land that is buildable has been proven to be the most valuable asset of them all.

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By the end of December in 2020 during a global pandemic designation, the median price of a California home was published by the California Association of Realtors (CAR) as being a shocking $717,930 value. In January 2021, CAR reported that statewide median home prices rose +21.7% year-over-year. Statewide home prices surpassed $700,000 in August 2020 for the first time ever. For example, a 21.7% price gain for a $700,000 home would be equivalent to a staggeringly high $151,900 equity gain in just 12 months. For more expensive coastal homes that are valued near $2 to $5 million, a 21.7% year-over-year price gain would be be as follows: ● $2,000,000 home value = +$434,000 annual price gain ● $3,000,000 home value = +$651,000 annual price gain ● $4,000,000 home value = +$868,000 annual price gain ● $5,000,000 home value = +$1,085,000 annual price gain

The Priciest California Counties by Region

Let’s take a look below at recent county price trends for California to better understand how high median home prices have risen so high. For January 2021, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) reported the following most expensive median prices for these Southern California regions:

Southern California Counties

#1 Orange: $971,000 #2 Ventura: $776,000 #3 San Diego: $730,000 #4 Los Angeles: $697,660 #5 Riverside: $495,500 #6 San Bernardino: $390,000

Central Coast Counties

#1 Santa Cruz: $1,100,000 #2 Santa Barbara: $920,000 #3 Monterey: $860,000 #4 San Luis Obispo: $698,000

Bay Area Counties

#1 San Francisco: $1,745,000 #2 San Mateo: $1,605,000 #3 Santa Clara: $1,375,000 #4 Marin: $1,350,000 #5 Alameda: $1,060,000 #6 Napa: $835,000 #7 Contra Costa: $765,000 #8 Sonoma: $715,000 #9 Solano: $510,000 https://www.car.org/en/marketdata/data/countysalesactivity

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California’s Top 5 Global Economy

By 2018, California had surpassed the United Kingdom as the 5th largest economy in the world if it were listed as a separate nation. The fact that London, and the rest of the United Kingdom, is one of the most powerful, wealthiest, and historic regions in world history and is behind the Golden State in terms of economic size is quite impressive. Listed below are the Top 10 largest world economies: 1. United States $19.391 trillion 2. China $12.015 trillion 3. Japan $4.872 trillion 4. Germany $3.685 trillion 5. California $2.747 trillion 6. United Kingdom $2.625 trillion 7. India $2.611 trillion 8. France $2.584 trillion 9. Brazil $2.055 trillion 10. Italy $1.938 trillion Source: International Monetary Fund (2018 data) In 2019, it was reported that California was closer to $3.2 trillion in annual economic output. Because California has such a diverse employment market that ranges from entertainment in Hollywood to multi-billion and trillion dollar digital media and marketing companies in Silicon Valley like Apple, Alphabet (parent of Google), and Facebook, the future continues to look bright for the Golden State’s economy.

California’s Population Base and Finite Land Supply

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There are approximately 40 million residents in the Golden State. As of January 2020, the US Census Bureau reported that the US had a population base of 330 million. This translates to California residents representing 12.12% of all US residents.
The famous film and stage actor, writer, and witty humorist from Pacific Palisades, California named Will Rogers once said: “Buy land. They ain’t making any more of the stuff.”
Another historic quote by Harold Samuel, the founder of Land Securities which was one of the United Kingdom’s most successful property companies, about the key to success in regard to how to make money in real estate is as follows: “Location, location, location.” California is filled with an abundant supply of land that is adjacent to the majestic Pacific Ocean and includes scenic rivers, mountain ranges, and forests up and down the state which borders Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon. Our state is 1,040 miles in length and 560 miles in width. There are an estimated 156,000 square miles of land and an additional 7,734 square miles that are covered by water for a grand total size of 164,000 square miles. If you flew on an airplane between two airports in the state that didn’t fly over the Pacific Ocean, you’d probably see primarily empty land regions. Did you know that our 40 million residents live on approximately just 5.4% of the state’s entire available land supply?

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Almost 95% of California has no people living on it due to very strict zoning and usage laws and incredibly high building costs like environmental-impact study and “sustainable living” or green home building fees. Lumber prices have reached all-time record highs in early 2021 after topping $1,000 per 1,000 board feet for the first time ever. The combination of costly environmental-impact fees and rising lumber supply costs are two of the main reasons why there haven’t been many affordable homes or apartments developed in the state. If we divide 156,000 square miles of available California land supply by the estimated 5.4% of land that’s allowed to have residents living there, this means that only 8,424 square miles of California has residential or commercial real estate and residents on it. If so, this is equal to 4,748 California residents per square mile of the buildable land supply. Let’s put this 8,424 square miles of buildable land in the Golden State into better perspective by comparing it to other US regions: ● All of the Hawaiian Islands combined: 6,422 square miles ● The Big Island of Hawaii by itself: 4,028 square miles ● The state of Connecticut: 5,543 square miles ● Puerto Rico: 3,515 square miles

Money Supply + Land = Golden Returns

Most California residents created the bulk of their family’s overall net worth from the acquisition of residential property, both owner-occupied and investment. Few places in world history have experienced real estate booms like California as seen in recent years especially. Most California homebuyers or investors need third-party money sources to get into and out of a property. This is because generally there are more buyers who need mortgages to purchase a property than there are all-cash buyers. Conversely, the same homebuyer is likely to later become a home seller who needs a qualified new homebuyer who has access to his or her money sources to close the sales transaction. As California home prices skyrocket, the loan limits for conforming, FHA, VA, non-QM, and other types of creative money sources from places like hedge funds, insurance companies, and banks rise as well. For example, the high-cost conforming loan limits for the more pricey California counties were increased to $822,375 (97% loan-to-value). Or, a home, condominium, or townhome may be purchased with as little as 3% down payments up to almost an $850,000 purchase price.

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More flexible FHA loan products which allow lower credit scores and cash reserve allowances may require 3.5% down payments up to the similar $822,375 loan amount. Quite surprisingly, VA loans for qualifying active military or veterans have the option to purchase a single unit property (home, condominium, townhome) up to as high as $1.5 million with no money down and with 100% loan-to-value financing. After June 2020, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began really tightening up their underwriting requirements for self-employed borrowers partly due to serious concerns about rising unemployment rates and collapsing small to midsize businesses. Fannie and Freddie are the two largest secondary market investors in America that purchase a high percentage of 30-year fixed mortgage loans and other loan products. The Jumbo mortgage market also started to freeze up after an increasing number of lenders stopped lending on larger mortgage amounts for owner-occupied, second home, and rental properties for one-to-four units. As a result, it forced more self-employed and high net worth borrowers to seek out non-conventional mortgage alternatives with funding sources from mortgage companies like mine who are partnered with more flexible hedge funds at prices that are very competitive with other loan products with or without income verification up to several million dollar loan amounts. There’s a finite supply of both prime buildable California land and access to affordable and flexible money to purchase and sell these same property assets. As the number of buyers for California properties continues to far exceed the diminished available listing supply, you should better understand why homes have increased 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%+ annually in various statewide regions. If you have access to land and money, then you’re well on your way to prospering here in the Golden State just like how the early Gold Rush settlers panned for gold.
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Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.