MyHome mortgage assistance for first-time homebuyers

First-time homebuyers haven’t had much luck in recent decades. Born to disproportionately successful Baby Boomers and entering the job market in a severe economic recession, members of Generation Y (Gen Y), a significant component of the first-time buyer population, struggle with low wages and high debts. These compounding obstacles are delaying Gen Y’s entrance into homeownership.

The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), a small state-operated adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) originator funded by the sale of tax-free bonds, hopes to alleviate part of this struggle with a program called MyHome.

MyHome gives first-time homebuyers assistance to make a down payment that currently may be otherwise out of reach. This program is a variation on the colorfully named “SHAFT mortgage” popular in the ‘80s (more specifically called a “Share Home Appreciation by First Timers” mortgage).

With MyHome, up to 5% of the lower of the home purchase price or appraised value is lent to the buyer as a deferred-payment junior loan to cover the buyer’s down payment and closing costs on the purchase of their first home.

“Deferred payments” may sound particularly appealing to uninformed first–time buyers. However, they likely signify another incarnation of the once common “sleeper mortgage” – a mortgage which initially requires no monthly payments, then explodes into negative amortization and suddenly become due after compounding on a monthly basis unbeknownst to the buyer.

Eligibility for MyHome

First-time buyers seeking help from the MyHome program need to meet eligibility requirements. Buyers need to:

• be first-time homebuyers;
• occupy the home they intend to purchase; and
• be within the MyHome income limits for their county.

The program defines first-time homebuyers as those who have not owned and occupied a home in the prior three years.

Buyers also need to ensure the property they wish to purchase is:

• within the county’s MyHome sales price limits;
• on a lot no greater than five acres; and be either
• a one-unit, single family residence (SFR);
• manufactured housing on a permanent foundation funded with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured first mortgage; or
• an approved condominium subdivision or a planned unit development (PUD).

Buyers are required to complete homebuyer education counseling and meet with a preferred loan officer specially trained in CalHFA programs in order to apply for MyHome assistance.

Too little too late for first-time homebuyers

The broken record keeps scratching away at the same old song: first-time homebuyers are scarce.

Assistance government programs of this nature are merely chatter until the economy enables first-time buyers to earn high enough wages to develop personal savings sufficient to fund their own down payment. Until this occurs, first-time buyers are unlikely to become homeowners. Combined student debt and an inability to save for the historical 20% down payment greatly limits the size of mortgage first-time homebuyers are able to obtain. This is especially prohibitive when the cost of mortgage insurance equaling nearly 1% in addition to interest paid on a first mortgage is added.

Many first-time buyers are wary of the prospect of ownership. Most profess they do not want to incur more debt than they already owe — particularly if the interest rate can suddenly adjust upward. Thus, the prospect of MyHome’s disguised ARM is less than motivating to cautious homebuyers.

California’s homeownership rate hasn’t changed significantly since the conclusion of the Millennium Boom in 2008. It holds steady at 54.4% as of Q2 of 2015, the second-lowest homeownership rate in the country, preceded only by New York. Most first-time buyers are in no current position to change this. Thus, California’s static homeownership levels aren’t going to rise any time soon. Even the advent of mortgage assistance programs like MyHome is of no fundamental financial help.

Home prices are also not expected to decrease until mid-2017, remaining out of reach to many first-timers with minimal savings. However, despite the many obstacles aligned against them, first-time homebuyers remain optimistic about buying a home. For those lucky few who have been able to save their modest wages and are ready to graduate into ownership, programs like MyHome grease the gears for ownership of a home.

Source: “CalHFA launches assistance program for first-time homebuyers,” from The Sacramento Bee

How to Recover Your Deleted Files

In this day and age, almost all of our information is saved either on our computer or on an external drive, allowing us to access and transfer many photos instantly. However, despite the improved availability and speed of access to our files, deleting them by mistake can also be easy.  Imagine sending your computer to get repaired, and when you get it back, it’s without your precious photos from your kid’s wedding. All of those precious memories gone in an instant. Luckily for you, not all is lost – you can restore most (if not all) of your lost data by using a simple, free program called Recuva.

Source

How does this work? When a file on your computer is deleted, only the link to it has been removed, making the file invisible. What that means is that the data is still on your hard drive or external drive, and programs like Recuva can search and recover the data (unless it has been overwritten – then you need to take it to a lab). If you recently deleted a file by accident, Recuva will be able to find it and restore it. How do I use it? First, download the program HERE and install it. After the installation, the Recuva window will open, displaying the “Recuva Wizard”, meant to simplify your use of the program. Click on “Next” when you’re ready.

The next window will ask you what type of file(s) you’re looking for, so select the appropriate kind. If you’re unsure, select “All Files” instead and hit “Next”.

In the next window, you’ll be asked where the missing file was. If you don’t know, select “I’m not sure”, prompting the program to search the entire computer. If you know exactly where it is, click on “Browse” to find the directory it was in and then on “Next” to proceed.

In the next window, click on “Start” – this will begin a scan of your computer for any recoverable files.

Scan window

At the end of the scan, a new window will open up with a list of all the recoverable files that the program found. The files will have a circle on the left-hand side in either green, yellow or red. Green indicates that the file can be recovered, yellow indicates that the file may or may not be recoverable, and red indicates unrecoverable files.

Locate the files you want to recover and check the box next to it. When you’re done, click on the “Recover” button at the bottom right of the window.

After clicking “Recover”, a new window will prompt you to select a folder you would like to recover the files into, and once selected, click “OK” to restore the file to that folder.

Once the process is complete, you will see this notification, containing information on all the files that were successfully (or unsuccessfully) recovered.

If you feel confident, you can use the advanced mode, which will allow you to search for specific file types, file name, or location.

Search by file name or type

Search by location

Please note – As time passes and with regular use, the quality of deleted files deteriorates, eventually making them unrecoverable. The sooner you perform the scan – the more likely it will be that the file will be salvageable.

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The Cars of Today That Will Be the Classics of the Future

I am a huge fan of the classic cars of yesteryear and like nothing more than seeing an old Jaguar E-type or 1970s Cadillac. However, we should remember that the vintage favorites we love today were once the new cars on-the-block and it takes time for an auto to secure its position as an all time great. For this article, we have identified 12 of the most beautiful cars still in production in 2015 that could well be considered classic one day. Do you think they will be worthy of a place among the greats of the past?

Jaguar F-Type Coupé

Image: Flickr Jaguar MENA

Jaguar's recent revival has spawned a host of beautiful cars that make great additions to the company's illustrious historical collection of incredible designs. It's a two seater sports car that replaced the Jaguar XK in 2013 and features a body that manages to be both muscular and striking, yet shapely and elegant. It's available as both a coupé and a convertible and is the spiritual successor to the legendary Jaguar E-Type, considered by many to be the most beautiful sports car in history.

Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray

Image: Chevrolet

The Chevrolet Corvette C7 is the first Chevy to take the iconic 'Stingray' name since the 1976 3rd generation C3. The car was designed to impress both inside and out, featuring a boldly styled exterior with, a 6.2L V-8 engine capable of 455 horsepower and a luxury interior intended to quash criticism of the finish given to its predecessor the C6. Its design is 'busier' and less muscular than previous C-models, which attracted some criticism among enthusiasts, although many love the enterprising style of the C7, and so do we.

Mazda MX-5

Image: via telegraph.co.uk

The Mazda MX-5 is a modern sports convertible, revered for the classic simplicity of a its design. The two-seater roadster has been compared to the sleek and simple designs of British sports cars from the 1950s and 1960s, and its clean lines provide simple pleasures that have made the MX-5 a favorite among consumers across 2 and a half decades and 3 generations of design.

Volkswagen Scirocco

Image: Flickr user The NRMA

The Volkswagen Scirocco is a sport compact first manufactured between 1974 and 1992, before being revived in its current, 3rd generation guise back in 2008. Its design is based on the similarly fantastic Volkswagen GTI, and features wonderful styling with elegant lines down the sides and aggressive wide stance detail towards the front of the vehicle. Due to a mixture of economic pressures and fear that it would impact upon the excellent sales of the GTI, the car has never been made available for sale in North America, and that's a shame because it's a beautiful compact well worthy of a place on this list.

Lamborghini Huracán

Image: Flickr user Ben

Lamborghini have always been known for their bold designs, and the Huracán is another in a long line of striking super cars. 'Huracán' is actually Spanish for 'hurricane' but the car isn't named after the strong wind, rather for a famous 19th century bull known for its courage. This follows the manufacturer's long held convention for naming cars after famous bulls. The Huracán could be considered less flamboyant than other cars in the line, but that's exactly what's so great about it. It still retrains some angular touches around the edges, but the overall shape is clean and exotic.

Land Rover Range Rover L405

Image Land Rover MENA

Previous generations of Range Rovers have tended to be blocky and quadrilateral in appearance, and although they had their charm, the subtle curves of the elegant current generation put them in the shade. First introduced in 2012, this new design has been popular too, with worldwide sales on the up (reaching 61,626 in 2014 compared with 22,000 in 2009).

Mercedes-Benz S-Class W222 Coupé

Image: Mercedesbenzcary

The S-Class is Mercedes's flagship coupé and is now in its sixth generation, so it's highly impressive that the company still manage to come up with designs that look so fresh and attractive. Considered by many to be the most attractive Mercedes that has rolled off the production line for many years, the W222 has been a rousing success thanks to its powerful, masculine design and impressive performance.

Ferrari 458 Italia

Image: Flickr user Joao Paulo Ferreira Photography

Few manufacturers can boast the incredibly consistent stream of beautiful cars that Ferrari has in its back catalog, and they continue to add new models to their illustrious list of designs. The Ferrari 458 Italia is a mid-engined sports car first unveiled in 2009, and although it is set to be replaced by the impressive Ferrari 488 GTB, we think it deserves a place in the list. The two seater features an aerodynamic design that produces a down-force of 200kg at 124mph (200km/h) and its interior was designed in consultation with Formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher, so it is heavily influenced by race car styling.

Alfa Romeo 4C Spider

Image: Flickr user Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Speaking of Italian sports car designs, the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, first unveiled in 2014, is one of the most eye-catching high performance vehicles manufactured in recent years. The car has multiple awards for its design, which includes a removable roof panel, muscular hood and external headlights, while it is capable of a top speed in excess of 160mph (257km/h).

Peugeot RCZ Coupé

The Peugeot RCZ is a classic high performance coupé that has just finished production as of September 2015, following a six year run during which it won multiple awards, including Top Gear's coupé of the year in 2010. It was originally planned as a concept car, but received such glowing praise from both critics and the public when it was unveiled that it was put into production. Its flowing curves and double-bubble roof make it a shapely classic and a return to form for Peugeot with regard to high performance models.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante

Image: Flickr user André Ritzinger

The Aston Martin Vanquish line was revived in 2012 after an initial run between 2001-2007 (during which it was featured in the James Bond film Die Another Day). The new generation replaced the DBS and boasts a 5.9 liter engine with top speeds of up to 201mph (317 km/h) all housed inside a seductive design that's true to the sophisticated reputation of the manufacturer's brand.

Cadillac ELR

Image: Flickr Dave S

The Cadillac ELR is the only Hybrid on our list and uses sharp, largely straight lines to create a beautiful car full of poise and style. Jeweled detailing around the trim offers an extra splash of class that ensures it's a worthy member of this list, and in a world where electric vehicles are likely to feature hugely in the future of road travel, the ELR can be considered a worthy flag carrier for the plug-in hybrid.

Simplify Your Life...

Let's face it life doesn't make itself simpler, we have to do that, and so, with the goal in mind of having a simpler life, you can have it without moving to some remote countryside and milking cows.  Here's how:

1. Get up 20 minutes earlier: If you find your morning tight on time, try to go to bed a littler earlier and get up 20-30 minutes before your usual time. You'll be surprised how this little addition of time can start your whole day better. 2. Be 10 minutes early for meetings: It's hard to be late when you're planning to get there early, and it'll let some of the pressure off. You'll also have time to smooth out your thoughts and think about what you'd like to say. 3. One thing at a time: Don't be fooled by those around you who brag they can do it all. Everyone has a problem concentrating on several tasks at once or even paying attention to one while thinking of another. Try to put your entire focus on the most urgent issue. Finish it and then move on to the next. You'll be surprised how much faster and more efficient you are at problem solving when you're solving one problem at a time. 4. Ask yourselves some questions: Stop yourselves from time to time and ask: "Am I making things more complicated?" and "how can I simplify the problem?". Sometimes we miss simple solutions because we don't stop to look around us. 5. Ask yourselves: "Will this still matter in five years?" Most of the time, it won't even matter in 5 months or even 5 weeks. If you find yourselves facing a mountain, maybe check that it's not a molehill. 6. Write down everything: There is no memory that doesn't 'leak' from time to time. The few minutes you spend writing things down will be worth having those things out of your head and memory, resulting in less pressure. 7. Remember that there is something greater than yourselves: We don't know everything, nor are we always right. There are always going to be causes bigger than ourselves. 8. Enjoy the simple things: Sometimes we need to stop, shut our eyes tightly, and then open them again and truly FEEL the moment we're in, the way it looks, the way it sounds, feels, smells and tastes. This is the meaning of living in the moment and enjoying things that are so basic we hardly really pay them attention any more. 9. Drink a glass of water: Water is the essence of life, and sometimes we might be better off drinking than binging on junk food that will just increase our anxious feelings. 10. Kindness is a blessing returned: Be kind to others. One day you may be old, sick and in need of kindness yourself, knowing that you were kind to others and that they want what's best for you is a load off, and will reduce the fear you feel about the future. 11. Simplify your life by simplifying your home: A cluttered house is a cluttered mind, some say. Try and keep a place for everything in your house, keep it clean and tidy. It may seem unrelated, but a clean house makes us feel good about ourselves and helps us concentrate on what's important. 12. Stop and find the roses: Instead of jumping from thing to thing, try taking some extra time with certain tasks, relationships, work and personal projects. That extra time will give you confidence and help you discover things you may miss when you're rushing about. 13. Spend some time with simpler folk: Spending time with those that lead a simple life will help you simplify your own. Their slower pace and calm will leak into your own life, and you'll learn some of their tricks for simpler living.  14. Ask advice from those who have been there: When you encounter a problem, remember that most of them are not new, they have been challenging others as well. Turn to those who have been there, and ask for their advice. Sometimes it takes a village to get through life. 15. Forget about perfection: Don't try to do everything perfectly, you'll probably not succeed. Let go of the illusion of perfection and focus on what you have that is good and true. 16. Take a breath of fresh air a few times a day: Like a smoker on smoke breaks, take breaks to go out and get some fresh air. You'll be surprised how quickly those anxious thoughts can die down while you take a minute to disconnect from anxiety and reconnect with the world around you. 17. Take 30 minutes on the weekend to plan your week: Weekends are a great time to relax and take a little time to plan out what you are going to do this week. Make a list. It will help you remember and you'll feel more calm dealing with the coming week's challenges. 18. Ask people around you more questions: Sometimes, the things that make us anxious could be solved with a simple question. Don't be afraid to get answers you may not want to hear - in the long run, it'll help to know. 19. Take some time to be lazy: If you can simplify your lives a bit, you may find out you have some spare time. Take some of it to relax, you deserve a little laziness. 20. Remember life is longer than you think: You may change your mind a couple of times throughout, you may grow as a person and want different things, love different people. Accept this fact, and you'll see how things won't bother you as much. We promise.

How to Be a Power Google User!

Google is probably the most popular search site on the web, used for finding just about everything we need on the internet. It's quick, easy and simple to use, and most of the time we find what we need in the first one or two result pages. But what if I told you that you are not really using Google as you should? It turns out that Google has a few special tricks that will make your life a whole lot easier.

1. Remove words from your search results: Let's say you are looking for bread recipes but you don't want any with "yeast" as an ingredient. All you need to do is type your desired search terms normally and then add a minus sign (-) followed by the words you want excluded without a space. It should look like this in the search bar: bread recipes -yeast. 2. Look up related words and synonyms: This is a simple way for finding out other ways for saying something if you want to use the same word twice in one sentence, and you don’t want it to sound weird. In the Google search bar put a tilde mark (~, normally located next the 1 key on the top left of the keyboard) in front of the search term you want to find synonyms for. 3. Google can help you define a word: Type "define:" (with both " marks) followed by the word, and Google will take you straight to the definition. Use this to catch anyone trying to cheat on Scrabble and get fast definitions for words you don’t know.

4. Search for the exact order of words: If you are looking for the origin of a quote or a song you can only remember one line from, this is the just what you need to find what you are looking for. Simply put your search phrase inside quotation marks and search. 5. Search for items in a specific price range: If you are looking for something to buy but you don't want Google to show you all the price options, simply use this handy little trick. First type in your term, let's say phone, and after that type the lowest and highest prices you're willing to pay with two periods (..). The end result should look like this: Phone 100$..200$. The more accurate the item you are looking for will be, the better results you will get. 6. Limit your search to a website: If you once read a good article on a site and you can't remember its name and how you got there, it's very easy to find it again. Type "site:" followed by the URL of the website you'd like to search. A URL of a site looks like this: www.ba-bamail.com. After the site name type the rest of your terms, for example: "site:"www.baba-mail.com dog. 7. Search for a GIF: A GIF is a type on animated picture file looping over and over like a very short (mostly poor quality) video. Finding GIFs is as easy as using the Google images search. Go to Google Images, type what you are looking for, click "Search tools" and "Type". A small drop down list will appear, select "Animated" and search. The results you'll get might look like normal pictures at first, but press on any of them and you will see their animation. 8. Setting a timer: Not really a search option, but still a very useful feature if you want to remind yourself to take a break or to take something out of the oven. Type "set timer for" into the search bar and you will see the Google timer as your first result. Enter the time you want in hours, minutes or seconds, and start the timer. Google will start beeping when the time runs out.

9. Do math: This one is really straight forward, type in an equation in the search bar and Google will give you the answer on its calculator. If possible, you can copy-paste the equation to the search bar to make your life easier. 10. Search for a file type and not just a website: If you are looking for a Word file, a PowerPoint presentation or something similar this will make your search faster and much more accurate. Enter your search terms followed by "filetype:PPT". PPT is the file type for PowerPoint, DOC is for most Word files and if you are looking for other kinds of files, just Google their file type initials. 11. Convert currency: Much like doing math for you, Google can also tell the value of different currencies and help you prepare for that trip abroad. Type the name of the currency you own, add "to" and type the name of the currency you want to get in return. Keep in mind that many places trading with foreign coin take a commission and Google can't calculate that.      12. Search for something you forgot: If a part of your search is unknown or forgotten, you can use Google to fill in the blanks. Enter your search terms using asterisks (*) as stand-ins for the unknowns. It can also be used to answer simple question such as searching for: When you are in Rome be sure to visit *.

Does the Chinese stock market crash motivate foreign investors?

The recent crash of the Chinese stock market will likely show some effect on the U.S. real estate market, as Chinese investors look internationally for safe harbors to store their wealth.

About 50% of Chinese investors surveyed are considering a purchase of U.S. real estate, according to East-West Property Advisors, a corporation connecting Chinese buyers with U.S. real estate professionals.

Foreign investments in California properties

California has received considerable interest from Chinese investors in recent years, particularly in larger metropolitan areas. 34% of Chinese buyers looking for U.S. real estate were interested in purchasing property in San Francisco, followed by 17% interested in Los Angeles property and 13% interested in San Diego property, according to a survey by East-West Property Advisors.

International investors paid on average $490,000 per transaction in 2014, according to the California Association of Realtors’ International Buyers Survey. Of these investors, 66% paid in cash for their houses.

Chinese buyers’ preference for cash payments and newer, single family residences (SFRs) may sound ideal to agents, especially since 36% of foreign investors in California real estate in 2014 were Chinese, according to the International Buyers Survey. However, anticipating a massive influx of Chinese buyers generated by their stock market crash is unrealistic.

The Chinese stock market represents a considerably smaller portion of China’s economy than the U.S. market represents of its own – roughly 3% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP). Chinese citizens who invested in the stock market are wealthy, and thus their loss of value in stocks does little to alter China’s economy. Further, their stock market is unrelated to the fundamentals of their economy, a true casino selling positions to others, if they can find buyers other than China’s government.

The extensive number of citizens who didn’t have money in their stock market are the ones who may seek investments in American assets, like real estate. This may briefly support prices in California real estate, but the false inflation will be short-lived – once the Chinese and global economy recover, investors will be free to move their “hot money” elsewhere, and they will.

Will the stock market crash delay the Fed’s rate hike?

A more hotly debated topic is how the Chinese stock market crash will indirectly affect domestic home sales, by way of interest rates. Steady increases in foreign investments indicate instability in international markets. Thus, some worry that the Chinese stock market crash and resulting economic challenges will jar the global economy. In turn, the China stock market crash gives the Fed the opportunity to consider a delay in their interest rate hike until global markets stabilize.

All this Fed calculus adds to Wall Street’s consternation over its long-demanded rentier push for the Fed to move off the status quo. The Fed does not much listen to Wall Street talk or the media that represents them.

Thus, these concerns are unfounded. The Fed’s interest rate hike is dependent oninflation, wages and employment. As far as a Fed rate hike goes, the Fed’s engine is primed – core inflation is near the 2% goal, and employment (though not wage growth) is also on target. The Fed will move, but only when the indicators tell them it is time to control the flow of money.

But as this article indicates, the short-term Fed rate isn’t where China’s economic struggles will manifest in the California (and the U.S.) mortgage market.

Instead, China’s economic turmoil – and that of other countries, like Greece and Brazil – will reflect in 10-year Treasury Note (T-Note) rates. Under stable economic circumstances, investment in 10-year T-Notes declines when the Fed raises interest rates, since T-Note rates tend to rise proportionally due to perceived consumer inflation. However, the instability of the world’s markets and the stable inflation outlook is likely to cause foreign investors to retain 10-year T-Note investments long past when they usually seek investment opportunities elsewhere. 10-year T-Note rates are likely to remain low while foreign investors consider them the best investment opportunity.

In parallel investment mentality, California will witness continuing inflated property prices, but only so long as foreign investors (and U.S. speculators vested in real estate) consider U.S. assets their best deal. When the global market recovers – likely around the time Generation Y begins buying first homes in earnest and Baby Boomers begin moving out, finally able to retire – investors will pull their speculative cash from the U.S. and return to investments elsewhere. If the timing is concurrent, then the real estate market will remain stable.