Jumbo Loan Limits Lowering Soon: Will This Impact Your Beach Drive Home?
I tend to shy away from writing about my "day job" on Beach Drive Blog…however it occurred to me that there are some significant changes that may impact many in the Alki area who have higher valued homes that may require larger loan amounts with their mortgages. I'd be remiss not to give my neighbors a heads up on something that may have dramatic impact on their finances.
Unless Congress passes an extension of the current loan limits, they will be lowered on October 1, 2011 and possibly again on January 1, 2012. The current conforming "high balance" loan limit for a single family dwelling in the Seattle area is $567,500, any loan amount over that is considered a "jumbo" (or non-conforming) and often has a higher interest rate and tougher qualifying guidelines. Our current conforming loan limits are technically "temporary" and are set to roll back to $506,000 on October 1, 2011. Fannie Mae has hinted that we may see loan amounts reduced further effective 2012 as conforming loan limits are based on median home values. We probably won't have more information about the loan limits for next year until November.
Reducing the loan limits from $567,500 to $506,000 means that potential home buyers will need to come up with $61,500 more for a down payment if they want to have a conforming mortgage, for a home priced around $710,000. If you are selling a home in this price range, you may want to consider that there may be fewer buyers available should your home require a larger down payment or jumbo financing. For those considering refinancing a conforming mortgage, if their loan amount is over $506,000, they should act soon. Often times, lenders will implement guidelines well in advance to what Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA or VA will do in order to not get caught holding a mortgage with "yesterday's" higher loan amount.
Loan amounts are being reduced across Washington State, I'm addressing the limits that will be impacting our West Seattle neighborhood. FHA "high balance" loan limits are set to be reduced on October 1, 2011 as well.
Mortgage rates are still very low and the difference between a jumbo and conforming interest rate is about 0.5% in rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. If I can be of any assistance, please contact me. I'm always happy to help a neighbhor.
And now…back to our regular programming.
Trailer from Ira Finklesteins Christmas
The trailer for the movie that had some scenes filmed at a Beach Drive home and Alki Beach late April is available to watch for your viewing pleasure.
Untitled from Von Piglet Productions on Vimeo.
The water scenes that are supposed to be a Florida beach was actually on Alki and the scene that is Ira (or the boy pretending to be Ira) sleeping in a sunny room and Elliot Gould saying "Ira! Ira! Ira!" is the Beach Drive home.
REMINDER: Repaving takes place tomorrow and Thursday
No parking zones will be enforced tomorrow starting a 7:00 am and ending on Thursday, July 14th at 7:00 pm for several blocks of Beach Drive. This is for repaving of the 4500 – 4600 blocks (additional blocks are closed).
Bus stops have been temporarily moved too. This one has been moved about a block south of it's normal location to the 4700 block with will be a tow zone tomorrow morning too.
Low Tides this Week
We just passed today's low tide of -2.05 a few moments ago at 9:17 this morning.
Here's the rest of the week's low tides:
Wednesday, July 13 at 10:05 a.m.: -2.4
Thursday, July 14 at 10:50 a.m.: -2.46
Friday, July 15 at 11:33 a.m.: -2.25
Saturday, July 16 at 12:13 p.m.: -1.78
Note: that's a bald eagle on the rock on the shore.
What’s With the Helicopters?
You may have noticed the low flying helicopters today and wondering "what's up?" The Office of Radiation Protection is measuring levels of radiation to create a base-line. According to their website, this has nothing to do with the recent events in Japan.
The sampling will be taking place in neighborhoods in King and Pierce Counties from today through July 28, 2011.
No Parking Signs Out and Back-Dated for Towing
UPDATE 12:12 pm: just back from a walk and found a "temporary permit" on one of the approximate 30 signs with another phone number. I was told they were trying to get the right dates on the signs but the mist was interferring with their markers. The person one the phone seemed surprised the signs were standing up since the work ("repaving at the citizens request") is not scheduled to take place until next week. He was trying to stress to me that these signs were giving us additional notice–I had to repeatedly tell him that early notice with wrong dates is confusing. I'm told someone will be out to fix it soon. Here's more info from West Seattle Blog.
PS: I did receive a voice mail from the City of Seattle's engineering department, she did not leave her name. She states that this is for repaving is scheduled to take place on July 13 and the signs are out now to give us notice…the fact that the dates are wrong seems lost to her as well. [rant over]
ORIGINAL POST: An hour or so ago I noticed no-parking signs being put up on Beach Drive…I didn't think any thing of it until I looked at the dates…it's EFFECTIVE YESTERDAY.
I called number on the bottom of the sign which directed me to the Seattle Department of Transportation. The lady I talked to (I wish I grabbed her name) told me the signs are not there's if their name is not on it…most of the signs do not have "City of Seattle" on them but I notice one with a logo (not photo'd). She still said this does not mean it's SDOT's sign.
She did say that 24 hour notice must be provided before a car can be towed. When I asked her what happens if the signs were back-dated (or not dated properly) she couldn't answer. She did take down my name and number. If I find out more information, I'll let you know.
At the very least, if your car ends up being towed because of a back-dated sign and improper notice, you can hopefully refer to this blog post. I witnessed the signs going out and they were not out this morning when I walked my dog.
Mee Kwa Mooks Trash
A neighbor notified us that some people left garbage at Mee Kwa Mooks Park last night and told me that this has been happening often recently. We live in such a beautiful area and it's sad that some people can be so thoughtless.
By the time I reached the park, a gentleman from Seattle Parks Department was cleaning up. It appears the whoever did this left behind playing cards and even a cloth tablecloth and consumed a few beers.
Happy Independence Day
This photo was captured at the 4200 block of Beach Drive.
Multi-Family Garage Sale
…at 61st and Beach Drive today and tomorrow from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
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