Questions to ask yourself: First of all, are you a mortgage holder in good standing? If you have never missed a payment, have excellent credit and the underlying owner of your loan is one of these government programs, you may be in good shape. If you have one of these loans plus a second trust deed, the task may be tougher or impossible.

What to do: Call your loan servicer – the company you make your payments to – and ask if Fannie, Freddie or FHA holds your loan. If so, ask to speak with the department that could discuss refinancing.

Next, ask if FHA, Fannie or Freddie is the underlying owner of your loan. You have a legal right to know this. If the answer is yes, discuss refinancing the loan. You cannot “shop’ the loan between servicers (again, the name of the company on the mortgage statement) but you may be able to do a streamline refinance without an appraisal.

What NOT to do: Do NOT ask for a loan modification if you want to find out about refinancing. These two departments don’t know what the other is doing, and the “loan mod” folks have no incentive to forward your inquiry. (In fact, they have very little incentive to process your loan modification, which explains why only some 1,350,000 loan modifications had been approved by March of last year.)

Botton line: A streamline refi is worth a try if you meet the basic criteria.

From the LA Times, California Luxury Home Sales Jump 21% (even the wealthy like a bargain). And the Wall Street Journal, Cash Buyers Lift Housing, cites data from the National Associations of Realtors indicating 28% of home sales last year were all-cash deals – double the rate in 2008.

Finally, from the LA Times again, Now May Be the Time to Buy a Home. Says the usually pessimistic economist Christopher Thornberg, principal with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles, “Certainly, we’re pretty sure we’re at the bottom” for home prices, as quoted in the luxury home sales article.

What does it all mean? If you are a home buyer, it may be time to step up to the plate. Stories of homes selling in multiple offers are not uncommon. This means you could soon find yourself paying both a higher interest rate for your mortgage and a higher price for your home.

If you are a seller who is buying up, now may be the time to pick up that dream home. And if you are selling because of a personal or financial situation, don’t wait for prices to rise dramatically unless you have a lot of time. During the 1990s, in the LA area,it took 9.5 years for home prices to regain their 1990 peak.

If you know of anyone you could benefit from what’s here, please share it, become a follower on Facebook and/or subscribe to my RSS feed. If you have friends or employees who are relocating or thinking about a move, please pass on the information.

Now, enjoy this short YouTube video about Westlake Village and beyond!

This charming Country Meadows home is surrounded by open space; the view from the back is especially nice. There are three bedrooms and a loft in three stories. amenities include a fireplace, vaulted ceilings, and a kitchen with granite countertops and splash and new stainless-steel appliances. Outside there is a large patio area and a private rear yard. The HOA also includes sewer, front yard maintence and insurance on common areas, including pools. The school district is Oak Park. Listed by Alex Gandel of Troop Real Estate. $600,000

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