Tax Season Savings

As tax season approaches, we wanted to remind you that you can access a copy of your 1098 mortgage interest statement by logging into your mortgage

servicer portal. Additionally, don't forget to share your property tax bill with your CPA, which you can obtain from the county website.

We have some exciting news to share with you! There are new tax credit and utility savings programs available for California homeowners, which were

passed a few months ago. We're eager to inform you about these programs, as they can help you save money on your electric bill.

There are three programs available for homeowners in California that don't have solar. You could qualify for:

1. CARE Utility Savings Program: This program offers a 15% reduction on your electric bill, without installing solar on

your home. It's offered by Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric & PG&E.

2. Free Solar Panel Program: you can get free solar panels installed, and then buy power at 30% to 50% off your current

rates. On average, our clients save $2,000/yr on their bill without purchasing anything!

3. Federal & State Tax Credits: If you want to purchase solar, the state/federal government will pay for 30% of your

solar system cost and finance 100% of the remaining balance.

To see if you qualify for any of these programs, all you need to do is send over a copy of your most recent utility bill.

We'll run it through the Federal Utility Savings Program and then call the utility company to determine what programs you

qualify for.

The best part? This service is 100% free for our past clients. In the last 90 days alone, we've helped over 291 of our past

clients save money on their electric bills.

If your electric company is Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric. LADWP or PG&E, which are the highest electric rate areas in the

country, your chances of qualifying are high (80%) as compared to other areas in the U.S at only 10%.

To take advantage of this opportunity, simply email us a copy of your most recent electric bill.

Plus, as a special thank you, we're offering a $100 Amazon gift card to anyone who sends over their bill - even if

you don't qualify or decide not to move forward.

Electric rates in California have increased by 130% over the last seven years and are expected to go up another 20% next year

on average. So, take advantage of this opportunity to save money while you can.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

I can help get you into your dream home without settling for anything less!

UWL offers One-Time Close New Construction for conventional loans.

Benefits

UWL is arming our partners to help more borrowers and first-time homebuyers make their first home or next home their dream home.

Builders don’t have to pay for the construction upfront, then sell the home to a borrower. They can create the borrower’s dream home and get a loan before construction even begins. Helping save time and money by only having to close once and covering one set of closing costs!

UWL’s process has a contractor approval component. Meaning we vet the contractor and obtain references to make sure they are credible. This helps give peace of mind to your borrower, that they have gone with a good option.

Other lenders require intense documentation, high-interest rates, and large down payments. UWL helps reduce the headaches, keep the project moving, create transparency and peace of mind for all parties involved, and offer the same great service on these loans, as we always do.

What is a One-Time Close New Construction loan?

A One-Time Close New Construction loan is a single-closing construction loan. The construction portion is short-term financing that is modified into permanent financing upon completion of the project. A single-closing construction mortgage can be closed as a purchase or a refinance.

What is a single closing?

A single closing construction loan is the combination of financing of the construction and the permanent mortgage. There is a single closing transaction that occurs prior to construction beginning.

Closing costs/fees that the borrower is responsible for are collected at closing. Funds are accessed through draws and there will be an initial draw at closing for proceeds to the contractor to begin the construction project.  

Call me with any questions, we’re here to help! Scott Rojo, Rojo Mortgage Team, 916-548-3942.

Mortgage Rates Fell Across the Board

The numbers: A dip in mortgage rates prompted mortgage demand to rise a seasonally adjusted 27.9%
As mortgage rates dropped across the board, demand for both purchases and refinancing increased. That pushed the market composite index up, a measure of mortgage application volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Wednesday. 
The market index rose to 238.7 for the week ending Jan. 13, up 27.9% from a week earlier. A year ago, the index stood at 593.7.
Key details: The refinance index jumped 34.2% in the past week, but was down 81% compared to a year ago. 
The purchase index — which measures mortgage applications for the purchase of a home — rose by 24.7% from last week. 
Mortgage rates fell across the board.
The average contract rate for the 30-year mortgage for homes sold for $726,200 or less was 6.23% for the week ending January 13. That’s down from 6.42% the week before, the MBA said. 
For homes sold for over $726,200, the average rate for the 30-year was 6.08%.  

The big picture: All those buyers and homeowners waiting on the sidelines found their moment this past week, as a dip in rates provided an opportunity.
With rates expected to come down further, this trend of mortgage demand running hot may continue in the meantime. 
What are they saying? “Mortgage rates are now at their lowest level since September 2022, and about a percentage point below the peak mortgage rate last fall,” Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist at the MBA, said.
“As we enter the beginning of the spring buying season, lower mortgage rates and more homes on the market will help affordability for first-time homebuyers,” he added.

Gloomy Economy Ahead

Top economists' outlook on the global economy for 2023 is "gloomy," with expectations of weak growth and a likely recession, according to a World Economic Forum report published on the opening day of Davos.
The World Economic Forum summarized the thoughts of some top economists in its January 2023 Chief Economists Outlook, released to coincide with the group's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which kicked off on Monday.
"Although there are some grounds for optimism, such as easing inflationary pressures, many aspects of the outlook remain gloomy," the report said, citing "continuing economic uncertainty and policy challenges of historic proportions."
Close to two-thirds of the 22 chief economists surveyed by the WEF said they thought that a global recession was likely in 2023, with 18% of them considering it "extremely likely."
"Global growth prospects remain anemic, and global recession risk high," the report said.
But the respondents — who came from a pool of experts at finance and business giants like UBS, Google, Microsoft, and Bank of America — expect to see huge regional variations in economic growth over the next year.
All of the economists said that they expected weak or very weak growth in Europe and 91% said they expected it in the US, while this figure was less than half for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, China, and East Asia and the Pacific. More than half of respondents said that they expected high inflation in Europe, compared to just 5% expecting to see it in China.
The WEF said that this likely reflected Europe's high energy prices, increases in interest rates, and "sluggish demand." In contrast, the gradual reversal of China's zero-COVID policies could boost the country's economy, though it may stint production if more people get infected with the virus.
Companies including Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and Salesforce have already announced layoffs this year, and the chief economists expect job cuts like these to continue. 86% percent of the survey respondents said they expect multinational businesses to cut operational expenses, with 78% expecting workers to be laid off. Most economists said they expected companies to pass higher costs onto customers, too.
But despite the largely pessimistic outlook, the report highlighted how some of the dominant concerns in the global economy currently could weaken over the course of the year.
Two-thirds of the respondents said they expected the cost-of-living crisis to become less severe by the end of 2023, while close to two-thirds said they were optimistic that the energy crisis will have begun to improve by the end of the year. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, however, forecast in December that Europe's energy crisis would worsen and likely last for years.

New Loan Limits, What This Means for You

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has just increased the amount of money that can be borrowed through its mortgage programs by more than $51K in most areas. In high-cost locations, the increase is even greater. New limits will take effect in 2023.

The increases will allow more borrowers to take advantage of FHA’s benefits:

• Low down payment options

• Lower total cash-to-close requirements with gift or seller contributions

• More lenient and streamlined refinancing

• Ability to combine purchase and rehab financing

• In some high-cost areas, higher loan limits than conventional mortgages

Here are the specifics:

• In most areas, the FHA loan limit will be $472,030, a 12% increase over 2022’s limit of $420,680.

• In high-cost areas, the limit moves to $1,089,300, a 12% increase over 2022’s $970,800.

• In some lower-cost areas or those with higher costs of construction, limits will vary.

If you have questions about what this change could mean for you, please reach out. And if you have friends who may benefit from the news, please pass it along. I'll be honored to help them too.

Don't Lose Your Deposit!

Some homebuyers lose deposits of $10,000, $20,000, or more due to high mortgage rates! Do not let this happen to you! There are new programs out to help with higher rates.
Dahianara Lopez and her husband Paulo Echeverry run a food truck outside of Orlando. "We work together every day," she says while cooking up Colombian sausages on the truck's big stainless steel grill.
​They say by putting in long hours over several years they were able to save up a down payment for a house.
"We think that renting is like we are wasting money, you know?" says Lopez. "So we want to buy a house, to have something that we can say is mine."
Late last year, they signed a contract to buy a new home before it was built for about $500,000 and put down a $25,000 deposit.
The couple has been very scared that they won't qualify for a mortgage anymore and will lose that big deposit.
"The sales guy, he always tells us we're going to lose the deposit if we don't buy the house," Echeverry said. "Even the area sales manager... she told me, too, that we're going to lose our money."
Some people have already lost their money. Karen Jensen works as a school nurse at an elementary school in Tigard, Ore. She and her husband wanted a bigger house for them and their three kids.
We put just a little over $15,000 down as a deposit," she says.
But after interest rates jumped so much higher they decided to back out of buying it, and she says the builder kept their deposit.

If you are in this situation please call as there are new programs coming out to help people just like this. A lot of loan officers got in the business in 2019 when it was a different market and do not understand how to navigate this market and where it is going. I have been helping homebuyers since 2004! There are different programs we have at UWL to help you get into your new home. Before you walk away from your 20k deposit, call me first and I can walk you through how we can help!