Good news for Pacifica schools!
U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier took a few minutes to pose with some of the beneficiaries of the Pacifica School District's "Coaching for Equity and Excellence" program, one of the six projects selected for recommendation by the Citizens' Oversight Panel. Pictured with Speier are (front row, L-R) Maia Cluver, William Hirsch, Cisco Argueta, Sal Argueta, Ellis Manning-Villar, Shannon Manning-Villar, (back row, L-R) Amirah Tulloch, Congresswoman Speier, Neikesha Barnett-McNeil, Ashaye Barnett and Anandah Tulloch. (Photo by Sheila Menlo)U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier announced a Pacifica School District teacher training program was recommended in an application process for congressional appropriations.
On April 7, Speier announced the findings of a citizens' oversight committee she formed to evaluate the 59 proposed projects that applied for federal appropriations. After much review, the committee recommended funding nine of those projects.
Pacifica School District's "Coaching for Equity and Excellentce," which coaches teachers in ways to improve stdent achievement in literacy and mathematics, could receive $207,987.
HIP Housing, or Human Investment Project, which matches people in need of housing with homeowners and others who have room to share, may receive $120,000.
Samaritan House's Safe Harbor Shelter, a 90 bed emergency homeless shelter in South San Francisco, provides people with the resources to assist them with housing, case management, employment assistance, literacy services, home econommics instruction, tenant skill instruction, referrals to legal aid for landlord/tenant law and victims rights counseling. Safe Harbor is in line to receive $200,000.
San Francisco State's "Competency Based Education Training Initiative for an Early Child Care Workforce" provides training and internships for early care and eudcation students and matches them with mentor teachers to assure they will be of the highest quality and meet the highest standards. That program could receive $750,000.
University Center's Consortium at San Mateo County Community College District provides opportunities for laid-off workers to get training in new, high demand careers. It may receive $2 million in appropriations.
CalTrain's Positive Control Center System is an integrated signal and communication system that will improve train performance, reliability and safety while allowing Caltrain to respond to demand for expanded service along the U.S. 101 corridor. That program could be awarded $1 million over two years. The San Mateo County Smart Corridors project coordinates multiple jurisdictions to deploy an Intelligent Transportation Syatem to mitigate recurring traffic congestion, improve traffic operations and optimize the use of existing roadways. The project may be granted $3 million over two years.
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office may receive $622,000 over two years to acuire and equip a mobile command vehicle to asist local emergency responders in the event of emergencies.
South Bayfront Levee Improvements is up to receive the highest award of $6,586.750 to provide protection from flooding in San Mateo and Foster City.
Reacting to the good news for the Pacifica School District, PSD Board Member Eileen Manning-Villar said, "Though funding here is by no means guaranteed, it is quite an honor for the district's project to be selected by the Citizens' Oversight Panel and endorsed by Congresswoman Speier herself for a recommendation for a funding appropriation. I am very pleased that Superintendent Susan Vickrey and the district's grant writing consultant, Peter Zachariou, took the opportunity to present PSD's teacher training program to this innovative panel review process. Quite obviously they did an excellent job."
From Kalimah Salahuddin, PSD parent and President of the newly formed Saving Pacifica Schools PAC, "For me it is was nice to know that through community action we can help in maintaining our high level of education and secure our children's future. This is one victory and we need to continue to keep pressure on our legislature and remind them how vital their continued support is to the children of Pacifica."
From Sheila Merlo, PSD Parent and Vice President of the Vallemar PTO, "Our community is continuing to stand strong in advocating for our children's education and California's future. We have wonderful teachers in this district, but they need our support. Professional development training is one way to do that. As many of you know this program has been largely responsible for raising our API scores and closing the achievement gap between our schools. With the current cuts this program is in jeopardy, but we have an opportunity to keep it funded with the Congresswoman's support. We would like to thank her from the bottom of our hearts, and our children's too."
By Jane Northrop
STAFF WRITER
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Do you have kids or just love skateboarding?
San Francisco is close to completing designs on a new, $1 million skate park in the north Mission District. It would be the second built in as many years and only the city's third overall.
If all goes as planned, the new park will be built on a shaded half-acre parking lot that sits beneath the freeway heading toward the Octavia Street off-ramp of Highway 101. The lot, at Mission and Duboce streets, has been a magnet for trash. A nearby parcel covered in asphalt would be replaced with a new basketball court and dog park.
Caltrans gave the land to the city as part of the construction of the off-ramp and the new Octavia Boulevard. The idea for a skate park emerged after neighbors lobbied for something that would bring activity to the large, concrete open spaces.
Skateboarding is popular in the city, yet illegal nearly everywhere other than neighborhood sidewalks. City law prohibits skateboarding on any city street and any sidewalk in any business district.
Rich Hillis in the Mayor's Office of Economic Development said that the city and property owners spend a lot of money on obstructions to keep skaters off their property. The city's first public skateboarding venue opened at the Potrero del Sol park in the south Mission in 2008 and has been wildly popular, Hillis said. A smaller skate park is located in Crocker Amazon.
If all goes as planned, the new park will be built on a shaded half-acre parking lot that sits beneath the freeway heading toward the Octavia Street off-ramp of Highway 101. The lot, at Mission and Duboce streets, has been a magnet for trash. A nearby parcel covered in asphalt would be replaced with a new basketball court and dog park.
Caltrans gave the land to the city as part of the construction of the off-ramp and the new Octavia Boulevard. The idea for a skate park emerged after neighbors lobbied for something that would bring activity to the large, concrete open spaces.
Skateboarding is popular in the city, yet illegal nearly everywhere other than neighborhood sidewalks. City law prohibits skateboarding on any city street and any sidewalk in any business district.
Rich Hillis in the Mayor's Office of Economic Development said that the city and property owners spend a lot of money on obstructions to keep skaters off their property. The city's first public skateboarding venue opened at the Potrero del Sol park in the south Mission in 2008 and has been wildly popular, Hillis said. A smaller skate park is located in Crocker Amazon.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Don't have 20% to put down? FHA loans available
With low down-payment requirements, competitive rates, and less stringent credit score requirements, more home buyers are choosing mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Mortgages insured by the FHA account for 20 percent of the total dollar volume in home loans – up from just 3 percent in 2006.
Some benefits to FHA loans include: a better loan modification program; ability to easily and often less expensively refinance; low rates; and acceptance of borrowers with credit scores as low as 620.
FHA loans are targeted to low- and moderate-income borrowers, but there are not any income restrictions. However, these loans do restrict the amount that can be borrowed. In high-cost areas, such as California, the maximum amount that a mortgage applicant can borrower is $729,750.
Additionally, borrowers must pay an up-front insurance premium totaling 1.75 percent of the loan, which goes into FHA’s fund for repaying lenders if borrowers default. This is in addition to other usual closing costs.
In previous years, few lenders would originate FHA loans due to strict qualifications. That all changed a few years ago when the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees the FHA, reworked its guidelines. The number of authorized FHA lenders has soared by 500 percent over the past two years. Please let me know if you would like a referral for an FHA lender.
Some benefits to FHA loans include: a better loan modification program; ability to easily and often less expensively refinance; low rates; and acceptance of borrowers with credit scores as low as 620.
FHA loans are targeted to low- and moderate-income borrowers, but there are not any income restrictions. However, these loans do restrict the amount that can be borrowed. In high-cost areas, such as California, the maximum amount that a mortgage applicant can borrower is $729,750.
Additionally, borrowers must pay an up-front insurance premium totaling 1.75 percent of the loan, which goes into FHA’s fund for repaying lenders if borrowers default. This is in addition to other usual closing costs.
In previous years, few lenders would originate FHA loans due to strict qualifications. That all changed a few years ago when the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees the FHA, reworked its guidelines. The number of authorized FHA lenders has soared by 500 percent over the past two years. Please let me know if you would like a referral for an FHA lender.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
How Lenders Evaluate a Buyer's Credit in Today's Market
By David Compton & George Smith
When a lender evaluates a buyer's creditworthiness, they consider several factors about the buyer's past credit-usage behaviors. These behaviors have been systematized into what is called a “Tri-Merged Residential Credit Report” (T.M.R.C.R.) and is quantified with a scoring system called F.I.C.O. (Fair Issac Company). The score is essentially a merger of reports from three major credit repositories known as:
Experion/T.R.W.
Equifax
Transunion
While F.H.A. and V.A. are not officially F.I.C.O. driven in their credit-approval processing, many lenders are still giving heavy weighting to the scores on these loans. Conventional (F.N.M.A. & F.H.M.L.C.) lenders have been using this scoring system for years.
Listed below is how the F.I.C.O. scores are generally interpreted:
Scores range from 300 to 850.
Score under 600 - will most likely need to use loan programs that are not F.I.C.O. driven. Represents extreme concern for underwriting and may result in additional fees, higher rates and/or points, additional down payment required, or even non-approval.
Score 600 - 620: The underwriter will need to carefully review the application and may result in more fees, points and/or lower loan-to-value ratio.
Score 620 - 660: This is considered a cautious risk although the buyer does stand a good chance of getting the loan provided he/she can explain any derogatory notations (i.e. late payments) in a plausible manner.
Score 660 - 680: This is a standard automated approval score.
Score 680 - 699: This is considered a very good risk by the lender.
Score 700 - 719: This is considered an excellent risk by a lender and is pretty much a “slam dunk” for approval.
Score 720 & above: This is considered “Accept Plus” for automated underwriting.
To determine the borrower's credit score, most lenders apportion weights as indicated to the following factors:
Timely payments - 35%
Total debt - 30%
Length of credit history - 15%
New credit inquiries - 10%
Amount/type of credit - 10%
A buyer/borrower can get a free copy of their credit report from each repository by mail or online at: www.myFICO.com. They are entitled to one free credit report from each agency once a year. Consumers should review their credit reports once a year, as they often have inaccuracies and old derogatory notations that should be removed from the report.
Here are some methods that a borrower may use to improve their credit score:
Dispute incorrect information by directly contacting the credit reporting agency.
If the borrower/buyer has any past-due debt, they can contact the creditor directly and settle the debt. Creditors are often willing to settle past-due debt for less than what is owed and sometimes are even willing to remove the derogatory notation about the debt. If the debt has been sold to a collection agency, the borrower would have to contact the agency.
Pay down credit card balances, if possible, to less than 1/3 of the available limit.
Work to show that they have maintained 12 consecutive months of timely payments on ALL of their financial obligations. If they have gone into foreclosure and/or bankruptcy, this will take longer; perhaps three to four years.
Be sure to remember that most of you are NOT credit experts and should always condition any advice you give buyers/borrowers by suggesting that they seek the assistance of a qualified credit counselor. However, these are the basic rules when a lending underwriter is deciding whether or not to approve a loan.
When a lender evaluates a buyer's creditworthiness, they consider several factors about the buyer's past credit-usage behaviors. These behaviors have been systematized into what is called a “Tri-Merged Residential Credit Report” (T.M.R.C.R.) and is quantified with a scoring system called F.I.C.O. (Fair Issac Company). The score is essentially a merger of reports from three major credit repositories known as:
Experion/T.R.W.
Equifax
Transunion
While F.H.A. and V.A. are not officially F.I.C.O. driven in their credit-approval processing, many lenders are still giving heavy weighting to the scores on these loans. Conventional (F.N.M.A. & F.H.M.L.C.) lenders have been using this scoring system for years.
Listed below is how the F.I.C.O. scores are generally interpreted:
Scores range from 300 to 850.
Score under 600 - will most likely need to use loan programs that are not F.I.C.O. driven. Represents extreme concern for underwriting and may result in additional fees, higher rates and/or points, additional down payment required, or even non-approval.
Score 600 - 620: The underwriter will need to carefully review the application and may result in more fees, points and/or lower loan-to-value ratio.
Score 620 - 660: This is considered a cautious risk although the buyer does stand a good chance of getting the loan provided he/she can explain any derogatory notations (i.e. late payments) in a plausible manner.
Score 660 - 680: This is a standard automated approval score.
Score 680 - 699: This is considered a very good risk by the lender.
Score 700 - 719: This is considered an excellent risk by a lender and is pretty much a “slam dunk” for approval.
Score 720 & above: This is considered “Accept Plus” for automated underwriting.
To determine the borrower's credit score, most lenders apportion weights as indicated to the following factors:
Timely payments - 35%
Total debt - 30%
Length of credit history - 15%
New credit inquiries - 10%
Amount/type of credit - 10%
A buyer/borrower can get a free copy of their credit report from each repository by mail or online at: www.myFICO.com. They are entitled to one free credit report from each agency once a year. Consumers should review their credit reports once a year, as they often have inaccuracies and old derogatory notations that should be removed from the report.
Here are some methods that a borrower may use to improve their credit score:
Dispute incorrect information by directly contacting the credit reporting agency.
If the borrower/buyer has any past-due debt, they can contact the creditor directly and settle the debt. Creditors are often willing to settle past-due debt for less than what is owed and sometimes are even willing to remove the derogatory notation about the debt. If the debt has been sold to a collection agency, the borrower would have to contact the agency.
Pay down credit card balances, if possible, to less than 1/3 of the available limit.
Work to show that they have maintained 12 consecutive months of timely payments on ALL of their financial obligations. If they have gone into foreclosure and/or bankruptcy, this will take longer; perhaps three to four years.
Be sure to remember that most of you are NOT credit experts and should always condition any advice you give buyers/borrowers by suggesting that they seek the assistance of a qualified credit counselor. However, these are the basic rules when a lending underwriter is deciding whether or not to approve a loan.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Top Economists Say Recovery Has Begun
This coincides with my previous rebounding articles....
Economic recovery is about making people feel more confident, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com.
Zandi evidenced increasing home sales and gains in the stock market are some promising signs that the worst is over and people will start spending again.
“We’re starting to see some pent-up demand for goods,” he says.
But Zandi warns that the situation is still fragile. "Confidence is a very fickle thing. It can go from abject pessimism that pervades now to a more balanced view of the world rather quickly.”
Robert Brusca of FAO Economics is predicting strong growth in the last half of the year and a quick recovery for the labor market. "You've lost 5 million jobs. It shouldn't be hard to put 2.5 million jobs back on rather quickly after you hit bottom," he said.
Joseph Carson, chief economist at AllianceBernstein, calls improving home sales, a rising stock market, and better-than-expected retail sales in February and March good signs of a turnaround. By the time President Obama’s stimulus package takes effect, the economy will be ready, he says.
"The stimulus has a much better chance of working if trends are already turning up than if it needs to halt a decline," he said.
Source: CNNMoney, Chris Isidore (04/06/2009)
Economic recovery is about making people feel more confident, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com.
Zandi evidenced increasing home sales and gains in the stock market are some promising signs that the worst is over and people will start spending again.
“We’re starting to see some pent-up demand for goods,” he says.
But Zandi warns that the situation is still fragile. "Confidence is a very fickle thing. It can go from abject pessimism that pervades now to a more balanced view of the world rather quickly.”
Robert Brusca of FAO Economics is predicting strong growth in the last half of the year and a quick recovery for the labor market. "You've lost 5 million jobs. It shouldn't be hard to put 2.5 million jobs back on rather quickly after you hit bottom," he said.
Joseph Carson, chief economist at AllianceBernstein, calls improving home sales, a rising stock market, and better-than-expected retail sales in February and March good signs of a turnaround. By the time President Obama’s stimulus package takes effect, the economy will be ready, he says.
"The stimulus has a much better chance of working if trends are already turning up than if it needs to halt a decline," he said.
Source: CNNMoney, Chris Isidore (04/06/2009)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
California Assoc. of Realtors data point on home sales
Pending home sales increased in February..... another bullet point to support my previous comments on April 8th about a possible market rebound.
Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 2.1 percent to 82.1 from a reading of 80.4 in January, but is 1.4 percent below February 2008 when it was 83.3.
"Pending home sales have a way to go for there to be a meaningful increase, but recent increases in shopping activity are hopeful indicators that we’ll see additional sales gains,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “More buyers are getting into the market to take advantage of stimulus incentives and much-improved housing affordability conditions, but it will take a few months before we could see this turn up in measurable sales contract activity.”
If you are actively in the market, what are you experiencing?
Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 2.1 percent to 82.1 from a reading of 80.4 in January, but is 1.4 percent below February 2008 when it was 83.3.
"Pending home sales have a way to go for there to be a meaningful increase, but recent increases in shopping activity are hopeful indicators that we’ll see additional sales gains,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “More buyers are getting into the market to take advantage of stimulus incentives and much-improved housing affordability conditions, but it will take a few months before we could see this turn up in measurable sales contract activity.”
If you are actively in the market, what are you experiencing?
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Is the market beginning to rebound?
If your idea of a “rebound” means getting back to the sales levels and home values experienced just a few years ago, then the answer to the question is “no”. The fantastic escalation in home values during the peak of 2004/2005 was based on the easy accessability of sub-prime loans that lured many buyers into a false sense of easy home ownership. Demand was at record highs thus supply was low and home values surged. As we all know, unless you have been living under a rock, those days are gone.
The current situation is not as bleak as the daily headlines lead many to believe. It all depends on where you live and where you are looking to sell or buy. The closer you get to S.F. the less of an impact the foreclosure market is having. It always comes back to supply and demand. Last year with the economic implosion we saw a decrease in demand and thus an increase in supply which lead to a reduction in home values. Buyers stood frozen in fear listening to the media and experiencing their own personal job losses or fear of loosing their job. So the market did what it had to do and sellers began to lower their asking prices. Still buyers just waited to see how far the prices would fall. A few very brave buyers took advantage of that time and bought very good properties at much lower prices than they had seen in years.
Since February the market has begun to change. Is it a temporary trend? Only time will tell however based on what I and other realtors in S.F. and close proximity are experiencing is that we may have passed the "bottom". What happened since February? The stimulus package was announced giving home buyers up to $18,000 in tax credits for those that qualify. Interest rates have dropped to record lows and so have home prices. That combination of events has caused serious buyers who have been sitting on the fence to take action. Property is now moving and buyers are taking advantage of the buyers market. Properties in a good location, in good condition and well priced for the market are moving quickly and in some cases, seeing multiple offers.
What does this mean? It means if you are a serious buyer who has been pre-approved for a loan you should be taking advantage of this unique opportunity. As more buyers jump off the fence it will naturally become more competitive when making offers. Does this mean we will see the double digit growth we saw just a few years ago? Not in the near future as there is still unrest in the economy, people are still loosing jobs.
What I can be sure of is that the cycle will continue. Supply and demand will fluctuate, we will have future recessions and boom years. Is this the right time for you to sell or buy? Contact me and lets explore your specific market and what the best options may be at this time for you.
The current situation is not as bleak as the daily headlines lead many to believe. It all depends on where you live and where you are looking to sell or buy. The closer you get to S.F. the less of an impact the foreclosure market is having. It always comes back to supply and demand. Last year with the economic implosion we saw a decrease in demand and thus an increase in supply which lead to a reduction in home values. Buyers stood frozen in fear listening to the media and experiencing their own personal job losses or fear of loosing their job. So the market did what it had to do and sellers began to lower their asking prices. Still buyers just waited to see how far the prices would fall. A few very brave buyers took advantage of that time and bought very good properties at much lower prices than they had seen in years.
Since February the market has begun to change. Is it a temporary trend? Only time will tell however based on what I and other realtors in S.F. and close proximity are experiencing is that we may have passed the "bottom". What happened since February? The stimulus package was announced giving home buyers up to $18,000 in tax credits for those that qualify. Interest rates have dropped to record lows and so have home prices. That combination of events has caused serious buyers who have been sitting on the fence to take action. Property is now moving and buyers are taking advantage of the buyers market. Properties in a good location, in good condition and well priced for the market are moving quickly and in some cases, seeing multiple offers.
What does this mean? It means if you are a serious buyer who has been pre-approved for a loan you should be taking advantage of this unique opportunity. As more buyers jump off the fence it will naturally become more competitive when making offers. Does this mean we will see the double digit growth we saw just a few years ago? Not in the near future as there is still unrest in the economy, people are still loosing jobs.
What I can be sure of is that the cycle will continue. Supply and demand will fluctuate, we will have future recessions and boom years. Is this the right time for you to sell or buy? Contact me and lets explore your specific market and what the best options may be at this time for you.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Green Festival-Learn about "green" options
As more and more "green" products and services become available how do you know what makes the most sense for you?
Come to SFAA's first Green Festival to learn about "green" options and get answers to your questions.
The Green Festival is the focus of SFAA's April Monthly Meeting and will be held Mon., April 20, 2009 from 5-7 p.m. at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. All SFAA members are invited to attend.
Presenters will include:
Sustainable Energy Partners (SEP works with commercial property owners and managers to improve the environmental and financial performance of their portfolio of properties.)
Enviro Pro Tech (They'll explain how solar hot water systems can lower your utility bills while helping you protect the environment.)
San Francisco Curbside Recycling Program (Making it easier and more convenient for residents and businesses to recycle.)
Plus, Sunset Scavengers will be on-hand to shred your old documents for free from 5-7 p.m.
For more information, please contact Vanessa Khaleel at 415.255.2288 x16
or vanessa@sfaa.org. Download our event flyer here (pdf).
No need to RSVP. Just come to the Green Festival and learn!
Come to SFAA's first Green Festival to learn about "green" options and get answers to your questions.
The Green Festival is the focus of SFAA's April Monthly Meeting and will be held Mon., April 20, 2009 from 5-7 p.m. at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. All SFAA members are invited to attend.
Presenters will include:
Sustainable Energy Partners (SEP works with commercial property owners and managers to improve the environmental and financial performance of their portfolio of properties.)
Enviro Pro Tech (They'll explain how solar hot water systems can lower your utility bills while helping you protect the environment.)
San Francisco Curbside Recycling Program (Making it easier and more convenient for residents and businesses to recycle.)
Plus, Sunset Scavengers will be on-hand to shred your old documents for free from 5-7 p.m.
For more information, please contact Vanessa Khaleel at 415.255.2288 x16
or vanessa@sfaa.org. Download our event flyer here (pdf).
No need to RSVP. Just come to the Green Festival and learn!
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