If a selection of condos does not appear above, its because as of today there are no available listings that are eligible for Homepath financing, check back daily or contact our office to set up a personalized search for you. Because some of the best sought after condominium complexes currently do not have financing available, active listings eligible for Homepath financing tend to move quickly.

We can show you any of these condominiums once we determine your pre approval status. We work with a wide array of qualified and reputable lenders here in Sacramento and would be happy to refer one to you today, just email us at info@SacramentoCondos.com .

About 75 percent of the units at the upscale L Street Lofts development recently foreclosed, according to an article in The Sacramento Bee.

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Purchasing a Sacramento Condominium for Sale

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More and more developers are investing in condominiums in Sacramento’s alleys. From cosmopolitan to bungalow designs, these new condominiums are revitalizing the city’s alleys.

Cty officials have also lent a hand in this new trend by offering to help developers clean up alleys and repave them for improved walkability and drainage.

Sacramento, California Condominiums for Sale

The new trend in alleyway condominiums is a remarkable example of how Sacramento developers are bringing new life to existing structures all over the city.

For example, 9 on F in Alkali Flat is a LEED certified condominium building that consists of 9 tri-level homes.

There are three floor plans in this development, ranging from 1,300 to 1,550 square feet.  All three floor plans feature 3 bedrooms.

As if to signal the rising popularity of alleyway condominiums, the three units on the alley side sold faster than those facing the courtyard and streets.

Alley condominiums can be appealing to interested Sacramento condominium buyers because of their close proximity to downtown amenities.  Residents also see the low maintenance of alley condos as another benefit.

Investing in a Sacramento, California Condominium

Whether you’re interested in purchasing a Sacramento alley condominium or one further away from downtown Sacramento, you’ll want to work with an experienced Sacramento REALTOR.

Contact me, Bruce Slaton, today to learn more about how I can help make the Sacramento real estate transaction process exponentially easier for you and your family.

And if you get a chance, please feel free to check out some of my Sacramento condo buying resources, including:

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Until next time,

Bruce

These condominiums built in Elk Grove by Pacific West were built approximately in 2006 and feature four floor plans ranging from a 1 bedroom 1 bath 1185 square foot unit to the largest unit the 2 bedroom 2 bath + loft unit 1728 square feet model.

The models are as follows:

     Residence One

     1 Bedroom 1 Bath with Loft  1 Car Attached Garage             1185 Sq Feet

     Residence Two

     2 Bedroom 2 Bath (Ground Floor) 2 Car Tandem Garage  1314 Sq Ft

     Residence Three

     2 Bedroom 2 Bath w/Loft  2 Car Attached Garage                1519 Sq Ft

     Residence Four

     2 Bedroom 2 Bath w/Loft  2 Car Attached Garage                1728 Sq Ft

I personally feel Pacific West is one of the best builders in the Sacramento Region for condominiums, between their agressive growth with Syrah in Natomas to projects in Folsom, Roseville and West Sacramento, they completed projects in the region that condominium buyers wanted. 

Some of the standard features in most of their complexes were inside laundry areas, attached direct access garages and granite countertops standard in most of not all of thier plans.  Jasmine has the added benefit of also being a secure gated complex surrounded by residential homes, a major plus years later in resale values in my opinion.

Keep in mind these units sold between 259,900 and 339,900 and now are selling for the low to mid 100′s, I personally believe they are a great investment if you can get into one.

Financing update (12/5/09):  FHA and Conventional financing may not be possible in this complex due to late HOA fees ratios and occupancy ratios, make sure to ask your lender and/or agent (or if you dont have an agent email us at info@SacramentoCondos.com) and know if the program you are using will work in this complex.

And being in Elk Grove, this complex is in the Elk Grove Unified School Disctrict.

Thank you for allowing us to bring you Jasmine in Elk Grove and we look forward to adding more complexes as quickly as possible.  Please feel free to comment if you have updates for this complex or want to share your experience living here.

Bruce Slaton Lic # 01305148

SacramentoCondos.com

1.  No more than 50% of the units in the complex can be financed with an FHA loan. 

There are exceptions to this such as if the complex is 100% finished and has been completed for at least a year, 100 percent of the units have been sold and no entity owns more than 1o percent of the units, the project’s budget provides for the funcding of replacement reserves for capital expenditures and deffered maintenance in an account representing at least 10% of the budget. control of the HOA has been transferred to the owners and the owner occupant ratio is at last 50 percent.

2.  Owner Occupant Requirements

 At least 50 percent of the units must be owner occupied or sold to owners who intend to occupy the units. 

As more details of the FHA requirements are released, we will clarify and post them.  If you have any questions about lending issues in condominiums, please email us at info@SacramentoCondos.com

Bruce Slaton  Lic # 01305148

SacramentoCondos.com

This is basically the current issues with Conventional financing or those loans being repurchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac with condominiums:

Recently, several of our lender partners noted two new mortgage fees implemented by Fannie Mae affecting condo buyers — a .75% condo add on fee and a 1.75% additional fee for investors — both applicable to loans with a loan-to-value rate greater than 75%.

Well, there’s more. Effective March 1, 2009, Fannie Mae is implementing condo guideline changes “in light of the current condo market and the need to mitigate risk on condo loans”. Some of these changes may affect a buyer’s ability to obtain conventional condo loans for new and established condos.

A condo project is “established” if 90% of the units have been sold, is complete and the HOA has been turned over to the owners. A condo project is “new” if less than 90% have been sold, is not completed, is subject to phasing or if the HOA has not been turned over to unit owners.

Overview of Fannie Mae condo guideline changes:

• For new construction and newly converted condo developments, 70% of the units must be pre-sold (closed or under contract). This is being increased from 51%.
• No more than 15% of a condo project units can be more than 30 days delinquent on HOA dues. This is an existing guideline that is now being applied to new condo projects. The calculation was also changed from being 15% of HOA fee payments to 15% of total units.
• Fidelity insurance will be required for condos with 20 or more units, ensuring that homeowner association funds are protected. Presently, this requirement applies to new projects and is now being extended to include established condos.
• A requirement that borrowers must now obtain a condo-owners insurance policy unless the master policy provides interior unit coverage; coverage may not be less than 20% of the assessed value. A condo-owners policy, known as an HO-6 policy, covers personal property, personal liability, and the physical unit from the studs and in. Many policies also include special assessment coverage or the option to include a special assessment coverage rider.
• No more than 10% of a project can be owned by a single entity.
• No more than 20% of a project can consist of non-residential space.
• The homeowners association must have at least 10% of its budgeted income designated for replacement reserves and adequate funds budgeted for the insurance deductible.

According to a Fannie Mae, the guidelines can be modified for condo projects on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, these guidelines may not apply to all condo projects.

Most lenders follow Fannie Mae guidelines and as you see above it just makes it more difficult (but not impossible) to close deals in some complexes.  These issues can affect any complex, good and bad.

The 15% HOA rule changes on a daily basis in some complexes.  As units are foreclosed on they start over as the delinquent HOA dues are written off and also when collection accounts come in etc.  Jasmine in Elk Grove had approximately 36% of the HOA units delinquent at one time in the last several months BUT we were still able to attract a cash buyer who just closed a short sale with us in that complex.

Why does Fannie Mae issue these guidelines?  Risk.   Its all part of the risk factor they have to take in consideration when deciding when to purchase loans.  Remember what happens is a lender makes the loan to you and then in a good portion of the cases resales it to Fannie Mae and relends the money out to the next borrower.

We’ll go over more of these requirements as they developed and we’ll go over the proposed FHA changes in the next few posts.

As always, if you have questions about financing in a condominium complex, email us at info@SacramentoCondos.com and we’ll get the up to date information from one of our lender partners.

Bruce Slaton

SacramentoCondos.com