Solano Real Estate Scene: Jim Porter
Article By: Jim Porter – September 2, 2026
It’s hard to believe, but Nov. 21 will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the most inspirational movies of all time.
Rocky was given no chance of surviving more than a few rounds with Apollo Creed in the first fight, and yet Rocky went the distance and shocked the world.
In “Rocky II,” after Adrian delivers her baby boy, she whispers to Rocky from her hospital bed to “Win,” giving him her blessing to go for it and fight Apollo, again. Mickey (Burgess Meredith) famously yells the line, “What are we waiting for?” and then Rocky gets to his training and goes on to win the rematch.
Over the past few months, first-time homebuyers are jumping off the fence and seem to be saying they are tired of waiting and that now, after four full years of home prices coming down 2% to 3% per year, and the number of homes for sale up around 25% from last year, like the Buffer brothers say, “Let’s get ready to rumble” and “It’s time” to buy a house and give notice to the landlord.
The California Housing Finance Agency “Dream for All” lottery took place a couple of months ago, and Steve Keeter and Janice Jackson, of 1st Realty and Investments in Vacaville, helped a “Dream for All” lottery winner close escrow last month and made the dream of homeownership a reality for a first-generation homebuyer on a listing with Maria Gema Rapolla.
This family was on Cloud Nine, to say the least, and via text told Steve and my partner, Lisa Porter, “Thank you all for everything! We are so happy.”
Down payment is always the biggest challenge for first-time homebuyers, and even though the “Dream For All” program is sold out this year, CALHFA is still helping first-time homebuyers with down payment assistance, and renters are realizing that now really is the time to buy while there are some homes available that are not being deluged with multiple offers.
Mortgage rates stink a little bit right now at 6.125% for FHA and 6.625% for conventional CaLHFA, but I think this is probably why so many buyers are jumping in the ring this past few months. Lots of the sales that are happening this summer are buyers that have been pre-approved for a year or two that were waiting for rates to come down this year. But since Epic Fury broke out March 1, rates have come up from a national average of 6.1% to 6.65% today.
I think buyers realize that with home prices down, they can stomach the higher rates till they refinance in the next year or two and finally, I think it is really starting to sink in that rates are never going to be 3% again and renting sucks.
The buyers are now yelling, “What are we waiting for?”
Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager and senior loan adviser of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.
Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.
