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curhomes - See You Are Home! Finding the right home for you, and the information you need to know to get the best real estate in the best location.

2012-02-03T07:53:00.001-08:00

Georgia Real Estate | Find Atlanta Georgia Homes For Sale | Georgia Real Estate

2012-01-20T10:14:00.001-08:00

How To Lay Hardwood On Top of Tile

2012-01-13T09:44:00.001-08:00

When you purchase a new home there may be a number of things you want to renovate. Among the top of the list these days, is adding a beautiful hardwood floor. This look offers beauty, value, and extra life. But there are several things to consider when installing hardwood. Depending on the amount of time you have, you may want to try to get rid of the tile... but this isn't always plausbile or possible, so here is the best way to lay hard wood over tile.

Remove Any Obstacles

Remove any obstacles such as baseboards so you can slide the hardwood underneath, and replace the base boards at the appropriate hidth. Much of the hardwood floorboards, such as clickwood or engineered are approximately 3/8″ high, and with an extra 1/8″ for the pad underneath, you’ll want to allow for about a 1/”2 gap between the bottom of the base boards and the top floor, prior to laying your hardwood surface.

Level the Surface (Remove The Tile if Possible)

Get ready for some back breaking grueling work. Before you begin this project, make sure you’ve got plenty of patience in store, otherwise you’ll end up walking out half way through or doing the project wrong.
To lay hardwood down, you will want your surface to be as smooth as possible. If you have any drops that are close to a 1/8″ drop in the surface of your floor, it may cuase damage to your hardwood, or at the least it will creak and crack as you walk over the finished hardwood surface. Consider this – if the plan is 3 inches wide and there is an uneven surface underneath, it will teeter-totter depending on which side of the board you step on. That teeter-totter motion cause motion which will create sounds and wear your hardwood down quickly.

Divots left by the sledge hammer in tile which lies on concrete.

To level the surface the best idea is to get rid of the tile, depending on how easy that is. If the tile is installed on concrete, this may be more difficult. If it was laid in an area such as the upstairs over floorboards, this may prove easier. The reason being, you’re going to have to break the tile with a sledge hammer, and the surface underneath will need to be able to bend with the force of the sledge hammer so the tile can crack. Otherwise, you may just end up putting small divots into the tile and not actually break anything, as show with the picture on the right. The desired effect is to have long breaks up and down the tile which can be pried up. Place a spare towel over the tile as you hit it with the sledge hammer to avoid any flying tile shards

Leveling Tile in Preparation for Hardwood

If you are unable to remove the tile, let some leveling around the uneven portions of the tile, once you have leveled the surface (as pictured on the left) lay an 1/8″ foam pad which you will act as an additional leveling agent for your floor. Even though the tile absorbs water which may come from beneath your surface, this foam pad acts as an extra water barrier from moisture below.

Lay The Hardwood

At this point it’s your job to put the hardwood down. Cut to size, shape where necessary, and you should be done in a matter of just a few hours! Good luck!

My name is Kirk Salisbury and I am a do-it-yourself home repairman. The tips above worked for me, and I hope they work for you. I also design websites which focus on real estate around the country so I can help people find Washington DC Homes, Charleston Real Estate, or Irvine CA Foreclosures

Tips on Shopping For Homeowners Insurance

2011-12-21T13:31:00.001-08:00

http://mcgrawrealtygroup.com/2011/12/shopping-for-homeowners-insurance/

South Bay California Foreclosure Listings

2011-07-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

The South Bay area of California Is Expensive. Due to its prime location and mild climate people want to live there. Real Estate in the South Bay is always going to be expensive. One way to get a better deal on a peace of real estate in the South Bay is by purchasing a Foreclosures: Here are some links that will help you to find foreclosure listings in these individual cities in the South Bay area:

Purchasing Foreclosures can help you find bargains, but it can also be tricky. It is always recommended that one use a real estate agent when buying foreclosure homes in California.

Foreclosures in Cape Coral/Fort Myer

2011-07-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

Some of the foreclosures in Cape Coral in FL are an absolutely fantastic deal. If you are looking for a beautiful home in Cape Coral, and want to spend less than what you would if you bought a home that was for sale by owner, then check all of these out.
They can be viewed at Cape Coral Foreclosures or Fort Myer Foreclosures. These homes are a great deal because they are actually in recovery from a major foreclosure crisis. There aren't many foreclosures left, so prices on these will begin to rise soon.

The Truth About Foreclosures

2010-11-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

We all know that the foreclosure problem in the country and quiet serious right now. There are actually thousands of home owners that are underwater and they owe far more than their homes could ever sell them.

Many of these homeowners have come to the conclusion that giving up their home is a better financial decision than making payments until real estate values recover. Numerous "strategic defaulters" now can afford to buy mortgage payments.

With the way the foreclosure process works, it normally takes at-least 8 months of missed payments before the bank will actually finalize the foreclosure and repossess a house. With the huge number of foreclosures, some banks are literally taking years to initiate foreclosure auctions. They don't want to add the losses to the books and so are postponing foreclosures as long as possible.

Underwater homeowners can not only eliminate thousands in debt by being foreclosed on, but with way the system works, can also save money by not making home payments for many months.

Providing what is known as "stealth stimulus is the flaw in the foreclosure process.” People who are living rent free in homes undergoing foreclosure, have a lot of extra cash, and most of this is helping the overall economy by being spent.

To be specific, some owners of underwater homes listed in the Boston MA MLS Listings are actually making money off of the foreclosure process by renting out their homes that they aren't making payments on.

Foreclosure was meant as a way to protect banks from irresponsible borrowers by using the real estate as collateral. Foreclosures are providing the opposite effect because of the the current real estate market, and unscrupulous lending practices that occurred during the housing boom. Undergoing through a foreclosure process can literally provide financial benefits to the borrower while transferring to the bank.

Strategic defaulting provides huge financial relief to insolvent borrowers but somehow might be unethical in other ways. Because of the slow foreclosure process that stimulates buyers in today's slow economy to give out extra cash to people who need money for housing repayments.

Housing Boom Leaves Salt Lake Real Estate In Decline

2010-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

The housing boom was remarkable for real estate agents, and some home owners. What happened was home values escalated and the people who sold at the right time made money effortlessly. But, those boom days are long gone, and the reality of the Real Estate in Salt Lake Utah market is one of decline. Nearly everyone now might have wished that the housing boom never happened.

If market conditions remained steady and constant, where would home sales and prices be? If they increased by exactly 2% each year, this is where annual home sales in Salt Lake City would be. If this were the case, we would have had about 4,750 single family home sales this year. This is two times the original home sales we'll see that are probably aroudn 2,400.

The real estate market in Salt Lake has been going up and down. Because of economic recovery and home buyer's tax credit, it is still considered feeble than the average rates. For buyers, this is a an opportunity to take advantage of the low prices. This is the best time to deal with properties for investors, but they have to be careful for competition is growing. For sellers, it is best to be patient because this is still the buyer’s market.

Compared with home price averages from 1998-2001, if Salt Lake home prices increased by exactly 3% every year, they would still be too high. The yellow and red lines show what “average” home values would be, while the blue and green lines represent the median values. Under this model, average home prices in 2007 were about 28% too high. This year they are still nearly 12% above the turn of the century adjusted for inflation levels.

The SLC Real Estate market has come down a long ways over the past three years, but with the way things are looking, it looks like SLC Homes will see further price declines over the next year.

Is this a good time to try and sell?

2010-10-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

At this point, Logan Real Estate is worth less than it has been at any other time in the last 4 years because there are fewer buyers and more Logan homes for sale.

If there are too many homes for sale, the rate of selling is relatively slower than expected, and homes might not sell at all. This trend results to home prices going down because there is more real estate inventory than potential buyers, which makes this period not a good time to market your home.

Hence, this is not a good time to try to sell your home because the market conditions are not in its competent state.

However, the real estate inventory might be at all time high, but lowering of home prices ensue delay of home sales. These market conditions might get worse next year and right now Northern Utah is experiencing this upshot. They observed a big decline in home sales. Compared with 2009, last quarter home sales in Cache County were down by 38%. So, the price you can get for your home now will be more than what you will be able to get next year with the current real estate trend.

But sooner or later, the prices will start rising again and the levels of inventory will level out when real estate inventory goes down. Hopefully, this will happen after 10 months if and only if something drastic sways the real estate market.

You’re probably better off selling now than you will be next year. But if you really need to sell, now is not a good time to sell if you want to get as much money as possible out of your home.

Bank of America Short Sales and their Dawdling Process

2010-09-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

Almost any real estate agent trying to work out a short sale deal with Bank of America will express frustrations with the slow and painful process. Bank of America is dealing with more short sales than any other company, in large part due to their acquisition of Countrywide Home Loans which was notorious for offering bad loans during the housing boom.

There are a couple of things Bank of America does that especially make the short sale transaction difficult. For one, Bank of America will not allow the same agent to represent both sides of the transaction. They won’t approve a short sale file unless there are two separate agents.

I’m sure they are doing this because they feel it will help them to get the best purchase price for each home they need to approve, and will help them stay out of potential legal issues. But, for real estate agents who have BOA short sales listed, this can be a royal pain when they have a buyer who is interested in a property they have listed.

Bank of America also requires that buyers get prequalified with BOA before they will accept a short sale offer. This is a pain for people who are trying to buy short sales, who are already prequalified with other banks, but it’s actually a smart move by Bank of America. For one, they know that the potential buyers are actually qualified, and they might actually get a few more loans out of the deal, helping them get business in a time of major losses.

If we step back and look at short sales from the view of Bank of America, it is a really tough situation they are in. They are losing millions every day. And while the policy’s they have are annoying for real estate agents, as a business, they have to do what they can to try and make a profit, or at least reduce their losses.

Now Bank of America has paid the attorney's fees to foreclose (estimated at a low end of $40K in my state) and will continue to face the same or worse market conditions. Not a good business move, but that's Bank of America for you. Wasting America's money!

They say that learning to do a short sale is very simple with Bank of America compared to other banks. But since they have been attacked due to their slow approval rate, short sale homes are processed painstakingly. In today's real estate world, purchasing short sales can really turn homeowners, buyers, sellers, and real estate agents upside-down.

Increased Foreclosures Could Double Real Estate Inventory

2010-09-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

I just read an article that brought up an interesting thought. According to a recent study done by CoreLogic, foreclosure homes should start flooding the market during the last quarter of the year. They say that this could DOUBLE the average time it takes for homes to sell. Right now the average time residential homes are on the market is 11 months. Can you imagine nearly 2 years before selling the AVERAGE home?

If the market really got this bad, I wonder if real estate agents would start declining listings. With the way the real estate industry works, real estate agents don't make money unless the home actually sells. Having an overpriced, unsellable listing is only a cost. They still have to pay for advertising, filling flyer boxes, etc.

Most listing agreements are for six month terms. If only a select few houses actually sell within the first six months of listing, then real estate agents will be wasting their time with most listings.

While there will always be the desperate and new agents willing to do anything to get their name out there, I think we will begin to see the top agents decline listing homes unless the seller is reasonable and will price their home at a sell able point. It will be interesting to see what happens for the future real estate market.

Because foreclosures in Logan Utah have been low, we hopefully won't see double the time homes are on the market. Hopefully the Logan Utah Real Estate market can avoid this possible catastrophe.

The future for areas like Arizona, Nevada, California and Florida Real Estate could be substantially bleaker if the number of foreclosure homes really floods the market.

High Income Affluent Adults Have Highest Rate of Foreclosures

2010-05-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

High Income Affluent Adults Have Highest Rate of Foreclosures

I found this study really interesting. The highest percentage of foreclosures was actually among high income earners who were greedy, and aggressive with their money. Most of these didn't have large families. Their priorities in life were the show and money. They spent much more than they really should have and when times got tough, they couldn't keep up. I think this helps illustrate the importance of conservative values.

tags: foreclosures
- Researchers at the University of Arkansas found that most households in foreclosure were relatively affluent and highly educated people with few or no children, living in geographical areas that experienced extremely rapid real estate appreciation.
  
  The researchers divided U.S. households into 21 life-stage groups, using data from a variety of sources. Then they identified which groups experienced the most foreclosures. The group with the highest foreclosure percentage was one they dubbed “Cash & Careers,” affluent adults born between the mid-1960s and the early 1970s.
  
  Members of this group had high household incomes, high education levels, high home values, and none to only a few children. Also, members of this group were classified as aggressive investors, most of whom lived in areas – California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida – with rapid real estate appreciation.
  
  “The policy implication from our results is that strong consumer protection laws, though necessary to prevent Wall Street banks from offering high-risk loans to the most vulnerable – will not be sufficient to prevent another financial crisis like the one the U.S. economy experienced in 2007 and 2008,” says Tim Yeager, associate professor of economics and lead author of the study.
  
  Source: University of Arkansas (05/06/2010)

Foreclosure Sales Expected to Increase over next few years.

2010-04-29T12:40:00.001-07:00

Foreclosure Sales Expected to Increase over next few years.

Some interesting stats about foreclosures, projections and future home prices from the Wall Street Journal. It's amazing how big a problem foreclosures really are for home values and the housing market.

tags: foreclosures, short sales
- No one can estimate with much confidence how many foreclosed homes banks need to sell or how fast they are getting rid of all that property.
  
  A huge chunk of today’s housing supply comes from homes that have been acquired by banks or mortgage investors through foreclosure, plus those that are being offered by people who hope to avoid foreclosure by doing “short sales,” selling their homes for less than the mortgage balance due.
- National Association of Realtors estimates that such “distressed” situations accounted for 35% of home sales in February and March
- Barclays Capital in New York. They estimate that banks and mortgage investors including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned 480,000 homes at the end of February.
- RealtyTrac Inc., another data provider and one of the few other firms that regularly makes such calculations, estimates that banks and mortgage investors own 758,000 foreclosed homes.
- all of the economic data the government tracks, the sector it appears to track the worst is…the housing market
- Inside Mortgage Finance reports that mortgages backed by government-related entities – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA and the VA – accounted for more than 96% of home loans originated in the first quarter
- Whatever the number of homes that banks, the federal agencies and private mortgage investors own now, it’s likely to increase. Barclays expects the inventory generally to rise over the next 20 months, peaking at 536,000 in January 2012, and then decline gradually.
- Barclays expects 1.6 million “distressed sales” of homes – mainly foreclosures or short sales – both this year and in 2011, then a slight decline to 1.5 million in 2012.
- Around 30% of all home sales this year and next will be foreclosure-related, forecasts Robert Tayon, a mortgage analyst at Barclays, who says that would be only about 6% in a normal housing market.
- Barclays expects U.S. home prices on average to fall another 3% to 5%
- adding to a decline of about 30% already recorded since 2006

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

103 Months to Clear Foreclosure Housing Inventory

2010-04-28T11:41:00.001-07:00

103 Months to Clear Foreclosure Housing Inventory

This is a staggering stat about foreclosures, which shows realities of a very scary side of the housing and foreclosure market. If most of the foreclosures of people in default really happen, there are going to be lots more foreclosure homes for sale and home prices will go down.

tags: foreclosures, shadow inventory
- As of March, banks had an inventory of about 1.1 million foreclosed homes, up 20% from a year earlier, according to estimates from LPS Applied Analytics. Another 4.8 million mortgage holders were at least 60 days behind on their payments or in the foreclosure process, meaning their homes were well on their way to the inventory pile. That “shadow inventory” was up 30% from a year earlier.
  
  Based on the rate at which banks have been selling those foreclosed homes over the past few months, all that inventory, real and shadow, would take 103 months to unload. That’s nearly nine years. Of course, banks could pick up the pace of sales, but the added supply of distressed homes would weigh heavily on prices — and thus boost their losses.
- little can stop banks’ inventory of distressed homes from growing. Too many people owe too much more on their homes than they can afford. For the housing market, that could mean a long-lasting hangover.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

First-Time Homebuyers Drive Housing Market in March: Report

2010-04-23T12:10:00.001-07:00

First-Time Homebuyers Drive Housing Market in March: Report

March was a record month for US Real Estate. There were more first time buyer sales than ever before, and there were also more distressed sales than ever before. More than half of US homes sold during march were distressed in some way. 18.6% of the homes that sold were Short Sales. Here are some notes from an article on DSnews.com

tags: first time buyers, short, sales
- The surge in first-time buyer activity in March came at the same time the volume of distressed properties in the housing market climbed to over 50 percent, according to the survey.
- The latest survey found that short sales accounted for 18.6 percent of the housing market in March.
- Campbell survey found that 48.2 percent of March’s home purchase
  
  transactions were attributable to first-time homebuyers. This eclipsed the previous peak of 46.9 percent reached last October when the November expiration of the original homebuyer tax credit sent purchases by first-time buyers soaring.
  
  “The strong participation of first-time homebuyers this spring is a welcome surprise,” said Thomas Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. “Many observers had felt that the pool of first-time homebuyers had been depleted last fall, but this is turning out not to be the case. Instead, the normal spring-summer buying season is combining with the tax credit to produce blow-out results for first-time homebuyers.”

The number of distressed homes is absolutely incredible. It will be really interesting to see what happens to the Utah real estate market this summer, post tax credit expiration. So far the rate of Utah Foreclosures isn't nearly this high.

The Rich Are More Likely to Default

2010-04-16T13:55:00.001-07:00

The Rich Are More Likely to Default

Homes with values more than a Million are far more likely to default than less expensive homes. Here is some interesting information from a Wall Street Journal blog.

tags: luxury homes, default
- People who bought some of the most expensive homes in America now are far more likely to be behind on their mortgages than are ordinary Joes.
- We got this interesting data from First American CoreLogic, whose loan database covers more than 80% of the overall home-loan market. That database includes 1,700 mortgage loans with balances of $4 million or more. About 14.8% of those loans were 90 days or more overdue at the end of January, compared with 8.7% for all home loans tracked by First American.
  
  First American CoreLogic
  Percentage of home loans 90 days or more delinquent. Blue: greater than $1 m Red: less than $1m
  
  What’s going on here? Sam Khater, a senior economist at First American, said his theory is that the borrowers with huge loans may be more inclined than people of lesser means to decide it isn’t worth paying the lender any more once the value of the home crashes far below the loan balance.
  
  Another possibility is that many of those borrowers were high rollers on Wall Street who have lost much or all of their incomes and no longer can keep up their Gatsby-esque lifestyles.

Political Tide Turns Against Aggressive Mortgage-Modifications - Developments - WSJ

2010-04-16T13:30:00.001-07:00

Political Tide Turns Against Aggressive Mortgage-Modifications - Developments - WSJ

Republicans and Democrats are both not completely supportive of the Home Affordable Modification Program. Just 6% of American's are in default, is it the best interest of Government to make the other 94% pay for it?

tags: foreclosures, bail out, HAMP
- Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, is:
  
  Yet another chapter in ‘America: The Bailout Nation,’ as coauthored by the President and by Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi. It takes $50 billion from taxpayers or borrows the money from the Chinese to bail out banks that made bad loans, and to bail out many who bought more home than they could afford, speculated in residential real estate or used their home equity as an ATM machine. We must remember that 94% of Americans own their home outright, rent or are current on their mortgage, and they are being asked to bail out the other 6%. It’s a policy that says to the citizens who work hard, who live within their means, who save for a rainy day, ‘You are a sucker.’ When you are struggling to pay your own mortgage, you shouldn’t be forced to pay your neighbors as well.

HUD Redefines

2010-04-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

HUD Redefines "Foreclosed" to Include 60-Day Delinquencies

Okay this is really stupid. HUD changing the definition of things will just confuse the public more. It is now calling a property behind on payments as "Foreclosed". The word, with the "ed" suffix implies that the foreclosure has happened. In reality, these properties haven't foreclosed. There hasn't been a foreclosure process yet in place, in fact there are still many months before the foreclosure auction will ever take place, that is if the mortgage loan is never made current.

tags: foreclosed, hud
- Effective immediately, HUD is classifying any property that is at least 60 days behind on the mortgage or the property owner is 90 days or more delinquent on tax payments as a “foreclosed” home.
  
  In addition, HUD is expanding the definition of an “abandoned” property to include homes where no mortgage or tax payments have been made by the property owner for at least 90 days or a code enforcement inspection has determined that the property is not habitable and the owner has taken no corrective actions within 90 days of notification of the deficiencies.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Twenty-Seven Million People with Mortgages Believe They Owe More than Their Homes Are Worth

2010-04-08T11:56:00.001-07:00

Twenty-Seven Million People with Mortgages Believe They Owe More than Their Homes Are Worth

Many Americans are underwater on their homes and/or worried about their abilities to pay all their bills. The number of people who claim to have a hard time paying their mortgages is also very high, especially among those who have underwater mortgages.
Over two-thirds (69%) of adults who are homeowners have a mortgage that they need to pay off. People whose homes are believed to be worth less than the money owed on their mortgages are common across all income groups. Fully 26% of adults with mortgages who have household incomes of $75,000 or more believe their homes are worth less than the balance of their mortgages.

Almost a third (29%) of adults with mortgages are having some difficulty (18%) or a great deal of difficulty (11%) paying off their mortgages.

Among those who believe their homes are worth less than their outstanding mortgages, fully 26% are having a great deal of difficulty and another 23% are having some difficulty paying them off

The two-thirds (65%) of all adults who are concerned about having enough income to cover all their costs and expenses include 26% who are very concerned and 39% who are somewhat concerned.
Among those who believe that their homes are worth less than their mortgages, fully 42% are very concerned and another 38% are somewhat concerned about not having enough income to cover their costs.
Unsurprisingly, income levels make a big difference. Concerns about not having enough income to cover costs and expenses is much higher among people with household incomes below $35,000 (40% are very concerned) than among those with incomes over $75,000 (16% are very concerned).

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Foreclosures Will Solve Housing : NPR

2010-04-02T15:38:00.001-07:00

Foreclosures Will Solve Housing : NPR

This is an interesting article that talks about the ineffectiveness of the HAMP efforts to reduce foreclosures. It claims that foreclosures are the answer to solve the housing crisis, and Government needs to stop giving incentives for irresponsible behavior.

tags: foreclosures, housing, HAMP
- Team Obama is rewarding reckless behavior, punishing the 90 percent of responsible homeowners who are making good on their mortgages, and setting up a greater moral hazard that will surely lead to an expansion of bailout nation.
  
  I’m talking about an add-on to HAMP, the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, which has been a dismal failure. In fact, the entire foreclosure-prevention effor—-- including forgiveness of mortgage-loan principa—-- has been a failure.
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reports that nearly 60 percent of modified mortgages re-default within a year.
- Team Obama would actually subsidize people making up to $186,000 a year who have a mortgage balance of over $700,000
- It’s an upper-middle-class entitlement. Actually, at $186,000, it’s virtually a top-earner entitlement, according to Team Obama's definition of rich people eligible for tax hikes.
- Why should the 90 percent of folks who make good financial decisions on their homes have to pay for the 10 percent who did not?
- Just because a home loan is "underwater" — meaning its value is lower than today’s current market pric—-- why should a responsible person whine about it and walk away? Why not service this loan for the longer term and wait for prices to improve? That’s called personal responsibility.
- Bloomberg financial columnist Caroline Baum argues that lower home prices are the key to solving the housing problem. Popular blogger Barry Ritholtz says we need more foreclosures, not fewer, to solve housing.
- Bouncing from pillar to post, the White House has unsuccessfully tried mortgage modifications, foreclosure abatements, and tax credits. None of it has worked. But the price tag so far for these failed government interventions in the housing market is $75 billion and rising.

Mortgage delinquencies rise to nearly 14 percent | Reuters

2010-03-26T15:28:00.001-07:00

Mortgage delinquencies rise to nearly 14 percent | Reuters

According to the US Treasury Department. Delinquent Mortgages are Substantially Up, especially for prime loans, but somehow newly initiated foreclosures dropped during the fourth quarter of 2009.

tags: foreclosures, delinquencies
- The percentage of current and performing mortgages fell to 86.4 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009
- down 0.9 percent from the previous three months
- down 3.9 percent from a year earlier.
- 21.1 percent jump in mortgages 90 or more days past due
- 4.7 percent of all mortgages
- The increase in seriously delinquent mortgages was most pronounced among prime borrowers
- The jump in seriously delinquent mortgages is likely to lead to a rise in foreclosure actions
- mortgages accounted for 68 percent of all home loans within the portfolio
- Home forfeiture actions -- foreclosure sales, short sales, and deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure actions -- increased by 8.6 percent from the previous quarter to 163,224. That is up 44.5 percent from a year earlier.
- newly initiated foreclosures, however, dropped by 15.4 percent from the previous quarter
- up 19.0 percent from a year earlier

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Government Moves to Assist Underwater Homeowners

2010-03-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

Government Moves to Assist Underwater Homeowners

The government is trying to encourage lenders to reduce principal amounts owed for borrowers who are "underwater." Personally, I think this is a mistake. It is giving free rides to people who used their home equity as piggy banks and can still actually afford their homes. Government needs to stop spending tax payer money rewarding the irresponsible. Here are a few notes from an article about it in the New York Times:

tags: foreclosures, administration, underwater
- New initiatives to help troubled homeowners, potentially refinancing millions of them into fresh government-backed mortgages with lower payments.
- Temporarily reduce the payments of borrowers who are unemployed.
- Encourage lenders to write down the value of loans held by borrowers in modification programs to make their mortgages more affordable.
- The new initiatives could well spur protests among those who have kept up their payments and are not in trouble
- White House briefing, officials emphasized that no new taxpayer money would be used for the programs. Instead, funds to provide incentives for loan servicers to participate would be drawn from the $50 billion allotted to housing in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
- The administration’s earlier efforts to stem foreclosures have largely been directed at borrowers who were experiencing financial hardship. But the biggest new initiative, which is also likely to be the most controversial, will involve the government, through the Federal Housing Administration, refinancing loans for borrowers who simply owe more than their houses are worth.
- About 11 million households, or a fifth of those with mortgages, are in this position, known as being underwater. Some of these borrowers refinanced their houses during the boom and took cash out, leaving them vulnerable when prices declined. Others simply had the misfortune to buy at the peak.
- If successful, however, the plan could pose a different type of problem: it could put taxpayers at increased risk. If many additional borrowers move into F.H.A. loans, a renewed downturn in the housing market could send that government agency into the red.
- The new initiatives will expand the government’s current mortgage modification plan, announced a year ago with great fanfare. It has resulted in fewer than 200,000 people getting permanent new loans. As many as seven million borrowers are seriously delinquent on their loans and at risk of foreclosure.
- fewer people are beginning default, the number of borrowers who are seriously distressed is rising. In the fourth quarter, the number of households at least 90 days past due on their mortgages swelled by 270,000
- The government is seeking to persuade people to stay in their homes by aligning the mortgage debt with the asset value, which is the only viable path to real housing stability

Nearly Half of Home Purchases Are Distressed Properties: Survey

2010-03-25T15:34:00.001-07:00

Nearly Half of Home Purchases Are Distressed Properties: Survey

Wow. This is pretty astounding. 17% of all US home sales are of Short Sales, 14.4% are Damaged REO homes, and 16.6% are move in ready foreclosures.

tags: foreclosures, reos, short, sales
- There are three major types of distressed properties: damaged REO, move-in ready REO, and short sales. During the period from November to February, sales in all three categories rose, according to Campbell Surveys. Damaged REO grew from 12.3 percent to 14.4 percent; move-in ready REO grew from 12.6 percent to 16.6 percent, and short sales grew from 12.4 percent to 17.1 percent.
- Last month distressed properties – those involving homes acquired as part of a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure sale – accounted for 48.1 percent of the home purchase transactions
- As more distressed properties have come onto the market, Campbell Surveys reports that home prices are again showing signs of weakness. Average home prices for all four categories of properties – damaged REO, move-in ready REO, short sales, and non-distressed – declined from January to February in the latest survey.

Utah Home Sales don't count for nearly this many foreclosures, especially Real Estate Cache Valley.

Foreclosure Inventory Is Increasing

2010-03-25T14:59:00.001-07:00

Foreclosure Inventory Is Increasing

Foreclosure inventory held by banks is up, but less than it was in November of 2008.This means that more foreclosures will be for sale in the near future.

tags: foreclosures
- The inventory of foreclosed homes that banks are sitting on is rising, threatening to push home prices down further in some parts of the country.
  
  Analysts at Barclays Capital estimated that banks and mortgage investors held about 645,800 foreclosed homes in January, up 4.6 percent from December. That is down significantly from the peak of 845,000 in November 2008.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Bank of America to Offer Principal Reduction to Underwater Borrowers

2010-03-24T14:04:00.001-07:00

Bank of America to Offer Principal Reduction to Underwater Borrowers

Bank of American will be losing a fortune in this new loan modification effort to reduce foreclosure by reducing principal amounts owed. But, the losses will likely be less than actually foreclosing. I think this is a pretty good idea, it's just sad that such huge sums of money have to be used just to keep people in their homes.

tags: mortgage, reduction, underwater, loan modification
- Bank of America has announced it will make principal forgiveness– ahead of an interest rate reduction – the initial consideration toward modifying certain subprime, Pay-Option and prime two-year hybrid mortgages qualifying for its National Homeownership Retention Program (NHRP). An interest rate reduction and other steps would then be considered, if additional savings are necessary to reach the 31 percent debt to income targeted payment.
  
  Under the plan BOA will forgive up to 30 percent of the mortgage loan balance in two stages, but with a quid pro quo from the homeowner. The bank will offer an interest-free forbearance of up to 30 percent of the principal balance for five years. If the homeowner stays current on mortgage payments for the period of time, then the amount will be forgiven. On paper, at least, that forgiveness will allow the homeowner to return his loan to an LTV of 100 percent.
  
  Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans says, "Bank of America has found that many homeowners who owe considerably more on their mortgages than their homes are worth are reluctant to accept a solution that addresses only the amount of the payment without an accompanying reduction in the balance due on the loan."

Credit scores can drop after getting loan help.

2010-03-22T10:57:00.001-07:00

Credit scores can drop after getting loan help - Yahoo! Finance

Government Sponsored Loan Modification Help can still hurt FICO credit scores. Applying for these programs sends a signal to the major credit bureaus, that the homeowner is having difficulties making payments. This in turn has an adverse effect on credit scores.

tags: credit, scores
- For borrowers who are making their payments on time but are on the verge of default, the Obama administration's loan modification program can reduce their credit score as much as 100 points.
- the impact is far less severe than a foreclosure, where borrowers typically find their credit is in tatters for years. That's due to the cumulative impact of many months of missed payments and the foreclosure itself, which drags down a homeowner's' credit by 150 points or more on a scale of 300 to 850.
  
  To enroll in the Obama administration's $75 billion "Making Home Affordable" program, borrowers enter a trial period in which they make at least three payments. But some are finding out that their credit score takes a dive during this trial phase. It happens once their mortgage company notifies the three big credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
  
  For delinquent borrowers, the damage was done when they fell behind on their loans.
  
  But for homeowners who are having financial troubles but managing to pay their bills, a request for a loan modification is the first sign of difficulty. And that means a sharp drop in the borrower's credit score.
  
  The credit rating industry defends the practice. People who sign up for loan modifications would not be asking for help unless they were having severe money troubles, said Norm Magnuson, spokesman for the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group in Washington that represents the credit bureaus.

Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with lowering credit scores. In essence, these people receiving government assistance were unable to repay the amount they borrowed. It doesn't matter that their home is now worth less than they thought, they have proved unable to keep their financial commitments. That is exactly what credit bureaus are trying to track, how responsible borrowers are and how likely they are to meet their financial obligations.

Loan Mod Conversion Rate Improves in February. True Success Depends on Job Creation

2010-03-15T12:15:00.001-07:00

Loan Mod Conversion Rate Improves in February. True Success Depends on Job Creation

The government foreclosure prevention programs are seeing more success in the Making Home Affordable Program.
The sad thing is that the success rate is really low, and a large part of this is because many of the troubled borrowers just don't have income sufficient to make any kind of house payment, let alone house payments on loans they can't afford.

tags: loan, modification
- The Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP), a joint effort by the Departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to prevent foreclosures, is reporting that 168,708 homeowners have now graduated from the HAMP trial modification program and have active permanent modifications by the end of February. This works out to a 12.4 percent conversion rate, a modest improvement from January when the permanent modification conversion rate was 9.2 percent.
  
  The program, which began last spring, has now enrolled 1,094,064 borrowers in modifications which lower mortgage payments to a maximum of 31 percent of monthly income. 1,354,350 invitations to participate in the program have been extended to distressed homeowners. This is 34 to 45 percent of the goal of 3 to 4 million set for the end of 2012. At present 835,194 loans are in some phase of the trial period, a number which includes the pending permanent modifications. To date 88,663 trial modifications and 1,499 permanent modifications have been cancelled. The report does not give any reasons for the cancellations. In addition, 91,843 borrowers had successfully completed the three month trial period and permanent modifications were awaiting borrower acceptance.

Short-Sale Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss - NYTimes.com

2010-03-12T12:29:00.001-08:00

Short-Sale Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss - NYTimes.com

Here are some details from a new plan to help reduce foreclosures, by encouraging people to use Short Sales. This program gives money to mortgage lenders, in effort to encourage them to approve more short sales, and to delinquent homeowners to "assist" them in relocation.

tags: short, sales, foreclosures
- This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.
- Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.
- Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in “relocation assistance.”

While I do think that streamlining the short sale process is something that is much needed, I don't think that the $1,000 incentives to banks will make that much of a difference. I don't think that the return on investment, our future investment as American Tax Payers, will be worth the cost.

The $1,500 incentive for people who are selling their homes as short sales is just ridiculous. In most cases, these home owners haven't made a housing payment in months, sometimes years. Their poor decisions and actions have already cost the banks and American Tax Payers thousands and thousands of dollars. Why should they be rewarded for being irresponsible?

For credit reasons, home owners in distress are much better off short selling their home, rather than letting it foreclose. If the bank will approve the short sale, the sale of their homes at a reasonable near market value park, that should be incentive enough to get out and move on.

New wave of foreclosures by end of 2010 is feared - latimes.com

2010-02-25T14:49:00.001-08:00

New wave of foreclosures by end of 2010 is feared - latimes.com

Most reports are showing that the foreclosure crisis isn't going to get better any time soon. Another new wave is expected as unemployment is taking its toll.
tags: foreclosures, wave
- About 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings, Moody's Economy.com says. A federal loan modification program is helping a relative few.
- BofA holds about 1 million mortgages that are at least 60 days delinquent.
- About 4 million homeowners nationwide are 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgages or in foreclosure proceedings, according to Moody's Economy.com
- Trial modifications and other delays have kept many of those mortgages out of foreclosure, but by the end of this year, 2.4 million borrowers are expected to lose their homes, said Celia Chen, a housing economist at Economy.com.
- That would be up from 2.1 million foreclosures and short sales last year and five times the annual numbers earlier in the decade.
- their large numbers are likely to push home prices back down this year, to a bottom in the fourth quarter, Chen said. And that would make things worse for the 25% of homeowners who already owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth.
- 11.4% of California homeowners were 90 days or more late on their loans, according to First American CoreLogic, a Santa Ana real estate data firm. That compares with a delinquency rate of 8.4% nationwide.

I've decided that the forclosure situation is officially unreal. Nearly 1 in every nine California Homes is behind on payments! That's crazy. The sad thing is that as values continue to decline it's going to put even more people underwater. Home values are going to be even less than they were before the boom happened. Just think how much better off the housing market and economy would have been if the housing bubble never happened.

Home Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program « Logan Utah Real Estate Blog

2010-02-22T09:42:00.001-08:00

Home Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program « Logan Utah Real Estate Blog

"There is another new Federal Government program out their designed to reduce the consequences and liability of people trying to avoid foreclosure by selling their homes as short sales, or else voluntarily giving up their homes with a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. This program is called the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program. Say that five times fast.
This program will be implemented on April 5th. It is supposed to “streamline” the short sale process, and remove the ability for banks to seek a deficiency judgement for the amounts they are actually owed from the borrowers. According to the official HMPadmin website: The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program provides additional options to avoid costly foreclosures and offers incentives to borrowers, servicers and investors who utilize a short sale or deed-in-lieu (DIL) to avoid foreclosures. With either the HAFA short sale or DIL, the servicer may not require a cash contribution or promissory note from the borrower and must forfeit the ability to pursue a deficiency judgment against the borrower. HAFA simplifies and streamlines the short sale and DIL process by providing a standard process flow, minimum performance timeframes and standard documentation. More details are available at this the official site: HMPadmin: Foreclosure Alternatives."

tags: foreclosure prevention, short sales

Foreclosure Prevention Has Aided 116,000

2010-02-22T09:07:00.001-08:00

Foreclosure Prevention Has Aided 116,000

It looks like the Federal government Foreclosure prevention programs actually have done some good things. It has prevented more than 100,000 additional homes from being on the market as foreclosures. The interesting thing will be seeing how long it actually lasts, how many of these people who saw their loans modified will be able to make their payments and stay in their homes for extended periods of time.

tags: foreclosures, foreclosure, prevention
- The federal foreclosure prevention program has helped about 12 percent of borrowers who applied for help since the plans were announced a year ago, the Treasury Department says.
  
  About 1 million borrowers initiated the application process, and as of January, about 116,000 home owners--12 percent--had their loans modified. But administration officials say another 76,000 applications have been approved and are awaiting signatures.
  
  Another 830,500 home owners are currently in a trial modification review period during which banks make sure payments are feasible for the borrower and ensure the qualifications of the assistance program are met.
  
  For those who qualify, the Home Affordable Modification Program brings monthly loan payments down to 31 percent of home owners' pre-tax income.
  
  Nearly 60,500 people have been denied permanent modifications.
  
  Source: CNNMoney, Tami Luhby (02/17/2010) and USA TODAY, Stephanie Armour (02/17/2010)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Is Foreclosure Dam breaking?

2010-02-17T11:08:00.001-08:00

Is Foreclosure Dam breaking?

More and more people who can afford to make their mortgage payments are defaulting anyways because it economically makes sense. Foreclosures will likely continue to get worse before they get better.

tags: foreclosures
- RealtyTrac senior Vice president Rick Sharga said, “The real spike was in bank repossessions. And that suggests to me that some of the processing delays that we saw keeping numbers down may be ending.” More and more borrowers are defaulting strategically – seriously delinquent and walking away from their mortgages even if they can afford the payments.
  
  Las Vegas posted the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate for the year, with more than 12 percent of its housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in 2009 — more than five times the national average. Las Vegas reported a quarter-over-quarter decline in foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter — as did all the other metro areas with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 for 2009.
  
  With 11.87 percent of its housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in 2009, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., documented the second highest metro foreclosure rate. Other Florida cities in the top 10 were Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 7 (8.17 percent), Port St. Lucie at No. 9 (7.58 percent), and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach at No. 10 (7.16 percent).

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

FHA lifts 90-day waiting period for Flippers

2010-01-18T13:50:00.001-08:00

FHA lifts 90-day waiting period for Flippers

This ban on the required "90-day" waiting period is an effort to get investors to buy more foreclosures.

tags: foreclosures, fha, 90-day
- Starting Feb. 1, housing regulators will suspend for one year a 90-day waiting period on property resales that it says has put FHA borrowers at a disadvantage in bidding on foreclosed properties.
- Some sellers of foreclosed properties have been reluctant to enter into contracts from potential FHA buyers because of the cost of holding a property for 90 days, and the risks that a vacant property would be vandalized, HUD said.
  
  Lifting the waiting period "will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities," HUD said.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Ten Reasons for Buyer Caution when Buying Foreclosures

2009-12-28T16:18:00.001-08:00

Ten Reasons for Buyer Caution when Buying Foreclosures

Some things to look out for and pay attention too when buying foreclosures. The cheap price of the foreclosures had better be worth the costs of repairs, as well as your time and inconvenience. Here is a neat little checklist put together by a professional cleaning and restoration specialist. It offers some good advise when finding or buying foreclosure homes, or any other property in bad shape.

Foreclosures: Ten Reasons for Buyer Caution
Foreclosed homes aren’t always the best deal in town – even if they do come with a price tag that appears to be lower than some other homes in the neighborhood.Here are 10 reasons why that is true, offered by Vince Mastronardi, president of On-Site Specialty Cleaning & Restoration in suburban Detroit.
- No heat in the winter. When a home has been left unheated, buyers run a risk of damaged pipes.
- Not removed but ripped. Thieves and even angry former owners can do a lot of damage when they depart with fixtures and key systems like heaters and air conditioners.
- Peeling, bubbling, and discoloration. Water incursion isn’t always obvious, but these are signs.
- Mold. Where there is water there is mold. Look inside cabinets, behind drawers, and around built-ins.
- Blocked drains and pipes. Sewer backups can be expensive to fix.
- Black cobwebs. This is the result of a malfunctioning furnace, common in properties where there hasn’t been maintenance for a long time.
- Homemade and handy. Where renovations don’t look professional, check with the municipal authority. They may have been completed without permits and that could mean they have to be redone.
- Fresh paint everywhere. What is the seller covering up?
- Check the basement. Look for discolored subflooring, which can point to mold. And search for asbestos, common in older homes that haven’t been brought up to code.
- Air quality. Include air and surface testing in a home inspection. It’s a few hundred dollars well spent.

U.S. Foreclosures to Reach 3.9 Million in Second Record Year - Bloomberg.com

2009-12-10T11:24:00.001-08:00

U.S. Foreclosures to Reach 3.9 Million in Second Record Year - Bloomberg.com

tags: foreclosures
- Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Foreclosure filings in the U.S. will reach a record for the second consecutive year with 3.9 million notices sent to homeowners in default, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
  
  This year’s filings will surpass 2008’s total of 3.2 million
- “We are a long way from a recovery,” John Quigley, economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview. “You can’t start to see improvement in the housing market until after unemployment peaks.”

US Foreclosures won't peak until after Unemployment does. This is pretty scary because the economic data seems to be indicating that the peak of Unemployment isn't any time soon.

The areas most affected by foreclosures continue to be those that had the most boom. Nevada, California, Florida, and Arizona, but areas like Michigan, and Utah are starting to see substantially higher foreclosure rates as well.

Government Steps in With new Short Sale Guidelines

2009-12-10T09:45:00.001-08:00

Government Steps in With new Short Sale Guidelines « Logan Utah Real Estate Blog

"There is a huge problem in our country with short sales. In Utah, as well as nationally. Because of the housing boom, prices were over inflated. Now, many homeowners owe more on their house than they are worth. These people are generally not good savers anyways, and so have no way to sell their homes unless someone pays the difference. Government is once again, stepping in with some assistance, finding ways to reward the irresponsible: The U.S. Treasury Department announced new guidelines this week designed to make short sales go more smoothly. To qualify under these new guidelines: * The property must be the home owner’s principal residence. * The home owner must be delinquent on the mortgage or close to defaulting. * The loan must have been made before Jan. 1, 2009, and be for less than $729,750. * The borrowers’ total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31 percent of their before-tax income. Under the plan, borrowers will receive $1,500 from the government for selling homes for less than the amount of their mortgages. Mortgage-servicing companies will get $1,000 for each completed short sale. Second-mortgage holders can receive up to $3,000 of the sales proceeds in exchange for releasing their liens. Investors who hold the first mortgage can collect up to $1,000 from the government for allowing the payments. Borrowers who complete a short sale under the program must be “fully released” from future liability for the debt, according to the guidelines."

tags: short sale guidelines, short sales

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

One in 7 U.S. mortgages foreclosing or delinquent | Reuters

2009-11-23T10:27:00.001-08:00

One in 7 U.S. mortgages foreclosing or delinquent | Reuters

Nationwide Foreclosures are at their highest rate EVER, and this isn't expected to peak until the middle of next year. The bulk of new homes in default is of conservative conventional loans, and is primarily a result of the high rates of unemployment.

tags: foreclosures, mortgage, delinquincies
- A record one in seven U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due in the third quarter
- U.S. mortgage delinquency rates and the percentage of loans that entered the foreclosure process also jumped to records from July to September, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.
- Rising job losses were behind the increasingly bleak portrait of the housing market in a trend that will continue into next year, the group said in data that adds to recent evidence of a still-struggling housing market.
- record foreclosures will add to the growing supply of unsold homes, sapping the housing market as it attempts to recover from the worst slump since the Great Depression.
- The MBA said the percentage of loans in foreclosure rose to 1.42 percent
- "Foreclosures remain the biggest hurdle to the housing recovery," said Michelle Meyer, economist at Barclays Capital in New York.
- "Foreclosures will be worse in the first part of 2010 and we do not see a peak in foreclosures until the middle of next year."
- conservative, prime fixed-rate loans often sold to homebuyers with the highest credit ratings continued to represent the largest share of foreclosures started and were the biggest driver of the increase in foreclosures
- In fact, 33 percent of foreclosures started in the third quarter were on prime fixed-rate loans and those loans were 44 percent of the quarterly increase in foreclosures, Brinkmann said.

Gloomy outlook, just when the housing market and recession appeared to have peaked for the worst...

The Associated Press: MBA: Foreclosures, unemployment to peak next year

2009-10-19T10:57:00.001-07:00

The Associated Press: MBA: Foreclosures, unemployment to peak next year

Foreclosures will likely continue to rise up through next year as unemployment continues.

tags: foreclosures
- Foreclosures will peak by the end of next year and unemployment will climb above 10 percent as the housing market and U.S. economy grapple with the aftermath of the recession, the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist said Tuesday.
- fixed mortgage interest rates remaining below 6 percent.
- Many lenders have issued a moratorium on foreclosures, causing a drop in the number of discounted, bank-owned properties hitting the market this year. But some economists expect that a wave of foreclosed properties could hit the market in 2010, dampening home prices again.
- rising unemployment will lead to a growing number of foreclosures at least through the end of next year, Brinkmann said.
- "We're forecasting about another 10 percent, roughly, price decline between now and the first quarter next year," he said.
  
  Mortgage rates, meanwhile, will average about 5 percent through the end of this year, then rise to 5.6 percent by the end of 2010. That should help fuel a 12 percent increase in home mortgages next year, but home refinancing will decline as mortgage rates edge higher, he said.
  
  "We're assuming, in a sense, weak or little inflation here," Brinkmann said.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Foreclosures rise 5 percent from summer to fall

2009-10-15T15:34:00.001-07:00

Foreclosures rise 5 percent from summer to fall

Unemployment is the main reason US foreclosures continue to rise. The recession might technically be over, but it really won't be over until people can be confident they will have enough money to survive.

tags: foreclosures
- The number of households caught up in the foreclosure crisis rose more than 5 percent from summer to fall
- The foreclosure crisis affected nearly 938,000 properties in the July-September quarter
- Unemployment is the main reason homeowners are falling into trouble. While the economy is likely out of recession, the unemployment rate — now at a 26-year high of 9.8 percent — isn't expected to peak until the middle of next year.

No relief from foreclosure heat in August

2009-09-18T15:03:00.001-07:00

No relief from foreclosure heat in August

Bank Repossessions were down, but defaults keep increasing. With foreclosures doing what they're doing it will still be a long time before the housing recovery happens.

tags: foreclosures, reos
- month-over-month and year-over-year decrease in bank repossessions (REOs)
- total foreclosure activity in August remained close to the record high set in July
- increasing defaults and scheduled foreclosure auctions
- 358,471 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings
- an increase of nearly 18 percent from August 2008.
- The August report demonstrates that there is still an ample supply of properties filling the foreclosure pipeline even
- we also saw a record high number of properties either entering default or being scheduled for a public foreclosure auction
- Nevada, Florida and California posted the three highest state foreclosure rates in August. These three states, along with Michigan, Arizona and Illinois, accounted for more than 60 percent of the nation's total foreclosure activity

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Signs of Foreclosure Prevention Scam

2009-09-18T10:11:00.001-07:00

How to Spot Foreclosure-Prevention Scammers

If foreclosure prevention companies ask for money upfront, guarantee success, and ask you to send money too them, they are a foreclosure prevention scam.

tags: foreclosures, prevention

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Nationwide Foreclosures Leveling Out

2009-08-25T11:54:00.001-07:00

Foreclosure starts level out | Real Estate and Technology News for Agents, Brokers and Investors | Inman News

The good news is that the number of subprime mortgage loan foreclosures are declining, the bad news is that 30 year fixed loans rate of default is rising. MBA Cheif Economist Jay Brinkman doesn't think this will change until employment goes up.

tags: foreclosures, defaults, foreclosure
- A record 13.16 percent of mortgage loans on one- to four-unit homes were delinquent or in the foreclosure process at the end of June
- In Florida, 22.8 percent of mortgages were at least one payment behind
- The rate of new foreclosure starts was essentially unchanged from March
- drop in foreclosures on subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans
- increases on other types of loans, including prime fixed-rate loans
- MBA Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann said loan modification programs are holding foreclosure rates below where they would otherwise be
- "It is unlikely we will see meaningful reductions in the foreclosure and delinquency rates until the employment situation improves,"

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

NAR: Sales rise for 4th straight month - Prices down 15%

2009-08-21T14:12:00.001-07:00

NAR: Sales rise for 4th straight month - Prices down 15%

National Home Sales were up for the fourth straight month, but compared with a year ago, prices of homes sold were down 15%. Signs that the housing market is recovering.

tags: home sales, median, prices
- Sales of previously owned homes rose for the fourth straight month in July -- a streak that hasn't occurred since June 2004
- The median resale home price dropped 15.1 percent in July compared to the same month last year
- distressed homes "continue to weigh down the median price. Another reason this price continues to drop is because a larger percentage of buyers are first time home buyers, and they purchase the more affordable homes.
- price-to-income ratios have fallen below historical trends, there are more all-cash offers.
- some recovering markets like San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Orlando, the demand for foreclosed and lower-priced homes has spiked, and a lack of inventory is becoming a common complaint
- First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit is also helping to boost sales

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Underwater Mortgages to Skyrocket by 2011

2009-08-14T11:43:00.001-07:00

Underwater Mortgages to Skyrocket by 2011

Nearly half of all US households with mortgages could owe more than their homes are worth by 2011 according to the Deutsche Bank.

tags: Foreclosures, Underwater
- Underwater Mortgages to Skyrocket by 2011
  A new report by Deutsche Bank estimates that by 2011 nearly 50 percent of U.S. home owners with mortgages will owe more than their homes are worth.
  
  This estimate of 25 million borrowers is significantly higher than similar calculations by other economic and real estate analysts. For instance, Moody’s Economy.com projected that 17.5 million will be underwater by early 2010.
  
  Currently, about 26 percent of home owners choose to walk away from their mortgages because their equity falls short of what they owe, according to a report by Paola Sapienza, a finance professor with Northwestern University
- Not everybody agrees with Deutsche Bank’s analysis.
  
  Tom Lawler, a well-respected independent housing economist, wrote that given the recent increase in home sales in many areas, “there is absolutely no doubt that the DB ‘model’ forecast will show a huge miss to the down side on home prices.”
This seems a little too excessive to me. Personally, I highly doubt that home prices will continue to decline. In many areas they are already rising.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

23% of US Homes Underwater

2009-08-11T13:57:00.001-07:00

23% of US Homes Underwater

23% of US Single Family Homes are Under Water According to Zillow. Median home values is down 22% since its peak. Home value declines have slowed down though.

tags: home values, declines, foreclosures, underwater
- 29 percent of homes that changed hands in June sold for less than their owner originally paid
- At $186,500, the median home value was down 22.3 percent from its peak

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Highest Quarter Ever for US Foreclosures

2009-07-16T12:02:00.001-07:00

Highest Quarter Ever for US Foreclosures

tags: foreclosure, filings
- 1,905,723 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 1,528,364 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2009, a 9 percent increase in total properties from the previous six months
- 15 percent increase in total properties from the first six months of 2008
- 1.19 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 84) received at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of the year.
- the second quarter total to the highest quarterly total
- Unemployment-related foreclosures account for much of this increased activity, and the high number of borrowers who find themselves owing more on their mortgages than their homes’ are now worth represent a potentially significant future risk.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Bank of America Gives Cities, States First Shot at REOs

2009-06-29T08:51:00.001-07:00

Bank of America Gives Cities, States First Shot at REOs

This could be a good opportunity for Bank of America to get rid of foreclosure inventory and help cities restore slum areas at the same time. Probably won't fly, but it's worth a shot.

tags: foreclosures, reos, bank of america
- Bank Gives Cities, States First Shot at REOs
  Bank of America is making it easier for states and cities to buy foreclosures before investors purchase them.
  
  The program is a result of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which aims to encourage redevelopment of neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosure and the resale of properties to home owners.
  
  Bank of America will notify participating cities that properties are available before they are listed on multiple listing services. The company will set the prices with no haggling allowed.

Obama Mortgage Plan May Be Expanded - BusinessWeek

2009-06-22T12:16:00.001-07:00

Obama Mortgage Plan May Be Expanded - BusinessWeek

Making Home Affordable Program may Now Work for people with more negative equity.

tags: foreclosures, loan modification, foreclosure relief
- Bloomberg is reporting that Washington may change the terms somewhat. Presently a first mortgage has to be no more than 105% of the market value of the home to qualify for a modification. Now the loans being modified may be as high 125% of the home’s value and still qualify for a lower interest rate.

Utah Ranks 5th Nationally for Foreclosure Filings

2009-06-16T12:34:00.001-07:00

Utah Ranks 5th Nationally for Foreclosure Filings

According to RealtyTrac.com, Foreclosure Filings in Utah are getting up there with states like Arizona, California, and Florida. During May, Utah Ranked 5th Nationally for foreclosure filings. Up 115% from May of 2008. One out of every 316 homes received some sort of foreclosure notice.

tags: foreclosures, may 2009, utah

Foreclosure Rates Will Likely Stay High Through 2012

2009-06-12T11:58:00.001-07:00

Foreclosures Won't End Soon, Analysts Predict foreclosures to peak in 2011

Foreclosures are unlikely to peak until 2011, says the chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.">Foreclosures Won't End Soon, Analysts Predict
Rising unemployment and falling home prices is a treacherous combination that is dragging people with excellent credit into the foreclosure morass.

The jobless rate of 4.4 percent in April of people with bachelor’s degrees isn’t high compared with the overall unemployment rate, but it is more than double what it was a year ago.

Foreclosures are unlikely to peak until 2011, says David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. He says foreclosures typically hit a high after unemployment does, and he believes the employment situation won’t turn around until late this year. Then rising employment will drive up interest rates, he fears, causing more resets of adjustable rate mortgages, leading to more foreclosures.

Credit Suisse echoes Crowe’s concerns, predicting that scheduled resets will hit a high in 2010 and rates will stay high until 2012.

Source: Business Week, Peter Coy (06/15/2009)

Subprime meltdown over; now comes the bad news

2009-06-05T11:02:00.001-07:00

Subprime meltdown over; now comes the bad news

The leading cause of foreclosures is NEGATIVE EQUITY, and 25% of prime loans have negative equity, 45% of Alt A loans, 50% of subprime loans, and a staggering 73% of Option Arm Loans. High rates of foreclosure look like they will continue for quite some time.
So much has been made of the subprime mortgage meltdown that you would think it was almost totally responsible for the economic collapse, and that once the subprime problem was fixed then the worst would be over.
Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth, despite hitting new highs in foreclosure listing. Instead it was the first round of a three part collapse, and we are on the edge of the second round.

One Million Foreclosures This Year Already

2009-06-05T10:57:00.001-07:00

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-1 Million Foreclosures This Year

The Number of Foreclosures nationwide are astounding. What a mess.
- As of this week, 1 million new foreclosures have been filed in 2009, according to estimates by the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research and policy organization dedicated to preserving home ownership.
  
  A new foreclosure starts every 13 seconds – nearly 6,500 a day.

Foreclosure Scam's- Renters becoming Squatters

2009-06-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

Cornerstone Real Estate 's Real Estate Update
- The nationwide boom in foreclosures and bank-owned real estate (REO) property sales to investors is producing an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effect: Growing numbers of confrontations occur when investors visiting supposedly empty properties find them occupied -- and the inhabitants don't want to leave or let anybody in.
- Scam artists are now tracking houses entering the foreclosure pipeline every day, and then renting those houses out as they become vacant -- totally illegally.
  
  They get hold of notices of default - or other publicly available reports of pending foreclosure actions -- and then rent out the empty houses to tenants at bargain all-cash rents.
  
  When investors or REO management agents later visit the property and find it occupied, the scammed "tenants" may feel threatened and respond with hostility to efforts to enter the house, according to Dagnesses.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

12% of Americans are behind on Mortgage Payments.

2009-05-28T10:56:00.001-07:00

This is staggering. Americans clearly had really bad financial habits, and now that the economy is bad, mortgage payments, the biggest household expense for most families isn't even being made. The amazing thing is that nearly half the nationwide foreclosures are in just four states: California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona.

Newsvine - 12 pct. are behind on mortgage or in foreclosure

tags: no_tag
- A record 12 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure as the housing crisis spreads to borrowers with good credit. And the wave of foreclosures isn't expected to crest until the end of next year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.
  
  The foreclosure rate on prime fixed-rate loans doubled in the last year, and now represents the largest share of new foreclosures. Nearly 6 percent of fixed-rate mortgages to borrowers with good credit were in the foreclosure process.
  
  At the same time, almost half of all adjustable-rate loans made to borrowers with shaky credit were past due or in foreclosure.
  
  The worst of the trouble continues to be centered in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, which accounted for 46 percent of new foreclosures in the country. There were no signs of improvement.
  
  The pain, however, is spreading throughout the country as job losses take their toll. The number of newly laid off people requesting jobless benefits fell last week, the government said Thursday, but the number of people receiving unemployment benefits was the highest on record. These borrowers are harder for lenders to help with loan modifications.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Will Obamas Foreclosure Prevention Plan Help?

2009-02-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

President Obama is expected to release his homeowner foreclosure prevention plan soon. This plan is designed to help to reduce inventory of homes on the market by reducing foreclosures that will then be for sale, but it will also be another expensive project that will likely be abused by many people who want to take advantage of any free government money.

Many fear that people will literally stop paying their mortgages if they feel the the government will step in, lower the amounts due, and make payments for them.

Experts are especially worried about this problem in areas like California and Arizona where most homeowners owe more on their properties than they are currently worth. Why should the government bail out someone who wasn't as responsible as someone who is?

Will this really happen?

Will the $50 billion in future taxpayer dollars do more good for the health of the overall housing economy, or will it do more harm?

Foreclosures Explained

2009-02-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

I think I have finally found the best explanation of the foreclosure problem we are seeing....

Bernanke thinks more action needed to cut foreclosures

2008-12-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

If there isn't more action done. Foreclosures will continue to worsen the economy according to Ben Bernake.

New Government Program to Reduce Foreclosures

2008-11-11T11:22:00.001-08:00

The federal government is unveiling a new plan that is aimed to help distressed borrowers with government backed Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac home loans.This plan will be eligible to borrowers who are at least three months behind on their mortgage payments. Interest rates and loan terms will be adjusted to affordable levels for borrowers with atleast 10% equity in their homes.

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Why are we seeing so many foreclosures?

2008-10-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

This video is definitely propaganda based, but overall it gives a good summary of why there are so many foreclosures today, and why home prices are dropping all over the nation.

Burning Down the House - Our Economic Crisis | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Will the Housing and Recovery Act reduce foreclosures?

2008-08-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

In the Housing and Recovery Act of 2008, FHA home loans are supposed to be easier for people with sub prime and adjustable rate loans to get. This bill is supposed to potentially help up to 400,000 US citizens.

One of the reasons many people are foreclosing is because their mortgage payments have substantially gone up. But it seems to me that in most cases the homes they were in was never really affordable. These FHA loans aren't going to be given to everyone, and I question how much this act will really help homeowners in danger of foreclosure.

US Foreclosures Still on the Rise

2008-07-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

According to Realty Tracs Results of 2008 2nd Quarter foreclosure filings, Foreclosures are up by 14% in the US. Nationally, 1 out of every 176 households received a foreclosure filing during the second quarter.

Foreclosures in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida continue to dominate the nationwide foreclosures. In Nevada, one out of every 43 homes received a foreclosure. In Las Vegas the number is even higher at 1 out of every 35 homes. In California the number is one out of every 65 households, in Arizona it's 1 out of every 70, and in Florida 1 out of every 78 homes received a foreclosure notice in the last three months. Because these states have such large populations (especially California and Florida) and so many foreclosures, only 9 states actually have more foreclosures than the national average. Even Areas Like Chicago Illinois where the real estate market seemed immuned from housing problems have seen foreclosures rise.

For more information visit the full report at Realty Trac.

Utah Foreclosures up 141%

2008-07-10T20:19:00.001-07:00

Yes, now that housing prices are declining and its tough to sell real estate in Utah, foreclosures are up. The last few years Utah has been best in the nation in not having foreclosures, but during that time real estate was golden. Now the market is declining and irresponsible borrowers can't get away from it. With the huge surplus of high end homes, and very few buyers looking for mega mansions, expect the foreclosure numbers in Utah to rise.

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Should Government Bail Out Foreclosures?

2008-06-25T14:06:00.001-07:00

The senate is pretty close to passing a $300 billion bailout for homeowners in foreclosure. In essence, this bill would use FHA, HUD money to back up "bad" loans that will result in foreclosure. In essence, every American Tax Payer gets to help Counrywide, and other lenders who loaned to risky borrowers cut their losses.

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Nearly 1 in 10 homes behind on payments.

2008-06-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

Nearly 1 in 10 US homes are behind on atleast one payment. These foreclosure starts are especially high among the sub-prime and ARM loans.

Bush Doesn't Want to Bail Out Lenders

2008-05-19T14:26:00.001-07:00

Bush has threatened to veto a House-passed Democratic measure aimed at preventing foreclosures. It would have the government step in to insure up to $300 billion in new mortgages for distressed homeowners; Bush says it would "reward speculators and lenders."

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Who is looking to buy foreclosures?

2008-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

A recent survey by Trulia helped determine a little more about who is more willing to buy, or at least look at foreclosures.

About 60 percent of single/never-married adults are more likely to be at least somewhat interested in purchasing a foreclosure. People who are single just tend to have less obligation towards finding a nice house now. They don't have a problem purchasing something that may need to be fixed up. Providing adequate housing for their family is not the number one concern for single people.
Younger adults, ages 18 to 34, are the more likely than other age groups to consider buying a foreclosure with 69 percent expressing interest. Many in this demographic area are also single. They're young and looking for a deal.
Only 32 percent of adults 55 and older are interested in buying foreclosures. Older people are just not as motivated to try something new.

Bernake Warns More needs to be done to Stop Foreclosures

2008-05-05T20:22:00.001-07:00

With foreclosures continuing to rise, Ben Bernake says more needs to be done to prevent foreclosures..High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy," Bernanke said in a dinner speech to Columbia Business School in New York. "Therefore, doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It's in everybody's interest," he said.Some 1.5 million U.S. homes entered into the foreclosure process last year, up 53 percent from 2006, Bernanke said. The rate of new foreclosures looks likely to be even higher this year, he said.To provide more relief, Bernanke again called on Congress to give the Federal Housing Administration, which insures mortgages, more flexibility to help distressed borrowers at risk of losing their homes. He also again urged lawmakers to move ahead on legislation revamping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which finance mortgages

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Is the mortgage crisis causing divorce?

2008-04-22T07:34:00.001-07:00

If financial problems are one of the top reasons for divorce, and the mortgage crisis is causing increased financial problems, it would be logical to assume that the mortgage crisis is causing increased divorces.

Divorces are also one of the top three reasons for foreclosure, so if divorces are up, won't foreclosures also go up, and as foreclosures go up, so will divorces.Sounds like I spiraling problem to me. Here are what the experts at Divorce 360 have to say:

It's just one more point of stress for couples already on the ragged edge.
Experts are positing that the recent rise in divorce is directly related to the
rise in foreclosure, as well as the stress of mortgages that keep going up, up,
up.

1 in 33 US Households are predicted to Foreclose

2008-04-21T11:24:00.001-07:00

3% of US homeowners are predicted to experience foreclosure over the next two years. The primary culprit for this massive increase is the large amount of "subprime" loans that were given in 2005 and 2006.

In states that experienced the biggest housing boom, this foreclosure rate is expected to be even more harmful. In Nevada, nearly one in 11 homeowners is expected to go through some stage of the foreclosure process, and in Arizona, 1 out of every 18 households will default in payments and will likely foreclose.

This foreclosure rate will not only effect the homeowners, but will effect the value of homes in neighborhoods with high number of foreclosed homes. It will also make it more difficult for many sellers to sell their home as their will be increased competition of underpriced foreclosure homes.

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Get $7,000 in tax credits to buy foreclosures?

2008-04-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

With taxes on everybody's mind this time of year, would anybody like an extra $7,000 in tax credits?

This just might be reality next year. A $7,000 tax credit just for buying a foreclosed house.

The "Foreclosure Prevention Act" has already passed with the Senate with an overwhelming decision in favor of the 84-12 vote. Part of this package would give the buyers of foreclosure homes a $7,000 credit to help provide relief to struggling banks who have huge inventories of foreclosed properties.

The program seems a bit too much like a bail out for the banks to me, and likely won't do as well in the House of Representatives and the White House, but if it does, buying foreclosure properties will be all the more appealing...

Fannie Mae changes loan guidlines for those with foreclosures on their credit

2008-04-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Fannie Mae, The mother of the secondary mortgage market is making changes to help reduce future foreclosures. Among these changes are larger required down payments for Fannie Mae loans, and more difficult terms for those with past foreclosures to get mortgage loan financing.

New guidelines effective June 1, 2008, require that borrowers are free from any foreclosure for atleast 5 years. After this five year period, the borrower who has perviously foreclosed must have a minimum down payment of ten percent and a minimum FICO credit score of 680. Fannie Mae Borrowers who have not had foreclosures on their credit history, are only required to have a 580 credit score.

John McCain Speaks on the Nationwide Foreclosure Problem

2008-03-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

Future President John McCain said in his Mar 25th speech from Santa Ana, Ca that it is not the governments responsibility to bail out irresponsible borrowers and lenders. Here is a quick rundown of some of the highlights from his speech:

"Between 2001 and 2006 housing prices rose by 15% every year. The normal market forces of buying and selling homes was overwhelmed by market speculation. Our system of market checks and balances didn't correct this until the bubble burst."

"Rising home prices made many home lenders complacent giving them a false sense of security and lowered their lending standards.... Lenders ended up violating the fundamental rules of lending by loaning money people couldn't pay back.
"
"There are 80 million home owners in America that are facing the reality that the bubble has burst. Of these 80 million homeowners only 55 million have a mortgage at all... 51 million are doing what they need to make their payments... Only 4 million homeowners are causing these problems that are effecting us all...."

"Capital markets work best when there is both accountability and transparency. In our current crisis, both were lacking. This has caused a crisis of confidence in markets. Market players are increasingly unnerved by the level of risk, liability, and lost in the financial market. ... Credit is drying up, and liquidity is severely limited. Many business are unable to get their usual loans."

"The problem with subprime loans has no convulsed the entire financial system."

"Jon McCain pledged that he is not going to "Play politics with the housing crisis, I will evaluate everything in terms if it might be harmful or helpful to deal with our crisis we face now.... It's not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act responsibly"

He said that government assistance should only be for primary residences, and any assistance should only be temporary. Government assistance should only be to insure that problems like these never happen again.

Policy should move towards ensuring that homeowners provide a responsible down payment of equity at the initial purpose of a home. He opposes reducing down payment requirements for FHA mortgages, and thinks that they should actually be raised.

Increased Foreclosures are causing Mortgage Insurance providers to cut back

2008-03-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Mortgage Insurance was designed to back up risky home loans where the borrower couldn't put up a 20% down payment. Now with home prices naturally declining in many markets, many Mortgage Insurance providers won't give mortgage insurance on Investment Properties, Second Homes, and Primary residences seeking 100% financing.

Here is a list of markets AIG defines as "declining" where Mortgae Insurance standards have increased. AIG Declining Market Report

If the Private Mortgage Insurance companies won't insure these areas, it looks like they are confident prices will continue to decline and foreclosures will continue to remain high in these areas.

Short Sales - Good for you or the bank?

2008-03-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

"Short Sales" seems to be the latest buzz word in the Foreclosure World.

People are always looking for Short Sales as if they are some kind of automatic deal; As if a short sale is a quick fix to foreclosure real estate wealth. The fact is, short sales are very complicated, they aren't always deals, and they very often don't even happen.

What is a Short Sale?

A Short Sale is a real estate transaction where the lender accepts less than full payment when the property is sold. The lender gets "shorted" on the total amount due. It's definitely not a good deal for lenders as they lose money on short sale transactions. The new buyer of the property may be getting a deal because they are most likely getting the house for less than the previous buyer payed for it. In declining markets like Arizona, Florida and California, Short Sales are often necessary just to sell a property at market value. These short sale purchases aren't really deals at all.

How do you buy Short Sales?

Many short sales are listed. The borrowers in default realize that they need to sell their house to prevent foreclosure and further damage to their credit. These properties can be found on MLS Sites. For more ambitious buyers looking for short sales, these properties can be purchased by contacting the distressed borrower directly. Most people in default who know they owe more than the house is work don't think they have an option. They believe that the only thing they can do is let the property foreclose. Distressed properties that aren't listed can be found on sites like the Bargain Network Homes.

Once short sales are found, the price has to be negotiated by both the owner and the lien holders. Written real estate purchase contracts must still be signed by the seller and submitted to the lender. These offers now have to be approved by the bank. In order for banks to accept short sale requests, they want evidence that the borrower has a legitimate hardship that prevents them from making payments. They will ask for a financial hardship letter, bank statements, tax returns, etc. They need to qualify people for Short Sales. Many banks won't accept short sales unless the borrower has already missed several payments and has received a "notice of default." Most ordinary borrowers that are over their heads don't match this criteria. Many borrowers have multiple loans tied to the property. For a primary lien holder to negotiate a short sale, the junior liens must first agree to "short" their loans. If these negotiations can't be made, the deal falls through.

Why do banks allow short sales?

Banks allow short sales because losing some money, but collecting the bulk of the loan balance is less damaging that allowing the property to go do the foreclosure auction. In this regard, purchasing a house in short sale status is an advantage for the bank.

Buying homes in short sale status can be very beneficial, but it also can be very challenging. It is not something to attempt unless you are serious about real estate investing, and is not something you want to do without the help of real estate professionals.

HomeSaver Advance Program for Delinquent Mortgages

2008-03-10T16:20:00.001-07:00

A new foreclosure prevention solution was announced where Fannie Mae borrowers can get a small personal loan to try and bring their defaulted mortgage current. This loan is a at a low 5% interest rate, and is set at a 15 year fixed term. The borrower doesn't have to make any payments for the first six months, and the loan is paid directly to the defaulted lender.This program provides up to $15,000 to cover the past due balances for up to six months of delinquent payments plus HOA fees, missed taxes, and short escrow balances. This loan could be very valuable to help prevent foreclosure for borrowers who had temporary short term financial difficulties. For most default borrowers, it would just add an additional payment, to debts they already can't afford.

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Home Equity at Lowest Rate in Years: Foreclosures High

2008-03-07T15:49:00.001-08:00

Americans have the lowest average equity since the Federal Reserve started keeping track in 1945. The average American now has more debt against their homes than the amount they actually owe. This is an indication that the financial well being of most Americans is not good, as real estate ownership is the #1 source of wealth. It also demonstrates our increased reliance on debt for our "needs" of life. Americans have consistently borrowed against the equity in their homes to purchase luxuries. With home appreciating decreasing, this is greatly reducing wealth, and potential retirement income for many individuals. At the same time the record number of foreclosures doesn't help this stat either as most Foreclosure filers have little or no equity.

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2008-03-05T18:04:00.001-08:00

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Foreclosures up 57%, How can you profit from it?

2008-02-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

According to the Statistics provided by RealtyTrac.com, the number of notice of defaults has substantially risen once again. In January of 2007 there were 148,425 default notices given to borrowers. This year there were 233,001 notices given.

California alone accounted for almost 1/4th of all default filings. It had 57,158 foreclosure notices distributed in January.

More and more homes aren't being purchased at the foreclosure auctions, and become REO Homes. This offers great opportunities for savvy investors and ordinary home buyers. A lot of these homes aren't being picked up by investors because they simply don't have any equity, and there is no profit in these foreclosure homes. At foreclosure auctions, the opening bid is usually the amount owed on the primary loan. When this loan amount is more than the property is worth, it won't be purchased on the court house steps.

How to Profit with Foreclosures without Equity

Short Sales

The best bet for savvy investors is to purchase the properties as Short Sales before the auction even occurs. Banks don't want to foreclose, and are often willing to accept less than the amount owed on the property to avoid foreclosure. Good Real Estate Investors contact owners of these homes when they receive their default notices, before most of these homes are even on the market or have any other competition. Lists of default properties can be found from services like RealtyTrac, Foreclosure.com, and Bargain Homes Network.

Deals at Foreclosure Auctions - Homes with Second Mortgages

When deals can't be negotiated with the distressed borrowers and the banks in preforeclosure, many houses can also be purchased at great discounts at the foreclosure auction. The best properties to try and buy at foreclosure auctions are those with second, junior liens. Over the past few years a popular trend for lenders was to offer 100% financing by using 80-20 loans. in an 80/20, the primary loan was for 80% of the homes value and the second loan was for 20% of the purchase price. At the foreclosure auction, the second loan will be eliminated, lost, shafted. These properties can usually be picked up for a little more than the value of the first loan, which at one time was 80% of the properties value.

REO Homes

Bank Owned/REO Homes can rarely be purchased for huge discounts, but are much more easy to purchase than short sales and foreclosure auction homes. REO properties are listed just like any other properties. They are usually priced below market value because banks want to get rid of them quickly, and they usually need some repairs. These properties are found on the MLS, and you get the aid of a Realtor to help you in your purchase of REO Homes. This is usually the only way to purchase foreclosures as first time home buyers.

Find REO Homes on the MLS Now:

Top 20 Metro's for Foreclosures.

2008-02-15T12:28:00.001-08:00

4% of homes in these metros are in some stage of the Foreclosure Process. The highest foreclosure rates are in metros where homes appreciated too fast, like California, Las Vegas, and Florida, or areas where economic market conditions really struggle like Detroit and Cleveland Ohio.

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"Project Lifeline" Lenders New Plan to Reduce Foreclosures

2008-02-12T12:22:00.001-08:00

The US Treasury department announced a plan known as "Project Lifeline" designed to help give distressed homeowners more time to work out payment plans and prevent foreclosure. Bank of America, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, JPMorgan Chase, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo have agreed to allow delinquent homeowners facing foreclosure a 30 day period to work out new payment terms. During this period, the banks will attempt to contact the distressed borrowers, and will "freeze" the foreclosure process while they attempt to find a repayment solution. Borrowers with both fixed and option arm loans for primary residences may qualify for Project Lifeline.

Many economic experts are skeptical that Project Lifeline will actually make much of a difference. Distressed homeowners are only eligible for this program after they've missed three mortgage payments. This is the time that most lenders issue the Notice of Default.

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ARMS aren't always the Cause of Foreclosure.

2008-01-29T15:27:00.001-08:00

The media likes to blame the national foreclosure crisis on Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMS). The states that had the highest number of ARMS, Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, and Florida do lead the nation in foreclosures, but not all Foreclosures are because adjustable rate mortgages have reset and gone up. Foreclosures happen primarily because people bought houses they couldn't afford, and didn't have any savings for a rainy day. They banked on the trend that the real estate would continue to appreciate at double digit amounts every year. Well, that didn't exactly happen.

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What's a pre-foreclosure home? What's a Foreclosed Home?

2008-01-25T10:26:00.001-08:00

With foreclosures on the rise. Many want to find ways to profit by buying foreclosure homes. If you want to get a deal, you must understand the different types of foreclosures and the likely places you can purchase a house for less than market value.Foreclosures are common place in our world today. With the mortgage crisis of 2007, and declining home prices where many people bought homes they couldn't afford based on speculation that the value would increase so much it would be a great investment. There are also loads of get rich quick foreclosure schemes. These don't work. Foreclosure homes can be purchased, and at a discount, but you likely won't get them for pennies on the dollar or even half off. To know how to get deals on foreclosure properties you need to understand the different types of foreclosure properties: Pre-foreclosures, Foreclosure Auctions, and Foreclosed Homes.

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Fed makes emergency rate cut

2008-01-22T20:25:00.001-08:00

Inman news on Fed cut. This rate cut has already helped reduce fixed rate mortgages. Thirty year fixed mortgages were hovering around the 5.5% rate today. This cut will also serve as relief too borrowers with option arms and adjustable rate mortgages as the rates on those mortgages will be lower. It is a great time to refinance adjustable rate mortgages to fixed rates while these interest rates are the lowest they've been in two and a half years.

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Best Websites to Find Foreclosure Properties in Utah

2008-01-14T20:39:00.001-08:00

According to Realty Trac, There are 7,249 foreclosure properties in Utah and Foreclosure Filings are going up. It ranked 20th nationally in foreclosures despite the best housing appreciation in the nation. Here are the best Utah websites to find Pre-foreclosure properties:

How to Spot a Foreclosure Rescue Scam

2008-01-14T20:07:00.001-08:00

How to spot a Stop Foreclosure Scam according to the financial Guru David Bach. With increased foreclosures, there is an increased industry in trying to scam people at the moment of their greatest despair. If you are having financial distress, and have missed mortgage payments. You will be contacted by real estate investors and "foreclosure rescue" companies. Be careful, and make sure you won't be a victim of foreclosure repair scam.

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Tips To Avoid Foreclosure

2008-01-14T19:34:00.001-08:00

Free information and resources for people who are facing foreclosure, including options and avoiding predatory foreclosure lending scams. If you are faced with foreclosure there are things you can do. You don't have to just sit back and be a victim. This blog gives some good practical advise explaining your options, and tips you can do to avoid foreclosure.

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How to find and buy Foreclosures in Idaho

2008-01-14T09:17:00.001-08:00

There are five different stages of the foreclosure process in Idaho that offer different challenges and advantages for real estate investors to purchase foreclosure homes. These include preforeclosure, the notice of default, the trustees sale, REO properties, and HUD Homes. So how do you find these homes for sale and invest in the lucrative foreclosure market?

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Few bargains, many pitfalls at foreclosure auctions

2008-01-11T14:38:00.001-08:00

"Buying an auctioned home to resell at a profit is a risky endeavor."

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How Do you Buy HUD Homes?

2008-01-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

HUD homes are marketed almost the same way as any other listed property.

In each city, a designated HUD broker is in charge of all HUD home listings. When the HUD home becomes available it is listed on the MLS. There is also additional information about the HUD home on the website of the law firm in charge of the transaction. In most states this site is www.Mcbreo.com

You must purchase a HUD Home with the help of a Real Estate Agent. Any participating broker will work. When you are interested in the house you must fill out a valid real estate purchase contract, write an earnest money check with certified funds, and then make an electronic bid online. If the electronic bid is accepted, then your real estate broker turns in the required earnest money check and paperwork. One interesting thing about online HUD bids is that the real estate agent can choose their commission. HUD cares most about how much money they will net, so the more your agent charges, the more you will likely have to pay for the property.

HUD properties very often have multiple offers. It is not uncommon for HUD to be purchased for more than the listed price. HUD does not have to accept any bids, and won't accept bids if they are extremely low, even if you are the only bidder before the deadline.

What are HUD Homes and How do they differ from REO property?

2008-01-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

FHA loans that default, and don't get purchased at the Trustee's auction become HUD Homes. Hud homes are foreclosed properties, temporarily owned by the department of Housing and Urban Development.

They are different than other REO homes in the way they are marketed and sold. HUD homes are not just looking to get rid of their properties, but first off are looking to help provide affordable housing for first time buyers. When a HUD home is first listed, it is only available to buyers looking for a primary residence. For this reason, HUD homes are hard to use as investment properties not designed for primary use.

If the HUD House doesn't sell to someone looking for a primary residence, then the bidding is open for real estate investors. At this point, the property is usually not a deal. If it were, it would have sold during the initial listing period.

The Reality of Investing in Foreclosures...

2008-01-11T10:26:00.001-08:00

There is a lot of hype that foreclosures are on the rise. This is reality.

There is also a lot of hype suggesting that investing in foreclosures is get rich quick fix that is easy to do with no money down. There are infomercials and seminars that try and get you to come learn the "secrets" of foreclosure investing with no money down. Really, these free programs just try and get you to subscribe to their incredibly overpriced "training" and "mentoring" programs so you can learn the real details of "real estate investing." They have very little real real estate investing info and a lot of hype up showing how rich you'll be and how easy it is to do. These programs target the people who don't have any money down, because they are looking for the suckers. They are looking for desperate people who will be willing to go into further debt for the mentoring programs in hope they can fulfill their dream.

Investing in foreclosures is not easy, and it is especially hard if you don't have money to put down. The door of opportunity is much bigger if you have sufficient money where you can put cash down and purchase distressed properties in a matter of days. It's not impossible to buy foreclosures with no money down, but these methods can be very risky or on the borderline of unethical/illegal.

There is also a misconception that if a house is a foreclosure, it is a deal. In reality, many foreclosures are overpriced for the amount of work/risk required to purchase them.

To really invest in foreclosures. The first thing you must do is understand the foreclosure process. You must understand: