Government Program Falling Short Of Its Goal

September 1, 2010
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According to a congressional hearing, the administration is falling short of its goal of preventing millions of Americans from losing their homes.  Treasury officials acknowledge problems in the year-old mortgage modification program and announced its changes.  Only 170,000 homeowners have completed the process to get their monthly payments reduced out of 1.1 million who began it over the past year.

The government’s latest effort to stem foreclosures would threaten more than roughly 8 million homeowners at risk of losing their homes in the next two years, according to John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.  These additional 8 million…

Top 5 Cities Recovering From Recession

July 28, 2010
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Some cities are finally recovering from recession.  The top five metros like Washington / Arlington/ Alexandria, D.C., Austin/Round Rock, Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas, Minneapolis/St.Paul/Bloomington, Minn-Wis and Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown, Texas are some of the areas that are surviving the downturn in real estate because they specialize in industries that are relatively insulated from economic volatility.  Federal and state jobs all but guarantee the health of a local economy, and nowhere is there more government-related work than in Washington.

Washington has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 6.2% and its output amounts to 362.3 billion which is three times…

Consequences Of Foreclosures

July 24, 2010
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Losing a home to foreclosure could affect your tax and credit history.  Not many homeowners understand these issues aside from the fact that they are bad.  The legal department of California Association of Realtors issued a memorandum titled “Credit After Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, or Short Sale.  This document is really helpful for those who have questions regarding their credit if they lose their home.

Here are some contents of the memo to help you understand the consequences of a foreclosure:

o Five years after foreclosure, a home buyer may be able to obtain a home loan.  At least 10% down payment is required…

$1,500 Incentive For Short Sales

July 24, 2010
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Homeowners who are facing possible foreclosures can sell their property for less than they owe and they can also receive cash compensations starting April 5.  This new incentive that is part of the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program of the Federal Government addresses the short sale as a viable option for homes that could potentially be foreclosed.

This federal program will help homeowners who cannot afford to stay in their homes by helping them avoid foreclosure and relocate them to a home they can afford.  This will also help stabilize, simplify and streamline the process of a short sale easier for…

Octomom Could Be Kicked Out Of Her Southern California Home

July 9, 2010
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Nadya Suleman, the controversial mother who gave birth to 8 babies may lose her home to foreclosure.  The mother along with her eight babies as well as her other six children could be kicked out of their Southern California home.  Mortgage holder Amer Haddadin says that he is starting foreclosure proceedings on the $565,000 La Habra residence because the family wasn’t able to keep up with the payments.

According to Haddadin’s friend and adviser, Ramsey Masso, Haddadin signed over the home to Suleman’s father last year.  Ed Suleman, who leased the home to his daughter, was supposed to pay about $4,000…

Purchasing Foreclosed Properties Through Fannie Mae’s Home Path Mortgage

July 9, 2010
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Fannie Mae offers a special financing program that offers attractive incentives to attract buyers to buy foreclosed properties.  Home Path Mortgage includes allowing buyers to purchase at a lower down payment with flexible mortgage terms.

The Home Path mortgage properties include single family residences, individual condominium units and town homes.  Available real estate for sale includes foreclosures, deed in lieu of foreclosure, and bank owned properties.  The properties are sold in “as is” condition and some would need some level of repair.

Fannie Mae’s HomePath mortgage refinancing program is a viable option for borrowers who are unable to pay a large down…

Positive Forecasts For The Real Estate Market

June 28, 2010
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Last week, economic and housing forecasters came out with positive projections for the real estate market.  According to chief economist for Freddie Mac, Frank Nothaft, the real estate will have a very steady, quarter to quarter growth patterns with no double- dip mini recessions and only minor increases in interest rates.

The U.S. economy may expand to 3.3-3.5% range as measured by the Gross Domestic Product through 2011.  Nothaft forecasts 5.6% rate by the end of the year for the 30-year mortgage rates.  This figure is up from today’s rates but still low and not high enough to seriously constrain housing…

Obama Administration May Prohibit Foreclosures

June 8, 2010
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The Obama administration will try to easy the housing crisis by banning all foreclosures on home loans unless they have been screened and rejected by the government’s HAMP or Home Affordable Modification Program.

According to a Treasury Department document outlining the plan, the proposal that was reviewed last week on a White House conference call will prohibit foreclosures until the borrower is evaluated and found ineligible for HAMP or reasonable contact efforts have failed.

Treasury spokeswoman Meg Reilly said that it is one of the many ideas under consideration by the government regarding housing stabilization efforts.  This proposal is not yet approved…

Prospecting Expired Listings

May 14, 2010
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Agents can greatly benefit from finding expired listings.  It is easy to find expired listings because they crop up everyday.  These expired listing provide a number of leads for listing appointments for agents.  You need to set a schedule to take advantage of the days where there are a lot of listings.  The end of the month is usually the heaviest times for expired listings and 25% of the expired listings of the month may occur in just one or two days so you need to check it out all the time.

Homeowners of expired listings will still want to sell…

Reason Why Homeowners Drop Out Of The Loan Modification Program

May 9, 2010
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The February figures showed that only 116,000 who completed the application process to reduce their loan payments received a permanent loan modification.  That figure is just 12% of the more than 1 million homeowners who applied for a permanent loan modification.

About 61,000 homeowners have dropped out because of reasons like failure to make the required payments during the trial modification process and failure to return the necessary paperwork to their respective banks.

Although the program is doing what it’s supposed to do, large banks that hold the majority of loans are struggling to keep up with a huge number of borrowers…