The National Association of Homebuilders reported this week that their “Housing Market Index”, a survey among its members to quantify builder sentiment about the housing market, rose three points in May to 22. While this is still well below the 50 mark which indicates builders feel optimistic about the housing market, it is the highest reading since August of 2007. It has not been above 50 since April of 2006. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that new home construction soared in April – up nearly 41% from the same moth last year. The number of starts in April was also 5.8% higher than the previous month. The number of applications for new building permits actually fell for the month – down 11.5% from March. April 2010 applications were, however, still nearly 16% higher than the same month in 2009. Continue reading “Homes Data Promising”
Category: Real Estate Market
Rural Development – Good News/ Bad News
As a flood of first-time homebuyers rushed to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit the Rural Development program has been strained to the limit with a year’s allocation of funds expected to be depleted sometime tomorrow. There has been little interest in Congress to extend funding and it now appears that without a last minute vote to re-fund the program, Rural Development will be out of funds on Wednesday. This will leave lenders with only the ability to secure “conditional commitments” from Rural Development. Continue reading “Rural Development – Good News/ Bad News”
Real Estate: The Future is bright and I Already Have Shades
The Future is bright and I already have some nice shades!!! (purchased from our wonderful Pier Park)
With all the negative talk in the news and in the local rags you would not know that there are many bright spots in our horizon. Northwest Florida is poised and ready to blossom and flourish. Many renowned and respected groups such as CNNmoney.com, American Express, Fortune Magazine and others are encouraged about our Real Estate market here.
American Express says that Northwest Florida is one of its Top Ten vacation destinations in the country. Northwest Florida is second behind the Orlando area in Florida tourism. Northwest Florida beaches are world-class, drawing over seven million tourists each year — more than any other East Coast beach area.
Continue reading “Real Estate: The Future is bright and I Already Have Shades”
Your Property Could Be Sold in 8 Seconds…But First…
There is so much to be excited about and write about his week, I have had a hard time making a decision. But as usual I focus on what is actually happening in my little Real Estate world. The market is still very much a buyers market so the push is on for our sellers to put their best foot forward so I thought we would concentrate on a few things that a seller can do to help their Realtor sell their home. I will only briefly remind you that price is imperative from the very beginning… not after it has been on the market for two months but from day one!!!!!!!
Continue reading “Your Property Could Be Sold in 8 Seconds…But First…”
The Skinny on Appraisals in Today's Market
How exciting you have an offer on your house and on to close you go!!! But we have one more hurdle to master…. the big appraisal question. Will it appraise and what in the world do we do if it does not? Well in good ole yesteryear people were fighting over property so they would just up the ante and away we would go to close. Today however that is not the game and even cash buyers are putting a clause in their contracts, “property must appraise” So for all of us lay folks our there here are a few things that are involved in appraising your home. Continue reading “The Skinny on Appraisals in Today's Market”
Real Estate – Appraisers are not the Culprits
There have been a lot of anecdotal stories lately about how appraisals and appraisers contributed to the real estate meltdown and are currently preventing the market from recovering. Your friends at www.condosaletrends.com (A certified general/certified residential appraiser in Colorado and Florida with 25 years of experience) would like to clear up some misconceptions. Continue reading “Real Estate – Appraisers are not the Culprits”
Your Mortgage Insurance Questions Answered?
What is mortgage insurance?
It’s a financial guaranty that insures lenders against loss in the event a borrower defaults on a mortgage. If the borrower defaults and the lender takes title to the property, the mortgage insurer (MGIC, for example) reduces or eliminates the loss to the lender. In effect, the mortgage insurer shares the risk of lending the money to the borrower. (Mortgage insurance should not be confused with mortgage life insurance, which provides coverage in the event of a borrower’s death, or homeowner’s insurance, which protects the homeowner from loss due to damage from fire, flood or other disaster.) Continue reading “Your Mortgage Insurance Questions Answered?”
Short Sales – Hang on, Help is on the way!
I am very excited about news coming down the pike as a Realtor and my happy news may well be good news for would be buyers and sellers of short sales. When someone calls me about a home and I, through gritted teeth, tell them that it is a short sale, I can just hear their eyes rolling in their head. Hopefully these new Treasury proposed guidelines will help us all.
The main reason for the gritting of teeth and the eye rolling is the unsure outcome and the long time frame in waiting for the bank to give us an answer on a short sale. The new guidelines proposed by the federal government for short sales will address this issue. The new rules will give lenders a 10 day limit to respond to offers, free borrowers from dept and even provide financial incentives to lenders.
As the housing slump enters its fifth year these guidelines should factor into helping us see the light at the end of our tunnel. To speed up the process the U. S. Treasury is calling for lenders to respond to short sale offers within 10 business days. Sellers would be eligible for $1500 in moving allowances and they will not be strapped with repayment of any dept.
To further encourage banks, lenders will get $1,000 to cover administrative costs, while investors owning the mortgages will receive a maximum $1,000 for allowing up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to less senior lenders. Loan servicers participating in the Obama Administrations Home Affordable Modification Program are required to follow the guidelines.
The plan that must be implemented by lenders no later than April may be too late for my short sale that has been waiting on a decision since last April. We have gone through 3 buyers and it looks like we are at an impasse and off to foreclosure we go even though we have a willing buyer and seller. The first and second position lenders are not being good playmates. It is my hope however that we will see a change for the better. There are some banks that are already doing the responsible thing and working hard to make this painful process as pleasant as possible. You can rest assured that I will be using my brand of getting even with those fellows!!!
So till next week you know the drill by now, “The only people we have to get even with are those that have helped us”…… So get busy and go get even.
Short Sales – We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends
If you read my articles you know by now I try to base them on real life problems and concerns of all the sweet people I encounter during my work week, especially in the area of short sales and foreclosures. I have had so many different mountain climbing experiences lately in relation to this I decided to seek advice myself and make sure I was equipped for the task. Continue reading “Short Sales – We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends”
Short Sale: The Lesser of Two Evils
You would think that we had exhausted the short sale dilemma but not hardly as I still get questions each week about whether someone should just walk away or try their hand at short selling their home. In most cases although it is a test in patience a short sale may be a better option for a seller and sometimes a buyer as well. (will address buyer advantages next week)
Continue reading “Short Sale: The Lesser of Two Evils”
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