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Displaying blog entries 321-330 of 391

Mt. Hood Area Short Sales

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
by Liz Warren

If you are currently living on the mountain in Rhododendron, Welches, Government Camp or Brightwoodand are considering a short sale, what should you do first as a seller? If it were me I'd pick up the phone and call either my tax preparer/cpa or a good attorney.

First you need to know your credit will be dinged for several years with a short sale. Beyond that, there are the two things you need to be aware of:

1. A seller can be pursued by the lender, after the sale of the home, for the repayment of debt, that is unless your paperwork from the lender specifically says the debt is forgiven. Many lenders will have you sign a promissory note to repay the debt or some other paper saying they can pursue that debt after the sale.

2. The lender then sends a document to the Feds triggering the IRS. They may require you to pay tax on the unpaid debt. The tax bill cometh. You will need to keep your paperwork from the lender showing that you signed a promissory note or other paperwork saying the debt can be pursued to avoid paying those taxes on the debt.

TALK to your accountant or advisor to be sure you are doing the right thing!

Be sure to take these two items into consideration when considering a short sale. You don't want any surprises!

 

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Mt. Hood First Time Home Buyers

Thursday, November 5, 2009
by Liz Warren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want a complete wrap up of the new changes, READ THEM HERE.

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Mt. Hood Mortgages

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
by Liz Warren

Did you know that approximately one in three people who apply for a mortgage loan or refinance last year were denied approval according to the Federal Reserve? Overall, loan applications and originations were cut in half in 2008 compared with 2006!

Walk-aways are increasing! Despite postitive news on increased sales and in some areas, prices even going upward, many owners according to Housing Predictor  will walk away from their mortgages if housing prices continue to fall. In fact, a recent survey indicates one in three owners will walk away.

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The Myths of Subprime Lending

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
by Liz Warren

When I think about the housing crisis and tsunami of foreclosures that have hit the market I think about Sub-prime Mortgages. This was the first wave of loans that caused foreclosures according to the media. There are many myths that surround sub prime loans and this recent commentary of 10 sub-prime mythes published by the Cleavland Federal Reserve, Senior Research Economist, Yuliya Demyanyk.

Read this article here. 

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Credit Score Under 620?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
by Liz Warren

If you are planning on purchasing a home in the Mt. Hood area around Government Camp, Brightwood, Welches or Rhododendron pay attention to your current FICO credit score.

Fannie Mae is tightening lending standards for FHA, VA, and HUD loans as of November 1st. Depending upon your specific loan you  may not be able to get a federally insured loan. These types of loans make up about 60% of loans in the US.

Bottom line is be sure you pay attention to your credit scores!

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Mt. Hood Seniors Looking for Reverse Mortgage?

Monday, September 28, 2009
by Liz Warren

Attention seniors looking for a reverse mortgage!\ David Stevens, the new FHA Commissioner announced as of October 1st this year that there will be a 10 percent cut in the mount of money seniors can receive from the reverse mortgage program.

This announcement is a major bombshell coupled with a few more policies concerning FHA appraisal guidelines.

Why did this happen? Due to declining property values, FHA is facing an $800 million dollar shortfall in funds. This deadline is coming at lightening speed so if you are thinking about that reverse mortgage, some of your funds just got cut.

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Strategic Defaults

Monday, September 21, 2009
by Liz Warren

What is a strategic default in today's real estate marketplace? Surprisingly, nearly 600,000  strategic defaults happened in the United States last year according to the LA Times. Most of these defaults happened in Florida, California and Nevada. What is a strategic default? This is when an owner stops making payments on their mortgage thinking that they will walk away from the property since the market has shifted so dramatically that it will not recover for the owner to keep making those payments. This amount is double the number from the prior year.

It is also surprising that the majority of home owners who opted to do this have great credit and good payment histories vs. lower credit scores. They see the writing on the wall and believe walking away, although taking a major hit on their credit ability, is better than being tied to a house without a chance of recovery in these markets.

This trend will probably continue especially in the states mentioned above. Unless there is more stability in the real estate market, it will continue.

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Elephant in the Room

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
by Liz Warren

Have you heard about the 134 Billion in US option Arm mortgages getting ready to "recast" in the next couple of years? It's coming and it will have impact. Recasting is when, for example, a 5 year arm comes up for the interest rate to adjust to current levels. Many of these loans create negative amortization. Negative amortization makes your balance higher than it was when you originally took out your loan. If you have a five year ARM, it's possible home prices have declined and you are now under water with your value. Some interest rates will double causing many homeowners in this current economic environment to be unable to make these payments.

California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, which have experienced declines of as much as 48% in values will be particularly hard hit when the ARMs begin adjusting. These states will see many additional foreclosures in their future.

Locally in the Mt. Hood area from Government Camp, Rhododendron and Welches, we will not see as much of an impact. Sandy, on the other hand, may see some additional foreclosures due to their rapid growth and newer subdivisions that have sprung up over the past five years.

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Mt. Hood First Time Home Buyers

Thursday, September 10, 2009
by Liz Warren

Take advantage now for the first time home buyer credit of $8,000! Time is running out with this program expiring November 30th. You would probably need to be in escrow by September 30th to meet this deadline. Beyond that, you risk not getting your purchase closed in time.

The National Association of Realtors is trying to get this tax credit extended. It has spurred the home sales of summer all across the country. Once this tax credit is gone, and if interest rates go up, we will see an increasingly slow market returning with foreclosures still coming in, this could reduce sales and increase competition for sellers.

NAR is trying to get a $15,000 tax credit for ANYONE who purchases a home but will this happen? Stay tuned. This could help the move up buyers and help price ranges over $250,000.

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Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

Monday, September 7, 2009
by Liz Warren

Change is in the air with Congress working on restructuring the failing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Mortgage bankers are suggesting creating a "good bank" and a "bad bank" and getting rid of both of these institutions. The good bank would deal with the profitable mortgage loans and the bad bank would deal with work outs on bad loans and resolutions for people in trouble.

What does this mean to home buyers if the reorganization happens? It could mean that the government would guarantee the regular conventional fixed rate plain vanilla loans.

The loans that are not mainstream such as Jumbo loans or other non conforming loans may not get serviced through the reorganization. The National Association of Realtors is trying to lobby to get these nonconforming loans serviced. Although Freddie and Fannie are staying the same right now, look for changes by some time next year.

 

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Displaying blog entries 321-330 of 391

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