Thursday, April 30, 2009
More Help for Homeowners
Dear Sue,
I applied for and received a loan modification. I am very happy with my new payments but now I am having trouble making the payments on my line of credit.
Is there any other help available?
Poor Paul
Dear Paul,
You are in luck! The Obama administration announced details of new efforts to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes.
“With these latest program details, we’re offering even more opportunities for borrowers to make their homes more affordable under the administrations housing plan,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Ensuring that responsible homeowners can afford to stay in their homes is critical to stabilizing the housing market, which is in turn critical to stabilizing our financial system overall. Every step we take is done with that imperative in mind.”
A second lien program was introduced as part of the “making home affordable” initiative already in place. It will work in tandem with the first lien (loan) modifications. When a first lien is modified, servicers participating in the second lien program will automatically reduce payments on the second according to pre-set protocol. The second may be eliminated altogether in return for a lump-sum payment. The lump-sum payment would be made from a pre-set formula determined by the Treasury.
This new program will benefit up to 50% of homeowners with “at-risk” loans.
For further information on this and other programs go to financialstability.gov.
It could be a matter of good Home $$’s and Sense.
I applied for and received a loan modification. I am very happy with my new payments but now I am having trouble making the payments on my line of credit.
Is there any other help available?
Poor Paul
Dear Paul,
You are in luck! The Obama administration announced details of new efforts to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes.
“With these latest program details, we’re offering even more opportunities for borrowers to make their homes more affordable under the administrations housing plan,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Ensuring that responsible homeowners can afford to stay in their homes is critical to stabilizing the housing market, which is in turn critical to stabilizing our financial system overall. Every step we take is done with that imperative in mind.”
A second lien program was introduced as part of the “making home affordable” initiative already in place. It will work in tandem with the first lien (loan) modifications. When a first lien is modified, servicers participating in the second lien program will automatically reduce payments on the second according to pre-set protocol. The second may be eliminated altogether in return for a lump-sum payment. The lump-sum payment would be made from a pre-set formula determined by the Treasury.
This new program will benefit up to 50% of homeowners with “at-risk” loans.
For further information on this and other programs go to financialstability.gov.
It could be a matter of good Home $$’s and Sense.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Seller Decides to Stay After De-Cluttering
Dear Sue,
My wife and I have been talking about moving for a few years now. We finally decided to call a Realtor and get the show on the road.
The Realtor that we chose suggested that we remove some of our favorite furniture. She also asked us to take some of our photos down and put most of our knick- knacks away. She also recommended that we fix a few things and paint.
It was a lot of work but since she came highly recommended, we did everything that she suggested.
We are now in a peculiar situation. Now that we have de-cluttered and spruced things up, we realized that we really love our home and we don’t want to leave it. The problem is we don’t know how to tell our agent that we want out of our listing agreement. We feel badly because of all of the work she has done.
Is it possible to cancel a listing contract? Have you ever heard of anybody doing this before?
Fickle Fred,
Dear Fred,
Your situation is not unusual. Clutter tends create a feeling of chaos. Chaotic feelings make it difficult to relax. The occupants in a cluttered home sometimes feel anxious to the point of wanting to move.
I had an experience with a local builder. He and his wife lived in their “unfinished” home until she couldn’t stand it anymore. They called me and said that they wanted to sell and move on. I prepared a “to-do” list that was eventually completed.
Within a week of them living in their newly completed home, I received a call from his wife. She said that she loved it and didn’t want to move. I cancelled the listing.
I would suggest calling your Realtor. Explain to her that she did such a great job getting your home ready for sale that you want to keep it! I am sure that her Broker will release you from the listing agreement without penalty.
Remember, a good Realtors main goal is to serve the client however that looks.
Gaining clarity and communicating with your agent can be a matter of good Home $$’s and Sense.
My wife and I have been talking about moving for a few years now. We finally decided to call a Realtor and get the show on the road.
The Realtor that we chose suggested that we remove some of our favorite furniture. She also asked us to take some of our photos down and put most of our knick- knacks away. She also recommended that we fix a few things and paint.
It was a lot of work but since she came highly recommended, we did everything that she suggested.
We are now in a peculiar situation. Now that we have de-cluttered and spruced things up, we realized that we really love our home and we don’t want to leave it. The problem is we don’t know how to tell our agent that we want out of our listing agreement. We feel badly because of all of the work she has done.
Is it possible to cancel a listing contract? Have you ever heard of anybody doing this before?
Fickle Fred,
Dear Fred,
Your situation is not unusual. Clutter tends create a feeling of chaos. Chaotic feelings make it difficult to relax. The occupants in a cluttered home sometimes feel anxious to the point of wanting to move.
I had an experience with a local builder. He and his wife lived in their “unfinished” home until she couldn’t stand it anymore. They called me and said that they wanted to sell and move on. I prepared a “to-do” list that was eventually completed.
Within a week of them living in their newly completed home, I received a call from his wife. She said that she loved it and didn’t want to move. I cancelled the listing.
I would suggest calling your Realtor. Explain to her that she did such a great job getting your home ready for sale that you want to keep it! I am sure that her Broker will release you from the listing agreement without penalty.
Remember, a good Realtors main goal is to serve the client however that looks.
Gaining clarity and communicating with your agent can be a matter of good Home $$’s and Sense.
Labels: auburn journal, declutter, gold country homes, hometown realtors, placer county real estate
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A Tentative Spring has come to Local Real Estate Market
Dear Sue,
My Realtor told me that the sales in her office are on the rise. She said that the phones are ringing and that people are out looking and escrows are starting to close.
I even read headlines in a local newspaper “The Bust is Ending Soon.”
Do you think that we are starting to recover? Do you think the worst is over?
Sign me Cautiously Optimistic
Dear Cautious,
I would describe the current state of the economy in the same way that I would describe this Spring’s weather. “Tentative.”
Recent 70-degree days have been dampened by hail and snow. A morning of frost is followed by yet another beautiful sunny day. Tentative.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that there’s been “tentative signs” that the recession may be easing.
“Recently we have seen tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing.
A leveling out of economic activity is the first step toward recovery.” He explained.
Sanjay Varshney, dean of the college of business administration at California State University at Sacramento, believes that we are near the floor or a bottoming out of local real estate values by years end.
Local economists believe that our Bust will be ending soon while others say that we need to prepare for yet another wave of foreclosures that will further dampen real estate values.
The Federal Government has initiated many innovative programs intended to keep Americans in their homes and reduce the foreclosure rate. As Spring weather needs time to establish itself so do these programs need time to work.
The Fed has cut a key bank- lending rate to a record low of nearly zero. The Fed has also plowed $1.2 trillion into the economy in an attempt to reduce interest rates for mortgages and other loans.
A standard loan modification program for distressed homeowners has been put into place. The details of this program can be found on the FinancialStability.gov web site. The program is designed to allow homeowners to process their own loan modifications. It’s not necessary to mail off $2000-4000.00 to some loan modification company that you may never hear from again!
There’s even a refinance program available for those borrowers that have been current with their loan payments. It is streamlined with no documentation and no appraisal requirements. Investment properties qualify. I would suggest calling your favorite lender and have him/her do a mortgage review.
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced a joint public-private program to buy almost $1 trillion of the troubled mortgages and securities that have been at the root of the credit crunch. The U.S. Treasury has committed up to $100 billion with the rest coming from the private sector.
The mortgages purchased under this program will be held by asset management firms until profits can be realized.
According to Bernanke, the Federal Government is working on other programs designed to assist Americans with consumer credit.
I think that time and cautious optimism is a matter of good Home $$’s and Sense.
My Realtor told me that the sales in her office are on the rise. She said that the phones are ringing and that people are out looking and escrows are starting to close.
I even read headlines in a local newspaper “The Bust is Ending Soon.”
Do you think that we are starting to recover? Do you think the worst is over?
Sign me Cautiously Optimistic
Dear Cautious,
I would describe the current state of the economy in the same way that I would describe this Spring’s weather. “Tentative.”
Recent 70-degree days have been dampened by hail and snow. A morning of frost is followed by yet another beautiful sunny day. Tentative.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that there’s been “tentative signs” that the recession may be easing.
“Recently we have seen tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing.
A leveling out of economic activity is the first step toward recovery.” He explained.
Sanjay Varshney, dean of the college of business administration at California State University at Sacramento, believes that we are near the floor or a bottoming out of local real estate values by years end.
Local economists believe that our Bust will be ending soon while others say that we need to prepare for yet another wave of foreclosures that will further dampen real estate values.
The Federal Government has initiated many innovative programs intended to keep Americans in their homes and reduce the foreclosure rate. As Spring weather needs time to establish itself so do these programs need time to work.
The Fed has cut a key bank- lending rate to a record low of nearly zero. The Fed has also plowed $1.2 trillion into the economy in an attempt to reduce interest rates for mortgages and other loans.
A standard loan modification program for distressed homeowners has been put into place. The details of this program can be found on the FinancialStability.gov web site. The program is designed to allow homeowners to process their own loan modifications. It’s not necessary to mail off $2000-4000.00 to some loan modification company that you may never hear from again!
There’s even a refinance program available for those borrowers that have been current with their loan payments. It is streamlined with no documentation and no appraisal requirements. Investment properties qualify. I would suggest calling your favorite lender and have him/her do a mortgage review.
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced a joint public-private program to buy almost $1 trillion of the troubled mortgages and securities that have been at the root of the credit crunch. The U.S. Treasury has committed up to $100 billion with the rest coming from the private sector.
The mortgages purchased under this program will be held by asset management firms until profits can be realized.
According to Bernanke, the Federal Government is working on other programs designed to assist Americans with consumer credit.
I think that time and cautious optimism is a matter of good Home $$’s and Sense.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Anticipate Longer Escrow Periods
Dear Sue
I bought a home through VA and have been in escrow for almost forty days. I can’t believe that this loan process is taking so long. I am actually thinking about changing lenders.
I don’t think my lender is doing everything he can to get my loan closed. Every time I call my agent to get an update he tells me “we are still waiting on the loan.”
My escrow should be closed by now. Would I be foolish to hand over my deal to another lender to see if somebody else could speed it along?
Frustrated Frank
Dear Frank
It could be a HUGE mistake to change lenders at this point in your transaction. I am sure your lender is doing all he can to facilitate your loan. The truth of the matter is that you are not alone in feeling frustrated in “today’s world of real estate.” Buyers are not the only party impatient at the rate that things are getting done. Sellers, Realtors and lenders are also having to get used to new time frames in loan processing.
According to information from a Roseville broker, Louise Buford, agents should encourage their buyers to ask for at least 45 days to complete their escrow. That is the very minimum. Many escrows are taking longer.
Louise Buford explained that once a loan package is completed and submitted, the underwriters are taking up to ten days to review the loan and another ten days to fund it.
An agent I work with told me that she is currently assisting a client who is purchasing a home with a VA loan. The loan process has taken about two weeks longer than expected. When the VA lender talks about “days” they refer to working days. The buyer and their agent think in terms of calendar days.
Lenders are overwhelmed by their current workload. A Countrywide lender reported that her office was previously processing fifty loans and is now processing over two hundred loans! They simply don’t have the staff to keep up with the demand.
In addition to a greater demand, the tighter underwriting requirements and new loan programs are adding to the challenge and subsequently adding to the timeframes.
My recommendation to you would be to give your lender everything they need as soon as possible and be prepared for the process to take a minimum of 45 days at best. Always be ready for your lender to ask for one more piece of documentation. Be patient and responsive. It’s a matter of Good Home $$s and Sense.
I bought a home through VA and have been in escrow for almost forty days. I can’t believe that this loan process is taking so long. I am actually thinking about changing lenders.
I don’t think my lender is doing everything he can to get my loan closed. Every time I call my agent to get an update he tells me “we are still waiting on the loan.”
My escrow should be closed by now. Would I be foolish to hand over my deal to another lender to see if somebody else could speed it along?
Frustrated Frank
Dear Frank
It could be a HUGE mistake to change lenders at this point in your transaction. I am sure your lender is doing all he can to facilitate your loan. The truth of the matter is that you are not alone in feeling frustrated in “today’s world of real estate.” Buyers are not the only party impatient at the rate that things are getting done. Sellers, Realtors and lenders are also having to get used to new time frames in loan processing.
According to information from a Roseville broker, Louise Buford, agents should encourage their buyers to ask for at least 45 days to complete their escrow. That is the very minimum. Many escrows are taking longer.
Louise Buford explained that once a loan package is completed and submitted, the underwriters are taking up to ten days to review the loan and another ten days to fund it.
An agent I work with told me that she is currently assisting a client who is purchasing a home with a VA loan. The loan process has taken about two weeks longer than expected. When the VA lender talks about “days” they refer to working days. The buyer and their agent think in terms of calendar days.
Lenders are overwhelmed by their current workload. A Countrywide lender reported that her office was previously processing fifty loans and is now processing over two hundred loans! They simply don’t have the staff to keep up with the demand.
In addition to a greater demand, the tighter underwriting requirements and new loan programs are adding to the challenge and subsequently adding to the timeframes.
My recommendation to you would be to give your lender everything they need as soon as possible and be prepared for the process to take a minimum of 45 days at best. Always be ready for your lender to ask for one more piece of documentation. Be patient and responsive. It’s a matter of Good Home $$s and Sense.
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