Relief proposed for mortgage crisis

WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of thousands of strapped homeowners could get some relief from a plan negotiated by the Bush administration to freeze interest rates on "subprime" mortgages that are scheduled to rise in the coming months.
"The homeowners deserve our help," President Bush said yesterday as he announced an agreement hammered out with the mortgage industry. "The steps I've outlined today are a sensible response to a serious challenge."
Bush has been accused of moving too slowly to address a crisis that has spread to the broader financial market. But he also was careful not to sound as if he were imposing a government solution and violating his free-market principles. He billed his plan as a voluntary, private-sector arrangement that involves no government money.
"We should not bail out lenders, real estate speculators or those made the reckless decision to buy a home they knew they could never afford," Bush said after meeting with industry leaders at the White House. "But there are some responsible homeowners who could avoid foreclosure with some assistance."
Bush said 1.2 million people could be eligible for help. But only a fraction will be subject to the rate freeze. Others would get assistance in refinancing with their lenders and moving into loans secured by the Federal Housing Administration, Bush said.
Also, the aid will only come to those who ask for it, he said. Thousands of borrowers who are falling behind on their payments have been sent letters about the options, and Bush also urged people to call a new hot line: (888) 995-HOPE.
The administration's effort is aimed at stemming a further tidal wave of foreclosures in coming years as 2 million subprime mortgages -- loans provided to borrowers with spotty credit histories -- reset from their introductory rates of around 7 percent to 8 percent to levels as high as 11 percent, adding hundreds of dollars to the typical monthly payment.
A recent surge in mortgage defaults, part of the worst housing slump in more than two decades, has piled up billions of dollars in losses for big banks, hedge funds and other investors while roiling financial markets worldwide. Some economists think the housing bust may become severe enough to push the country into recession.
The president mentioned other steps to prevent foreclosures. The FHA has greater flexibility to offer refinancing to homeowners with good credit histories. It is expected this eventually will help 300,000 families, officials said.
The Federal Reserve is announcing stronger lending standards this month, while the Housing and Urban Development Department and federal banking regulators are acting to improve disclosure requirements, he said.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the streamlined procedures for supporting efforts to refinance mortgages and freeze rates were a "welcome step in helping Americans protect their homes and communities from the consequences of unnecessary foreclosures."
The highest-profile part of the plan would freeze introductory "teaser" rates on certain subprime mortgages, preventing rates from rising for five years.
This offer would apply only to people living in their homes and who have not missed any payments at the lower rate. It also only would apply to loans taken out between 2005 and this past July 30 and scheduled to rise to higher rates in 2008 and 2009.
The hope is the five-year freeze will buy time for the housing sales and prices to start rising again. Such a rebound would enable homeowners to refinance their current adjustable rate mortgages into fixed-rate loans with more affordable monthly payments.
But even Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who led the negotiations with the mortgage industry, acknowledged the effort is "not a silver bullet."
"We face a difficult problem," he said.(The Star-Ledger)


Jose R. Cordova
Broker/Owner
CENTURY21 Casa Real Latino
973-546-8888
Happy Holidays and Prosperous New Year..!Take a few minutes to evaluate your Real Estate Potential. http://c21crl.agenttype.com/

"Why The Holiday Season May Be a Great Time to Buy a Home

Why The Holiday Season May Be a Great Time to Buy a Home

December 2nd, 2007 — 2008 Real Estate Predictions, Real Estate Sales
If you believe conventional wisdom buying or selling a home in the holiday season makes no sense. The buyers are looking at real estate agents looking for a break and sellers who do not want to open their homes during the holidays if they haven’t already pulled their listing already.
My opinion, if you believe in conventional wisdom in this real estate market you are the greater fool.
Sellers who are listing in the holiday period are motivated. Odds are they have a job change, a life change, or a mortgage they have to get out of. They need to sell their home and want to do so as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, the buyers in the market are motivated. Who wants to slog around looking at homes in the holiday season when it is cold and bleak and all their friends are drinking the egg nog and having parties? Not these buyers, they too are motivated to make a deal.
So when trying to decide whether to list your home right now expect fewer potential buyers. But be assured that these folks are actual buyers, not tire kickers.
In addition to the typical holiday sellers - those going through major life change or relocating for a new job - there’s another crop of homeowners who are deciding now is the time to sell, according to Coldwell Banker’s Droubi.“We’re seeing some people with adjustable rate loans whose payments have come up and who are very overextended enter the market,” she said. “At this time of year you’re dealing with people for whom time is not on their side. They need to sell and they need to sell quickly.” via the SFGate



Jose R. Cordova

Broker/Owner
CENTURY21 Casa Real Latino
973-546-8888 Happy Holidays and Prosperous New Year..!
Take a few minutes to evaluate your Real Estate Potential. http://c21crl.agenttype.com/

"Roulette Economy of 2007 is Almost Over"

'Roulette Economy' of 2007 Is Almost Over“

2007 has been a year of challenge; 2008 will be a year of opportunity for serious buyers and for REALTORS®,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told a packed house at the NAR Conference Tuesday. What Yun characterized as “the roulette economy” of 2007, fueled by subprime greed and then buyers’ fear, is almost over. With a favorable economy, pent-up home demand, and Wall Street “fessing up to its losses and cleaning up its underwriting,” 2008 will be a healthy market for serious buyers, he said.Home prices nationally have declined by some 1.5 percent in 2007, which is "no big deal" after years of rapid appreciation, said Yun. In addition, he noted, there are still many markets such as Utah, North Carolina, and Tennessee that are appreciating and may even be undervalued.

Remind Clients That Markets Are Local“

REALTORS® have to educate their clients that all markets are local and that problems in a few areas aren’t meaningful," he said. "A national picture of the real estate market is just about as valuable as giving a national high temperature for the day." Yun also noted that while the credit crunch slowed deals in 2007, much of the pain is being felt in the subprime area, while other mortgage sectors are stabilizing. Subprime constitutes only about 10 percent of mortgage loans, but accounts for some 40 percent of current foreclosures. Going forward, proposed federal legislation that would increase FHA loan limits should help moderate-income buyers, said Yun. Yun expects GDP growth of 2.8 percent and job growth of 1.1 percent in 2008. Inflation should also remain under 3 percent, and interest rates should rise only slightly, he predicts. “For buyers who are into home ownership for the long term, housing still remains the best investment,” he concluded.

Strong Fundamentals Bode Well for HousingOther national sales downturns in the last 30 years were spurred by broad economic problems, Yun said. This year, by contrast, economic fundamentals remain solid, with the U.S. gross domestic product expected to grow by a respectable 2 percent, supported by 2 million job gains in the last two years and continuing low interest rates. Yun said 2007 existing-home sales will exceed 5.5 million, close to the level in 2002, a record-setting year. At the same time, home prices remain near record highs despite drops in a few markets.

Get Ready for the New Generation

Following Yun’s presentation, former NAR economist John Tuccillo gave attendees a preview of what the next real estate market would look like. When recovery comes, said Tuccillo, most clients will be Gen X and Gen Y. These younger buyers don’t want relationship selling; instead they want the best bottom line deal you can find and the one-stop shopping to make the deal faster so they can get on with their lives. Other big buyers in the next decade will be retiring boomers, who will want homes in 24-hour cities and college towns. “Real estate practitioners have traditionally worked with first-time buyers. Think of these people as last-time buyers,” he quipped. It’s hard to predict when any local market will begin to improve, but there are three indicators, said Tuccillo. First would be a drop in new listings, indicating sellers are withdrawing from the market. Second, days on market will fall. And third, the gap between listing price and sales price will narrow.

— REALTOR® Magazine Online

Jose R. Cordova

Broker/Owner

CENTURY21

Casa Real Latino 973-546-8888

Take a few minutes to evaluate your real estate potential

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Raising Commission Paid To Buyers Agent May Sell Your Home

October 28th, 2007 Real Estate Sales

If I were to sell my home tomorrow I think I know how to do so. Instead of going on the cheap on the commission with a discount broker trying to save some of the difference in housing prices from the peak, I would go the other direction and prey on human nature. I would offer a higher commission to the buyers agent.
Now there are some nay sayers that will say, “Tom, you are such a homer for the real estate agents, of course you will say raise the commissions.” And you would be completely off base.
When the real estate market was rocking I was calling for lower commissions. Selling a home was like shooting fish in a barrel and thus commissions should be lower. But the real estate world is not rocking, it is hurting. Hurting bad as they say in the south. There are real estate agents waiting tables like actors it is hurting so bad.
So sellers should prey on human nature. If a real estate agent is having a bad year but has a buyer, don’t you think their is the slightest chance they may look in the MLS and sort homes for sale by buyers commission? And if your home has an extra incentive in it for them that they may just happen to show your house even if it is not the perfect fit in a down market? I have never seen a home sell without a buyer, have you?
I am not glorifying the real estate agents with this post, but I am recognizing they are human. And if it takes a little motivation to get your home shown in a down market, then good for you. Here is an example of this from an article in the St. Petersburg Times.
With home sales less than half of what they were during the 2005 peak, you would think commissions would shrink. Underemployed agents are chasing a dwindling number of sales. But just because you can bargain hard on commissions doesn’t mean you always should. Think of it this way: A commission is prize money. All things being equal, a buyer’s agent will show a home paying a 6.5 percent commission to one paying 4 percent.That’s why I sweetened the pot by offering an extra 0.5 percent for the buyer’s agent. Compared with other homes for sale in my neighborhood, my commission was the highest. Less than two weeks after my agent and I signed the contract for 6.5 percent, we had a deal on my house. An acquaintance living nearby who offered 4 percent hasn’t sold his house in a year.via SF Gate
Now for a little math to help you decide this may be the right way to go. Let’s say you are selling a $250,000 dollar home. The commission at 6 percent is $15,000. If you added a 1% bonus to the buyers agent the commission would be $17,500, a difference of $2,500. But it would also put you at the top of the chart on buyers commission paid in your community and odds are you house would be shown a great deal more than others in your price range.
If you sold the home a month quicker you would be very close to breaking even at a 6.35 percent mortgage and typical utility and tax costs added in. And you would have a home sold in a down market which in itself is no mean feat.
So my advice to motivated sellers. Sweeten the buyers agent commission. Prey on the greed of the real estate agents. You are not being taken by the real estate cartel by offering a better commission. Instead you will be putting yourself ahead of the other homesellers and may have a better chance in selling your home in a down market.(from: http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/)

Jose R. Cordova
Broker/Owner
CENTURY21 Casa Real Latino
973-546-8888
Take a few minutes to evaluate your real estate potential http://c21crl.agenttype.com/