Credit Cards Mojo » Real Estate

Why sloppy foreclosure process could ruin Florida

Staff Writer — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:45:03 +0000

There’s no polite way to put this. A growing cancer is infecting the backlogged legal process of foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homes in Florida.

It’s endangering the legal and economic stability of this state. And it’s exposing an appalling lack of leadership, first for allowing such a breakdown in the legal system and, now, for failing to own up to this mess and get it fixed.

How bad is it? Laws governing who actually owns a foreclosed home are becoming so suspect a new buzzword is emerging: blighted titles. Even the tepid rebound of Florida’s economy may face crippling delays in resolving hundreds of thousands of foreclosures in the Sunshine State.

The Truth About Short Sales and Their Impact on Your Credit

Staff Writer — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:40:29 +0000

One of the most frightening titles you can own right now is “homeowner.” That’s because millions of us have completely lost the equity in our homes, which means we are in the unenviable position of owing more than the home is actually worth. Nobody asks for their home’s value to fall, but plenty of homeowners are now in the position of trying to dispose of mortgages that are considered upside-down.

There are several ways to do this. First, you can actually find someone willing to buy your house for enough dough to cover all of the mortgages it secures. NOTE: That’s probably not going to happen so proceed to Option #2. Option #2 is to pay the difference out of your own pocket. So, if you owe $150,000 and find a buyer at $125,000 you’d have to show up at closing with a check for $25,000 to cover the difference. If that’s not an option then you can walk away from the home (foreclosure), turn the keys back over to the lender (forfeiture of deed in lieu of foreclosure), or attempt to have the loan modified and stay in the property. Finally, you can attempt to short sell the home.

A short sale is when the lender accepts less than the full loan balance and considers the loan to be paid. So, in the aforementioned example, if the lender had accepted $125,000 as a full payoff then you would have been on your way to a successful short sale. The lender would eat the $25,000 deficiency and everyone would call it a day. But it’s not that simple. There’s the impact this event will likely have on your credit.

More Bad News For Housing, As Foreclosures Gather Steam Again

Staff Writer — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:11:05 +0000

Are we seeing the next wave of the housing decline that everyone’s been waiting for?

Foreclosure activity — which would certainly be a key spur — is back on the rise, says RealtyTrac:

RealtyTrac the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for July 2010, which shows that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 325,229 properties in July, a nearly 4 percent increase from the previous month but a nearly 10 percent decrease from July 2009. One in every 397 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month. . . .

Existing Homes Sales PLUNGE To 15-Year Low

Staff Writer — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:19:16 +0000

Sales of previously occupied homes plunged last month to the lowest level in 15 years, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades and bargain prices in many areas.

July’s sales fell by more than 27 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. It was the largest monthly drop on records dating back to 1968, and sharp declines were recorded in all regions of the country.

Mortgage Fraud Is Rising, With a Twist

Staff Writer — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:14:23 +0000

Adapting to Tighter Rules After Collapse, Scammers Turn to More Complex Plots

New data suggests that mortgage fraud—which got tougher to pull off after the collapse of the U.S. real estate market—is returning in a big way.

Data prepared for The Wall Street Journal by research firm CoreLogic, examining about seven million home loans made by hundreds of lenders, show that losses from mortgage fraud—ranging from falsified credit reports to identity theft—rose 17% last year after declining 57% in the two years after its 2006 peak.

In 2009, $14 billion in loans, or about 0.7% of all mortgage loans made in the U.S., were originated with fraudulent application data.

Housing Fades as a Means to Build Wealth, Analysts Say

Staff Writer — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:08:40 +0000

Housing will eventually recover from its great swoon. But many real estate experts now believe that home ownership will never again yield rewards like those enjoyed in the second half of the 20th century, when houses not only provided shelter but also a plump nest egg.

The wealth generated by housing in those decades, particularly on the coasts, did more than assure the owners a comfortable retirement. It powered the economy, paying for the education of children and grandchildren, keeping the cruise ships and golf courses full and the restaurants humming.

More than likely, that era is gone for good.

“There is no iron law that real estate must appreciate,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for the real estate site Zillow. “All those theories advanced during the boom about why housing is special — that more people are choosing to spend more on housing, that more people are moving to the coasts, that we were running out of usable land — didn’t hold up.”

Home Price Drop of 30% Possible for 2010

Staff Writer — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:34:57 +0000

First American CoreLogic has released its latest residential real estate analysis here. Three important graphs from the report follow in this discussion.

Distressed Home Sales Increased in January

The first graph shows that distressed home sales have increased to 29% of all sales. This is high but less than a year ago.

Note the systematic increase in short sales over the past year. The volume of shorts sales is expected to be increasing further in 2010. The volume of REO sales is also likely to rise. I have estimated that REO (real estate owned) bank properties on the market in 2010 will be about 33% more in number than in 2009. If sales reflect the same increase then total sales will have to increase by 1/3 in 2010 to keep the ratio of distressed sales around 30%.

Distressed Sales Likely to Increase Share of Market in 2010

The previous discussion means the total sales in 2010 will need to rise to about 8 million, up from about 6 million in 2009.

Problem mortgages hit new high at 14 percent

Staff Writer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:06:49 +0000

Data mean foreclosures may not peak until next year

More than 14 percent of borrowers were in trouble on their mortgage during the third quarter, a new record, according to an industry survey released Thursday, which also suggests that the foreclosure rate is likely not to peak until next year as unemployment rates continue to rise.

Unemployment remains a big driver of the problem, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, which conducts the survey. Those with delinquent loans now include a growing portion of people traditionally considered creditworthy and people whose mortgages are insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

“The outlook is that delinquency rates and foreclosure rates will continue to worsen before they improve,” said Jay Brinkmann, the group’s chief economist.

About 9.6 percent of borrowers were delinquent on their mortgage during the third quarter, according to the survey, and another 4.5 percent more were somewhere in the foreclosure process. Overall, about 14 percent of mortgage loans or 7.4 million households were delinquent or in the foreclosure process during the quarter, according to the group.

13 Things Your Home Remodeler Won’t Tell You

Staff Writer — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:00:45 +0000

With business down it may be the perfect time to indulge in some home improvement projects. Read on for more secrets of home remodelers.

Business is down 16 percent. The good news for you: I’m returning calls and trimming prices.
High-end people will do smaller jobs we might have spurned a few years ago. Focus on projects that will keep your house market-ready, like upgrading a bathroom.
(Read more at: Reader’s Digest)

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{Photography by Willie Lunchmeat}

Post from: Credit Cards Mojo

13 Things Your Home Remodeler Won’t Tell You

Nationwide offers 125% mortgage

Staff Writer — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:30:16 +0000

The Nationwide Building Society has introduced a mortgage allowing borrowers to take loans worth 125% of the value of the home they are buying.

It will only be available to existing customers in negative equity who want to move house.

Negative equity means that the value of someone’s home is less than the amount they owe on their mortgage.

Nationwide said the deal was a very “niche offer” and that not everyone in negative equity would qualify.

The Financial Services Authority is considering limiting mortgage loans to 100% of a property’s value.

‘No more risk’

The Nationwide only offers new customers mortgages worth 85% of the value of the home they want to buy. (Read more at: BBC)

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{Photography by radcarper}

Post from: Credit Cards Mojo

Nationwide offers 125% mortgage