Let me try to help you make sense of the Government Home Affordable Refinance program. Believe me it can be very confusing. Under the federal government’s Home Affordable Refinance program the plan is confusing and confounding. For example, under the program, lenders are supposed to refinance loans with mortgage insurance. But they are evasive about [...]
Since the days of the Wild West in doing home mortgages, more and more tightening of appraising and mortgage lending is occurring. I think the changes are for the good, since you can blame the banks, wall street and some large mortgage companies who are no longer in business for the meltdown we had in [...]
With so many foreclosures and all the negative news that you hear, it’s refreshing to hear that home inventories are decreasing. But this is making it difficult for home buyers in parts of the country where there are lots of foreclosures to buy. Investors are bidding up prices thousands above the original asking price. Federal [...]
Not too long ago I wrote an article about people trashing their homes during the foreclosure process. Somehow, they feel that its the mortgage company’s fault that the home they bought is now in foreclosure. (Note, if you cannot see the video, download Adobe Flashplayer) Although this video is a few months old, it’s still [...]
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) urge consumers, especially senior citizens, to be vigilant when seeking reverse mortgage products. Reverse mortgages, also known as Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM), have increased more than 1,300 percent between 1999 and 2008, creating significant opportunities for fraud perpetrators. [...]
Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) announced today that the company is providing information to servicers regarding changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) that permits refinancing of existing Fannie Mae loans with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios up to 125 percent. The loans will be eligible for delivery on or after September 1, 2009. “This step aims to [...]
A study of the Massachusetts housing market by researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago concludes that a home owner’s propensity to default increases the further their loan goes under water. The study found that home owners begin to walk away after declines of 15 percent or more. More than 17 percent of [...]
The bank has started foreclosure proceedings on Victoria Gotti, daughter of the infamous John Gottie, palatial estate on Long Island — the same used in the TV reality show “Growing Up Gotti” — saying she owes a whopping $650,000 in mortgage payments, according to court papers filed recently. Gotti’s lender, JP Morgan Chase, claims the [...]
Robert Dietz, tax economist, of the National Association of Home Builders gives detailed answers to questions home buyers might have about the Federal tax credit. (The $10,000 California tax credit for home buyers has been used up) Some of the questions answered are: • Who’s eligible to claim the credit? • How does it help [...]
It’s hard for me to imagine a man like Thomas Hastert a man who worked so hard to get ahead in this world becoming a felon. Hastert worked for the Nevada County Sheriff’s office, studied to become an attorney, then got his real estate broker’s license. Once he got his broker’s license he proceed to [...]
