There has been much talk about the government selling bulk foreclosures which will be converted into rentals. What will this actually mean to the housing market? For the answer to that question, we go directly to the 2/28/2012 Senate testimony of the person making the decisions on this subject: Edward J. DeMarco, Acting Director of […]
Everyone wants to know if the housing market is truly showing signs of a recovery. There are conflicting headlines every day. One day, we hear sales are up. The next day it is reported that prices are down. Is the real estate market coming back? The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’. There are two aspects […]
There have been a few developing (and some already existing) programs that are worth mentioning, as the newspaper headlines applaud the opportunity. With interest rates remaining at near historic lows for quite some time, many people have been unable to take advantage of these rates because of problems in securing a high enough appraised value. […]
Does it make sense to pay a full commission to your real estate agent in today’s market? Sellers, buyers and even agents are debating what should be charged to assist a consumer in completing a real estate transaction. Forget what the actual amount of the commission is. The bigger question is whether you should pay […]
Last Week, CoreLogic released their Negative Equity Report for the fourth quarter of 2011. The report delivered some important news. Let’s go over the key findings in the report. What Is Negative Equity? When a home’s current value is less than the existing mortgage on that home, the house is said to be in a […]
Attention Readers: At the end of last year, we posted a graphic showing Shadow Inventory levels for each state. This graphic is a much more accurate measure.
In a move to increase their financial standing (and to get the FHA back into required capital requirements), on Monday, HUD announced their anticipated increases in the premiums they charge borrowers. Simply stated, the cost of borrowing is going up. FHA loans, by design, are more liberal in their underwriting guidelines than most conventional loan […]
Warren Buffett appeared live on CNBC’s Squawk Box this week. During the interview, he was asked about the current real estate market and whether he felt now was the time to buy. His response was rather emphatic and has been used as a headline in hundreds of articles since the interview: “If I had a […]
Our founder, Steve Harney, occasionally asks to do a personal post on what he sees as important to our industry. Today is one of those days. – The KCM Crew I recently gave a presentation about the current real estate market to a group of home sellers in a city in the Northeast. That night, […]
There have been conflicting opinions as to where housing prices are headed. We want to give our opinion on this subject for the short term. We believe sellers have a window of opportunity for the next 90-120 days in most parts of the country in which to sell their homes for maximum price. We believe […]
Methodology as per CoreLogic: The foreclosure inventory represents the number and ratio of homes that have been placed into the process of foreclosure by the mortgage servicer. Mortgage servicers start the foreclosure process when the mortgage reaches a specific level of serious delinquency as dictated by the investor for the mortgage loan … The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes that have an outstanding mortgage. Homes with no mortgage liens can never be in foreclosure and are therefore excluded from the analysis.
For further information, go to www.corelogic.com
The presidential election has renewed the debate about the Administration’s Health Care Bill. We are again getting many questions about a possible 3.8% tax on home sales that some claim is in the bill. To answer these questions, we have decided to re-run a blog post we did last year. – The KCM Crew We […]
You may believe that selling your home is impossible in today’s market. You may feel powerless to the process. What could YOU possibly do to turn this housing market around? There is no doubt that today’s real estate market is extremely difficult to navigate. However, we want you to know that thousands of homes sold […]
Many of our readers have asked whether or not we believe the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 will be extended past its current expiration scheduled for the end of the year. As a reminder, the legislation ensures that homeowners who received principal reductions or other forms of debt forgiveness on their primary residences […]
Last week, we explained that the National Mortgage Settlement gave banks a roadmap showing them how to proceed with the backlog of foreclosures (known as shadow inventory) that has been hanging over the housing market for more than a year. We believe that understanding this dynamic is crucial in determining home prices as we go […]
Before the end of the year, Congress and the President agreed to extend the payroll tax cut. In that bill, there were two items of interest for those involved in real estate. 1.) The hike in the Guarantee Fees charged by the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 10 basis point increase in the […]
When the current foreclosure crisis first began, many tried to explain it away by pointing out that the majority of distressed properties were limited to what was then termed the four ‘sand states’ (Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida). When the challenge was confined to just subprime mortgages, this theory held water. Since then, the failing […]
There has been much written on the recently negotiated National Mortgage Settlement. Most of the reporting has revolved around the $25 billion that will be issued to consumers and states that have been impacted by the robo-signing scandal of 2010. We want to talk about a different issue addressed by the settlement. Foreclosures have been […]
Last week, the Federal government and 49 state governments (Oklahoma being the exception) agreed to a $25 billion settlement regarding robo-signing and the challenges it created in the foreclosure process. We want to give a synopsis of the settlement and some perspective on what effect it will have on the housing market in 2012. The […]
I have long been a proponent of referrals when choosing whom to do business with. But even with a referral, you owe it to yourself to do some homework. In terms of a mortgage, you have always had the Better Business Bureau and local regulators (like state banking departments) that you could contact. Over the past few […]
People are delaying the decision to buy a home because they are not sure where prices are headed. If they buy and prices continue to soften, they feel that they will not have purchased at the optimal moment. They reason that, if they sit and wait, they can’t be hurt. This thinking assumes that a […]
