FHA LOAN LIMITS RETURN!!!

SOURCE: National Association of Realtors

November 17, 2011 20:38 ET

Realtors® Applaud Congress for Reinstating FHA Loan Limits

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - Nov 17, 2011) - The National Association of Realtors® commends Congress for reinstating the loan limit formula and maximum cap for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans for two years.
"As the nation's leading advocate for homeownership, we applaud members of Congress for restoring FHA's previous loan limits, which will help reduce consumer cost burdens, stabilize local housing markets and allow qualified, creditworthy borrowers to access affordable mortgage financing," said NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami. "The reinstated loan limits will help provide much needed liquidity and stability to communities nationwide as tight credit restrictions continue to prevent some qualified buyers from becoming home owners and the housing market recovery remains fragile."
The provision reinstates the FHA loan limits through 2013 at 125 percent of local area median home prices, up to a maximum of $729,750 in the highest cost markets. The floor will remain at $271,050. The loan limits for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed mortgages will remain at 115 percent of local area median home prices, up to $625,500.
NAR believes the reinstated loan limit formula and cap change will help make mortgages more affordable and accessible for hard-working, middle-class families throughout the country, not just wealthy individuals or those in costly markets. Nearly two-thirds of buyers who will be helped by the loan limits provision have incomes below $100,000.
"It's a misconception that only wealthy borrowers benefit from the maximum cost loan limits; middle-class home buyers living in all areas of the country deserve the same access to affordable mortgage financing and the same opportunity to achieve homeownership that home buyers enjoy in the most affordable regions of the country," said Veissi. The legislative action will have an impact even in communities with loan limits well below the maximum cap; the reset last month impacted 669 counties in 42 states and territories, with an average loan limit reduction of more than $68,000.
The bill also provides for a short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program through December 16, 2011. NAR strongly urges Congress to use the additional time to complete work on a five-year reauthorization of the program, which ensures access to affordable flood insurance for millions of home and business owners across the country.
The National Association of Realtors^®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

GETTING CLOSER!

Why We Need the Housing Market to Hit Bottom

Written by: Brian O'Connell 11/11/11 - 12:01 PM EST

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- With home values in decline, down about 29% since 2006 according to Zillow.com, you might think that affordability alone would make the housing market a good bet. But it isn't. And that is weird.

When the price of most commodities goes down, such as gasoline or oranges, the tendency is that consumers buy up more of those commodities. But that hasn't happened in the U.S. housing sector.

A bottom in the housing market has been a long time coming, and new numbers may make the picture clearer.

Even though housing prices, on average, have fallen almost by one-third in the past five years, housing purchases just haven't budged.

Pending home sales were down by 4.6% in September, according to Realtor.org, while existing homes sales fell by 3% (although sales for the year in both categories are up moderately). That's been the case for most years during the Great Recession, as sellers outnumber buyers.

But as any homebuyer could tell you, it's not easy getting credit for a $500,000 home -- or even a $300,000 home. In addition, high unemployment has made buyers nervous. Few consumers want to take on a massive source of debt when they're uncertain about their job prospects. In addition, consumers don't want to buy a home that may not appreciate in value all that much during the next 10 years.

But affordability may finally help get some homes off the market, albeit at a slower pace than homeowners and real estate professionals might like. Numbers from Fiserv Case-Shiller show that lower home prices may finally be triggering "price stability" in the U.S. housing market.

The Fiserv home price insights index shows three fairly major developments in the housing sector, one for the long haul and two happening right now:

Home prices in the U.S. are expected to decline 3.6% into mid-2012, and then rebound 2.4% in the second half of 2012 through the first half of 2013.

Price declines and low mortgage rates have resulted in dramatic improvements in housing affordability.

Fiserv estimates that the ratio between mortgage payments and housing income has fallen 40% from its peak in 2006.

"Housing affordability has improved dramatically because of declines in both prices and mortgage interest rates," explained David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv, in a statement. "The monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced single-family home is now $700, compared to $1,140 in 2006 -- a decline of nearly 40%. Nationally, purchase mortgage payments now account for only 13% of monthly median family income, the lowest percentage on record (since 1971), and compared to 23% in the first quarter of 2006."

Both pricing declines and low mortgage rates may finally be gelling enough to where people should start to feel more comfortable buying a home, although the data show that lower-priced homes are more attractive than median-priced ones these days.

Of course, any pickup in "affordable" home purchases depends on the health of the U.S. economy -- an uncertain proposition as the U.S. and global economies struggle to emerge from recession. Stiff, for one, thinks the odds of that happening are pretty good.

"If economic growth picks up in the second half of 2011, then home prices should stabilize early next year," he says. "New housing construction is at an all-time low and inventories of foreclosed properties are starting to shrink. Lower levels of housing supply and more steady demand next year will reduce downward pressure on prices. As homebuyers become more confident, many who are sitting on the sidelines will begin to enter the market and prices will start to increase."

That would be a welcome prospect indeed for homeowners, and for buyers itching to get into a home of their own. We'll know a lot more by next spring, but for now, the outlook for housing is as good as it's been in a long while.

PRE-LISTING INSPECTION...NOT A BAD IDEA

3 must-knows about prelisting inspections

REThink Real Estate
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News™

Q: Recently, I read an article of yours in which you told a seller to have her home inspected before putting it on the market. I will be putting my mom's house on the market, and in watching many of the real estate TV shows, I had never heard or seen this idea before.
Can I really obtain the home inspection in advance? The process always seems to have problems after the prospective buyer gets the mortgage and then pays for his or her own inspection. It would seem like a good selling point if the property already had a clean inspection or the indicated repair were already taken care of. --Albert W.
A: You absolutely can -- and possibly should -- obtain an inspection on your mother's home before you put it on the market. Given the way mortgage lending guidelines have tightened up and the fact that appraisal and condition issues are killing a larger number of transactions than at any time in memory, obtaining prelisting inspections differentiate your home from the overwhelming competition and boost your home's chances of selling by helping satisfy prospective buyers that the property will:

• pass the lender's and appraiser's condition guidelines;
• not have surprise condition issues arise midtransaction; and
• be in a condition that maps to the price they've agreed to pay for it.

Here are some things you should think about as you decide whether to move forward with obtaining prelisting inspections and figure out a plan around how to leverage the reports.
1. Prelisting inspections won't make the deal, but they can help optimize your chances of closing the deal. Buyers are not going to buy a house they wouldn't consider otherwise because it has reports, but if they are debating between your mother's home and another property, a clean bill of house health, documentation that needed repairs have been completed, or even reports showing what needs doing and a corresponding discount can help push buyers off the fence.
As you noted, many homes fall out of escrow because of condition issues not discovered until the transaction is partially underway. Sometimes, advance inspection reports can surface issues, allow you to get repairs completed and thus avoid that issue.
However, at other times, prelisting inspections show issues too big for you to have repaired that will be deal-killers for almost any mortgage lender. In this case, you do yourself the favor of forgoing even bothering trying to get it past a mortgage lender and empower yourself to list it as a cash-only sale for a fixer-upper price.
2. Having prelisting inspections may change your disclosure requirements. You don't mention whether your mother has passed away, but if so, and you are selling her home on behalf of her estate, you could very well be exempt from many disclosure requirements, depending on your state's law. (Consult with a local real estate agent to find out.)
However, once you obtain prelisting inspections, you will have a legal duty to provide information about any defects turned up to prospective buyers. That still might make sense, especially if the home is in great shape or you do elect to invest in necessary repairs. Just be aware that by obtaining the inspections you might heighten your own legal duties vis-à-vis making disclosures about the condition of the home.
3. Your prelisting inspection won't replace the buyer's inspections. To be clear, whatever inspection(s) you obtain won't be the inspection -- it will just be an inspection. You'll want to expressly advise the buyer that the prelisting inspections -- and I would encourage you to consider a pest inspection, property inspection and a roof inspection -- are for his information only.
You don't want the buyer to rely totally on it and forgo his own due diligence for liability reasons; your aim is to either verify the place is in good shape, clear the place of major repairs or brief them on why the property is being priced in that way and what they'll need to do (or won't need to do) later, assuming you can negotiate an as-is offer.
But you also want the buyer to still obtain his own inspections, so he can attend, ask questions, select the inspector and not fault you for anything that is missed. And you should work with your listing agent to require that the buyer sign your written advice to get his own inspections, as well as to make the property available to the buyer for just that purpose.

NEW FHA LOAN LIMITS

 As the housing market and the overall U.S. economy continue to falter, a group of real estate industry executives recently took the time to draft a letter to John Boehner, Speaker of the House; Nancy Pelosi, Office of the Democratic Leader; Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

RATES KEEP GETTING LOWER!

- RISMedia - http://rismedia.com -

RISMEDIA, August 11, 2011—The average rate for a 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.54 percent last week from 3.66 percent the week before, according to Freddie Mac—the lowest result since 1991.

RENTAL SCAMS....BE AWARE!

Beware of renting an apartment that's not for rent

Published 11:10 p.m., Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Page 1 of 1

Here's a scam that local police tell us is all too common, and it's been a good deal more common since websites like Craigslist appeared on the scene.

It's the apartment rental scam, and it goes like this: You're looking for an apartment in, say Fairfield, so you log onto New York Craigslist>Fairfield>Housing>apts by owner. You see just the perfect place, complete with pictures and dozens of amenities -- pool, spa, Jacuzzi, mood fountain, the works.

So you email the landlord. When the "landlord" replies, he tells you that he's out of the country "on business" and there are five other people "just dying" to get the place, but you can nail it down by wiring him $2,500.

So, you give him a call, naturally, and he still sounds pretty convincing. You drive by the place to check it out, and it seems on the up and up.

So, you wire the "landlord" the $2,500 and you call him for a meeting so you can get the key.

When the day and time arrives to meet him, he's nowhere to be found. You call him on his cellphone. Disconnected.

You knock on the door and, to your surprise, someone is living there with no intention of moving out anytime soon. And, the occupant tells you the name of the real landlord, which is different than the guy you're dealing with.

You're out $2,500, and there's nothing anyone can do to get your money back.

"We get these complaints all the time," said Sgt. Sue Lussier of the Fairfield Police Department. "First of all, never complete a transaction like that without meeting the landlord in person."

She said it's also a good idea to check websites like www.visionappraisal.com to see if your "landlord" really does, in fact, own the place. It's also an excellent idea to rent through a real estate broker.

As for the five other people "just dying" to rent the place, she warns: "Actually, if you check, there are dozens and dozens of apartments for rent in Fairfield alone, so don't feel under pressure to wire anyone money," she said.

"Also, in the first place, you should never be wiring anyone any money," Lussier said. "Once you do that, the money is theirs, and there's nothing we can do about it. A lot of times they'll tell you that they're in Africa doing missionary work."

To make matters worse, the scammer will tell you, "Look, I just want to make sure you have $2,500 so I know you're not wasting my time. So wire any of your friends the money using MailGram, and email me a scan of the receipt."

But the way MoneyGram works, once he has a copy of the receipt, he can intercept the cash at any MoneyGram outlet in the world, and you're out the $2,500.

In many instances, scammers will simply pirate information off a legitimate Craigslist ad, as well as the pictures, and just substitute their own contact information. Also, beware of spelling and grammatical mistakes, which could be a tip off that you're dealing with an overseas operation.

Unfortunately, people looking for an apartment are often from out-of-town, so they're more vulnerable to the apartment scam.

We'd like to add that renting from a classified ad in the newspaper is always a much safer bet, because the person placing the ad with us (or another paper) is leaving a paper trail (a canceled check or credit card record) that makes it easier for law enforcement to track down the suspect.

We learned about this after getting in touch with a scam victim who found out she was had after wiring money to secure an apartment in Fairfield. When she went to collect the key, the guy she wired the money to was nowhere to be found, and there was someone living in what was supposed to be her new pad.

"If they say they're out of the country, it's always a scam," Lussier said. "We get these complaints all the time. And there's not much we can do for the victims."

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Beware-of-renting-an-apartment-that-s-not-for-rent-1619104.php#ixzz1TSCX1UxM

Who To List With??

7 qualities of a top listing agent

REThink Real Estate
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News™

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Q: I'm preparing to list my home, and am starting to research listing agents to represent me. Besides being comfortable with my broker, what is the most important quality I need from them: negotiating skills or marketing skills? Both are very important to me. Frankly, I'm afraid of being "roughed up" by aggressive buyers in this market. --Michelle
A: You're spot on, Michelle. Both marketing and negotiating will be uber-important to have in the broker or agent you choose to list your home and get it sold.
Some might see marketing as the most important because, to put it plainly, if your home is not exposed widely and aggressively to prospective buyers, you'll never have the buyer viewings and offer(s) that must come in for you to even be faced with the high-class problem of negotiating the price and terms of a sale.
However, I don't see marketing skills as the requirement so much as your listing agent having a clear, comprehensive marketing plan that she is able to present to you with case studies or specimens of marketing she's done for recent properties somewhat similar to yours. It's critical that an agent's marketing plan for your home include details such as:

• how she would help you prepare or stage your property for sale;
• what her plans are for listing the property on the local multiple listing service(s) and publicizing it to other brokers;
• what onsite marketing she would recommend (i.e., yard signage and/or open houses); and
• how and where she would place your home's listing online, down to which sites she'd list it on and how many pictures she would include.

All essential.
But negotiating is essential too -- especially if you're very concerned about being bullied or taken advantage of.
Ultimately, though, when it comes to negotiations, you're going to be faced with making the ultimate decisions about what your bottom-line price and other terms are, including whether you're able to offer incentives like closing-cost credits or whether you can afford to contribute to any repairs the buyer's inspectors require.
What I suspect you want is to feel like you're protected, which will come from having an agent you trust who's "got your back," but also has the experience and knowledge of local standard negotiating practices and buyer psychology that comes only with experience -- and I mean recent experience getting homes sold in today's market climate.
I cannot emphasize enough that one efficient method of finding such a listing agent is to get referrals! Look to any family members, friends, work colleagues and neighbors whose homes are on the market now and ask them if they would strongly recommend their agent, and why.
If it's tough to get referrals, go into the various online real estate websites and their local discussion boards, and see which local agents are giving sensible, knowledgeable answers to consumers' questions in those forums. During your interview process, ask for references -- and call them! Speak to their recent past seller clients, to see how happy they were with the agents' service.
And I'd suggest you look for several other items beyond marketing and negotiating skills, or even trustworthiness and experience.
If I were listing my home one of my top priorities would be to find an agent who seems to have nailed the art and science of pricing their listings -- I'd want to find an agent whose listings regularly sold quickly, relative to other homes in the area, and for sales prices that were at, near or even above the asking prices.
That's an agent whose pricing recommendations you can trust, and an agent who likely has another strong skill you need: the skill of being able to have frank, tough conversations with their clients about what their homes are worth, and can support those list-price recommendations with facts and sound reasoning.
I'd also prioritize an agent with strong relationships: with their past clients; with mortgage professionals; with other agents in the area; with property preparation vendors (like stagers, painters, handymen/women, landscapers and such); with inspectors, engineers and contractors; and with local escrow companies.
And, if I were listing my home as a short sale, I would absolutely limit my listing agent search to agents who have a strong, proven track record of getting short sales closed -- ideally short sales that involved the same bank or banks as my mortgage lender.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of questions to ask and traits to seek in your listing agent candidates, but these are certainly where my top priorities would lie.