I have been in the real estate business since 2007.  I have seen a great many things as I have shown homes and had many laughable experiences as well as few that make you scratch your head. Today I had one of those experiences that make you go, hmmm...  A client of mine wanted to view a home in order to purchase it. It looked like a perfectly normal home from the outside and was in the process of foreclosure.  Nothing that would raise any alarm.  When we entered the home, all we could do was say, "I can't believe this."  The home has been trashed. When I say trashed, I mean it literally and …

As foretold earlier this year from research I had been doing, CNN recently ran a story about how big business is getting into the housing market. Investors are buying up mutual funds and stocks of builders, housing companies, etc... and Wall Street is getting into the action, with even some builders raising capitol through IPOs. Pulte, Lennar and KB Homes have hit 52 week highs recently.   Land has even become a target. While it drops the fastest in a downturn, it can increase the fastest in an upturn.   Funding groups are also buying up blocks of hundreds of homes from banks. It will not …

On February 9th, 2012, the United States Justice Department released the details of a $25 billion dollar settlement they reached with five major banks. The settlement occurred because the banks were accused of widespread use of robo-signing. The settlement was the largest government industry settlement since the $250 billion Big Tobacco settlement in 1998 and the largest settlement in consumer real  estate  history. Robo-­signing was a practice employed by banks to automate the processing and approval of foreclosure proceedings against homeowners.   In many cases, the banks were discovered to…

Last week, I broke the good news about the federal government extending this act through 2013.  All homeowners who are in trouble can now sleep at night knowing that they can avoid foreclosure. With the extension of this law, banks are now indicating that this may be their preferred method of dealing with behind homeowners in 2013.  We saw a record number of short sales in 2012 and that trend should continue in 2013.  Who to call?  It is important that you have a real estate agent who is well versed in the short sale process.  An inexperienced agent can be detrimental to your sale and may …

As part of the "fiscal cliff" vote, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act is being extended.   What this simply means is that when a struggling homeowner sells their home for $75,000 and they owe $150,000, they are not taxed on the $75,000 that the bank had to write off. This is good news for homeowners that are struggling.   Other homeowner benefits extensions include being able to deduct your private mortgage insurance for those who make less than $110,000 a year. This is retroactive back to 2012 and includes 2013.   A tax credit of up to $500 is available to homeowners who made energy …

A recent Wall Street Journal article indicated that there were five reasons home prices are rising.  1. Rise in Housing Affordability: Interest rates are ridiculously low. People are jumping in to take advantage of these ultra low rates coupled with still depressed (although rising) housing prices. 2. The Increased Number of Households:  It is expected to hit 1 million this year, which in essence is putting a strain on the available inventory. This trend will continue since building has been at historically low levels since 2008.  The average number of houses built since stats were being kept…

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has begun selling off seriously delinquent loans. In an effort to avoid the short fall and bailout that could happen next year, thousands of loans are being sold, according to a report on AOL Real Estate.  This could be a windfall for those whose loans are sold, for many could be modified to avoid foreclosure. The plans is to sell at least 30,000 loans. This represents just a sliver of the nearly 700,000 seriously delinquent loans on their books.   Officials would not specify how they would select the loans. Only seriously …

We all know that our economy has been shakey at best over the last several years. With Washington not agreeing on what to do next, what impact does that have on the real estate market in the upcoming months?  Whether you were pleased with the election results or not, we have to admit that decisions now made in Washington will dramatically affect us in the upcoming months.  The National Association of Realtors chief economist, Dr. Lawrence Yun, paints a cautious picture for us of where we are. There is a new wave of recent layoffs. These will counteract the 4.5 million jobs that were recently …

For the first time in its 78 year history, FHA may be facing the spector of a taxpayer bail out.  The agency faces a 16.3 billion dollar deficit in a report issued to Congress.  How FHA will counteract this is by increasing insurance premiums by .01 percent, increasing the average payment for a mortgage holder by around $13 a month. They will also sell 1000 delinquent loans a quarter and increase short sales.  For buyers and our recovery (existing home prices placed another annual gain in October for the eighth month in a row), losing FHA financing would be detrimental.  FHA financing allows …

This seems to be a common theme.  Prices are up again. The median price of homes, that is the price where nearly half of the homes sold for, is up 7.6% over 2011's third quarter. The average median price is up to $186,100. Many areas are seeing housing shortages, including right here in our backyard.  The shortage may lead to inflated prices, given that total home sales are up 10.3% when compared to the third quarter last year. Where does Snellville compare? Let's see:Inside the Numbers of 2012Average price for a home in Snellville: $107, 792 for 2012 (so far)Average days on the market: …

It is well known that a good many homeowners are under-water in their house. They owe more than it is worth. That is the truth of the economic situation we are in.  At the same time, there are still people that find themselves in a situation where they need to move. It could because of a family situation or even their job situation.  Many homeowners despair because they do not see any options. Buying a home was supposed to be a great investment. Now, they can't even get what they paid for it. Life is still happening and they feel stuck.The good news is that there are alternatives.  A short …

Sometimes a buyer is looking at a home and there are extra incentives offered. These could include decorating bonus, flat screen televisions, etc.  Although all of this may sound like a good idea, there are some things to think about before offering. Determine reason for offering Don't use it to mask a too high asking price Determine if it is legal to do so  Do use them to set your house apart (still make sure it is priced well) Can help to make up flaws in the house If you do use to make up for flaws, please heed this warning: You will spend less money in most cases doing the work ahead of …

I recently have had some clients that were interested in USDA properties.  Basically, these are properties that are in rural communities.  There are areas not too far from us here in Snellville that qualify, including parts of Walton and Barrow counties.   The loans available for these properties are 100% financing, with no down payment.  There are many people that may make a good living but don't have a ton of money saved up.   Buying a home right now is considerably cheaper than renting and homes in these rural communities could use the added boost of easier financing in order to continue …

Shadow Inventory dropped 10.3% in July which bring us down to 2.3 million homes. This is a six month supply. Of these, 1 million are seriously delinquent and more than a quarter of a million of these are foreclosures.  What this tells us is that there is still a fairly good supply of homes that will be coming to the market within the next 6 months.  How slow or fast they come is the mystery.  It is interesting to note that even though one of the mega banks stated that they don't have "shadow inventory," here I am providing you shadow inventory statistics.  Our market will continue to have a …

Local Area SnapshotsToday I will focus on what is happening in our area by high school district.  This will give us a big picture look of how the September numbers ended up.   BrookwoodBrookwood had 39 homes that sold with an average days on the market of 90. The average price was just north of $150,000. The high sale for September was $530,000. There are still 153 listings left from September that have an average days on the market of 123.   South GwinnettSouth Gwinnett had 59 homes that sold with an average days on the market of 81. The average price was just north of $106,000. The high …

The housing market nationally continues to recover. Released this week, year over year, there is an 8% increase in the sale of existing homes.  Even more startling is the sale of new homes, which has seen an increase of over 29%.  The average price of a home nationally increased to $187,400, a 9.5% increase when compared to 2011 levels.  Many markets, including ours, are seeing price increases due to reduced inventory and multiple offers on homes.  What does this look like in Snellville? We are looking at a similar trend, with a nearly 31% reduction in listings when compared to 2011.  What …

Many buyers use FHA loans to purchase their homes due to the low down payment (3.5%). However, not all types of residential property were available for FHA loans. Many folks, especially empty nesters, no longer want the huge house and big yards. They would prefer a condo type community. Until now, the entire building would have to be certified by FHA, meeting their standards. This was problematic for folks who wanted to buy and sell because it eliminated an entire part of the lending community. FHA will now allow consumers to get an FHA condo loan if less than 15% of the dues are less than 60…

Good News Nationally, we have continuously received good news about the housing market. Prices have been steadily going up and a third of the homes sold nationwide in July were on the market for less than a month.   We also saw the first dips in interest rates this past week after five straight weeks of increases.  This is all pointing to a healthy housing recovery. Shadow Inventory While all of this sounds awesome, there are many out there who have heard this term: "shadow inventory."  What is it? It's the inventory of foreclosed homes that the bank is holding off from putting on the market…

Last week, I covered selling alternatives.  This week, I will cover buying alternatives.   There is a misconception out there that it is too hard to buy, or that it has gotten harder to purchase a home due to the downturn in the market.  I am here to let you know that this is simply not true. Many folks are relegating themselves to rent without having checked out the facts. With rates so low right now, you owe it to yourself to at least check out your options. Some of the programs that are available to you are as follows:  560 credit: Need six months of reserves plus the down payments. For …

With the downturn in the market, many folks have been unable to sell even when they need to.  Fortunately, underwater homeowners have a few options. Here are some ideas you can use: HARP2 Refinance:  The first thing you should look into is getting your home refinanced, especially if your rate is above 4.5%.  This will get your payments down and give you some breathing room for the other options I will outline below.  Rent your home out:  I have had many folks decide to take this path.  They did a refinance to lower their payment, applied for another loan for a new primary residence, and then …