Cage’s Foreclosure Sells Quickly
While this article is specific to Nicholas Cage, it also points out what we have been saying all along. The higher end luxury market segment is fraught with foreclosures. However, the high end luxury market is also flooded with buyers looking for bargains. People are buying high end properties as long as the properties are […]
Flaws plague foreclosure relief program
Senior producer John Schoen from MSNBC, reports on the quagmire known as foreclosure relief! He reports that multiple programs that are supposed to help home owners typically don’t. No one knows how to qualify for a loan mod because the Treasury Department hasn’t released the magical formula that makes this determination. One must also understand […]
Short sales soar while foreclosure sales slacken
Buck Wargo from the Las Vegas Sun Times reports on a trend in Las Vegas. Mr. Wargo reports that the number of foreclosures and gone down while the number of short sales has increased. This is a trend that bodes well for homeowners. In most cases a short sale is in the best interest of […]
Arizona Anti-Deficiency Laws Only Cover Foreclosure, Not Short Sales
While this article comes to us from Arizona, the message needs to be heeded everywhere! Foreclosure laws are constantly changing from state to state. What that means to you is that unless you are a real estate attorney you shouldn’t be in the business of interpreting law. The article is actually more of a message. […]
Modified Loans Can Dent Credit
In the Business Section of the St Pete Times (January 10th edition), James Thorner wrote a great article that surprised me. The scope of the article involved the negative effects of loan modifications on credit score. Prior to reading this article, I was always under the assumption that a loan modification had no impact on […]
Reversal of fortune
After trend of rising prices, some housing markets see about-face After trend of rising prices, some housing markets see about-face Like many things in life, some things are too good to be true. Amy Hoak from the Wall Street Journal (MarketWatch) brings to us a very interesting article about a “double dip” in property values. […]
Empty Houses Full Of Trouble
In the January 10th edition of the St. Petersburg Times, Michael Van Sickler and Jamal Thalji report on an ever increasing problem throughout the US. When a house is in imminent foreclosure or has been foreclosed upon, in many instances it is left abandoned. Besides becoming a burden for the bank, the community and the […]
In Florida, Foreclosures are Fueling Bank Failures – 13 So Far This Year
A very interesting article was written that highlights one of the many reasons (that I have discussed) that banks don’t want to foreclose on houses. Simply put, foreclosures can ultimately shut a bank down. Something not mentioned in the article is that banks will tend to negotiate more on high end homes as compared to […]
By BOB TEDESCHI
Bob Tedeschi from the New York Times wrote a timely article on short sales. His observation is that they can take a ton of time. One factor that he cites involves 2nd and 3rd position lien holders that are holding out for more money than the the first lien holder will “allow”. I must ask […]
Banks Take Losses on Short Sales as Foreclosures Soar
John Gittelsohn and Margaret Collins from Bloomberg wrote a very detailed article that describes banks increasing propensity to approve short sales. While lenders attempt loan modifications, it has been shown that approximately 25% of approved loan mods end up back in foreclosure. So, banks have 2 choices…either foreclose and carry the house in their inventory […]
Luxury Homeowners in U.S. Use ‘Short Sales’ as Defaults Rise
Kathleen Howley and Dan Levy wrote a very interesting article regarding short sales in the Luxury arena (they define this as properties that are mortgaged over $1M). They point out that people that have mortgages in excess of $1M are defaulting at TWICE the rate of people that have other mortgages. They attribute this to […]
Mortgage officials try exits softer than foreclosures
Renae Merle from the Washington Post brings us a very interesting article that discusses what lenders are trying to do to stem the avalanche of foreclosures. She discussed some solutions that I have already commented on i.e.. Fannie and Freddie doing rent backs to the home owners after they have been foreclosed on – you […]