You Can Now Buy a Home in Belle Hall Using an FHA Loan!

As of today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limit was raised from $268,000 to $335,000!

Now buyers can buy some homes in Belle Hall using this program, which currently is the most flexible available for buyers...

7 Deadly Sellers' Sins

Adapted from " The 7 Deadly Sins Your Sellers May Be Committing" By Thomas M. Mitchell as published in National Realty News, March 6, 2008

So, what's the biggest mistake home sellers make? Thinking that potential buyers will walk into their home and just love the way they have decorated. Wrong.

Here is what the Accredited Home Staging Council refers to as the Seven Deadly Sins of Staging. Do you know any sellers guilty of any of these potential deal breakers?

1. Failure to thoroughly deep clean the home – especially the kitchen and bathrooms.
2. Failure to de-clutter the entire home.
3. Failure to de-personalize the entire home.
4. Failure to use neutral colors when painting both inside and outside.
5. Failure to spotlessly clean the windows and window coverings.
6. Failure to make the pets disappear.
7. Failure to spruce up the number one calling card – the landscaping.

What is a Market Analysis?

Setting the right price is probably the most important step in the process of selling a home, and this is especially true in an over-supplied (buyer’s) market, where price and condition sometimes are as important as location in the eyes of the buyers.

So, how do you arrive at the “right” price for your home? Is it necessary to spend $300 to $400 for a professional appraisal of your property before placing your home on the market?

Please note that a professional appraiser's opinion of a property's market value is based on the recent comparable sales (comps) of similar homes in the neighborhood, adjusted by the square footage, condition and features of the property. Different appraisers may come up with different figures. Even if all of them agreed on a value, there is no guarantee that you would receive that amount for your property.

An alternative to a professional appraisal is to ask an experienced, professional REALTOR for a written market analysis of your home. This market analysis may include:

· general market area and neighborhood trends and statistics;

· information about recent home sales in your neighborhood (the facts of what has actually happened);

· information about current “active” homes listed for sale on the MLS, similar to yours in location and size (the competition); and

· information about “withdrawn” and “expired” homes in your neighborhood (what has not sold)

A REALTOR like myself may provide this service free of charge or obligation. If you are still unsure of the value of your home, you may wish to pay for a formal appraisal.

Please keep in mind that while appraisals and market analyses give you reasonable guidelines, the actual value of your home is determined by the market, and not by what you, the appraiser or the REALTOR^Ò think the home is worth.

Strategic pricing is one of the very important services that your REALTOR should offer to be able to achieve your selling objectives.

Should you Buy Now, or Should You Wait?
I read this interesting article on MSN about when to buy now and when to wait. Here is the summary:

BUY NOW IF:

Prices in the neighborhood you are interested in are relatively stable. Either they are holding their own or increasing, or the pace of decline is slowing significantly. If you have to move and don't like apartments, the small penalty you pay for missing the bottom may not mean much.
You plan to stay in the home for more than five years. If you can stick it out that long before selling, economists say you’ll probably ride out any downturn and come out ahead on price.
Your rent rivals a mortgage payment. If you can afford to buy, it can give you one bonus that renting can't: the mortgage-interest deduction on your taxes.
You've found the right house in the right area for you. The schools are great. You love the area and know it would be hard to find another house like the one you have your eye on. In a better market, you would most likely have much more competition for that home.
You've built equity in your house and are moving to a place where homes are cheaper. In your new market, your money will go a lot further.

WAIT TO BUY IF:

You've lived in your house less than two years. Chances are you haven't had enough time to accumulate equity in your home. Indeed, you may have negative equity, if you live in many areas such as California, Florida, Arizona or Nevada.

Your job security is uncertain. If your company or business is in distress, it's probably better to stay put until the smoke clears.

You don't plan to stay in your next house at least five years. While it's not important to buy at the exact bottom of the market, it is important to stay long enough to ride it out completely.

You don't have good credit or a decent down payment. Do you have a job and income you can document? As a result of the subprime lending crisis, lenders are much more careful about whom they're giving their money to.

You have an existing home to sell in a neighborhood where prices are dropping precipitously or where the number of foreclosures is spiking. In this climate, you're probably better off waiting out the storm.

Click HERE to read the full article.

Homeowners in Distress

These days everyone is talking about foreclosures and buying distressed properties, the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage debacle.

What many people don't know:

• The process a property goes through before and after the lender takes control of it
• The issues, players, risks and opportunities involved in purchasing a property in distress

This tends to be a common path for an owner in distress:

1. The owner defaults on the loan (stops paying mortage payments)
2. The lender sends several letters warning owners they are in default and telling them they will foreclose if not brought up to date.
3. The lender places a "lis pendens" on the title of the property. This is a clear indication that the lender plans to get control of the property.
4. The lender forecloses on the property and takes control.
5. The property is auctioned to the highest bidder at the courthouse steps. If no bids match or exceed what the first mortgagee wants to net, the first mortgagee usually "buys back" the property and evicts the former owner.
6. The property becomes a "Real Estate Owned" (REO) property and is offered for sale by the lender.

House OKs Lift on Fannie, Freddie Loan Limits
The economic stimulus package hammered out between the White House and Congress on Thursday lifts the size of home loans that may be bought or insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The Fannie/Freddie cap would rise to $729,750 for one year. Currently Fannie and Freddie are capped at $417,000.

The measure also would permit the Federal Housing Administration to indefinitely insure loans up to that same level. Currently, FHA loans may not exceed $367,000.“The stimulus package announced today is a positive step toward strengthening the housing market and our economy," NAR President Dick Gaylord said in a public statement. "The increase in loan limits should provide liquidity to the mortgage market in all parts of the country allowing qualified home buyers who may have been on the sidelines to enter the market."

The measure is also expected to make jumbo loans more affordable because it will make them more attractive to investors, who since summer have shunned home loans that don’t pass through Freddie or Fannie.“In high-cost states, many home buyers with good credit could save $3,000 to $5,000 per year by not being forced into the current jumbo mortgage market," Gaylord said. "Currently, only families in lower cost areas are able to qualify for these types of affordable loans.

Such a move would stimulate home sales and help stem the rise in foreclosures, reducing the number of foreclosures by as much as 210,000."In particular, prospective home buyers in costly regions like California, Northern Virginia, and New York have faced higher mortgage rates and tougher loan terms, and those areas would get relief under the plan, says Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

"This is meaningful because the mortgage crisis and meltdown is geographically concentrated," she says. "This response will assist the stressed areas."

Source: Reuters, Patrick Rucker (01/24/08) and REALTOR Magazine Online

Real estate rates fall overnight

30-year fixed rate at 5.31%; 10-year Treasury yield at 3.44%

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 source: Inman News

Long-term mortgage interest rates dropped Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield tumbled to 3.44 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.31 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate fell to 4.82 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate dipped to 5.25 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was down to 4.2 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5.

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