Move My Realty - Real Estate News

Receivers Take on Foreclosure Hassles

Some banks tired of the headaches involved with foreclosures are turning properties over to receivers, which for steep fees keep the banks’ names off the properties, pay all the costs and taxes, and handle the maintenance.

It’s hard to track down exactly how frequently this is happening, but membership in the California Receivers Forum, a trade group, has gone from 300 in 2007 to 550 today.

Beyond not having to deal with the minutia of property management, the advantage for the banks is avoiding local and state governments that increasingly are fining owners and managers of properties for code violations. In some areas, the fees are a punishing $1,000 per day.

Also, in the case of a newly developed property, avoiding taking title on a property allows banks to avoid liability for construction defects and injuries on unsecured construction sites.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, David A. Graham (07/29/2009)

Article from realtor.org

America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes

Spending the rest of the summer in the infinity pool on your multimillion-dollar property? Don't get too comfortable. This year, in some of the country's most exclusive enclaves, it was home prices that took a dip.

Though Alpine, N.J., (07620) tops our list with a median asking price of $4.14 million, prices there fell 23% over the past year. Atherton, Calif., (94027) is the nation's second most expensive ZIP code with a median asking price of $3.85 million, but prices there also declined by 23%. And New York's once-bohemian West Village neighborhood (10014) is now fully gentrified, as demonstrated by its
third-place finish and $3.5 million median asking price. Still, over the past 12
months, prices in the West Village have fallen by 24%.

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Practitioners' Lucky Numbers 
Some practitioners are convinced that selling real estate is a numbers game – a lucky numbers game.

Washington D.C.-area Long & Foster associate Juliet Zucker made multiple offers on a condominium on behalf of a client, but none of them were successful. Finally, she wrote an offer that ended in the number “18,” which in Hebrew symbolizes “chai,” which means life. The ploy was successful. Her client signed a contract for $384,118.

When Margaret Rome, a Baltimore-are practitioner, began selling homes 20 years ago, she drove a Porsche 944. In its honor, she ended the price on her first listing with 944. It sold within a week. Since then she has used the number for every property.

Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, says there is truth in picking the right number. Redfin research shows that homes with a list price ending in “500” sell for more than properties whose price ends in three zeroes. They also spend slightly less time on the market. 

Why is this? Nobody knows for sure. "You shouldn't sweat the weird stuff, because it will just drive you nuts,” Kelman says.

Source: Washington Post, Ylan Q. Mui (08/08/2009)

No Bones About It: This Is a Dog House
Paris Hilton’s Chihuahuas – Tinkerbell, Marilyn Monroe, Prince Baby Bear, Harajuki, Dolce, and Prada – have closed on new digs, reports Life & Style magazine.

The property in Hollywood is a $325,000, 300-square-foot canine palace complete with a balcony, a backyard, living room furniture, and a chandelier – plus central air.

“It’s a miniature version of my house,” says Hilton. “I designed it with the help of my interior decorator, Faye Resnick. I wanted it to be fun, cute, comfortable and beautiful. My friends just love it and think it’s so adorable and cool.”

Source: Life & Style (08/05/2009)

Ron Mastrodonato / movemyrealty.com does not claim credit for writing this article

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Underwater Mortgages to Skyrocket by 2011
A new report by Deutsche Bank estimates that by 2011 nearly 50 percent of U.S. home owners with mortgages will owe more than their homes are worth.

This estimate of 25 million borrowers is significantly higher than similar calculations by other economic and real estate analysts. For instance, Moody’s Economy.com projected that 17.5 million will be underwater by early 2010.

Currently, about 26 percent of home owners choose to walk away from their mortgages because their equity falls short of what they owe, according to a report by Paola Sapienza, a finance professor with Northwestern University, and Luigi Zingales, a finance professor at the University of Chicago. Their report suggests that situation could worsen if the percentage of underwater mortgage holders increases.

Not everybody agrees with Deutsche Bank’s analysis.

Tom Lawler, a well-respected independent housing economist, wrote that given the recent increase in home sales in many areas, “there is absolute[ly] no doubt that the DB ‘model’ forecast will show a huge miss to the down side on home prices.”

Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (08/06/2009) and The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (08/07/2009)

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Ron Mastrodonato / movemyrealty.com does not claim credit for writing this article

Think Tanks Predict More Renters
While most people think the worst of the housing crisis is over, there are some skeptics who predict that the industry will face further serious challenges.

A new analysis compares the cost of renting to the cost of buying and concludes that they are now close to equal. It also predicts that because of persistent joblessness there will be fewer buyers and more renters in the future.

The study, released Thursday by two think tanks -- the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) -- also says current home owners with mortgages will remain underwater for “some time,” increasing the likelihood that foreclosures will continue.

"In communities where foreclosure remains a problem, home owners should be given the opportunity to remain in their homes as renters paying the fair-market rent," says Dean Baker, Co-Director of CEPR and an author of the study.

Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research and National Low Income Housing Coalition (8/06/2009)

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Ron Mastrodonato / movemyrealty.com does not claim credit for writing this article

Foreclosure Bargains Are Disappearing
Buyers of foreclosure have to be quick these days. Some houses go under contract fewer than 90 minutes after they are put on the market, says Brad Geisen, founder of Foreclosure.com.

"For every listing that comes out, we have 10 buyers," says Cesar Dias, an associate with Approved Real Estate Group in Stockton, Calif.

Dias had 15 minutes of fame after introducing foreclosure sales tours last year. Now the tours are defunct because there are not enough homes to show.

"We had a lot of inventory last summer. Now we're down to 1,500 listings — from more than 5,000," Dias says.

In Florida, real-estate investment companies, buying in bulk and paying cash, face competition.

Car loan in bankruptcy a new deal breaker

Dear Bankruptcy Adviser,
I filed bankruptcy last year. In the process, I had a car loan reaffirmed. The car is no longer on my credit report. Why? I even went to a dealership for a new car loan, was approved and no mention was made of my other car loan. What happened to the car loan after bankruptcy?
-- Nicole

iPhone App: Real Estate From Your Pocket 
Chris Larsson, broker with Oregon-based Coldwell Banker Barbara Sue Seal Properties, has created an iPhone application specifically for real estate practitioners. 

AgentWorx makes it possible for sales associates to keep track of their listings and other information and immediately communicate with clients while in the field. 

The $9.99 application features an Agent Dashboard that displays year-to-date earnings, estimated sales totals, volume, and a status bar for sales goals and objectives in real time. AgentWorx also lets associates import listing information to keep track of square footage and other details, which can be difficult when managing dozens of listings. 

6 Real Estate Investment Basics

Miami real estate investor Kenneth D. Rosen outlines his “Big Six” investing guidelines in his new book, Investing in Income Properties.

Here are his six principles in a nutshell. He says all of them need to be present to make a deal worth doing. “If one’s not there, you stop and you don’t buy,” he says.

Location. “A” locations are in areas where there is little land left to build on and the neighborhood has a certain prestige.

No-frills design with quality construction. He looks for three or four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet, no more than 15 percent of space devoted to common areas, and simple but visually pleasing design.

Few or no vacancies. Buildings with lots of small offices are easier to keep full than those that rely on renting out entire floors to one tenant.

Potential for appreciation. Older buildings with lower rents have the most upside potential. As leases expire, the new owner can raise the rent.

Available financing. Find a financial pro to help negotiate the right provisions.

Sale price based on existing income. Avoid buying based on projected income.

Source: Miami Herald, Matthew Haggman (08/03/2009)

Article from www.realtor.org

Tech Watch: Improve Your Technology Skills Online

Overwhelmed trying to keep pace with technology, or attempting to master the tools that can transform your career? The educational resources you need are readily available online. The latest product updates, instructional videos, insightful advice from your peers—it’s all there, once you decide what you need to know and have some idea where or how to find it.

“The problem for most is deciding what to look at first,” says Randy Eager, CRS, GRI, and president and founder of Computer Camp, which offers real estate technology training. “There’s just so much available now.”

When Eager started the company in 1989, his training focused on merely two real estate software programs that were available at the time. Today, real estate professionals have a much larger array to choose from in specialty software, communications, and marketing technologies, and a range of hardware—computers, cell phones and smartphones, digital cameras, GPS, wireless networks, and multi-function machines.

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Treasury Pushes Bankers on Loan Modifications

During daylong meetings Tuesday, the Treasury Department pressured executives from 25 mortgage companies to promise to work harder to modify more mortgages for troubled borrowers.

The officials agreed orally on a new goal of 500,000 loan modifications by Nov. 1.

The meeting stemmed from concern that the program to modify mortgages will fall far short of the original goal of 3 to 4 million modified loans. As of this week, only 200,000 borrowers were enrolled in three-month trial loan modifications.

"Today's meeting was an opportunity to identify ways to accelerate the program and bring relief faster," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.

Bankers who attended the meeting complained that the original announcement of the program led the public to believe that modifications could be accomplished immediately.

"It was very difficult as an industry as a whole to try to live up to those expectations," said Dan Frahm, a Bank of America spokesman.

Source: The Associated Press, Alan Zibel and Daniel Wagner (07/28/2009)
Article from realtor.org

Vacancy Rates on the Rise

As the job market ebbs and flows, some of the country’s largest cities are losing residents and gaining empty homes.

To create a list of cities where vacancies are rising, Forbesmagazine examined data from the 75 largest metropolitan areas. It ranked the locales based on changes in first quarter vacancy data from the Census Bureau, averaging homeownership and rental data.

"There really are two reasons why you'd have vacancies: supply-related and demand-related," says Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. "A number of these places have experienced substantial overbuilding, which would lead you to have supply issues. Others, with troubled local economies, are more demand-related."

read more to find out which cities have the highest rates...

Appraisal Clarification as Good First Step

WASHINGTON (July 23, 2009) – The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan:

“NAR and our 1.2 million members are pleased that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take action to clarify confusion over the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct for home appraisers implemented this past May.

“Our members were experiencing delayed and lost sales because of poor appraisals conducted often by inexperienced appraisers who were not familiar with the area. The ramifications were so great to our members and to the housing industry that I personally met with the New York Attorney General’s office and with the head of the FHFA to share our concerns.

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