Dave Thurman's Real Estate Blog

On November 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM, you are invited to our Open Office at 2652 East Main Street in Stockton. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this opportunity to visit and meet with Dave Thurman, REALTOR®. Appointments are not necessary!

• Pick up a free list of homes!
• Get pre-qualified for a home loan.
• Ask questions about foreclosures and short sales.
• Discuss agency and disclosure requirements.
• First-time buyers and investors are welcome.

10 Home Finance Mistakes You Can’t Afford

Most advice columns tell you what you should do, but just as importantly, there some things you shouldn’t do. Here are 10 frequent home finance mistakes that consumers make [Read More]

Bank of America said Monday that it plans to resume seizing more than 100,000 homes in 23 states next week. It said it has a legal right to foreclose despite accusations that documents used in the process were flawed.

Bank of America Home Loans: Rebecca Mairone:

• We stepped up to purchase Countrywide at a time when failure of that company would have been devastating to the economy, the markets, and millions of homeowners.
• Our priority remains to keep people in their homes.
• The vast majority of our portfolio — 86% — is current and performing.
• Modification solutions are intensely focused on the 1.3 million customers who are more than 60 days delinquent — 85% of which are Countrywide originated loans.
• Bank of America has completed nearly 700,000 permanent modifications including more than 85,000 under the government’s HAMP program — the most of any servicer.

Further, the basis for our past foreclosures is accurate:

• Of Bank of America’s 1.3 million customers who are more than 60-days delinquent, 195,000 have not made a payment in two years. Of those loans which have not received a payment in two years, 56,000 are already vacant.
• For the foreclosure sales in the period from Jul-Sep, 2010:
• 80% of borrowers had not made a mortgage payment for more than one year
• Average of 560 days in delinquent status (approximately 18 months)
• 33% of properties were vacant
• 15% of loans were non-owner occupied (at point of origination)
• 50% of borrowers were unemployed or severely under employed

Source: The Huffington Post 10/31/2010

Related articles

• Rebecca Mairone: Setting the Record Straight on Bank of America Foreclosures
• Bank Of America Boasts About Its Poor HAMP Performance
• Treasury Department Says HAMP Doesn’t Put People Into Default
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: Why We Need a Foreclosure Moratorium
• Bank Of America To Meet With States In Foreclosure Probe

 

• Up Front MIP will decrease from 2.25% to 1%
• Annual MIP will increase from .50/.55 to .85/.90 for terms greater than 15 yrs

FHA will make the premium fee changes on all new case numbers effective October 4, 2010.

Email bulletin was received from one of my favorite lenders:

Terrie Nevis
Prime Lending
3203 W. March Lane Ste. 120
Stockton, CA 95219
Office: 209-952-6800

I found a home which for some reason was not selling well due to the slow real estate market place in 1975. I told my real estate broker friend that I would list my present home with him if he would help me buy the home I wanted to purchase. I had very little cash available but I did have a home I no longer wanted to own. I thought, to myself what do I have to lose?

So, the broker listed my home, which also did not sell!!! By the way, I was not in real estate yet, but I was thinking about a new career as a real estate agent.

Anyway, when the time ran out on the agreements, I was asked by the brokers do you really want to make this deal work…I said “if you can help me make it work then I am in!” I was told to remove my contingency of selling my home. I was approved for the financing as long as the lender could verify the down payment (which I did not have). OK, what next I asked my broker? My agent not only arranged a short term loan for my down payment, but he guaranteed or co-signed for it. We closed the deal, I moved in my new home and rented out the old home. My broker friend made a good commission on my purchase and also a little interest on my loan which I did payoff when my old home finally sold.

Why am I telling this story…maybe it is time for buyers, sellers, brokers and lenders to get a little creative with the right parties. Oh by the way, I sold the home in the story for almost double the price I paid for it in a little over 18 months.

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Interest rates continue to remain near their historic lows. Thirty-year, fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.88 percent during November 2009, compared with 6.09 percent in November 2008, according to Freddie Mac.

Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.41 percent in November 2009, compared with 5.26 percent in November 2008.

Platinum Home Mortgage Corporation

Good Faith Estimate form effective January 1st.

Under the new rules, lenders and mortgage brokers are required to give consumers the standard estimate form within three days of receiving a loan application. The Good Faith Estimate form requires lenders to combine all of the bank’s fees into one “origination charge,” enabling consumers to compare one lender’s fees with another’s. Lenders also are prohibited from increasing the origination fee from the estimate.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The new standardized mortgage estimate (blogs.reuters.com)
• New and improved mortgage forms (money.cnn.com)
• Home Buyer says dealing with the new Good Faith Estimate is “Close to Living Hell” (raincityguide.com)
• New Rules Help Home Buyers Understand Loan Costs (abcnews.go.com)

I found this on my CAR website…

Testifying before the Housing Financial Services Committee yesterday, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan announced possible policy changes for Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) borrowers.

Rising defaults on FHA loans have led to the FHA’s cash reserves falling below federally mandated levels. FHA officials hope that policy changes will ensure borrowers have a stronger equity position and are less likely to default.

Proposed changes include:
· Raising the minimum credit scores requirements: Currently borrowers with FICO scores as low as 500 may qualify for an FHA-insured loan. The new minimum credit score has yet to be determined.

· Increasing down payment requirements: FHA borrowers currently can put down as little as 3.5 percent. A proposed change would raise that amount to a minimum of 5 percent.

· Limiting the amount sellers can provide as concessions: The agency is considering lowering the maximum permissible level to 3 percent from its current 6 percent limit.

· Raising up-front insurance premiums: Agency staff is reviewing whether to increase the monthly insurance premiums charged to borrowers, which come on top of insurance paid up front. The current up-front premium is set at 1.75 percent of the value of the loan. The FHA may decide to increase that premium. The amount has yet to be determined.

According to Donovan, the rules will not be finalized until the FHA determines how to craft them in a way that weeds out the most problematic borrowers while ensuring that qualified borrowers will not be inadvertently shut out, thereby derailing the housing market‘s recovery.

Related articles by Zemanta

• F.H.A. Says Cash Reserves Are Down Sharply (nytimes.com)
• FHA Postpones Release of Audit As Bailout Worries Mount (blogs.wsj.com)
• My Outlook on FHA’s Potential Changes (zillow.com)
• Toll: The FHA Is a ‘Definite Train Wreck’ (blogs.wsj.com)
• FHA Reserves Almost Gone, And There’s No Going Back (hsh.com)