$1,500 for Homeowners to Prevent Foreclosure and Encourage Short Sales
March 10th, 2010 categories: Mortgages & Finance, Real Estate Industry
Beginning April 5, 2010, homeowners in trouble will get a little assistance to prevent foreclosure. HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) will encourage banks (by giving them $1,000) and homeowners (by giving them $1,500) to figure out a solution other than foreclosure. The program refers to the money for homeowners are “relocation assistance.”
We all know, foreclosure is bad. Your credit score can drop by as many as 300 points and will prevent you from buying another home for several years. Homeowners face deficiency judgements. Property values in the surrounding neighborhood are negatively impacted. Vacant bank-owned properties invite crime and vandalism.
However, until this recent directive by the US Treasury Department, avoiding foreclosure has been difficult. The loan modification and refinance programs (HAMP) have had some impact but many homeowners don’t qualify. And if the homeowners get their bank to agree to do a short sale, the process can take months longer than a traditional sale and is much more complicated, so much so that homes can still end up in foreclosure.
HAFA also seeks to streamline the short sale process by setting up standards (imagine that!) to make short sales occur more quickly, which increases the marketability of short sales.
There are eligibility requirements:
Homeowners need to first go through the HAMP program to apply for a loan modification.
Home is a principle residence.
Mortgage originated prior to Jan. 2009.
Mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
Borrower is delinquent or will be in the foreseeable future.
Homeowner has a hardship.
Borrower’s total monthly housing payment exceeds 31 percent of gross income.
Unpaid principal does not exceed $729,750.
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You Know You Live in West Hartford When…
March 3rd, 2010 categories: Random, west hartford
It’s been a few years since I called West Hartford my home. So to be back in town reminds me that it is a strange place indeed - at least in relation to the rest of Central CT and in comparison to every other town I’ve lived in. Here are some of my observations, as a former resident and repeat new resident:
You Know You Live in West Hartford When…
A police officer in a Volvo may pull you over.
It’s not uncommon to see someone at the grocery store/shoveling snow/walking their dog in a full length fur coat.
There is a long line to check out books at the library. And the library is open on Sunday.
On a sunny day, you may get run over on your sidewalk by other people running/biking/dog walking.
From promoting a school play, political candidate, or opposing this thing or that, everyone has a cause.
You don’t have to actually ever leave town, other than to go to the hospital.
The downtown isn’t called the downtown. You call it the Center. And it’s hopping on a Friday night…not deserted.
Your dentist, Realtor, doctor, police officer, teacher, plumber all live in the same town - who needs to go anywhere else, right?
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Prices of Single Family Homes Up…Except in Hartford County
March 2nd, 2010 categories: Real Estate Market
Other than in Hartford County, real estate prices increased in January or stayed about the same when compared to January 2009. (Hartford Courant)
Fairfield County saw the largest increase of nearly 30%.
Click here for my report of January’s real estate market.
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Are Mortgage Rates Going Up?
February 23rd, 2010 categories: Mortgages & Finance
Yes. At least that’s what a lot of experts are saying.
Get Ready for Higher Mortgage Rates- CNN
Marketwatch.com’s Steve Kerch predicted as much in October 2009, saying “Housing Could Take a Double Dip Down in 2010.”
According to David Lowman, CEO of Chase Home Lending, ” if the Federal Reserve ends its purchases of mortgage-backed securities…we’re going to come to a pretty hard stop. We’re likely to see a much smaller mortgage market after the second quarter and later in 2010.”
Which is exactly what the Fed plans to do beginning March 31.
However, the Fed announced these plans last year and rates still haven’t gone up. Why?
CNBC’s Steve Liesman explains:
Anecdotally, I’ve heard from lenders that a lot of buyers have been antsy to lock in their loans now. Like farm animals before a tornando, maybe they feel it coming.
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The Simple Solution to All That Darn Kid Artwork - A Wall of Art
February 17th, 2010 categories: Decorating, Home Owners
If you have a kid in your house, chances are you have kid artwork. A lot of it.
Most likely you have it posted on the refrigerator, stacked in a pile or stuffed into a bin. Not an attractive or useful way to display your kid’s creativity - at least that’s how I was feeling after jamming my daughter’s drawings into a storage bin every week.
While at Ikea (where so many good ideas are born), I came across the RIBBA frames in white. I thought, “I have wall space. I have kid art. And I have a hammer.” Here’s the end result - my kid art wall.
I could have fit another row of frames but I plan to put a low dresser on that wall.
It’s not the most economical way of handling my daughter’s artwork ($14.99/frame) but it accomplished a few things for me:
- I decorated my daughter’s room with original works of art that are very personal.
- I am now able to throw out my less favorite (or odd-shaped) items without guilt.
- The wall can grow with my daughter - as she ages and draws new things, we can easily change out the artwork.
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