Part of the Dodd-Frank bill gave the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the assignment of combining the Truth In Lending (TIL) statement with the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) by July 2012.
2-21-2012: Here are the latest versions of the new Settlement Disclosure form for home buyers who apply for mortgages (Butternut and Hemlock - great names huh - Hemlock relates to death - terrific!) - http://www.consumerfinance.gov/knowbeforeyouowe/
Note: I wonder when people pay cash for properties, will this form be used to identify non-loan related expenditures and protect "cash" consumers with competitive disclosure details?
Source: http://www.dsnews.com/articles/new-mortgage-disclosure-form-to-help-safeguard-against-default-cfpb-2011-05-18
Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/05182011_gfe_til_combined.asp
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Georgia HB 1055 – Seniors say goodbye to Georgia Income Taxes
Georgia HB 1055 – May 2010
New law begins a phase out of Georgia’s income tax on retirement income beginning in 2012 and eliminates taxes entirely by 2016 ($65K, $100K; $200K; and all income in 2016 and beyond). Qualifications include taxpayer being 65 or older during any time within the year.
Evidently, under current law, seniors who were 62 or older could exclude up to $35K of income before being levied Georgia income tax.
So what about those who are 62-65? Are they under the current law and still have to pay Georgia income taxes over $35,000 annual income? Probably!
Evidently, under current law, seniors who were 62 or older could exclude up to $35K of income before being levied Georgia income tax.
So what about those who are 62-65? Are they under the current law and still have to pay Georgia income taxes over $35,000 annual income? Probably!
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Current Mortgage Loan Delinquencies by Loan Type
According to calculatedriskblog, about 4 million loans are seriously delinquent : about 75% are Prime or Subprime loans, but FHA delinquencies more than doubled in 4 years. Even though the number of Prime and Subprime loan delinquencies have fallen, the number of serious delinquencies of Prime and Subprime loans are huge!
Thanks to calculatedriskblog for disclosing and analyzing this...
Source: http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/05/mortgage-delinquencies-by-loan-type.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CalculatedRisk+%28Calculated+Risk%29
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Thanks to calculatedriskblog for disclosing and analyzing this...
Source: http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/05/mortgage-delinquencies-by-loan-type.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CalculatedRisk+%28Calculated+Risk%29
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
FHA loans may require a 5% down payment
US House Republicans are kicking around a proposal to raise the minimum down payment on FHA loans to 5% and may drop the maximum loan balance to about $625K. This action may reduce the number of FHA loans, but will tend to increase the performance by requiring "greater" investment by the Buyer. It all depends on which end of the argument you sit, but there's alot of heat against this by the Realtor community.
Source: http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/house-republicans-make-moves-to-curtail-fha-backed-loans
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gop-proposes-increase-in-fha-down-payments/2011/05/23/AF3NX69G_story.html
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Source: http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/house-republicans-make-moves-to-curtail-fha-backed-loans
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gop-proposes-increase-in-fha-down-payments/2011/05/23/AF3NX69G_story.html
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Mortgage servicers were being investigated back in 2009
May 2011-05-23
Mortgage servicers (many from large US Banks participating under the TARP) were being sued for abuses or practices that resulted in excessive fees or improper foreclosure practices (WSJ 8-6-2009). (NOTE: Even though legal actions had started in 2009, the US Congress/Administration/50 State Attorney Generals are just wrapping up some challenges and investigations and are in the process of negotiating a “final settlement” – from $5 B to $20B - with the largest of loan servicers.)
$50 B of the 700 B TARP funds were applicable under the HAMP program that pays Mortgage loan servicers for loan modifications if the homeowner maintains payments for at least three (3) months and payments are made to servicers after the three month time period. Servicers generally earn ½ to 1% of the loan balance each year and lower balances mean lower profits. Servicers normally earn more from late fees or by foreclosing on a property, but not on loan modification.
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Broker gets sales commission even though homes don't sell
Is this legal? - Normally, it all depends on you contract, but in most every case here in Georgia....
YES - it's legal! In fact, it's contractual per the signed Georgia Association of Realtor's *(GAR) contract mot all agents in Georgia use to negotiate the purchase and sale of residential real estate properties.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/02/2210428/court-says-broker-entitled-to.html
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
YES - it's legal! In fact, it's contractual per the signed Georgia Association of Realtor's *(GAR) contract mot all agents in Georgia use to negotiate the purchase and sale of residential real estate properties.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/02/2210428/court-says-broker-entitled-to.html
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
More US Congressional legislation to help home builders
To quote a former US President..."Here you go again"....more US Congressional meddling in the housing market and at what price?
The following legislation was proposed in the US House of Representatives in May 2011. Don't know how far it will go, but the National Association of Home Builders (http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/category/sectionID=1831) is in favor of it:
Home Construction Lending Regulatory Improvement Act of 2011, H.R. 1755 for AD&C or acquisition, development and construction loans. Source: Link to article addressing the proposed legislation
Basically, it allows financial institutions to (a) exceed it's financing limits for projects near or that will be completed; (b) ban the use of foreclosures when performing an appraisal and using an arbitrary value when the project is finished; and (c) prevents regulators from interfering with lenders to stop loans in trouble but still making payments under original terms and conditions.
Is this an example of "too small to fail, but too big in the aggregate to succeed?"
Nevertheless, even though new home sales have jumped (just clearing out some backlog) new home construction is down about 25% from this time last year - http://lansner.ocregister.com/2011/05/17/really-more-bad-news-from-nations-builders/110155/
Builder confidence is pretty low and not rising any time soon - http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110518_confidence.htm
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
The following legislation was proposed in the US House of Representatives in May 2011. Don't know how far it will go, but the National Association of Home Builders (http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/category/sectionID=1831) is in favor of it:
Home Construction Lending Regulatory Improvement Act of 2011, H.R. 1755 for AD&C or acquisition, development and construction loans. Source: Link to article addressing the proposed legislation
Basically, it allows financial institutions to (a) exceed it's financing limits for projects near or that will be completed; (b) ban the use of foreclosures when performing an appraisal and using an arbitrary value when the project is finished; and (c) prevents regulators from interfering with lenders to stop loans in trouble but still making payments under original terms and conditions.
Is this an example of "too small to fail, but too big in the aggregate to succeed?"
Nevertheless, even though new home sales have jumped (just clearing out some backlog) new home construction is down about 25% from this time last year - http://lansner.ocregister.com/2011/05/17/really-more-bad-news-from-nations-builders/110155/
Builder confidence is pretty low and not rising any time soon - http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110518_confidence.htm
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
HUD or FHA News
This post will be updated from time to time - so check back in on a regular basis.
5-18-2011: Check out all HUD (i.e., FHA loan foreclosed) properties on HUD's property sale website - http://www.hudhomestore.com/ - To submit offers, find a registered HUD home Buyer's Agent...like me!
3-8-2011: FHA backed about $208 billion (up from $85 billion in 2007) in mortgage loans with a delinquency rate of about 25%.
As of 2010, Shaun Donovan is the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary.
HUD's website is: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD
FHA's related link is: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/hsgabout.cfm
8-26-2010: HUD has a program which only requires $100 down payment as long as the purchaser pays full price on a home and uses FHA financing. Other programs exist - like Good Neighbor (where a police officer, EMT, or teacher live in a house) which is located in their district or high crime area - they can buy it at 50% of price. Check out all the programs at HUDPEMCO's website.
8-24-2010: As of June 2010, only 8.3% of FHA loans were delinquent 90 days or more - this is down from January's peak of 9.4%.
Also, beginning in October, FHA will raise lower the up-front MIP charge from 2.25% to 1%, but raise the monthly MIP fee from 0.55% to 0.90%.
The number of home purchase mortgages are rising to almost 50% of the total purchases, while their reserves for losses are shrinking fast. Another round of price declines will take a heavy toll on the reserves.
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
5-18-2011: Check out all HUD (i.e., FHA loan foreclosed) properties on HUD's property sale website - http://www.hudhomestore.com/ - To submit offers, find a registered HUD home Buyer's Agent...like me!
3-8-2011: FHA backed about $208 billion (up from $85 billion in 2007) in mortgage loans with a delinquency rate of about 25%.
As of 2010, Shaun Donovan is the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary.
HUD's website is: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD
FHA's related link is: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/hsgabout.cfm
8-26-2010: HUD has a program which only requires $100 down payment as long as the purchaser pays full price on a home and uses FHA financing. Other programs exist - like Good Neighbor (where a police officer, EMT, or teacher live in a house) which is located in their district or high crime area - they can buy it at 50% of price. Check out all the programs at HUDPEMCO's website.
8-24-2010: As of June 2010, only 8.3% of FHA loans were delinquent 90 days or more - this is down from January's peak of 9.4%.
Also, beginning in October, FHA will raise lower the up-front MIP charge from 2.25% to 1%, but raise the monthly MIP fee from 0.55% to 0.90%.
The number of home purchase mortgages are rising to almost 50% of the total purchases, while their reserves for losses are shrinking fast. Another round of price declines will take a heavy toll on the reserves.
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Home Warranties
A Home Warranty is really "home maintenance" insurance policy.
Home Warranty Companies "issue" home warranty policies.
These specialized "insurers" charge an annual fee for the "coverage", and offer service call "deductibles" where authorized, screened contractors are dispatched to resolve household maintenance issues upon your request. Each company offers at least one type of coverage that normally offers repairs for HVAC, water heaters, electrical or plumbing issues.
Note: If you can fix or troubleshoot the obvious (a GFCI outlet trips & press the reset button or a simple $15 toilet tank repair), you can save a $50+ service call. Otherwise, call your home warranty provider and get a professional to help you.
SOME HOME WARRANTY COMPANY WEBSITES
NOTE: There may be other home warranty service providers, but I have only seen warranty plans from these companies.
AMERICAN HOMESHIELD - HOME WARRANTY INFORMATION
Buyer's Protection Group (Formerely Land America) - HOME WARRANTY INFORMATION
FIRST AMERICAN- HOME WARRANTY INFORMATION
Old Republic - HOME WARRANTY INFORMATION
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/home-warranties-protect-homeowners-during-extreme-weather-attract-buyers-in-competitive-real-estate-market-118901959.html
According to many home warranty providers, the highest rate of homeowner claims encompasses water heaters, furnaces and central-air conditioning, while major appliances covered by a home warranty generally start to require servicing at five years of age. Since home systems and large or built-in appliances are acquired during a home sale, there are many unknowns, such as how things previously have been used and maintained.
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Where can you find HUD foreclosures? - Right here!
You can use this website to find available HUD (FHA foreclosed) properties:
http://www.hudhomestore.com
Be sure to check out the Property Condition (i.e.,short form inspection) Report (PCR) and if the property is IE (Insured with Escrows) or not. If IE, then FHA financing can be used, but you must have the repairs financed into the FHA loan. If the status is UI (Un Insured), then FHA financing can't be used.
If you find a property here and have any questions or wish to make an offer, let me know. I am a registered Exclusive Buyer Broker for all HUD foreclosures in Georgia.
Let me explain the process of buying a foreclosure and answer your questions.
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
http://www.hudhomestore.com
Be sure to check out the Property Condition (i.e.,short form inspection) Report (PCR) and if the property is IE (Insured with Escrows) or not. If IE, then FHA financing can be used, but you must have the repairs financed into the FHA loan. If the status is UI (Un Insured), then FHA financing can't be used.
If you find a property here and have any questions or wish to make an offer, let me know. I am a registered Exclusive Buyer Broker for all HUD foreclosures in Georgia.
Let me explain the process of buying a foreclosure and answer your questions.
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.
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