Market Conditions
« Previous Entries Next Entries »From Trickle to Torrent
Monday, July 13th, 2009Lender owned properties are dominating our market A year ago, on July 9, 2008, I blogged about investors entering the Palm Springs real estate market. Spurred on by an increasing number of foreclosures, that market trend presented low prices and thus a good opportunity for investors. With our economy in turmoil and foreclosures on the [...]
Use Tax Credit as Your Mortgage Down Payment
Monday, May 25th, 2009In a blog on February 5, 2009, I expressed some hope that we would soon see new congressional proposals that would offer incentives to everyone interested in buying property and thus provide a means by which sales would increase and excess inventory would be sold off. As it turned out, the final congressional bill, although [...]
Avoiding Foreclosure
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009The Obama administration recently outlined a mortgage plan, for responsible homeowners, aimed at helping families in distress to avoid foreclosure. Here is an excerpt from a statement released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on March 4, 2009, outlining the intent of the plan. “Only two weeks after the President unveiled his plan to [...]
How Banks Value Your Home or Why They Cut Your Home Equity Line
Friday, February 13th, 2009Have you had your Line of Credit reduced recently because your house value has gone down? Well, if your answer is yes, the following might be one of the reasons, so take note. I came across an article in MSN Money yesterday which caught my eye because it referenced a study by one of my favorite [...]
The News Headlines Shape Buyer Expectations
Thursday, February 12th, 2009A recent report on real estate sales and trends here for December came out in The Desert Sun on last Thursday. More important than the actual numbers or trends reported in the article, the author explains that what is being reported is a distortion; the cause is that when all types of houses, in all [...]
Help for the Beleaguered Real Estate Market – Homebuyer Tax Credits
Thursday, February 5th, 2009Wow! It looks as if the congressional stimulus package now coming together in Washington may find a way of providing some assistance to our beleaguered real estate market. The New York Times is reporting today that today the Senate approved by voice vote a measure that, if approved, would provide up to $15,000 in a [...]
Here We Go Again – December 2008 California Housing Outlook
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009This is an update of my November 2008 Blog reporting on the state of the real estate market. The California Real Estate Association (C.A.R.) has just released a report stating that the number of single-family homes sold in California increased 84.9% in December from the same period one year ago, with year-to-date sales nearly 27% [...]
Financing a Fixer with the 203K Program
Monday, January 19th, 2009Today’s blog is a follow-up to my blog on November 24, 2008, regarding a rather obscure FHA program that offers financing on the purchase of distressed properties. With so much attention focused on the escalating rate of home foreclosures, the FHA is really pushing this particular program. The result, I’m told, is that more of [...]
How to Finance BOTH the Purchase AND Repairs of Your Next Fixer-Upper
Monday, November 24th, 2008If you are considering buying a foreclosed fixer home as (a) your primary residence, (b) a second home, or (c) an investment property, there may be some new financing alternatives now available to you. I just learned about this from a mortgage broker associate with whom I work on HUD homes. He tells me that [...]
Foreclosures Temporarily Halted by Fannie Mae
Friday, November 21st, 2008Yesterday, Fannie Mae announced that it was temporarily suspending foreclosures and evictions which have been scheduled to take place from November 26, 2008 until January 9, 2009. This temporary halt is designed to allow time for positive actions to reduce the growing number of foreclosures presently taking place in the U.S. It will allow affected [...]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »