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Fannie Mae Shows Signs of a Recovering Market

2013 was an extraordinary year for a lot of Real Estate Pros. Many conversations about the housing market are ending in a much different matter than they had in years past. Lately the story is, “Wow”, We are really seeing an increase in home prices and a decrease in inventory”. Years ago this comment would have been accompanied with a graphic of a donkey with mouth wide open laughing hysterically.

The Real Estate market is definitely showing signs of growth and movement. Today home prices are beginning to slightly increase and whispers of a “Sellers Market” are rolling off agents tongues. This truly makes people a little more comfortable with the country still trying to pull out of the recent crash. All of this still would simply be mostly “lip Service” if not for the the giants of the mortgage market producing such impressive numbers. Let’s take a look at Fannie Mae and data released in a recent article by Timothy J. Mayopoulos President and Chief Executive Officer, Fannie Mae 

In the statement Fannie Mae reveals their financial performance, over the past few years, has improved significantly, and in 2013 reported “84.0 billion in net income and $38.6 billion in pre-tax income, the highest annual income and annual pre-tax income in our company’s history”. In addition to this improvement Fannie Mae also has strengthened the underwriting and eligibility standards as so to promote a more sustainable housing market as related to homeownership.

In addition to developing stronger requirements for home buying eligibility, Fannie Mae has also worked to help owners avoid foreclosure by “completing more than 1.5 million workout solutions since 2009. In 2013, we completed 234,000 foreclosure prevention solutions. Less than 1 percent of the single-family loans in our book went into foreclosure in 2013, and we strive to help every at-risk family find an alternative to foreclosure.”

Below is a graphic giving a few numbers to grow on. Take a look and decide for yourself if you still should be standing on the sidelines or if it is time to Move forward?

fannie mae numbers at a glance

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Bad, Bad Real Estate!

As the Real Estate market turns the corner and begins the ascent back to sustainable numbers, we are starting to see increased inventory. With this increase we are also getting new photography ideas. While spending hours per day viewing hundreds of listings and images for clients, there seems to be a great number of Agents who should have their picture taking license revolked.

Understandingly, it is extremely difficult to get a perfect picture to successfully market a home online. To be honest, some  are not even trying. A simple smartphone takes better pictures than a large part of what can be found online.

For the ones who do use a camera that does need to be wound after each click or dropped off at a discount store for processing, a simple scan of your surroundings first could go a long way. Take a look at a few images recently compiled from a local MLS. These homes are currently being marketed online with these photos.

If any of these images are of your house or you took the photo or know who did please keep the identity hidden. This is in no way a solicitation of business nor an insinuation to hire a different Realtor. It is simply a lighthearted light shedding exercise to help increase the quality images used for Real Estate marketing online.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

cluttered-real-estate-photo
A little decluttering maybe?
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People in the picture?
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Dirty sinks, clutter, blurry, time stamp on the picture?

 

 

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YIKES!
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What is this even of?
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This could be a scary ghost sighting? When you see it.
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A Blair Witch project?
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Showing the great small space perfectly?
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Looks like a picture was taken of a picture?
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Ready for spaghetti and syrup?
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Guess what this is and WIN?
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Must be a flip phone?
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Former Foreclosed Home Owners are Buying Again

boomerang-buyers

 

 

 

With analysts giving statistics that the peak of the foreclosure era is in our rear view mirror now, a new set of home buyers are coming back.

Boomerang buyers: Buyers who lost a home to foreclosure during the housing apocalypse are safely trying to re-enter the buying market. This time around, however may not be as clean cut for securing a mortgage.

During the Real Estate craze several years ago Mortgage companies had a plethora of buying options which didn’t mandate a 20% or more down payment to secure the loan. Today’s market and issuance of new Mortgage requirements are making a substantial down payment almost inevitable. That is not to say you cannot secure a mortgage with $0 as a down payment, however it does suggest your buying credit and history needs to be mostly clean.

Real Estate professionals agree these buyers are essential in developing a sustainable Real Estate market. What do we see that draws this conclusion?

RealtyTrac notes (via North Carolina State University) that:

From January 2007 to December 2011 there were more than four million completed foreclosures and more than 8.2 million foreclosure starts …

That is a huge number of folks who had their dreams of Home Ownership slip out of their hands. the majority still have those dreams that will eventually drive them back into the housing market. Another data linking this possible influx of Boomerang Buyers to the market is the stats  reported this past year by CoreLogic:

Approximately 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of May 2012 compared to 1.5 million, or 3.5 percent, in May 2011 and 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent, in April 2012. The foreclosure inventory is the share of all mortgaged homes in some stage of the foreclosure process.

boomerang-buyers-back-to-houseing-market

How are they able to get back in the Home Ownership picture with a foreclosure on their record? Well, some information out there is a bit misleading. Some reports tell a buyer who has had a foreclosure must wait a minimum of 7 years in order to be able to secure a new loan. Not totally true.

Here is the information I use when dealing with clients who have a foreclosure on record.

The wait times for qualifying for a loan can vary depending on the former home owners’ circumstances. Typically, the wait times following a short sale or foreclosure are as follows:

  • Seven-year wait for home owners with a previous foreclosure before they can qualify for a new mortgage through mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If the foreclosure was  included in a bankruptcy, the borrower has to wait only four years.
  • Two-year wait for home owners who underwent a short sale before they’re eligible for another Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loan.
  • Three-year wait for home owners seeking a Federal Housing Administration loan after a foreclosure or short sale. Some home owners who underwent a foreclosure because of at least a 20 percent cut in their pay may be able to qualify for a new mortgage after just a year through FHA’s Back to Work program.

As you can see form the data above, we are quickly moving into that magical time  of 4 years. The height of the foreclosure nationwide was in 2010. So keep in mind when preparing your offers for buying your next home, you may have a new kind of competition. Talk to your Real Estate agent today to stay up on trends to consider when negotiating offers or contracts.

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New Home Buyers Beware of the Deed Processing Scam

Buying a home is suppose to be a wonderful time in Home Buyers lives. You search online for months and call your Realtor® (ME) Huntsville-real-estateeveryday, probably twice a day until you find that perfect Home you have been dreaming about. So now begins the dirty work. There is the offer(s), counter offers, inspections, mortgages, re-inspections, negotiating the contracts, attorneys etc, etc… You finally get to the closing and take possession of the Home of your dreams. Now a week or so later you get a bill in the mail saying something about remitting payment of $83 (apx) to said Deed Processing co. so you can receive the deed to your new home. So without thinking or calling your Realtor® (ME) again to ask what it is, you just send it in. It’s a scam!

home deeds

So here is the skinny. There are these illegitimate companies who are putting together an elaborate scam taking advantage of folks who just completed the purchase of a home. They are taking public records of recently purchased homes and sending out professionally crafted letters that would be hard to question as fake.

 

 

First, at any point you have questions or do not remember a conversation about a home or home purchase, call a Realtor® (ME). That is what I am here for. Simple questions to complex questions, I want to help.

Next, these letters asking for this fee, reportedly are being addressed form an out of town business.

Another thing, Your Realtor® (ME) or the closing  Attorney should have explained in detail where and when to expect your deed (free of charge) should be arriving to you and exactly what you need to do with that deed.

Keep it simple and keep it safe. When a question or concern comes up call a Realtor® (ME)

 

 

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Reports Indicate Another Housing Slowdown | Via Inman News

New reports point to housing slowdown | Inman News.

 

Economic reports released today show that activity in two sectors of the housing market dropped to its lowest levels in more than a year, providing some of the latest evidence that elevated mortgage rates and home prices may have slowed the pace of the real estate recovery.

Housing slowdown before real growth

“Housing is not about to collapse into another bust, but it is due for a pause after a strong rebound since the first half of 2012,” wrote David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, explaining the thrust of the reports.

For the week ending Feb. 14, a seasonally adjusted purchase index from the Mortgage Bankers Association hit its lowest level since September 2011, the trade group said today. On an unadjusted basis, demand for purchase loans for the week dropped 17 percent from the same week a year before.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported today that housing starts in January hit a 17-month low, falling 7 percent year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 573,000, a figure that dovetails with the National Association of Home Builders’ finding yesterday that builder confidence plunged in February.

Other indicators also point to a slowdown. Pending home sales and existing-home sales have trended down in recent months, though one of the few brights spots in recent housing data are new-home sales, which grew at a fast clip in January.

Some trade groups and analysts have said that the unusually cold weather has contributed to weakening activity in the housing market.

“While we don’t want to dismiss out of hand the downbeat message of these measures of residential construction activity, we think that they largely reflect a correction from the sharp gain in starts in November and the recent unseasonably severe weather,” Capital Economics, an economic research firm, said in response to the report on housing starts.

The biggest impetus for the recent slump, however, may be substantial increases in both home prices and mortgage rates. The combination of both has pushed up the cost of financed homeownership by roughly a quarter from last year in more than 300 counties nationwide, according to a report data aggregator RealtyTrac is set to release tomorrow.

“Last year was a nice bounce-back year for the housing market, particularly home prices, but we cannot expect to see the patterns of 2013 repeat in 2014,” said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist. “This year will be more of a reality check type of year as home prices and sales slow down to allow incomes and confidence to catch up.”

More from Teke Wiggin

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/02/19/new-reports-point-to-housing-slowdown/#sthash.hGvhs6HV.dpuf

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What buyers want?

Times of needing to have a formal dinning area may have come and gone, but having a space to dine and entertain hasn’t.

Years ago folks wanted to have a formal dinning room so they could have a nice gathering over a meal and entertain guests. Well, that hasn’t changed except where it is located. Today buyers are wanting a warm comfortable open kitchen design where they can entertain guests and still be where the action is- “The Kitchen”. Even with the influx of restaurants in local places folks still want to have guests over for entertaining.
Today’s buyers want an updated kitchen area, generally overlooking a dinning area or den area.
So there is something to think about when you are updating your house for a market analysis. Should you take down that wall or simply update the kitchen. My recommendation is, if you’re going to update the kitchen then probably go ahead and take out that wall and open things up. Otherwise, leave the kitchen to attract a different buyer wanting a fixer upper.
Call me if you would like a Pre-market analysis and or “on the market ready” analysis.

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North Alabama Area school closings for Winter storm

EXIT

 

 

 

Alabama A&M Universitydelayed until 10am Tuesday
Albertville City Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Arab City Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Athens City Schoolsdelayed 2 hours Tuesday
Athens State Universitydelayed until 10am Tuesday
Bethel Baptist Schooldelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Boaz City SchoolsClosed Tuesday
Cherokee County Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Colbert County Schoolsdelayed until 10am Tuesday
Cornerstone Christian Schooldelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Country Day Schooldelayed until 10:30am Tuesday
Covenant Christian Schooldelayed until 10am Tuesday
Cullman City Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Cullman County Schoolsclosed Tuesday
DeKalb County Schoolsdelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Etowah County Schoolsclosed Tuesday
First Baptist Child Dev Centeropening 9am Tuesday
Florence City Schoolsdelayed 2 hours Tuesday
Franklin County Schools (AL)delayed 3 hours Tuesday
Ft Payne City Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Gadsden State Community CollegeAll campuses closed Tuesday
Guntersville City Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Hartselle City Schoolsdelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Huntsville City SchoolsDelayed 2 hours Tuesday
J. F. Drake State Technical Collegeopening 10am Tuesday
Jackson County Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Lauderdale County Schoolsdelayed until 10am Tuesday
Lawrence County Schoolsdelayed 2 hours Tuesday
Limestone County Schoolsdelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Madison Academydelayed until 10am Tuesday
Madison City Schoolsdelayed 2 hours Tuesday
Madison County Schoolsdelayed 2 hours Tuesday
Mars Hill Bible Schooldelayed until 10am Tuesday
Marshall County Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Muscle Shoals City Schoolsdelayed 2 hours Tuesday
Northwest-Shoalsdelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Oakwood Adventist Academydelayed until 10am Tuesday
Russellville City Schoolsdelayed 3 hours Tuesday
Scottsboro City Schoolsclosed Tuesday
Sheffield City Schoolsdelayed until 10am Tuesday
Snead State Community Collegeclosed Tuesday
St Bernard Prep Schoolclosed Tuesday
Tuscumbia City Schoolsdelayed until 10am Tuesday
Virginia Collegeopening 10am Tuesday
Wallace State Community CollegeClosing at 3 p.m. Monday, evening classes cancelled
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Huntsville Alabama “New Clinton Ave Project” to Bring Downtown Shopping Alive!

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HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — When Alabama Media Group moved its Huntsville hub downtown in October, one of the first things some of us noticed while walking around the corner for lunch was a nice downtown building on Clinton Avenue that was filled with mini-storage units.

What a waste of a prime downtown space, we thought.

Chad Emerson, the CEO of Downtown Huntsville Inc., must have had the same thought when he started his new job as downtown development guru in August. On Wednesday, Emerson announced The Clinton Avenue Project, something that’s apparently been in the works since just after Emerson arrived.

Chad Emerson-river.jpgChad Emerson, CEO of Downtown Huntsville, Inc.

Downtown Huntsville Inc. will lease six of the ground floor storage units and sub-lease them to small business start-ups that need a place to get off the ground.

“It gives local, small business entrepreneurs an opportunity to test whether their retail concept can be successful in an urban, walkable setting like downtown,” Emerson told AL.com business writer Lucy Berry.

Here’s a sample of the small businesses that will incubate in the storage units: Anne Condit will open up Live Easy, a handcrafted art and goods store; Huntsville artist Christian Wegman will sell original paintings and prints; another unit will feature a rotating gallery for artists to sell their work for up to two weeks at a time; and John Whitman, a visiting University of Alabama in Huntsville professor and founder ofHuntsville Open Tech Coffee (HOTCoffee), will launch a new public service venture called Business Button in one of the units.

The city and organizations like DHI predecessor Big Spring Partners have been working for years, with some success, to revitalize a downtown that once was dominated by bail bond companies and lawyers offices.

Emerson and his one employee, Director of Communications and Branding Macy Chapman, along with a dedicated board of local business and “thought leaders” such as Chairman Evans Quinlivan and Vice Chair Scott Averbuch, are taking it quickly to the next level.

The accomplishments in just six months are almost too many to list, but here are some highlights.

The early success is evidence of the pent-up demand for unique, interesting, and walkable experiences

• The fun and creative “Pop-up Parks” competition brought people downtown in November to play Twister, visit outdoor coffee bars and Zen gardens built overnight in parking spaces around the courthouse square.

Chad Emerson Pop Up Parks.JPGDowntown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson checks out the Pop Up Park entries on the Courthouse Square earlier this month. (Eric Schultz | eschultz@al.com)

• Tapping into the nationwide food truck craze, Downtown Huntsville Inc., sponsored astreet food gatheringdowntown that was wildly successful. The City Council has helped take advantage of the phenomenon by amending an ordinance to let food trucks serve downtown seven days a week.

• In January, Emerson and DHIpresented awards for Downtown Development of the Year (Belk-Hudson Lofts); Downtown Advocate of the Year (city planner Marie Bostick); and Downtown Event of the Year (Greene Street Market).

• On Feb. 9, DHI brings the “Retro Winter Games” downtown, complete with dodgeball, capture the flag and foursquare.

• There are plans in the works for a downtown putt-putt golf challenge sometime in the spring.

There are also bigger, more permanent projects in the works that the city and DHI are working together on, including a redevelopment of the old Holiday Inn property and a new convention hotel across from the Von Braun Center.

Emerson also has announced a “Blue Sky Idea” project to generate even more new and eclectic events and projects, even if they are dreams – like a downtown tram system — of what could be if we had millions to invest.

In such a short time here, Emerson, who came from a similar position in Montgomery, has become a trusted adviser to the mayor and local business leaders, and brought much-needed energy to the job of promoting and building a vibrant downtown.

In Emerson’s words: “The early success is evidence of the pent-up demand for unique, interesting, and walkable experiences. This downtown has so many assets that there’s no reason it shouldn’t become one of the best among peer cities.”

Written by Director of Community News Shelly Haskins for the Alabama Media Group editorial board in Huntsville

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Small Lenders Hesitate Over New Rules

Small Lenders Hesitate Over New Rules

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014

New mortgage rules that took effect last week could further hamper small lenders’ ability to issue loans, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Under the new rules, lenders must ensure that borrowers can pay back their loans. Loans that meet“qualified mortgage” standards will provide a safe harbor to lenders from future lawsuits, while loans issued outside of QM standards will carry more legal risk.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines “qualified mortgages” as loans that meet the ability-to-repay rule and in which borrowers spend no more than 43 percent of their income on debt. Furthermore, fees and other charges may make up no more than 3 percent of the loan.

Small lenders reportedly will tread cautiously in the new lending environment because they are worried about the legal risk of making loans that don’t meet new standards, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We’re going to be very conservative just to make sure that we’re in compliance and don’t get into trouble,” says Mark Walker, chief executive of Michigan Mutual Inc., a lender with 300 employees based in Port Huron, Mich. “There are going to be loans that we did in 2013 that we are not going to be able to do in 2014.”

Any lender who falls outside of the new rules may be unable to sell the loan to investors such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Large lenders—such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America—already have said they plan to continue issuing loans outside of CFPB’s Qualified Mortgage standards and will hold those loans on their own books.

But smaller lenders will likely think twice. Non-bank lenders will be particularly cautious since they often don’t use their own investment portfolios to hold the loans on their books, The Wall Street Journal reports.

For example, Linda Sweet, president and CEO of Big Valley Federal Credit Union in Sacramento, Calif., says her credit union will mostly stop making mortgage loans in 2014. Her credit union made about 30 mortgage loans in 2013.

“The burden of trying to comply with the regulation is just overwhelmingly costly for a small financial institution,” Sweet says.

CFPB announced it is monitoring the new rule’s impact closely on loan availability to see if any tweaks need to be made.

“I think we got the rule right,” says Peter Carroll, CFPB’s assistant director for mortgage markets. But he adds that “we don’t want to see credit get unduly cut for people, where there are responsible loans being made.”

Source: “Small Lenders Wary as Mortgage-Lending Rules Take Effect,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 10, 2014)