Mortgages and Real Estate

Ohio goes after mortgage servicing firms: lessons you can learn

Charles Feldman Dec 17th 2009 @ 1:30PM EST Filed Under: Home, Real Estate, Mortgages

You have to give it to the attorney general of Ohio. The dude's got ... well ... he's just got 'em.

One by one, step by step, he has been going after mortgage servicing companies. These are the firms that collect monthly loan payments and also manage foreclosures.

Just since this past summer, Richard Cordray has brought suit against both Carrington Mortgage Services and American Home Mortgage Servicing.

Now, he has turned his attention to HomeEq, a unit of Barclays Capital. He claims the firm is "using unfair and deceptive agreements and violating state consumer law," according to a Reuters dispatch.

Among other things, the Ohio AG alleges that HomEq came up with schemes that "released itself of all liabilities and required borrowers to waive their rights to defenses and pay more fees," says the Reuters report.

For its part, a HomEq spokesman dismisses the suit as "meritless" and vows an aggressive defense.

Continue reading Ohio goes after mortgage servicing firms: lessons you can learn

Luxury homes for sale: Such a deal!

Diane Wedner Dec 17th 2009 @ 10:00AM EST Filed Under: Real Estate

Pity the poor celebrity whose umpteen-square-foot manse on a property large enough to house a small municipality just won't sell. Or it's unloaded for a song. That realty reality is unfolding on both coasts (and even the Midwest), according to a Street.com report.

Despite a hopeful uptick in existing-home sales nationwide -- they rose 10.1% in October from September and are up 23.5% from the October before, according to the National Assn. of Realtors -- some luxury landmarks with your standard twin swimming pools and a ballroom are languishing.

Who's hurting the most? Let's start with the Greenwich, Conn., estate of the late Leona "Queen of Mean" Helmsley, onetime real estate heiress and convicted felon. This 22,000-square-foot summer home on 40 acres, dubbed Dunnellen Hall (what, is it in West Sussex, England?), can't move even at a bargain-basement $60 million. Last year it was listed for $125 million. You do get a million-dollar dance floor, a 70-foot marble reflecting pool and a 1,125-square-foot living room. So what's the problem?

Continue reading Luxury homes for sale: Such a deal!

A Christmas Carol for the age of foreclosure

Charles Feldman Dec 16th 2009 @ 4:00PM EST Filed Under: Home, Real Estate, Recession

As Christmas time approached, Derek Frazier got the bad news from his bank: his Fort Lauderdale house was being placed in foreclosure, like so many other houses in the Sunshine State. Frazier had been out of work for months.

It didn't take long for the electricity to stop surging though the modest home; it had been turned off by the electric company.

To keep his family warm , Frazier reportedly started using an indoor gas generator to provide power. It also provided an atmosphere saturated with carbon monoxide.

This week, Frazier's four young children were rushed to an area hospital suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Continue reading A Christmas Carol for the age of foreclosure

Home buyers vow to spend tax credit wisely

Amy Pyle Dec 16th 2009 @ 3:45PM EST Filed Under: Home, Real Estate

The recent extension of the $6,500 federal home buyer tax credit to existing homeowners stands to help the economy, according to a new survey by Coldwell Banker.

Only 6% of those 1,000 surveyed said they would splurge -- on shopping or vacations. Though no one wants to appear frivolous in a survey, especially in this era of frugality, the fact that 83% said they would put the money toward more humdrum expenses implies maybe they really meant it.

In all 34% said they would pay off debts, 29% would make improvements to their home and 28% even said they would put the $6,500 into savings.

As part of a political compromise, the credit -- originally reserved for first-time home buyers -- was extended early last month to anyone buying a home before April 30, 2010.

The survey also found that 20% of homeowners were more motivated to buy a home than they were six months ago because of the credit.

Home Depot, Obama and sexy: 3 terms not normally found together

Tom Kraeutler Dec 16th 2009 @ 12:30PM EST Filed Under: Sex Sells, Home, Real Estate, Recession, Taxes-tax credits

Adding an entertaining dimension to the appeal of energy-saving home improvements and building on the promise of new tax incentives for homeowners, President Barack Obama termed insulation "a sexy subject" during a Home Depot visit in Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday.

"Here's what's sexy about it. It saves money," Obama noted in comments aimed at encouraging Congress to pass incentives for homeowners who insulate and otherwise upgrade their homes to make them more energy efficient.

Continue reading Home Depot, Obama and sexy: 3 terms not normally found together

Is 30 too old ... for a mortgage?

Charles Feldman Dec 15th 2009 @ 9:00AM EST Filed Under: Real Estate, Recession, Mortgages

It may be time to have a re-think! About what? About 30-year fixed rate mortgages.

I know, this is practically sacrosanct territory in this country and questioning it is like questioning, well, God or country.

But there are those who are, in fact, raising some questions about the wisdom of this American institution -- most countries offer only adjustable rate mortgages.

For one thing, the typical American picks up and moves every 5 to 10 years, says the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). That makes a 30-year fixed rate mortgage sort of silly on the face of it.

Continue reading Is 30 too old ... for a mortgage?

Is 'default, then rent' the new American Dream - or sign of a bottom?

Zac Bissonnette Dec 14th 2009 @ 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Real Estate

Headlines in the mainstream media are often notorious for getting it wrong. But in the case of the recent Wall Street Journal story about how renting is the "new American Dream," the questionable premise could be suggesting that the real estate market is finally approaching a bottom.

First, some historical backstory. On Aug. 13, 1979, BusinessWeek ran the now infamous headline "The Death of Equities," proclaiming that "The masses long ago switched from stocks to investments having higher yields and more protection from inflation. Now the pension funds -- the market's last hope -- have won permission to quit stocks and bonds for real estate, futures, gold, and even diamonds. The death of equities looks like an almost permanent condition -- reversible someday, but not soon."

That article marked, almost exactly, the bottom in the stock market -- and the beginning of a 20-year long bull run that would provide investors with the highest rate of return in U.S. history. In other words, the BusinessWeek piece couldn't have been more wrong, but actually offered some value as a contrarian indicator.

Continue reading Is 'default, then rent' the new American Dream - or sign of a bottom?

Property taxes too high and outdated? Don't wait, appeal

Charles Feldman Dec 14th 2009 @ 9:00AM EST Filed Under: Real Estate, Tax, Taxes-advice

Why wait?

That's the question more and more homeowners are reportedly asking themselves nowadays as they try to deal with property taxes on their homes that no longer represent anything remotely resembling reality.

The Baltimore Sun newspaper tells the story of one man who bought a house for $165,000 last spring, but the state's tax assessment on the property, made two years before his purchase, values the home at $268,000.

But rather than wait it out till the next official reassessment, the man in question opted to do something that many people probably don't even know they can do: He appealed the assessment.

In Maryland alone, says the Sun, so-called petitions for review have skyrocketed from a little more than 5,000 last year to more than 15,000 this year.

There is even limited but growing on-line help for those wanting to appeal their property taxes. ValueAppeal, which is based in Washington state, offers appeal help for a nominal fee. Currently, the site offers help for three states but plans to expand.

Continue reading Property taxes too high and outdated? Don't wait, appeal

Bankers win the war, 'distressed' homeowners left on hook

Charles Feldman Dec 12th 2009 @ 7:00PM EST Filed Under: Banks, Real Estate, Bankruptcy, Mortgages

Guess those mortgage bankers showed Congress who's the boss ... They are!

Only a day after the Mortgage Bankers Association fired off a stern letter of warning to Congressional leaders about attempts to change foreclosure bankruptcy laws to ease the plight of those facing foreclosure and help end the still threatening housing crisis, the House of 'Who The Heck Are We Representatives?" shot the proposal dead.

But make no mistake about it, the House may have been holding the gun, but the mortgage bankers provided the ammunition.

Continue reading Bankers win the war, 'distressed' homeowners left on hook

Layaway your vacation home? Give me a break!

Ann Brenoff Dec 11th 2009 @ 5:30PM EST Filed Under: Budgets, Debt, Home, Real Estate

Whatever happened to the idea that if you can't afford something, you don't buy it? Didn't living above our means get us into this recessionary mess in the first place? No, I'm not an anti-credit card fanatic; I just believe in paying them off each month. What I don't believe in is layaway. If you can't afford it today, why do you think you can afford it piecemeal or at all?

So this item got my ire: We are now being encouraged to use an installment payment plan to pay for our vacations. The writer in Realty Times says: Retailers are doing it, so why not vacation rental owners? Easy answer dude: Buying a washing machine may be a necessary expense and one you have to make on layaway. But taking a vacation, and I like to get away as much as the next guy, just isn't. Vacations are luxuries and in these times, luxuries are what we give up first.

Continue reading Layaway your vacation home? Give me a break!

Bankers say no way to proposed mortgage bankruptcy changes

Charles Feldman Dec 11th 2009 @ 9:00AM EST Filed Under: Real Estate, Bankruptcy, Mortgages, Refinancing

It's war!

The Mortgage Bankers Association has just fired off a letter to Congressional leaders opposing in no uncertain terms the expected introduction of a so-called mortgage bankruptcy "cram-down" amendment to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The amendment will be put forth by Representative John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan.

Many economists believe -- as do I-- that the only real way to put the brakes on foreclosures is to allow bankruptcy judges, in certain cases, the flexibility to not only reduce mortgage interest payments but also the actual principal of the loan. They already can do this for second vacation-type homes (meaning, oddly, the rich can take advantage of this should they face foreclosure on their second property) but , under current law, cannot touch the principal on primary mortgages.

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Foreclosures way down, but does that equal good news?

Charles Feldman Dec 10th 2009 @ 5:30PM EST Filed Under: Banks, Home, Real Estate, Mortgages

Is this what we have finally been waiting for? Really good news about foreclosures. My guess is, don't get too excited by any short term "trends"--- but, that said, the latest news from RealtyTrac just out today is encouraging.

Foreclosure filings decreased again in November, down almost 8% from the previous month. That marks the fourth month in a row that was the case.

Of course, there is still plenty of bad news because the foreclosure rate is up an enormous 18% from a year ago this time.

Right now, the RealtyTrac report reveals that one in every 417 households got a foreclosure notice last month alone.

Continue reading Foreclosures way down, but does that equal good news?

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