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Archive for 'The Economy'
Haven’t We Learned Anything?
April 20th, 2010 categories: Loans / Financing, The Economy, Viewpoint
I just got the following email in my spam folder, from a mortgage lender out of Southern California:
Even though we’re not even close to getting out of our nation’s worst financial mess since the Great Depression, we’re already beginning to see a smattering of snake oil salesman peddling loans that look and feel just like their subprime cousins that started this whole economic tailspin.
I guess I was naive to think that those flim-flam men and women who pushed people into homes they clearly couldn’t afford had left our industry for good.
No, it looks like they’ve just been laying low for the last few years. Read the rest of this entry »
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Will California’s First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Money Run Out Almost Before It Begins?
April 15th, 2010 categories: Buying, The Economy
$100 Million Could Be All Gone By Mother’s Day
California’s first-time buyer tax credit, which is slated to begin May 1, the day after the federal tax credit goes away, may be very short-lived, according to a just-release analysis by our state trade association, the California Assn. of Realtors (CAR).
According to CAR, the entire $100 million that the state legislature allocated for first-time buyer tax credits could be entirely used up in the first 10-20 days after the credit takes effect.
That means the money could be all spoken for shortly after Mother’s Day, if CAR’s prediction is accurate.
An email I received from CAR earlier today said that its economic team had looked at projected May sales and figured that all $100 million will likely be gone in the first few weeks of May. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tax Relief For Distressed Solano County Sellers Finally Goes Into Law
April 13th, 2010 categories: Foreclosures / Short Sales, Selling, The Economy
Not only did the rain clouds disappear yesterday, but so too did the dark black clouds that had been hanging over many penniless 
distress-sale sellers from last year, who were about to incur huge state income tax bills.
But just about the same time the skies parted over Solano County yesterday afternoon, a new tax relief law went into effect, which will save distressed sellers who sold their homes in 2009 thousands of dollars.
The Long Wait Is Over
Prior to the passage of SB 401, most California sellers who received debt relief through a short sale, foreclosure or loan modification would have been required to report the forgiven debt as ordinary income and pay taxes on it.
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6 Big Real Estate Changes For Benicia-Vallejo Home Buyers & Sellers This Month
April 5th, 2010 categories: Buying, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Loans / Financing, Selling, The Economy
If you’re planning to buy or sell a home in Benicia, Vallejo or even anywhere else in Solano County, you may need a scorecard to keep track of all the changes that either already have occurred or will take place by the end of April.
I’ve been a real estate agent since 1995. And before that I worked in the title and new homes sectors of our business — dating all the way back to 1978. And in all the years I’ve been in the real estate business, I can’t remember another time when this many changes occurred in one single month.
So if you’ve got your scorecard ready, here’s a quick overview of some of the changes that are taking place in April: Read the rest of this entry »
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Is The Party Over For Low Mortgage Rates?
March 31st, 2010 categories: Buying, Loans / Financing, The Economy
Will Rates Skyrocket As Some Previously Predicted?
Today marks the end of an unprecedented era for the mortgage market.
That’s because this is the final day of the Federal Reserve’s 14-month program to buy up mortgage-backed securities (MBS) — a practice that has kept mortgage rates down in the 5-percent-and-below range.
The Fed’s MBS purchase program was initiated by the government in order to keep mortgage money flowing at the time our economy was suffering through its darkest hours.
Buoyed by a consensus that the economy was on the mend, last fall, the government proclaimed that it would end its MBS buy-back program by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
In other words: today.
A New Era Starts Tomorrow
So starting tomorrow, MBS purchases will fall on the shoulders of regular investors, which means that mortgage rates will again be determined by the free marketplace, without any governmental support. Read the rest of this entry »
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BofA Will Slash Loan Balance By 30% For Some Underwater Borrowers Starting In May
March 28th, 2010 categories: Foreclosures / Short Sales, Loans / Financing, The Economy
Bank of America just announced a new loan modification program that could help hundreds if not thousands of underwater Solano County homeowner.
This represents the first attempt by a major bank — and they don’t get much bigger than banking giant BofA — to slash an underwater borrower’s principal rather than simply reducing the interest rate for a period of time.
BofA’s newly announced program is slated to start in May and it’s not available for every BofA borrower. Read the rest of this entry »
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Are Mortgage Rates Going Up, Up, Up?
December 27th, 2009 categories: Loans / Financing, The Economy
UPDATE (12-28-09): Just came across this Washington Post article, which says that Freddie Mac is predicting interest rates of 6% at some point in 2010.
When you watch the real estate market on a daily basis, as I do, it’s easy to read too much into a few solitary changes over a relatively short period of time.
But every new or emerging trend has to start somewhere, doesn’t it?
And that’s what’s caused me to wonder if the recent uptick in interest rates is just a random blip on the radar screen or instead the beginning of a climb towards higher and higher mortgage rates.
If you haven’t been watching the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (on the left sidebar of our web site), you may not have noticed, but over the past three weeks, interest rates have turned north.
As of Christmas Eve, interest rates nationally had risen to their highest level (5.05%) since Labor Day. And that was just three weeks after hitting an all-time low of 4.71%.
On a historical or even year-to-date scale, a rate of just over 5% shouldn’t sound like bad news at all. Read the rest of this entry »
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HOT NEWS…Congress Extends First-Timer Tax Credit & Adds A New One For Move-Ups
November 5th, 2009 categories: Buying, The Economy
$8,000 For First-Timers, $6,500 For Some Move-Ups
Congress earlier today overwhelmingly approved long-awaited legislation extending the tax credit for first-time buyers and adopting a new tax credit for many move-up buyers.
Assuming President Obama signs the bill, which he’s already said he’ll do, the new law will go into effect as soon the existing tax credit expires at the end of this month.
So if you’re in escrow and qualify for the current $8,000 first-time buyer credit, as long as you close escrow by Nov. 30, nothing changes.
The new law extends the credit to Apr. 30, 2010 and allows an additional 60 day extension to close escrow for those who are already in contract by that date. Read the rest of this entry »
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Home Buyer Tax Credit Update: A New Credit May Be On The Books By Week’s End
October 27th, 2009 categories: Buying, The Economy
Update (10-31-09) Congress is still tweaking the bill and it appears that they’ll now vote on the bill sometime next week. The current proposal now calls for keeping the credit at $8,000 for first-time buyers and giving move-up buyers a $6,500 credit (as long as they’ve lived in their current home for at least 5 of the last 8 years).
Legislators were busy on the home buyer tax credit front earlier today, crafting what may soon be a new and improved home buyer tax credit. Well, not sure about “improved,” but it will definitely be new.
Keep in mind that all of this is still subject to change as Congress and the White House decide how best to keep the housing market moving forward without saddling the country with any extra unnecessary debt.
As of mid-day Tuesday, various real estate and media outlets were reporting that Senators had potentially reached agreement on Tax Credit III.
If nothing changes between now and the time President Obama signs it, according to what I’ve read and heard, here is what the new credit might look like: Read the rest of this entry »
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Tax Credit Update: Will It Stay Or Will It Go?
October 25th, 2009 categories: Buying, The Economy
With only 36 days to before the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit expires, the winds surrounding its fate are swirling all around Capitol Hill these days, as lawmakers try to decide whether to extend it or let it fade away.
From what I’ve been reading and hearing, there seems to be strong sentiment in Washington to extend the credit. But for how long or in what form still seems very much open to debate.
The options that have been bandied about in recent weeks include: Read the rest of this entry »
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