Bidding Wars Seen More Frequently

Bidding wars are back – at least in some parts of the country where falling prices are pitting investors against homebuyers looking for a good deal.The parts of the country most likely to see warring bids are parts of California and Arizona, Washington D.C., and Minneapolis-St. Paul, according to real estate practitioners and other observers.Having cash in hand can be persuasive in a bidding situation. Sellers are inclined to choose offers that aren’t likely to fall through, says Frank Borges Borges LLosa, owner of FranklyRealty.com, a real-estate brokerage in Arlington, Va.Connie Vaughn, an associate with ZipRealty in the Los Angeles area, says one of her clients won the bidding when he offered $20,000 above the $66,000 asking price for a four-bedroom home in Adelanto, Calif., that sold for $200,000 in 2004.Vaughn says she believes that mortgage companies are deliberately setting prices low on REO homes just to stimulate bidding situations.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (04/23/2009)

Where to Get Foreclosure Help

With all the dubious assistance programs and out-right scams preying on home owners facing foreclosure, it can be difficult to find legitimate help.Here’s a list of programs that are either operated by the U.S. government or have its seal of approval:

To find a counselor, contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at (800) 569-4287 or (877) 483-1515, or go to www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm
Call (888) 995-HOPE, the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline to reach a nonprofit, HUD-approved counselor through HOPE NOW, a cooperative effort of mortgage counselors and lenders to assist homeowners.
Visit NeighborWorks America’s Web site at www.nw.org/network/home.asp
Go to this Web site for information on federal mortgage modification and refinancing programs: www.makinghomeaffordable.gov
The Controller of the Currency’s consumer information site for banking-related questions is www.helpwithmybank.gov
OCC Customer Assistance Group and consumer assistance site: www.occ.gov/customer.htm
Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/homes/rea04.shtm
Federal Reserve Board: www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/foreclosurescamtips/default.htm
NeighborWorks America: http://www.nw.org
HOPE NOW: www.hopenow.com Source: Controller of the Currency (04/21/2009

MORE MONEY FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS

More Tax Credits Available for First-Time Buyers

Most potential homebuyers know about the widely publicized $8,000 federal tax credit for first-home purchases in 2009. What many don't know is that they also might qualify for the NC Housing Finance Agency's Mortgage Credit Certificate program, which provides an annual tax credit for as long as they own the home.



Buying Your First Home?
Save Up to $2,000 a Year
on Your Income Taxes
3508 Bush Street, Raleigh, NC 27609
No state or federal tax dollars were used
to print this brochure. February 2009
A SELF-SUPPORTING PUBLIC AGENCY

If you are buying your first home, a Mortgage Credit
Certificate (MCC) from the North Carolina Housing
Finance Agency can put more money in your pocket
and make your mortgage payment more affordable.
The MCC allows eligible buyers to take a federal tax credit of 20
percent of the mortgage interest you pay annually. It can save
you up to $2,000 each year that you occupy your new home. The
MCC can be used with the new $8,000 federal tax credit, until
that credit expires in December 2009.
Because the MCC is an immediate tax credit, you can change
the withholding allowances on your W4 to reflect your decreased
tax liability and increase your monthly take-home pay.
Who is Eligible?
The MCC is available to first-time home
buyers who meet the sales price and
income limits. The maximum sales price
limit is up to $220,000 and the maximum
income ranges from $85,000 for a family
of three in areas such as Raleigh down
to $62,000 in more rural areas.
How Does the MCC Work?
If you borrow $183,000 at 5.5 percent interest, you will pay
approximately $10,000 in interest in the first 12 months of your
mortgage. With the 20 percent MCC, you can reduce your federal
income tax liability by $2,000 for that year, allowing you to reduce
your monthly tax withholding by $166. Over the first 10 years of
ownership, you would save $18,547 in federal taxes. And if you
purchase your home by December 1, 2009, the $8,000 federal tax
credit can be used in conjunction with the MCC. (Consult your lender
for details.) Like all homeowners, you can also claim an interest
deduction on the remaining 80 percent of the interest you pay.
An MCC can be used with almost any fixed-rate mortgage, and
with some adjustable rate mortgages. The property must be the
home buyer’s primary residence.
Learn How an MCC Can Help You
The MCC is offered statewide by the North Carolina Housing
Finance Agency through more than 700 lenders and their
branches. Participating lenders
can be found in the Home Buyers
section at www.nchfa.com
or by calling 1-800-393-0988.

Oakboro Cruise-in & Burnout: It's April - That Means BURNOUT!

Oakboro Cruise-in & Burnout: It's April - That Means BURNOUT!
We are ready for the Cruise In.
Look for us beside of Mimi and Pops Antiques.
We have T-Shirts ,Dye Cast Cars , Hats and
Postcards to give away!!!
The New Oakboro Books are out and we have them to give to you here at the April Cruise In.
Ya'll Come See Us Now, Ya Hear!
www.MYOAKBORO.com

WHAT IS YOUR FICO SCORE

What’s in your FICO® score
FICO Scores are calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report. This data can be grouped into five categories as outlined below. The percentages reflect how important each of the categories is in determining your FICO score.

These percentages are based on the importance of the five categories for the general population. For particular groups - for example, people who have not been using credit long - the importance of these categories may be somewhat different.

Payment History is 35%
Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgements, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
Severity of delinquency (how long past due)
Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
Time since (recency of) past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any)
Number of past due items on file
Number of accounts paid as agreed

Amounts Owed is 30%
Amount owing on accounts
Amount owing on specific types of accounts
Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
Number of accounts with balances
Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)

Length of Credit History is 15%
Time since accounts opened
Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
Time since account activity

New Credit is 10%
Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
Number of recent credit inquiries
Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
Time since credit inquiry(s)
Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

Types of Credit Used is 10%
Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)

Please note that:
A FICO score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two.No one piece of information or factor alone will determine your score.
The importance of any factor depends on the overall information in your credit report.For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance of any factor in determining your FICO score. Thus, it's impossible to say exactly how important any single factor is in determining your score - even the levels of importance shown here are for the general population, and will be different for different credit profiles. What's important is the mix of information, which varies from person to person, and for any one person over time.
Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report.However, lenders look at many things when making a credit decision including your income, how long you have worked at your present job and the kind of credit you are requesting.
Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report.Late payments will lower your score, but establishing or re-establishing a good track record of making payments on time will raise your FICO credit score

For more info Please Contact Your Mortgage Consultant. This information was provided by:

Ritchie Love

Mortgage Consultant NorStar Mortgage Group
7900 Matthews-Mint Hill Road, Suite 115Charlotte, NC 28227 Office: 704.573.4288, ext. 102
rlove28@bellsouth.net
Fax: 704.545.5930
Mobile: 704.607.1497
Tell him you saw this information on our Blog Site.

GAINS EXPECTED IN HOME SALES

Gains expected in home sales
Pending home sales have edged up, hinting at a possible pickup of sales activity in coming months, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR reported increases in pending home sales across most of the country, except in the West, where the index fell 13.5 percent from January's numbers. The PHSI in the Northeast rose 10.6 percent in February. In the Midwest the index jumped 14.5 percent, and in the South it is up 4.4 percent, compared to January.NAR's Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 2.1 percent compared to January. The slight bump in monthly activity however, was not enough to offset a 1.4 percent annual decline in pending home sales for February. Also in February, NAR reported that housing affordability rose to a new high, representing the most favorable conditions for buying a home in more than three decades.


Source: DSNews.com

THIS BILL WOULD REFORM HOME MORTGAGE INDUSTRY

Bill would reform home mortgage industryLegislators on Capitol Hill are preparing to take up a comprehensive plan that would fundamentally reform the home mortgage market, starting this year. Had the proposed rules and standards been in place earlier in the decade, say congressional supporters, they could have eliminated much of the funny-money loans, slipshod underwriting and Wall Street abuses that distorted the market from 2002 through 2006. The boom wouldn't have been as big, and the bust might not have happened.The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009 (H.R. 1728) is expected to move quickly through the House this month and go to the Senate by May. The odds of passage in some form are high, according to banking and housing industry lobbyists. Here's what the legislation would do:* Ban all fees paid to loan officers that are tied to the interest rate of the mortgage or the type of the loan. The new bill would prohibit any compensation -- "direct or indirect" -- that is tied to the rate or terms of the mortgage. The bill does permit homebuyers or refinancers to opt for a slightly higher note rate to finance closing costs.* Create mandatory minimum national quality standards for all mortgages. Allow borrowers who are put into mortgages that violate the new law to seek legal redress through cancellation of the loan contract, refund of all payments and fees and compensation for legal costs.

Source: Los Angeles Times; Distributed by the Washington Post Writers Group

TREAD CAREFULLY WHEN MAKING A LOW- BALL OFFER

Tread Carefully When Making a Low-Ball Offer These days, it’s easier to make a low-ball offer than it used to be, but still it’s important to be smart. Here are some things that a real estate practitioner and would-be buyer should consider when contemplating such an offer:
● Use foreclosures as comps carefully. Look realistically at the prices foreclosures in the neighborhood brought. Foreclosures aren’t good comps if the homes were stripped of appliances, pipes, HVAC, etc.
● Examine details of short sales critically. How many liens were there against low-selling short sales? If there were no secondary liens, the lender had considerable flexibility.
● Establish realistic time frames. Even in the best of circumstances, foreclosure takes a long time. Will the seller play the waiting game? How long have houses whose owners have equity stayed on the market? Is the buyer in a hurry? If your buyer makes a low-ball offer, the bank probably won’t be in any rush to take it. They’ll likely just keep soliciting offers without coming back with a counter. Ultimately, the property is likely to sell for a higher price and, chances are, you and your buyer won’t know it until the deal is done.


Source: ThinkGlinck, Ilyce R. Glink (03/30/2009)

RECOVERY HAS BEGUN

Top Economists Say Recovery Has Begun Economic recovery is about making people feel more confident, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com. Zandi evidenced increasing home sales and gains in the stock market are some promising signs that the worst is over and people will start spending again.“We’re starting to see some pent-up demand for goods,” he says.But Zandi warns that the situation is still fragile. "Confidence is a very fickle thing. It can go from abject pessimism that pervades now to a more balanced view of the world rather quickly.”Robert Brusca of FAO Economics is predicting strong growth in the last half of the year and a quick recovery for the labor market. "You've lost 5 million jobs. It shouldn't be hard to put 2.5 million jobs back on rather quickly after you hit bottom," he said.Joseph Carson, chief economist at AllianceBernstein, calls improving home sales, a rising stock market, and better-than-expected retail sales in February and March good signs of a turnaround. By the time President Obama’s stimulus package takes effect, the economy will be ready, he says. "The stimulus has a much better chance of working if trends are already turning up than if it needs to halt a decline," he said.Source: CNNMoney, Chris Isidore (04/06/2009)