Five Great Things about Homeownership

If you've been on the fence about homeownership, now is the time to take a leap! Don't let the negative press deter you from one of life's greatest joys. Take a look at five short and sweet reasons that homeownership is great! 1.

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Foreclosure inventories growing in states that allow judicial foreclosure

The percentage of homes in the foreclosure process continued to climb in September, even as delinquencies and foreclosure starts declined, according to the latest report from data aggregator Lender Processing Services Inc.

While fewer... Continued »

The end of the Google Maps free ride

Real estate is one of those industries where maps are really useful. My clients and friends who practice real estate often tell me that many home searchers start by thinking about what neighborhood they want to live in. Maps are useful... Continued »

What you should know about backup real estate offers

Buyers who lose out in a multiple-offer competition or who make an offer a little too late may be offered the opportunity to be in a backup position. A backup offer is one that's accepted subject to the collapse of an already accepted... Continued »

Real estate price declines overshooting fundamentals?

PMI: Income growth has outstripped home-price growth in most states

Inman News™
By INMAN NEWS

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Home prices have fallen below fundamental values in more than half of U.S. states, overcorrecting from bubbles in some markets and dragged down by the recession in others.

That's the conclusion of analysts at mortgage insurer PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., who warn home prices during the next few years will vary "far more by location than usual."

PMI's monthly analysis of economic, housing and mortgage market conditions attempts to tackle the question, "Have house prices fallen by enough to be affordable again?" The answer to that question depends on where you live, PMI analysts said.

PMI looked at home prices relative to income at the state level, using 1995 as a baseline. Because of home-price declines during the bust, growth in per capita income has outstripped home prices in 35 states over that time frame. Home prices are trailing income growth by double-digit rates in 30 states, PMI said.

States that saw significant price appreciation during the boom but which have now seen prices overcorrect include Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and West Virginia, PMI said.

States that were largely immune to speculative bubbles but which have seen home prices dragged down below fundamentals by the recession include Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

States where home prices still appear elevated relative to income include Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

PMI's analysis showed prices have returned to historical norms relative to income in Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

There are many ways to measure affordability, but PMI chose to compare home prices to income because over time they should grow at similar rates.

In states where home prices have outstripped income growth, it's possible that those prices can be supported if there are space constraints that preclude building more homes in desirable areas, the report noted.

In other cases, prices will have to fall further to bring house prices and incomes back into line. Because incomes are expected to rise over time, future price drops may be less than suggested by PMI's analysis.

"House prices will likely fall in some areas in the near term, while rising in others as the recovery gains traction in different markets at different times," the report concluded. "Each area's recovery will depend on local supply and demand fundamentals such as economic growth, the amount of distressed sales, and household formations -- likely augmented by how far above, or below, prices vary from incomes."

The report forecasts that home sales will pick up in 2011, especially in the second half of the year, thanks to an expected rise in job growth, increasing numbers of households, and low mortgage rates.

PMI economists project existing sales will grow by 8.7 percent in 2011, to 5.36 million units, while sales of new homes will climb 19.9 percent to 385,000 units. Home prices are likely to continue a seasonal decline for a few months before edging upward as sales increase, the report said.

Little-known secret to reduce mortgage payment

Request loan recast when financial disaster strikes

Inman News™
By JACK GUTTENTAG

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A mortgage recast is an adjustment in the monthly payment that makes the payment fully amortizing. The recast will be a payment increase when the existing payment is less than fully amortizing, and a payment decrease when the existing payment is more than fully amortizing.

For example, let's say your home loan has a balance of $100,000 at 5 percent with 300 months to go and a payment of $450 that, if continued, will not pay off the balance. The payment recast is an increase to $584.60, which will fully amortize the balance over 300 months. However, if the current payment was $650, the recast would be a payment decrease to $584.60.

Payment-increase recasts occur on two kinds of mortgages. One carries an interest-only option, where the required payment for some initial period, often 10 years, covers only the interest. The payment-increase recast occurs at the end of the interest-only period.

The second type of mortgage open to a payment-increase recast is the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) that allows payments that are less than fully amortizing. These ARMs sometimes have recasts at specified intervals, often every five years, or the recast may be triggered by the loan balance reaching some limiting value, such as 110 percent of the original loan amount. This can happen at any time, or it may not happen at all.

Payment-increase recasts are designed to protect the interest of the lender by making sure that the loan will pay off as scheduled. All interest-only loans and all ARMs that allow payments that are less than fully amortizing have explicit provisions for recasts in the loan contract.

Provisions for payment-decrease recasts, in contrast, which are designed to meet the needs of borrowers, are not included in loan contracts. The lender can agree to a recast; can agree subject to a charge, which can range from nominal to extortionate; or can refuse it. I have encountered all three such responses.

The borrowers who request recasts usually have fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) on which they have been making extra payments in order to pay off before term, and then unexpectedly encounter a financial reversal. With their income reduced, their objective shifts from paying off early to reducing the payment, for which purpose they need a recast. They deserve it, and the cost to the lender is nominal, but some lenders will take advantage of them just because they can.

The borrower's right to a payment-reducing recast ought to be mandatory for all home mortgage contracts. Borrowers should not have to grovel for what can be critically important to them and of little consequence to lenders. Making recasts into a right would have the side benefit of encouraging borrowers to make extra payments as a form of contingency insurance.

Note that payment-reducing recasts are needed for fixed-rate mortgages much more than for ARMs. The reason is that when the interest rate is adjusted on an ARM, the payment is automatically recast. On ARMs that reset the rate every year, no additional recasts are needed. On ARMs with initial rate periods of 5-10 years, however, the need for a recast can arise in the early years just as it does on FRMs.

Today, borrowers are motivated to make extra payments primarily by the hope of getting out of debt sooner. With a right of recast made explicit, they will also view extra payments as a worst-case backstop. The more you pay when you have the means, the larger the payment reduction you can command in an emergency. I can't think of an easier way to motivate consumers to save more.

The writer is professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Comments and questions can be left at www.mtgprofessor.com.

Home Ownership Offers Plenty of Tax Benefits
While renting offers zero tax breaks, buying a home offers several tax benefits that can make homeownership more affordable. Real estate professionals need to be careful in providing detailed tax advice to clients to avoid lawsuits, but you can ensure clients have the information they need to understand the all of the tax benefits of home ownership.
The following is a few of the tax benefits to home ownership, according to Stephen Fishman, an author and lawyer who specializes in small business, tax and intellectual property law.
▪ Home mortgage interest deduction: Home owners can take an itemized deduction on interest paid on a mortgage or mortgages of up to $1 million for a principal residence and/or second home. This deduction could potentially reduce the cost of borrowing by one-third or more.
▪ Property tax deduction: Home owners can deduct from their federal income taxes the state and local property taxes that you pay on the home.
▪ Deductible home buying expenses: Several closing costs in a home purchase are also deductible, such as loan origination fees (points), prorated interest on a new loan, and prorated property taxes paid at settlement.
▪ $250,000/$500,000 home-sale exclusion: Home owners who have lived in their home for two of the prior five years prior to its sale do not have to pay income tax on the majority of their profit — $250,000 for single home owners and $500,000 for married homeowners who file jointly.
▪ 14 days of free rental income: Home owners can rent the home up to 14 days during the year and pay no tax at all on the rental income.
Source: “The Tax Benefits of Homeownership,” Inman News (Feb. 4, 2011) (log in required)

 
 
 
Colorado foreclosures fall
Is the worst over?
Colorado foreclosure activity dropped in the last three months of 2010, according to a new state report.There were 10,736 foreclosure filings in Colorado in the fourth quarter, a 4.8 percent drop from the 11,286 in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the Colorado Division of Housing report. Foreclosure sales at public trustee auctions, recorded a 14.17 percent drop, falling to 4,691 in the fourth quarter from 5,466 in the same period in 2009, according to the state division. Total foreclosure filings last year dropped by 8 percent to 42,692 from the record 46,394 in 2009. Last year marked the second highest total for foreclosure filings.
Foreclosure auction sales also surged in 2010, rising 16.9 percent to 23,891 from 20,437 in 2009. However, last year’s foreclosure auction sales trailed the record 25,054 recorded in 2007.
Increase in sales expected
“The large number of sales in 2010 was the inevitable follow-up to the record number of new foreclosure filings in 2009,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesperson for the housing division. “The number of new properties put into the foreclosure pipeline in 2009 was so large that we knew we’d see an increase in foreclosure sales some time later. These foreclosure numbers are still closely connected to the increases in unemployment that began in late 2008.”
Although 2010 foreclosure totals were at near-record highs, the report also noted that new foreclosure filings have been largely declining over the past eighteen months. According to the report, “recently-collected quarterly and monthly totals indicate that foreclosure filings continue to fall from peak levels, and 2010’s fourth-quarter total for foreclosure filings remains 14 percent below 2009’s third-quarter peak.”
Still, McMaken noted: “If filings continue to go down, sales at auction will eventually have to fall as well.”
Filings down across the board
All Front Range metropolitan counties reported drops in foreclosure filings in 2010. From 2009 to 2010, Adams County filings fell 13.4 percent while Denver County filings fell 17.7 percent. Foreclosure filings in Pueblo County fell 11.9 percent during the same period. In Mesa County, the most populous county on the Western Slope, foreclosure filings increased 29.6 percent from 2009 to 2010, while filings in Garfield County and La Plata County increased 64 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.
At the same time, all Front Range metropolitan counties except Denver County reported year-over-year increases in foreclosure sales at auction. Comparing 2009 to 2010, sales rose 4.3 percent and 13.1 percent in Adams County and Arapahoe County, respectively, and fell 7.3 percent in Denver County. During the same period, sales rose 173.0 percent in Mesa County and rose 36 percent in La Plata County.
Foreclosure sales are opened foreclosures that have proceeded through the full foreclosure process to final sale at public auction. Filings denote the beginning of the foreclosure process, and once a foreclosure is filed, the borrower has at least 110-120 days to work with the lender to avoid a completed foreclosure. It is during this period that borrowers work with lenders and housing counselors to work out loan modifications, short sales, or other ways of withdrawing the foreclosure.
The full report is available on the Division of Housing blog.

By Tony Kindelspire
© 2011 Longmont Times-Call

LONGMONT — Firestone has sent a letter of support for Longmont’s bid to land a portion of the Aerospace and Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Park.

The town mailed its letter of support, dated Wednesday, to Elaine Thorndike, the CEO of the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology. CAMT will be making the final decision on the sites for the park sometime in mid-March, with input from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

Firestone wrote that it is supporting Longmont’s bid to land the portion of the ACE park that will go into an existing location. CAMT also will be choosing a “greenfield” site where a new building or buildings could be built. Longmont won’t be submitting a bid on a greenfield site.

“It’s almost become a cliché, but regional collaboration is critical to what we’re trying to do in Firestone,” said Mayor Chad Auer, who signed the letter.

Firestone will be submitting its own bid to CAMT for the greenfield site, but Auer wrote in the letter that he felt Longmont’s “location, proximity to transportation corridors, rail, technology and public infrastructure is ideally suited for” the portion of the park going into an existing structure.

Longmont Mayor Bryan Baum said he was extremely appreciative of the endorsement from Firestone, and that recent acrimony — including lawsuits — between the two communities is a thing of the past...........  Read the Full Article online at the Longmmont Times-Call

This was sent to me by a friend.

 I locked  my car. As I walked away I heard my car door  unlock. I went back
and locked my car again  three times. Each time, as soon as I started  to
walk away, I would hear it unlock  again! 
Naturally  alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys  sitting in a car
in the fire lane next to the  store. They were obviously watching  me
intently, and there was no doubt they were  somehow involved in this very
weird situation.  I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in  my car
and sped away. I went straight to the  police station, told them what had
happened,  and found out I was part of a new, and very  successful, scheme
being used to gain entry  into cars.

Two weeks later, my friend's son  had a similar happening. While traveling,
my  friend's son stopped at a roadside rest to use the  bathroom. When he
came out to his car less than  4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into  his
car and stolen his cell phone, laptop  computer, GPS navigator,
briefcase--you name  it. He called the police and since there were no  signs
of his car being broken into, the police  told him he had been a victim of
the latest  robbery tactic--there is a device that robbers are  using now to
clone your security code when you  lock your doors on your car using your 
key-chain locking device.

They sit a distance away  and watch for their next victim. They know you  are
going inside of the store, restaurant, or  bathroom and that they now have a
few minutes  to steal and run. The police officer said to  manually lock your
car door by hitting the lock  button inside the car--that way if there  is
someone sitting in a parking lot watching  for their next victim, it will not
be  you!

When you hit the lock button on your  car upon exiting, it does not send the
security  code, but if you walk away and use the door lock  on your key chain,
it sends the code through  the airwaves where it can be
instantly stolen.  This is very real.

Be wisely aware of what  you just read and please pass this email  on.
Look how many times we all lock our doors  with our remote just to be sure we
remembered  to lock them-- and bingo, someone has our code and  whatever was
in our  car!

Snopes  verified--Please share with  everyone you know

As a tech saavy real estate broker, I frequently use googlebase for real estate listings and I'm sad to see it go.  Google announced that they're no longer providing Real Estate Listing services on their mapping platform as of February 10th 2011...read the entire article below from Google's Lat Long Blog.

Make a little extra cash when you're bored...Check out InboxDollars.com.  I came across this website last year and it's a site that pays you to read emails, take online survey's, play games, etc.  Marketers and application developers use this tool to test the market inexpensively in the U.S. and it's a neat way to take away .  Emails come through InboxDollars and they keep track of your work.  This site actually pays you, not like those other sites that entice you money, then when you go through all their BS, you wind up with an online store credit, or a coupon worth $10 for some crappy item.

Have you started getting your groupons, and daily deals?  It's free and easy, and there are some really great deals that come along.  This is an opt-in email service that bring you some really really great local deals right to your inbox, like an hour massage for $25 bucks, or 70% off a really great silk tie.

DEAL OVERVIEW:

Like black fingernails on rebelling teens, the tie is the self-expression outlet of the businessperson, so add some variety to your collection with today's deal by Jack Franklin, purveyor of 100%-silk, high-fashion ties at working-man's prices. For $12, you'll get a $40 credit to use on Jack's site and, with his kind of prices, that will score you at least one tie. For full description view this deal ›

1. Cost is the number one reason Experienced Realtors® align their businesses with Metro Brokers.  Slow biz High Costs = Poor Income, because your cost of doing business directly impacts your net income.  When You compare the cost of doing business as a Metro Broker vs. Wright Kingdom, KW, or ReMax  the spread is staggering.  All of these name brand firms want to take 15-27,000 of your hard earned commission, and for what?  All the same stuff you get for a 10th of the price...... Wake up people, there is no reason that your basic office costs should ecxeed $2400/year.  If they do then you need to call me at your earliest convenience.

Where’s the snow?  It’s the end of the year and I’ve only seen three snowflakes so far….what’s up with that?

Dear Friends,  I hope this letter finds you and your family in good spirits this holiday season!  This is the time of year when I can take time to reflect and think about my accomplishments, my family, the challenges we’ve faced and the good experiences we’ve had.  It’s hard to believe that another year has almost passed.

My wife and I have Teenagers!  Zach and Julia are both 13 years old and in 8^th grade!  Can you believe it?  They are young men and women now.

Zach is taking his coursework online from home, which has been a big adjustment for all of us.  In his free time he likes to learn new music, rock out on his guitar, ride his bike, and catch up with a thousand friends on facebook.   He grew his hair out long and Dave Davis said he looked a bit like Justin Bieber…But the long hair didn’t take away the fact that he’s a little stud with a great sense of humor.

Julia is a very busy bee with after school extracurriculars.  She’s in her 6^th year of Dance, practicing a style of dance called Lyrical, like hip hop and Ballet all mixed together or something.  She wants to be a veterinarian so she volunteers 1 afternoon a week at the humane society.   She spends her free time ignoring us, socializing with beasts (cute boys) on facebook, and filling up our queue on Netflix with TV series dramas like Bones and Dexter.  She’s such beautiful young woman and has a good heart!

Our youngest, Ava, made the transition from preschool to Kindergarten this year and she just turned 6.  She is also involved with Dance like her big sister and is taking Ballet this year.  She is missing her two front teeth right now and we’ve had a lot of fun singing “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth”.  This has been a big year for her and we’re so proud of her.  She learned to ride her bike without training wheels, learned how to write all of her letters big and small, outgrew all of her clothes, and loves learning to read.  She is a very sweet and funny kid…..a little bossy like her mother and such a joy to be around.

Natasha, is still practicing as an RN at our Hospital in Longmont in the Telemetry Unit.  She loves her job and touches the lives of many through her work.  I often have clients that know of Natasha or have had her as their nurse and they all give rave reviews about her.  That’s really cool.  This has been a bit of a sad year for her with two very difficult losses.  Her father passed away suddenly in March,  shortly after his birthday, and it was very hard – he was such a great man.  Her Golden Retreiver, our family pet, Rijik, had to be put to sleep this December at the age of 16^1/2, that was really hard.  Even through the difficult times, she hasn’t skipped a beat and takes care of our household like no other woman I know, she’s amazing!  In her free time she likes hiking and working in the yard.

And for me, I’m still selling real estate, going into my 8^th year as a Realtor, and running a real estate office network called Realty Alliance.  This year was challenging with the slowdown in the housing market, but still successful.   I’m really involved with my offices and corporate brand, Metro Brokers, as the co-chairman of their technology committee, and I’m running for a spot on the 2011 Metro Brokers Board of Directors.  I’m also pursuing some new and exciting ideas…that I’ll tell you about in a few years when they pan out.  This year I finished a remodel on an investment property, painted the exterior of our home, and remodeled one of our bathrooms and laundry room (with a friends help).  Natash and I are big time DIY’ers, and were fortunate to get some good  help from friends to speed things along.  In my free time I enjoy hiking and cycling, and put almost 700 miles on my bike over the summer!  My favorite ride of the year was up to Carter Lake because of the downhill stretch on the N. side of the Marina, I reached a top speed of 44mph..that was a fun experience.

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. 

TEXT "3670" to 79564 for information about my 2 Bedroom 1 bath condo for only  $80,000!