Short Sale Home Buyers and Home Sellers Need Patience

Unlike a foreclosure, in which the lender takes ownership of a property after a borrower misses several payments, a short sale is a transaction in which the owners, not the bank, sell the home; they receive no proceeds from the sale.

It sounds simple:  Owners need to sell their homes for less than they owe, lenders forgive the difference and buyers grab a good deal.  In reality,. the only “short” thing about short sales, buyers and sellers say, is one’s patience.  Banks are overwhelmed with short-sale requests, and some make sellers wait up to five months for an answer.” That answer, in some cases, may be “no.”  Although there are obstacles to successful short sales – lenders holding the first and second mortgages don’t agree on the terms, buyers often back out of the deal midstream or banks nix the agreement just before escrow closes – they’re on the rise.  The reason for the rise, is that as more financially strapped homeowners fall behind on their mortgage payments – and see their homes’ values plummet to less than what they owe – they’re turning to short sales as an alternative to foreclosure. Banks aren’t happy about short sales,  but they have few options.  Simply put, short sales are more cost-effective than foreclosures.

Patience is a virtue. The short-sale road is a long one. Once sellers have an offer, they must assemble a package to present to the bank, including a “hardship letter” explaining why they had to put the house up for sale – loss of employment, a spousal death, a divorce, a disability or a mortgage resetting, for example – and asking the bank to accept a short sale. The sellers also must provide income verification, their most recent bank and income-tax statements, the listing history of the house and other documentation. Then comes the wait.  Even if the seller gets approval, there’s only room for cautious optimism.  That’s because impatient buyers sometimes head elsewhere while the bank’s loss-mitigation officer, or negotiator, sifts through the pile of short-sale packages. Sometimes, while awaiting a bank’s decision, interest rates go up and buyers no longer qualify for a previously approved loan because their lock-in rates expired. Worse yet, a seller may get an initial approval from the bank, but in the eleventh hour the bank adds a contingency that skewers the deal. Second and third mortgages and even home equity loans can further complicate matters.

The wait, delays, and problems can be a headache, many home sellers and home buyers say, but many eventually have happy endings.  Problem solved for the home seller.  A bargain for the home buyer.  But remember, lenders will not accept short-sale offers that are far below market value. To the contrary, many banks net about 90% of the current market value on many of these sales. And the homes usually are sold “as is“.  Buyers looking for bargains should wait until short-sale and foreclosure prices are down about 35% from the peak market in their search area.  Short sales and foreclosures are where the bargains are.

Low Interest Rates Now For Home Buyers

 The mortgage market is still a hot topic in both the media and in Washington and interest rates are currently near or at all-time lows. If you want to take advantage of these low rates,  now is the time to act.

Lately there has been talk about the 4.5% 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Will it become a reality though? Right now, no one really knows. Homeowners who could benefit from a lower interest rate need to know that even if 4.5% becomes a reality from Washington’s actions, it would only be available to home buyers, not homeowners seeking to better their rate. If you need to refinance, you will be left out.

You also may have heard about Hope for Homeowners, which is a program approved by legislators to help distressed homeowners. However, regardless of its best intentions, the program has not been embraced by investors, and it is not available to many it could help.

The bottom line is, the Fed announced recently that they are going to buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities. This has already driven rates to historical lows. In January, the SEC is meeting and information may be released that could have a significant bearing on rates, potentially for the worse.

Waiting to obtain the best rate is only possible for those with loan applications already in process. Interest rates are incredibly volatile and fluctuations that used to take months are now occurring in just days or even hours. If you don’t have an application in process, you could lose out.

We are already seeing lender backlog due to low interest rates. In 2003, when interest rates were at these same low levels, some lenders were taking up to 90 days to close a loan.

Home loan rates are currently in the mid to low 5% range. Home values are currently at 2003-2004 levels, down significantly from their high point. If you are contemplating seeking financing, now is the time to act.

With a first time home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500 and low or no money down programs available for many people today, now is a great time to buy a home.

Shopping  For Auto Insurance Online And An Auto Insurance Rate

Search for auto insurance online.  Get an auto free insurance quote from
numerous auto insurance companies.  By checking multiple auto insurance
company rates, you can be confident you are getting the best auto insurance
quote available.

 You want a cheap auto insurance quote from a reliable auto insurance company.  An auto insurance rate can vary widely from one auto insurance company to another and from one area to another.  Auto free insurance quotes online don’t cost a penny, so compile  a list of auto insurance quotes.  Then check the auto insurance rates of each quote and find a cheap auto insurance quote from a good auto insurance company, preferably one with local offices or contact information.

Once you’ve found a cheap auto insurance quote from a reliable auto insurance company, go ahead and purchase a policy.  Buying auto insurance online is a convenient, easy way to obtain  auto insurance from the comfort of your home.
 

Economy And The Environment Are At Odds

A strong economy is essential to prosperity.  It gives us financial security, opportunity, and a sense of well being.  A good economy is fueled by consumption of resources and growth of business and industry.  A byproduct of consumption is the effects that mining, logging, drilling, and similar activities have on the land as well as the effects that fishing, agriculture, and similar activities have on wildlife.  A byproduct of growth is the conversion of land for human activity and the depletion of open space and wild areas.

A world without wild lands or wildlife, without open space and natural beauty, is not somewhere most of us would want to live.  In fact, the earth could, with unchecked consumption and growth, cease to have the essentials necessary for human life altogether.  Science and technology cannot compensate beyond a certain point for the natural processes that sustain us.

It is time that we consider the environment above everything else.  The economy and use of resources and space must be redesigned to conform to the health of the environment.
To do this will require new thinking, new ideas, and a new concept of economy and of the human  condition.  We can become stewards of our planet, or continue as we have and likely become extinct.  It’s our choice. 
 

The average American wants a bit of the American Dream but most of us are unwilling to make the effort achieve it.  That is partly because the true American Dream is not so much about wealth and leisure time as it is a way of life. 

Get Great Savings This Holiday 2008 Shopping Season On All Jelly Belly Beans

We work hard to make money to finance big houses, fancy cars, and giant TV’s.  But we aren’t happy because in our drive toward wealth we have become frustrated and fragmented.  We have traded good family values, good parenting, pride, and good citizenship for ownership of possessions. We are too busy to listen to our kids, nurture our marriage, visit our parents, go camping or to the beach together as a family.  Too caught up in ourselves to be nice to the neighbors or our coworkers and customers, or to the people we pass on the street.  Too busy to participate in community affairs or to pursue a worthy cause.  We don’t even care if the work we do is truly good as long as we get paid.   We have become selfish and socially incompetent

When I was a kid, we weren’t taught that the world owes us for having been born.  We didn’t expect to have the best of everything all the time, every time, any time.  We were taught to work for what we got, to take pride in what we did, to value what we have, to view life as an adventure to explore, and to be decent, friendly, caring, and trustworthy people.  This was the foundation upon which the American Dream stood.

We knew our neighbors and did things together.  Merchants were friendly and cared about our needs.  Dads went to work and were proud of the good job they did.  Us kids had dirt piles and sticks instead of computers and we learned a lot as we invented, pretended, and interacted with one another.  We went on picnics, Sunday drives, visits to friends and relatives, and sat down to home made dinners and talked to one another. Most mothers stayed home and cooked, cleaned, and managed the household and were there to supervise the kids and apply band aids to scrapes, bruises, and tender emotions.  We had everything we needed, but not a lot of what we didn’t,  and our parents saved for the future.  We were happy knowing we had clean sheets, a warm house, and food on the table every day.  We had time to smell the roses and contemplate the stars in the night sky.  We had the American Dream.

 And Don’t Forget The Jelly Belly Savings!

Financial Crisis and Depressed Economy Hurts Pets

As the number of home foreclosures rise, as prices rise and unemployment rates rise, so does the number of neglected, abused, and abandoned pets.  Animal shelters and animal rescue groups find themselves overwhelmed with unwanted pets at a time when their budgets are under funded and their contributors face their own financial crisis.  

During this time of a depressed economy and housing market, stories of starving horses, stray abandoned dogs, roaming cats, and overcrowded shelters are becoming a daily occurrence.  People can’t afford good feed for their horse, can’t take their big dog when they move to an apartment, or, sadly, simply “get rid” of their pet viewed as an  unnecessary expense.  

Pets are animals who bond with their human masters and serve them in many ways. The love, devotion, trust and loyalty freely given is often much greater than that of their human counterparts.  Every pet is a living being striving for little more than family, security, kindness, food and, yes, happiness.  Every pet deserves that much.  Every human who owns a pet owes that much to their pet.

Do not get a pet if you will give it up when the budget gets thin.  But if you have love in your heart for a lonely and needy soul, and are willing to make a commitment, then by all means consider rescuing a dog, a cat, a rabbit, or a horse.  If you believe at all that our deeds during life will be judged in the hereafter, taking in a needy pet and providing honest love and devotion will go a long way in guarantying a place in heaven!

Remodeling or add-ons might make sense for your family needs, but does not always make sense as an investment to increase your homes value. The cost of remodeling often is greater than the increase in home value it brings. Same is true for add-ons. If you plan to own your home for a long time, then the investment in a remodel or add-on might make sense for your comfort, life style, or peace of mind. But if you plan to sell in a few years, then you need to think of a remodel or add-on as an investment in your homes value. The best way to spend your money on a remodel or add-on when you want the homes value to increase more than what you put into the project is to remodel the kitchen or, in a home with one bath, add a bathroom. On homes with unfinished space, such as a roughed in lower level of a split level, finishing the area so it adds to the total square footage of living space is also usually a good investment. If in doubt about how a proposed project might affect your home’s value, consult with a real estate agent familiar with the local real estate market and weigh the cost of the project against its affect on market value later on when you decide to sell.

Lets get down to the root cause of the financial crisis and mortgage problems.  It’s quite simple, really.  Humans are animals with a survival instinct.  if an animal wants something, it’ll wait for an opportune moment to take it, then grab it, and escape before it has to face painful consequences from other animals.  The thief is not concerned that the victim will suffer a significant loss.  If CEO’s and people with power want something, and an opportunity arises to take it, they will grab onto it as quickly as possible without regard for their victims.  They have no perception of conscience for the consequences faced by their victims.  Lost your nest egg in the stock market?  Your home foreclosed?  Can’t afford rising prices?  Your home value depreciating?  The "Top Dogs" took you for all they could get and while they enjoy the profits, you try to endure.  Is this wrong?  Can humans rise above raw animal instinct?  It is a question to ponder.

Buy A Home Now, But Forget The Odd And Unusual

If you are in a position to buy a home, now is a
good time.  A depressed market, desperate sellers,
and low interest rates all give you an edge in
negotiating a purchase at an excellent price.  Once
the economy improves, you can expect  to build
equity quickly as the home appreciates in value.
But remember, just because a strange, odd, or
unusual home might be interesting to you, it may
never appeal to anyone else, even in the best of
times.  Don’t buy it, at any price, unless you plan
to keep it forever.  Maybe you like a house with
the kitchen on the second floor, or a house built
from an old ferry boat, but who else does?
 

BANK OWNED HOMES ARE OPPORTUNITY FOR BUYERS

Because of risky home loans, a depressed economy, and slow real estate market, real estate loan defaults have risen dramatically.  The result has been a huge increase in foreclosures.  Many banks find themselves with a big unwanted inventory of REO (real estate owned) homes to get rid of.  These foreclosed homes are usually listed on the real estate market at below market prices.  This is a real investment opportunity for a Buyer.  A wise Buyer can locate a good REO home for sale and make an offer of 10% or 20% below the already low asking price. 

The bank, probably desparate for cash and ancious to liquidate the house, may well accept the offer and take their loss.  They may even offer very attractive financing to a qualified Buyer.  Once the real estate market recovers, home values will return to previous values, and the Buyer will profit from considerable equity in the home.  A painless way to make a lot of money with minimal effort!