http://easyclickhomes.com/blog Lets talk Real Estate Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:34:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Student loan rates may rise soon.  The reason: the sub prime mortgage crisis.  Some states, including Utah, securitize student loan funding in an effort to raise the capital necessary to provide loans for all the students desiring them without having to raise taxes.   UHEAA, provider of loans to students in ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/housing-slump-affects-education/53/ I did a little searching and found a chart showing when many sub prime ARM loans will reset. The chart shows that in about 6 months we should see a reprieve in the number of loans going into foreclosure and we will all start trying to put this ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/foreclosure/subprime-reset-schedule/51/ I had an interesting conversation today with a friend of mine we'll call Ed. His family is in the same situation of a lot of other people: his ARM interest rate has reset to over 10%, making it difficult to make mortgage payments on time or at all. ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/foreclosure/alternative-to-foreclosure/50/ According to FoxNews.com, there have been reports that we are entering the worst new housing market in nearly 20 years.  If you want a more staggering number, new house starts are down over 38% from the previous year. This amount to a great amount of homes not being built. One ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/new-construction-has-hit-a-17-year-low/49/ I ran across an article on MSN giving some suggestions on how to upgrade your home.  The article seems to be decent, with a different way of looking at things than your normal fix it first articles.  The article is actually from bankrate.com, but since I don't want to take ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/selling/fixing-before-selling-a-good-idea/23/ Yes, deceptive practices do work to catch people's attention, but in this case there is no reason to deceive. Going through my daily routine of house hunting for bargains on the market, I came across a home that I had walked through last July of 2007. The house was then ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/foreclosure-in-its-nastiest-form/47/ For those of you already up to your necks in trouble, this post is not for you. The federal reserve has put together a piece of regulation to prohibit lenders from offering loans that consumers will have troubles paying off. This regulation is in the commenting phase, after ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/new-rules-for-mortgage-lenders-and-us/44/ If you are the unlucky holder of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, stay on top of things.  In an article last week by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, they suggest taking out your loan paperwork and checking out the terms of your loan if you are unsure as to the date and amount ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/arm-rates-stay-on-top-of-things/48/ Snow is typically not a reason for a lack of recent posts. So we'll claim its the holidays. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a very promising new year.  Back to the post. The new construction housing market actually spent more this month than the month previous, ok so it ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/new-construction-housing-market/46/ President Bush signed a bill into law yesterday (Dec. 21) to give a little bit of wiggle room for folks facing a foreclosure.  The bill allows the debt forgiven by lenders to be counted as a loss to the lenders and is no longer considered taxable income to the borrower.  The ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/forclosure-tax-relief-bill-signed/43/ In  a piece of not so nice news, Fannie Mae has begun to raise its fees.  Freddie Mac may follow close behind.  A 0.25% fee has been added to all new mortgages bought or guaranteed, due up front.  This means an extra $1000 fee on a $400,000 home.  Tough luck ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/refinancing-mortgage-fees-changing/40/ So many Adjustable rate loans are on the verge of resetting. The onslaught of foreclosures can send the economy in a downward spiral yet again, but the real story concerns you and me personally. While we care about the economy as a whole, we care even more about ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/arm-rate-resetting-why-fed-rates-may-not-cut-it/42/ In an article by the National Association of Realtors, although slightly biased, they announced the following on December 10, 2007:  "The National Association of Realtors' index of pending home sales climbed 0.6%, the second month in a row the number has increased. The latest figure, which measures contracts signed in October, was ahead of economists' ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/housing-market-on-the-rebound-does-a-6-increase-count/39/ Keep in mind that this press release was written by a mortgage company.  I would say it is biased a bit, but contains some good information about buying a home.  Read on to discover the facts about home buying; Then share your thoughts in a comment! http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/buying/press-release-countrywide-dispels-home-buying-myths/38/ Source: Hope Now Alliance The ARM freeze plan presented by the Bush administration today should help some borrowers with their loans. Borrowers can call 1-800-HOPE-NOW (toll free) to receive counseling with mortgage problems. Once you, the borrower make contact the Hope Now Alliance will use a flowchart like the one ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/market-uptick/who-qualifies-for-frozen-arms/37/ President Bush is said to be signing a new bill that will allow (force) mortgage companies to freeze arm rates. As discussed in a previous article on this site, this will probably have some ramifications for previous owners that have already foreclosed on their properties. I can imagine that there ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/arm-rates-on-the-verge-of-freezing/34/ It looks like more people are spending more time online. From October 2006 to October 2007, the amount of time an average user spends online has increased by 24.3%. I would think that this means it is becoming a better idea to advertise your house online. Chart provided by Complete.com http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/selling/get-your-home-online/32/ Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary of this great country, has announced that he hopes mortgage companies will soon freeze their rates. He has also urged congress to push through legislation that would regulate the mortgage industry. He fell short of announcing a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures, which both the ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/freezing-arm-rates/31/ Click here to watch an interesting video on the housing crisis put together by PBS.  Seems to cover both sides of the issue fairly well.  The video is 20 or so minutes.   Add a comment with your thoughts on the video. http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/pbs-housing-crisis-video/30/ Sometimes it is difficult, when so many sources of information are conflicting, figuring out who to believe. The chief economist of the NAR (National Association of Realtors) seems to think things have already bottomed out and are starting to rebound, but he represents Realtors, many of whom are ... http://easyclickhomes.com/blog/mortgage/subprime-crisis-update/28/