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Kevin Drum, an analyst on CBS.com had this to say: 

“Last year I speculated that when the housing bubble burst, prices would decline by 10-20%, with the high end of that range being more likely than the low end. Aside from fellow bubble pessimists, most people at the time thought that seemed pretty ridiculous. But here’s what the LA Times says today:

No one knows how severe the slump will be, but economists and real estate experts interviewed by The Times, and who were willing to make predictions, said prices could fall 15% to 25% before turning back up.

Most said values would continue falling through at least next year, and some thought the market wouldn’t reverse course until 2010. Continue Reading »

Yes, this title is a bit vague, but when selling a home, and preparing to show it, it is important to utilize your funds in as profitable way as possible. There are many things you can do to a home that will help increase its value in a downtrodden market.

1. Make sure your lawn is well manicured, and that little to no maintenance will be required by the new owner upon purchasing the home. This makes your home seem like less of a project, and will likely allow for an increase in asking price. Of course, if it is winter, snow may cover the lawn and it would be good to allocate the funds to a different area.
2. New plumbing fixtures. If your home is older than 15-20 years and you have never replaced your plumbing fixtures, this will be a huge dividend for you. Updated plumbing means higher value to your home, and less the new owners will have to fork out upon taking possession of your place. (yes the next one is the other mechanical) Continue Reading »

As an investor type thinker, I was given the opportunity to purchase a rental unit to utilize as a secondary income or to roll over into another investment property. The particular duplex I was interested in had a great rental history, was an all brick exterior (which is a plus with the insurance companies), was currently rented, and was updated with current expected amenities. The duplex was listed at $135,000 and was a great starter duplex and an instant money maker.

I made several inquiries to a realtor to see if I could get through the property and learn more about it. Unfortunately my realtor left on vacation and told me it would “likely” still be around when she got back. Needless to say, it was not.

There were a couple of reasons that I formulated of why this property sold so quickly: Continue Reading »

With all the troubles surrounding subprime mortgages these days and multi billion dollar losses being declared by mortgage loan originators, some are starting to change the way they do business.  If you have a subprime loan, it means that your lender took a bigger risk on lending you money than she did lending to a customer with a fixed rate mortgage.   This risk means the risk of you not being able to pay back the loan due to job loss, poor planning, etc. 

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The US House of Representatives passed a bill onto the senate to regulate mortgage lenders.  According to the AP article on the legislation the bill, if passed thorugh the senate, would:

• Ban lenders from making loans that borrowers don’t have the ability to repay;
• Prohibit lenders from steering homeowners into refinanced mortgages that don’t provide any benefit and create fines of triple the broker fee and costs;
• Make Wall Street banks that package mortgage securities into investments liable for violations of lending laws;
• Prohibit excessive fees for payoff information or late payments, the financing of points and fees and practices that increase the risk of foreclosure like balloon payments and encouraging borrowers to default; and
• Create a nationwide licensing system for mortgage brokers and bank loan officers called the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry.

One of the most difficult decisions, unless you are an investor, comes when you have to decide whether to rent or to buy a home. The first thing you should ask yourself is what your debt to income ratio is and what a house payment would do to your cash flow. In terms of a mortgage payment, a broker will always tell you that cash flow is bliss. It is better to pay off your credit cards and vehicles then to put down a large down payment on a house. Continue Reading »

Housing prices across the nation are slipping, making some savvy investors seem not so savvy and some fortunate families a lot less fortunate. What has caused this period of bliss followed by the current downturn in the housing market? When will the downturn end?

Continue Reading »