LoopNet Acquires Reaction Web, a Leader in Custom Web Site and Marketing Solutions for the Commercial Real Estate Industry

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Mar

31

LoopNet Acquires Reaction Web, a Leader in Custom Web Site and Marketing Solutions for the Commercial Real Estate Industry

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Mar

31

Changes To FHA Mortgage Program Coming April 5th, 2010

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Fhalogo If you are looking to get an FHA home loan there are some changes coming soon to the program on April 5^th, 2010. The changes are not all bad, fortunately, but the expensive one for borrowers is the cost of upfront mortgage insurance premium.

The upfront mortgage insurance premium will be jumping from 1.75% to 2.75% at the closing table. That is some serious money when you are buying a home. However, the reality is that the borrowers are going to be on the lower end of the credit scale so this makes sense for the government program to add in the extra protection.

FHA has turned into the lender of last resort as the credit market has tightened for many borrowers. But if your credit is dinged and you can make a significant down payment the program is not too bad. Here are the good points of the changes.

However, not all news is bad news. Under the FHA Reform Act of 2010, anyone with a credit score between 500 and 579, and at least a 10% down payment, can probably obtain FHA financing. Additionally, purchasers with 5% or 10% to put down on a home could see lower mortgage insurance premiums.
Other changes include decreasing the amount of seller contributions allowed from the current 6% down to 3%, and increasing the down payment amount to a straight 3.5% of the purchase price. When compared to conventional loans, these changes make FHA loans a more expensive loan option. Even so, many first time home buyers have trouble obtaining the 5% down payment required on conventional loans. FHA calculations estimated a reduction of 40% in loan originations it they were to implement a 5% down payment option. via the Examiner

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

Changes To FHA Mortgage Program Coming April 5th, 2010

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Mar

30

5 More States Get Federal Money For Foreclosure Relief

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The trickle of news and programs coming out of Washington D.C. continues as the Obama administration is spending 600 million more dollars of our tax money to help out residents in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode Island this week.

WOO-HOO!

How many families will really be helped with these programs compared to the amount of families that will be disappointed in the end is the real question.

Think about it. With all the foreclosures and pain in these 5 states the 600 million could be spent tomorrow. Then what? Another levy, another grant, another program?

And there will be thousands that will have this faint glimmer of hope snuffed out as they do not qualify for the new program, because we know there is not enough money out there to fix all the problems, and these same people will be further down the rabbit hole.

Drunk And the real fix will be further away from occurring for the majority of America. All of these short term programs raise false hope, lengthen the housing crisis, and postpone the recovery. Washington’s classic line “ We are from the government and here to help” is great for sound-bites but does very little in the real world.

Let the real estate market follow the AA creed. Let us hit bottom. Let us know the worst. That is the only way we can truly recover and get better.

PLEASE!

State housing finance agencies from North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island will share $600 million to test new approaches to helping borrowers save their homes from foreclosure. That is in addition to $1.5 billion set aside for California, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Florida when the program was initially announced in February. Both initiatives will be financed through the government’s Troubled Assets Relief Program.

While the first round of funding targeted states that had seen home values decline more than 20 percent, the second round of states were picked because they had high concentrations of people living in economically distressed areas, including counties where the unemployment rate exceeded 12 percent in 2009. via the WaPo

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

5 More States Get Federal Money For Foreclosure Relief

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Mar

29

When Commercial Real Estate Workout Shops Get Nervous

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Vultures_real_estate When commercial real estate workout shops get nervous, I tend to hold my breath. The workout shops are the companies that buy commercial debt that is going belly up for pennies on the dollar from the banks and institutions and then play the bad guy.

They will be the ones that negotiate the rough terms for the borrower or foreclose outright on the properties. They are the guys who get max dollars on the properties no matter what the carnage is that occurs.

And they are getting nervous on the volume of deals in the commercial real estate market out there. When the vultures get scared, everyone one should pay attention…

As a workout shop, LNR either negotiates with borrowers to make a loan current or forecloses on the property to extract as much cash as possible from the delinquent mortgage. And while LNR used to make a nice profit working out the occasional bad loans, now the company and its competitors face a flood of bad debt.
“It’s tough going for everybody right now,” said Lisa Pendergast, managing director of CMBS strategy and risk at Jefferies & Co. and the incoming president of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council. “I don’t think anybody built these [workout] shops to see these huge volumes of loans going bad.”
By LNR’s estimate, the front is widening with no relief yet visible on the horizon. via the Miami Herald

Thanks for reading this post. If you would like to see more articles like this, please come visit The Real Estate Bloggers. where it was originally published.

When Commercial Real Estate Workout Shops Get Nervous