Bottom of the Market?

Could We Be at the Bottom of the Market?

Home prices have been down quite a bit for the last few years, foreclosures have been up and everyone has been wondering if the end is in sight.

Foreclosure Crisis Is Coming to an End

That's not to say there won't be any more foreclosures. There will be another spike in foreclosures as houses come through from the robosigning scandal. Banks have settled with the state governments so houses should start moving through the foreclosure pipeline now. Investors are snapping up foreclosures as rental properties so prices on the foreclosures are coming up and not dragging down the market price of other homes.

Rental Rates are High

With so many people renting, prices have gotten higher. It's once again cheaper to own than rent.

Interest Rates Are Expected to Rise

Doug Ledba, CEO of Lending Tree, says rates will move higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that rates will move to 4.5% by the end of the year.

While it won't happen overnight, we could be coming out of the housing mess. People can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and for once it doesn't feel like it's an oncoming train. The original article can be found here.

Quarterly Maintenance

Take care of your home and it will be a lot easier to live in. You won't have too many of those nasty surprises. Below are some tips for the interior of your house. Do these on a regular basis to keep the gremlins away.

• Wood cabinets and trim. Apply a wood protectant if necessary.
• Interior doors. Lubricate hinges.
• Garage door. Lubricate hardware and inspect the mechanism for free travel.
• Window and door tracks. Check to see if the weep holes are open. Clean out dirt and dust. Lubricate the rollers and latches.
• Basement or crawl space. Check for cracks or any sign of dampness or leaks. Check for any evidence of termites or wood-eating insects.
• Ceramic tile. Check and clean grout.

Do these few steps once every 3 months and hopefully you won't have any big problems. You will see them coming.

5 Ways to Sell Quickly

5 Ways to Sell Quickly and For More Money

Some homeowners are usually motivated to sell a house so they can move on to the next big adventure. They will fix up a house for a year before putting it on the market and make sure every last detail is taken care of. Others will do some light touch-up and call it good. Realtors, of course, want to sell it quickly.

Let Me Count the Ways

1. Give the home "web appeal". Most home buyers these days are starting their searches online. Pictures are key. Take professional pictures. Make sure the toilet seats are down. Make sure the house isn't cluttered and there is plenty of light. Look at the listing online like a buyer would and see if you can change the presentation of the house.
2. Talk about energy efficiency. This is a big one with younger buyers. Note if the appliances and HVAC have been replaced with energy efficient ones. Make note if you've changed out the windows.
3. Pay attention to curb appeal. You don't want to do all that work on presentation if they are too scared to stop in front. Take care of the landscaping. Paint if necessary. Curb appeal is huge in selling a house.
4. Make it move-in ready. Buyers these days don't want to do a lot to a house. If you repaint, do it with neutral colors. Take care of the little things like broken outlet covers. The less they have to do when moving in, the better.
5. Set the right price. This all ties in to the price. Houses that look nice and show well will sell for more than junkers. Take care of the investment you have and others will see value in it. A comparative market analysis (CMA) will tell you the market price.

Final Thoughts

If your house has been on the market a while, see our tips about that. Sit down and have a frank discussion with your Realtor about the price, location and condition of the house. A house will sell quicker and for more money if it is priced according to its location and condition.

18 Ways to Protect an Empty House

Houses are big investments but sometimes as we buy and sell them, one remains empty. Maybe we have to move away before it is sold, or maybe it's some investment property that needs work before it's rented out. If you're a homeowner who has an empty house, a Realtor with an empty listing, or an investor waiting to rent out a place, these tips are for you.

1. Always keep garage doors closed and locked. Add additional padlocks if necessary.
2. Close the blinds unless it's being shown. Don't give potential bad guys a chance to scope out the place.
3. Put the mail on hold or forward it. You can also make weekly stops to pick it up, which gives you a chance to look over the property.
4. Change the locks each time a contractor changes, Realtors change, etc.
5. Supress signs unless it's up for sale or rent. If you're an investor, don't put up signs while the contractors are doing work. Wait until it is ready. Signs just advertise nobody is home.
6. Use Realtor locks. The electronic ones keep logs of who open them so you know who the last person to open the house was.
7. Monitor news and reports of burglaries. Check your local police force's website, too. Some of them keep pages that shows the types and frequencies of property crimes.
8. Befriend the neighbors. If you've owned the house this is already done. If you're a Realtor or investor, though, this is a good chance to ring up new clients as well as help protect your property. Hand them a business card and ask them to call if anything suspicious is happening.
9. Verify insurance. Make sure the insurance covers empty houses.
10. Light timers. They just aren't for Christmas any more.
11. Give neighbors permission to park there.
12. Put up "Beware of Dog" signs. Would-be thieves hate noise because it attracts attention. If there's a chance of a dog to make noise, they may move on to easier targets.
13. Security signs and window signs. Like a dog sign, this places a little doubt in the robber's mind.
14. Dog barking devices, fake cameras or real cameras. A little more high tech than the signs, dog barking devices and fake cameras add a little realism to the illusion. Get a tech-savvy friend to help you set up a real webcam outside the door or inside the house and stream the feed. This will require a computer and internet connection at the empty house, though.
15. Winterize the pipes. You don't want pipes to freeze and get water all through the house. That's a mess. Winterizing the pipes is a lot cheaper than cleaning up a soaking house.
16. Keep up on the landscaping and external maintenance. Nothing screams nobody's home like unattended landscaping.
17. Shrubs should never block the view of doors and windows. It's way easy for someone to hide in the bushes. You can remove shrubs blocking the windows and doors and add some nicer landscaping. This also increases the curb appeal of the house.
18. Run the water once in a while. If it isn't winterized, at least. Exercise the shut-off valves in the basement if you can find them.

Do you have any other ideas or tricks you've used to protect an empty house? Comment below and let us know!

Reminder: Quarterly Maintenance

Quarterly Maintenance

Owning a home is a big investment of time and money. Make sure you take care of that investment. See our tips on how to do that.

Foreclosure Settlement with the Banks

One Huge Settlement

The Players

The attorneys general of 49 states recently settled for $26,000,000,000 (yes, twenty-six billion dollars) with Ally/GMC, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. These five banks alone account for 60% of the loans serviced in America. The only state that did not participate was Oklahoma. That means that homeowners in all states except Oklahoma can particpate in the programs agreed to in the settlement.

Relief, Sweet Relief

Homeowners can get relief in one of three ways:

• Loan Modifications. This includes principal reduction for first and second mortgages. The banks must provide up to $17 billion in principal reduction and other loan modifications.
• Homeowners who are current but upside-down in equity. These homeowners can refinance at current rates. The banks must provide up to $3 billion for this.
• Borrowers who lost homes to foreclosure. At an estimated $2,000 per household, up to $1.5 billion will go to 750,000 homeowners who lost homes due to foreclosure. And the homeowners will not be required to release any claims currently against the banks. They can continue action against the lenders.

Who Is Eligible

Only loans that are currently being serviced or owned by one of the five banks above are eligible. Loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are not eligible.

Banks will be contacting the homeowners directly. Beware of scams!

The Timeline

It should take 30 to 60 days to select administrators who will oversee the settlement, handle the logistics and monitor compliance. Then it should take another six to nine months to identify the homeowners. It should take three years to finish up.

The original articles can be found here and here.

Buyer Beware

Foreclosure Scams Up 60%

The Homeownership Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit that helps homewoners navigate financial challenges and avoid foreclosure, announced on April 11th that foreclosure scams have jumped nearly 60%.

Two Types of Scams

There are two types of scams these deadbeats will try to run on you: advance-fee loan modification and sale-leaseback. In the advance-fee loan modification scam, the scammer will ask the target to pay ahead of time for a promised guaranteed loan modification. In the sale-leaseback, the scammer convinces the target to turn over the home's title in a promise to rent the house and buy it back in a few years.

Warning Signs Your'e Being Scammed

• A person asks for a fee in advance to work with your lender to modify, refinance, or reinstate your mortgage. In addition to such fees being prohibited by the FTC, the person asking for one will likely take your money without performing any of the services.
• A person guarantees he or she can stop a foreclosure or get your loan modified. No one other than your lender can guarantee he can stop foreclosure or modify your loan.
• A person advises you to stop paying your mortgage company and pay him or her instead. Under no circumstance should you ever send a mortgage payment to anyone other than your mortgage lender.
• A person pressures you to sign over the title to your home or sign any paperwork that you haven’t read or don’t fully understand. A legitimate housing advisor will not pressure you to sign a document of any kind. Remember, surrendering the title to your home is one of the two primary ways people get scammed every day!
• A person claims to offer “government-approved” or “official government” loan modifications. Scam artists often pretend to be affiliated with the federal government. Be sure to check any third party’s credentials by contacting your mortgage lender.
• A person you don’t know asks you to release personal financial information. Always confirm that you are speaking with a legitimate person by contacting your mortgage lender directly.

Be cautious if you are looking to make a loan modification. Work directly with your lender and be suspicious of any calls or emails trying to dupe you into either one of the scams. Ask for credentials and make sure you are working with just your lender.

The original articles can be found here and here.