Foreclosures-Glenn-Butte-Tehama

Every little bit of positive news receives gushing comments from the media, "home prices advance .3%", "unemployment applications decline by 35,000", etc., and that's all to the good, but like a magician distracting with one hand while the other is busy with the actual ''trick", this news distracts from the activities of Washington and Wall Street in the background. Taxes are going up, every conceivable excuse is being advanced for this fact, and no one remembers the solemn promises not to allow this to happen, but all of us common sense folks have known all along that the monster debt of health care, cap and trade, stimulus, bail-outs and so on were going to require some repayment strategy, and printing more money is not a viable option. Meanwhile the hedge fun folks have found a new way to cash in again on the toxic debt they created in the mortgage markets. They are buying up bad mortgage debt for 40 cents on the dollar, taking advantage of FHA and other programs to re-write some portion of the mortgages to make them acceptable, and selling them to the government. Anything they sell over 40% is instant profit, and the taxpayer is on the hook for the new product, and the loose standards of FHA are a sure indicator of future problems. The twin vices of arrogance and greed driving Washington and Wall Street are almost unstoppable, and certainly will remain so while the bulk of us accept such actions as purchasing Louisiana for $300,000,000 in exchange for a health care reform vote as appropriate political behavior.
Foreclosures in Glenn, Butte, and Tehama counties now number 485, notices of default and scheduled auctions total 1530. That is a significant number of distressed families. Nationally over 25% of home owners are "underwater" (owe more than the home value), and millions are delinquent 30 days or more, but not yet in default. So long as Washington continues to increase debt, increase taxes, and fails to take responsible action for job creation the situation will only worsen. Small business is the job creation engine of our economy, yet every move of Washington is punitive for small business. For all business for that matter.
For those facing mortgage problems, call us for answers. If we can help, we will, and if not we'll point you to where help is available. We really are all in this together. For those "underwater" go here for an excellent article written by Brent T. White, a law professor at the University of Arizona. When the site comes up click "Download" then"SSRN"
As usual,
Thanks for visiting

Mortgage Upside Down?

As brokers we're seriously constrained in our ability to offer advice or suggestions as to how to handle burdensome mortgage payments, a mortgage balance exceeding the home value, the appropriateness of a "short sale" or "deed in lieu". Not because we don't know the answers, but because we don't want to wind up in court and lose our license for "practising law without a license". So! Our mission is to offer as much help as possible in all areas of real estate; sales, purchase, finance, and general guidance, removing as much fear as possible and saving as much money as possible for our friends and clients. That's why our web site is so rich in information, Free credit reports, home valuation data bases, MLS listings, mortgage information. For the growing problem of people being "underwater" in their mortgages we have added a link to an article written by Brent T. White, a law professor at the University of Arizona. You will find it exhaustive in detail and certainly adequate to allow you some intelligent decision making. We believe that information and knowledge provide power. You're entitled. The link is HERE
Just click "Download" and then "SSRN"
Hope this is helpful to you.
As usual,
thanks for visiting

Foreclosures and interest rates

Foreclosure rates continue to climb, interest rates continue to remain low. For the few people with some money and the security of a good job this represents opportunity, although with some level of caution since housing prices continue to decline also. What to do? If you buy something there is the risk that the "something", whether stock, real estate, or anything else will decline in value. If you don't buy anything there is the absolute certainty that the value of your dollars is going to shrink. Helps explain the rise in gold prices. Each little bit of news that seems to offer some reassurance is touted as a return to normalcy, by government types and financial gurus alike, but until the administration and the Congress reverse their policies of increasing debt burden and the tax load on business, nothing is going to improve. Until government gets out of the way of free market forces nothing is going to improve. No sane businessman is going to invest his money in expansion or the hiring of people unless and until there is some certainty the government is not going to intrude further on their activities.
In the home mortgage market, the holders of mortgage paper are faced with the uncertainty of future government actions and so don't know for sure whether to keep loans on their books as under-performing, or foreclose for a certain loss. The bad loans made during the ridiculous sub-prime fiasco are being joined by a whole bunch of new underwriting errors through the auspices of FHA mistakes, and because of the economic downturn and unemployment increases, an increasing number of "A" paper loans are also going sour.
On the subject of FHA, even after the disaster of " no money down" financing for people with damaged credit pushed by FannieMae and FreddieMac (Frank and Dodd), along comes the FHA offering home loans to people with FICO scores in the 500's with as little as 3% down, and with some "wiggle room" even for the 3%. The last two years have produced enough bad loans that the delinquency rate is approximately 25% already, and surely with more and worse to come. This sort of government tampering with market forces creates another level of uncertainty as to the value of homes. How many more homes are going to come on the market under distress circumstances? How do you know how to value your home? How do you know how to value a potential purchase? Until some sanity arrives in Washington we are all like a feather in the wind. Debt in the trillions already and an insatiable appetite for more. Health care reform, cap and trade, bail-outs, stimulus, and who knows what else. No centrally planned economy has ever been successful, and never will be. The lessons that should have been learned from the past have already been forgotten, or worse still, ignored. It would be easier to train a chimpanzee to sing opera than to teach a politician the fundamentals of business. When people with zero experience run for public office we should ignore them, not elect them. How's that "hope and change" working out for you? The "change" is killing me, and I "hope" it stops soon.
As usual,
Thanks for visiting.