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RISMEDIA, March 4, 2010—Younger people are more than twice as likely as older age groups to have been turned down for loans, mortgages and credit cards within the last year, according to a new national survey by FindLaw.com, one of the most popular legal information websites.
The FindLaw.com survey found that more than one in five (22%) people between the ages of 18 and 34 say that they have been refused a mortgage, loan or credit card within the last year. That’s more than twice the percentage of any other age group, and they are four times more likely to say they’ve been turned down than people age 55 and up.
According to the FindLaw survey, people between the ages of 18 and 34 say that they have been turned down for the following within the last year:
Credit card – 15%Home mortgage – 4%Home equity loan – 4%Car loan – 4%Student loan – 4%Mortgage refinance – 2%Small-business loan – 2%Home improvement loan – 1%
“Borrowing money–whether a mortgage, loan or even a credit card–often involves meeting strict standards set by the financial institution,” said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor with FindLaw.com. “And it can be particularly difficult for younger people, who often have had less time and opportunity to establish a credit history, work history, etc. Monitoring your credit score, correcting any errors in your credit report, and building a good history of managing credit and loans can help increase the chances of being approved for a loan, mortgage or credit card down the road.”
A copy of the first issue of Superman comics was sold for one million dollars. The copy originally sold for ten cents in 1938. Someone said that if that same dime had been invested in General Motors stock in 1938, it would be worth at least a quarter.
What are brokers and reps saying out there?
"It seems the faucet turned off mid January. My brokers have very little and it seems every community bank is terrified of Friday's and the FDIC."
"I'm still pretending to be a Mortgage Broker in this wonderful economic climate, all I seem to be doing is paying for licenses, taking exams and foolishly marketing my services."
"Things are good here - people are getting back out looking and people are listing - just what we need!"
"Dealing with the current GFE hassles is about as easy as folding a fitted sheet!"
Lastly, "Rob - The following is an actual underwriting condition from a large wholesale lender which is known for having the best wholesale pricing for conforming loans. (As background, the borrower is a staff attorney for the Federal Reserve Bank of NY.) 'Please provide a signed letter from CPA stating if [client's first name] has 25% or more ownership in Federal Reserve Bank. If 'yes' he should be run as self employed.'"
Locks appear to have picked up this week, but the MBAA reported that mortgage applications last week were down for a third consecutive week. Apps were down 8.5%, with refi's down almost 9% and purchases down a little over 7%. Purchases are down to mid-1997 levels. As a percentage of applications, refi's are hanging tough at 68% if total activity - is your company ready if they dip below 50%? The MBAA now forecasts refinancings will fall to a range of $500 billion to $600 billion this year from $1.4 trillion in 2009.
As I tell groups whenever I speak, you can't drive through a downtown anywhere in the United States without seeing "For Rent," "For Sale," "For Lease" signs, or plain empty storefronts. It turns out that the default rate for commercial property mortgages held by U.S. banks more than doubled in the fourth quarter and may peak at 5.4 percent at the end of 2011, according to a study by Real Capital Analytics Inc. The default rate for loans on office, retail, hotel and industrial properties jumped to 3.8 percent from 1.6 percent a year earlier. The default rate for loans on apartment buildings rose to 4.4 percent from 1.8 percent. Commercial property values, which fell 29% in December from a year earlier, are down 41% from the October 2007 peak, according to the Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Index. Unfortunately for banks here in the US with between $100 million and $1 billion in assets, they hold 25 percent of commercial property loans outstanding and 15 percent of apartment loans. The biggest banks, those with more than $10 billion in assets, hold about half of commercial loans and two-thirds of apartment loans.
Freddie Mac said yesterday that it lost $7.8 billion in the fourth quarter, or $26 for every man, woman, and infant in the United States. On the plus side, it was better than the $23.9 billion Freddie lost in the same quarter a year ago, and apparently doesn't need more money (for now) than the $51 billion in taxpayer aid it already received. For all of 2009 the company lost $21.6 billion versus 2008's loss of $50.1 billion. But Freddie Mac's chief executive, Charles Haldeman, warned of a "potential large wave of foreclosures" still to come
Wells Fargo's wholesale group alerted patrons on the subjects of fees paid by the seller (Per HUD, "all seller-paid fees must be disclosed on the GFE - including transfer taxes. If seller-paid fees are not disclosed on the GFE, then you are required to provide a refund to the borrower for any amount that exceeds tolerance limitations - regardless of whether or not the seller actually paid the fee. The only exception is fees that are required by state law to be paid for by the seller: Must be legally required by the state or local government and the purchase contract alone will not satisfy this requirement."), and the disclosure of government fees. Starting in mid-March, Wells Fargo wholesale will begin sending an e-mail message confirming that the appropriate amount of the government fees listed below have been disclosed - brokers will be responsible if the disclosed amount of a government fee changes at any time without evidence of a valid changed circumstance.
U.S. Bank's Consumer Finance Wholesale Mortgage Division sent customers a revised list of states with restricted LTV's, with more states improving than worsening. For example, USB will go to 90% on 1st mortgages with no MI (including jumbos and cash out products) and up to 85% on 2nd mortgages, in AL, AK, AR, CO, CT, DE, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OK, PA, RI, SD, TN, VT, VA, WV, WI, WY. In the states of IL-NJ-OH-OR-SC-UT-WA USB lend up to 90% on 1st mortgages, and to 80% on 2nd mortgages. Finally, in AZ-CA-FL-MI-NV (it's "Tier 1" states) the wholesale division goes to 75% on 1st and 2nd mortgages.
Yesterday's $42 billion 5-yr auction did not go well. It goes back to the "What if we held an auction and nobody bid?" Indirect bids, which in the past indicated a level of interest from foreign entities but in the last year became a little convoluted, have been on a roller coaster: Tuesday's 2-yr hit over 53% of the auction while yesterday's was the lowest since July at 40%. Not good. The Bernanke testimony (rates need to remain low), along with the much worse-than-expected New Homes Sales data, muddled the picture somewhat for investors yesterday. The good news for mortgage folks is that dealers are reporting heavy selling, and selling is often powered by locks, so current locks must be picking up.
The New Home Sales data was particularly bad. In January sales dropped 11%, the worst on record and erasing all the gains from last year. Nationwide, inventory represents over a 9 month supply - the highest in almost a year. And year-over-year the median price for a new home fell in January by 2.4%, to $203,500 from $208,600 a year ago. Regionally, January new-home sales dropped 35.1% in the Northeast, 11.9% in the West, and 9.5% in the South. Sales rose 2.1% in the Midwest.
And although Mr. Bernanke said the economy still needs the Fed's support via low rates, he said the central bank is prepared to tighten credit when the time comes to prevent inflation. A first step toward tighter credit could involve the Fed draining the more than $1.0 trillion in excess reserves banks have accumulated after the central bank bought mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasury securities to combat the financial crisis, most likely through reverse repurchase agreements.
This morning the markets are being pushed around by Jobless Claims, the GDP, a $32 billion 7-yr note auction, and continued testimony from Ben Bernanke. Prior to the 8:30AM EST numbers the yield on the 10-yr was back down to 3.66%. Durable Goods were up 3% for January versus December's +1.9%. (Ex-transportation the number was -.6%.) Jobless Claims showed an increase of 22,000 to 496,000, with a four-week moving average creeping up by 6,000 to 473,750. Immediately after the news the yield on the 10-yr dropped to 3.64%, and mortgage prices are better between .125 and .250, depending on coupon.
We were dressed and ready to go out for the New Years Eve Party. We turned on a night light, turned the answering machine on, covered our pet parakeet and put the cat in the backyard.
We phoned the local cab company and requested a taxi. The taxi arrived and we opened the front door to leave the house.
As we walked out the door, the cat we had put out in the yard scoots back into the house. We didn't want the cat shut in the house because she always tries to eat the bird.
My wife goes on out to the taxi, while I went back inside to get the cat. The cat runs upstairs, with me in hot pursuit.
Waiting in the cab, my wife doesn't want the driver to know that the house will be empty for the night. So she explains to the taxi driver that I will be out soon, "He's just going upstairs to, uh, say goodbye to my mother."
A few minutes later, I get into the cab.
"Sorry I took so long," I said, as we drove away. "That stupid thing was hiding under the bed. I had to poke her rump with a coat hanger to get her to come out! She tried to take off, so I grabbed her by the neck. Then, I had to wrap her in a blanket to keep her from scratching me. But it worked! I hauled her fat rump downstairs and threw her out into the back yard!"
The cab driver hit a parked car.
By Stephanie Andre Print Article
RISMEDIA, February 22, 2010—As a first-time home buyer, Jessica Garcia was excited last April to officially begin her home search. She found a home within her price range, completed the lengthy paperwork and paid for the appraisals, only to later be told after four months that the deal would not close.
Out of luck and out of money, Garcia was frustrated, but not defeated. She went back to her Realtor to start the search again. It was then that she found the home she would later purchase. Upon first glance, Garcia liked the home and saw its potential, but didn’t have the upfront money it would take to rehab the home the way it needed to be done.
After some discussion, Garcia’s lender, Kevin Roy with Wells Fargo, realized that she might be able to take advantage of HUD’s 203k program, specifically designed to rehabilitate and repair single-family homes. The 203k is a single mortgage loan that provides funds to purchase a home and make repairs and improvements.
“The home needed a lot of work,” explains Garcia, of North Port, Florida. “The previous owners had pets that had really torn up the carpeting and destroyed the blinds.”
Indeed, the home needed new flooring, carpets and, most importantly, a water softener for its wellwater system. So, when the opportunity arose to take advantage of the 203k program, Garcia was game.
“In the end, it worked out great,” she says. “The credit goes to Kevin because if he hadn’t told me about the 203k program, I would not have had the money to fix the home. All of the money I had was put into the appraisals and fees for the first home that I couldn’t close on.”
Once the transaction was set in motion, Garcia turned to Lowe’s North Port (Florida) store to help her bring her 203k projects to fruition.
“The people at Lowe’s were really great,” lauds Garcia. “I had dealt with a different home improvement retailer in the past, but never had very good experiences. I went to Lowe’s because the people who work there are always friendly and I had heard good things about working with them. The people there really were great—they provided explanations to all of my questions and made my experience easy.”
From the 203k paperwork to guiding her through the program, Garcia credits the Lowe’s team with a job well done. “The team at my Lowe’s was very helpful,” she says. “A couple of people—including manager Mike Cabana—helped me tremendously.”
Prior to closing, Garcia went to the North Port location and chose her products for the 203k projects. Once closing happened in late September, the Lowe’s team prepared for Garcia’s projects, ordering her new carpeting, wood flooring, a water softener and new dishwasher.
“It was amazing,” says Garcia. “The day I closed, I called them and they immediately started ordering the materials and products. Within a few weeks, everything was done.”
According to Garcia, the timing couldn’t have been better. In addition to the improvements she made with her 203k loan, Garcia also took on a few DIY projects herself—including repainting the entire house.
“I decided to put the 203k money into quality carpeting, flooring and, of course, the water softener. I also really needed a dishwasher—the house didn’t have one,” she explains. “The little bit of time I had between ordering the materials and installation was perfect. It gave me just enough time to get all of the painting finished.”
Despite months of worry, confusion and stress, Garcia is now thrilled with her home—and her experience with Lowe’s.
“I am very happy,” says Garcia. “Everyone involved did such a great job and helped me so much…Lowe’s helped me choose exactly what I wanted for my home. I love this house!
“A lot of money goes into buying a home,” she adds. “The 203k program is a great option. It allowed me to do far more than I would have been able to do on my own. As a first-time home buyer with a limited amount of money, it allowed me to do a lot and get exactly what I wanted. Working with Lowe’s was perfect, too. From their affordable prices to the customer service, it was a great experience overall. I would highly recommend both the 203k program and Lowe’s to anybody.”
For more information on the 203k loan program, visit www.hud.gov or www.re-buildusa.com.
Inman News
Monthly for-sale home inventory increased in January for the first time in 18 months, according to a report by national real estate brokerage company ZipRealty.
The number of homes for sale increased 2.9 percent from December, an additional 15,818 homes, to a total of 567,265 single-family homes and condominiums listed in 27 metropolitan areas across the country. December saw 2009's greatest fall in month-to-month inventory, down 4.83 percent.
Inventory in January was down 22.3 percent year-over year, however, with 163,131 fewer homes listed than in January 2009.
"Inventory is starting to increase, but it's still really low. People typically wait for the spring market, but inventory is low and interest is high because of the tax credit, so there's an opportunity for people to put their house on the market before the spring, ahead of the competition," said Leslie Tyler, ZipRealty's vice president.
Tyler attributed the month-to-month inventory rise to seasonality.
"Last January was right after the Wall Street meltdown. There was a lot of financial insecurity, so there was no bump, but usually there is (in January)."
California markets saw the highest month-to-month jumps in inventory, up 10.6 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area, 8 percent in Orange County, 6.5 percent in San Diego, and 4.5 percent in Los Angeles, ZipRealty reported.
Baltimore and Miami were the only two metro areas tracked by ZipRealty to see month-to-month decreases in inventory, 1.9 percent in the former and 0.05 percent in the latter.
All 27 metro areas registered year-over-year shrinkage, with the California markets and Las Vegas almost halving their inventory totals. Inventory in San Diego plunged 48.1 percent compared to January 2009. Inventory in Las Vegas fell 47.5 percent year-over-year; dropped 45.5 percent in Los Angeles; and was down 45.4 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Median home list prices stayed relatively flat last month with a 0.97 percent, or $2,521, decrease from December and a 1 percent, or $2,695, decrease from January 2009.
Of the inventory left as of January 31, between 29.9 and 49.9 percent of the homes in each metro area had seen price reductions.
The National Association of Realtors, too, has reported a general downward trend in for-sale inventory -- the inventory of for-sale existing homes slipped 6.6 percent from November to December, to a suppy of 7.2 months at that month's sales pace. A supply of six months is considered to represent a rough equilibrium in supply and demand, while a larger supply can indicate a buyer's market.
All was good in the rates market leading up to 215pm yesterday.
Rate sheet rebate was holding close to month over month bests, 10s were quietly bouncing back and forth around 3.62% and the FN 4.5 MBS coupon continued to move in a range. This was all occurring in slow/thin trading conditions as market participants were reluctant to venture too far from recent pivot points ahead of major market moving news.
Then came the FOMC statement at 2:15pm.
While the text and language of the release held few surprise, there were hints of continued positive stabilization progress, for example, instead of saying "economic activity has continued to PICK UP", the Fed communicated that "economic activity continued to STRENGTHEN". The Fed also made it clear that they intend to carry out plans to exit from several quantitative easing liquidity programs: the ABCPMMMFLF (hahah what? the asset backed commercial paper money market mutual fund liquidity facility), the CPFF, the PDCF, TSLF, aaaand the MBS purchase program. This clears the way for the Fed to start studying the potential for further withdrawals from financial markets when the market is ready.
That was the good part...now for what I consider to be the BAD, or at least the ODD part.
I found it interesting that the FED updated the statement's language regarding housing. Perhaps instead of saying "updated" I should say REMOVED. In December the FOMC stated that housing had "shown some signs of improvement", in the January text there was NOTHING ABOUT HOUSING. I find it very odd that they didnt at least leave the verbiage as it was...removing it raises a HUGE RED FLAG to me. Actually, my RED FLAG has been waving for months so I suppose this could be a sign that the Fed may be starting to see that the real estate market is still in big trouble. Housing is clearly a huge variable in the Fed's outlook...
Here is a recap of the rest of the statement:
I think it was a function of a few reasons. The general "CONTINUED STABILIZATION" tone was obvious. The Fed is starting to set themselves up for an eventual exit from the marketplace. This implies economic conditions are getting closer to warranting a more serious RATE HIKE discussion. (Dont read this the wrong way....it only means the Fed is feeling more confident that a double dip will be avoided, it does not mean recovery). This gives equity siders some hope of consumer demand improvements to come. The other reason was the 9-1 vote. Hoenig dissented! The short end of the yield DID NOT LIKE THIS....which forced rates higher in the "Rate sheet influential" long end of the yield curve. (BEAR FLATTENER).
While HOENIG is not completely to blame for this move, because the yield curve was already flattening ahead of the FOMC statement, his dissent did not help. The most aggressive selling yesterday was in 2s and 5s (hmmm we just took down $86 billion in 2s and 5s right?). This implies fcurve flattening may have been a function of dealers distributing debt supply to their accounts. Following the release of the FOMC Statement the curve did further flatten as 2s and 5s sold off, so I do concede that the bond market did have a negative reaction to the 9-1 vote as a rate hike may come sooner than expected.
Plain and Simple: the "rate sheet influential" end of the yield curve appears to be a victim of circumstances yesterday. SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION and a "CONTINUED STABILIZATION" tone from the Fed. Check out the chart below...the flattener was already in motion ahead of the FOMC.
I want to go back to housing real quick just so my point is made clear: WITHOUT JOB CREATION THE HOUSING RECOVERY WILL BE A SLOW PROCESS. I think I have made my sentiments clear on that in recent economic indicator coverage on the NewsWire. Speaking of which....here are my most recent comments on the fate of the MBS purchase program:
Michael Fratantoni, MBA's VP of Research and Economics, summed up the environment PERFECTLY:
"Although rates remain low, there appears to be a smaller pool of borrowers who are willing and able to refinance at today's rates."
This is why we think the Fed will be able to exit the mortgage market at the end of Q1 2010. Thanks to weakness in the labor market and a mini-refi boom over the past year, the pool of qualified borrowers (refinances and purchases) has shrunk considerably. This implies mortgage loan production will be slow enough to allow the Fed to exit the agency mortgage-backed securities market without causing a major disruption in MBS supply and demand technicals.
WHO WILL PROVIDE DEMAND SIDE SUPPORT IN THE AGENCY MBS MARKET?
Regardless of rich MBS valuations, banks have proven themselves to be a stable source of demand side MBS support. If/when yield spreads (relative value) cheapen up as the Fed makes their move toward stage left, there will be more incentive for hedge funds and money managers to become more neutral players (instead of being mostly sellers). On top of these two sources of funding, Asian banks, who usually focus on GNMA paper, will likely follow the lead of US banks and maintain or increase their current level of interest in US residential MBS. There isn't a better time for the Fed to make an exit...
MAKE SENSE?
Anyway I am done ranting for now...its running late.President Obama focused on CREATING JOBS in his State of the Union. I felt like he communicated well with America, as usual. Actions speak louder than words so I tend to ignore political rhetoric. I do think he is focusing on the right things though....JOBS and INNOVATION. Sending people back to school is a major MUST DO as well. Before I say this I want to remind that I am a registered independent. READY???I thought the Republican response was well written and delivered perfectly. I must say I like the fact that the Reds are promoting free market economics and competition. I am not a supporter of too much government intervention. Again...actions speak louder than words.Stocks liked the focus on jobs...
JOBLESS CLAIMS WERE WORSE THAN EXPECTED08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US JOBLESS CLAIMS FELL TO 470,000 JAN 23 WEEK (CON. 450,000) FROM 478,000 PRIOR WEEK (PREV 482,000)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US JOBLESS CLAIMS 4-WK AVG ROSE TO 456,250 JAN 23 WEEK FROM 446,750 PRIOR WK (PREV 448,250)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US CONTINUED CLAIMS FELL TO 4.602 MLN (CON. 4.600 MLN) JAN 16 WK FROM 4.659 MLN PRIOR (PREV 4.599)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FELL TO 3.5 IN JAN 16 WEEK FROM 3.6 PCT (PREV 3.5 PCT)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US CONTINUED CLAIMS LOWEST SINCE 4.576 MLN IN WK ENDED JAN 10, 2009DURABLE GOODS WERE WORSE THAN EXPECTED08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US DEC DURABLES ORDERS +0.3 PCT (CONS. +2.0) VS NOV -0.4 PCT (PREV -0.7 PCT)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-U.S. DEC DURABLES EX-TRANSPORTATION +0.9 PCT (CONS +0.5) VS NOV +2.1 PCT (PREV +1.5 PCT)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-U.S. DEC DURABLES EX-DEFENSE +0.3 PCT (CONS. +0.4) VS NOV +0.1 PCT (PREV -0.7 PCT)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US DEC NONDEFENSE CAP ORDERS EX-AIRCRAFT +1.3 PCT (CONS +1.0) VS NOV +3.1 PCT (PREV +2.7 PCT)08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-U.S. DEC GEN. MACHINERY +6.0 PCT, ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT -3.9 PCT, DEFENSE AIRCRAFT/PARTS +14.7 PCT08:30 28Jan10 RTRS-US 2009 DURABLES ORDERS -20.2 PCT, LARGEST ANNUAL DECLINE ON RECORD, VS 2008 -5.8 PCT
The bond market doesnt seem to care too much about either at the moment.....The 3.375% coupon bearing 10yr Treasury note is -0-04 at 97-19 yielding 3.667%. Above my 3.65% support level but still keeping positive progress intact by not breaking 3.68%.
The FN 4.0 is -0-03 at 97-17 yielding 4.235% and the FN 4.5 is -0-01 at 100-22 yielding 4.435%. The secondary market current coupon is 4.405%. MBS prices are off the lows of the day but failing to make much forward progress yet.
SIGN OF POSITIVE PROGRESS: 10s move back under 3.65% and the FN 4.5 breaks 100-24...
By Mary Shanklin Print Article
RISMEDIA, January 14, 2010—(MCT)—First came foreclosures, then short sales. Now we are seeing more half-finished homes for sale: bare-stud, bare-yard houses abandoned by their builders and left to languish on the market.
Purchasing a partially-built home is nothing new; during the housing boom, many new-home contracts were signed before even a slab had been poured. The difference now is that the builder might no longer be around to finish the job, particularly if it’s a house started by a custom builder who subsequently lost clients, financing, or its entire business.
“If I had known three years ago that my business would be based on selling short sales, foreclosures and half-built houses, I would not have believed you,” said Kelly Price, a veteran real estate broker based in Winter Park, Fla. She is trying to sell three partly-built houses for banks that took possession of them from a builder or owner in financial trouble.
Officials in Orange County, Fla., say they aren’t sure how many partly built homes are in such limbo because in March 2009, they gave builders a one-year extension on their building permits. Also, builders often deliberately delay work on new homes, putting off completion until the new year for tax purposes.
Nationally, the percentage of incomplete houses among new homes listed for sale rose this year from 39% in January to 43% as of October, according to the U.S. census. Though those numbers included homes under contract and still under construction, they also included unfinished homes abandoned by builders and placed on the market by banks.
One of the houses listed by Kelly Price & Co. is about a half-mile past the guarded gates of Lake Nona Country Club, in southeast Orlando. The ivory-colored, Tuscan-style fortress looks as though its subcontractors left for lunch one day and never returned. Near the entry, a worker’s face mask dangles from a nail at the entrance to what was to be the underground wine cellar. Light shines through designer windows onto bare plyboard floors. The master suite—complete with the framework for a two-story closet—is bare except for a drafting table. And the table is bare, too, because the blueprints recently disappeared from the former work site. The custom-built kitchen and bathroom cabinets are stored in a Seminole County warehouse to ensure they don’t disappear as well.
In the center of the property’s residential compound is a concrete hole—the beginnings of a courtyard pool that was to feature a hot tub and concrete bridge. Most of the walls around the pool are painted ivory, but some still have a raw, stucco finish. Piles of clay-colored, barrel-roof tiles are stacked behind the guest house, which overlooks the golf course and a retention pond. A weathered wooden worktable still sits on the guest-house patio. Throughout the property, hand-hewn doors, beams and banisters, some with elaborate carvings of lizards on them, hint at the architect’s uncompleted vision.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Price, a certified distressed-property expert. “It’s kind of like finish your own castle. You have to bring your own vision.”
Price has had the property listed for months at $1.3 million, or $118 a square foot. Though it’s difficult to find a comparable sale to assess the partially-built home’s value, the five closest sales in Lake Nona Country Club during the past year fetched $311 to $758 a square foot. Price said she has presented all offers from prospective buyers to the bank that owns the house, but so far it hasn’t accepted any of them. Such sales can take time, she noted. Kelly Price & Co. has a similar house listed for sale in Winter Park for $1.7 million, and it has been on the market through various real estate companies for years.
Many more small, custom-home builders have had to walk away from projects than have large, production-home builders, said Jim Lewis, president of Charles Wayne Consulting in Maitland. Still, several sizable homebuilding companies with financial problems have left clusters of partially-built houses across Central Florida since the bursting of the housing bubble. In some cases, other builders have stepped in to complete the work on those homes. Lewis noted that prospective home buyers should take some precautions when considering the purchase of a half-built home.
“The new owner is certainly buying a lot of unknowns and would have to get someone in there—a construction type—and see what remains to be completed and, in some cases, to repair the damage that has been done because the house has not been completed,” Lewis said. Such houses typically aren’t heated or cooled, so if they are carpeted, they could have mold problems. If roof shingles are not all in place, the structure may have some wood rot.
Buying an incomplete construction project is not for everyone, Price said. Buyers who haven’t had a house built for them before may be leery of such an undertaking, and out-of-town buyers may conclude they don’t have the right kind of local contacts to get the work finished correctly.
Price said she wasn’t sure about the kinds of liens on file against the Lake Nona home, but she noted that any buyer would have to pay them or negotiate with the bank. She advised buyers to fully explore a property’s title before purchasing an incomplete house—and be doubly cautious about liens involving the Internal Revenue Service, because those can be difficult to clear. Looking beyond the complications, though, Price said “shell” homes can be a bargain. “I just want people to know that there are opportunities out there,” she said.
(c) 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.
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RISMEDIA, December 30, 2009—We’ve all been there on making well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions, among them promising faithfully to go on a diet, exercise and eat healthier. And sometimes, we may even keep those resolutions for a little while before falling off the wagon.
As part of the yearly New Year’s resolution-making ritual, the Alliance to Save Energy encourages consumers to check out their home’s physical fitness and, depending on its overall state of health, put it on an ‘energy diet.’
How is your Home’s ‘Physical Fitness?’The “physical fitness” of your home can make the difference between soaring energy bills or comfortable savings this winter. By cutting wasteful energy use, an energy-efficient home is a strong defense against winter winds, rain, sleet, snow, and chill, while also reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and increasing national security.
And Uncle Sam is offering another incentive for putting your home on an energy diet: A 30% tax credit—a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your income taxes owed—of up to $1,500 during the remainder of 2009 and throughout 2010 for specific energy efficiency home improvements. Details on qualifying products, including insulation and sealing products, highly efficient furnaces, heat pumps, and windows, are available at www.ase.org/taxcredits.
The Alliance offers the following physical fitness tips to help cut your home’s energy bills and increase comfort.
Is Your Home Leaking Energy Dollars?First plug air leaks. Your heating and cooling dollars could be going out your windows, doors, and electrical outlets. Seal all those air leaks with sealant or caulking and weather stripping.
Then, “insulate” yourself from price shocks. Install appropriate insulation for your climate based on R-values. Start with attic insulation, followed by exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawl spaces. Insulate and seal attic air ducts. These first two steps will increase your comfort, make your home quieter, and reduce your heating and cooling costs by up to 20%.
Go “window shopping” at www.efficientwindows.org to discover how high-performance ENERGY STAR-labeled windows can cut heating costs by as much as 30% compared to single-pane windows, while increasing indoor comfort and lessening fading of home furnishings.
Improve How You Care for and Heat Your HomeHeating accounts for 31% of the typical home’s energy costs. Sealing and insulating your home, as well as the other energy efficiency measures below, will lower your heating bills, increase your comfort, and decrease your carbon footprint.
Properly maintain your HVAC system. Just as a tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a semi-annual or yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort.
Keep furnace filters clean. Check your filter every month, especially during heavy use months (winter and summer), and change it if it looks dirty. At a minimum, change the filter every three months. A dirty filter will slow down air flow and make the system work harder to keep you warm–wasting energy. A clean filter will also prevent dust and dirt from building up in the system, which could require expensive maintenance and/or cause early system failure.
Seal your heating and cooling ducts. In a typical house with a forced air system, about 20% of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts. Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers home energy bills, and can often pay for itself in energy savings. Insulate ducts in unheated areas such as attics, crawlspaces, and garages with duct insulation that carries an R-value of 6 or higher. Also, a well-designed and sealed duct system may make it possible to downsize to a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system that will provide better dehumidification.
Let a programmable thermostat “remember” to lower the heat while your home is empty and/or overnight to reduce heating costs by up to 10%–and allow you to come home and wake up to a toasty, comfortable house.
Have to replace your HVAC equipment? Consider installing ENERGY STAR-qualified heating and cooling equipment. Installed correctly, these high-efficiency units can save up to 20% on heating and cooling costs. And, certain highly-efficient models qualify for the current federal income tax credit.
Open curtains and other window treatments on your west- and south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night.
Replacing or purchasing energy-using and energy-related products? Save up to 30% in related energy bills with products earning the ENERGY STAR label, the symbol of energy efficiency, on some 50 product categories, including appliances, electronics, windows, lighting, and home office equipment.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik Print Article
RISMEDIA, December 21, 2009—(MCT)—Flip on your television and tune into HGTV’s “House Hunters,” and you might see yet another set of Chicago homebuyers and a local real estate agent in action.
The popular cable TV program seems to like the local real estate market; it’s certainly been featured before. And with every show, another buyer and agent learn the skinny about what’s real and unreal on reality television.
“House Hunters” is one of those programs you can stumble across and then find yourself sitting down to watch, critiquing the three different properties being shown and the buyer’s tastes, and then guessing which one they’ll pick. It also provides a sense of property values in a given locale, as in “look how much more/less house we can get if we moved somewhere else.”
So hearing the behind-the-scenes details of several episodes that have been filmed here recently is a bit like pulling back the curtain to reveal the real Wizard of Oz.
A few months ago, while they were looking for another set of homebuyers, the show’s producers stumbled across the blog of Chicago Realtor Eric Rojas and asked if he had a willing buyer. He did. But Chicagoans Kurt and Kelly Schnakenberg had to be more than willing to appear on television. They had to have the financial wherewithal to actually close on a home, and they had to have the right personalities for the show, something they demonstrated in a videotape sent to the producers.
Rojas, meanwhile, had to fill out a questionnaire about how he does business.
For the show, the couple looked at three properties in Lakeview: a $415,000 loft, a $355,000 vintage condo with a kitchen that needed work and a $400,000 loft-style town house that needed updating. Of those three, one of them was the unit the couple did indeed purchase. Another one was under contract to someone else, so the listing agent had no problem showing it. The third unit was for sale, but the couple had never seen it before and had pretty much already made up their mind.
The conversations aren’t the same, either. Kurt Schnakenberg said he and his wife did debate the merits of various condos but it was never so serious and “usually over a bottle of wine.”
Chicago agent Carrie Georgitsis, who showed properties to her father for a different episode, had no idea how tiring it would be until she found herself involved in 40 hours of filming for what amounts to less than 25 minutes of programming. She found herself having to say the same things over and over, while the camera crew shot her conversations with her father from different angles, and had to be careful not to tip off viewers to which property was chosen.
Why can’t it be more real than it is? Here’s three good reasons: One, it’s a TV show and it’s meant to be entertaining. If it turned out that the buyers had bad credit and couldn’t close on a home, there’d be no happy ending and no “after” shot showing the new homeowners in their abode. Two, sellers—and homeowners associations—have to agree to the filming and some don’t want to be bothered or don’t want to deal with the legal ramifications if a crew member gets hurt during filming. And three, if the buyers and the real estate agent are totally unlikable and mumble, do you want to watch them buy a house?
Rojas doesn’t think so. “‘House Hunters’ is house candy,” Rojas said. “It’s not realistic. It’s directed. You don’t learn anything about buying. You learn about real estate values. You learn about how houses look.”
Despite all that, agents who’ve done it say they still watch the show, and they’d go back on it again. After all, it’s great marketing exposure, particularly because programs are repeated.
“It’s totally fake, but does anybody think reality TV is real? It’s all canned, but it’s fun to watch,” said real estate agent Karl Vogel, who was also featured in a recent episode helping a Boston native find a home in Chicago.
The Schnakenbergs, who’d never before seen the show, already plan to capitalize on their upcoming 30 minutes of fame when it comes time to sell their condo. “Listing it ‘as seen on HGTV’ couldn’t hurt us,” Kurt Schnakenberg said. “I’m not sure if it will get us more money, but it will help us get more showings.”
GIBSON — A real estate agent showing a house in Gibson got to the basement and found about 100 human bones in a corner.
James Kenny, a forensic investigator with the Terrebonne Parish Coroner's Office, says the bones found Saturday were so old that dirt had saturated the marrow inside them. He says they probably are remains of Native Americans buried long before the house was built.
Kenny says he learned that the previous residents would often find bones while mowing the lawn or doing yard work, and would put them in the basement.
Half of the split-level house is on top of a circular mound, which parish officials suggest may be an Indian burial mound.
Neither the agent nor the home's owner would talk to The Courier of Houma
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