Posts Tagged ‘economy’

IT’S AMERICA’S TIME TO SHINE

By Rick Soukoulis | April 15th, 2010 0 Comments

If you’ve been noticing the headlines recently, you’ve seen that some European countries are going through extremely difficult economics problems. The headlines you’ve probably seen the most have been about Greece. Their government spending was way out of whack, and their economy is paying the price.

The other countries having hard times are Portugal, Italy and Spain, and when you add Greece, the initials for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain spell out PIGS. You may have seen this term in the news.

Why do I point this out?  Why is this at all relevant to selling homes and getting mortgages for homebuyers?

The reason I find this relevant and interesting is that the PIGS countries are just starting to sink into their economic problems.  They’re going through now what we went through two years ago.

They’re just starting to grapple with their problems, and we’re starting to come out of our recession.

Two years ago a lot of Americans thought the world was coming to an end.  Washington Mutual, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Indy Mac all failed, and AIG, General Motors, and our biggest banks had to get emergency financing from our government.

Serious people on the news and in the newspapers would ask if the Bank of America would fail, and when questions like this can be part of our national dialogue, you know people are scared.

Things are different now.

  • Get new posts via email
  • Subscribe

Intero Insider: Reality Check!

By Gino Blefari | April 7th, 2010 0 Comments

Each time a glimmer of positive news about the real estate market shows its face, economists, real estate professionals, and politicians alike begin to shout, “We’re on our way back up! Nothing but blue skies ahead!”

While I remain hopeful, I think assertions like this are foolhardy and irresponsible.

Anyone who lives in the State of California, or who’s considered moving here, knows that the real estate market for the past several years has been pretty grim. As quickly as California’s home values increased through 2005, they have since fallen considerably due to the economic downturn, and foreclosures have run rampant.

Recently, some improvements have been noted. In the last S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, for example, home prices in California were shown to have strong gains. In Los Angeles, prices rose 1.8% in January. There were gains in San Diego of 0.9% and in San Francisco, the gain was 0.6%.

This is terrific news, make no mistake, but I suggest that a more cautious view be taken.

Here’s why.

Historically, spring home sales (and the spring market doesn’t wait til March to begin, I assure you) are the strongest of any throughout the year. Weather improves, making it more pleasant to look at homes, and people want to be able to buy a new home, so that they can move at the end of the school year, or what-have-you.

This year, we also have the Homebuyer’s Tax Credit driving more buyers into the marketplace. Add to this the fact that mortgage rates are still at rock-bottom levels, which have been made possible, in large part due to the Federal Government’s sizable activity in mortgage-backed securities, and the market for buyers is very, very attractive.

Here’s where things get sticky.

The tax credit is set to expire in just a couple of weeks. The pressure to buy before it expires will be gone. Strike one. The Federal government is about to remove itself from the mortgage-backed securities game. Mortgage rates are going to rise. Strike two. There’s wide speculation that foreclosures are going to get worse before they get better (unfortunately). Strike three.

At Intero, we choose to stay level-headed. We choose to stay in the game that’s currently being played, not the one that may or may not come in the near future. We are hopeful that things will improve, but until they do, you need agents who are dealing with reality. You need agents who will tell you like it is. Agents who know the markets in which they work and live. Intero are those agents.

  • Get new posts via email
  • Subscribe

Intero Insider: A Delicate Balance

By Gino Blefari | February 10th, 2010 0 Comments

For the past two years or so, our nation’s economy has been floundering, doing all it could to get its head above water. The real estate industry has played — and continues to play — rather a large role in how the story pans out. But contributing to successes and failures in our own industry are untold numbers of mitigating factors, from fraudulent lending and sub-prime mortgages, to over-inflated sales prices, foreclosures, tax credits, and the some of the best sales prices in recent memory. When working together properly, these things can spur wonderful upward movement.

When something is knocked even slightly askew, however, that delicate balance can be thrown into a tailspin.

There has been great news of late, of course. Many neighborhoods across the nation have seen upticks in sales prices, many listings are, once again, seeing multiple offers, and interest rates are at astonishingly low levels.

Now, though, we are holding our collective breath, as several things that have helped spur the market along are poised to come to a halt.

First, the homebuyer tax credit. It’s been credited (no pun intended) with getting a lot of buyers into the market that wouldn’t have been otherwise. It was expanded in the Fall, but will expire this Spring.

Strike one.

Second, foreclosures. As we’ve reported already, the incidence of foreclosure continues to rise. Many homeowners in financial distress are simply making the decision to walk away from their homes, and their debts right along with them.

Strike two.

Third, we have another wrinkle. Those low interest rates that we just mentioned? They’re due in large part to Federal Reserve purchases of mortgage-backed securities. Thus far, the Fed’s purchases total almost $1.25 trillion dollars, but those purchases are due to stop near the end of March. This move will likely cause interest rates to turn upward. How much will they rise? That remains to be seen, but initial estimates have them climbing by more than a percentage point by year’s end.

Strike three.

These three factors coming together at roughly the same time could, potentially, throw the tenuous balance and modest signs of recovery we’ve seen thus far completely off kilter. The ever-changing conditions make the handling of a real estate transaction, whether for a buyer or a seller, all the more difficult. Intero’s real estate professionals stay up-to-date with the latest trends and will know which will affect you, and which won’t.

Negotiating the most important financial decisions of your life requires all of the information.  Your Intero real estate professional has that information and will help you keep things in balance.

  • Get new posts via email
  • Subscribe

Intero Insider: Making Sense of Loan Modifications

By Gino Blefari | January 5th, 2010 0 Comments

Losing one’s home is a gut-wrenching experience. It’s something no one should have to go through. Now, sadly, many, many people are having to do just that. In many cases, however, there is another answer.

The Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP.

Part of the Federal Government’s economic stimulus plan, HAMP is an option that has yet to pick up a head of steam. It’s possible that it hasn’t gotten the necessary publicity, which is a shame, because keeping homeowners in their homes is vital not just to their well-being, but to the well-being of our economy.

Here’s how HAMP works:

Not a refinance, which replaces your loan with a brand-new mortgage, a loan modification happens when your lender reworks the terms of your existing loan. Generally speaking, this lowers payments and makes the home more affordable for you. Often, the lower payments are the result of a lower interest rate, an extension in the loan term, a reduction in principal, or any combination thereof.

If your home is your primary residence and the balance of your first mortgage is less than $729,750, then you may qualify for the program. Additionally, you’ll have to demonstrate that you’re facing hardships that are affecting your ability to make payments on your mortgage. From there, your lender will ask for documentation about your income, bank statements, as well as other financial data. You’ll also be asked to complete a Hardship Affidavit, in which you’ll describe extenuating circumstances with which you’re dealing.

“I’m doing just fine with my mortgage payments. Why is this important for me?”

Why? I’ll tell you why. The prospect of tens of thousands (yes, that many) homes suddenly appearing on the market is a pretty gruesome specter for our economy. Part of the problem of “shadow inventory” that we mentioned several weeks ago – a tidal wave of foreclosed homes entering the marketplace – would be a crushing blow to a real estate market that is only just showing signs of recovery.

Also, unoccupied homes are blights on communities. Too many can splinter a neighborhood, driving down everyone’s property values — not just those that are empty. And make no mistake: this isn’t just a problem of lower-income communities. No. Foreclosure is just as much of a problem in higher-end neighborhoods.

As Bloomberg reported late December – Homeowners with mortgages of more than $1 million are defaulting at almost twice the U.S. rate. This brings the rate of default for these considerable loans up to a skyrocketing level of 12 percent as of September, compared with 6.3 percent on loans less than $250,000 and 7.4 percent on all U.S. mortgages. This is quite a jump from the year prior where the rate for default on the $1 million dollar plus mortgages as only 4.7 percent.

So, take a look at HAMP. HAMP is offering distressed homeowners a second chance. A chance to keep a roof over their family’s head. A chance to keep the sense of pride instilled by owning your own home.

It’s not a cure-all. But it’s a place to start.

  • Get new posts via email
  • Subscribe

Intero Insider: Closing The Door on 2009

By Gino Blefari | December 29th, 2009 0 Comments

The Holiday Season is approaching its end. Hopefully, you’ve been able to relax a bit and spend time with family, friends and the people whom you love most. The end of this season signals the rapidly-approaching end to yet another year. A year that most of us are more than ready to put behind us. We’re all looking forward to the promises of the new year. A fresh start. New possibilities. To 2010.

But let’s take a moment to reflect on the year that was 2009, and how it shaped us and our industry.

2009 was a year of change. A change in the way people shop for homes. A change in the way real estate professionals do business. A change in the way we look at things.

Certainly, the economy and its woes played a major role. While there are glimmers of light and signs of improvement on the horizon, rising unemployment (that will likely worsen a bit more before it gets better) and more stringent lending standards continued their stranglehold on the real estate industry.

Mortgage rates found themselves at all-time lows in 2009, but with underwriting restrictions and tightening standards, including tougher rules from places FHA, typically thought more “understanding”, very few people were able to qualify. With the Federal Government’s loan modification program, short sales and a flood of foreclosures with which to deal, banks are not likely to loosen these standards anytime soon.

Of course, the news wasn’t all bad.

With those foreclosures and short sales came some incredible opportunities for those looking to buy a home. For those with open minds and who were willing to exercise a little bit of patience, deals, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in decades, were ripe for the picking.

For those who were really lucky, those deals could be combined with what was (and will likely continue to be) one of the biggest stories in real estate: the Homebuyer Tax Credit. Recently expanded to include a far broader pool of buyers, the HBTC, in 2009, gave first-time homebuyers a credit of up to $8000 when they purchased a new home. For many, this credit was just the boost necessary to get them toward their share of the American Dream.

While 2009 saw nowhere near the panic and angst that riddled Wall Street and the entire real estate industry in 2008, it was a year of sobering news. A year of goodbyes to the old way of doing business. It was a year for real estate professionals to reevaluate their priorities. To rethink how they did things. It was a year of separating the wheat from the chaff, as many Realtors left the profession altogether. Those who dug in their heels, who opened their minds to new practices, who opted to help, rather than hinder, will rise to the top. They will reap the fruits of their labor.

As you’re making your resolutions for the New Year, think about where we’ve been. About how far we’ve come. Think about how you’ll do things differently. Think about the possibilities before you.

Yes, 2009 was a hard year.  But remember our theme for 2009 – “Adversity is your asset. Things turn out BEST for those who make the BEST of how things turn out.”…AND WE DID! So rather than looking back at 2009 as just a “tough year” let’s make it a year in which we have learned. A year that strengthened our resolve, and our collective character. 2010 is OUR time, now let’s go out and TAKE IT!

  • Get new posts via email
  • Subscribe