Great news from HUD! The rule requiring a property to age at 90 days before it's last sale before using FHA-insured financing is going to be waived, with a few conditions, starting February 1st, 2010. The waiver will be in effect for 1 year.

This is just what the doctor ordered for our FHA buyers. It opens up a whole group of properties that had to be skipped over in the past...

Make sure to read the press release from HUD for all the details.

Happy Shopping!

We are starting to see a disturbing trend in and around the Sacramento area, so I thought I would share what we are seeing. Within the last 2 months or so, appliances and other items have been "walking" out of vacant homes with no signs of forced entry. What has been discovered is that the items disappear after the property has had an open house. It appears that someone who is visiting the open house, is leaving a window unlocked, to come back at a later time to help themselves to a few items.

If you are doing an open house, whether vacant or occupied, do not just check the doors before you leave, but also check the windows to make sure they are all secure.

So now that we have been in this market for awhile, what is your best guess on when we will start coming out of it in your area? Here in the Sacramento area, we have been deep into foreclosures and short sales for nearly 2 years now, and I think we still have at least another 18 months to go.

We have seen fewer REO properties hit the market over the last 3 months or so, but I believe that is a product of the bank moratoriums and waiting to see what the stimulus packages would bring. Also, the Governor has added time to the foreclosure process, so it will take longer for homes to get to the REO market, but many will still get there. What are you seeing in your neck of the woods?

Ok, I have seen a lot of strange things over the past year of listing REOs. The strangest has to be this one! As I was taking pictures and making an inventory of property that was left behind, I stumbled on this old prosthetic leg in the corner of the garage.

 What's the weirdest thing you have come across?

It seems like just yesterday that Financial Title closed their doors. Now we have LandAmerica shutting down their 1031 exchange, filing bankruptcy, and selling off part of the business to Fidelity. Who will be next?

This downturn has affected all aspects of the business and we will keep seeing the fallout for quite some time. It is sad to think of more people displaced from jobs, homes, etc...as we go into the holiday season. When things are rough, we need to remember that there are those who are less fortunate than us, and count our blessings for what we have.

FHA has come out with the current list of lenders who have expressed an interest in participating in the progrgam. The list will be refreshed on most Fridays.

This program became effective as of October 1st, 2008 and runs through September 30, 2011. Congress anticipates that as many as 400,000 homeowners may be able to avoid foreclosure by going through this program.

The program is voluntary for lenders to participate and has several components.

First, the borrower's loan would be refinanced and set to 90% of the current appraised value with the lender taking a loss between the current loan and the new amount, or the lender could decide to modify the existing loan, rather than take a loss.

Second, the borrower's eligibility is reviewed. The mortgage had to have originated on or before January 1, 2008, and mortgage payments as of March 1, 2008, exceeds 31% of the borrower's gross monthly income. Also, the borrower did not intentionally default the loan and does not have ownership interest in other real estate and has not been convicted of fraud in the past 10 years, and no materially false information was used to obtain the loan being refinanced.

For more details click on the links above.

Golden 1 Credit Union is offering 2 loan programs:

1. Mortgage Rescue program for their members who are facing foreclosure on a loans from another lender.
2. Mortgage Repair loan for their members who have lost the home to foreclosure and are trying to repair their credit and buy another home.

I want to find out if anyone has had experience with these two programs through Golden 1? Any success stories or failures? How was the process?

As children, we are always trying to please our parents and hope that they are proud of us. As adults, I think we still strive for that at times.

I have been in Real Estate for just under 5 years now and the other day, I thought back to the day I knew my Dad was proud of me in my new career as a Realtor.

At the time, I had about 8 months under my belt and was still very green. I had a home listed in my area that belonged to my aunt. She had moved away and was living about 4 miles from my parents, but about 90 miles from me. I was having difficulties getting some paperwork back from her. She was not well and her daughter could not leave the house to get the paperwork faxed to me. I knew that I could count on my Dad to come to the rescue as he had always been there to help me in the past. So, I called and asked if he could go by and pick up the paperwork and take it to a local office where they would be waiting to fax it to me. Of course he said he would do it.

Unbeknown to me, when he went into the office with the paperwork, he started talking to the receptionist about me and showed her my card and a picture. When I received the fax that afternoon, the coversheet had a little note on it from the receptionist telling me how proud he was of me. Well, I still have that coversheet and it makes me cry when I read it. I lost my Dad to a very quick illness and cancer about 5 months later, but I know that I made him proud, and feel that he is my guardian angel in this business. With each deal that I close and each client that I help, I always think of him. I also think of him when I hit obstacles along the way, and I know that he is still there to give me strength to go forward.

As of July 1st of this year, it is illegal to use a cell phone while driving unless its hands free. Now, granted just the act of talking on the phone is a distraction, but actually using the handset instead of a corded or blue tooth headset is even more of a distraction. Right after the law took effect, it was rare to actually see someone with a phone to their ear, while driving.

It is now a little over 3 months since the law took effect, and as I look around, I see almost as many people driving while holding the handset to their ear. The other day I was cutoff on the freeway by someone so involved in a conversation that he never even noticed me. I know it feels a little different when you first start using an earpiece or headset, but you get used to it. Also, you can get some great hands free car kits. Let's try and be a little safer out there on the streets. Besides, it's the law...at least in CA!

Washington Mutual's CEO Alan Fishman, who was appointed in early September, will walk away with a $7.5 million hiring bonus and severance of $11.6 million. Now that's what I call one sweet deal. No wonder WaMu's slogan is WooHoo. I am sure he could visions of prosperity as he came on board, knowing that the ship was going down fast. 

If Mr, Fishman worked a 40 hour week, his pay would work out to approx $159k an hour. Not a bad gig I'd say.

Do you think he will be applying for unemployment benefits? Or maybe just looking for the next bank he can "help" out?

No wonder we are in crisis with Wall Street, when we have this kind of stuff happening on a regular basis.