Principal cutbacks gaining ground - Las Vegas mortgage borrowers sure could use them - 01/29/10 03:15 PM
Mortgage lenders and servicers have been reluctantly doing loan modifications mainly by paring back interest rates and stretching terms, thereby managing to reduce borrowers' monthly payments to some degree. But obviously that strategy is not working as well as many had hoped for. Restructured home loans keep defaulting at an alarming rate.
DBRS, a debt rating agency, now figures that more than half of them are two or more months behind or sink into foreclosure inside six months from the mortgage modification. Clearly, that's hardly the way to resolve the home loan mess. To get to the core of the problem … (4 comments)

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on death row? - 01/25/10 11:11 PM
House honcho Barney Frank feels that it's time to let these two GSEs, the home loan superstars that have for a long time dominated the secondary mortgage market, expire. Instead of trying to fix them, they should be strapped down and given some liquid that puts them to sleep.  
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in all honesty, have had their problems lately. Years ago they were rocked by management shenanigans, including cooking the books to allow top leaders pocket fatter bonuses. Sounds familiar? More recently they have suffered heavy losses as the real estate market flew right over the cliff … (54 comments)

REMOVE THE FINANCING CONTINGENCY? NOT ON MY WATCH! - 01/24/10 11:42 PM
Lenn gives must-read advice to home buyers about the financing contingency that usually is part of a Contract of Sale. Don't sign anything until you read this blog.
Via Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate:
Bob Harris gives some good advice to home buyers considering buying distressed property.  However, when it comes to removing the financing contingency in an offer, buyers need to understand the risks.
WHAT IS THE JOB OF A BUYER'S AGENT??   We are engaged to help home buyers "find the house"??  Of course, but so much more.  When preparing a Contract of Sale, home buyers often rely … (9 comments)

Las Vegas housing market faces shadow inventory challenge - 01/22/10 05:16 PM
Southern Nevada - with communities of Summerlin, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Silverstone Ranch, Spanish Trail and Charleston Heights - real estate arena is showing some green sprouts coming up from the soil that has been pretty dormant for a long while. So, there is hope. Quite affordable mortgage money and shamefully low prices are largely behind the modest trend to turn things around. But a potential obstacle to the budding recovery could derail a promising start.
The lately much-discussed words shadow inventory are back on the lips of housing observers in Las Vegas and throughout. Shadow, or phantom, inventory … (6 comments)

BLAME REALTORS FOR THE MORTGAGE MESS IF YOU WISH, LEAVE ME OUT! - 01/20/10 10:12 PM
Hey, give Lenn a listen here about what went wrong in the bubbly bubble that swept through most of the nation recently. If you disagree, call her, not me.
Via Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate:
DALE TERRY writes: "We're part of the problem but won't admit it".
WELL, I JUST COULDN'T DISAGREE MORE!
Count me out of the collective "WE" when accepting blame for the mortgage mess and "problem going on in the real estate industry right now".
If real estate agents and brokers had any power to create the mortgage backed security industry, the massive credit default swaps … (6 comments)

Short sale fraud accusations surface against prominent mortgage lenders - 01/19/10 10:51 PM
Homeowners who are upside down and facing mortgage payment trouble are increasingly being approved by their lenders to do a short sale, a process where the bank accepts less for the property than what the loan balance is. They amounted to roughly 12% of real estate sales at the end of 2009. Short sales generally are time-consuming and nerve-wracking and can cause to those involved in them heart palpitations and other physical harm. That often happens when there is only one mortgage, or lien, on the home.
When there is a second lien behind the first mortgage, things get even more … (8 comments)

FHA mortgages in Las Vegas soon to cover wider range - 01/17/10 11:18 PM
Southern Nevada - with communities like Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Rhodes Ranch, Summerlin and Anthem - real estate purchases have recently been financed increasingly with FHA products that offer mortgage applicants more considerate underwriting guidelines and lower down payments than the conventional ones. Without FHA it is hard to imagine what a darker place Las Vegas housing market would otherwise be in right now. And things are going to get even better soon.
HUD just announced an adjustment to the FHA home loan program. Presently, with some exceptions, FHA outlaws insuring a mortgage on a property owned by the … (6 comments)

Las Vegas rejected for HUD stimulus money - 01/14/10 07:15 PM
Southern Nevada jurisdictions of Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas together turned in an application for $367 million from Washington to help battle the once-in-a-lifetime-tough mortgage foreclosure meltdown still roiling here. The stimulus money falls under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, run by HUD, or Department of Housing and Urban Development, and is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The basic idea is to assist in stabilizing hammered communities by converting vacant homes into affordable housing opportunities and stimulate their economies. State and local governments and non-profit developers would work together to buy land and … (8 comments)

Southern Nevada existing home sales trend up in December - 01/11/10 10:01 PM
Las Vegas area - with communities like Henderson, Summerlin, Mesquite, Mountains Edge, Silverstone Ranch, Anthem and Spanish Trail - real estate market closed the door on 2009 on a cautiously positive note. Low mortgage rates continue to draw buyers' attention, as do rock-bottom prices. And the first-time home buyer tax credit extension, spiced with the inclusion of a similar move-up buyer credit, stirred the scene even more. Those incentives are hard to ignore even in this shaky economic environment.
As usual, GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, is behind the stats that follow. Altogether real estate agents closed 3,472 … (11 comments)

Fannie Mae eases up on condo guidelines - Las Vegas mortgages for condominiums - 01/08/10 11:11 PM
The GSE - or Government-sponsored Enterprise - is one of the key participants in the secondary mortgage market, helping finance single-family houses and condominiums under the banner of conforming conventional home loans. During this housing downturn it has suffered some scary losses - who hasn't - and as a result has tightened its underwriting guidelines. The condo segment has been under a really tight watch during the last few years.
Now, however, Fannie Mae is initiating a fresh approach to make more condominiums eligible for its mortgage programs. It starts doing that only in Florida at this point, a state where … (10 comments)

Why do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives get enormous bonuses? - 01/07/10 11:18 PM
Will lets us know about Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's shenanigans and such. Call your congressman to complain.
Via Will Nesbitt - condos / real estate in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County (Condo 1 Alexandria / Will Nesbitt Realty LLC):
Can anyone please tell me why we are paying the executives at Fanne Mae and Freddie Mac giant bonuses?
According to Business Week, "Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Michael Williams and Freddie Mac CEO Charles Haldeman Jr. are each eligible for compensation of as much as $6 million this year, the companies said today in regulatory filings."
Hold on to your britches, Business Week … (6 comments)

How Do You Give a Condo Curb Appeal? - 01/06/10 06:14 PM
Here are some valuable ideas for Las Vegas condo sellers to get their property sold in a jiffy. Stay tuned because more of them are coming in time. 
Via REALTOR Magazine (National Association of Realtors):
Many cities today have a glut of condos on the market, sometimes with nearly-identical units for sale in the same building. What can sellers do to make their unit stand out from the rest?
And what works for making the entryway, hallways, outdoor areas, shared basements/storage, and other and common areas more appealing to buyers? 
This is a hot topic that REALTOR® Magazine is covering in its upcoming crowdsourced List Issue (published in April), which will … (4 comments)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get further Treasury support - mortgage borrowers in Las Vegas to benefit? - 01/05/10 10:57 PM
The giant GSEs - or Government-sponsored Enterprises - have been mandated to provide liquidity to the mortgage marketplace and over the years they have fulfilled that role very successfully. They grew to dominate the conventional conforming home loan segment. But when the world-famous housing bubble began gathering steam Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac somehow got caught in its frenzy, were thoroughly ill-treated when it burst and eventually ended up being put into a government conservatorship. Their total failure was not an option.
These mortgage companies are still reeling, absorbing heavy blows as the battered real estate market spawns more foreclosures.
The … (4 comments)

Las Vegas new home prices slide more - 01/01/10 05:11 PM
Southern Nevada resale housing market - covering subdivisions in Summerlin, Henderson, Southern Highlands, Anthem, Silverstone Ranch, Rhodes Ranch and Green Valley - has proved in the past several months that it does have a pulse. Motivated by affordable mortgage money, shamelessly low prices and eye-catching tax incentives people - mostly first-time buyers and real estate investors that is - have waltzed into the market to stir the pot. Homes are moving rather well specifically in the lower end of it, pricewise from roughly the $200,000 mark on down.
Las Vegas new home segment, however, has been nonchalantly elbowed to the sideline … (9 comments)