122-124 Adams Street, Waltham, MA - Presented by Mike Hughes

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New Listing - 330 Bishops Forest Dr., Waltham, MA - Presented by Mike Hughes

Seven Ways to Use a Home Inspection Report

In random order, I present to you seven different ways in which a home inspection report can be used by parties to a real estate transaction for advantage and benefit.

1.  Buyers can consider the reported conditions of the home's systems to determine their ability to afford to maintain the property.  A home with a 12 year old water heater, an 18 year old furnace and a 25 year old composite shingled roof is going to need some costly investments in the near future.

2.  Buyers can sometimes use information regarding undisclosed defects to negotiate the seller's action to repair the defect(s) or adjust the asking price for the home.

3.  Sellers can obtain a home inspection and use the report to disclose known defects to potential buyers.

4.  Sellers can obtain a home inspection and use the report to identify and correct significant defects that could interfere with a buyer's desire to submit a contract to buy the property.

5.  Buyers can use the inspection report as a "punch list" or "to do list" for maintaining the property after purchase.

6.  Buyers/Sellers can use the report to communicate to contractors the nature of the defect(s) to obtain estimates for repair or to arrange for repairs or replacements.

7.  Buyers can sometimes use the inspection report as a means to withdraw from the contracted agreement to purchase the home when certain types of undisclosed defects are reported.

Buyers and sellers should consider obtaining inspection reports only from professional full-time home inspectors.  Inspection reports generated by builders or contractors are often used by them as marketing tools and a means to generate business for maintenance and repairs and do not always represent the actual conditions of the property.

 

 

HEY MOM! WHERE'S FANNIE MAE? LOAN MODIFICATION - THE NEXT CONSUMER SCAM SCANDAL!

                                             * * * *  HARD CORE REAL ESTATE TALK  * * * *

LOAN MODIFICATION - The government's failure to help home owners is an open invitation to scam artists to swindle home owners out of what little they have left.

George Souto post an interesting article today about mortgage modification spam by e-mail.  Of course, that's not the only venue for companies offering mortgage modification services these days.  These scam artists are crawling out of the woodwork. 

There are about 15,000,000 home owners at risk of losing their home due to mortgage default.  Fannie Mae will not assist a home owner whose mortgage balance is more than 105% of the market value of their home.  Let's see.  In many counties in many states, property values have dropped by 25-75%. 

Case #1.  Buyer financed their home purchase in 2005 with 80/20 conventional loan sold to Fannie Mae. 

• The purchase price was $350,000.
• The first trust is about $280,000. 
• The market value of their home is now about $225,000.

Clearly, the mortgage balance (first trust) is more than 105% of market value.  In fact, it's about 120% of market value.  This home owner and millions of others are ineligible for loan modification help from Fannie Mae.

I've tried and tried to figure out or find the answer to why this requirement was included in the Fannie Mae Mortgage Modification Plan.  It is completely nonsensical since it serves only to exclude millions of home owners in need of mortgage modification. 

This isn't the first time Fannie Mae has failed the home buying consumer and home owners.  See, Hey Mom, Where's Fannie Mae?

Case #2.  Buyers financed their home in 2006 with an 5% down mortgage sold to Fannie Mae. 

• The purchase price was $400,000.
• The mortgage is $360,000. 
• The market value of their home is now about $240,000. 

Clearly, these buyers will have no relief from Fannie Mae. 

ENTER THE MORTGAGE MODIFICATION COMPANY. 

                        "STEP RIGHT UP FOLKS.  GET YOUR MORTGAGE MODIFICATION HERE"

• We'll talk to your mortgage company.  You don't have to.
• You don't need good credit!
• No mortgage payments until your mortgage is modified!
• We can stop foreclosure.

We can perform this magic for you with a modest up front fee of only $1,500 (often one months mortgage payment) to offset our expenses to set up your personal loan modification plan.

Method of payment:  cash, cashiers check, check by phone, money order.

In some areas, the "mortgage modification companies" are conducting seminars with fees as high as $2,000 - $3,500 up front.  Conducted by "motivational speakers" similar to "self improvement" gurus, the distressed home owners are persuaded that the presenters can solve all of their mortgage problems.  These programs are highly organized, well presented and are praying on the naivete of the average home owner who is faced with the loss of their home.

               $ $ $ $  TRILLIONS FOR BANKS but MEAGER RESOURCES FOR HOME OWNERS $ $ $ $

THE FEDS TO THE RESCUE??  While the FBI is aware of the problem, with about 2,000 cases under investigation, their report is that they do not have the resources to track, investigate and refer cases for prosecution due to a lack of resources and manpower.

In the mean time, the distressed home owners whose morgage balance is more than 105% of the market value of their home just wait for the money to run out, the registered letter from the mortgage company to arrive.

When they log on to check their e-mail tomorrow morning, they may receive a persuasive spam offering to solve all of their problems and save their home. 

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail. 

 

                         

                                         "Honey, can Fannie Mae help us save our home?"

                            "No Dear, we owe too much, but look at this e-mail I got this morning."

                                      

10 Reasons That You Should Wait to Buy in this Market

 With all the posts out there about how now is the best time in history to run out and buy a home, I thought it only fair to show you the reasons that you should not do so. The last thing this economy needs is for consumers to start spending money, that would actually cause the great deals to go away. Mainly due to the fact that it would cause the economy and the real estate market to recover, and at this point that's the last thing we need.

10-  Rent is fun to pay. I mean it's not at all like having to pay your own mortgage, why do that when you can pay a mortgage for someone else. If you went out and bought a home, there would be one less investor out there getting a free house with your money.

9- The amount of homes for sale on the market. There is no need to running out there when you have a ton of homes for sale at your disposal. You should certainly wait for the numbers to dwindle so you will have less of a choice you decide to buy. This will keep you from having to be so picky.

8- The great deals will be the first to go. This will be your indicator that you are getting close to time to start looking. All the good homes will be taken and then you can go sift through the left overs for what you can salvage.

7- Low Interest rates. Low interest rates will cause your mortgage payments to be lower, and this may make you feel like you are not doing your fair share. You should definitely wait around for those rates to rise so you can make a higher monthly payment. Then you won't have to deal with the guilt of saving money.

6- The price of homes for sale. Currently many homes for sale are on the market at very competitive lower prices. If you can manage to hang in there a little longer without buying a home, then you can catch market during or after a recovery. This means that you will get to pay more for the home than you would today.

5- With today's rates and prices, mortgages on many homes for sale are actually cheaper than rent on the same homes. Again this would possibly save you money, and that's not what you want to do. You need to wait for the prices to rise so you're not getting as good of a deal.

4- A 10% of the sales price tax credit up to $8,000. If you were to buy a home now,and you are a first time home buyer, then you would receive this tax credit. If you can hold out until next year, then you will be able to avoid this tax credit all together. This will save you the aggravation of trying to decide what to do with the extra money on next year's tax return.

3-Builder incentives. At present, in addition to the competitive prices, many builders are offering other incentives on new homes. Incentives like a percentage of of the home for sale depending on your employment and reduced pricing on upgrades. Some are even offering free upgrades and tossing in little extras that they normally do not offer in order to sweeten the pot. This would mean that you could get a great deal on a brand new home in your area, and that's the last thing you want. Wait for these deals to be snatched up other buyers before you even consider looking for your new home.

2- Lack of competition for you. Right now with many would be buyers sitting on the fence trying to make a decision, you would have your pick of the litter as far as the homes currently available are concerned. You need to wait until many more buyers are on the search, that way you can possibly end up in multiple offer situations and have to fight another buyer over the home you really want.

1- The pride of home ownership. There is no reason to come home to a home that actually belongs to you. Why not constantly come home to a house that you are buying for someone else.

 

 I hope that in some way this has helped anyone reading to figure out why you should stay on that fence. There are really too many great deals and incentives out there to subject yourself to making a decision as to which one you want. So hang in there and stay on those sidelines. With a little discipline and a little luck you'll be able to avoid all the great deals that this current market has to offer. Best of luck to you.

 

www.jlboney.com

Youtube and Your Real Estate Videos

Many of us use Youtube to host a variety of Real Estate and personal videos.  I noticed that when videos are done playing, in most cases, other videos will pop up on the screen that have a similar topic or title.  Does this hurt or help you?  I guess this depends on how you "see" it, no pun intended.  Having a video on your site or post can certainly help to create a more captive audience, but those next videos that pop up may be having a subtle and adverse affect.

Yesterday, I was watching a Real Estate Video that was really interesting.  I watched all 3 minutes of it.  Then, when their video was finished, up came another agents video that had nearly the same title?!?   The second video was a bit more produced, had better sound quality, was clearly a higher quality camera, and seemed to have a better videographer.  Plus, the video was only 1:20 minutes long.  At the end of the "competitors" video was a phone number and annotation that included a call to action.  Hmm...

So how do you prevent your competition and others from coming up on "Your" Youtube videos?  Hopefully this tip will help prevent this from ever happening to you...ever again.  When using Youtube Videos on your Blog posts or sites, you might want to take these next steps and precautions before pasting that object embed code.  I'll use these screen shots below as examples in hopes this makes more sense.

                               You want this:                                                          Not This:

        

When you get or use ANY video from Youtube, there are some options available you may not be aware of.  This will come in very handy if you're uploading your own or using any videos from youtube.   When you create or find the video you wish to link or embed into your site, you'll see these options available located on the right side of the video.

Top Line is the URL used to provide a link to the video

Bottom Line is the embed code used to embed on your site

There is a tiny graphic just to the right of the embed code (a settings gear) that little blue thingy   that probably 90 percent of people never see.  Click On it!  This allows you to customize and make changes to the video and player.

This is the culprit right here. 

If you leave that box checked, you'll have no control over what shows up after your video plays.  If you leave it checked, you're taking a chance on having some videos pop up that might not "Best represent" you, your Blog or the site it's being seen on. 

This is happening with and to millions of videos, and they call it viral.  Can you see why now?

Once you get this out of the way, you can also customize your Video by changing the size and adding a custom border.  Just click on that "settings" graphic and it's all there.  I suggest the 445x365 or 500x405 for ActiveRain Blogs.  Only copy the embed code for your video "AFTER" you have completed these steps, that is unless of course you don't mind what videos come up after yours.

               

The video below is my 13 second claim to fame.  It's short, raw, and took me the least amount of time and effort to create other than getting to the place where I shot it.  Because it is titled "The Glory Hole" or "The Black Hole" you can imagine some of the other videos that would pop up in the viewer after mine. :-O  I sure didn't want Mom to see some of those other videos that were supposedly related.  Yikes!  We won't go there today.  This little video has had over half a million views with nearly 1000 comments.  Question is, where did they go and what did they see after mine...or YOURS?

This is what might happen to some of your "Rain Making Efforts" if you're not real careful out there....

Squatters Increasingly Calling Foreclosures Home

According to an article from yesterday's NY Times, though squatting in vacant homes has long been an issue on a smaller scale, with so many vacant foreclosures on the market, homeless advocacy groups around the country are now actively assisting homeless families to take up residence in these foreclosed properties. And overwhelmed police departments are not helping much in the eviction process.

The groups say that they have sometimes received support from neighbors and that beleaguered police departments have not aggressively gone after squatters. "We're seeing sheriffs' departments who are reluctant to move fast on foreclosures or evictions," said Bill Faith, director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, which is not engaged in squatting. "They're up to their eyeballs in this stuff. Everyone's overwhelmed."

The issue is a controversial one. Advocates see these vacant properties as an opportunity to ease the growing homeless problem in a declining economy. Though some of these groups operate secretly, others are out in the open, trying to secure legal means to move their clients into these abandoned properties.

Anita Beaty, executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, said her group had been looking into asking banks to give it abandoned buildings to renovate and occupy legally. Ms. Honkala, who was a squatter in the 1980s, said the biggest difference now was that the neighbors were often more supportive. "People who used to say, ‘That's breaking the law,' now that they're living on a block with three or four empty houses, they're very interested in helping out, bringing over mattresses or food for the families," she said.

The organized homeless groups are also having to compete with more traditional individual squatters.

"We had a move-in that we were going to do one day at noon," he said. "At 10 o'clock in the morning, I went over to the house just to make sure everything was O.K., and squatters took over our squat. Then we went to another place nearby, and squatters were in that place also."

Mr. Rameau said his group differed from ad hoc squatters by operating openly, screening potential residents for mental illness and drug addiction, and requiring that they earn "sweat equity" by cleaning or doing repairs around the house and that they keep up with the utility bills.

I have to say this issue has me torn. I'll admit I am a fairly left-wing liberal who appreciates the effort on the part of these advocacy groups to try to find a workable, though temporary, solution to a growing problem that no one else seems to be addressing. I feel for these people who, for reasons that may be beyond their control, have found themselves and their families homeless and unemployed in a dire economic climate. At the same time I work in the real estate industry and feel for the agents who represent these properties. I feel the banks are not doing enough to properly secure and maintain these foreclosed homes. They often leave them in a dilapidated state and just "hope for the best" in terms of a sale. Rather than investing a small amount in paint, carpet, Home Staging (and some sort of security system) in order to sell these properties quickly, they let them linger on the market and become targets for squatting.

What are your thoughts?

*************************************************************************************

Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell
Owner & Principal Designer
310-384-1084
www.stagetosell.biz

"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"

************************************************
Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.

Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.

Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times, Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine.

If you would like to see more of our Home Staging work, visit our website. There is an extensive gallery of before & after photos, as well as a list of our Staged properties currently on the market.

We can't just blame Wall Street or the Government...

I am going to write about a very sensitive subject.  There are strong opinions on both sides - however I am someplace in the middle.  Now this was inspired by someone whom I have the utmost respect for; fellow blogger and Real Estate Broker, Lenn Harley.

"They Bought Homes They Couldn't Afford" Is a phrase we often hear.  It is a phrase that, as Lenn says; "sends chills down her spine..."  Well I can't (always) agree with that.

People DID buy homes they could not afford and Yes the banks were too greedy, stupid and short-sighted that they let people qualify for way too high of a loan.  The banks didn't have very good (if any) checks in place for those Home Buyers who simply LIED about how much they made in income.  The so-called "No-Doc" loan; let many people "state" how much they made.

Now SHAME ON THE BANKS for letting such crap happen.  But to then call the Home Buyer a Victim - is a bit much. SOME of them KNEW BETTER. 

When I purchased my condo in Washington DC; a very well respected loan officer; said - You qualify for "$x".  I about fainted.  That was WAY more than I wanted; with a payment WAY more that I wanted to pay.  Now could I afford it - probably.  But I drive a nice car, go on vacation and oh yeah BUY GROCERIES !

Should the bank NOT have offered me so much?  Maybe, maybe not.  I have excellent credit; have owned and sold homes before even had steady income.  But if I accepted such a high amount - I couldn't say I was "A victim"; but rather a FOOL.

When I had a young couple tell me they wanted to buy a HUGE Town home with a zero-down loan; I told them they were foolish.  I explained over and over that it was their 1st home, they probably didn't need such a large place as their 1st home, and I cautioned about zero-down loans.  One of the buyers was an Accountant.  While I doubt he understood the crazy ways the Wall Street folks were "playing games with mortgages" - he did understand the risks associated with this loan.  Now they are upside down; can't sell and struggle every month to make the payment.  Victims?



There is NO Question that Many Americans are Victims.  Those that lost their jobs (and homes) because of the the Recession.  Those that were lied to by Lenders and Real Estate agents; who told them, "Not to worry".  Those whom could not read the Fine Print - because they don't read English; (now I would never sign something written in French; but hey that's me).

As we sort through this mess - let's just make sure the blame is placed correctly.  I suppose we can say - the whole recession would have never happened - nor would homes have lost such huge values; had the 'Game Players' on Wall Street not been playing such a dirty, high-risk game.  Nor would we be in this mess had the "Overseers" been "Overseeing" Wall Street and Fannie from pulling one over on us.

However; there are those folks who will always borrow too much; lie about what they make and live life on the Financial Edge.  There will always be Investors who risk everything to make a buck; only to lose everything because they were foolish.



I would love to see some real "Bail-Out" money go to Home Owners losing their homes; but let's not make the mistakes we made with AIG.  The Fools shouldn't get a dime.

 

 

    

Contact James Downing of the Downing Real Estate Team, if you are selling, buying or have questions!

Office: 202-362-5800   Cell: 703.244.3971

Licensed in Washington DC, Virginia & Maryland.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Chevy Chase
5028 Wisconsin Ave NW  Suite 100 * Washington DC 20016