Alabama Housing info

Birmingham still has a very low foreclosure rate.

01.15.2009 | 5:05 pm | positive news stories

Comments Off

New RESPA reform

11.24.2008 | 11:28 am | Uncategorized

HUD has issued new mortgage rules. The rules were made in an effort to help consumers shop for lower cost home loans. I have posted the new GFE HERE,NEW GFE and the new HUD here NEW HUD

Here is an article commenting on the changes from Inman News.

This article came from the HUD website

From the owners of USA Title of Alabama: We are monitoring the upcoming changes that HUD will be making to the RESPA guidelines. We are committed to ensuring that our clients have a smooth transition to the new rules and regulations, and will look to work closely with our clients to ensure 100% compliance with the new laws. We anticipate that banks and wholesale lenders will begin the transfer to the new GFE and Settlement statement by the end of the first quarter in 2009. We will do everything possible to ensure our pricing is competitive and that you have the resources available to always have an accurate GFE in regards to settlement services. If you have any questions regarding the new RESPA Law, please do not hesitate to call our office.

Comments Off

Its been a crazy few weeks. Wall Street bailouts and stock market corrections. I thought a dose of local reality in the form of recent sales statistics might help us all focus and feel like the sky may not be falling after all. This link is an August report on the state of Alabama’s real estate market. I find it comforting to see that we remain positive compared to the national average, and that the numbers have stabilized over the last several months.

Comments (0)

Down payment assistance still on life support

09.9.2008 | 5:47 pm | Uncategorized

It looks as if some form of down payment assistance for FHA loans may become law. A compromise bill, HR 6694 would bring back a revised version of these popular programs. The compromise bill has the blessing of Rep Barney Frank, and the HUD Secretary. Read more about it on Inman news here.

Congress will have to hustle to beat the deadline of October 1, when the housing rescue bill will ban the use of all down payment assistance.

Comments (0)

Rescue me

09.7.2008 | 7:23 pm | Fannie, bailout

Its official. Sunday the Federal Government aka the Treasury department announced that it would take over both Fannie and Freddie. 2 billion goes into the company immediately and up to 200 million could be given out over time. Some experts believe rates will fall. This may prompt more refinance activity in the upcoming months. Just how low rates are expected to fall is anyone’s guess. You could also see a more proactive approach to loan modifications for borrowers that are behind, and fewer foreclosures because of it. Most importantly, the two CEOs have been removed, and all of the excessive lobbying that these two companies did will cease. Fannie and Freddie always had the explicit guarantee of the government. Today, they have a 200 billion dollar safety net.

Most articles have comments similar to this one from Yahoo finance:

By placing Fannie and Freddie into a conservatorship, the government is promising investors that the companies’ debt is as safe as the Treasury Department’s.

While not a cure-all, the bailout is still a step in the right direction, industry observers say. It will at least “keep the lanes in the mortgage freeway open,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, possibly putting the market on the road to recovery.

Click here to read the full AP story.

I will continue to update any interesting information this week, so visit back often.

Comments (0)

Another take on Case/Shiller

08.26.2008 | 4:14 pm | positive news stories, S & P/ Case-Shiller

The map above is done by OFHEO, the governing body of Fannie and Freddie. (Click for a larger view) It takes into account all government loans and refinances, reports the values used in these transactions, and reports them by state and local areas. This report is better in my view, primarily because its local. Case/Shiller doesn’t cover any cities in Alabama. In fact, it only covers the top 20 markets in the U.S.

The good news from this source is that Alabama shows quarterly and yearly appreciation in values. It also shows positive increases for Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile. Link to the entire report here. You can surf the OFHEO site at www.ofheo.gov.

Comments (0)

Workouts and loan mods

08.20.2008 | 8:33 am | foreclousres

The pace of loan modifications, or work-outs, has increased, but hasn’t yet outpaced the number of foreclosures. I found an article on the USA Today website with some stats. I am curious as to why there are still more foreclosures than work-outs, as it seems to me the mortgage company stands to lose much less with a work-out or loan modification. It could be the that many lenders don’t have the staff to keep up with the increasing numbers of requests, and that many borrowers who could pay less and stay in their homes, fall through the cracks.

If you would like more information on how to secure a loan modification for a client or friend, feel free to contact me. I will be happy to inform and refer you to a reputable company. My E mail address is dan@usatitleal.com and my phone number is 205-876-1560.

Comments (0)

House tries to slow down RESPA reform

08.12.2008 | 3:10 pm | Congress, closing costs

I just came across this article in my daily Inman E newsletter. It turns out that 240 members of Congress have signed a letter to HUD urging them to drop the plan reforms for RESPA that our due to become law in 2009. I have read the planned changes, and while I usually think more regulation isn’t needed, something undoubtedly has to be done in response to the housing crisis.

From the on-line article:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development maintains its proposed changes to RESPA would save consumers $8.35 billion a year by helping them shop for the best deal on a loan, title insurance and other settlement services.

HUD says it’s trying to protect consumers from overcharges and to promote competition between mortgage lenders and settlement services providers. But the real estate industry has steadfastly opposed HUD’s proposed changes to RESPA, saying they would lead to industry consolidation that would ultimately harm consumers.

It appears to me that the federal government is trying to do to the housing industry what it did for the pharmaceutical business. That is to say it is trying to stop all of the behind the scene “kickbacks” to the doctors and instead, have the drug companies sell their services directly to the patients.

Some of the comments from this blog string are an interesting read as well.

Comments (0)

Closing cost survey

08.8.2008 | 3:19 pm | closing costs

Alabama ranks 21st in the nation in highest closing costs. This survey was done by bankrate.com. Click here to see the article in the Birmingham Business Journal, or click here to see all the results on Bankrate.com.

I was very pleased to read why New York has the highest ranking:

New York tops the list for the fourth year in a row for two reasons. First, origination fees are swollen by taxes that the state levies directly on lenders, which are passed along to consumers. Second, lawyers customarily conduct closings in New York. Many closings are attended by at least three attorneys (for the buyer, seller and lender). In some other states, especially in the West, closings are conducted by title agents and escrow officers who charge less than lawyers.

This calls for a shameless plug, something I normally won’t do on this blog. USA Title is one of several companies that charge much less than average for a closing. Many people are unaware that the only aspect of a real estate transaction that requires an attorney is the preparation of a deed. Any title agent can close a purchase transaction, given the deed is prepared by an attorney.

Food for thought on a Friday afternoon. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Comments (0)

Changes to the TILA.

08.5.2008 | 7:49 am | housing rescue bill

I have found a link to the entire housing rescue bill. This link gives you all 260 pages of the bill. Today’s spotlight is on the changes to the Truth In Lending Act. This bill ammends TILA to increase the number of days that you must “pre-disclose” to 7 days prior to closing. It is my understanding that this will need to be done on all applications. There will also be some changes to the forms, one of which will disclose examples of maximum payments. The disclosures must be sent prior to the originator collecting any money for the application or the appraisal. I’m not sure if this will dramatically change the way or add to the time it takes to originate a mortgage, but any additional disclosure requirements are worth noting.

Comments (0)

Alabama Housing info

Pages

Archives

Categories

Meta

Blogroll

Real estate advertising

Birmingham still has a very low foreclosure rate.

New RESPA reform

What next?

Down payment assistance still on life support

Rescue me

Another take on Case/Shiller

Workouts and loan mods

House tries to slow down RESPA reform

Closing cost survey

Changes to the TILA.