Landlords. when renting a unit/property do you provide and document an EPA lead paint disclosure pamphlet? If you don’t you are placing yourself at serious risk.
The EPA is on a crusade, and you are the target.
The EPA has levied fines of as much as $40,000 for failure to kneel at their altar.
Read the story.
The Washington state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that MERS cannot foreclose on delinquent homeowners.
In a unanimous opinion, the Washington Supreme Court said that Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) can’t begin a foreclosure itself because it doesn’t hold the note the homeowner signed with the lender. The ruling means banks or other noteholders will have to initiate foreclosures instead of relying on MERS.
Banks will still be able to foreclose, but they must take the action themselves. Foreclosures will still happen and will likely take a bit longer and be a bit more expensive.
Will this be another nail in MERS’ coffin?
Read more here.
When Reuters finally figures something out we should all sit up and take notice.
Reuters has discovered that the blizzard of foreclosure laws, which were intended to solve the foreclosure problem actually caused more harm than they did good.
Nevada’s AB 284 is the case in point. When AB 284 went into effect foreclosure action ground to a halt. The banks were fearful of doing what needed to be done. Consequently, the needed cure was delayed and the crisis was prolonged.
Notice of Default Filings
The government caused the foreclosure crisis. And now the government set out to fix the crisis. And whenever the government gets involved we can be sure that the government’s solution will be much worse than the original government induce problem.
When legislators attempt to protect the homeowner who hadn’t paid his bills they actually harm the lender and anyone that may want to get a loan in the future. Why would a lender make a loan where the legislature could just declare that the loan never needs to be repaid?
“Many state laws that stretch out the period for legitimate foreclosures result in no added benefit for the homeowner and produce harm to the housing finance system and to neighborhoods,” said Alfred Pollard, general counsel to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, at a House of Representatives oversight hearing in March.
Ricky Beach, a Reno real estate agent thinks the law killed the market in the Reno-Sparks area.
Ricky Beach, a real estate agent in Reno, Nevada, said the new law, AB 284, “has pretty much killed the market here.” The lack of foreclosure activity has led to a dearth of inventory, he said, with the number of homes for sale in the area down to 778 today from more than 1,700 in September.
And,
“The bill did nothing to solve the crisis – it’s just prolonged it,” Beach said. “Sooner or later the banks will work out how to deal with the law. And then foreclosures will hit the market, and prices will crash back down.”
Malik Ahmad, a Las Vegas attorney agrees:
Malik Ahmad, a Las Vegas foreclosure defense lawyer who has spent the last six years trying to help vulnerable borrowers deal with unscrupulous banks, said the law had completely changed his view of the nature of the crisis.
“This law has become a mockery,” Ahmad said. “I am now turning down clients every day who I know have no intention of ever trying to pay their mortgage. They just want to stay in their homes for free. And that is a bad situation for everyone, lenders and homeowners.”
Read more here.
Who’da thunk? Realtoring can be dangerous to you health.
Apparently, unhappy clients have expressed their disappointment by getting physical and have even caused fatalities.
Did they really expect their short sale to sell for 30% above the market?
Read more: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2012/05/01/attacks-against-real-estate-professionals-surge
What would you do if you had just lost your job? You did not want welfare? How cheaply could you live? Do you think you could live in a 168 square foot house? Along with 3 other family members. What would you be willing to do to get out or stay out of debt?
This family built their house for $12,000 and then managed to save for their next larger home. I cheer them on and wonder if I could do it myself.
Do you remember the problems with Chinese drywall. It was making a lot of people sick and I think caused some corrosion and discoloration of the walls.
I think it happened mostly in the South. I didn’t hear of any cases here in Nevada.
Well the wonderful Chinese quality control is on display once again.
Imported Chinese copper pipe already blamed for leaks in hundreds of new homes, may not even be manufactured from copper and could installing copper pipe pose serious toxic health risks, according to a U.S. consumer watchdog group.
This time it happens to be the copper plumbing is failing. Apparently the copper is not all copper. You know that real copper is expensive and the manufacturers managed to slip in a bit of less costly metal along with the copper.
The Chinese manufactured pipes are being found as defective after they begin to slowly leak in crawl spaces under homes and in basements. Standard homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover the damage since policies don’t typically cover defective materials used in the construction of homes.
Apparently this time the problem is occurring nationwide.
Read more: http://www.housingpredictor.com/2012/new-toxic-scare.html
Definition of a real estate investor: – Any of several unemployed individuals who spend the majority of their day painting and cleaning properties, staring at their computer monitors looking for deals, or talking on the phone to countless agents, contractors, lenders, etc. all for the express purpose of avoiding a “real” job.
February single-family home sales in Las Vegas and their median price increased from the previous month, while the inventory of homes available for sale continued to decline.
The median price was up 2.5 percent from the prior month at $121,000, even though it’s down 5.5 percent from a year ago.
Inventory declined to 18,870 from a peak of more than 24,000 in 2007 to to 18,870 today. Only 6,543 units are available without contingent or pending offers.
Do you think Reno, too has hit the bottom?
Read more: http://www.lvrj.com/business/home-sales-prices-rise-inventory-dips-141878223.html
What should you do if you want to sell your home? How would you display it for the best results? A recent HGTV show suggested that you should make your home appeal to the masses.
But this brings up a difference of opinion. Alice Chan disagrees. She thinks homes targeted toward the masses are boring white boxes and that a house decorated in a plain manner would soon disappear in a blur. Nothing would distinguish the house from any of the others that were viewed the same day.
Besides, she argues that the “masses” are not going to buy it and live in it. An individual is.
She believes the home should be targeted toward the type of person you would expect to live in the home.
Read more: http://www.trulia.com/blog/ailce_t_chan/2011/08/don_t_make_your_house_appeal_to_the_masses