Category Archives: Financing

Mortgage Interest Rates at Record Low

Leave a reply

The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage reached a new record low of 3.91 percent. This marks the third new low this year. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate, remained unchanged at a low of 3.21 percent.

The exceptionally low rates and the depressed prices have created a superb buying opportunity, but the opportunity is lost for many potential buyers because of the difficulty qualifying for new loans.

With so many homes underwater here in Reno and Sparks very few homeowners can qualify for a re-finance. Additionally, Nevada’s real unemployment further reduces the chances to re-finance.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RPKO100.htm

You may also be interested in . . .

Has the Housing Market Hit Bottom?

Leave a reply

Luxury home builder, Toll Brothers entered the Seattle market by buying CamWest development.

So what does this mean for Reno, and why should we care? Motley Fool takes this as a sign that we are now at the bottom of the market, and even though we may not increase quickly, we will probably not see significant decreases in prices in the near future. The larger operators will take this opportunity to buy smaller operators.

However, don’t take this as a sign that everything is suddenly all rosy. Prices have still fallen in the most recent months. Remember, the interest rates are at near historic lows. What would happen if the rates should suddenly climb?

Read more: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/11/28/one-sign-that-the-housing-market-has-hit-bottom/

You may also be interested in . . .

How Hard is it to get a New Mortgage Loan?

Leave a reply

Is it really hard to get a mortbgage loan? Some folks think so, but is it really the case? According to stan Humphsries, it”s acturally easier today than it was in 2000 or 2006.

In 2000, 54 percent of applications for conventional, owner-occupied, home purchase mortgages on one- to four-family homes resulted in mortgage originations (the balance being denied, withdrawn, or approved but not accepted by the borrower). By 2006, standards were indeed looser and 61 percent of applications for conventional mortgages resulted in originations. So what happened after the bust? Would it surprise you to learn that in 2010 63 percent of conventional mortgage applications resulted in originations? That’s right, for conventional mortgages, the conversion rate between applications and originations was actually higher last year than in either 2000 or 2006.

Now, I”m not sure that it’s easier. More loans may be approved, but from my experience the banks manage to find more hoops for a borrower to jump through, and consequently, fewer low quality borrowers actually try.

Read More: http://www.cnbc.com/id/45402953?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

You may also be interested in . . .

New Short Sale Rules From Freddie Mac

Leave a reply

Effective Jan, 1, 2012 everyone involved with Freddie Mac short sales will be required to sign an affidavit and be held liable for any misrepresentations they may have caused. This is purportedly to ensure that the transaction is at arms length.

In August, the government-sponsored enterprise alerted real estate agents to the rise in shady short sale deals. The main concern is flopping. There is a growing trend of real estate agents on the buy-side of the deal failing to disclose other bids on the property, rigging the sale at a lower price.

This was based on the theory that if a buyer flipped the property and made a profit, the deal must have defrauded the bank. If we extend this concept then every business that buys a product or service and re-sells it at a higher price would be committing fraud. We know that any merchant that doesn’t make a profit soon goes out of business.

We must realize that this absurd notion comes from the government where little makes any sense. But take care because they will look for any excuse to make an example of you.

This is from the same Fannie and Freddie that has already cost the taxpayers $169 billion and have paid huge bonuses to their executives for losing money.

How big are the paychecks going to top Fannie and Freddie executives? Big. Really, really big. Since the agencies went into conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie’s top six executives have received $35 million in compensation, including millions in bonuses, even as borrowers struggled to keep their homes and got no meaningful relief.

Read more:

You may also be interested in . . .

MERS Foreclosure Upheld by California Courts

Leave a reply

Two different courts in California have upheld foreclosures by MERS corp.

The court ruled the statute cited by plaintiffs to prove an improper foreclosure applies only to mortgages, not deeds of trust, and other state laws give MERS authority to foreclose.

With the battles that have preceded these decisions, I would not expect that the issue will be soon resolved. And, it may, or may not have any impact on any Nevada laws.

Read the article: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/09/19/two-california-appellate-court-uphold-mers-foreclosures?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+housingwire%2FuOVI+%28HousingWire%29

You may also be interested in . . .

The Continuing Belvedere Saga

Leave a reply

I have received a lot of visitors from the Reno Realty Blog because of the discussion on the Belvedere.

One thing I noticed is that the link to the RGJ article no longer work. After 30 days the RGJ places its articles in its archives. You can still find the article if you choose the correct term, and are willing to pay to read it.

I will attempt to address some of the comments at RRB:

Jo Amick says:
June 13, 2011 at 6:30 PM

I also think “Tax implications and vacancy rates alone could very well put your return on investment at 4 years + ” to agree with “Nomad”. Guess I got beat to the punch!

I believe that all “tax implications” were wiped out at the Washoe County tax sale.

Renter says:
August 16, 2011 at 1:58 PM
…
Back to the discussion on being an investment opportunities, what seems to kill the deal is the “mechanic’s liens number in the hundreds”. I believe there are over $80K of liens on each apartment there.
…

As I understand the law a tax foreclosure takes priority over all other debts and obligations except IRS liens. Therefore, the mechanics liens were also wiped out.

GreenNV says:
August 16, 2011 at 7:52 PM

OK, this is my understanding. In a foreclosure situation, all the junior lien holders have the right to bid to try to maintain their interests in the property. If they don’t and the Trutees Sale is completed, their claim on the property it expunged.

So for the Belvedere, short sale properties still have the mechanic’s liens in place and should be avoided. Properties that have gone TD should be free and clear of the mechanic’s liens. I think buying a unit from the bank is pretty safe legally (given the other risks), but there are NOT any of the foreclosed units on the market right now. That smells fishy to me, so there may be more to the story.

This would be correct if it were a Trustee foreclosure sale or short sale. The Belvedere properties were NOT short sales nor were they Trustee sales. These were tax deed sales, sold by Washoe County.

By using the tax foreclosure sale route the property no longer has any bank debt, mechanics liens, HOA liens.

The bank did not buy the properties. According to the RGJ, they were all bought by Madjlessi’s lawyer. Therefore, the bank is NOT the seller.

I welcome and invite your comments and especially your corrections to anything where I may have been in error.

Please feel free to Like this post.

You may also be interested in . . .

Bank of America Will Accept Back-up Offer in Short Sale

Leave a reply

One of the problems with short sales is the amount of time they take to complete, often as much as 4 to 6 months, or more. The typical retail buyer is not willing nor able to wait around that long and the buyer then walks away from the transaction.

Short sales approval typically take 60-90 days \ after the buyer and seller have signed their contract and all the corresponding paperwork has been submitted to the bank. Closing then takes another 30 days or so. Most buyers don’t want to stick around for 120 days with the uncertainty that they don’t know if the bank will even agree to the short sale or if the terms of the agreement will be acceptable to the seller.The biggest challenge with short sales is to keep buyers interested in the property long enough to see the entire transaction through to the end.

Bank of America recently notified real estate agents that they can now substitute a new buyer without having to initiate a new short sale. This is in the case of the original buyer walking away from the deal. For home buyers and sellers reading this who may not be involved every day in dealing with short sales, this really big change in the real estate market.

This development should help to speed up short sales, if for no other reason that they no longer need to start over.

Read the B of A document: http://sdshortsaleexperts.com/virtualoffice_files//bank-of-america-back-up-offer.pdf

You may also be interested in . . .

Belvedere Developer and the Glassman

Leave a reply

Bijan Madjlessi is the real estate developer that was arrested because of dual insurance claims because of a fire at the Belvedere towers condo project.

It appears that he had a history of using and abusing people.  It seems that not paying his contractors and vendors was his standard practice.

One of these vendors was Chad Empey of Petaluma, CA and it appears that he is fighting back.  He has posted videos that explain in detail how Madjlessi ran his operation.  This video is only one of many describing Madjlessi, his operation, and the corrupt bankers that enabled this fraud.

http://youtu.be/zhMpSmAS5tA

You may also be interested in . . .

Belvedere Developer also Linked to Failed Bank in CA

Leave a reply

Bijan Madjlessi was/is the owner of the Belvedere Towers condominium project here in Reno and who had neglected to pay his property taxes resulting in the property being seized in a tax foreclosure by Washoe county.

Madjlessi has also been arrested in California for insurance fraud because he filed insurance claims on two separate policies.

Now, it appears that Madjlessi has a very busy man.  He is also linked to the failure of the Sonoma Valley Bank that had three branches in the Sonoma Valley area of CA.

When Sonoma Valley Bank granted him a loan he had already defaulted on a loan from IndyMac bank for the same project.

At the center of the bank’s downfall is a series of large loans made to a small group of North Bay developers who were behind three Sonoma County projects that fell into foreclosure over the past few years.

The bank continued to fund the projects even after it became public in land records and lawsuits that the developers were defaulting on multimillion-dollar loans from other banks and were not paying construction contractors.

At this time I am aware of at least two other failed real estate projects.  He blamed the bad economy.

Read more here.

You may also be interested in . . .

Is High End Real Estate the Next to Fall?

Leave a reply

Real estate has taken a major hit during this economic downturn.  And I don’t expect it to get better very soon.  We may see that high end real estate is the next shoe to drop.

Because Fannie and Freddie have done so much to harm our economy a lot of politicians want to drastically cut their lending limits.  This will likely slow the any impact of the high end real estate market toward our recovery.

The one redeeming factor is that a large percentage of high end real estate is purchased using cash.  But, still expect larger drops in the high end marketplace.

Read more: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/high-end-re-dead-money

You may also be interested in . . .