Jeffrey Tung's Real Estate Blog » guidance

Fair Practices?

Jeff Tung — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:24:36 +0000

Here we are again. It seems like every governmental agency has it’s favorites. Remember the huge governmental bail outs, well here’s another example of government unfairness. RESPA seems to also have favorites too. Is this really going to help consumers?

HUD Accepting Complaints About Mortgage Lenders (bucks.blogs.nytimes.com)
Fair employment practices ‘vital for business insurance holders’ (premierlinedirect.co.uk)
AT&T says FCC didn’t give it fair look in T-Mobile deal [Update] (intomobile.com)

Tax benefits for homeowners

Jeff Tung — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:31:33 +0000

Home prices declined 3.8% in February compared to last year, however they are up 4.2% from two years ago. Could this be a sign of our recovery or maybe the double dip is about to happen? It’s hard to say but it is a great time to purchase a property. Interest rates are still at all time lows, prices have gone down, there are a lot of properties to choose from, and you still have some tax benefits. When you’re ready, there are a lot of things to consider.

Tax Benefits Help Homeowners(cumminggarealestate.wordpress.com)
5 Tips for Homeowners Filing Taxes(jmetzgerhomes.com)
A Pleasant Tax Surprise for Long-Time Homeowners(turbotax.intuit.com)
Video: Learn About The First-Time Homebuyer’s Credit(turbotax.intuit.com)
5 Tax Tips, Tricks and Traps for Homeowners(thomasperrella.wordpress.com)
Video: Save Taxes by Saving Energy(turbotax.intuit.com)

What’s ahead for 2011???

Jeff Tung — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:57:50 +0000

Wow!! It’s almost the end of January and boy did it fly by. Since the beginning of the year, the rates have been going up. In November of 2010, the 30 year fixed loans were at a 40 year low of 4.17% the 15 year rate was 3.57%. Now it’s at 4.8% and the 15 year rate is 4.09%. I don’t think we will ever see the November rates ever again. There will probably be less borrowing, in 2011, due to the economic conditions.

So what do you think prices of homes will do? Well, most of the country will continue to see declines or stablize in prices except for 10 cities. Unfortunately, Florida and parts of the Western parts of the US will see the largest drops in home values.

Foreclosures Poised to Rise in 2011 (time.com)
2011 to top 2010 record of 1 million foreclosures (thenewstribune.com)
Over 1 million Americans seen losing homes in 2011 (boston.com)
Happy 2011! (penn-olson.com)
Tough Times Ahead for Florida (unreasonablefaith.com)
1 million homes repossessed in 2010 — 2011 will be worse (thegrio.com)
What’s Ahead in B2B Selling for 2011? (davesteinsblog.esresearch.com)
House prices continue to drop (lv.com)

Calm before the storm?

Jeff Tung — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:27:30 +0000

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Foreclosures are down 21% of the previous month and 14% below November of last year. This is great news but I think we will see another wave of foreclosures and short sales in 2011. It could be as early as January 2011. We probably will see another wave of distressed properties on the market in the coming year.

If you remember in 2008-2009, the market was flooded with the first wave of distress properties for sale. There are still a lot of people having problems with their loan payments and the banks will have to follow through with their right to foreclose to recuperate the losses.

Distressed Homeowners Beware: Foreclosures Have Slowed, But Not For Long(prweb.com)

HUD’s One Stop Website for Economic & Housing Data

Jeff Tung — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:28:36 +0000

HUD has created a website for the public to be able to research a wide variety of economic and housing market data at the regional, state, metropolitan area and county levels. This information is being provided by the Census Bureau, Labor Dept., state and local government, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own economist. You’ll be able to look at “Market at a glance” reports, Regional Housing Market profiles, regional Narratives, and a Comprehensive housing market analysis.

HUD and VA Make Strides to Help Homeless Vets (vabenefitblog.com)

5 Myths about foreclosures

Jeff Tung — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 03:29:25 +0000

You probably have heard a lot information about foreclosures but don’t know to believe. Well here is some information about foreclosures. This should help you understand what foreclosures are all about.

With interest rates moving up, you should consider purchasing a property soon. There is more pressure for rates to go up then down. We have seen rates at it’s lowest rates historically and may not see them again.

How to Navigate Your Post-Foreclosure Financial Life (walletpop.com)
Everything You Need To Know About Foreclosure (livecrunch.com)
Protester Screams At Foreclosure Hearing [Video] (realestateradiousa.com)
Robo-Signing Foreclosure Mess: Bank of America Vows to Do Better (dailyfinance.com)
Citi May Have to Refile Thousands of Forelcosure Affidavits (dailyfinance.com)

Long Short Sale process

Jeff Tung — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:08:20 +0000

Ever wonder why it takes so long to finish a short sale transaction? It could take 3 to 4 times longer then a regular sale and there is no guarantee that the sale will be completed. This process is really between the buyer and seller, however there is another party, a lender of record, that has to cooperate with the purchase. They have their own proceedures to approve the purchase and could take a long time.

Short sales – recognizing seller motivation (agentgenius.com)
California Department of Real Estate Issues Consumer Alert (eon.businesswire.com)
Bank of America Offers Tips To Successfully Buy A “Short Sale” Home (prweb.com)
Short Sales 101: Back to the Basics (agentgenius.com)
The Short Sale Approval Letter (findwell.com)
Short Sales, a Juggling Act (agentgenius.com)
Defining a Quick or Short Sale in Real Estate (brighthub.com)
Local Agent Provides Resource on Foreclosure Alternatives, Short Sales (pr.com)
Short Sales, When the Bank BPO Is Out of the Ballpark (agentgenius.com)

HR 5028, homeowners remain as renters

Jeff Tung — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:19:59 +0000

Where do you go after your home is foreclosed upon by the bank? Your credit is a mess and you may not make as much money as before, so where do you go?

The Center for Economic and Policy Research has a report, “The Gains from Right to Rent in 2010″, and has suggested to allow homeowners the right to rent their home, after foreclosure. By doing so, it may address the nation’s foreclosure problem.

HR 5028, under Right to Rent legislation, would allow the foreclosed homeowner to stay in the home as a renter for a substantial period of time. This would help the homeowners from being homeless and it will help the communities that are experiencing high numbers of foreclosures.

The Role of Government and The Foreclosure Crisis (tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com)
Real Estate Weekly: To stem foreclosures, let homeowners rent(marketwatch.com)
Live Chat: Rep. Raúl Grijalva Discusses The Right-To-Rent Bill With Blue America (crooksandliars.com)
Renters Rights in the Extreme(rentersinsurance.org)
Foreclosure! A Renter’s Worst Nightmare?(rentersinsurance.org)

HAFA program

Jeff Tung — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:31:00 +0000

Have you had an experience working with a short sale? If you did, you’ll agree that there is no guarantee that the home will be sold to you, no matter how long it takes to get an approval and how frustrating it is to not know if you are going to be able to buy the home. Well, the HAFA program is designed to help with the frustrations homeowners, sellers, buyers, and agents experience when going through the short sale process. This program should help speed up the process and help people but there is no guarantee. Only time will tell.

HAFA: Is it really half the time?(agentgenius.com)
Short sales, a product that changes with the blink of an eye(agentgenius.com)
Ten Dirty Secrets of a Short Sale(stealthmode.com)
July 21st(slideshare.net)
75% of modified home loans will redefault(money.cnn.com)
The Mortgage Mess: Are Solutions Out There?(news.firedoglake.com)

National Assoc. of REATORS shows positive future

Jeff Tung — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 23:07:03 +0000

How do you think the real estate market is doing? Is it better or is it worse then when the market went bust? I think the market place here in San Francisco and the Peninsula are doing better. We did go through a major price change in many areas but prices are stabilizing. We are much more fortunate then some other areas in the country.

The National Association of REALTORS have information about the real estate market, in general, and why it’s going to get better. How is your area? Doing better? I hope it is!

Jeffrey Tung's Real Estate Blog » guidance

Fair Practices?

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