Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business | Tags: banks, Craig Tomlinson, Foreclosures, home mortgage, Mortgage, mortgage paperwork
The amount of foreclosed homes is one thing still weighing down the economy. And many are stuck on the market because banks can’t find the ownership documents.
Why? Turns out Wall Street cut corners when creating mortgage-backed investments—and didn’t want old fashioned paperwork in the way. And now when banks want to evict people they are finding that the legal documents behind mortgages aren’t there.
Even worse, it seems that banks—in order to cover their tracks—hired companies to recreate missing mortgage assignments and provide the legally required signatures of bank vice presidents and notaries.
Now to avoid foreclosures, desperate homeowners are countersuing banks over the document disaster—leaving houses unsold indefinitely and stalling the recovery.
Many foreclosed banks are still stuck on the market because of lost ownership documents.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Credit Score, Eugene Real Estate Blog, home loans, housing crisis, HUD, interest rates, Lending Standards, Loans
In Eugene, as in the rest of the nation, lending standards for HUD insured loans—an increasingly popular option for home buyers—are becoming stricter. The following changes are scheduled or planned to occur this year:
- Increased mortgage insurance premium—beginning mid-April, the rate will be 2.25%, up from 1.75%
- Increased down-payment (10% vs. 3.5%) for borrowers with a FICO less than 580
- Reduction of seller concessions from 3% from 6%
These changes will make it harder for some borrowers to get loans, and will soften demand, somewhat, for house purchases. However, at least the changes aren’t too drastic.
HUD loans are a bright spot in a thorny lending environment.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Credit Score, Eugene Real Estate Blog, home loans, home mortgages, Lending Standards, Loans, Oregon Real Estate Blog
If the Great Recession has damaged your credit score like so many of us, getting a home mortgage has been nearly impossible. But—Wells Fargo recently changed their policies to allow people with credit scores as low as 500 to get loans or home mortgages.
Although—to minimize risk—they’re requiring a higher down payment for those of us who are credit-challenged.
Will the other three big lenders (US Bank, Chase and Bank of America) follow suit? While it’s too early to tell—my guess is yes.
Loosening credit: 1 down and 3 to go
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: Buyers Market, Craig Tomlinson, distressed properties, Eugene Real Estate Blog, HAMP, home ownership, mortgage modifications, oregon, Oregon Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Blog, Short sales
According to a recent WSJ article, most mortgage modifications don’t work. Less than 2% of the projected allotment of $75 billion for the HAMP program has actually been spent to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Nationwide, 6.7 million homes were lost to foreclosure or short sale in the decade ending in 2010. Half again as many are projected to meet the same fate in the next 3 years. If projections are accurate, that should keep it a buyer’s market through 2013.
The number of distressed properties in Eugene and Springfield isn’t exactly known—but they are common and I do a lot of them. Rejection from the HAMP program was about 3 of every 4 participants in the western states, including Oregon. If mortgage modification doesn’t work, a short sale may be a good option for you.
Most mortgage modificatins don't work.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate Blog, home mortgage, housing crisis, interest rates, Mortgage, mortgage rates
Treasury yields have been climbing higher since fall 2010. As a result, mortgage rates have been moving higher as well—and have topped 5% for the first time in months. Mortgage rates move in tandem with Treasury yields; specifically 30-year mortgages track 10-year bonds. While rates are currently still near historic lows and very affordable, they are predicted to go up in 2011, perhaps to 6%.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Credit Score, fha loans, home loans, home mortgage, home refinance, mortgage rates
Banks agree with Realtors that credit is too tight. In a recent National Association of Realtors podcast, NAR President Ron Phipps discussed his recent meetings with Citibank. Folks who should be able to get mortgages aren’t getting mortgages…the pendulum has swung too far.
Things will loosen up again–but no one is sure how soon.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: foreclosure, Lane County, Short Sale
Though the present real estate market may look fairly abysmal, there are still some great deals out there for buyers. On average foreclosed properties sold for 34% less, with short sales averaging around 15% less. While these are national trends, they still demonstrate how much houses are discounted once they have been foreclosed upon. While many of these properties are discounted because they are in bad shape, it is still possible to find heavily discounted homes that are in great condition. There is no shortage of supply either, in Lane County 30% of all sales were foreclosures, and national foreclosure rates have jumped 2,500% in the past four years.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: foreclosure, Lane County, Short Sale
According to a new study, foreclosure and short sale’s remain high in Lane County. Nearly a third of all recent home sales in Lane County were either short sales or foreclosures. The majority of these foreclosures are occurring because of loss of income, which has equally affected both the rich and poor. Because houses that are foreclosed upon or short sold sell for about 15% less than other houses, the entire market has become depressed. The situation here is similar to that of the rest of the nation, as a whole, with around 31% of sales in the US being foreclosed or short sold.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, Real Estate | Tags: fixed rate loan, interest rates, Mortgage, refinance
Good news for those looking to refinance, the national average for interest on 30-year fixed loans has sunk to just 4.69 percent. These are the lowest interest rates that have been seen on home loans for around 50 years. While these rates are great for home buyers or those looking to refinance, they could be worse for those trying to save through savings accounts and CDs, as interest rates on these have fallen as well. In all, around 291,000 homeowners have refinanced as of March.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Real Estate | Tags: foreclosure, Mortgage, Repossession
The foreclosure numbers are out for May, and it appears that more and more banks are seizing homes. Nationwide, lenders took back 93,777 properties, while foreclosure filings fell by 3% since April. Oddly enough, this recent wave of seized houses actually has to do with the market becoming more stable. Lenders have been fairly lax in repossessing homes for the past few months while they tried to keep up with the vast number of people who were forced to default when the housing bubble burst. Because of the recent stabilization of the market, lenders are starting to catch back up and repossess assets again. Oregon’s foreclosure rate is currently one of the worse in the nation, ranked as having the 16th most foreclosures in the nation.
