The Home Front
-
Housing Crisis Popular With Popular Teens
Continue reading… 3 CommentsWhile the housing bust is threatening to drag the entire economy into a debilitating recession, it's great news for the teenage party scene.
With a wanton lack of sympathy for the mortgage meltdown and ensuing credit crisis, teenagers in one California community are using abandoned foreclosed homes as venues for unchaperoned—and presumably "raging"—drinking parties.
-
The 12 Best ‘Old House’ Neighborhoods
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThis Old House magazine—which calls itself the "guilty enablers of your old-house addictions"—recently released its list of the dozen "Best Places to Buy an Old House."
From This Old House:
Our top criteria for choosing a winner included architectural diversity, the craftsmanship of the homes, and the preservation momentum in the area. But we were also interested in neighborhood amenities: walkability, services, and community. What we found is that people who live in historic places aren't just lovers of golden-age architecture, but of old-fashioned neighborhood values as well.
-
Jamie Foxx's Home for Sale
Continue reading… 2 CommentsAlthough Jamie Foxx earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 film Ray, Home Front staffers insist that his best work came in his role as Wanda, the hapless romantic of TV's In Living Color.
True fans of either genre will be scrambling to arrange financing for this once-in-a-lifetime souvenir: Foxx's 5,428-square-foot California estate, which is now on the market.
-
Foreclosure Tackles Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones
Continue reading… 1 CommentAdd former Tennessee Titans defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones to the Home Front's list of America's least-sympathetic housing crisis victims.
From the Associated Press:
A foreclosure sale has been published involving the home of former Tennessee Titan Adam "Pacman" Jones.
Jones has defaulted on the terms and conditions of a mortgage with U.S. Bank, according to a notice of foreclosure sale published Thursday in The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
The home and 30 acres, located in a Nashville suburb, will be sold June 27 on the steps of the old Williamson County Courthouse.
-
May Home Sales Up: Rally to Follow?
Continue reading… 0 CommentsDespite some optimistic-looking data released today, economists still don't see the housing market turning around anytime soon.
Existing-home sales rose 2 percent from April to May, beating consensus estimates, while median home prices fell roughly 6 percent from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors reported.
But the relatively upbeat figures—this is just the second increase in sales in the past 10 months—was less than overwhelming to economists.
-
Foreclosures a Boon to Marijuana Farmers
Continue reading… 9 CommentsWhile the national foreclosure crisis has destroyed families, shattered neighborhoods, and contributed to the untimely death of at least one Chihuahua (at the hands of bloodthirsty bees), it may well have been a boon for your local marijuana producer.
Last month, we learned of a California man who was arrested on suspicion of using his foreclosed home as a pot farm. Now, the loco weed was reportedly found growing at a foreclosed home in Florida, too.
-
Man Guts Home, Gets Jail Sentence
Continue reading… 4 CommentsGutting one's home just before it's lost to foreclosure has become an increasingly common part of the mortgage crisis. But before you rip out that copper wiring, take a look at this cautionary tale from Pennsylvania.
From the Associated Press:
A former Mercer County mortgage broker who gutted his $1.2 million home before a sheriff's sale has been sentenced to three to 15 months in jail and must pay more than $174,000 to an insurance company.
-
The 5 Most Popular States for Moves
Continue reading… 2 CommentsRelocation.com recently released the results of a national consumer study that—among other things—revealed the five most popular states to move to last year.
Here they are, via realtor.org:
- California (6 percent of all moves)
- Florida (5 percent)
- Texas (4 percent)
- New York (3 percent)
- Georgia (2 percent)
The percentages represent the share of the total survey sample moving to that state from a different one.
-
Bailout Beats Back Conservative Objections
Continue reading… 1 CommentA day after conservative Republicans threatened to block the housing rescue legislation that is making its way through Congress, the Senate has begun considering the measure, the Associated Press reports.
From the Associated Press:
House and Senate Republicans voiced reservations about the bill in light of allegations that Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., one of its architects, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., got cut-rate home loans through a VIP program at Countrywide Financial Corp., a leading subprime lender at the center of the mortgage meltdown.
But Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., dropped a threat to block the measure. Democrats and Republicans consider the legislation a political imperative amid rising foreclosures and growing public anxiety about the sagging economy.
-
Homebuilding Downturn Is Good News?
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThe government's sluggish that came out earlier this week certainly didn't seem like good news. But according to Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., that's just what it was.
From a report Baker issued Wednesday, via L.A. Land:
As noted before, the sharp downturn in starts is actually good news. There is a huge excess supply of housing at the moment, which just keeps expanding due to the flood of foreclosures. This inventory will most quickly be eroded if builders stop building new units. The sharper the downturn in construction, the quicker the inventory of homes on the market moves back to normal levels.
-
No Takers for Ex-Citigroup CEO's Home
Continue reading… 0 CommentsLooks as if the housing crisis gods have a sense of humor after all.
Former Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince—who lost his high-powered post after the company unveiled painful mortgage-related losses—reportedly can't find a buyer for his home.
From Bloomberg:
Prince's five-bedroom Tudor-style house in Greenwich, Connecticut, has been on the market for six months. He has cut the price by $300,000 to $5.85 million, according to the property listing.
The housing recession has hit the bedroom communities that Wall Street favors most. The median home price fell 8.1 percent in Greenwich in the first quarter from a year earlier. Declines were as much as 25 percent in 14 of 19 wealthy Manhattan suburbs in Connecticut, New Jersey and Westchester County, New York, since the start of the year, according to a Bloomberg survey of brokers and multiple listing services.
-
Foreclosure Rate Lower for Illegal Immigrants
Continue reading… 11 CommentsIn North Carolina, individuals without legal permanent resident status can still qualify for what is known as an "ITIN mortgage" as long as they have an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), a sound credit history, and proof that they have filed their taxes.
And according to the Charlotte Observer, "borrowers who have ITIN mortgages have proven to be some of the sturdiest as foreclosures climb to record highs."
From the Charlotte Observer:
According to estimates from the Hispanic National Mortgage Association and local lenders, less than 1 percent of ITIN loans have gone into foreclosure. That compares with 1.2 percent for prime mortgages and nearly 11 percent for subprime mortgages given to borrowers with poor credit history, according to the latest available data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
-
To Buy or Rent? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself
Continue reading… 1 CommentThe American Bankers Association suggests that consumers ask themselves the following five questions when deciding whether to buy or rent property:
1. What will monthly costs be, and can I afford the payments? Keeping mortgage payments under 30 percent of your gross monthly income is a good rule of thumb. If you can't keep mortgage payments to less than that percentage, you may be better off renting for awhile.
2. What other debt do I have? Total rent or mortgage payments plus credit obligations should not exceed 35 to 40 percent of gross monthly income.
-
Senate Strikes Housing Rescue Deal
Continue reading… 0 CommentsSenate leaders said Tuesday that they had reached agreement on a housing rescue bill, Reuters reports.
Next step: negotiations with the House.
From Reuters:
The legislation was expected to be considered by the full Senate within days, with lawmakers keen to deliver a final bill to President George W. Bush by July 4.
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, in an interview with Reuters called the Senate bill "good progress."
But the Massachusetts Democrat said, "It's not yet where we should be.... To the extent that people say the House will just accept the Senate bill, that's not appropriate."
-
The Gay Marriage Home-Buying Discount
Continue reading… 45 CommentsI'll have what the California real estate professionals are having. First the two-for-one-deal, now this:
As the national housing market continues writhing in despair, one real estate agency is looking to take advantage of the state's controversial legalization of gay marriage to jump-start home sales.
-
Is Home Building Nearing a Bottom?
Continue reading… 0 CommentsHome building is "probably getting very close to a bottom," says Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors.
The optimistic outlook came in a report issued Tuesday after the government announced that May housing starts were down about 3 percent from April and 32 percent from a year earlier. May's figures put housing starts at their lowest level since 1991.
Why might this signal a bottom, Brian?
The number of homes under construction is down 27.8 percent versus last year, the largest 12-month decline since 1980. Given this decline and the drop the year before, the level of housing construction is low enough that the industry can work off excess inventories—a necessary step toward a sustainable recovery. With housing starts near a bottom on a nationwide basis, there are many communities across the country where home building is already rebounding.
Still, that doesn't mean Wesbury expects prices to rebound soon. "We continue to expect home prices to drop on a nationwide average basis through mid-2009, as the market continues to work off excess inventories," he said in the report.
-
Fish Fight a West Nile Foreclosure Threat
Continue reading… 0 CommentsOne of the many unexpected threats to emerge from the housing crisis comes from West Nile virus. Public-health officials have grown increasingly concerned that stagnant swimming pools at foreclosed properties could serve as breeding accelerators for the mosquitoes that transmit the sickness.
Now, to fight this unexpected problem, officials are turning to an equally improbably antidote: "mosquito-gobbling minnows."
From Reuters:
Public health workers in Maricopa County, which includes the cities of the Phoenix valley, are breeding thousands of so-called mosquitofish to gobble up larvae that thrive in the green pools of abandoned homes across the county.
The tiny, silvery fish are being offered to residents and municipal authorities across the parched desert county, which has tens of thousands of swimming pools, and one of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States.
Hope those little guys are hungry.
-
Maryland Foreclosure Trend Reverses
Continue reading… 1 CommentWhile RealtyTrac's most recent report—which found that May foreclosure filings at the national level surged nearly 50 percent from a year earlier—was just more bad news for the already-despondent housing market, BusinessWeek's HotProperty blog points out that it included some striking findings about one particular state: Maryland.
From BusinessWeek's HotProperty:
Maryland, which had the sixth worst foreclosure rate in April, had fallen back to No. 22 on the list in May. The May rate of foreclosure filings dropped by 61% in Maryland from a month earlier. Why such a big drop off? One possibility: a new law in Maryland that took effect in April gives distressed homeowners a little breathing room. Lenders must wait at least 90 days after a borrower defaults on a loan before initiating foreclosure proceedings. Lenders must also warn homeowners at least 45 days in advance that they are initiating foreclosure actions.
Maryland officials, however, need to keep their fingers crossed that their efforts will enable struggling borrowers to work with their lenders to avoid foreclosure altogether—rather than simply delay the filings for a couple of months.
-
The Eliot Spitzer Vulture Fund?
Continue reading… 1 CommentIn a potential career move unlikely to resuscitate his once proud reputation—fragments of which can be found floating in the Mohawk River—former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is reportedly considering a second act as an investor in distressed real estate. From Reuters:
Spitzer met with several former colleagues last month where they spoke about his interest in participating in his father's real estate business and in distressed assets created by the subprime crisis, among other things, the source said. An earlier report in The New York Sun on Tuesday cited a source claiming Spitzer had approached Washington, D.C.-based labor union officials to pitch his idea for a vulture fund and that he was looking to pursue distressed real estate projects valued between $100 million and $500 million. Vulture funds invest in distressed assets.
With the high-profile prostitution scandal that tossed him from office finally quieting down, Spitzer's decision to invest in properties that have been devalued by the nation's most terrifying housing crisis in a generation would do little to win back the hearts and minds of New Yorkers. It's tough to think of any profession that would be worse for his reputation. Parking enforcement officer? IRS agent? Knicks head coach?
-
How Not to Sell Your Home
Continue reading… 0 CommentsSelling a home in today's sluggish housing market is difficult enough, but it's even worse for sellers who employ what Larry Cragun of RealEstateUndressed.com calls the "sales prevention program."
From RealEstateUndressed.com:
What is the sales prevention program? Well, let's put it this way: When buyers have lots of options, sometimes you can do things to keep them away for from making an offer.
I am sure agents could add to the list, here is a few I have noticed.
- Don't let the dog out of the garage, he bites.
- You must make an appointment 24 hours in advance.
- Price not negotiable, full price offers only.
- Home rented, must contact tenant to make appointment to show. No drop ins.
- No MLS key box.
- Please forgive condition of the home.
Read the rest here.
