FellwockRealEstate.com

Relocating? Need help looking for a home to Lease or Purchase?

Patti Mace — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:05:53 +0000

Are the current economic conditions having you considering uprooting and moving? If so, your not alone, Texas has seen an increase in relocation of people looking for work to support their families. Houston, Texas and its surrounding area is a great place to live. Texas has seen some reductions in home and retail sales but not like other states. There has been a slight decline in sales and home prices but compared to other cities across the country our great town of Houston is doing well. There are lots of places to visit such as the Space Center, The Aquarium both in downtown Houston, and Kemah. The Houston Zoo. There is also Moody Gardens in Galveston and many other spectacular eating places.

Houston is the workplace for many hospitals and medical research facilities along with the oil and gas industry and Space center facilities.

I take pride in the area I live in and will be glad to assist you with information regarding Houston, Spring, The Woodlands, Lake Conroe. Please feel free to email or call.

Patti

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The Importance of the Listing Price

Ramesh Persaud — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:59:15 +0000

One of the most important things to do when marketing a home for sale is the listing price. As a listing agent, the most important responsibility that I have to my client in the beginning is to get this price right. This does NOT mean telling my client what he or she wants to hear so that I can be their agent. Instead, my focus is to help educate my client so that he or she can establish a realistic listing price for their home.

In order to establish a realistic listing price, the first goal is to prepare a “Competitive Market Analysis”

What this does is to get a sense of what is going on in that particular area that the Seller’s home is in. This will let us know what other comparable houses are for sale, what they sold for or what variables, such as foreclosures, are effecting the price of the Seller’s home.

If you think you need ”Competitive Market Analysis” or “CMA” let me know and I will provide one at no charge.

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Looking for a Real Estate Agent to help you Relocate to the North Houston or Spring Texas area?

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:55:45 +0000

Relocating and finding a new home can be a headache, if you don’t have someone to help you. Fellwock Real Estate Group is here to help you find that dream home, in just the right neighborhood, with just the right schools.

One of the scariest and most important things to many people, who are preparing to relocate, is deciding on a subdivision, you may ask yourself “how do I keep from moving into a bad neighborhood?”, or, “how do I get my kids into a good school?” among many other things, so use the tools, do some research, and contact one of our local agents for assistance.

Relocation to North Houston, Spring, Humble, Atascocita, or surrounding areas can be stress free, and the agents of Fellwock Real Estate Group, specialize in these areas, just give our specialists a call, we can answer your questions, and, help you find that perfect home!

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Another Stopgap for Flood of Foreclosure Homes

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:15 +0000

Representative Tim Bishop has issued a statement in support of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, which is aimed at abating the flood of foreclosure homes in the county, is now on the Senate for consideration.

The measure is expected to be an integral part of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan of President Barack Obama.

The Bishop-supported bill will focus on providing ways to address foreclosure homes problem and boost the availability of mortgage credit by allowing bankruptcy judges to modify loans for distressed homeowners who filed for bankruptcy protection.

The measure is expected to boost mortgage refinancing to stop foreclosure homes increase by giving flexibility on loan modifications, reducing fees and providing incentives to mortgage lenders who choose to refinance instead of adding to the growing list of foreclosure homes.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Report, mortgage delinquencies and filings for foreclosure homes posted an 11 percent increase during the fourth quarter of 2008.

The number of mortgage loans at least one month behind in payments but not yet in the foreclosure process jumped by 8 percent, representing a 13 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The MBA data also showed that the number of foreclosure homes increased by 3.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008, representing a 1.26 percent jump from the previous year.

Meanwhile, data from Bishop’s office showed that housing prices declined 18 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008 and over 14 million troubled homeowners owe more mortgages than the fair market value of their distressed properties.

Bishop said that stabilizing and strengthening the housing industry is crucial to the recovery of the U.S. economy. He pointed out that foreclosed homes reduced the value of neighboring properties by almost 9 percent and every American will suffer if house prices will continue its rapid decline.

He added that the bill does not require spending federal money to be able to help thousands of distressed homeowners who are facing the threat of losing their homes to foreclosure.

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan includes measures to reduce mortgage payments for an estimated 9 million struggling homeowners and expand the role of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and Federal National Mortgage Association in stopping foreclosures.

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Aid for Illinois Neighborhoods to Address Foreclosure Homes

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:14 +0000

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have signed the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) agreement aimed at helping distressed neighborhoods reduce the number of foreclosure homes.

The program will provide emergency assistance of $53 million to non-profit organizations, developers and the local government to acquire, rehabilitate or resell abandoned and vacant foreclosure homes that become eyesores within communities.

IDHS has partnered with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and affordable housing advocacy groups to rehabilitate neighborhoods and assist in the housing needs to reduce the number of foreclosure homes that have caused communities to deteriorate.

Illinois is the sole state that will use as much as 40 percent of the allocated HUD grant for neighborhood developments to provide affordable housing for low-income families and accessible homes to persons with disabilities.

Under the program, IDHS will allocate funds to neighborhoods with high number of foreclosure homes, provide rental housing units that are affordable and opportunity for low-income families and those with disabilities to own properties.

The program is part of a federal campaign to rehabilitate communities showing signs of deterioration due to the surge of foreclosure homes by providing opportunities to rent or own affordable homes.

The IHDA is tasked to provide mortgage finance and housing development expertise and will work with IDHS to start rehabilitating foreclosure homes to be used by low-income families and people with disabilities.

According to Carol L. AdamsSta, IDHS secretary, foreclosure has a way of wreaking havoc to homeowners and communities and caused the rapid deterioration of areas affected.

She added that IDHS and other state agencies will start taking measures to address the problems brought about by foreclosure properties by providing the needed resources to help neighborhoods recover from the foreclosure crisis.

The program, made possible by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, will also allow grant recipients to develop financing products to assist homebuyers in low and moderate income levels to acquire foreclosed homes. Qualified homebuyers are those with 120 percent area median income established by HUD.

Illinois is currently accepting proposals for the federal program. It will also host several workshops to promote awareness of the program and assist potential applicants.

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Anti-Foreclosure Homes Plan Too Late for Some Families

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:06 +0000

Last February, President Barack Obama announced his $275 billion anti-foreclosure homes plan intended to help nearly 5 million owners of distressed properties.

The anti-foreclosure homes plan was welcomed with much hope by the housing industry and millions of distressed borrowers, but not by some troubled homeowners in Washington who regard the program as too late the hero.

As of December 8, 2008, there were 172 homeowners in King County, Washington who received foreclosure homes notices. These figures indicated that the flood of foreclosures is continuing its destruction across the country despite various campaigns to stop its assault on the lives of millions of Americans.

A typical distressed homeowner in Washington may receive a trustee sale notice even if he just had $4,868 overdue mortgage.

Washington State Department of Financial Institutions director Scott Jarvis said that once distressed homeowners received foreclosure homes notices, it is already late to help them pull back their properties away from foreclosures.

On a positive note, Washington still fares better than other states with the number of foreclosure homes lower than the national rate and way below the foreclosure rates of Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada.

However, even if the number of foreclosure homes in Washington is not that remarkable compared with other states, the figures are still unprecedented in the area. Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the number of distressed properties in Washington reached 1.19 percent from July to September 2008, twice the historic 0.61 percent foreclosure rate in the state.

On the other hand, foreclosures created a flood of low-priced houses in Puget Sound Area, Washington. The average mortgage loan is about $262,500 and two out of three mortgages are for houses $350,000 and below.

Back in King County, one in every five distressed borrowers owe back payments of not more than $10,000 and foreclosures affect 28 out of 39 cities in the county.

Some communities with the most number of repossessed homes are Maple Valley and Tukwila with 8 each, followed by Federal Way and Kent with 7 each.

Meanwhile, some homeowners in the state who remain current on their mortgages but are struggling to make payments are putting their hopes on Obama’s foreclosure prevention program which will provide $75 billion for loan modifications.

They hope that the program would rescue them from their current dire situation and help them remain in their properties.

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1.5 Million Houses on the Brink of Foreclosure

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:04 +0000

The combined number of defaults and mortgage loans in foreclosure process has now reached its highest level of 11.18 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency report.

According to the MBA report, the percentage of homeowners who are behind on their loan payments for at least a month increased by 8 percent during the last quarter of 2008. The figures are the highest recorded by MBA since it started monitoring foreclosure homes rate in 1972. The last quarter data represented a 13 percent rise from the third quarter.

MBA chief economist Jay Brinkmann explained that subprime adjustable-rate mortgage loans and prime adjustable-rate mortgage loans still accounted for majority of loans on default and the increasing foreclosure homes rate.

He added that across the country, 48 percent of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages were one payment behind, while in Florida, 60 percent of subprime loans were on default for a month.

Meanwhile, the number of foreclosure homes filings increased to 3.3 percent, representing about 1.5 million houses at risk of falling into foreclosures.

The 3.3 percent increase in the number of foreclosure homes filings during the last quarter of the previous year represented a 0.33 percent increase from the previous quarter and 1.26 rise from 2007.

On the other hand, Brinkmann noted that the number of troubled loans languishing on the foreclosure market has remained significantly high because of the moratorium on foreclosure sales in several states, the suspension on foreclosure sales by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and Federal National Mortgage Association and reluctance of mortgage services to evict owners of foreclosure homes.

He pointed out that because of the foreclosure moratorium, the number of mortgage loans due 90 days and more increased to 3 percent in the last quarter from 2.2 percent the preceding quarter.

If there was no moratorium, these troubled mortgages would have been dealt with immediately by lenders by completing the process of foreclosure.

Harvard University’s director of Joint Center for Housing Studies Nicholas Retsinas said that the MBA report reinforced what industry experts have been asking for a long time now, a foreclosure relief plan that will successfully streamline the number of foreclosure homes and stabilize the housing market.

Industry experts viewed Obama’s foreclosure prevention plan as another attempt to decelerate the foreclosure rate but doubted if it will ever solve the housing crisis.

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What to Do After Foreclosure

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:03 +0000

There is no good in being left clueless after foreclosure. Here are some pointers that can help you survive a foreclosure situation:

Find out whether your state implements a redemption period. After the foreclosure sale, homeowners are given the period of a few days to a month or even longer. During this period, you cannot be evicted from the house even if the property already has new owners. You are given the chance to get your foreclosed property back provided that you pay your mortgage liabilities completely. The buyer of your home will be given a refund of the amount he paid during the auction.
Some states do not practice a redemption period. In such case, even if you do not have the chance to get your foreclosed home back, you still can stay in it. The eviction period can be short or long, depending on the laws in your local area. The new owner of the foreclosed property has the responsibility during eviction.
In case no one buys your property during the auction, your home will end up in the possession of the bank. This can prove to be more advantageous than when the foreclosed home is bought at auction. Banks are big companies and transactions in such huge organizations tend to move at very slow pace. That means another few months for you to stay in your home especially since evicting you is not among the top priorities of the bank.
Evictions undergo legal processes. In almost all cases, the court is involved in eviction. That gives room to more delays of a few days to a couple of weeks. However, you still have to act fast as you would not have much time after the eviction is permitted.
The moment your foreclosed house is sold during the auction, immediately find a new place. Things happen faster after the eviction is approved. Notices last for only one to three days. If you do not want to find yourself in the streets, you have to make plans fast.

Before you get to a dead end, you still have plenty of opportunities to stop foreclosure. However, if you find yourself trapped in a foreclosure situation, to act ahead of time and be prepared is the best way to go.

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Chicago Put Illinois High on Lists of Foreclosures by State

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:01 +0000

The rise in new foreclosure filings in Chicago in 2008, as reported by nonprofit group National Training and Information Center, put Illinois high on several lists of the ten U.S. states with the highest foreclosures by state in 2008. Total foreclosure filings reached 19,943 in 2008, an increase of a record 87 percent from filings in 2006.

In January 2008, according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure report, Illinois is still among the U.S. States with the highest foreclosures by state. Illinois had 7,484 default notices, 4322 foreclosure sale notices and total foreclosure filings of 14,447. Included in the total are more than 2,000 units which are real estate owned properties, assets that have been foreclosed and repurchased by the banks. The state’s foreclosure rate is one foreclosure filing per 363 residential properties. These figures put Illinois fourth in RealtyTrac’s ranking of foreclosures by state and sixth in terms of foreclosure rate for the month of January.

One of the major reasons for Illinois’ high ranking in listings of foreclosures by state in 2008 is a record increase of foreclosure filings in Chicago neighborhoods previously immune to foreclosures. Almost 20,000 foreclosures were filed in Chicago due to defaults in middle-class and moderate-income communities. Another major reason is the use of exotic but risky loan schemes in mortgages. According to National Training and Information Center, mortgage loans in Chicago failed because 75 percent of them used risky loan schemes such as adjustable-rate loans.

Communities that contributed much to the high ranking of Illinois in terms of foreclosures by state are O’Hare, which increased in filings by 676 percent compared to 2006 filings; Dunning, which had an increase of 377 percent; Albany Park, an increase of 374 percent; Lincoln Square, an increase of 366; Irving Park, an increase of 344 percent; Norwood Park, an increase of 271 percent; Rogers Park, an increase of 268 percent; West Lawn, an increase of 256 percent; and Hyde Park, an increase of 105 percent.

The high ranking of Illinois in listings of foreclosures by state prompted U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who comes from Illinois, to introduce and campaign for his bankruptcy legislation that would help borrowers save their homes from foreclosure. Durbin’s bill enables homeowners to have their mortgage loans modified for affordable payments.

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Appraisals and Tax Foreclosure Properties

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:13:00 +0000

A couple of years ago, before the foreclosure crisis started, the foreclosure factor was not included in real estate appraisals even if there were also tax foreclosure properties then. The number of lender foreclosure properties then plus the number of tax foreclosure properties were not so high to have an effect on home prices.

Nowadays foreclosures have to be considered in appraisals. In 2008, foreclosures across the country increased by more than 80 percent to 2.33 million units, pulling down home prices to bottom levels and requiring appraisers to factor in foreclosures when making appraisals. Whereas before tax foreclosure properties did not figure in appraisals, nowadays they figure because of the soaring number of lender foreclosures.

According to Arizona appraiser Jeff Harper, the Yuma housing market is being pulled down by foreclosed properties and short sales.

He said previously foreclosure figures were negligible so their values were not used in appraisals. Nowadays, anyone planning to sell a home will have to compete with the low prices of foreclosed properties. Perhaps tax foreclosure properties are still an anomaly these times compared to lender foreclosures, but they add to the foreclosure figures.

Nevertheless, Harper said there are still well-maintained homes that get good prices, especially turn-key houses that appeal to certain buyers. But generally, he said, home prices are declining, with a home priced $250,000 about six months ago being currently priced at $225,000. Appraisals for tax foreclosure properties have also been declining.

Harvey Campbell, a broker with Broken Arrow Realty, cited cases in which a developer gets a sale, builds the house with the contract price in mind, but then the appraisal results in about $20,000 through $50,000 lower than the contract price. Either the developer gives up those thousand dollars or keeps the house and gives back the earnest money to the buyer.

Meanwhile, Bill Craft, head of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Yuma, said lower appraisals have not been a problem at Wells Fargo because sellers have become realistic about their prices. They know how lender foreclosures have affected the market and they know there also tax foreclosure properties out there.

Craig has also become optimistic about the housing market. He said foreclosed homes on the listing service are now much fewer than in November 2008 when the figure even reached 1,540 units.

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