Posted November 23rd, 2010 by Sheila
As of today, we have seen the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average in at around 4.3%. The big question is how long will this last? According to the National Association of Realtors Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, there are two reasons interest rates are low. One is low inflation and the other are the Federal Reserve’s [...]
Tags: first time home buyer, hillsborough county, home buyers, interest rates, mortgage rates
Posted August 30th, 2010 by Sheila
The U.S. Treasury Department rolled out the Home Alternative Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) in April 2010. This program is an add-on to the existing Home Alternative Modification Program (HAMP) that is supposed to guarantee a faster short sale approval and closing while guaranteeing the homeowner that they will not come after them for a deficiency or [...]
Tags: borrowers, buyers, foreclosure, HAFA, HAMP, sellers, short sale
Posted December 8th, 2009 by Sheila
The current way lenders handle short sales is very inefficient and frustrating for everyone involved in the process. It is very obvious to me, as a Realtor, that something needs to change. The short sale negotiation process currently takes anywhere from 90 to 180 plus days, during which time the house sits vacant and deteriorating. [...]
Tags: borrowers, buyers, foreclosure, sellers, short sale
Posted September 15th, 2009 by Sheila
Amherst Securities Group issued a report suggesting that programs designed to support short sales could be the most effective loss mitigation approach, as they minimize loss severity. “In all cases, the loss severity on the short sale is 15-20% less than on the foreclosure sale,” Amherst researchers reported. Amherst researchers also said the Hope-for-Homeowners (H4H) [...]
Posted May 6th, 2009 by Sheila
If you are a first-time homebuyer with a job and fairly decent credit, your dream of owning a home instead of throwing away your money in rent can come true. There are so many incentives available to you that you simply cannot afford to wait. Below is a list of the top 10 reasons I [...]