Bits Bucket for September 21, 2013
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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We’re having some server maintenance done today, so there will be down times on the blog.
Inventory cranking up-CHECK
Sales(demand) non-existent-CHECK
Borrowing costs rising-CHECK
Mr. Delayed Correction….. welcome home.
‘As the threat of another housing market “bubble” emerges in the United Kingdom, first-time home buyers in the U.K. are reportedly veering away from the usual 25-year package and opting for products with a longer life of loan, some of which can extend to 40 years.’
http://easternmorningherald.com/first-time-home-buyers-now-favoring-longer-mortgages-as-new-housing-bubble-looms/1231265/
Japanese had great success with 100 year mortgages, didnt they?
Building like crazy in Phoenix, check.
All those construction guys need to live somewhere.
Sales(demand) non-existent-CHECK
I wouldn’t call it non-existent; the MBA’s Purchase Mortgage Index shows it at roughly 1997 levels, and I don’t recall things being that dead in 1997.
Housing demand is at 1997 lows? Imagine that.
Hint: It was dead considering demand increased 100% just 7 years later..
Hint: It was dead considering demand increased 100% just 7 years later..
I tend to think of that 100% increase as the unnatural thing, and the pre-unnatural period as a more natural state of the market. If that’s correct, then we’re currently in something more like a period of “normal” demand–though of course, you also have to take into consideration that we’re only achieving “normal” through massive manipulation of interest rates and lending standards.
You’re right.
However, there is one dramatic difference. All the current incentivization didn’t exist in 1997.
Sept 18, Yahoo-“How the Federal Reserve Safeguards the Financial System”
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/federal-safeguards-financial-system-134150741.html
How much was the writer paid for this? Which brings up a broader question…. We all know how hot wars are waged with coordinated efforts at the highest levels behind closed doors. Can you image the dollar volume changing hands between the Fed, fed proxies, media outlets and scumbag outfits like NAR?
Hey… at least the commenters have some vision and forethought.
I encourage you all to read at the comments.
I encourage you all to read at the comments.
+1 Hmm, I’ll have to toss down a couple Deschutes Brewery darkies and review the Vince Foster suicide later tonight.
I guess if Hillary gets served up as the next Democrat nominee, the entire country will get the chance to bone up on Whitewater, Vince Foster, Monica Lewinsky, etc etc etc…
“…bone up…”
+1 Great word play!
“How the Federal Reserve Safeguards the Financial System”
In other news…
Polish farmer mistakenly takes in stray wolf cub to protect sheep herd
Zbigniew Pieczyk thought the animal was a sheepdog puppy or a German shepherd, but soon realized that the howling it did at night meant it was a wolf. The cub is now going to be released into the wild.
By Lee Moran / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, September 3, 2013, 10:27 AM
A hapless Polish farmer who bought a cute puppy to look after his sheep was shocked to find out it was actually a wolf.
Zbigniew Pieczyk, 50, was left red-faced after discovering the adorable stray he found near his ranch in Podlasie was in fact a dangerous wild dog.
“I thought it was a sheepdog pup or a German shepherd,” Metro reports him as saying.
“Then when it started to howl every night I realized I’d made one hell of a mistake and I called the police,” he added.
…
Polish.
These people just don’t stop do they? They are asking for it one way or another. Jeez.
Why is there no Polish National Ice Hockey team?
They all drowned during spring training.
“Hard money lender sentenced to five years”
Heritage Lending’s former president Candy Wells was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for fraudulent practices in the offer and sale of securities. Wells plead no contest in August to five counts of securities fraud.
After listening to victim statements, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge John Trice sentenced Wells, 59, to prison and ordered her to pay restitution to her victims.
Wells enticed people, with the promise of 11 to 12 percent interest, to invest their nest eggs in real estate projects located primarily in San Luis Obispo County. She did not have a broker’s license, failed to monitor projects and used funds for her personal use. Her victims lost more than $1.3 million.
Candy Wells husband Ronald Wells plead no contest in June to being an accessory after the fact. On Thursday, Judge Trice sentenced Ronald Wells to five years of felony probation and three months jail time which he has already served.
calcoastnews.com/2013/09/hard-money-lender-sentenced-five-years/
“Hard money lender sentenced to five years”
Hard money lender??? They are sullying a perfectly reasonable line of business by calling her a hard money lender.
They should call her what she really was: a ponzi scam operator.
to have a shot at some free equity from the casino you have to be in the game.
If by that you mean a HELOC, then it isn’t “free” as interest payments are involved.
Plus, in casinos of all types, there is a very good chance you might lose. And the current bubble has very short legs.
What the casino gives, the casino takes away. And remember, in a casino, the odds are always in the house’s favor.
The longer you play, the more likely you will lose.
there is some truth to that my friend.
It’s the backbone of probability.
We are banana republic.
–The Golden Boy
We are the only axis of evil.
–pw
“We are the only axis of evil.”
IIRC, the axis powers were the other guys.
So how about, allies of evil?
Nexus of evil?
We the people, need a clear and accurate metric (definition) of the term “racism.”
Why?
Because the term is thrown around so much, by so many people, that it is in danger of becoming meaningless.
For example:
Should people attempting to avoid the chaos and pathology associated with black people be accused of “practicing racism?”
I think I first heard the term “black undertow” on this blog; I don’t think people attempting to avoid it should be accused of practicing racism (because Im one of them).
Even if you accept/suspect that racism is the cause of the “black undertow”, no person should be expected to sacrifice their life, wellbeing… to this “black undertow”.
I won’t and Im a black person.
So what does this have to do with housing?
It is my suspicion that avoiding the “black undertow” adds some amount of cost to the price of housing in the U.S
What do you think that cost is? (in dollars)
Im going to guess and say $30.000 dollars?
What do you people who know more about real estate think it is?
By avoiding the “black undertow” I suppose you mean white flight, which itself means moving to predominantly white neighborhoods. JMO, but white flight is more complex than that. Many white collar whites who are educated, hopefully well read, avoid white trash areas. Some of those areas are in southern California, for example. A lot of them, but not all, are in the “South.” Many whites flee from other whites, where there are dysfunctional families.
As for avoiding blacks, sure, I would not move to Compton or Inglewood to try to make a point hat I am not “racis,” as Goon would say.
I think by much, most people try to avoid any undertow. I am limited in this because I rent two apartments and could easily live in a place with no Section 8 and with mostly Whites and Asians earning the big bucks. It is my own choice because my firearms, legal in Arizona, are illegal in California. It also keeps me from buying an upscale car to go with my income. Just my personal choice. One day I will both work and live in Arizona and I could increase my quality of life.
At least I did well furnishing my California rental. It is professional-looking, minimalist, and clean. It is not really in a tough neighborhood. Not too difficult for me to find.
By avoiding the “black undertow” I suppose you mean white flight, which itself means moving to predominantly white neighborhoods.
————————————————————————–
Bill, thats part of it, but definitely not ALL of it, or even possibly, the most important part of it.
There is a HUGE cultural component of the “black undertow” consisting of destructive speech and behavior, that functions independent of geography.
This is why I say the ghetto is a person, and NOT a place.
A CULTURAL example of the “black undertow” is a black person who is willing to physically assault another person over:
1. twenty dollars
2. You bumped into me
3. you cut me off in traffic
4. You made a joke about me an people laughed
ect…
See what I mean?
That behavior becomes the norm anytime you cannot survive without it. Even black people who do not want to engage in it end up using it as a defensive strategy to counter the “black undertow”;
You don’t want to be the last house in the neighborhood without burglar bars on your windows.
Actually, you don’t really want to be the first house in your neighborhood with them.
I think you’re talking about culture, not color. A lot of white people have adopted the culture you describe, and a lot of them have devised their own equally rotten cultures.
I like to live in the country, but you have to be very careful where you choose to live because country settings are FULL of white trash. Junk strewn acreage, welfare checks, meth, dozens of semi-stray dogs and other poorly cared for animals, smoke spewing beater cars, illiteracy, willful ignorance, various Jesus cults, falling down houses, rotten trailers, mobs of dirty kids that can’t speak basic english, and an overarching pride in all of that as somehow being more American than anybody else.
I don’t know of any color of people that doesn’t have its share of worthless scum the world would be better off without. If you could point one out, I would be pleased to dwell among them if they’d have me.
I like to live in the country, but you have to be very careful where you choose to live because country settings are FULL of white trash. Junk strewn acreage, welfare checks, meth, dozens of semi-stray dogs and other poorly cared for animals, smoke spewing beater cars, illiteracy, willful ignorance, various Jesus cults, falling down houses, rotten trailers, mobs of dirty kids that can’t speak basic english, and an overarching pride in all of that as somehow being more American than anybody else.
Of all of those things, and regardless of race, the only factor I work hard to avoid is propensity to violence. As long is I don’t have to worry about somebody getting violent I’m OK with live and let live. I notice a lot of people don’t want their kids around poor kids, but that doesn’t worry me so much as long as the violence is under control. Sometime you can learn a lot about what not to do from other people.
I think with time, it will change and the bad parts of the culture will be gone. I am mostly tolerant because first, it is a fact that no two people are alike. Everyone of us has our own set of values. I am sure that I am a trashy culture person compared to the culture of some blacks today. But I am comfortable with myself and follow the rule, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.
That said, statistically, I certainly do not consider Ebonics a proper language to get oneself ahead in life. I certainly don’t want to see tattoos or ear piercings on a man or unusual facial pearcings on anyone delivering the evening news on the boob tube.
No matter what shade, we all need proper role models. The media does a fine job delivering the worst depraved as role models.
“As for avoiding blacks, sure, I would not move to Compton or Inglewood to try to make a point hat I am not “racis,” as Goon would say.”
Well you couldn’t move to Compton to prove that you were not a racist when it comes to black people, you would have to find out where the black people from Compton moved after they were kicked out by Latino street gangs. However, I guess you could move to Compton to prove that you were not a racist when it comes to Latino street gangs.
Attack On Family In Compton Latest Incident In Wave of Anti-Black Violence [Blacks Driven Out!]
LATimes ^ | January 26, 2013 | Sam Quinones, Richard Winton and Joe Mozingo
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013 10:57:56 PM by Steelfish
Attack On Family In Compton Latest Incident In Wave of Anti-Black Violence
A Latino gang is intimidating blacks into leaving the city that was once an African American enclave. It’s part of a violent trend seen in other parts of the L.A. area.
The steeple of the Greater Holy Faith Baptist Church on 155th Street in Compton, a reminder of a time not long ago when African Americans predominated.
By Sam Quinones, Richard Winton and Joe Mozingo January 25, 2013 The trouble began soon after they arrived.
The black family—a mother, three teenage children and a 10-year-old boy—moved into a little yellow home in Compton over Christmas vacation.
When a friend came to visit, four men in a black SUV pulled up and called him a “nigger,” saying black people were barred from the neighborhood, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. They jumped out, drew a gun on him and beat him with metal pipes.
It was just the beginning of what detectives said was a campaign by a Latino street gang to force an African American family to leave.
The attacks on the family are the latest in a series of violent incidents in which Latino gangs targeted blacks in parts of greater Los Angeles over the last decade.
Compton, with a population of about 97,000, was predominantly black for many years. It is now 65% Latino and 33% black, according to the 2010 U.S. census. But it’s not only historically black areas that have been targeted.
(snip) Leaders of the Azusa 13 gang were sentenced to lengthy prison terms earlier this month for leading a policy of attacking African American residents and expelling them from the town.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com …
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2982263/posts - 62k
‘Letter: Housing gears up for another bubble’
‘In 1995, Obama brought a mortgage discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 186 black plaintiffs against Citibank. He won the lawsuit, got paid his attorney’s fees, and gained political support from the black community for his pioneering contributions to force banks to provide mortgages for minority purchasers with substandard credit ratings.’
‘Of the 186 winning plaintiffs, only about 10 percent today still own homes — bankruptcies and foreclosures have forced almost all of them from their homes.’
‘It is constructive to present the dismal housing picture faced by many low-income families but if we are to avoid a repeat of the 2008 housing bubble collapse, we must understand how the situation came to be. Well-intentioned politicians loosened mortgage qualifications so dramatically that anyone could buy a home — even people who had no hope of being able to physically and financially maintain their homes.’
‘Current housing policies are again being loosened today for precisely the same reasons that they were loosened in the decades preceding 2008. Until we exile meddling politicians from the mortgage business, we are doomed to repeat our errors again.’
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130919/OPINION/309190307
He’s a real beaut isn’t he. A bonafide chameleon.
He’s exactly what you want him to be, until he’s out of smacking range.
It appears that letter writer got this story from the right-wing website The Daily Caller. Well, the left-wing Mother Jones has a response:
1) Obama was fresh out of law school, and lead lawyers for both parties in the case said back in 2007 that Obama’s role was a minor, low-level one—”behind-the-scenes stuff.”
2) Nobody from the gub’mint crammed bad loans down Citibank’s gaping maw. The point of the discrimination suit—which was heard and decided by Judge Ruben Castillo, the son of two Latino immigrants—was that Citibank and other lenders denied credit to black applicants who’d met the same creditworthiness standard as whites who had received loans. The suit’s remedy was to set one standard for all borrowers, regardless of race.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/09/daily-caller-hawks-mother-all-incorrect-racist-obama-conspiracy-theories
Around my place my rent is $1350 in OC. $1800 per month would be the figure. However the percentage of blacks here is too low to be counted, according to a web site I saw.
In Phoenix, my rent is $1000. It is a larger apartment than mine in OC. I think $2000 per month would be the price to avoid any undertow.
For 3 years I booked blues/folk bands into DFW and ran a bed-n-breakfast on the side where 90% of my bookings were road bands. Over that time I had probably 200 different black people stay in my house for 1 to 3 days at a time. I never had a single thing stolen and I always got paid when they checked out. Racism is a excuse for deeper physiological issues. It’s a brain disorder, like religion in the same way you don’t see Jews, Muslims or Christians wanting to live together. The bigger problem is wealth inequality which breeds fear and anger among the lower cast.
Past customers:
Bernard Allison, Carey Bell (RIP), Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington, Bob Margolin, Magic Slim (RIP).
Well put, Russ and Carl and Blue. Civil behavior is not so much a matter of genetics as of upbringing and cultural expectation.
Arseholes come in all colors.
“Because the term is thrown around so much, by so many people, that it is in danger of becoming meaningless.”
I think the Dream Team used a similar tactic with Nicole Simpson’s postmortem photography showing her slashed throat. It was introduced early on and sat there, day after day, until Nicole was just that greedy white bitch living off, “OJ.” Heck, they could sit in front of it and eat their hoagie sandwich lunch.
How about, “A feeling of malice towards those of a different skin color”?
I like that definition, but I think it’s unacceptably narrow to those who want to use it against anyone who has discomfort with certain social norms independent of skin color.
Racism is collectivism. I do not trust anyone who claims to be for small government and government out of our economy as long as they judge someone by their skin color.
I’m not sure I can buy that tribalism is the same as collectivism.
Think of it as “groups.” If you have the group mindset, you are collectivist.
Tribalism implies something about a group. It is therefore collectivist.
FRB H.4.1 Release yesterday. For the week, credit expanded by $56 billion.
We must boost home values because we can’t have blight in the ritzy Point Richmond section.
Richmond, Calif., inches closer to eminent domain plan
By Les Christie @CNNMoney
September 20, 2013: 1:07 PM ET
The city of Richmond, Calif., is one step closer to moving forward with a plan to seize underwater mortgages by invoking eminent domain.
Earlier this week, federal district judge, Charles Breyer, dismissed a lawsuit that was filed by Wells Fargo that aimed to stop the plan from moving forward. Wells Fargo was serving as the trustee for dozens of investment trusts in the suit.
Under Richmond’s controversial plan, it would be able to buy 624 mortgages at the present market value of the homes from investors. The city then plans to modify the loans so borrowers can better afford their payments.
The lower mortgage payments would not only enable some residents to avoid foreclosure, but it would also help reduce neighborhood blight and boost home values, said Steven Gluckstern, chairman of Mortgage Resolution Partners (MRP), the private company helping to finance the program for the city.
However, mortgage lenders oppose the deal, saying it will have a negative impact on the market going forward. They claim banks will stop issuing mortgages in communities where eminent domain has been invoked. In addition, eminent domain could also raise the costs of borrowing for all homebuyers by making it harder to sell mortgage bonds to risk-averse investors, who will insist upon charging higher rates on mortgages.
What’s next?
With the green light from the judge, the city of Richmond’s next step is to try to partner with other cities in order to split the costs. There are half a dozen potential candidates, ranging from El Monte and Vallejo, Calif., to places like Seattle that are exploring the idea, said Gluckstern.
After that, Richmond’s city council will have to authorize the mortgage seizures. That may prove tough. When the council voted to further explore the idea last week, it passed with only a four-to-three majority. California law requires a super majority — five votes to two in this case — for such resolutions. And even if it passes, a court would still have to give final approval.
Richmond has targeted mortgages with balances averaging $370,000 for seizure. But some of the homes are much pricier than that. A few were even bought for $1 million or more, said Mark Joffe, a consultant with PF2 Securities Evaluations, who got the data on the homes through a California public records request.
“If they are trying to help struggling homeowners in areas at risk of blight, these properties just don’t seem appropriate,” he said.
One house was It originally sold for $1.2 million during the boom and has a balance of $888,000. The city said it would buy the mortgage for $510,000, according to the data Joffe received. If the city’s plan were to go through, it would then lower the mortgage balance by almost a quarter-million dollars.
Gluckstern said the homes were chosen to fit certain criteria, including that the loan be privately held — none were backed by government agencies like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration.
He said the city is only resorting to eminent domain because previous offers to buy mortgages directly from lenders at the discounted values were rejected.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/20/real_estate/richmond-eminent-domain/index.html - 69k -
The owners of the houses will still owe the IRS taxes on the forgiven debt though. Where are they going to get the money to pay for that?
“Where are they going to get the money to pay for that?”
I’m sure there will be a “program” to cover that.
“I’m sure there will be a “program” to cover that.”
+1 Disgusting isn’t it?
The free sh*t army votes.
And elections have consequences.
Only suckers work hard, save and pay off debt…
Also the free sh*t army “don’t care” if and when a ten percent or greater “patriot savings” tax is used to confiscate some of your electronic assets and put into 0.25%-yielding thugernment bonds.
Accumulate movable, hidable assets.
Richmond must not be that poor, or else Toll Brothers would not have bothered to build luxury homes there.
Toll Brothers Tells Richmond To Take Its Trail and Stick It
July 22, 2006
Toll Brothers, “The nation’s leading builder of luxury homes,” a Fortune 500 company that grossed $5.7 billion last year with profits of $806 million can’t find a few bucks to fulfill its commitment to build a short stretch of Bay Trail in Richmond. Toll Brothers earns a staggering profit of $92,000 per new home, and CEO Robert Toll collected compensation of $50 million in 2005.
When it received approvals to construct Seacliff Estates, Toll Brothers also agreed to construct a portion of the Bay Trail in front of Brickyard Landing. Seacliff Estates FDP Condition E.5. requires Toll Brothers to build a 14-foot wide Bay Trail segment from the western border of Seacliff Estates to the western border of Brickyard Landing if consent is given by the landowner and the City of Richmond prior to issuance of the first Certificate of Occupancy (CofO).
Although Brickyard Landing consent was provided in a timely fashion, Toll Brothers did not act to construct the trail, and they continue to try and weasel out of the obligation. The City of Richmond is not much better. Despite numerous requests from citizens and this City Council member for the City to enforce its own conditions of approval, the City has stonewalled the issue. That is why I placed the matter on the July 25 City Council meeting to try to get some “sunshine” on this issue and find out why the City refuses to get involved.
…
Now instead of robbing, kicking and punching a mentally challenged black dude for his “Grand Theft Auto V” video game valued at $150, the couple (parents to four children) should have developed their own video game called “catch a cracker” and made $$$$millions.
Florida Couple Jailed In “Grand Theft” Robbery
Suspects sought to rob “cracker,” opted for mentally challenged man
SEPTEMBER 20–A mentally challenged Florida man who had saved up for months to purchase a copy of “Grand Theft Auto V” was robbed of the video game as he left a GameStop store this week, police report.
After buying the game Tuesday afternoon, Rohan Dawkins was approached in a Delray Beach parking lot by a couple who pulled up in a car. After asking Dawkins for the time, Tommy Davis, 27, grabbed the bag containing the best-selling game, which was released this week.
When Dawkins sought to retrieve the item, Adele Jones, 25, allegedly kicked and punched the 21-year-old Dawkins, according to Delray Beach Police Department reports.
After swiping the game, Davis and Jones (seen in the above mug shots) drove to a second GameStop, where they unsuccessfully sought to return the game for a refund. Investigators believe that the couple subsequently sold the game to a third party.
A police report valued the stolen copy of “Grand Theft Auto V” at $150, an indication that Dawkins purchased a GameStop collector’s edition of the game.
Aided by store surveillance footage, Davis and Jones–parents to four children–were arrested yesterday. Dawkins identified both suspects when shown photo lineups.
During questioning, an “apologetic” Davis reportedly confessed to robbing Dawkins, claiming that he “stole the property because he needed new tires for his car.” Jones admitted that she and Davis went to GameStop intending to “catch a cracker,” which she said was slang for robbing a white person, cops reported. Instead, they robbed Dawkins, with whom Davis said she fought until Davis was able to drive away.
Davis and Jones were booked into the Palm Beach County jail on felony robbery and dealing in stolen property charges. They remain jailed in lieu of $5000 bond.
“I wanted to play the game with my sister and my cousins,” Dawkins (seen above) said yesterday at a police press conference. “I was buying it for my family and me.” Police announced last night that today they will present Dawkins with a donated copy of “Grand Theft Auto V.” (3 pages)
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/grand-theft-auto-game-robbery-678453 - -
Does “catch a cracker” fit anywhere into the “black undertow?”
Yes; especially considering all that black people depend on white people for.
Druckenmiller: Fed robbing poor to pay rich
Published: Thursday, 19 Sep 2013 | 11:06 AM ET
By: Robert Frank | CNBC Reporter and Editor
The Federal Reserve isn’t just inflating markets but is shifting a massive amount of wealth from the middle class and poor to the rich, according to billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller.
In an interview on “Squawk Box,” the founder of Duquesne Capital said the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing was inflating stocks and other assets held by wealthy investors like himself. But the price of making the rich richer will be paid by future generations.
“This is fantastic for every rich person,” he said Thursday, a day after the Fed’s stunning decision to delay tightening its monetary policy. “This is the biggest redistribution of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the rich ever.”
“Who owns assets—the rich, the billionaires. You think Warren Buffett hates this stuff? You think I hate this stuff? I had a very good day yesterday.”
Druckenmiller, whose net worth is estimated at more than $2 billion, said that the implication of the Fed’s policy is that the rich will spend their wealth and create jobs—essentially betting on “trickle-down economics.”
“I mean, maybe this trickle-down monetary policy that gives money to billionaires and hopefully we go spend it is going to work,” he said. “But it hasn’t worked for five years.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101046937 - 83k -
I saw this. He’s exactly right, but one of the few with the spine to actually admit it. What is taking place right now is nothing short of robbery. It is absolutely sickening that it can not only happen, but in broad daylight while people sit back and watch, and offer commentary along the way.
“Fed robbing poor to pay rich”
That is a natural consequence of persistently following policies to put more money into the pockets of wealthy home and corporate owners.
Florida to reduce mortgage amounts for underwater homeowners
by Kim Miller
The Florida Housing Finance Corp. announced this morning that it will use $350 million in federal funding to pay down loan amounts for underwater borrowers.
The program, which opens 9 a.m. Wednesday on a first-come, first-served basis, is expected to help 10,000 homeowners initially and then will be reevaluated for possible expansion.
Principal reduction, while controversial, is considered by many homeowner advocates as the most effective way to keep people from defaulting on their loans.
Money used for the new program is coming from the $1 billion Florida received in Hardest Hit Fund money.
To be eligible for the principal reduction money, borrowers must be current on their mortgage payments, Florida residents, U.S. citizens, live in their home as their primary residence and owe 25 percent or more on their mortgage than their home’s value.
Unlike previous Hardest Hit plans, homeowners do not have to prove a financial hardship to receive the principal reduction money.
For more information and instructions on how to apply, go to http://www.principalreductionflhhf.org.
Not all mortgage servicers are participating in the program, although the biggest lenders, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have agreed to accept the Hardest Hit money. A list of servicers not participating can be found on the principal reduction website.
“We’re pleased to partner with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to provide mortgage relief to homeowners,” said Ryan Crowley, Vice President of Chase Government and Community Partnerships. “We’ve reduced mortgage balances for Florida homeowners by $1.2 Billion since 2009.”
This entry was posted on Friday, September 20th, 2013 at 10:15 am and is filed under Florida economy, Housing affordability, Housing boom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
If we keep bailing out banks and irresponsible home owners…
How are they every going to learn there lessons…?
Why do trolls always use “there” when it is supposed to be “their?”
“Why do trolls always use “there” when it is supposed to be “their?”
“To be eligible for the principal reduction money, borrowers must be current on their mortgage payments, Florida residents, U.S. citizens, live in their home as their primary residence and owe 25 percent or more on their mortgage than their home’s value.”
There’s no there there.
“Why do trolls always use “there” when it is supposed to be “their?”
There’s no their there. It bugs me alot!
So a troll is anyone who has a different opinion than you have. Where is your liberal tolerance?
“liberal” and “tolerance” rarely belong in the same sentence. The exception is when it’s the Bastiat form of “liberal,” the classical liberal.
Many poo-poo moral hazard, but the economy is based on human behavior, humans doing things to improve their situation.
If you reward societally destructive behavior, you’re only going to get more of it.
It’s such a basic thing, yet so many policy makers overlook it.
As always, there has never been a better time to buy in San Diego.
DOING MATH ON HOMEBUYING
Analysts say now is still a good time for renters to jump into San Diego County’s homeownership market
By HANG NGUYEN
Special to the U-T 12:01 a.m. Sept. 21, 2013
Updated 2:52 p.m. Sept. 20, 2013
After Milly and Arnold Lee tied the knot in 2008, they settled into a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in University City where the rent was $1,450 per month. After annual increases, the landlord now charges the couple $1,800. It’s one of the reasons they’ve viewed countless homes for sale every weekend for the past year.
Arnold Lee, 34, a mail carrier, and Milly Lee, 33, a hospital administrative coordinator, said they are looking to spend $400,000 to $475,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bath home possibly in Escondido, San Diego or Mira Mesa.
“Our rent has gone up every year,” Arnold Lee said. “We need to capitalize on low interest rates. We need to make an investment. One of my dreams is to own a home.”
Many housing analysts and economists agree with the Lees’ decision. Now is still a good time to purchase a house in San Diego County, they say.
“It is currently a better time to buy rather than rent,” said Michael Lea, a real estate professor at San Diego State University.
Why? Mortgage rates are still low, home prices are well below peak in most areas, and rents are rising due to increased demand, he said. “These drivers may not last for long,” he said. “Rates are highly likely to rise further as the Fed exits from its QE (quantitative easing) strategy.”
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Can you imagine the collective gasp when an entire cohort of recent buyers realizes they have been scammed en masse!?
EARNINGS
Updated September 19, 2013, 8:05 p.m. ET
Home Sales Hit Highest Level Since 2007
Realtors Say Rising Mortgage Rates Spurred August Activity
By SARAH PORTLOCK
CONNECT
WASHINGTON—Sales of previously owned homes rose unexpectedly in August to the highest level since 2007 as buyers rushed to lock in deals before mortgage rates increased further.
But the industry’s trade group warned that home sales could slow in the coming months due to higher borrowing costs and prices.
Existing-home sales rose 1.7% in August from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That was the best month of sales since February 2007, when home values were just beginning to decline from the housing bubble. The pace was 13.2% higher than the same period last year.
“This is partly due to the rise in interest rates, which again hurries some of the people into making the decision,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors’ group. August is a lagging indicator of activity in June and July, when rates began their ascent, he said.
Economists had predicted sales would fall to a pace of 5.25 million in August. July’s figure was unrevised at a 5.39 million pace.
The figure “is especially encouraging as it suggests that the housing-market recovery is not showing any ill-effects from the recent surge in mortgage rates—at least not yet,” said Millan Mulraine of TD Securities.
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“home prices are well below peak in most areas”
That’s encouraging.
….. yet still inflated by 250%.