Register Real Estate Advisors

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Mortgage Bankers Association) – Foreclosure and delinquency rates were down across the board for Texas in first quarter 2012, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey, which was released Wednesday.
Texas’ overall delinquency rate dropped from 9.1 percent in fourth quarter 2011 to 7.3 percent in first quarter 2012, the lowest rate since second quarter 2008.
Mortgages seriously delinquent (90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure) declined from 4.7 percent in fourth quarter 2011 to 4.4 percent in first quarter 2012.
Loans in foreclosure increased slightly from 1.8 percent to 1.9 percent. However, loans 90 or more days delinquent fell to 2.5 percent in first quarter 2012 from 3 percent in fourth quarter 2011 and from 2.8 percent in first quarter 2011.

I read the article below and think it makes some good points about what is currently going on in the real estate market.  Most of the short sales that I deal with have homeowners that are able to rent houses after their short sale.  Many people who are foreclosed on are also able to go rent a home afterwards.  Does that seem right to you?  Should their credit still be good enough to be able to rent a house?  It’s good for the landlord business.  In 2011 we saw a big demand for rentals in the Houston real estate market.  So if you have thought about buying an investment property to rent, please give me a call at 281.288.3500 and I can help you find one and get it rented.  There’s a demand for it, so call me today while interest rates are low.  Hope you enjoy the article below that got me thinking about this and how it can benefit you.

Posted By susanne On October 23, 2011 In Consumer News and Advice,Home Owner News,Real Estate Information,Real Estate News,Real Estate Trends,Today’s Marketplace,Today’s Top Story – Consumer

A new survey of former homeowners who have walked away from their homes found that their credit was good enough after foreclosure for the vast majority to rent new housing and few were required to make a larger than normal deposit.

YouWalkAway.com, which counsels troubled buyers to strategically default, found that owners and managers of rental properties regard the influx of renters in the market due to the housing market meltdown as a boon, and many are willing to accept potential renters even if they do not have credit scores as high as landlords previously would have required. (more…)

In today’s real estate market, there are many different mortgages available for you to choose from. If you are thinking about purchasing a home, you can call RREA’s in house lender today to see what type of loan products you qualify for. Our in house lender, Terry Traylor, can help you determine your mortgage limit, interest rate, and what product will best meet your home purchasing needs.

There are a variety of mortgage loans available. There are Jumbos for loans over $417K. There are loans for investors that allow homes to be flipped before the 90 day limit. For first time home buyers, there are Down Payment Assistance Loans that help with closing costs. For Foreign Nationals that are non-U.S. Citizens there are loans that allow them to purchase second homes in the U.S. With the 203K Loan people can make improvements before or after closing. The HomePath Program was designed for Foreclosed Fannie Mae owned properties. The REO Extended Lock Program helps homeowners purchase a short sale or REO property by allowing an extended interest rate lock. The credit 580 Program increases the FHA guidelines to include borrowers with credit scores between 580-639. Dissipating Asset Programs provide asset-rich clients the ability to qualify with no income up to a maximum loan amount of $5 Million while the Pledged Asset Mortgage allows borrowers to pledge eligible assets in lieu of a down payment, second mortgage or a home equity loan to cover normal down payment requirements. And you thought there were only FHA, Conventional, and VA Loans! Today’s lender has lots of options for you to take advantage of. Call today to find out more -281-288-3500.

If you are in the market to purchase a home then you will need to know about short sales.  If you decide to look at or even make an offer on a short sale, you should find out all you can about short sales.  The article below is one of the best that I have seen regarding short sales.  If you are interested in purchasing a home anywhere in the Houston area, please give me a call today and I would be happy to help you buy a short sale, foreclosure, new constuction, or resale home.  281-288-3500

If a home is being sold for below what the current seller owes on the property—and the seller does not have other funds to make up the difference at closing—the sale is considered a short sale. Many more home owners are finding themselves in this situation due to a number of factors, including job losses, aggressive borrowing against their home in the days of easy credit, and declining home values in a slower real estate market.

A short sale is different from a foreclosure, which is when the seller’s lender has taken title of the home and is selling it directly. Homeowners often try to accomplish a short sale in order to avoid foreclosure. But a short sale holds many potential pitfalls for buyers. Know the risks before you pursue a short-sale purchase.

You’re a good candidate for a short-sale purchase if:

• You’re very patient. Even after you come to agreement with the seller to buy a short-sale property, the seller’s lender (or lenders, if there is more than one mortgage) has to approve the sale before you can close. When there is only one mortgage, short-sale experts say lender approval typically takes about two months. If there is more than one mortgage with different lenders, it can take four months or longer for the lenders to approve the sale.
• Your financing is in order. Lenders like cash offers. But even if you can’t pay all cash for a short-sale property, it’s important to show you are well qualified and your financing is set. If you’re preapproved, have a large down payment, and can close at any time, your offer will be viewed more favorably than that of a buyer whose financing is less secure.
• You don’t have any contingencies. If you have a home to sell before you can close on the purchase of the short-sale property—or you need to be in your new home by a certain time—a short sale may not be for you. Lenders like no-contingency offers and flexible closing terms.

If you’re serious about purchasing a short-sale property, it’s important for you to have expert assistance. Here are some people you want to work with:

• Experienced real estate attorney. Only about two out of five short sales are approved by lenders. But a good real estate attorney who’s knowledgeable about the short-sale process will increase your chances getting an approved contract. Also, if you want any provisions or very specialized language written into the purchase contract, a real estate attorney is essential throughout the negotiation.
• A qualified real estate professional.* You may have a close friend or relative in real estate, but if that person doesn’t know anything about short sales, working with him or her may hurt your chances of a successful closing. Interview a few practitioners and ask them how many buyers they’ve represented in a short sale and, of those, how many have successfully closed. A qualified real estate professional will be able to show you short-sale homes, help negotiate the purchase when you find the property you want to buy, and smooth communications with the lender. (All MLSs permit, and some now require, special notations to indicate that a listing is a short sale. There also are certain phrases you can watch for, such as “lender approval required.”)
• Title officer. It’s a good idea to have a title officer do an initial title search on a short-sale property to see all the liens attached to the property. If there are multiple lien holders (e.g., second or third mortgage or lines of credit, real estate tax lien, mechanic’s lien, homeowners association lien, etc.), it’s much tougher to get that short sale contract to the closing table. Any of the lien holders could put a kink in the process even after you’ve waited for months for lender approval. If you don’t know a title officer, your real estate attorney or real estate professional should be able to recommend a few.

Some of the other risks faced by buyers of short-sale properties include:

• Potential for rejection. Lenders want to minimize their losses as much as possible. If you make an offer tremendously lower than the fair market value of the home, chances are that your offer will be rejected and you’ll have wasted months. Or the lender could make a counteroffer, which will lengthen the process.
• Bad terms. Even when a lender approves a short sale, it could require that the sellers sign a promissory note to repay the deficient amount of the loan, which may not be acceptable to some financially desperate sellers. In that case, the sellers may refuse to go through with the short sale. Lenders also can change any of the terms of the contract that you’ve already negotiated, which may not be agreeable to you.
• No repairs or repair credits. You will most likely be asked to take the property “as is.” Lenders are already taking a loss on the property and may not agree to requests for repair credits.

The risks of a short sale are considerable. But if you have the time, patience, and iron will to see it through, a short sale can be a win-win for you and the sellers.

HOUSTON (Houston Association of Realtors) – January marked the eighth consecutive month of increased existing home sales for H-Town, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). The year also opened with a continued decline in active property listings and growth in pending sales, which the association said signals a healthy market with a balanced supply of housing inventory. January sales of single-family homes were up 9.2 percent over January 2011, the association found. All segments of the housing market grew except the luxury segment (homes starting at $500,000). “The January report shows continued strength in the Houston housing market that we began seeing in the latter part of 2011, and it gives us cause for optimism as we look ahead to the typically active spring and summer buying months,” said Wayne A. Stroman, HAR chairman and CEO of Stroman Realty. “We have also seen more jobs being filled locally, and you generally don’t experience a strong real estate market without healthy employment.” January’s single-family home median price rose 0.9 percent year-over-year to $139,900. The average price of $194,765 was statistically unchanged from January 2011. Foreclosure property sales reported in the MLS increased 22 percent year-over-year in January. Foreclosures made up 27.8 percent of all property sales, which is higher than the 2011 average of 21 percent. The median price of foreclosures in January was flat at $82,550. January sales of all property types in Houston totaled 3,632, up 4.8 percent compared with January 2011. Total dollar volume for properties sold during the month rose 5.9 percent to $683 million versus $645 million a year earlier.

HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – Real estate experts are optimistic about the Houston market’s prospects in 2012. Several recently shared their forecasts with Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle.   Here’s what they had to say.

Housing
Houston is going to see somewhere around a 5 percent increase in home sales and maybe as much 2 or 2.5 percent increase in median price, according to Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines. He said that’s still lower than the historical norm, but those are better numbers than the last two or three years.

Housing Permits
Bohlke Consulting Group Vice President Gary Latz predicts that the annual 2011 number will be 21,500 permits. This momentum will carry forward into 2012 due to strong job growth and low interest rates. The firm projects a minimum of 5 percent growth in new-home permits for calendar year 2012 over calendar year 2011. This translates to nearly 22,600 permits.

Foreclosures
Both foreclosure postings and actual foreclosures in Harris County declined year-over-year from 2011 compared with 2010. Amanda LeCureux, managing partner with Foreclosure Information & Listing Service, expects these declines to modestly accelerate in 2012.

Apartments
Apartment Data Services President Bruce McClenny said available high-end units are scarce, and it will take up to 18 months before any significant number of new units become available. He said to expect around 9,000 units to be delivered in 2012 and approximately 10,000 units in 2013.

Office Space
Transwestern Executive Vice President J. David Baker expects continued strong job growth to generate four to six million sf of positive absorption. He said the only thing that might hold it to the low end is energy and energy engineering companies not finding enough qualified people.

Retail
Wulfe & Co. President Ed Wulfe expects to see at least a 25 percent increase, or approximately 1.5 million square feet, in new retail construction in 2012. This will exceed the total amounts built and opened in each of the previous two years. Active growth within Loop 610, particularly of supermarkets, will prevail.

Bank of America is making a process change that will reduce cycle time.  Effective Dec. 1, 2011, Bank of America is reducing the cycle time to process all short sales submitted with an offer in which the homeowner is eligible for the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program.

When a short sale is submitted with an offer and the homeowner is HAFA eligible, we will no longer halt work on the file while waiting to contact the homeowner. HAFA eligible homeowners are no longer required to call our Short Sale Customer Care to indicate whether they will participate in the program.

Instead, real estate agents can indicate a homeowner’s HAFA interest by submitting the necessary documents to Equator within 14 days. During that 14-day window, the short sale will continue moving forward. By the end of the 14 days, if we have not received the requested HAFA documents, we will continue to process the file as a traditional short sale.

This change is being made because we are transitioning the processing of all HAFA short sales with an offer from our outsourced vendor partners to Bank of America associates. A Bank of America specialist will be able to seamlessly transition a file from our traditional process to the HAFA process, thus improving customer service and the agent experience. Our outsourced vendor partners will, however, continue to process all short sales submitted without an offer.

At the end of 2009, 10% of mortgages had at least 1-payment past due and another 5% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process.  At the end of the 3rd quarter of 2011 8% of mortgages had at least 1-payment past due and another 4% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process.  Currently, there are fewer homes being foreclosed on.  Many families are concerned about inflation in the US.  It has caused prices to rise throughout the country by about 64% over the last 20 years.  That’s an annual increase of 2.5%. An example that looks grim is that a person who retired December of 1990 on a fixed income with no cost of living adjustments would have 61% of their purchasing power as of December of 2010.  That surprising example keeps consumers teetering between purchasing homes and staying in their current homes.  The good news for Houston is that our current housing inventory has reduced, interest rates are low, and we have the most stable housing market in the country.  Consumers buying homes in Houston, Texas have a lot more buying power than home buyers in other areas of the country.

Richard Peach, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Board of New York is promoting moving foreclosures by giving incentives to military service members. His idea is to allocate certificates to 2.5 million service members who served in Afghanistan and Iraq that could be used as a down payment on a foreclosed home in the Fannie or Freddie portfolio. He said this could help to absorb the inventory and stabilize the housing market? What do you think?

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – A recent study by the Dallas Morning News suggests that DFW’s housing market woes may have
hit bottom.

According to the study, home foreclosures in the first half of this year were down more than 10 percent from the same period last
year, and more than 25 percent from the same period in 2008.

Lenders foreclosed on more than 7,800 DFW homes during the first half of this year, reports Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service. The
total value of those properties was almost $779 million.

Foreclosure rates are highest in places such as Celina, Anna, Princeton, Lavon, Little Elm, Lancaster, Glenn Heights, Forest Hill, Blue Mound and Fate.

D’Ann Petersen with the Federal Research Bank of Dallas said foreclosures bear watching and may remain elevated until there’s sustained improvement in
the housing market.

“The housing market is still wobbly, but it does appear to have reached a bottom,” she said.