Thirty day late payments are down 25% from a year ago. This shows strength in our economy. The states with the lowest rates of delinquency are Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, S. Dakota and N. Dakota. In other words, cowboys are the best clients.
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According to Redfin, Atlanta has 6.9 months supply of homes and is a buyer's market still. -- Rachael Musiker
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Home Depot's latest earning's report is up 18%. -- The Ticker
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The Georgia Ports Authority says April had the highest tonnage volume on record. (Looks like we are still increasing U.S. imports which is good for the real estate business as well). WT100
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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association “Immigrant Contributions to Housing Demand” report, due to “a steady upswing” over the past three decades the number of foreign-born homeowners in the United States has increased from 800,000 new immigrant homeowners during 1980-1990, to 2.1 million in 1990-2000, reaching 2.4 million in 2000-2010.
Between 2010 and 2020 the MBA projects the number will increase by another 400,000 to 2.8 million.
Residential Finance Corp. is offering the “Foreign National Loan Program” designed to meet the special needs of foreign-born buyers.
Earlier this year Wells Fargo started catering to the growing presence of Korean middle-market companies in the U.S. with a new commercial banking unit lead by an experienced Korean-American banker who speaks the language.-- Amilda Dymi at Origination News
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Re-fi applications dropped as interest rates rose to 3.78. -- 2013 Thompson/Reuters
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The number of U.S. foreclosures dropped almost 25% in the last year says Lender Processing Services. -- kpanchuck@housingwire.com
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"April marks the sixth straight month of annual home value appreciation of 5% or above, the longest such streak since the height of the bubble in 2006. In the short-term, this has been welcome news for homeowners. But in the long-term, this cannot be sustained, and consumers entering the market today should not expect this kind of appreciation to last," said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. -- The Ticker at Housingwire
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Foreclosures and short sales were 33.5% of the home purchase market in April this year as compared to 43.6% a year ago. -- The Ticker
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AGENTS TAKE NOTE. Amy Tierce wants you to know:
Appraisals, home improvements and permits:
If recent work has been done on a home, appraisers are expected to prove that the work has been properly permitted. For example, if the appraiser notes that a bath has been added and does not determine if proper permits were issued, the underwriter will request documentation to determine that the bathroom was installed legally (with proper permits).
Be sure to ask your selling clients if they got permits prior to any recent work (say within the past five years to be safe). If they didn’t get permits you may want to try to get an inspector from the city or town prior to listing the property.
Just last week we had a situation where a bathroom was added in the basement of a home that now has to be removed prior to closing because the owners did not have the proper permits. Needless to say this situation caused stress and frustration for both the buyer and the seller which could have been avoided.
Commitment dates and extended closings:
Mortgage commitment letters have expiration dates. This can create some concerns when a closing is months later than the mortgage commitment date. Legally the following documents expire after 90 days and must be updated:
- Income–pay stubs
- Assets–Checking, Savings, Investment, Retirement
- Credit–must be re-pulled after 90 days but should not be re-pulled early
- Appraisal–good for 120 days before it has to be re-done.
All loan approvals are at risk if the borrower ruins their credit, loses or quits their job or if they spend all their down payment money, whether the commitment is issued three weeks prior to the closing or three months! It is important to work closely with your lender and your buyer so that you fully understand what needs to be done to update the mortgage commitment.
Conversely, we have buyers with extended closing dates who are required to make application right away. This is fine as long as there is no requirement to order the appraisal since the buyer would be required to pay for a second appraisal if the first one has expired.
As always, if you have questions, thoughts or concerns about the timing of a transaction, give us a call and we will walk through the scenario with you to come up with a solution that will work for everyone.
Pre-Approval Rush:
It is imperative that you get your buyers to obtain a pre-approval before you start showing them real estate. This Monday I had four sets of buyers insisting on getting pre-approved the same day in order to make an offer on a property seen over the weekend. Speed can lead to mistakes in the pre-approval process. We may simply not have enough time to put together the right package for a complicated borrower but able buyer, or we may not be able to educate them so that they are comfortable with the process especially when faced with a competitive situation.
It is better for your buyers, sellers and for you to insist that your buyers are thoroughly and thoughtfully pre-approved in advance (which should include a review of pay stubs, W-2, bank statements, credit report, tax returns) so that they are fully prepared and ready to step up and make a rock solid offer with excitement and enthusiasm and with no regrets.- Amy Tierce in Origination News.
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Things which will slow the housing recovery- Few new house starts, slow movement of foreclosures into the market and buyers' trouble getting financing. -- Jeff Cox at NBCNews.
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Nat'l Real Estate Post:
"Sometimes the best move is the one you don't make." There is still talk of raising the required down payment to 20% which will remove half of the current qualified buyers from the buying pool. This is what Qualified Mortgage straight jacket will do to the housing market.
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