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Idaho Home Sellers and Home Buyers

January 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ada county and Canyon county have 242 bank owned properties and 262 possible short sale properties listed as of January 1, 2010. This news below may seem discouraging if you believe the glass is half empty, but if you look at all of these golden opportunities the glass is really half full. If you are one of many homeowners that have already are in a position to lose your home there are many opportunities to avoid foreclosure (Making Home Affordable Program-Short Sales) but you must be proactive seek a professionals help to navigate through this mess. Always know that the sun will rise tomorrow, you are not alone and time will heal.

On the other side if you are looking to purchase a home right now it very well could be the best time to get the home of your dreams in the neighborhood you most desire. $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyer’s, $6,500 tax credit for move up buyer’s – go to www.homeswithjosh.com for more information to qualify. Interest rates are still extremely low with talks that they are going to start moving up so my advice is to start your qualifying process now and be ready when your dream home comes on the market. This not just talk take a look at homes on www.homeswithjosh.com and see what I am talking about as I am quite sure you cannot deny there are some sweet homes just waiting for their new owners.

Call Josh Groesbeck 208-353-7131 for information about selling and buying Idaho real estate.

The housing market in the Treasure Valley has yet to bottom out, despite government incentives and record low interest rates for buyers.

“You read a lot of national data that says we have hit the bottom of the market,” said Charlie Nate, president of IdahoDataProviders.com, a Boise company that measures foreclosures in the Valley. “That’s just not the case.”

The month-to-month numbers weren’t bad. In Ada and Canyon counties, December foreclosure rates fell 9 percent from a month earlier, Nate said.

But the flow of distressed properties entering the housing market will keep pushing inventories up and prices down this year, Nate said.

High unemployment rates and a worsening default rate are partly to blame. So are the number of homeowners who are “upside-down” on their mortgages, which means they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth, Nate said.

About 30 percent of all borrowers are “upside-down,” he said.

During 2009, there were 8,639 new foreclosures filed in Ada and Canyon counties, a 66 percent increase over 2008.

source: Idaho Stateman

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Idaho Unemployment Rate Revised

January 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Labor on Jan. 20 revised Idaho’s December unemployment rate downward a tenth to a seasonally adjusted 9.1 percent.

The revision held the rate steady from November at its highest level since May 1983, the Idaho Department of Labor said in a release. Using additional economic information gathered over the previous 10 days, the department determined that total employment was nearly 200 higher than originally forecast while the number of unemployed actually dropped from November to remain under 69,000.

It was the first time since April that the number of workers without jobs has declined from the previous month, Idaho labor officials said.

Despite persisting job losses across much of the economy, Idaho’s total number of employed remained at just over 685,000 – the fewest since January 2005. While the gap in total jobs continued to close in December, it was only fractionally smaller than in November at a year-over-year loss of 5.3 percent.

Idaho Department of Labor analysts anticipate the jobless rate could rise further over the next few months before leveling off at or below 9 percent during the second half of this year.

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Idaho Short Sale Help

January 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In many cases  a loan modification is not possible or just doesn’t make any sense because the value is much less than what is owed on the home. In the past a short sale was anything but short, with big money institutions dragging their feet only to end up taking back a home at a much larger loss than if they would have just completed the sale short. Idaho Short Sale Help  is on the way with government incentives. It is my belief that 2010 will bring a large load of short sales being worked out and minimizing the amount of home foreclosures and here is why

  1. Up to $1,500 that will be given to seller for relocation
  2. Servicers can get up to $1,000 compensation
  3. Second lien holders will receive up to $3,000 to write off the remaining balance and let home be sold as a short sale

Josh Groesbeck is experienced with the Idaho Short Sale and has his team prepared to help whether you are in an upside down mortgage or have hit hard times, timing is of them importance so please call Josh direct for assistance 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com

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Resale Policies of Foreclosed Homes

January 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Resale policies of foreclosed homes are about to change. With the tougher credit market a good majority of homes are being purchased with FHA insured financing, as of right now a home is restricted (in most all cases) from FHA financing if the home has not been owned more than 90 days. This new  temporary policy will begin on February 1, 2010 and will be available for 1 year allowing buyers especially first time home buyers the chance to buy bank owned, HUD or homes sold from private parties.  The idea is to help quickly resale these properties and help stabilize and rejuvenate communities.

Conditions that will apply are-

  1. Transactions must be arms-length, no identity of seller, buyer and or other parties having interest in transaction.
  2. If the sales price is 20% higher than the sellers acquisition cost , then certain conditions must be met by lender.
  3. Waiver is limited to forward mortgages and will not apply to Home Equity Conversion Mortgage.

This is my retake on the news that came to me from U.S. Department of Housing- If you have any questions or are looking to take advantage of this new waiver please contact Josh at 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com. Simply call or email me with specifics of what type of property you are looking for and I will set up an account on my website for you.

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Upside Down Home

January 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Upside Down Home

1. Is your home worth less than what is owed or want to sell but have no equity?

2. Are your monthly payments too high?

3. Have you suffered a loss in income?

4. Is your mortgage going to adjust to a higher rate and unrealistic house payment?

5. Are you trying to avoid foreclosure and save your credit?

If any of these questions describes you then please call Josh. Josh has helped home owners shed millions of dollars of housing debt. There is no obligation just straight answers to your questions with the opportunity to come up with a solution that can help unwanted stress. 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com

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US Foreclosure Rate 2010

January 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

During 2009, almost 3 million homeowners receive a minimum of one foreclosure filing.  This is a new record.

It is reported by Realty Trac, that 1 in every 45 which is 2.8 million households were in default in 2009.  What does 2010 hold for the foreclosure market.

I think that the US foreclosure rate in 2010 is going to move up.  Let me tell you why.

us-foreclosure-rate-2010Look at the chart to the left.  You can see that all of the foreclosure trends are still moving up.

I have talked to a lot of homeowners that may not be behind in their payments, but they have lost a ton of equity and now are upside down and there are more and more people that are just walking away from homes that have lost money. See my home search here.

We will have to see what happens.  If  you are a buyer, it is a great time to think about picking up a property.  I am not saying that the market is at the bottom, but no one can ever tell you that the market has hit bottom until months after actual real estate foreclosure and market numbers come out.

Contact me at Josh@HomesWithJosh.com with any questions about the short sale and foreclosure market in 2010.

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List Your Home Now

January 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Timing is very important when you are looking to list and sell your home. My advice is get your home ready to list now and catch what many experts are expecting to help a large number of home sales this year-Home Buyer Tax Credits-  Buyer’s are needed to have their home under contract by April 30th 2010 to get the much desirable tax credit which is available to First Time Home Buyer’s and Repeat Home Buyer’s if eligible. For more information about selling your home or buying a home please feel free to contact Joshua Groesbeck 208-353-7131

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New Short Sale Rules

January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Treasury Department revealed some new rules this week to help financially distressed homeowners who need to sell but can’t get price high enough to pay off their mortgages. Homeowners will be eligible get $1,500 to help cover their moving costs.
The plan is designed to help homeowners who don’t have the income or debt levels to qualify for a loan modification under the Obama administration’s $75 billion MAHP. The plan establishes timelines, a standard process and documents, and cash incentives for participation.
These known as Short sales a process that would minimize damage to borrower’s credit, save the bank from losing more in a a foreclosure as well as keeping values better in neighborhoods.   Foreclosures are more distressed and in time their value is a lot more below market value then a ready to be moved into home that is using the Short sale.
About one in 10 home sales this year was a short sale, or an estimated 500,000 sales, says the National Association of Realtors.
The new rules are being put into motion to help home owners, realtors and lenders get on the same page and expedite the sale.  All to often Short sales are everything but short- Time lines for a short sale often is 4-8 months with many buyer’s not willing to wait.
There are some pitfalls to the Treasury Departments plan.
Mortgage companies will have the option to wait until April 5th2010 before starting this program and that leaves many deals that are on the table now stuck in the mud. Program is also voluntary to companies that have more than one note on the home i.e.- a second mortgage, equity line of credit etc. It has been tracked by the Treasury and about 1/2 of the homes have more than one note.
A secondary debt holder will be eligible for up to $3,000 dollars to settle and release all liens allowing the property to be sold in a Short sale. The downside is that if a secondary lien holder has much more owed they may choose to not release and try and go after home owner for deficiencies.
New rules should streamline the process with less documentation required along with clear hardship for owners trying to get modifications and Short sales. A problem that is not going away anytime is still looking for solutions.
Mortgage companies will receive $1,000 to cover administrative costs.

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Pending Home Sales Down 16 % in November 2009

January 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Even though we thought that the market has been picking up, it looks like it is still going to be one of those winters when the market takes a hiatus. Homebuyers got 16% fewer contracts signed in November of 2009. This is according to the NAR pending home index. Previously, the NAR had reported 9 straight months of increases in this number. This drop also was over the expected 14% drop that was expected.

They expected the drop, because the market usually drops about this time of year in activity. Thanksgiving, Xmas, and New Years tend to keep people from making moves. Plus it is just dang cold in some parts of the country.

The first time home buyer tax credit was also initially going to be stopped on December 1st, and was extended into 2010. This probably made some buyers out there feel like there wasn’t quite the rush to get it done like they thought before the extension.

We will see how the numbers pick up in 2010.

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