Buy Now With Record Low Interest Rates

BUY NOW WITH RECORD LOW INTEREST RATES -Mortgage rates for 30- year fixed rate mortgages fell this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 3.92 percent, down from 4.07 percent at this same time last week. This represents the second time the rate has dropped below 4 percent and is a return to the lowest rate recorded since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched in April 2008. That rate was recorded on Aug. 10, 2011.

After rising to 4.07 percent on last Thursday, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.98 percent and 4.05 percent before diving to the current rate early this morning.

Additionally, the 15- year fixed rate mortgage rate this morning was 3.17 percent and for 5/1 Arms the rate was 2.57 percent.

Apply for financing thru http://academymortgage.com/WhittneyCurran

Whittney will get you the best rate and always be there for any questions you may have. Once approved call Joshua Groesbeck and take advantage this housing market. Great prices with record low interest rates = Winning!

Joshua Groesbeck

208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com

Which Celebrity Would You Want As Neighbor

Here is a poll that shows who the most  desirable and  least desirable celebrity neighbors are-  I personally like to think that all of  our neighbors are like celebrities but I am sure that we all  have our most desired and least desired, Right?

Americans would like to live next door to Sandra Bullock in 2011, according to the fourth-annual Zillow.com Celebrity Neighbor Survey.

Cast members of the reality TV show Jersey Shore were named the least desirable neighbors.

The Obamas and Sarah Palin took spots on the top 10 lists of both the “most desirable” and the “worst neighbor” lists.

Here are Zillow’s most desirable neighbors for 2011:
· Sandra Bullock
· Sarah Palin
· Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi
· The Obamas
· Connan O’Brien
· Lady Gaga
· Katy Perry and Russell Brand
· Justin Bieber

Here are the least desirable neighbors:
· The Jersey Shore cast
· The Obamas
· Sarah Palin
· Kanye West
· Mel Gibson
· Charlie Sheen
· LeBron James
· Mark Zuckerberg

Source: Zillow

Another Great Reason To Live In Idaho

Another great reason to live in Idaho. Boise State Broncos 2010 BSC Champions.. Today our beloved Broncos start their march towards the top-BSU 20 VT 17.  As a native Idahoan I have had the opportunity to grow up with what used to be a state college with  blue turf and tail gaiters. Over the years that team has become bigger than that  blue  turf and the tail gaiters have become BRONCO NATION!  Enjoy the video highlights.

Take A Break And Enjoy Labor Day Weekend

Tough economic times won’t stop Americans from going all-out with their Labor Day celebrations.

The American Automobile Association predicts that 34.4 million people will be traveling at least 50 miles away from home this year over the Labor Day weekend. That’s nearly a 10% increase from last year.

Ninety one percent of those travelers will be driving to their destination, according to a AAA report, which was conducted by IHS Global Insight. Five percent of the weekend’s travelers, or 1.62 million people, will be flying. That’s up from 1.54 million last year.

Labor Day is the third most popular occasion to barbecue, with 55% of Americans expecting to do some grilling this weekend, according to HPBA’s State of the Barbecue Industry report. Need ideas for a fabulous Labor Day BBQ Menu?

Summer doesn’t officially end until Sept. 22, but many families consider Labor Day the end of the summer season, as the kids go back to school and the weather begins to cool down.

How will you be celebrating Labor Day? Please take a moment and post what you are going to do :)

www.homeswithjosh.com or josh@homeswithjosh.com or 208-353-7131

source: modern mother

Faster Short Sale Approvals after B of A Insurance Scam

Ever feel like your mortgage servicer or company is just toying with you and your HAMP program- It should be black or white, completely transparent and well let’s admit it– Can I get a loan mod and does it even make any sense if my home is totally upside down (bought at 300k now worth 175k)- Here in Idaho job unemployment rate is still above 9% and not looking to drop drastically anytime soon.  If your loan company is jerking you around please don’t hesitate to call or email Josh with your questions. Idaho’s Best Short Sale Specialist! Read below what the big boys in banking are doing it might make you shake your head–

Bank of America gets caught with their hand in the jar and blames Countrywide.

But doesn’t Bank of America own Countrywide?  Yes!

When Bank of America took over Countrywide in 2008 during the worst housing crash since the Great Depression, according to Bloomberg, BofA absorbed Balboa Insurance.  Essentially, Balboa Insurance…now owned and operated by BofA, is insuring their own bad debt.

What does this mean?  Bank of America’s “Countrywide Loans” that have been defaulted against by homeowners are insured, meaning Bank of America is feeling no pain and actually is gaining from this type of bad debt. Meaning that BofA is in no hurry to sell bad debt.  That’s why there is “Shadow Inventory” and Short Sales are taking so long to approve for sale. There’s no hurry when your making money.

Why Bank of America is gaining on a defaulted loan?  It seems that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uncovered ”scamming” on behalf of  “Countrywide” last month.  Remember, Bank of America bought/took over, what ever you want to call it, Countrywide at the Federal Governments request.

What was the scamming?

Countrywide had established Balboa Insurance to cover their home loans gone bad.  In an effort to help defray these losses on bad loans, Balboa Insurance and Countrywide would over charge the now defaulted homeowner for any related services to the default…like mowing the lawns, maintenance of the home, painting, etc…yes, Countrywide in it’s need to make money, charged up to 2 times the amount back to the homeowner for these services.  This is in clear violation to FTC guidelines as it pertains to loan servicing.

So what?

Well, Millions and millions of dollars have been scammed from the clients that they hold a fiduciary responsibility. Kinda like Bernie Madoff screwing his own clients out of their money.   Well, it’s now 2 years later, and Bank of America “Countrywide” division has been caught red handed.  However, no one is being held responsible.  Why?

BofA was helping out the Feds by taking over the Countrywide catastrophe and with that comes immunity.  Above the law stuff…”you do us a favor, no one will suffer.”

Know that BofA has been caught, the new CEO, Brian Moynihan stated earlier this month that they have a “desire” to sell Balboa Insurance.  Desire?  What does that mean?

C’mon…let’s be real.  BofA makes tons of money on bad loans.  That’s why it takes so freakin’ long to get a BofA short sale approved!  That’s why there is “shadow Inventory”!

So what happens next?

As soon as CEO Moynihans “desire” is fulfilled and Bolboa is sold…it should open the flood gates to short sales and release of “shadow inventory”.

It’s good news…however, no one person is held responsible. No one goes to jail.

Do the Feds a “solid” and your protected!

Home Owners Leaving Government Hamp Program

Facts for the Idaho homeowners who are working towards a loan modification. Best case scenario is getting your payment lowered to no more than 31% of your gross income. IF your loan modification is not getting worked out do the next best thing and call Josh Groesbeck and you can stay in your home until it is sold while charging you nothing. Specially trained in the art of a Short Sale I can help you qualify for money back from the bank to you for your relocation. With the economic hardships and homes that are entirely upside down (worth less than is owed) it’s no surprise that well over 50% of american homeowners are choosing to Short Sale their homes and start fresh. More great information at WWW.HOMESWITHJOSH.COM or WWW.IDSHORTSALE.COM

Joshua Groesbeck      208-353-7131  or josh@homeswithjosh.com

About 91,000 borrowers dropped out of the program in June, putting the total number of dropouts at 530,000.

At the same time, about 49,000 borrowers received a permanent modification in June, bringing the number of total active permanent modifications to 389,000.

That means more than 40 percent of the roughly 1.3 million borrowers who have started in the program since its March 2009 inception have since dropped out, while just over 30 percent have received permanent new terms for their loan.

Boise Idaho Best Place For Mom

Born and raised here in Idaho it is no surprise that Boise ranks #1 for mothers,  below is  a good read on the top ten places for mothers as ranked by the Daily Best.

Joshua Groesbeck

208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com

www.homeswithjosh.com or www.idshortsale.com

BS Top – Mother Cities For Mother’s Day, The Daily Beast takes America’s 200 largest cities and crunches the numbers—from child care to maternal health to pampering—to determine where moms have it best.

On Mother’s Day, everything revolves around Mom. But what about the other 364 days? The Daily Beast tried to determine which cities celebrate that holiday every day. And which might induce fits worthy of Mommy Dearest.

Like motherhood itself, the conditions needed to make moms across the country happy are complicated. So we tried to find factors that are universal, whether working or stay-at-home, big city or small city, North or South, and then combed the data of the country’s 200 largest cities to find out which offer the best quality of life for mothers. (Almost all the factors apply to parents generally. It’s just not dad’s turn this month.)

“Isolation is the biggest problem for moms,” says Dr. Amy Tiemann, creator of MojoMom.com and author of MojoMom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family. While we measured the relative number of other mothers in each city, Dr. Tiemann stressed that moms—especially new moms—should, “find their tribe. Find other mothers you fit in with… that’s going to make all the difference.”

Quality health care is also essential. “If you look across the country, there is a lot of variation in terms of the quality of care at different hospitals,” says Dr. Richard May, co-author of HealthGrades’ recent study on Women’s Health in American Hospitals. Access to good care for mother and child, May says, greatly reduces anxiety, and boosts happiness.

To compile the rankings, we started with the list of the 200 largest cities according to 2008 data from the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey. They included all cities with an estimated population over 121,000. To rank the cities, we looked at several facets affecting the quality of life for resident mothers:

• Mothers-per-capita: the percentage of mothers in each city with one or more children under 18 years old, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

• Educational quality: the overall caliber of public schools in each city based on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best. Scores were culled from GreatSchools.org, which ranks schools based on standardized tests. (The three cities that weren’t measured by GreatSchools were assigned the national median.)

• Child care: the number of child-care workers per child 5 years old and under in each city according to its Metropolitan Statistical Area, based on 2008 data from Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 and U.S. Census population data.

• Maternity health specialists: the availability of maternity specialists (in obstetrics and gynecology or maternal and fetal medicine) based on the number of recognized practitioners, per resident mom, in each city, according to HealthGrades.com, an independent health-care ratings company. HealthGrades doctors must be affiliated with a high-quality hospital, free of state sanctions, disciplinary actions, malpractice judgments, and monetary settlements in the last five years, and be board certified in his/her practice specialty.

• Mother’s Day pampering: in honor of the Mother’s Day holiday on Sunday, Citysearch.com ranked per-capita searches for “Mother’s Day Brunch,” as well as the evergreen mom-pampering category “Hair Salon” in each city to provide insight into which city’s residents are looking to take care of the mothers in their lives.

The first—and the worst—are both state capitals sitting near the country’s northern border. Where are moms celebrating? See below.

#1, Boise, ID
Moms-per-capita: 61 out of 200
Child care: 20 out of 200
Schools: 7 out of 10
Maternity care: 63 of out 200
Pampering: 86 out of 200

#2, Lexington, KY
Moms-per-capita: 60
Child care: 11
Schools: 7 out of 10
Maternity care: 64
Pampering: 37

Best Mother’s Day Brunch: Greentree Tea Room

#3, Lincoln, NE
Moms-per-capita: 80
Child care: 3
Schools: 5 out of 10
Maternity care: 145
Pampering: 24

#4, Coral Springs, FL
Moms-per-capita: 18
Child care: 40
Schools: 8 out of 10
Maternity care: 97
Pampering: 161

#5, Mobile, AL
Moms-per-capita: 62
Child care: 33
Schools: 6 out of 10
Maternity care: 45
Pampering: 9

Best Mother’s Day Brunch: Ruth’s Chris Steak House

#6, Elk Grove, CA
Moms-per-capita: 3
Child care: 54
Schools: 8 out of 10
Maternity care: 176
Pampering: 160

#7, Bellevue, WA
Moms-per-capita: 135
Child care: 31
Schools: 9 out of 10
Maternity care: 40
Pampering: 120

Best Mother’s Day Brunch: Daniel’s Broiler

#8, Overland Park, KS
Moms-per-capita: 46
Child care: 46
Schools: 8 out of 10
Maternity care: 51
Pampering: 59

#9, Augusta, GA
Moms-per-capita: 53
Child care: 67
Schools: 3 out of 10
Maternity care: 33
Pampering: 30

#10, Columbus, OH
Moms-per-capita: 1
Child care: 82
Schools: 5 out of 10
Maternity care: 142
Pampering: 94 

IHFA Announces New Homebuer Tax Credit Program

IdaMortgage.com, brought to you by Idaho Housing and Finance Association, announces new Homebuyer Tax Credit Program.  This program could save your clients more than $10,000 over a ten-year period!

New Homebuyer Tax Credit Program:

- Income tax credit of up to 20% of the mortgage interest paid each year for the first ten years; maximum of $2,000 per year
- Can be used with IdaMortgage loan products
- First-time homebuyer requirements apply
- $500 fee from borrower
- Available for a limited time only
- Can be used to help borrowers qualify

To learn more about this exciting new program, please visit www.IdaMortgage.com or contact us at 1-800-219-2285. Tell them Joshua Groesbeck sent you-

Joshua Groesbeck
208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com
source: ACAR weekly bulletin



Real Estate Radio Program

So I wanted to add this great real estate radio program to my real estate website. This is a very informative radio program that will update you on the latest real estate trends across the country.  Just press play and listen while you use my website www.homeswithjosh.com to research the market, read the latest blogs by Josh Groesbeck or look at all  available homes on the market in Boise, Eagle, Meridian, Star, Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton, Kuna  and all surrounding cities in Idaho. Of course to talk with Josh call 208-353-7131 or set up your appointment to view properties josh@homeswithjosh.com

Take a minute and let me know how I am doing providing all my customers and clients with information and products to help their real estate needs.

Thanks again!

Defaults Rise By 70% Canyon County

Canyon County’s home defaults had dropped off in the last few months of 2009, but they came back with a vengeance in the first month of 2010.

The county’s foreclosures hit a high in January, rising from 214 filed in December to 365 filed in January for a total increase of 70.5 percent, according to IdahoDataProviders.com.

“What this all means is that you should brace yourself for a double dip in the housing market in 2010,” Charlie Nate, president of the foreclosure-tracking company, said in a release. “Look for local prices to still fall another 7% to 10% starting in the next few months. A bottom to the housing market and the beginning of a real recovery is unfortunately still at least one year away.”

Ada County’s number of foreclosures filed dropped 8 percent to 408 in January this year, a 19 percent increase from January 2009.

Short sales dropped 1.3 percent in the two counties in January, a lull which Nate calls the “calm before the storm.” He expects a new flood of short sales this year caused primarily by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, which must be implemented by April 5, 2010. The program requires each distressed property to first be considered for a loan modification, and then evaluated for a short sale or deed in lieu before a foreclosure can be initiated. http://www.homeswithjosh.com

Source:IBR

For more information call Joshua Groesbeck 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com