The nation’s banks repossessed a record number of homes in August, according to industry sources. RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure sale site, will release its monthly numbers on Thursday, but sources there confirm the number of repossessions will come in just shy of 100,000 for the month.

CNBC.com

That is the highest since the site began tracking in 2005. July’s repossession number was the second highest on record. The last highest was 93,777 in May of 2010.

Notices of Default, which are the first step in the foreclosure process, are up slightly but mostly thanks to a jump in California, where the numbers had been artificially low of late, as banks tried to modify borrowers.

“With respect to the NOD increase, I think it is the modification redefault wave beginning to build and new modifications slowing to a trickle, indicating banks have lost their primary borrower re-leveraging tool,” says mortgage industry consultant Mark Hanson.

Yesterday J.P. Morgan Chase [JPM  41.07  0.35  (+0.86%)   ] cited the “shadow inventory” of foreclosed properties as one of their primary reasons for pushing back their expectations for a housing recovery as far as 2014. No question, a growing supply of repossessed properties will put further downward pressure on home prices, especially given the current 12.5 month supply of existing homes already for sale.

The question now is: Where does the government go from here? Some argue that housing needs to correct on its own, without artificial stimulus, as painful as it will be, in order to recover fully. What the Obama Administration has to decide is, will that correction, involving millions of foreclosures, take too large a toll on the greater economy?

Goal:  Avoiding Foreclosure

The following are the steps that you as a homeowner can anticipate in the short sale process.  This is a general outline of how the process occurs, however please note that lien holders can change the order of some of the steps.  Detailed below is the process our team uses to process a short sale.  For a brief overview please see. www.homeswithjosh.com and look under Short Sales or Call 1-800-290-1076 Ext#3000

Pre-Listing

1.
Please contact Josh’s office for a brief consultation about short sales.  Josh or one of his team members will collect some basic information about your situation.
2.
A tentative appointment will be scheduled to answer questions and/or list the home for sale in the short sale process.
3.
Josh and his team will prepare a short sale packet which will be sent to you either via FEDEX, regular mail or email.  We provide a thorough packet of information in advance of the appointment so you have the opportunity to evaluate our process and have your questions answered in advance.  If what we send you and what we discuss prior to the appointment makes sense and you feel comfortable and confident to go forward with the short sale process, our appointment will be confirmed. The packet will include:
*
Information about the short sale process.
*
Market data on the value of your home in today’s market.
*
Recommended short sale pricing.
*
Listing contract and related forms.
*
Property detail report from the county assessor’s office.
4.
The appointment.  Josh will either come to your house to receive the documents or they can be returned via fax or email. We can do listing appointments via telephone or email if necessary.
5.
Once we receive a signed listing agreement we will begin the short sale process.
6.
An authorization form will be submitted to your lien holder(s) enabling us to speak to them on your behalf.  Unless previously provided, the lien holder(s) will provide their short sale requirements when the authorization is received.

Marketing

1.
Your home will be listed immediately on the Multiple Listing Service.
2.
We will market your home through various affiliated web sites and all other applicable marketing strategies.
3.
During the marketing period we will receive offers and present them to you as they are received.
*
Offers will be presented to you on an offers spread sheet.
*
You will be able to see the net offers as they come in.  We highlight, in yellow, the current highest net offer.
*
You will sign the purchase offer of your choosing.  We will advise you as to what appears to be the strongest offer.  We will encourage you to consider two important factors; price and the willingness of the buyer to wait for the short sale process to complete rather than back out in the middle of the process.
4.
You will select and sign the offer that is most likely to meet the lien holder(s) criteria for a short pay off of your loan.

Short Sale Processing

1.
After you select an offer it will be signed by you and presented to your lien holder(s).  This is the official beginning of the short sale processing phase.
2.
You can track your short sale offer, as it is processed, online at Short Sale Status.
3.
The offer and all documentation required by the lien holder(s) is submitted by our office to the lien holder(s).
4.
Documents go through a processing period and are assigned to a negotiator.  The lien holder(s) assign a negotiator to your file.  The negotiator will ultimately make the final decision about your case.  The negotiator will review your offer and present the offer to any investors into your loan.
5.
A BPO (Broker’s Price Opinion) or appraisal will be ordered by the negotiator.  This BPO is used to determine the value of your home and whether or not the net proceeds of the offer are sufficient to satisfy the investors and thus provide a short pay off of the loan(s).
6.
The negotiator will evaluate your financial situation to determine whether or not you qualify for a short sale.  The offer will be presented to the investors who are invested into your loan.  They will decide if your short sale is approved or not.
7.
The negotiator will report the response of the investors.  There will be one of three options:  Short Sale Approval, Short Sale Approval with Conditions or Denial.  If any other answer then Short Sale Approval is provided we will negotiate further on your behalf.
8.
After all negotiations are complete you will either accept or reject the terms of the short sale.
9.
Written short sale notification is delivered to the buyer’s agent and Escrow begins.

Escrow

1.
Escrows in short sales generally follow the same process as a regular escrow.  One difference is that the short sale approval has a “good through” date by which time the short sale must be finalized and escrow must be closed.
2. When escrow begins you will need to make plans to be moved out of the house by the close of escrow.

Josh Groesbeck

208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com

Seller wants this sold so call Josh Groesbeck for your own private showing 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com and always visit www.homeswithjosh.com for all the latest information about Idaho’s Real Estate Market and access to all homes listed with the Intermountain multiple listing service.

The following are the steps that you as a homeowner can anticipate in the short sale process.  This is a general outline of how the process occurs, however please note that lien holders can change the order of some of the steps.  Detailed below is the process our team uses to process a short sale.  For a brief overview please see. www.homeswithjosh.com and look under Short Sales

Pre-Listing

1.
Please contact Josh’s office for a brief consultation about short sales.  Josh or one of his team members will collect some basic information about your situation.
2.
A tentative appointment will be scheduled to answer questions and/or list the home for sale in the short sale process.
3.
Josh and his team will prepare a short sale packet which will be sent to you either via FEDEX, regular mail or email.  We provide a thorough packet of information in advance of the appointment so you have the opportunity to evaluate our process and have your questions answered in advance.  If what we send you and what we discuss prior to the appointment makes sense and you feel comfortable and confident to go forward with the short sale process, our appointment will be confirmed. The packet will include:
*
Information about the short sale process.
*
Market data on the value of your home in today’s market.
*
Recommended short sale pricing.
*
Listing contract and related forms.
*
Property detail report from the county assessor’s office.
4.
The appointment.  Josh will either come to your house to receive the documents or they can be returned via fax or email. We can do listing appointments via telephone or email if necessary.
5.
Once we receive a signed listing agreement we will begin the short sale process.
6.
An authorization form will be submitted to your lien holder(s) enabling us to speak to them on your behalf.  Unless previously provided, the lien holder(s) will provide their short sale requirements when the authorization is received.

Marketing

1.
Your home will be listed immediately on the Multiple Listing Service.
2.
We will market your home through various affiliated web sites and all other applicable marketing strategies.
3.
During the marketing period we will receive offers and present them to you as they are received.
*
Offers will be presented to you on an offers spread sheet.
*
You will be able to see the net offers as they come in.  We highlight, in yellow, the current highest net offer.
*
You will sign the purchase offer of your choosing.  We will advise you as to what appears to be the strongest offer.  We will encourage you to consider two important factors; price and the willingness of the buyer to wait for the short sale process to complete rather than back out in the middle of the process.
4.
You will select and sign the offer that is most likely to meet the lien holder(s) criteria for a short pay off of your loan.

Short Sale Processing

1.
After you select an offer it will be signed by you and presented to your lien holder(s).  This is the official beginning of the short sale processing phase.
2.
You can track your short sale offer, as it is processed, online at Short Sale Status.
3.
The offer and all documentation required by the lien holder(s) is submitted by our office to the lien holder(s).
4.
Documents go through a processing period and are assigned to a negotiator.  The lien holder(s) assign a negotiator to your file.  The negotiator will ultimately make the final decision about your case.  The negotiator will review your offer and present the offer to any investors into your loan.
5.
A BPO (Broker’s Price Opinion) or appraisal will be ordered by the negotiator.  This BPO is used to determine the value of your home and whether or not the net proceeds of the offer are sufficient to satisfy the investors and thus provide a short pay off of the loan(s).
6.
The negotiator will evaluate your financial situation to determine whether or not you qualify for a short sale.  The offer will be presented to the investors who are invested into your loan.  They will decide if your short sale is approved or not.
7.
The negotiator will report the response of the investors.  There will be one of three options:  Short Sale Approval, Short Sale Approval with Conditions or Denial.  If any other answer then Short Sale Approval is provided we will negotiate further on your behalf.
8.
After all negotiations are complete you will either accept or reject the terms of the short sale.
9.
Written short sale notification is delivered to the buyer’s agent and Escrow begins.

Escrow

1.
Escrows in short sales generally follow the same process as a regular escrow.  One difference is that the short sale approval has a “good through” date by which time the short sale must be finalized and escrow must be closed.
2. When escrow begins you will need to make plans to be moved out of the house by the close of escrow.

Josh Groesbeck

208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com

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 

Fed will stop buying mortgage back securities on March 31st, 2010

The Fed has purchased $1.25 TRILLION (yes, Martha, that’s a “T”) of MBS in a successful effort to keep mortgage interest rates low and thereby “stimulate” the economy.

No one knows for sure, but removing this “liquidity” from the mortgage market is forecast to result in mortgage interest rates rising to as high as 6% by the end of 2010.

For example $200,000 mortgage, going from a 5% to a 6% interest rate increases your monthly payment by $125, which totals a stunning $45,000 over the term of a 30-year mortgage.

But, if you only keep your home for the typical 7 years, that 1% increase in your interest rate will only cost you $10,500.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit ends April 30th , 2010

This incredible (free money to first-time homebuyers!) program has helped thousands of Boise first-time homebuyers, with roughly 65% of all Ada County home sales occurring in the under-$200,000 price range.

Upfront Mortgage Insurance Will increase FHA on April 5, 2010

It will rise from the current 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan amount, which will increase the buyer’s closing costs by $1,000 on a $200,000 loan.

FHA Monthly Mortgage Insurance Will Rise April 5, 2010

This will also increase the borrower’s monthly payment.

Looking For The Bottom

Waiting for “the bottom” could end up costing you dearly because your increased financing costs could easily exceed what you (might) save by waiting for a lower price.

If you’re buying a home for the long term as your personal residence, this may be as good as it gets.

Source:RE News

If the home loan is handled through an FHA lender (and not an HFA), the tax credit can be “used to add to the down payment above the 3.5 percent required amount. It can also be used for closing costs,” says Wooley.

Many state HFAs are running or sponsoring programs that will use a tax credit for a down payment. These programs often place a second lien on the home as collateral to secure the eventual repayment of the tax credit funds. Some HFAs lend directly to home buyers while others work through networks of state-approved lenders. For a list of what state HFAs are doing, go to www.ncsha.org.

2. You don’t get a check at closing. Many homebuyers assume that the $8,000 is given to them at closing. Not true, says Winter Park, Fla.-based accountant David Keeler.

“Taxpayers need to wait until they’ve actually filed their income tax return to receive the tax credit,” says Keeler. “The homebuyer credit reduces one’s tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis, and if the credit is more than the tax you owe, the difference is paid to you as a tax refund.”

The IRS says first-time home buyers who purchased a home in 2009 can claim the tax credit on either a 2008 return, due April 15, 2009, or a 2009 return, due April 15, 2010. The credit may not be claimed before the closing date. But, if the closing occurs after April 15, 2009, a taxpayer can still claim it on a 2008 tax return by requesting a filing extension or by filing an amended return.

3. You don’t always get the full credit. “This is one of the biggest misconceptions out there,” says Maynor Perez, a real estate sales associate with Positive Realty in Doral, Fla. “If you pay $50,000 for a home, you will not get the full $8,000 tax credit.”
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In fact, the top credit for homes bought in 2009 is $8,000 ($4,000 for a married individual filing separately) or 10 percent of the residence’s purchase price — whichever is less. So, for a $50,000 home, the home buyer would receive a $5,000 tax credit. And, if you buy a house for $800,000 or more, you’re not eligible for the tax credit.