Myrtle Beach Real Estate News, Myrtle Beach Oceanfront

Real Estate In Myrtle Beach

Seven Websites To Help You Determine If The Neighborhood is Right For You:

February 26th, 2009 1:19 PM

Seven Websites To Help You Determine If The Neighborhood is Right For You:

FamilyWatchdog.us furnishes maps with exact locations of registered sex offenders. Just fill in the neighborhood you are thinking of buying into, or the address of the home you are considering and the site will provide you with exact locations of any registered sex offenders in that area.

Crime statistics: This CityRating.com was eye opening for me. It's certainly worth a look.

National Crime Prevention Council Home and neighborhood Safety tips by the National Crime Prevention Council.

Neighborhood Safety Network Provides tool kits for your family's safety - everything from crime prevention to product recalls, fire safety, pool safety, even carbon monoxide guidelines and preventative measures.

City-Data.com Provides information on everything from demographics to crime statistics and everything in between.

RottenNeighbor.com Does the home you're considering buying have a rotten neighbor, dogs barking at night or partying teenagers? Check this site for the good, the bad and the ugly of the neighborhood you are considering buying into.

WalkScore.com How close are you to the grocery stores, medical facilities, restaurants and the gym? WalkScore.com will reveal the "walkability" of a particular area. The higher the score, the more walkable it is.

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 26th, 2009 1:19 PMPost a Comment (0)

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Optimist Laugh Out Loud Friday: The Devil and The Old Man

February 27th, 2009 1:46 PM

Optimist LOL Friday Joke: The Devil and The Old Man

It's Sunday morning service at the neighborhood church. All of a sudden, the front doors swing open with a big bolt of thunder and the Devil descends upon the congregation. Everyone starts screaming and running away. All, except for a little, old man, who sits in his pew as if nothing is happening.

The devil walks over to him and asks:

"Old Man, are you blind or something?"

"Nope, I can see just fine", says the old man.

"Well, do you know who I am?" the devil asks.

"Yup, I sure do", says the old man.

"Then why aren't you afraid and running away like the rest of them?"

"You don't scare me!" continues the old man. "I've been married to your sister for the last 50 years!"

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 27th, 2009 1:46 PMPost a Comment (1)

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Is it now Cheaper to Own Than it is to Rent?

February 25th, 2009 11:42 AM

Is it now Cheaper to Own Than it is to Rent?

Carla Zeineh and her husband recently discovered that it was cheaper for them to buy a home than to rent one. With a 5% mortgage rate, and 20% down payment, their monthly cost on a $350,000 home would be less than the $1,800 per month they now pay on their rental condo.

More and more people are finding that it is now cheaper to own their own homes than it is to rent and are following in Carla's footsteps of embarking on their quest to Home ownership.

Using data that measures average home prices and rent payments for 54 metro areas between 1984 and 2004, Moody's Economy.com estimated that eight markets are "undervalued." In those eight markets, home prices relative to rents are below or within 5% of their historical levels.

The cost of owning a home relative to renting has fallen sharply. Lower prices and interest rates, coupled with various other incentives like the $8,000 tax credit have induced many Renters to finally jump the fence into home ownership.

What are you seeing in your markets? We are super busy in Myrtle Beach!

*Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article: Renters Lose Edge on Homeowners

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 25th, 2009 11:42 AMPost a Comment (0)

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Have You Ever Wondered...

February 21st, 2009 2:29 PM

Have You Ever Wondered...

Via Scott Owens - REALTOR® (Prudential Property Specialists):

You know, I have always looked at the world just a little bit differently than most; because of that, I usually question a lot of things that I see and hear. The following are questions that have intrigued me at one time or another during my life:

Have you ever wondered...

if all the world is a stage, where is the heck is the audience sitting?
how can a "slim chance" and a "fat chance" be the same, while a "wise man" and a "wise guy" are opposites?
if Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet?
if 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea, does that mean one person enjoys it?
why they call it "common sense" when it's so rare?
why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?
why two spaceships always face the right way up when they meet in Sci-Fi movies?
what does "it" mean in the sentence "What time is it?"?
that if the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?
if nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they make Teflon stick to the pan?
if maybe there should there be a shorter word for "monosyllabic"?
why is "verb" a noun?
why there are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
if quitters never win, and winners never quit, how can you quit while your ahead?
if Lipton employees take coffee breaks?
what hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
why they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to these people? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen could look for them while they delivered the mail?
how much deeper would oceans be if sponges didn't live there?
if it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the OTHERS here for?
what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?
if a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?
how come you don't ever hear about "gruntled" employees?
whose cruel idea was it for the word "lisp" to have an "s" in it?
why don't they just make mouse-flavored cat food?
if you're sending someone some Styrofoam, what do you pack it in?
why "abbreviated" is such a long word?
if it's zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?
what happens if you get scared half to death twice?
why do psychics have to ask for your name?
why lingerie is so popular if love is blind?

Other things to consider:

Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

If a man says something in the woods and there are no women there, is he still wrong?

Since light travels faster than sound, isn't that why some people appear bright until you hear them speak?

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 21st, 2009 2:29 PMPost a Comment (0)

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Obama's Aggressive Mortgage Recovery Plan is Unveiled

February 21st, 2009 1:50 AM

Obamas Aggressive Mortgage Recovery Plan is Unveiled

By Jeff Corbett (ActiveRain):

Details regarding President Obamas $75B plan to stem ‘The Housing Crisis’ are out, or as I shall call them: Obamas Mortgage Economics or MObamanomics.

I openly laud some of the principles behind MObamanomics, such as:

“It will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell” and “It will not reward folks who bought homes they knew from the beginning they would never be able to afford.”

Speculators should understand and realize the risk of riding an asset up and down.

MObamanomics looks to be far more proactive than reactive too, allowing consumers to qualify for assistance before they default on their mortgage (and lenders take a loss). Though not by design, mandating that a consumer default before receiving help actually incentivizes them to do just that.

This is by no means a comprehensive analysis, rather the parts I can wrap my head around for now. For what its worth, President Obamas plan is more aggressive than I had anticipated and he should be commended for having the cajones to step out there where many wouldn’t.

Risky loans, these aint no stinkin risky loans…

MObamanomics will allow Fannie and Freddie to restructure and/or refinance consumers with higher (than 80%) LTV loans on their primary residence that are already within their portfolio. This aspect of the plan will increase the size of the conforming loan pool where consumers can swim…and thats a good thing.

Fannie and Freddie are typically barred from lending above 80% of a homes value or purchase price without Mortgage Insurance attached (that adds significant dollars to ones monthly payment -more on this below-) because mortgages with LTV’s above 80% are deemed risky by ‘the industry’- Heh. 20% LTV’s are risky with poor underwritng standards. I’m sure that every mortgage that gets modified under this program will come with a borrower that can prove their income, has a solid credit score, a job and a few months worth of payments in the bank…what a novel concept.

Curious to how the plan will accomodate consumers who find themselves in homes worth less than what they owe. Whether Fannie and Freddie or any lender will restructure a mortgage that is worth 125% of a homes value remains to be seen.

$75,000,000,000 in grease money…

Part of the $75B in The Plan will be used to subsidize the reduction of a consumers mortgage payment to as low as 31% of their monthly income. The lender will initially need to make enough in concessions to get the payment down to 38%, then the government will match the lender dollar for dollar to get the payment down to 31% of a borrowers monthly income. Someone did their research here, ‘discovering’ that high payment to income ratios are the number one cause of mortgage defaults.

The methods a lender uses to get borrowers payments down to 38%/31% could involve stretching out the term (from say 27 to 40 years), lowering the rate and/or the principle balance. How they do this on an individual basis, when numerous loans were bundled together and sold to investment vehicles like mutual funds seems like a challenge to say the least.

The money will come in the form of $1000 when a lender initially agrees to modify a loan with another $3000 available for the next 3 years. Many pundits will scoff at the idea of feeding the hand that supposedly slapped everyone…but this is 2009, traditional public facing politically correct economic strategies aren’t likely to work. Traditional back door politics are in order here, gotta pay to get them to play son. In any case I applaud the transparency.

MObamanomics shall also subsidize the mortgage insurance premiums that are typically required for Conforming loans with LTV’s higher than 80% at no charge to the consumer. If the consumer defaults, the government picks up the difference above 80.01% of the value of the home. This is actually a good idea that will directly benefit the consumer.

Alas, if the cost to concede exceeds the cost to foreclose I can’t see a lender using their moral compass over their financial one.

Borrowers who have lost their jobs or make far less than they did when they initially acquired the mortgage, are probably beyond help.

In the end, its still a voluntary program…lenders can cherry pick the situations they want to work with. I fear the only way to make lenders play above aboard is the real threat of granting bankruptcy judges (with proper education) the ability to mandate certain loan modifications.

$200,000,000,000 in new money…

Supposedly there’s $200B on the table (up from $100B) for Fannie and Freddie to lend out, increase their portfolio size and remain solvent.

I suspect there will be stringent underwriting guidelines, as there should be, but I would implore the regulators to consider such crazy ideas like lending up to 103% of a homes purchase price for primary residences. This sort of forward thinking, IMHO, would really jump start the purchase market.

All in all, I like where MObamanomics is going, it represents some solid first steps. Now there is more than just hope, there is a strategy…

…and there will need to be many more such steps to pick up the slack from the STAGGERING list of lenders no longer lending through various channels…

334. Perfect FHA - Wholesale
333. EquiFirst
332. Residential Loan Centers of America
331. CU National Mortgage
330. Colonial National Mortgage - Wholesale
329. U.S. Mortgage Corp. - Retail
328. First Interstate Financial - Wholesale
327. Realty Mortgage Corp.
326. Vertice
325. USA Home Loans - Wholesale
324. SunTrust Mortgage - FHA Wholesale
323. New South Federal Savings Bank - Wholesale
322. First Federal - Wholesale
321. 21st Mortgage - Wholesale
320. J.B. Nutter & Co. - Wholesale
319. Homebridge Mortgage Bankers - Refinance.com
318. 1st Republic Mortgage Bankers
317. Superior Mortgage Corp - Wholesale
316. Wall Street Financial Corp - Wholesale
315. Fairfield Financial Mortgage Group
314. Chase Prime - Wholesale
313. Sunshine & Madison Mortgage Corp
312. Liberty One Lending
311. Frontier Investment Co.
310. BankUnited - Wholesale
309. Solstice Capital Group - HSBC
308. MortgageIT
307. HCL Finance Inc. - Wholesale
306. LIME Financial Svcs. - Wholesale
305. Mortgage Network Inc. - Wholesale
304. Fortes Financial - Wholesale
303. HSBC Mortgage Corp. - Wholesale
302. CBRE Realty Finance
301. Franklin Bank, SSB
300. Mortgage Lion, Inc. - Wholesale
299. HMS Capital, Inc.
298. American Sterling Bank - Wholesale
297. CTX Mortgage Co. - Retail
296. Equity One Commercial
295. Coldstream Financial Svcs.
294. Banco Popular North America - Wholesale
293. Ace Mortgage Funding, LLC
292. E-Loan
291. Gateway Bank, F.S.B. - Wholesale
290. First Call Mortgage Co.
289. Downey Savings and Loan - Wholesale
288. Prospect’s Metrocities Mortgage - Wholesale
287. ComCor Mortgage - Wholesale
286. Chevy Chase Bank - Wholesale
285. Washington Mutual - Retail and Warehouse
284. Hometown Commercial Capital
283. Mid Atlantic Capital LLC
282. Kemper Mortgage, Inc.
281. Liberty Mortgage Funding Co.
280. Freddie Mac
279. Fannie Mae
278. Pacific Community Mortgage, Inc. - Gold Reverse, Inc.
277. Homecomings Financial, LLC
276. Thornburg Mortgage
275. CSB Mortgage
274. Carteret Mortgage Corporation
273. Accredited Home Lenders, Lone Star Funds - Wholesale
272. Western Residential Mortgage
271. Liberty Home Lending
270. Equipoint Financial Network, Inc.
269. Ideal Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. - Wholesale
268. Silver State Bank - Wholesale
267. Irwin Union Bank & Trust Co. - Wholesale
266. SunTrust Bank Equity Wholesale
265. Wachovia Mortgage, FSB - Wholesale
264. Lehman Brothers SBF
263. IndyMac Bancorp
262. Mortgages Ltd.
261. Wilmington Finance - Wholesale
260. Accredited Home Lenders, Home Funds Direct
259. Assured Lending Corp. - Wholesale
258. Homewide Lending Corporation
257. Vanguard Mortgage & Title, Inc.
256. Chase Home Equity - Wholesale
255. Chase Subprime - Wholesale
254. Evergreen Investment & Carnation Banc
253. Casa Blanca Mortgage/Shearson - Wholesale
252. Guaranty Bank - Correspondent
251. Citi Residential Lending
250. Montgomery Mortgage Capital Company
249. E*Trade Wholesale Lending
248. Shearson Financial Network, Inc.
247. American Bank Mortgage Group - Wholesale
246. AmeriBanc Corp.
245. Washington Mutual - Wholesale
244. Century Bank, F.S.B. - Wholesale
243. Diversified Mortgage, Inc.
242. National Wholesale Funding
241. Centennial Mortgage and Funding, Inc./Award Mortgage
240. Fidelity Home Mortgage Corp.
239. LMI Funding, Inc.
238. Millennium Mortgage - Wholesale
237. Origen Financial, Inc. (Correspondent)
236. CitiMortgage - Home Equity Wholesale
235. Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage
234. East West Mortgage Co. of VA
233. New Vision Residential Lending
232. Washington Savings Bank, F.S.B. - Wholesale
231. Macquarie Mortgages USA Inc.
230. Global Mortgage, Inc.
229. Unique Mortgage Solutions (UMS, LLC)
228. First Franklin - Merrill Lynch
227. First National Mortgage Sources
226. Resource Mortgage (Wholesale)
225. KH Financial
224. Lydian Mortgage
223. OMG Wholesale Lending
222. Saxon Mortgage (Wholesale)
221. Beazer Mortgage Corp.
220. Allpointe Mortgage (Broker Program)
219. Popular Warehouse Lending
218. Allied Lending Corp. (Wholesale)
217. BF Saul Wholesale Lending
216. Community Resource Mortgage
215. Lehman/Aurora Loan Services
214. Residential Mortgage Capital
213. Maverick Residential Mortgage
212. Countrywide Financial Corp.
211. First NLC Financial Services
210. First American Bank (Wholesale)
209. Soma Financial
208. National City Corp. (Wholesale)
207. Heartland Wholesale Funding
206. Homefront Mortgage Inc.
205. PNC Bank H.E.
204. Family First Mortgage Corp.
203. First Fidelity Financial
202. BSM Financial
201. 1st Choice Mortgage
200. Wescom Credit Union
199. Coast Financial Holdings/Coast Bank
198. WaMu (Subprime)
197. First Madison Mortgage
196. Southern Star Mortgage
195. TransLand Financial
194. Secured Bankers Mortgage Company (SBMC)
193. ComUnity Lending
192. Delta Financial Corp
191. BayRock Mortgage
190. Empire Bancorp
189. Option One - H&R Block
188. Citigroup - FCS Warehouse
187. Charter One (Wholesale)
186. Wells Fargo - Home Equity
185. Paul Financial, LLC
184. Webster Bank (Wholesale)
183. Fieldstone Mortgage Company
182. Tribeca Lending Corp. (Wholesale)
181. WAMU Comm. Correspondent
180. Marlin Mortgage Company
179. Countrywide Specialty Lending
178. UBS Home Finance
177. MortgageIT-DB (Retail)
176. Edgewater Lending Group
175. ResMAE Mortgage Corp.
174. Citimortgage Correspondent (2nds)
173. AMC Lending
172. Liberty American Mortgage
171. Exchange Financial (Wholesale)
170. FirstBank Mortgage
169. Bank of America (Wholesale)
168. Diablo Funding Group Inc.
167. Honor State Bank
166. Spectrum Financial Group
165. Priority Funding Mortgage Bankers
164. BrooksAmerica Mortgage Corp.
163. Valley Vista Mortgage
162. New State Mortgage Company
161. Summit Mortgage Company
160. WMC
159. Paragon Home Lending
158. First Mariner Wholesale
157. The Lending Connection
156. Foxtons, Inc.
155. SCME Mortage Bankers
154. Aapex Mortgage (Apex Financial Group)
153. Wells Fargo (various Correspondent and Non-prime divisions)
152. Nationstar Mortgage
151. Decision One (HSBC)
150. Impac Lending Group
149. Long Beach (WaMu Warehouse/Correspondent)
148. Expanded Mortgage Credit Wholesale
147. The Mortgage Store Financial
146. C & G Financial
145. CFIC Home Mortgage
144. All Fund Mortgage
143. LownHome Financial
142. Sea Breeze Financial Services
141. Castle Point Mortgage
140. Premium Funding Corp
139. Group One Lending
138. Allstate Home Loans / Allstate Funding
137. Home Loan Specialists (HLS)
136. Transnational Finance Wholesale
135. CIT Home Lending
134. Capital Six Funding
133. Mortgage Investors Group (MIG) - Wholesale
132. Amstar Mortgage Corp
131. Quality Home Loans
130. BNC Mortgage (Lehman)
129. First National Bank of Arizona
128. Chevy Chase Bank Correspondent
127. GreenPoint Mortgage - Capital One Wholesale
126. NovaStar, Homeview Lending
125. Quick Loan Funding
124. Calusa Investments
123. Mercantile Mortgage
122. First Magnus
121. First Indiana Wholesale
120. GEM Loans / Pacific American Mortgage (PAMCO)
119. Kirkwood Financial Corporation
118. Lexington Lending
117. Express Capital Lending
116. Deutsche Bank Correspondent Lending Group (CLG)
115. MLSG
114. Trump Mortgage
113. HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation
112. Mylor Financial
111. Aegis
110. Alternative Financing Corp (AFC) Wholesale
109. Winstar Mortgage
108. American Home Mortgage / American Brokers Conduit
107. Optima Funding
106. Equity Funding Group
105. Sunset Mortgage
104. Nations Home Lending
103. Entrust Mortgage
102. Alera Financial (Wholesale)
101. Flick Mortgage/Mortgage Simple
100. Dollar Mortgage Corporation
99. Alliance Bancorp
98. Choice Capital Funding
97. Premier Mortgage Funding
96. Stone Creek Funding
95. FlexPoint Funding (Wholesale & Retail)
94. Starpointe Mortgage
93. Unlimited Loan Resources (ULR)
92. Freestand Financial
91. Steward Financial
90. Bridge Capital Corporation
89. Altivus Financial
88. ACT Mortgage
87. Alliance Mortgage Banking Corp (AMBC)
86. Concord Mortgage Wholesale
85. Heartwell Mortgage
84. Oak Street Mortgage
83. The Mortgage Warehouse
82. First Street Financial
81. Right-Away Mortgage
80. Heritage Plaza Mortgage
79. Horizon Bank Wholesale Lending Group
78. Lancaster Mortgage Bank (LMB)
77. Bryco (Wholesale)
76. No Red Tape Mortgage
75. The Lending Group (TLG)
74. Pro 30 Funding
73. NetBank Funding, Market Street Mortgage
72. Columbia Home Loans, LLC
71. Mortgage Tree Lending
70. Homeland Capital Group
69. Nation One Mortgage
68. Dana Capital Group
67. Millenium Funding Group
66. MILA
65. Home Equity of America
64. Opteum (Wholesale, Conduit)
63. Innovative Mortgage Capital
62. Home Capital, Inc.
61. Home 123 Mortgage
60. Homefield Financial
59. First Horizon Subprime, Equity Lending
58. Platinum Capital Group (Wholesale)
57. First Source Funding Group (FSFG)
56. Alterna Mortgage
55. Solutions Funding
54. People’s Mortgage
53. LowerMyPayment.com
52. Zone Funding
51. First Consolidated (Subprime Wholesale)
50. SouthStar Funding
49. Warehouse USA
48. H&R Block Mortgage
47. Madison Equity Loans
46. HSBC Mortgage Services (correspondent div.)
45. Sunset Direct Lending
44. Kellner Mortgage Investments
43. LoanCity
42. CoreStar Financial Group
41. Ameriquest, ACC Wholesale
40. Investaid Corp.
39. People’s Choice Financial Corp.
38. Master Financial
37. Maribella Mortgage
36. FMF Capital LLC
35. New Century Financial Corp.
34. Wachovia Mortgage (Correspondent div.)
33. Ameritrust Mortgage Company (Subprime Wholesale)
32. Trojan Lending (Wholesale)
31. Fremont General Corporation
30. DomesticBank (Wholesale Lending Division)
29. Ivanhoe Mortgage/Central Pacific Mortgage
28. Eagle First Mortgage
27. Coastal Capital
26. Silver State Mortgage
25. ECC Capital/Encore Credit
24. Lender’s Direct Capital Corporation (wholesale division)
23. Concorde Acceptance
22. DeepGreen Financial
21. American Freedom Mortgage, Inc.
20. Millenium Bankshares (Mortgage Subsidiaries)
19. Summit Mortgage
18. Mandalay Mortgage
17. Rose Mortgage
16. EquiBanc
15. FundingAmerica
14. Popular Financial Holdings
13. Clear Choice Financial/Bay Capital
12. Origen Wholesale Lending
11. SecuredFunding
10. Preferred Advantage
9. MLN
8. Sovereign Bancorp (Wholesale Ops)
7. Harbourton Mortgage Investment Corporation
6. OwnIt Mortgage
5. Sebring Capital Partners
4. Axis Mortgage & Investments
3. Meritage Mortgage
2. Acoustic Home Loans
1. Merit Financial

List courtesy of The Mortgage Lender Implode-o-Meter

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 21st, 2009 1:50 AMPost a Comment (0)

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My thoughts on the housing bailout plan

February 19th, 2009 12:06 AM

My thoughts on the housing bailout plan

By Spencer Rascoff (Zillow):

Prepping for my CNBC appearance tonight forced me to dig into the housing bailout plan in a way that I might not otherwise have found time to do. I find this stuff really fascinating because it's at this beautiful intersection of several of my favorite disciplines: politics, economics and real estate. I majored in Government as an undergrad at Harvard, and studied Economics there as well, so I enjoy playing armchair economist and political theorist every now and then.

Here are my thoughts on today's announcement. And let me preface this by saying these are MY thoughts on the bailout plan, not Zillow's official thoughts. (Zillow officially doesn't have an opinion on this.)

First, today's plan will NOT turn around the housing market. It WILL somewhat reduce the number of new foreclosures (though I think many people are overestimating the reduction it will cause, considering the fact that it only applies to Freddie/Fannie loans which are only 60% of the market, and it only applies to people with a small amount of negative equity. And it's voluntary.) Reducing the tidal wave of foreclosures is good for home prices because it reduces inventory (or avoids further increases in inventory). This is why I applauded the huge drop in new housing starts announced today.

Foreclosure prevention will somewhat help the housing market stabilize, and it will obviously help the homeowners in question. But if you're looking for a REAL stimulus to the housing market, keep looking. The fact is that two things need to happen before home prices stabilize and start increasing:

1. We need to see stabilization in the labor market. Specifically, employees need to be able to stop worrying about lost wages from underemployment, and unemployment needs to return to the 5-7% range.

There were three pieces of big housing news today: 1) the Obama housing bailout plan, 2) the reduction in housing starts, and 3) the Fed put out a new forecast of unemployement for 2009: 8.8% by the end of the year. Frankly, this third piece of news which was the least reported is probably the most important of the three in terms of impact on the housing market.

2. Homebuyers have to feel confident that we're at or near a bottom. Zillow's research shows that a striking 70% of American homeowners think their home will increase in value or stay flat over the next 6 months. But buyers aren't walking the walk. Credit goes to Brian Brady for calling my attention to this point today. Too many buyers are sitting on the sidelines, not making offers because they don't want to buy too early. We're not going to have a housing market turnaround until those buyers start to make offers, and they're not going to make offers until they feel that we've already hit a bottom.

More specifically, here's what I like about today's plan:

- Donald Trump Jr and I agree on this much: it's a good thing that bankruptcy judges will now be permitted to rewrite the terms of mortgages in bankruptcy court. Corporate bankruptcy judges have always been able to rewrite material contracts when companies file for bankruptcy protection -- witness the countless labor contracts for bankrupt airlines that judges have ripped up in bankruptcy. It's about time that personal bankruptcy judges have the same latitude.

Some have argued that this will increase borrowing costs to mortgage holders in the future because the risk associated with a potential loan being able to be negated in court will have to be priced into all loans. Yes, I concede that in theory this is true. So what? It's true of corporate borrowing costs also, in theory, and life goes on. If an individual goes bankrupt, the contract detailing their single biggest liability -- their mortgage -- needs to be on the table for a bankruptcy proceeding to address.

- I like the incentive that the government is giving to loan servicers to try to work out troubled mortgages directly with borrowers. Alex Perriello gave a great speech at the NAR Convention in Orlando imploring the thousands of Realtors in the audience to spread the word among their client list: before you're foreclosed upon, please speak with your lender! Alex said that in between half and 2/3 of all foreclosures, the lender and borrower never even speak to one another. He pointed out that frequently borrowers are embarassed or confused, so they do nothing. The government's actions today -- offering a few thousand dollars to the borrower and servicer for each loan that is modified -- will definitely spark those conversations.

What I don't like about the plan:

- the part of the plan that I like least is the one that introduces enormous moral hazard on the part of borrowers: it basically rewards homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage by paying them a few thousand bucks to stay CURRENT on their mortgage. I think that creates strange incentives.

- To be honest, the whole dang plan is a little hard for me to swallow because I've always been a believer in free markets: if a foreclosure is meant to happen, or a company is meant to go bankrupt, then let it happen. It's impossible to hold back the tides. HOWEVER, we're living in extraordinary times, and my economic liberterianism is now outweighed by my pragmatism.

I also have to use this opportunity to point out that on March 23, 2006, I wrote the following post titled "The Tidal Wave Is Coming" on Zillowblog:

"I’m usually a pretty optimistic guy, but I’ve started to see some scary things on the horizon. And I’ve gotta pass it on. Check this out: 9.4% of all mortgage borrowers now have no equity or negative equity in their home, and 29% of new mortgages last year had no equity. $800 billion worth of mortgages owe more than their homes are worth, and that’s optimistic since it assumes no reduction in home values. One study estimates that if home prices fell by 10%, the share of 2005 homebuyers with negative equity would shoot up to 48%. Yikes! What happens when all those interest only mortgages flip from their low fixed rates to a much higher variable rate? A lot of homeowners who bought houses beyond their means a few years ago via low introductory rate ARMs are suddenly going to find themselves unable to pay their new higher mortgage. And guess what? They have no equity in their house. So they’ll have to sell and/or dramatically reduce their consumption. This is a disaster waiting to happen. This analysis says it all: 'Many homes were sold with Adjustable Rate Mortgages in 2003 and 2004. Now, we are seeing more than $2 trillion…of these mortgages coming up for a reset in their mortgage rates. My back of the napkin calculations suggest interest payments are going to eat up at least another $3 billion a month in consumer spending capacity over the next year. In a $12 trillion economy, this is not all that large, but it will suck almost 1/2 of 1% of consumer spending potential out of the economy.'

Sorry to be such a downer, but I’m worried about the impact that this will have on housing prices and more importantly on the overall American (and global?) economy."

Wow, sometimes I hate being right.

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 19th, 2009 12:06 AMPost a Comment (0)

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Senate Passes Stimulus Package (By 60 To 38 Vote)

February 14th, 2009 3:35 PM

Senate Passes Stimulus Package (By 60 To 38 Vote)

Late yesterday evening, the U.S. Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 by a 60 to 38 vote. Earlier yesterday, the stimulus package passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a 246 to 183 vote. Yesterday's votes followed several days of negotiations by the House, Senate, and White House, with the final tab for the stimulus bill coming in at $787.2 billion.

On the housing front, the good news is that the legislation resets the conforming loan limit cap at $729,750, up from $625,500. Numerous counties in California experienced a marked decrease in their conforming loan and FHA limits on Jan. 1, and the stimulus bill reinstates 2008 loan limits through Dec. 31, 2009.

The bill also increases the first-time home buyer credit from $7,500 to $8,000, and removes the requirement that the credit be paid back if the buyer stays in the home for at least three years. It also extends the expiration date for the credit from July 1 to Dec. 1, 2009. Homebuyers must have purchased a home after Jan. 1, 2009, and before Dec. 1, 2009, to be eligible for the $8,000 credit.

C.A.R. & NAR have long advocated for higher conforming loan limits. The conforming loan limit provisions and other housing elements in the stimulus package are a step in the right direction for our industry and all Californians.

The stimulus package also contains $308.3 billion in appropriations spending, including $120 billion on infrastructure and science and more than $30 billion on energy-related infrastructure projects. It also allocated an additional $267 billion for direct spending, including increased unemployment benefits and food stamps; and provides $212 billion in tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

Now that the stimulus package is approved and is on its way to President Obama for signature, it is our hope that Congress will turn its attention toward helping homeowners remain in their homes and will take immediate steps directed specifically at stemming the ongoing foreclosure crisis.

We'll continue to keep you updated on today's news as more detailed information becomes available.. ..

www.PedersonPropertiesInc.com

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 14th, 2009 3:35 PMPost a Comment (0)

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Stimulus Bill Passes, but the $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit is Wiped Out

February 12th, 2009 12:17 PM

Stimulus Bill Passes, but the $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit is Wiped Out

Minutes ago an agreement was announced on a $790 Billion stimulus plan. Unfortunately, the $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit was effectively wiped out in order to accommodate the new, lower overall limit of the bill.

Large corporations will get the money, but the average Joe will not get a tax break when buying a home.

Done!

I'm sorry!

Apparently the existing $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers was amended to eliminate the repayment requirement.

Thank you for your efforts in trying to help sway your legislators to keep this on the final bill! It did not make it, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

What do you think about this outcome?

*Note: We have now enabled comments, so please let me know how you feel about this!

Mirela Monte click here to see the Associated Press Release

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 12th, 2009 12:17 PMPost a Comment (0)

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It's The Eleventh Hour: Do You Know Where Your Money Is? URGENT CALL TO ACTION!

February 9th, 2009 6:43 PM

It's The Eleventh Hour: Do You Know Where Your Money Is? URGENT CALL TO ACTION!!!

The much awaited $15,000 Home Buyer Tax credit may be in jeopardy. Due to the maneuverings in the Senate over the weekend, there are rumors that the Senate may want to scale back the tax credit.

The $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit (click here for details) should infuse new life into our Real Estate Market.

This could be the most important phone call of your career. Please take 5 minutes and make your voice heard. PLEASE CALL NOW!!!

1-866-924-6242

The system will ask you for your zip code, then it will connect you with your Congressman and your two Senators. After leaving a message for each one, just stay on the line and the system will connect you with your next representative. You will leave a total of 3 messages (I left two messages and connected with a live human on the third).

Come back here and let us know that you have made your voice heard! I'm counting on YOU! We all are!

Mirela Monte, Your Myrtle Beach Connection

Posted by Mirela Monte on February 9th, 2009 6:43 PMPost a Comment (1)

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