Modifications A la Carte!

Wells Fargo Modifies Nearly a Quarter-Million Mortgages
08/26/2009 By: Carrie Bay
Wells Fargo says that through the first seven months of this year, it modified more than 240,000 mortgage loans, including 20,219 trial modification starts under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).The lender’s mortgage unit, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, recently came under fire when the Treasury disclosed earlier this month that Wells had started trial modifications on only 6 percent of its HAMP-eligible mortgages, one of the slowest starts among large lenders.
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage currently services one of every six mortgage loans in the nation. The company says that more than 90 percent of its customers have remained current on their mortgage payments, and it boasts the lowest delinquency rate of the top four lenders in the nation.
Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, said his company has been accelerating its use of HAMP. “We’re confident we can achieve our portion of the government’s goal to reach 500,000 HAMP trial modification starts by November 1,” Heid said.
To assist the mounting numbers of distressed homeowners, Wells Fargo hired and trained 4,000 new employees in the first half of the year, adding to the 7,500 staff already in place. The company also says that it plans to quickly eliminate the customer service backlog created by the time lag between when the government announced HAMP and when the guidelines were defined.
“While the majority of our customers who request help are getting through to us and receiving the help they need, we know we’ve fallen short of our customer service goals in some cases,” Heid said.
Heid went on the explain, “We’ve recently undertaken new steps that will soon enable us to qualify most borrowers for a HAMP trial modification during our initial point of contact, and then send eligible customers the required trial modification agreement within 48 hours. During the three-month trial period, we’ll work with the customer to collect all of the required items to determine if the modification can be finalized.”
In addition to lowering payments through modifications, for the first seven months of 2009, Wells Fargo also completed more than 860,000 refinances for Americans.

Let the cycle begin again!!! Aleluya!

With the passing of each week it becomes increasingly difficult to argue that housing isn't in full-recovery mode. This week's data makes it nearly impossible, considering that sales of new homes spiked 9.6%, in July, to an annual pace of 433,000 units. The “experts” had expected sales to post at only 390,000 units. The increase was the largest since February 2005, helping to force the inventory of new homes down to a 7.5-month supply, the lowest in 16 years.
Even more encouraging, the most recalcitrant housing bear is starting to turn bullish. Robert Shiller, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, told Bloomberg that “we might be seeing a turnaround.” Understated, to be sure, but that's Shiller's style. As for his index, 18 of the 20 cities tracked showed improvement in June, up from eight in May, four in April, and only one in March.
Detractors will counter that the recovery is concentrated in lower-priced homes. True, but that's changing as well. Toll Brothers, a luxury homebuilder, stated that declining cancellations and firming prices has allowed the company to reduce incentives and raise prices in selected communities. To quote Toll Brothers Chairman and CEO Robert Toll, "We believe that customers are recognizing that now is the time to get into the market to take advantage of near-record affordability in what is still, for now, a buyer's market."
More optimism can be gleaned from the fact that housing isn't the only big-ticket sector showing signs of recovery. Orders for durable goods – those meant to last several years – jumped 4.9% in July, posting the biggest increase in two years. Yes, the “cash-for-clunkers” program was a contributing factor, but even without this incentive, other durable goods orders moved ahead 0.8%.
The gross domestic product numbers also suggest that all, if not well, is getting better. On that front, the government says the economy shrank at an annual rate of 1% in the second quarter, a better-than-expected showing. The drop, while representing a record fourth consecutive decline, was far smaller than the previous two quarters. It also was stronger than the 1.4% decline that many economists had expected.
Finally, mortgage rates continue to hold steady, a sign that inflation remains a non-issue. The 30-year fixed-rate loan continues to hold at 5.5% while the 15-year fixed-rate and five-year adjustable-rate loans continue to hold at around 4.9%. Today's housing market remains a buyer's market, with low prices and low borrowing rates, but keep in mind Mr. Toll's quote, “for now.”

Predictions for the Real Estate market in the near future

I think the housing market will continue to drop until the foreclosure crisis is over, this will happen, when the Banks finally DO something to get out of the vicious cycle once and for all, just like in 1996. Right now, they are just being difficult in processing short sales and cutting losses for everybody hence properties are being foreclosed at a fast rate. At some point they need to take all their foreclosed properties, package them and sell them at $0.50 on the dollar, take the hit (which will likely be somehow transferred to our ever increasing deficit, inflation will increase, the dollar will loose value, this will make our products more competitive in the global market) then with the market at a healthy price level (probably 5 to 10% lower than what it is now), with no foreclosed properties casting a "ridiculous price" shadow on the rest of the market, the sky will be clear, the prices will stop dropping, the real estate market...slowly but surely will go back to being the great solid investment that it has always been. Remember, this is a 10 year cycle, with 5 year memories. All the "chicken littles" are coming out of the rocks and trying to convince us that the world is going to end. This happens in every down cycle In a few years, all these "crows" will go back to their caves, while the market flourishes again. Cycles have always been a part of real estate as a part of any market, and they will continue to be. Don't worry world!.... life is great and the sun WILL come out tomorrow!

Paper Economy - A US Real Estate Bubble Blog: Any Predictions?

Paper Economy - A US Real Estate Bubble Blog: Any Predictions?

I think the housing market will continue to drop until the foreclosure crisis is over, this will happen, when the Banks finally DO something to get out of the vicious cycle once and for all, just like in 1996.
Right now, they are just being difficult in processing short sales and cutting losses for everybody hence properties are being foreclosed at a fast rate.

At some point they need to take all their foreclosed properties, package them and sell them at $0.50 on the dollar, take the hit (which will likely be somehow transferred to our ever increasing deficit, inflation will increase, the dollar will loose value, this will make our products more competitive in the global market) then with the market at a healthy price level (probably 5 to 10% lower than what it is now), with no foreclosed properties casting a "ridiculous price" shadow on the rest of the market, the sky will be clear, the prices will stop dropping, the real estate market...slowly but surely will go back to being the great solid investment that it has always been.

Remember, this is a 10 year cycle, with 5 year memories.
All the "chicken littles" are coming out of the rocks and trying to convince us that the world is going to end.
This happens in every down cycle
In a few years, all these "crows" will go back to their caves, while the market flourishes again.
Cycles have always been a part of real estate as a part of any market, and they will continue to be.

Don't worry world!.... life is great and the sun WILL come out tomorrow!

I invite you to also post your opinions in my blog: http://houseinsandiego.blogspot.com

The time is now!

Many people think that this is not a good time to invest in Real Estate, because the market is "unstable", because it might drop "a little bit more".
For all this people, just think about the following:

• The market in San Diego county has dropped 15 to 20% in the last year and a half, this is a larger drop than the one we went through in the 1980's and 1990's, none of those was larger than 14%.
• Sellers are VERY motivated to sell, hence you can get an even bigger price cut.
• If you are waiting for someone to come on the nightly news and inform that prices will officially start moving up again, it is not going to happen.
• Interest rates are very attractive.
• Economy is strong.
• It is precisely this "instability" in the market, the one that creates uncertainty and fear in the mind of the sellers, and that is what works to the benefit of the buyer. The moment the market "stabilizes" it will also "stabilize" for the sellers. Then, at that point they will stop accepting low ball offers and the buyer's market will be officially OVER.

Consistency will make you wealthy

I am a Realtor in San Diego, California. I am also an investor, so far I own several rental properties in different states.
I am not rich, but I am definitely going to retire wealthy. And this will happen in 16 years to be exact.
Retiring wealthy, in my book, means that I will have enough income coming from my investments, to fulfill my projected expenses when I reach my retirement age. I probably will not stop working, because I also believe that if you truly retire, you rust and die younger. But what I want is make working an option, not a necessity.
Through this blog, I intend to help people follow this plan, even if you don't have any money. Even if you have not started saving and you are not young anymore. (I am already 49!)
If you are young, then you will appreciate the fact that if you follow my advice, not only will you retire wealthy, you will be filthy rich, and before you retire.
I welcome you to visit my website www.houseinsandiego.com.