On May 1st, Wells Fargo, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, decided to tighten its underwriting standards for 200 markets they considered as distressed or soft, requiring higher down payments and making state-income loans off limits in most of these markets. I believe this will cause other banks to follow suit (the bandwagon effect).

This is one more action that shows that the stimulus money provided by the Federal Government and intended to loosen up credit and provide funding to stabilize the real estate market is not working as intended. The government should have required the banks to lend this money out, instead of playing conservative and padding their balance sheets wit...

Most of us REALTORS® are animal lovers and have pets of our own, but we also share many stories about showing homes where our clients went into a sneezing fit, we got bitten by a cantankerous furry creature, or opened the front door only to helplessly see a cute kitty scoot toward the nearest busy street.

It is essential to take pets into consideration if you put your house on the market. Make sure you work out the showing arrangements/instructions carefully with your REALTOR®, since it is important for showing agents to know what to expect inside your home. Buyers could potentially be allergic or scared of cats or dogs (especially if they bring children along).

Although most pets are h...

The current declining market has put sellers (and listing agents) in a difficult position, since many factors are now coming together to place additional downward pressure on real estate prices.

Inventory levels are very high, forcing motivated sellers to compete by lowering their price to stay competitive. Distressed sales (short sales, foreclosures, lender-owned) have increased dramatically and have reduced values markedly in some areas. The sub-prime debacle has caused lenders to be overly cautious and "raise the bar" for loan applicants, to the point where it has become challenging to qualify for conventional loans. Fortunately, FHA came to the rescue. Loan underwriters appear ...

Experts agree that the inventory levels have to come down fot the housing market to start recovering. Short sales offer a win-win solution for buyers, sellers, lenders and agents, to speed up this recovery by selling inventory faster than by going the foreclosure/REO route.

While short sales have been on the rise, I believe that lenders are not really prepared (and willing?) to approve these transactions in a timely manner. Extensive delays of six weeks to six months are not uncommon, and banks may reject an offer 20% below appraisal, only to sell after foreclosing on the property for a higher discount.

I believe that the Obama recovery plan was well intentioned, but lacks accountabilit...

Reuters and the University of Michigan conduct a monthly consumer confidence survey, to gauge the attitude and expectations of U.S. consumers - measuring what people think will happen in the coming months.

The latest survey results shows the consumer confidence index rising to 69 in June (up from 68.7 in May), its highest since September of '08 when Lehman Brothers collapsed. The slighlty improvement in attitude is great news, but came dampened by job and income uncertainty which still has consumers on hold for certain planned purchases. This economic recovery is thought to be slower than originally anticipated, so consumers are expecting a longer period of time before things really star...

The new Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC, became law May 1. This new law that forces Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to follow new guidelines for appraisals has casued more trouble for the already beleaguered housing market, and has dampened the effect that the first-home buyers' tax credit has had on the demand for homes.

Although the principle behind the law is sound (to prevent collusion and fraud between appraisers, lenders and investors), the practical application of it creates the following problems:

Lenders are prevented from ordering appraisals directly. Instead, they now have to use "appraisal management" companies who handle all communications with the appraisers. If the mo...

Recent research by international real estate firm Knight Frank revealed that in some countries real estate is still performing very well (like in Israel), while others like Dubai and Singapore have performed dismally. Here are the highlights of the study:

Global housing markets continue to struggle in a recessionary environment  The rop performing markets over the 12-month period ending in March 2009 were Israel (+10.9%) and Czech Republic (+9.9%) The weakest markets were Dubai (-40%) and Singapore (-16.2%) The short term economic outlook suggests that the world housing markets will continue weak for the rest of 2009.

Read the full article here....

 

As a first time home buyer, you need to maintain a balance between money and lifestyle in a way that makes sense for you and your family. Buying a home comes with great benefits, but also with added responsibilities. Many first home buyers are very apprehensive and fearful of the process of buying a home. They need not be. Although the process is not complex, it includes a myriad of steps that have to be done in the right order to avoid problems. Hiring a Realtor who can recommend the right team of inspectors, attorneys, lenders, surveyors, insurance agents, painters, handymen, etc. will save buyers lots of time and headaches.

I recommend to all my first-home buyer clients that they foll...

Expert Barbara Corcoran appeared in the Today Show a while back, talking about some of the myths that the slow property market has created. She's right: I have come across most of these during my dealings with buyers and sellers:

Buyer mythunderstandings:

1. "The longer a house has stayed on the market, the more you can negotiate on the price" - This is not always true. More typically, if a home has stayed on the market it is because the seller is unrealistic on the price, and holds on stubbornly to his/her idea of value. However, personal situations do change and I have found sellers that were once "ice fishing" for a buyer with no real motivation can suddenly get some urgency to sell...

Is your family growing? Do you wish you had that extra bedroom or playroom to accomodate your needs?

The current "soft" real estate market is ideal for those who want to upgrade their home. While it is true that to sell your current home you will have to price it aggressively and possibly lose some of the potential capital appreciation, you will also pick up a substantial discount on the buyig side, with a higher value property.

So in the long run, you will be better off when the real estate market bounces back (it will- the basic economic principles are solid: more people, same amount of land...) because you will start from a larger base price...

You need to determine:

What are you...

Recent changes in the mortgage industry has made Fannie Mae (and most lenders) to review their pricing for conforming loand (under $417,000) to better reflect risk by adjusting their pricing (i.e. the interest rate charged on mortgage loans) according to the applicant's credit score, and loan-to-value ratio (LTV).

The lower the credit score, or the higher the LTV, the higher the interest rate a borrower will be charged. Many clients call me excited about low interest rates they see advertised by lenders. However, those are the interest rates that PREFERRED risk borrowers will get - those with a credit score above 720 and an LTV below 80%.

Kathy Durham from Raven Mortgage sent me an exam...

Nature is powerful: No matter where you live on the planet, there is always a danger of some sort. Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, droughts, mudslides, tsunamis and - hurricanes. June 1st was the start of the Hurricane Season for the East Coast of the U.S.

In the Lowcountry we must be prepared for the eventuality of a hurricane. Although none have had a direct hit on Charleston since Hurricane Hugo did in 1989, we need to be prepared for this potentially devastating event. From a personal point of view, hurricanes are predictable, pepole can evacuate and get out of the way. From a real estate perspective there are a few things that property owners should plan for in advance:

Check you...

About two years ago, the Charleston and Mount Pleasant landscapes changed for good: The two old, ricketty bridges that connected the Charleston Peninsula with Mount Pleasant were permanently replaced with a gorgeous new structure that altered the city's skyline forever and has become an identity icon for Charleston.

The Ravenel Bridge is a cable-stayed structure spanning the Cooper River. Its main span is 1,546 feet (471 m) long (the longest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere) and carries 8 lanes of traffic, plus a pedestrian and bike path.

The new bridge not only improved traffic dramatically. The following Post & Courier video talks about the positive effect the bridge has had on l...

I read this article in RealtyTimes recently - it has an encouraging forecast for our Charleston Area Market...

Hot Market: Charleston SC Sets Up For Strong Recovery

by M. Anthony Carr

If shrinking inventory and dropping sales prices are any indicator, Charleston, South Carolina is about to follow suit of housing markets such as Miami, Washington DC and Las Vegas, that have turned around in recent months. Homes available for sale in Charleston have dropped nearly 10 percent in the last month compared to a year ago.

The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors reported its inventory has dropped more than 1,000 units in April to just over 10,000 houses on the market. In addition, med...

BUYING FROM A FOREIGN SELLER

DID YOU KNOW - That the BUYER needs to withhold 10% of the purchase price when purchasing a property from a foreign Seller?

Here is an excerpt from the IRS website:

Withholding of Tax on Dispositions of United States Real Property Interests
The disposition of a U.S. real property interest by a foreign person (the transferor) is subject to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA) income tax withholding. FIRPTA authorized the United States to tax foreign persons on dispositions of U.S. real property interests.

A disposition means "disposition" for any purpose of the Internal Revenue Code. This includes but is not limited to a sale or...

Sellers deal with anxiety, especially if they are also buying a home and depending upon the sale and closing of their existing home.

In addition, Sellers may have to deal as well with Buyers' anxiety. For example, you may have reached an agreement with the Buyers and signed the contract for the sale of your home. After the contract was ratified, you notice that the Buyers begin to behave strangely, getting somewhat agitated and making additional (sometimes unreasonable) demands, like asking you to include your new washer and dryer (that did not convey), or may start questioning the structural integrity of your home.

It is important to remember that people (especially first-home buyers) ...

FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront, according to eagerly awaited guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on so-called home buyer tax credit loans that was released today.

Read more...

In South Carolina, state law maintains that the REALTOR must represent at least one of the parties in the transaction (cannot be neutral). Consumers have the option to hire an agent (become a CLIENT with fiduciary responsibility from the agent) or remain a CUSTOMER (at arm's length) and represent him/herself in the transaction.

 

The LISTING AGENT always represents the seller. Sometimes a buyer will purchase a home with the help of the listing agent. In this case, known as DUAL agency, the agent assists both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. However, it is also possible that the buyers want an agent representing their interests exclusively (BUYER'S AGENT) , a service which ...

Yesterday mortgage bonds had their worst performance since last October, and as a consequence rates climbed about a half of one percent! It appears that the Treasury has been issuing bonds (i.e. like printing money) to fund all these massive rescue programs, and yesterday supply of bonds exceeded demand and prices for  whole bond market fell, causing interest rates to climb to try to attract buyers.

If the bond market does not bounce back through the several levels of resistance that it went down through, mortgage rates are going to stay higher for a while. It seems that those buyers and investors that were waiting for the 4% mortgage rates are going to have to make a tough decision.

It...

Extra Costs When Buying a Home

When you are buying a new home, there are many costs on top of the purchase price that you need to be aware of, because they may factor into your future affordability, and your ability to close the transaction. Some of these expenses are one-time charges, others are monthly or annual fees.

Here is a list of some of these costs:

Property Taxes - paid in arrears (at the end of the year) and prorated as of the date of closing. Your lender will normally collect monthly 1/12 of the estimated annual property tax, place it in your escrow account, and pay the taxes for you at the end of the year. The closing attorney will collect some prepaid taxes at closing to...