Buyer Tax Credit Loan Guidance Coming Soon Detailed guidance on the federal government’s plan to provide short-term loans to borrowers using the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit is expected to be out shortly, but a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is writing the guidance, couldn’t give a firm release date. HUD policy [...]

Welcome to the world of distressed sales. In today’s market, short sales and REOs make up more than 40 percent of sales nationwide and far more than that in areas such as Southern California and Florida, where home prices have dropped significantly in the last two years.  The many challenges involved in buying and selling short [...]

Real Estate Pros Push for Better Washington Short Sales As anybody who has dealt with one knows, short sales should be renamed “long sales.” But that could be changing. One of the real estate professionals leading the charge to revamp the short-sale process is George K. Wonica, owner of Wonica Real Estate & Appraisals on Long Island, [...]

Total Vanocuver Home mortgage loan applications inched up last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly applications survey. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 979.7, an increase of 2.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 960.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 2.4 [...]

Five Maintenance Issues Clark County Homeowners Shouldn’t Ignore Consumer Reports magazine advises home owners not to put off important maintenance projects, noting that waiting until the economy rebounds could end up making the repairs more costly while putting a family’s health at risk. The magazine identifies five crucial maintenance issues: Check the gutters: Clogged gutters, broken fasteners and [...]

The lack of commitment is a key problem in distressed sales. Without a commitment to hang tough for the many months it takes to close the deal and/or submitting multiple offers on many short sales at the same time, derails efforts of buyers who are committed to that one property.  Salespeople and potential buyers are creating problems [...]

9 Easy Room Makeovers That Wow  Vancouver Buyers   View before and after photos of readers’ room transformations to get ideas for your listings. A home has only one chance to make a first impression on potential buyers, and a poorly designed room can be a quick turnoff  My Best Room Makeover: Home & Design: REALTOR® Magazine.

Lowering Washington Home’s  Mortgage Rates May Have Risks: The Federal Reserve has so far spent about $250 billion on low-interest mortgages acquired from lenders by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The purchases, which could eventually top $1 trillion, are one part of the financial buyout many people understand and support. This spending has driven mortgage rates to [...]

Banks Get New Leeway in Valuing Assets for Vancouver Wa properties The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has approved a rule change that allows banks to report on their income statements certain assets at their value in a normal market. They’ll only be required to write them down to market value if the drop is “other [...]

Lenders Cut Credit for Reliable Clark County Proeprty Borrowers Lenders are cutting credit lines and pushing down credit limits on their best-paying customers, which ultimately can reduce these frugal customers’ abilities to get mortgages. A new study by Fair Isaac says 11 percent of U.S. consumers had their access to credit trimmed during the six months ending [...]