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Housing crisis to end – credit requirements may be going down

Brian Olsen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:59:34 +0000

dsnews.com – Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit. The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan…

Here is a link to the full article: http://tinyurl.com/844lngw

Down Payment Gift-Giving Rules

Brian Olsen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:11:31 +0000

Last year, 27% of first-time home buyers received a financial gift from relatives or friends that they applied toward a down payment on a new home — up from 22% in 2009, according to data from the NAR. It’s important to follow the IRS and banks’ gift-giving rules, including:
1. Home owners still need to come up with at least some of the down payment on their own.
2. You may need to document where the down payment money came from.
3. If you’ve had the gift for a long time, you likely won’t need to document it. If the gift has been in your bank account for three months or longer, it’s considered “seasoned”.
Read article:

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/20/beware-down-payment-gift-giving-rules

Colorado Springs – one of the best housing markets for 2012

Brian Olsen — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:16:32 +0000

Springs listed among best housing markets for 2012 – The Colorado Springs housing market will stage a turnaround in 2012 and become one of the nation’s best, according to a national forecast by Builder Magazine. The Springs ranks No. 7 on Builder’s Top 20 list of healthiest markets the magazine is projecting for next year. Their projections use Moody’s Economy.com data, which focus on jobs, price appreciation, population growth and other factors that drive housing. Read article:

http://www.gazette.com/articles/springs-127343-list-markets.html

To rent or to buy – that is the question

Brian Olsen — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:56:08 +0000

Here is a really great article on the current rental market — this is especially true when it comes to Colorado Springs. Our rental market here is crazy, rental prices have gone through the roof and the amount of good, clean rental homes has really dropped. I show a LOT of rental homes and I don’t think I have ever seen it this expensive.

If you are on the fence as to whether or not pay someone else’s mortgage or own a home of your own, please take a look at this article. For the amount of money you would pay every month for a rental home, you could get a much better home and pay less if you purchased.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43315486/

Latest news on Colorado Springs Real Estate

Brian Olsen — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:41:18 +0000

Interesting article ion the Gazette today.

Slow start, but gradual improvement expected – Building permits fell 14.7% in January with single-family permits totaling 81. Still, they were up 22.7% from January 2009. Industry experts expect about a 10% gain in permit activity this year. Single-family permits totaled 1,404 in 2010, which was a 27.1% increase over 2009. Read article:

http://www.gazette.com/articles/january-112138-permits-market.html

Unemployement benefits no longer viewed as income for loan modifications

Brian Olsen — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:17:52 +0000

I saw this interesting article on a recent change with Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae will no longer accept jobless benefits as income for those people looking to modify their Mortgage. Here is a copy and paste of the article:

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Unemployed homeowners cannot count jobless benefits as income when applying for mortgage modifications if they have loans backed by Fannie Mae. That could greatly limit their ability to get a long-term reduction in their monthly payments.

Because the jobless benefits can’t be considered permanent income, the lender will instead evaluate troubled borrowers for forbearance plans of up to six months. The new guidelines, released Tuesday, will take effect Nov. 1.

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“We don’t want to set up borrowers to fail, said Amy Bonitatibus, Fannie Mae spokeswoman.

Fannie Mae’s announcement broadens a ban already put in place from the Treasury Department. In July, the agency quit allowing unemployment insurance to be used as income when applying for the administration’s signature Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP. Previously, borrowers had been allowed to do so.

Now, the unemployed who apply for HAMP are evaluated for forbearance plans, which can reduce or suspend their payments for at least three months.”

Colorado foreclosure filings are down

Brian Olsen — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 23:05:04 +0000

RealtyTrac: Colorado foreclosure filings down 9.6% in August from 2009 ~ According to RealtyTrac, the improvement puts Colorado at 11th place in rate of foreclosure filings – one for every 368 homes, slightly better than the national rate of one for every 381 homes. However, the Colorado Division of Housing says the state has done even better than that, with foreclosure filings dropping 15.7% from the same time last year. The state report shows a decline for the third consecutive quarter, the most recent having the lowest number of filings in five quarters.

New Foreclosure Search

Brian Olsen — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:27:54 +0000

I have added a new feature to my Blog. Up in the top menu options, I have a new feature that allows you to search for foreclosures, FSBO, Sherif nation wide. Just click on the state that you want to look into and fill out the city etc to pull up a list of properties on the market that are in foreclosure.

Have fun!

Brian

Foreclosures make it tough on the non-foreclosure sellers

Brian Olsen — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:07:39 +0000

Homes will sell if priced right; foreclosures have impact ~ Obviously, despite what owners feel their house is worth, what matters most is what buyers are willing to pay. That can be a lot less in areas where the supply of houses for sale is swollen by foreclosures and short sales, often priced 20% to 30% below the ones being sold by financially healthy owners.

Nationally, such properties account for a third of all sales. Furthermore, according to Zillow.com, 30% of the houses for sale nationally were reduced in price last month. Says Amy Bohutinsky, a spokeswoman for Zillow.com, “For sellers to understand how they should price, they should deeply understand their market and competition — what’s on the market now, not just what’s sold.”

Sales of previously occupied homes fall 5.1 pct

Brian Olsen — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:50:23 +0000

Sales of previously occupied homes fall 5.1 pct. ~ With sales expected to slide further, home prices nationally are predicted to drop 1.7% this year compared to last year, according to analysts. The supply of unsold homes on the market has risen 2.5% to the highest level since August. Home sales are down 26% from the peak in September 2005 but have climbed 19% from the lowest level hit in January 2009. “It’s still a fragile situation in the housing market,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.