The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis-Part 1
February 24, 2009
Jonathan Jarvis has given form to a complex situation like the credit crisis as part of his thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Stimulus Bill Preserves Real Estate Mandates
February 14, 2009
Here’s our take on the Stimulus Bill and Treasury announcements made this week. We look at the Stimulis package AND the Treasury’s package holistically, in compliment with each other – mostly because that’s how the Obama team is looking at it. Your representatives, the NAR Board of Directors, asked us in November to do 4 things (with an unspoken but clearly understood mandate to PRESERVE what we already have):
- get loan limits raised for high cost areas
- make the $7,500 tax credit NOT a loan
- try to find ways to push interest rates down (which are higher
than they should be due to systemic risk right now) by 200 basis points - help provide solutions to the foreclosure/short sale problem.
So here’s what we have achieved:
- the loan limits will be raised to $727,000 in high cost areas
- the tax credit will be raised to $8,000 with NO payback [a true credit]
- interest rates have come down 125-150 basis points
- the bill has over $50 billion in it for foreclosure mitigation, with Geitners
Treasury plan signaling that the second half of TARP and TALF will be used
to mitigate foreclosures through a government guarantee, drive down
interest rates by buying another $200-300 billion of mortgage paper from
the GSES’s thereby freeing them up to do the same with new mortgages, - Fannie has just agreed to lift the cap of 4 investment properties eligible for
loans and raise it to 10.
In addition, we preserved what we have — which some tend to forget is always on the table when these negotiations start up again — an overall package worth more than $100 billion and for some a very attractive funding source for their pet projects).
- mortgage interest deductability
- real estate tax deductability
- the $250,000/$500,000 cap gains exclusion.
We did make a run at the $15,000 credit — and we would have loved to have gotten that or the Homebuilders $22,000 credit idea as well as their 5 year loss carryback deal, but they were considered too rich for this program. What it did do though is totally take the debate off of whether a tax credit should be reinstated at all (it expired last year) and whether it was a true credit or a repayable loan, and kept the conversation on how much it should be. It also kept the debate off of ‘what we are willing to give up to get a $15,000 tax credit’ and kept the debate again, on how much it should be.
It’s pretty hard to complain when they give you what you ask for and you lose something you never had.
While we study the Treasury specifics on their major role in providing the rest of the housing solution — there is much more to come and we are working diligently with the Administration to help ‘unclog the pipeline’ and get capital flowing into housing again.
Sincerely,
Charles McMillan, CIPS, GRI
2009 NAR President
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Lawmakers Introduce Real Estate Solutions
January 26, 2009
Lawmakers have been working quickly to create solutions to our struggling real estate market. Many of these new measures lawmakers hope to get in front of the new President as soon as possible. Below are just a few of the new measures that will soon be presented to Obama for his approval signature.
- Image by ChicagoGeek via Flickr
- Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP) needs approval to use the balance of the $700 billion dollar program that will be working towards foreclosure relief, solid loan modification guidelines to ease the process for homeowners as well as continuing the efforts of “Hope for Homeowners.”
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, if put into work will allow for 3 million to 4 million jobs as well as up to $275 billion worth of tax cuts and approximately $550 billion to put towards unemployment benefits, and investments in science and technology.
- HR 230 promotes Fannie and Freddie to provide fixed rate mortgages of 4% or less in efforts to provide more affordable mortgages.
- HR 600 will once again allow down payment assistance programs to be seller funded when using FHA backed loans.
- HR 514 in essence new rules for lenders to follow and live by, in efforts to regulate the industry many feel played a huge part in the distress we are seeing today in the real estate market.
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Roots of the Financial Crisis
December 21, 2008
News about the financial crisis remains in the forefront of media coverage. I try not to listen to the reports every day. It frightens and angers me at the same time.
And yet…
I need and want to stay informed for professional and personal reasons.
Instead of watching and listening to televised coverage, which has inherent biases; I prefer academic explanations. Perhaps I’m fooling myself by thinking neutral tones is an indication of neutral viewpoints.
This morning I watched a video presentation of American Enterprise Institute’s Peter Wallison.
What I find most disconcerting is the well rounded explanations of events leading to the problem do not offer well rounded suggestions for moving out of the problem.
And…
The more I read about how the Fed did not get value for the $1.2 trillion it has purchased in “assets” since October, the more apprehensive I become.
My real estate friends and I have been brushing up on financing options prevalent in the early-1980s:
- Land Contracts
- Promissory Notes
- Lease Options
Seller financing isn’t an option for every transaction, but it can be a win-win situation for buyers and sellers.
Ready to move and don’t know where to turn?
Buying or selling a home should be a good experience, one that makes you feel confident. Call or email today! Talk to someone who cares and understands.
What Deflation Does to Mortgage Rates
November 24, 2008
Consumer spending slows either by choice (“deal-hunting”), by discretion (“wait-and-see”). or by necessity (job cuts). Read the full story from mortgage planner Dan Green.
Atlanta Real Estate Market Update
November 12, 2008
Market Reports for North Atlanta Zip Codes – Atlanta Real Estate Update: November 9, 2008
Altos Research latest article with Forbes.com is out. Kennesaw, GA is on the list of suburbs with the best conditions for sellers.
Sure the best properties, properly priced, in the best neighborhoods, will find their buyers. In fact we documented surprising resiliency in some markets through the summer. But even though prices might be holding, demand continues to slip. By our Market Action Index, there are essentially no markets with demand levels high enough to call them “Seller’s Markets”. “We settled on identifying ten suburbs whose demand trends (as measured by Market Action Index and days on market) simply weren’t horrible,” says Michael Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research.
Typical Atlanta real estate market analysis is based on home prices and home sales that happened months ago. In order to make the best decisions, wouldn’t you like insights based on today’s Atlanta real estate prices?
- 30004 – Alpharetta
- 30005 – Alpharetta
- 30022 – Alpharetta
- 30097 – Duluth
- 30062 – Marietta
- 30066 – Marietta
- 30068 – Marietta
- 30075 – Roswell
Each week we take a snapshot of the Atlanta real estate market. Our Real-time Market Profile(TM) is the most up-to date Atlanta market information available. The Profile shows you not only Atlanta real estate pricing and market numbers, but also trends in those numbers.
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| Copyright © 2008 Altos Research LLC. All Rights Reserved. | ||
Stay up to date with housing trends in your area!
Atlanta Real Estate Market Update
November 11, 2008
Market Reports for North Atlanta Zip Codes – Atlanta Real Estate Update: November 2, 2008
Typical Atlanta real estate market analysis is based on home prices and home sales that happened months ago. In order to make the best decisions, wouldn’t you like insights based on today’s Atlanta real estate prices?
- 30004 – Alpharetta
- 30005 – Alpharetta
- 30022 – Alpharetta
- 30097 – Duluth
- 30062 – Marietta
- 30066 – Marietta
- 30068 – Marietta
- 30075 – Roswell
Each week we take a snapshot of the Atlanta real estate market. Our Real-time Market Profile(TM) is the most up-to date Atlanta market information available. The Profile shows you not only Atlanta real estate pricing and market numbers, but also trends in those numbers.
How’s YOUR market? |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30062) |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30064) |
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| Copyright © 2008 Altos Research LLC. All Rights Reserved. | ||
Stay up to date with housing trends in your area!
Atlanta Real Estate Market Update
October 26, 2008
Market Reports for North Atlanta Zip Codes – Atlanta Real Estate Update: October 26, 2008
Typical Atlanta real estate market analysis is based on home prices and home sales that happened months ago. In order to make the best decisions, wouldn’t you like insights based on today’s Atlanta real estate prices?
- 30004 – Alpharetta
- 30005 – Alpharetta
- 30022 – Alpharetta
- 30097 – Duluth
- 30062 – Marietta
- 30066 – Marietta
- 30068 – Marietta
- 30075 – Roswell
Each week we take a snapshot of the Atlanta real estate market. Our Real-time Market Profile(TM) is the most up-to date Atlanta market information available. The Profile shows you not only Atlanta real estate pricing and market numbers, but also trends in those numbers.
How’s YOUR market? |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30062) |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30064) |
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| Copyright © 2008 Altos Research LLC. All Rights Reserved. | ||
Stay up to date with housing trends in your area!
Atlanta Real Estate Market Update
October 19, 2008
Market Reports for North Atlanta Zip Codes – Atlanta Real Estate Update: October 19, 2008
Typical Atlanta real estate market analysis is based on home prices and home sales that happened months ago. In order to make the best decisions, wouldn’t you like insights based on today’s Atlanta real estate prices?
- 30004 – Alpharetta
- 30005 – Alpharetta
- 30022 – Alpharetta
- 30097 – Duluth
- 30062 – Marietta
- 30066 – Marietta
- 30068 – Marietta
- 30075 – Roswell
Each week we take a snapshot of the Atlanta real estate market. Our Real-time Market Profile(TM) is the most up-to date Atlanta market information available. The Profile shows you not only Atlanta real estate pricing and market numbers, but also trends in those numbers.
How’s YOUR market? |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30062) |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30064) |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30066) |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30067) |
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MARIETTA Real Estate Market (30068) |
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ROSWELL Real Estate Market (30075) |
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ROSWELL Real Estate Market (30076) |
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ALPHARETTA Real Estate Market |
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CUMMING Real Estate Market |
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DULUTH Real Estate Market |
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SUWANEE Real Estate Market |
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| Copyright © 2008 Altos Research LLC. All Rights Reserved. | ||
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