All Articles Tagged "real estate"
U.S. Mortgage-Aid Program Is Shutting Down, With Up to $500 Million Unspent
(New York Times) — In summer 2010, Congress set aside $1 billion for a program intended to bail out people in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. It was estimated that the program, administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, would help as many as 30,000 households. But the program is now ending after achieving lackluster results and stirring widespread recrimination. Fewer than 15,000 households are expected to receive help despite enormous demand, and perhaps half of the money will go unspent. The department attributed the program’s performance to the way it was set up by Congress. But RepresentativeBarney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, an author of the legislation, said the program’s failings were a result of poor administration and the department’s late start in rolling it out.
Parts of Area Housing Market Almost Back to Pre-Recession Levels
(Washington Examiner) — The region’s housing market is showing signs of recovery, with median home prices in some areas nearing pre-recession highs. But experts warn that the market will hit some bumps before it returns to full strength. The strongest signs of growth are in the region’s inner core of the District, Arlington County and Alexandria. In particular, the District’s median price in August was nearly 90 percent of its November 2005 high, and in Arlington County it reached 95 percent of the peak in June 2006, according to data from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., which tracks the local housing market. The Washington area is performing at the top of the curve nationally as well, with the highest average home price of any metropolitan area in the country, according to July data released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller.
DC Program Turns Vacant Buildings into Apartments
(NBC News) — Tough economic times continue to burden Americans, especially when it comes to people losing their jobs and their homes. While balancing both campaigning and duties as head of state, President Barack Obama fights for his jobs bill, attempting to assuage worries that he has been inattentive to his political base in the black community. He insists that Congress pass it now and argues that this bill will help begin incremental change. Many say that he has not done enough. But faced with slow change from federal bureaucrats, local governments are taking things into their own hands. The city of Washington has partnered with nonprofit organizations to create a new program that trades hard work on vacant buildings into homes for the homeless. If successful, the program would begin to reduce high unemployment rates, curb increased homelessness, and alleviate shriveling public assistance funds.
Investing In Real Estate/Property Outside of Your Home
Michelle Thornhill is the Senior Vice President and African American Segment Manager at Wells Fargo/Wachovia. Michelle has over 15 years of experience developing consumer initiatives for diverse audiences in the financial services and non-profit sector. Michelle earned a Bachelor of Science from Virgina Polytechnic Institute and State University, a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Michelle resides in Charlotte, N.C. with her husband and two sons.
Along with stocks and bonds, real estate is one of the most common forms of investments. There are various types of investment real estate. They include residential, commercial, industrial, retail and mixed-use. Profits are generated in numerous ways. One is when the real estate appreciates. That means the value of the property has increased. You receive cash flow income when you collect money in the form of rent. You receive commission income from buying or selling property and ancillary income is earned when additional ways to make a profit are developed within the property. Providing coin laundry services inside an apartment building is an example of this kind of profit. If you’re interested in real estate investing, there are many lending options available to consider.
For more information on how Wells Fargo is helping customers who are facing financial challenges, visit www.wellsfargo.com/homeassist.
Investing In Real Estate/Property Outside of The Home
Michelle Thornhill is the Senior Vice President and African American Segment Manager at Wells Fargo/Wachovia. Michelle has over 15 years of experience developing consumer initiatives for diverse audiences in the financial services and non-profit sector. Michelle earned a Bachelor of Science from Virgina Polytechnic Institute and State University, a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Michelle resides in Charlotte, N.C. with her husband and two sons.
This financial tip is sponsored by Wells Fargo. Here’s Michelle Thornhill.
Along with stocks and bonds, real estate is one of the most common forms of investments. There are various types of investment real estate. They include residential, commercial, industrial, retail and mixed-use. Profits are generated in numerous ways. One is when the real estate appreciates. That means the value of the property has increased. You receive cash flow income when you collect money in the form of rent. You receive commission income from buying or selling property and ancillary income is earned when additional ways to make a profit are developed within the property. Providing coin laundry services inside an apartment building is an example of this kind of profit. If you’re interested in real estate investing, there are many lending options available to consider.
For more financial tips and information, visit wellsfargo.com/mortgage
Mastering Mixed-Income Housing
(Wall Street Journal) — Among the toughest challenges facing urban architects are projects that mix market-rate condominiums and subsidized rental housing. Designs have to address the issue of moderate-income people living cheek-by-jowl with their more affluent counterparts in the nearby condos. Market-rate units must be lavish enough to attract high prices but the affordable housing can’t break the budget. Westchester-based affordable housing developer Ron Moelis, of L+M Equities appears to have cracked this nut with a mixed-income building in Brooklyn’s Columbia Waterfront district. Completed last year, all 42 condos have been sold, the 94 rentals have been filled and the hoi polloi are mixing nicely with the well-heeled. But Mr. Moelis didn’t accomplish this by integrating market-rate and subsidized units in the same building, or even by pretending that luxury for-sale condos ought to look the same as rentals for lower-income tenants.
5 Tips for Refinancing Success
(Daily Finance) – 1. Over-estimating the value of the home: With home values dropping in today’s market, borrowers typically over-value their home, causing borrowers to receive higher-than-expected loan offers. 2. Hesitating to lock in low rates: Lenders are seeing borrowers waiting for rates to drop further, missing out on the opportunity to lock-in with the current low rates.
One of Three Metro Mortgages Underwater
(AJC) — One of every three homeowners in the metro Atlanta area owe more on their loans than their houses are worth, according to data collected by a California firm. Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic, said when homeowners are “underwater” on their loans, it retards their ability to refinance at more favorable interest rates and it slows sales in neighborhoods where there are many homeowners stuck in that situation.
4 Plans for Paying Off Mortgage Early
(Bankrate) — Paying off the mortgage early is in. Refinancing to take money out of our homes is out. Living through the foreclosure crisis, more people want the security and the psychological benefit of owning their home free and clear. If you want to pay off your mortgage early, you’ll find plenty of experts recommending ways to do it. All strategies work, but you’ll find some methods of paying off your mortgage are safer, faster, and more painless than others. Compare these ways you can pay off your mortgage early, starting with the simplest and moving toward the most complex.
Bedford-Stuyvesant Steps Up Its Game
(Wall Street Journal) — When Michael Zawacki first moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant five years ago, friends would sometimes be surprised when they heard where he lived. Now, he says, “I don’t get the kinds of reactions I used to get. People say, ‘Oh, I heard that neighborhood is really changing,’ or ‘Oh, it’s really beautiful over there.’” This spring, Mr. Zawacki and a partner, Sam Lutzer, opened a gourmet coffee shop, Daily Press Bed-Stuy, on Franklin Avenue. The café is among a flurry of shops and restaurants that have been springing up in this rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood as owners aim to take advantage of a growing customer base and relative lack of competition. ”There’s a changing demographic that would appreciate more of a higher-end coffee shop, but there’s also a lot of [longtime] residents there who appreciate what we’re doing,” Mr. Zawacki says. “The neighborhood has changed so much just in the past five years, it’s amazing—every time you blink there’s something new.”
