All Articles Tagged "real estate"
Taxpayers Picking Up Tab for 248K Foreclosures
(Businessweek) — For sale or rent by distressed owner: 248,000 homes. That’s how many residential properties the U.S. government now has in its possession, the result of record numbers of people defaulting on government-backed mortgages. Washington is sitting on nearly a third of the nation’s 800,000 repossessed houses, making the U.S. taxpayer the largest owner of foreclosed properties. With even more homes moving toward default, Fannie Mae (FNMA), Freddie Mac (FMCC), and the Federal Housing Administration are looking for a way to unload them without swamping the already depressed real estate market. Trouble is, they haven’t figured out how to do that. The government admitted as much in August, when Fannie, Freddie, and FHA issued a joint plea to the public for ideas about how to solve the problem. (Give it your best shot: You have until Sept. 15 to submit ideas to reo.rfi@fhfa.gov.) “They’re stuck,” says Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, a Washington-based consultant that advises banks and other clients on government policy. “They don’t know what to do.”
D.C. Sues Nonprofit for Misuse of HIV/AIDS Funds
(Washington Post) — The District is suing a nonprofit for allegedly diverting more than $300,000 in city grants intended to fund a job-training center for people with HIV/AIDS to instead renovate what became the Stadium Club, a popular nightspot that boasts “five-star dining” and nude dancers. The office of the D.C. attorney general filed suit Tuesday against Cornell Jones, a former drug kingpin who founded a nonprofit organization called Miracle Hands three years after he served nine years on a 27-year sentence for drug distribution.
Will Your Neighborhood Keep It’s Value?
(Bankrate) — Buying a home that declines sharply in property value can put you underwater on your mortgage, erode your net worth and leave you unable to relocate for a new job or adapt to a change in household income. And one of the biggest factors that determines whether a home will rise or fall in value is its neighborhood. That’s actually a good thing, because you don’t need a crystal ball to evaluate a neighborhood’s direction, says Andrew Schiller, creator of NeighborhoodScout.com, a real estate research website. ”The places that tend to hold on to their value are places that basically do well across two primary dimensions that anyone can think about and evaluate neighborhoods by,” Schiller says.
Getting Your Insurer to Pay for Irene’s Damage
(Daily Finance) — So, let’s assume you did the right thing in getting insurance to protect yourself against those times when Mother Nature comes knocking. Your next challenge may be getting the insurance company to pony up the cash instead of trying to deny your claim. ”Families will have to dig deeper into their pockets, because insurers have been steadily increasing hurricane wind coverage deductibles and imposing other policy limitations,” said J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America and former federal insurance administrator and Texas insurance commissioner, in a prepared statement. ”This liability shift to consumers may take some by surprise, since disclosures are often buried in renewal paperwork that consumers may not understand or even read,” he said.
Riot Corridor Becoming Condo Canyon
(Washington Examiner) — Bill Troy opened his Ruff & Ready shop in Adams Morgan back in the 1980s. I was one of the many Washingtonians who browsed and bought the solid, used furniture — desks and bureaus and lamps and art — that spilled out onto 18th Street. The neighborhood changed, lost its funky feel, got whitewashed by bars and restaurants — so Troy moved to 14th below U Street in the summer of 1991. ”We were going to have our 20th anniversary sale on Aug. 21,” Troy told me last Saturday. “Now we’re having a closing and moving sale.” After two decades, Troy is pulling up stakes again, because another neighborhood has changed. This will be his last weekend; he closes Aug. 31.
Home Market Gets Foreign Aid
(AJC) — Georgia may have one of the nation’s highest jobless rates, but a state program aimed at getting the unemployed back to work is being touted as the basis for a federal jobs program President Barack Obama will unveil next month. The White House is studying Georgia Works, created in 2003 and hailed since as a promising approach, according to a report this week in The Wall Street Journal. The White House declined Tuesday to comment what the president will propose. Georgia Works, which the state expanded last year and then curtailed for budgetary reasons, places unemployed workers in jobs for a six-week trial stint. Employers pay nothing and workers continue to receive unemployment benefits as well as a small state stipend for travel expenses and childcare.
More Have Trouble Paying Mortgage
(AP) — The number of Americans at risk of foreclosure is rising, reflecting the U.S. economy’s continued struggles. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday that 8.44 percent of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the April-June quarter. That figure, which is adjusted for seasonal factors, rose 0.12 percentage point from the January-March period. In a normal market, the percentage of delinquent borrowers is about 1.1 percent, according to the trade group. Delinquent mortgages have plummeted from a record high of more than 10 percent of residential mortgages a year ago. But the decline is due partly to delays in foreclosure filings that are backlogged in several state courts, including Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and New York.
Don’t Buy A Home Here: 10 Real Estate Markets Expected To “Collapse”
Americans may have thought the worst of the recession was behind us not too long ago, but with the credit downgrade and the subsequent market reactions, the message was loud and clear: we are still in major recovery mode.
That’s bad news for homeowners especially. According to 24wallst.com, home prices still have not hit their lowest points. Analyzing unemployment levels, household income and market forecasts across 380 cities, the site compiled a list of cities whose real estate markets are expected to “collapse” this year.
Fort Lauderdale home on market for $399,000
10. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Expected price drop: -11.1 percent
Median family income:$58,800 (194th highest)
Unemployment rate: 11.8 percent
Median home price:$196,000 (55th highest)
Projected to hit lowest level: Q2 2013
9. Bethesda, Md.
Expected price drop: -11.5 percent
Median family income: $114,100 (the highest)
Unemployment rate: 5.1 percent
Median home price: $417,000 (5th highest)
Projected to hit lowest level: Q3 2012
Baltimore Homes Go for $10K — or Less
(Washington Post) — Andrew Wells is hoping to buy a Baltimore home for around the cost of an old car: Less than $10,000. Turns out he’s in good company. One of every 10 city homes sold during the first half of the year — about 275 in all — fellin that price range. Twice as many sold for under $20,000.
Detroit Police Get Major Perk: Free House
(Detroit Free Press) — Mayor Dave Bing’s ambitious plan to make Detroit homeowners out of 200 police officers who currently live outside the city awarded its first home Wednesday. But six months into the project, it is far from meeting its goal. But more incentives are on the way. Chase Bank is expected to announce today that it plans to offer cash to help city workers make down payments on vacant homes in targeted neighborhoods. Bank representatives and Bing are expected to make the announcement in support of the initiative, dubbed Project 14, at 10 a.m. today. The project is designed to help the city reduce blight and crime and add a sense of security to its neighborhoods.
