In February, sales of Ward distressed properties and regular homes in the rest of Lonoke County, as well as in other counties of the central region that include Faulkner, Saline, Grant and Pulaski; reached a total of 445. This includes both new and existing single family houses and represents a 7.29% decrease from February of last year when a total of 480 housing units were sold. The average selling rate also went down over the same period.

The average selling rate of central Arkansas distressed homes for sale and newly built homes in February was pegged at $163,057; down by 1.62% from one year ago when the average rate was at $165,745. According to realtors, the decline in both sales and prices had been expected, mainly because housing trends in the region often mirror nationwide trends. During the month, national housing sales and prices also posted a decline, although at a much steeper level than what was seen in the central region of the state.

Realtors also stated that prices have dropped in the area because of the considerable amount of distressed real estate homes that are currently in the market. When it comes to sales, they explained that fewer people are buying homes right now, mainly because a lot of them have lost their jobs. The state has an unemployment rate of 7.8% during the month, which roughly means that a little over 106,000 regional residents are out of job.

Although the unemployment level was a bit better than the 8% recorded in February of last year, analysts claimed that it would still be difficult for a big number of residents to purchase a house, even low-priced distressed homes. In addition, realtors said that the high unemployment level and the oversupply of foreclosures are weighing down consumer confidence and scaring off potential buyers who have the means to purchase.

They also attributed the decline in prices and sales to tight standards in the lending market which prevent would-be buyers from securing financing to purchase distressed real estate homes and newly-built houses. Analysts asserted that the housing market of Arkansas will only recover if more jobs are created.

Sales of Regular and Distressed Real Estate Homes Down in Arkansas is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

In July 2007, UBS Real Estate Investment Inc. loaned almost $47 million for two condominium projects, the Williams Centre and Tierra Vida Apartments. According to the Arizona Corporation Commission records, Terry Brown is the identified manager for the conversion condominium projects.

The trustee’s sale for the foreclosed condominiums will be held on December 23. Scotia Group Management LLC Principal Rob Aronoff explained that the placement of the condominiums on foreclosure auction listings will not affect their residents, whether these people own or rent the units.

He said that the homeowners’ association of condominium residents is fully funded, with assessments fully paid. He added that the association has capital reserve that it can use for future projects.

According to industry experts, Brown initially plans to convert into condominiums the Tierra Vida Apartments. However, the weakening economy had stopped the conversion. Currently, Tierra Vida’s 200 units are 92 percent occupied.

On the other hand, the Williams Centre condominiums are occupied by owners and renters. Out of the 344 condominium units in the building, 105 were sold. The unsold 239 units are still under Brown’s name, with many of them being rented. The Scotia Group is handling the management of the condominium units and maintenance of the homeowners association.

Industry experts noted that managing the condominium conversion project is not easy because it means dealing with many people who have different needs. Compared with renters who are transient, homeowners want stability.

In 2007, the condominium market in Arizona, just like in other real estate business, experienced unprecedented growth, with 1,013 sales. But for the first seven months this year, condominium sales reached only 314. Meanwhile, condominium units in Arizona had a median sale price of $93,000 in August. The figures are way below the median sale price of homes which reached $162,575.

Industry experts explained that prices for condominiums are high because of the exorbitant costs of converting apartments into condominium units. They added that condominium conversion is a good investment move three years ago but not today.

They advise families to buy properties on foreclosure auction listings rather than rent because there are so many good deals to be had on the residential real estate market.

Foreclosure Auction Listings Add Arizona Condominiums is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

The property, which accounted for almost 50 percent of Sausalito’s hotel tax revenue, will be auctioned off after its owners missed payments on their loan.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) took control of Casa Madrona when its delinquent loan caused the failure of Integrity Bank based in Georgia. Because of the economic contributions of Casa Madrona on the city, officials and merchants are on edge until new owners can be found.

According to industry experts, Casa Madrona accounted for a large share of the real estate market in the city’s downtown area. Sausalito chief financial officer Charlie Francis recounted that Casa Madrona had stopped paying hotel tax or transient occupancy tax since November 2008. The hotel tax is equivalent to 12 percent of total annual room sales.

The hotel, which has 63 rooms, generated nearly $1 million annually since 2006 and accounted for 40 percent of the total hotel tax in the city.

The FDIC took control of the property, which also features a 5,000-square-foot event space and 3,000 square feet spa, early this year due to failure of its owner, MHG Casa Madrona to pay its loan balance of over $24 million.

According to industry experts, the FDIC intervened when the hotel property’s delinquent loan caused the failure of Integrity Bank. The federal agency started the foreclosure process and appointed a Georgia-based asset manager to help in the restitution with Sausalito. The agency also named a hotel management company to manage the daily operations of the hotel property.

As part of the restitution, FDIC paid the city of Sausalito about $125,000 representing unpaid taxes and $5,600 monthly as payment for the use of parking spaces by hotel guests. Since the FDIC took over, the hotel property has started paying its tax weekly as stated under the city policy.

County assessor’s office data showed that the assessed value of the hotel property amounted to $16.6 million. Michael George, general manager of Casa Madrona, hopes that a new owner for the hotel would be named soon so that the property could move forward towards revitalization.

California City’s Largest Hotel on Foreclosed Property Auction is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission’s Marion Center director Hazel Blankenship said that in a foreclosure, time is of great importance. She said that the program will evaluate the situation of all distressed homeowners. She warned though that the program would not be able to help all distressed homeowners save their properties from becoming repo house.

The commission received $50,000 to launch the program in counties of Marion, Crawford and Morrow. The program is set to receive an additional amount of $400,000.

Commission director Joe Devany explained that under the program, each homeowner could receive as much as $4,000. He pointed out that the program is a great opportunity to help borrowers who are having difficulties in paying their mortgages.

He explained that the commission plans to work with homeowners who have the potential to continue their mortgage payments if given the assistance. He added that the commission wants to make sure that the program will be a good investment for the government and taxpayers.

Funding for the foreclosure prevention program is made possible under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It aims to help 75 distressed homeowners in the area.

In 2008, The Marion County Sheriff’s Office held over 500 foreclosed home sale events. Foreclosures due to unpaid mortgages accounted for about 475 properties sold in last year’s sheriff’s sale. Industry experts are expecting similar numbers of foreclosures in the county this year.

They pointed out that there is no sign that the foreclosure crisis in Ohio is starting to wane, adding that the trend remains steady for some time now.

Meanwhile, for distressed homeowners to be eligible for the program, they must have a gross income equal to or not more than 200 percent of the county’s poverty level for a 13-week period. Also, they must show proof that they could sustain regular monthly loan payments after receiving a mortgage assistance.

Industry experts said that the mortgage assistance program would be of great help to homeowners who did not overbuy and who just lost their jobs.

Aid to Stem the Tide of Foreclosed House in Ohio is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Among the proposals already published are the rental scheme, which enables homeowners to remain in their foreclosed for sale homes as renters for a number of years; the mandatory mediation scheme, which requires lenders to work out loan modifications under the supervision of a judge; and the revival of the defeated judicial modification bill, which authorizes bankruptcy judges to order lenders to reduce the monthly payments of distressed borrowers by reducing their principal or their interest rates.

Another set of recommendations is from the Center for American Progress. The center largely supports most of the schemes offered by HAMP and lauds its objectives, but it is calling for the infusion of more power into HAMP so more mortgage lenders are enjoined to modify distressed loans and contain foreclosure for sale inventories across the country.

The center reminds the Treasury Department that is has power over the country’s largest lenders because they have received billions of taxpayer money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, although several of them are already looking for ways to pay back immediately the TARP funds so they can get out of government control.

One major proposal by the Center for American Progress is the use of outstanding warrants to force lenders to improve their HAMP performance. The center suggests that the Treasury acquire the loan servicing rights of recalcitrant mortgage servicers in exchange of some warrants and then sell these servicing rights to loan servicers who have been helping carry out the objectives of HAMP.

Another key proposal by the center involves real estate mortgage investment conduits, which are special trusts that issue mortgage-backed securities and which do not have tax liabilities.

The center suggests that Congress revise the tax code and remove the tax benefit for REMICs that are holding a specified percentage of delinquent mortgages. This tax benefit removal would force mortgage lenders to modify loans or help borrowers refinance under the Hope for Homeowners program, which is a better program for underwater borrowers.

All in all, the center contends that containing foreclosed for sale properties is key to ending the housing crisis and sparking the start of national economic recovery.

More Proposals to Contain Foreclosed for Sale Properties is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Schneider said mortgage insurance companies have already helped nearly 100,000 mortgage borrowers save their houses from getting added to repossessed properties inventories. He said the total value of mortgages saved was almost $18 billion.

The mortgage industry chief also said that his group has assisted in the development of procedures and systems meant to facilitate the implementation of the Home Affordable Refinance Program and the Home Affordable Modification Program.

He admitted that although the initial numbers of home loans modified or refinanced under HARP and HAMP are not as high as expected, he reiterated that the program is progressing.

Since the launch of the foreclosure homes prevention program several months ago, the mortgage industry association MICA has been working with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and mortgage servicers in modifying or refinancing distressed mortgage loans under the HAMP and HARP initiatives.

Additionally, mortgage insurance firms have crafted standardized reporting procedures and underwriting systems to enable troubled borrowers have a second chance if their initial applications have been rejected by mortgage lenders under the HAMP initiative.

Schneider reiterated that mortgage insurance companies need to work closely with the mortgage finance industry in order to restore and maintain stability in the housing market. He said mortgage insurance firms have been working with government agencies, investors, lenders, credit counselors to refinance or modify loans to enable borrowers to reduce their more affordable monthly payments.

MICA executive vice president Suzanne Hutchinson said mortgage insurance firms will continue to help work out loan modifications and loan refinancing in the coming weeks and months under the foreclosed house prevention program.

Additionally, MICA members also said that premiums for private mortgage insurance policies have been made tax deductible for taxpayers refinancing a loan or buying a home.

The members have also implemented the revised guidelines that expanded the foreclosed house prevention program. They have improved their systems to incorporate the increase of the refinancing loan-value ratio from 105 percent to 125 percent under the HARP initiative. This expansion has increased the number of borrowers qualified to apply for loan refinancing.

All in all, according to the MICA president, the mortgage insurance companies that comprise MICA have helped almost one million homeowners save their homes from getting added to foreclosed house lists since last year.

Mortgage Insurers Help Foreclosed House Prevention Program is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Guttentag said that a web portal could be accessed by lenders, borrowers and certified counselors. The portal provides information to borrowers on what they should do and what they should submit to apply for loan modifications. With advice and assistance from counselors, borrowers will complete the application forms and submit their applications online.

Through a system, the applications would automatically alert the lender and create a new file for the new borrower applicant. Through this file system, subsequent communications between the lender and the borrower and the counselor will be recorded and updated.

Under the current repo homes program, many borrowers are not being responded to because of lack of lender personnel and failure to upgrade computer systems. There had been many cases of lost modification applications and lack of follow-up. Lenders have simply been overwhelmed by the onrush of borrowers wanting to apply under the repossessed homes program.

But compared to the goal of helping up to 9 million troubled American homeowners, the pace of progress is too slow.

Joseph Smith, head of Default Mitigation Management LLC, said modifying a home loan is not complicated. If all the needed modification documents are ready, a loan modification can be completed in 45 minutes to one hour. Smith has been modifying home loans for several years.

Smith said the loan modification process includes evaluating the borrower’s budget and income, completing the modification worksheet and making a forbearance plan.

Smith explained the low rate of loan modifications under the repossessed homes program as due to the overwhelming number of applications. He added that the systems of banks were not designed to process hundreds or thousands of loan modification cases in one day.

Even if banks hired more personnel, their systems are not ready for multiple loan modification applications. According to Smith, lenders and servicers lack systems for receiving and processing a lot of phone calls and for tracking files and mail documents.

Guttentag said the proposed web portal is feasible because Default Mitigation Management has been using a web portal to modify loans. According to him, the web portal is currently being used by lawyers working out loan modifications with servicers.

Since the success of the repossessed homes program depends largely on the number of loan modifications accomplished, the web portal strategy should be given a serious consideration.

Web Portal to Speed up Repossessed Homes Program is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Industry experts noted that among these buyers were people who are searching for houses to live in and investors who are looking for bargain properties on listings of bank owned homes. The goal of these investors is to purchase a property, fix it and resell it for a profit.

Experts agreed that the residential foreclosure market is changing, with more buyers showing up at auctions and more repo homes are selling. They explained that the trend is an indication that a great number of homebuyers are confident that the housing market is on its way to recovery.

And with banks becoming more flexible about negotiating with delinquent homeowners, fewer foreclosed properties are entering the market, prompting experts to anticipate a slowing down of the foreclosure crisis in Maine.

The number of distressed properties on listings of bank owned homes in Maine is higher compared with other states in the New England region. In the first quarter, about 1.1 percent of all mortgage loans in the state went into foreclosure, ranking Maine second to Rhode Island which posted 1.5 percent.

However, Maine’s foreclosure rate was lower than the 1.4 percent national repossession rate, according to data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston. A market study showed that the town of Sanford has the highest foreclosure rate, earning it a moniker as the state’s foreclosure capital from the Maine Office of Community Development.

From September 2007 until November 2008, Sanford posted a total of 65 foreclosures. The town is followed by Lewiston with 44 homes and Bangor with 32. But foreclosures in Sanford started to inch down, averaging 20 each month, according to local real estate professionals.

Meanwhile, the rate of foreclosures in other communities in Maine has been fluctuating since January of this year. Last month, Portland posted 28 foreclosure properties, compared with seven in January. The trend is in contrast with Lewiston where eight properties were placed on listings of bank owned homes last month, as against 14 in January.

Listings of Bank Owned Homes a Hit in Maine is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

In the first 6 months of 2009, over 52,000 foreclosure cases have been filed by mortgage lenders in Southern Florida. Housing analysts predicted that over 100,000 foreclosure actions will be filed in the region in 2009.

The foreclosure actions filed in the first 6 months of 2009 represented a rise of 33 percent from the 38,000 foreclosure actions filed in the first 6 months of 2008 and a seven-fold increase compared to foreclosure actions in the first 6 months of 2007.

A real estate consultant in the region predicted that if the current foreclosure pace continues throughout the last months of 2009, South Florida will struggle with record numbers of foreclosure cases and repossession property units.

In May, a national survey of foreclosure filings ranked Florida third in a list of states with the highest foreclosure rates.

One housing unit out of every 148 units was hit with a foreclosure action. Nearly 59,000 housing units were hit with foreclosure filings, with more than 6,000 units already bought back by banks and added to their repossession property inventories.

Foreclosure filings in Southern Florida have been rising at a rate of almost 2,200 each week while repossession property inventories have been falling at a rate of around 900 each week.

The reason for the decrease in current repossession inventories despite the increase in foreclosure filings is the drawn-out time spent from the date a foreclosure case is filed to the date the property becomes repossessed.

According to foreclosure experts, a typical foreclosure process takes about 6 to 9 months to get completed and costs about $40,000 to $80,000.

In Broward County, 22,730 foreclosure actions were filed, the highest number among county filings. Palm Beach had nearly 15,000 filings while Miami-Dade had 14,474 filings.

Based on number of pre-foreclosures and repossession properties, Florida ranked second in the first 6 months of 2009 compared to other states, with more than 225,000 foreclosure actions filed. The number of repossession property units reached 53,548, a jump from the 43,845 units repossessed in the first 6 months of 2008.

Across the U.S., over 1 million foreclosure actions were filed in the first 6 months of 2009, with more than 435,000 units already added by lenders to their repossession property inventories.

Southern Florida Repossession Property Inventories to Rise is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

The Obama Administration has given an $8,000 federal tax credit to first-time buyers as part of its effort to trim down listings of bank owned homes. And if the tax credit fails to motivate first-time buyers, the low home prices and down payment mortgages will surely entice them to invest in foreclosure properties.

Already, first-time homebuyers are starting to catch on the trend. Some real estate professionals reported working with an increase number of first-time buyers.

Results of the May survey of the National Association of Realtors showed that first-time homebuyers accounted for about 2 percent of sales transactions. The survey also indicated that the number of potential homebuyers was up by 10 percent compared with the previous year.

In February, President Barack Obama signed the economic stimulus package which included the $8,000 federal tax credit. The tax credit, which expires November 30, does not apply to homeowners who earn higher than $75,000 or couples who have incomes higher than $150,000.

First-time homebuyers who are eligible for the program are those who have not owned a property for the past three years. Potential buyers who qualified for the program aimed at streamlining listings of bank owned homes, can claim the tax credit by filing the 2008 tax return which was amended, or they can wait for the 2009 tax return.

Industry professionals advise first-time homebuyers to close on property deals before the November 30 deadline, adding that no hesitation should be taken by buyers if they really want to take advantage of the tax credit.

Meanwhile, data showed that one out of three properties sold in June was a distressed home or foreclosure, pressuring the median price to fall to $173,000 or 16.8 percent less than a year ago.

Another factor that may motivate first-time buyers is the abundance of mortgage loans that require little or no deposit. The most widely popular mortgage loan among first-time buyers is the 203b of the Federal Housing Agency (FHA). This mortgage loan requires only a 3.5 percent deposit but buyers of listings of bank owned homes are required to pay the mortgage insurance monthly.

Listings of Bank Owned Homes: Good News for First-Time Buyers is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing