Mike’s Real Estate Show

  Many of you are facing the possibility of foreclosure. Find below links to answer many of your questions with links to articles and tips for homeowners facing financial difficulties.  

1. “How To Avoid Foreclosure” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):  http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/forms/files/pa426h.pdf  Yes, I know these are long but they get you right to the information you need rather than going through the whole site.

2. “Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure” also by HUD:  http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm

3. “List of Approved Credit Counseling Agencies”  by the U.S. Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm

4. “You Can Avoid Foreclosure and Keep Your Home” by FHA : http://www.fha.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm

5. “Mortgage Payments Sending You Reeling? Here’s What to Do” by the federal trade commission: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/homes/rea04.shtm

6. “Questions and Answers on Home Foreclosure and Debt Cancellation” by the IRS: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/o,,id=174034,00.html

This ”press-release” was issued by Freddie Mac and warns of foreclosure “Hero’s” who are just after your home.  

McLean, VA – Can a custom made video posted to YouTube™ keep troubled borrowers from losing their homes to fraud artists? Freddie Mac aims to find out.

One of the nation’s largest investors in residential mortgages, Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) decided to produce an Internet video dramatizing a common foreclosure fraud scheme after a new survey found one-in-four delinquent borrowers go to the Internet before their bank or lender for information about avoiding foreclosure. Freddie Mac’s anti-fraud video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/AvoidFraud.

Freddie Mac’s two-minute YouTube video uses professional actors to demonstrate how con artists can:

Get copies of foreclosure notices at City Hall or a county courthouse;
Persuade distressed borrowers to give up the deeds in exchange for suspicious promises to solve their financial problems;
Use the deeds to secure new loans for themselves; and,
Let the new loans go into foreclosure, which means the homeowners looking for help can still end up losing their house.
“With fraud reports on the rise, we are using every communication channel out there to warn borrowers about these fraudsters and urge borrowers to call their lenders when they fall behind on their mortgage,” said Ingrid Beckles, vice president, Servicing and Asset Management, Freddie Mac. “By working with our servicers, Freddie Mac is now helping an average of 1,000 delinquent borrowers a week avoid foreclosure through forbearances, repayment plans or other workout options.”

Freddie Mac decided to produce the anti-fraud video for You Tube after a 2007 company-sponsored study that discovered that 25 percent of delinquent borrowers go to the Internet first for mortgage information, only slightly less than those who call their mortgage lender (28 percent) or bank (32 percent). GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, conducted the survey of 2,400 borrowers.
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible more than 50 million times, ensuring financing for one in six homebuyers and more than four million renters.

President Bush signed into law Thursday a bill creating a temporary tax break for homeowners who are able to persuade lenders to forgive part of their debt, and extends a tax deduction for some families with private mortgage insurance.

The last time we had a market going south for an extended period of time and when “Short-Sales” strode the landscape it was 1989. We had Sellers going to lenders to work out “Short-Sales” and the “Debt Forgiveness” was the double whammy for homeowner’s defaulting on their home loans. The politicans at that time decried this horrible state of affairs, beat their chests, promised “relief” and did Nuttin Honey! So here we are back to the “Double Whammy” days of Seller’s defaulting on loans but since this is the “Steriods Era” we have a defaulting/foreclosure market ON STERIODS!

  But this time the Legislators have come through and given the Homeowner who is defaulting on his loan and trying to work out a “Short-Sale” RELIEF!! For the next three years, the IRS won’t count as income debt forgiven by lenders when our defaulting borrowers negotiate short sales or workouts on their primary residence that involve forgiveness of part of their debt. The amount goes up to $2,000,000! (portend of things to come??!!) but only runs for 3 years.

HR 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, also extends for three years a tax deduction allowing families earning $109,000 or less to deduct all or part their private mortgage insurance premiums from their taxable income. Savings? How about an average of $350 a year? Not great but hey, it helps! Many feel this will give incentive for a Seller to stay put. The Seller can try and work out a deal with their lender and keep their home. Getting the loan amount changed and reduced is the reason this bill now exists. Others think it now opens the flood gate for Seller’s to walk! Don’t have to now worry about getting nailed by debt relief so why not just let it go to foreclosure and put it up for sale as one of the hundreds of “Short-Sales” now flooding the market. Time will tell.  

 Lawmakers are working overtime crafting bills which might help stave off the wave of foreclosures being predicted as “Sub-Prime” mortgages start the “re-setting” process in the months to come. 2008 will be the vast majority of these resets happening though $40 Billion worth of resets are going to happen this month in December. Many of these bills are predicated upon the Borrower or Debtor going to the Bankruptcy Court as a last resort to stop the foreclosure process. Senator Durbin, Democrat-Ill, has the most aggressive of these currently working its way through the senate. Hot juicy tidbits of this bill are: Read the rest of this entry »

Listeners, This is the web site we spoke of this morning for helping those meeting the rather strict guidelines for the program President Bush put forth this week. You can also call: 888-995-4673 (HOPE).  Here are the guidelines: Read the rest of this entry »

I took this quote from a blog regarding the plight of the homeowner in New Jersey and New York.

“Homeowners in western New Jersey’s Hunterdon County. Last year, the median yearly property tax bill amounted to a whopping $7,999 here, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C, which compiled data based on 2006 figures.

Things aren’t much better in New York. In Nassau County, Long Island, the median homeowner drops $7,706 a year, while up north, Westchester County residents pay $7,626 a year.

In fact, New York and New Jersey residents can expect to pay up to $6,500 more in yearly property taxes than the national average. The reason: The region’s homes are among the priciest in the country, and tax rates there are high as well. Read the rest of this entry »

  This message is from Trout Unlimited of which I’m a lifetime member. Just a little bit of energy savings can make a huge difference. 

Folks in salmon and steelhead states and our neighbors all know that our fisheries have shouldered most of the burden in providing the electricity produced by dams. Read the rest of this entry »

California Luxury Home Values Continue to Rise
Values Increase Modestly in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco
 
August 21, 2007
 
SAN FRANCISCO – Modest year-over-year gains in the second quarter of 2007 increased luxury home values to highs in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index(TM) by First Republic Bank, a leading provider of private banking, private business banking and wealth management services. Read the rest of this entry »

Below is a piece contributed by Nathan Botwinik–pioneer in the field of “Wetlands Mitigation” which has allowed the preservation of endangered spieces in the Santa Rosa plain. His thoughts:

I want to say you have quite a website and I am honored to be asked to enter the BLOG world. I am somewhat a neophyte in this new technology and hope that I can contribute to your blog.

I am sure most folks say wonder why we preserve species of concern and others think the entire process is run by tree huggers. I simply say that you need to comply with “THE AGENCIES”. You need to balance the scales of nature in “Their Eyes” get their approval for your project, deal with the mitigation if needed and complete your project.

Wetland preservation and preservation of habitat for species of concern - both flowers and animals is controlled by the State and Federal Agencies. The County were you live may have control over zoning, percolation and what can be done with your land - but the final say for a building permit will be set aside by the Planning Department - if your in a habitat or wetland area - until you have gained the necessary agency approval for your planned building, school, church, road, municipal building or a subdivision development of every type. The County has nothing to do with the approval process - they will seek that approval before they issues permits in known area of concern…. so do not beat up your Supervisors or county employees they are not in the loop.

I started dealing with vernal pool mitigation in 1995 - and I remember folks would say you’re doing what? I showed up at the VFW hall in Santa Rosa and after the first introduction to mitigation… I stood up and said you mean to tell me that 40 acres on
Todd Road

that does not perc and is the only spot on that road to be flooded from this parcel is what you’re wanting….. YES… I took that parcel with the assistance of Marco Waaland (Golden Bear Biostudies) and helped to establish the first preservation/restoration bank in Sonoma County…. by the way - it only took us three (yes 3) years to gain full approval… time in my the mitigation world is very slow.

I think I made a wise choice at that point of life to use my education and real estate broker knowledge to enter into a fledgling industry. Mitigation is a feel good occupation and it financially has been a great way for me to enter the “golden years” of my life when you semi-retired (you just do not have the get up and go to work 40 hours a week).

I can continue to write about wetlands for days but I think that I will simply start my BLOG debut with some quick facts and if any of your folks on line have questions - I would welcome sharing my knowledge if I can be of service.

1. NO ONE is exempt from FEDERAL regulatory agencies - schools, city and state agencies and even Indian Gaming locations. The only person/persons that are exempt are the military.

2. Caltrans is not exempt and has been a good client for mitigation to deal with their impacts for wetlands and trees.

3. The process of finding out what it takes to avoid or mitigate your impacts is costly and timely. Do not be put off if you have a project delayed up to 12 (twelve) months waiting for THE AGENCIES to respond and give you instructions on how to deal with your impacts. Time is money so be careful when you buying real estate or planning changes to your home.

4. The County you live in has little or nothing to do with mitigation issues. The planning department should be aware of areas in your county that have wetlands or species concern and normally require you to have Federal and State approvals before you are granted a building permit.

5. When you sell real estate and you’re in an area of species or habitat concern is sure your Realtor has made a full disclosure of that fact. I know your saying I am not an expert in that area and your correct so simply say what you no and it is should keep you out of trouble. Seek legal advice is a good idea and will allow you to sleep at night better after you sell property.

6. If you’re buying real estate and this issue of wetlands, creeks, water ways, species of concern pops up - get some words of wisdom from you local ecologist and Realtor on what to do to deal with the impacts on what is FAIR MARKET VALUE if your buyer has to deal with mitigation. That issue can break a deal or become a legal issue real quick.

7. GO slow in my world of mitigation and be ready for waiting for the rainy season for delineations and spring time for flower counts and then when it is dry for another delineation. The cost of an Ecologist might keep you out of a deal that will cost you more to mitigate than the property you’re buying.

8. Finally - I feel you’re not going to beat THE AGENCIES, they will outlast you in court, they have the power and will use to shut down a project and the penalties for breaking laws and this can be more than you want to deal with.

I have ended my 1st BLOG and it did not even hurt. I welcome questions and let it happen.

PS - I have know Mike Kelly for over 20 something years and KUDOS to him for what he is doing and allowing me to share some of my knowledge with you all.

Also, I do not wear eye glasses with white tape and do not have a plastic pen holder in my pocket - hum. I am simply a Land Broker that has a BA in Biology that I finally can use…

Here are costs and factors in the Mitigation process

1. Costs. why how

2. Banking

3. Credits

4. Wetlands

5. Vernal Pools

6. Creeks

7. Habitat

8. Agencies

9. I do not have that species! How to prove to the agencies you do not or it might be cheaper to say you do and mitigate

10. Time issues

11. Real Estate issues… got to be careful we do not give legal advice

I can write for hours… if you have a business group that needs a speaker let me lose for 15 minutes and I will bring Darren from Golden Bear Biostudies with me to get down with hard data and all the Latin names and protocol with agencies and costs.

Nathan Botwinik

Vernal Pool Technologies, LLC
The Wetland Guy (Biologist)
www.WetlandServices.com
Nathan@WetlandServices.com
Homes and Acreage Realty
Nathan Botwinik (Broker Owner)
www.Homes-Acreage.com
Nathan@Homes-Acreage.com
475 Noonan Ranch Lane
Santa Rosa, California 95403
Office: (707) 569-9404
FAX Line: (707) 569-9488

Old friend and long-time good-guy, John Durand of Christopherson Homes will be my guest on the show this week. Obviously we’ll be talking about the “New Home” market and how the good folks in this benchmark Sonoma County building company are getting through this “market correction”. We’ll also be chatting up the recent appearance of the California Association of Realtors economist, Dr. Robert Kleinhenz here in Sonoma County. Here are some of his remarks:

• Last two market corrections we had in the late 70’s and late 80’s were Recession based. This correction, luckily, is NOT recession driven but is Affordability driven. More on this on the show.
• How long will this correction be? He is forecasting 1 to 3 years. This is predicated on interest rates, the shake-out in the mortagage industry.
• Interest rates lowered equal better affordability. For every 1% in lower interest rates this equates to 4% more in affodability. Right now our affordability in Sonoma County is hovering around 20%. This means only 20% of our citizens can afford to buy the median priced home based on their salaries/incomes!