8 Reasons Why You Should Work With a REALTOR®

Not all real estate practitioners are REALTORS®. The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. Here’s why it pays to work with a REALTOR®. 

1. Navigate a complicated process. Buying or selling a home usually requires disclosure forms, inspection reports, mortgage documents, insurance policies, deeds, and multipage settlement statements. A knowledgeable expert will help you prepare the best deal, and avoid delays or costly mistakes.

2. Information and opinions. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning, schools, and more. They’ll also be able to provide objective information about each property. A professional will be able to help you answer these two important questions: Will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? Second, will the property have resale value when I am ready to sell?

3. Help finding the best property out there. Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your REALTOR® to find all available properties.

4. Negotiating skills. There are many negotiating factors, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession, and inclusion or exclusion of repairs, furnishings, or equipment. In addition, the purchase agreement should provide a period of time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.

5.  Property marketing power. Real estate doesn’t sell due to advertising alone. In fact, a large share of real estate sales comes as the result of a practitioner’s contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, and family. When a property is marketed with the help of a REALTOR®, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Your REALTOR® will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

6. Someone who speaks the language. If you don’t know a CMA from a PUD, you can understand why it’s important to work with a professional who is immersed in the industry and knows the real estate language.

7. Experience. Most people buy and sell only a few homes in a lifetime, usually with quite a few years in between each purchase. Even if you have done it before, laws and regulations change. REALTORS®, on the other hand, handle hundreds of real estate transactions over the course of their career. Having an expert on your side is critical.

8. Objective voice. A home often symbolizes family, rest, and security — it’s not just four walls and a roof. Because of this, homebuying and selling can be an emotional undertaking. And for most people, a home is the biggest purchase they’ll every make. Having a concerned, but objective, third party helps you stay focused on both the emotional and financial issues most important to you.

Mortgage Rates Fall Back to Record Lows

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Fixed-rate mortgages are back at all-time record lows or hovering near them, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. For those who can qualify for a loan, the ultra-low mortgage rates are pushing housing affordability higher. 

"Following the Federal Reserve's announcement of a new bond purchase plan, yields on mortgage-backed securities fell, bringing average fixed mortgage rates to their all-time record lows, which should aid in the ongoing housing recovery,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. 

Here’s a closer look at the national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Sept. 20:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.49 percent, with an average 0.6 point, matching its all-time low. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.09 percent. 
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.77 percent, with an average 0.6 point, setting a new record low this week. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.29 percent. 
• 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.76 percent, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 2.72 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.02 percent. 
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.61 percent this week, with an average 0.4 point, holding the same as last week. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.82 percent. 

Source: Freddie Mac

'Mortgage Cops' Target Strategic Defaulters

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

The Office of the Inspector General at the Federal Housing Finance Agency is trying to find strategic defaulters and collect on what they still owe. Strategic defaulters are often underwater home owners who walk away from their mortgages even though they still have the means to pay.

Experian has estimated that 20 percent of all foreclosures are from startegic defaulters. The OIG estimates that strategic defaulters owe more than $1 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they’re ready to start collecting. 

The OIG is reportedly working with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop a mechanism for identifying strategic defaulters. 

"Debts that haven't been repaid don't just go away," an unnamed Treasury Department official told The Chicago Tribune. "It doesn't matter whether it's on your credit report or not."

The OIG has an even harsher warning for  strategic defaulters who have failed to disclose that they walked away from a previous loan on any new loan applications. The OIG says such walkaways have constituted mortgage fraud, and the OIG plans to refer them for criminal prosecution. 

 "We're not just going to demand repayment," says Heather Wolfe, OIG assistant inspector general for audits. "We're going to lock [people] up."

Source: “Mortgage Cops Taking Tough Stance,” The Chicago Tribune (Sept. 16, 2012)

The Market Gets Competitive for Home Buyers

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

More home buyers are finding they’re losing their power position in the real estate market and that when they submit an offer for a home, they may not be alone in the bidding. In fact, buyers who submit low offers may not even get a courtesy of a callback nowadays. 

One Florida couple says they put in seven offers on homes over two months — most at or above asking price — before they were finally able to get a $365,000 Sarasota home. 

A drop in the inventory of for-sale homes around the country is prompting more competition among home buyers. Inventory in June is 24 percent below year-ago levels. 

"I've had listings get 45 offers," Sin-Yi Chao Lambertson, a real estate broker in Glendora, Calif., told Money Magazine. 

Money Magazine recently offered potential buyers the following tips if they want to get the winning bid on a home: 

Interest Rates

If you are waiting to refinance, it may be time to make your move. Rates are moving up-and could stay higher for a while, experts say. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 4.08% for the week of March 22, up from the record low of 3.87% it hit in February. Rates on 15-year loans were up to 3.30% last week from the record low of 3.13% reached earlier in March. Keep in mind that these rates are still below where they were at this time last year. However, if you are considering refinancing, according to the economists, there really is no point in waiting any longer.

Fannie & Freddie must pay Transfer Tax

A federal judge ruled in favor of Oakland County in the first lawsuit in the nation filed to recover millions in unpaid real estate transfer taxes from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who had argued that they were exempt from paying transfer tax upon the sale of real estate owned by them, as quasi-government entities.

US District judge Victoria Roberts ruled that Fannie and Freddie are essentially a privately owned mortgage banker and that a transfer tax is an excise tax, rather than a tax on real property. This ruling could open the door to all other Michigan counties to file suit. Oakland county damages are between $3-4 million and are $11-12 million across the state.

Still Upside Down?

The number of US homes that are worth less than their mortgages is now back to 2009 levels after a rise late last year. More than 11 million of all residential properties with a mortgage had negative equity in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to market research firm CoreLogic. Mortgages with less than 5% equity account for almost 29% of all residential mortgages nationwide.

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