Tampa Bay Appraiser's Blog

Short sales are a hot topic right now—especially with a much-ballyhooed government program focused on short sales, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, about to come online April 5th. But in the end, the real key to resolving the problems that yet remain in housing is likely to come back to an old standby: REO property sales (bank-owned homes).    

So, can short sales ride in to save the day for these 7.4m troubled borrowers? For some, short sales will be an important solution—but don’t kid yourself: the hype currently surrounding short sales and the HAFA program will prove to be short-lived, and REO expertise will be prove to be the key to recovery, as it has been in prior cycles. continue reading…

For many of us who purchased a home more or less after 2003 there is a good chance you have negative equity in your home.  Well, there have been rumors going around about a new program.  Good news.  The US Treasury is making changes to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), as it spearheads an initiative to encouraging principal write-downs.  This change is said to be coming in the months ahead.

The changes will encourage servicers to write-down a portion of mortgage debt as part of a HAMP modification, allow more borrowers to qualify for modification and help borrowers move into more affordable housing when modification is not possible.  The principal reduction initiative is geared toward borrowers with excessive negative equity.   Most notable among the new initiatives is the requirement that servicers consider “principal relief” including write-downs.  continue reading…

First in a Two Part Series

by the managing partner of Florida’s Beautiful Homes™

As reported in the Toronto Star news paper, the head lines read Top Realtor Slams ‘Indifferent Agents’ the article went on to say:

The Canadian real estate industry has too many poorly performing and under qualified agents who are tarnishing the profession, says a prominent real estate industry executive Michael Polzler, executive vice-president and regional director of ReMax, Ontario Atlantic Canada.

“Our industry is overrun by indifferent agents who lack the knowledge and experience to service their clients adequately.” continue reading…

Throughout the country, people continue to default on their home loans—but lenders have backed off on forced evictions, allowing many to remain in their homes, essentially rent-free.

Several factors are driving the trend, industry experts say, including government pressure on banks to modify loans and keep people in their homes. And with a glut of inventory in places like California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, lenders are loath to depress housing prices further by dumping more properties into a weak market.

Finally, allowing borrowers to stay in their homes helps protect the bank’s investment as it negotiates with the homeowners, said Gary Kirshner, a spokesman for Chase bank, a major lender. “If the person’s in the property, there’s less chance for vandalism, and they’re probably maintaining the house,” he said.

Economists say the situation won’t last forever, but in the meantime the “amnesty” may allow at least some homeowners to regain their financial footing and avoid eviction.  continue reading…

And indeed, according to an index released by the National Association of Realtors, housing affordability was at an all-time high in December.

The Housing Affordability Index composite level for December was 158.8. A composite H.A.I. value of 158.8 means that a family earning the median income has 158.8 percent of the income needed to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home. (In other words, a higher index number means housing is more affordable; a lower index number means housing is less affordable.) The index had fallen during most of the housing bubble, when it became more and more expensive to buy a home. But as you’ll see in the chart below, December’s composite level was the highest the index has reached since the association began collecting this data in 1971.  continue reading…