jason (8)

Where do all the Disgraced Mortgage Bankers live?

In Florida of Course.But not only do they live in Florida, they live in a special neighborhood just for these types of bank executives. They all live in an upscale subdivision in beautiful, sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida aptly named Shady Banks, where the homestead laws favor unsavory characters of this sort. Yes, this picture does not lie and many former mortgage executives live there. 21 of them to be exact.Well, now it is 18. 3 are in Federal prison. As for the others - 7 are under indictment, 5 are under investigation and 6 are on house arrest.Jason Donn
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ -– Governor Charlie Crist today met with Florida REALTORS® to discuss Florida’s housing market. Governor Crist encouraged first-time home buyers to take advantage of the tax credit made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The $8,000 tax credit applies to primary residences as long as they are purchased before December 1, 2009.“Even though today is Tax Day, first-time Florida home buyers can still claim the tax savings on their 2008 tax return – even if the closing is after today – by requesting an extension or filing an amended return,” Governor Crist said. “Or they can also claim it on 2009 tax return, which will be filed next year. Either way, I encourage Floridians and newcomers to Florida to take advantage of this tax break and bargain prices on Florida real estate.”Governor Crist also discussed his continued commitment to reduce the tax burden on Florida homeowners and business property owners. He has proposes a set of property-tax reforms that builds upon previous legislation resulting in the largest property tax cut in state history.The National Association of REALTORS estimates that the impact of the federal economic stimulus package and lower interest rates will result in approximately 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. According to Freddie Mac, interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.87 percent for the week of April 9, 2009, down significantly from the average rate of 5.97 percent in March 2008.According to the Florida Association of REALTORS, Florida’s existing home sales rose in February, making it the sixth consecutive month with an increase in sales activity. Existing home sales rose 20 percent in February 2009 compared to the number of homes sold in February 2008. Statewide, existing condo sales increased 25 percent over the total units sold in January.About the First-Time Florida Home Buyer Tax CreditFor homes purchased before December 1, 2009, the credit does not have to be paid back unless the home ceases to be the taxpayer’s main residence within a three-year period following the purchase. First-time homebuyers who purchase a home in 2009 can claim the credit on either a 2008 tax return, which are due today, or on a 2009 tax return, due April 15, 2010. If the purchase occurs after April 15, 2009, home buyers can still receive the credit on a 2008 tax return by requesting an extension of time to file or by filing an amended return.Information about the tax credit for first-time home buyers can be found at www.FlaRecovery.com in the “Tax Relief” section. For more information about Florida’s use of the federal recovery dollars made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit www.FlaRecovery.comJason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers
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Generation Y: Bullish on U.S. Housing Market

First major national housing survey during current downturn reveals surprising resultsNEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first major survey into Generation Y’s perception of the U.S. housing crisis reveals a surprisingly strong sense of optimism about the future despite cautious near-term sentiment.While the housing industry is readying for this wave of future homeowners (approximately 80 million strong), there is little data on what this influential buying group actually wants in their next home or how the current downturn has affected their future plans.According to the national survey conducted by The Concord Group:50% say they are likely to purchase a home within the next three years50% say tax credits or lower interest rates would motivate them to purchase a residence sooner70% believe home prices will be higher or at today’s levels in two years62% say wealth creation is a very big advantage of real estate ownershipAlthough economic conditions factor strongly in their decision-making process, survey respondents say that lower home prices and/or a raise at work would be the top motivations for buying a home sooner than planned."Generation Y is going to have more impact on the national housing market than any group since the early Baby Boomers. We wanted to better understand their preferences and expectations especially as they will have such an impact on our future,” said Emma Tyaransen, Principal of The Concord Group, a national real estate advisory firm.The majority of respondents to The Concord Group’s survey say they are:Willing to pay a premium to live closer to their jobSeeking out a larger space for their next residenceInterested in living near alternative modes of transportationLikely to put down less than 20% on their next residential purchasePlanning to eventually abandon the cities for a life in the suburbs“What’s so interesting about this data is that it supports our prediction that transit-oriented development will command a premium in the near future. It also proves that suburban development will continue to play an important role in the housing market that emerges from the downturn,” said Tyaransen.The Concord Group is a premiere national real estate advisory firm with offices in Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR and Boston, MA. The Concord Group provides developers, investors and public planning agencies with vital analytical input throughout all phases of real estate financing, development and operations. www.theconcordgroup.comJason DonnAllStar Realty954-892-6244
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A shadow lurks in the housing market

This is scary. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that lenders are sitting on hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes that haven’t even been listed yet. If this “shadow inventory” hits the market, we’ll have a new definition of bottomless pit.From the article:“We believe there are in the neighborhood of 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have repossessed but not put on the market,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles nationwide statistics on foreclosures. “California probably represents 80,000 of those homes. It could be disastrous if the banks suddenly flooded the market with those distressed properties. You’d have further depreciation and carnage.”The Chronicle suggests several reasons why banks might not be selling off their foreclosures:— The “pig in the python”: Digesting all those foreclosures takes awhile. It’s time-consuming to get a home vacant, clean and ready for sale. “The system is overwhelmed by the volume,” Sharga said. “In a normal market, there are 160,000 (foreclosures for sale nationwide) over the course of a year. Right now, there are about 80,000 every month.”— Accounting sleight-of-hand: Lenders could be deferring sales to put off having to acknowledge the actual extent of their loss. “With banks in the stress they’re in, I don’t think they’re anxious to show losses in assets on their balance sheets,” O’Toole said.— Slowing the free-fall: Banks might be strategically holding back some foreclosures so prices don’t fall as fast. “They want to be careful about not releasing them too quickly so they don’t drive prices down and hurt the values,” O’Toole said.And then, there are people scamming the system. Two dozen people have been indicted for “allegedly conducting a wide-ranging mortgage fraud based in San Diego and led by a street gang member.” From Reuters:The defendants allegedly used straw buyers and inflated appraisals to purchase homes that had sat on the market for extended periods and had been reduced in price.They submitted offers that exceeded the homes’ asking prices, and had the overage paid to a shell construction company that they claimed would make upgrades or handicap modifications to the properties, prosecutors said.The defendants instead disbursed the “kickback amount” to members and associates of the enterprise as payments for their participation, the indictment said.Lenders later foreclosed on the properties, taking “severe financial losses,” after the straw buyers failed to make payments, the indictment said.Jason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers
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As many of you know Credit Repair Companies are a dime a dozen. Most of the credit repair companies I have come in contact with charge around $500 or some sort of monthly fee. From the feedback I have received, most of them are not very good.In an effort to find a VERY GOOD credit repair company I started researching them and met with several. 1 or 2 seemed to be very good but charged an arm and a leg. I finally found one that was not only superb but were also reasonable in their pricing. In addition, they have a money back GUARANTEE. I have already referred them to many Real Estate Brokers and Mortgage companies with phenomenal results.One of the reasons this company is so good is that the President of the company was a former high level executive with Experian.I would love to share more information on this company with you. If you are interested, please email me at jason.donn@yahoo.com or call me @ 954-892-6244.
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Foreclosure nation

Posted by Scott Van VoorhisLooks like the foreclosure epidemic is getting its second wind.The first wave of foreclosures featured homeowners duped into buying homes they couldn’t afford with goofy, subprime loans. Not to mention a whole lot of small-time investors who bought units in hopes of flipping them for big profits, as well as a just outright fraudsters who used straw buyers to create artificial sales.But much of that first wave of crazy subprime mortgages gone bad has already crashed into the housing market and economy. Now we are starting to see the second wave, regular homeowners who are losing their jobs and their homes due to the economic downturn, of course triggered in part by the subprime fiasco.Anyway, that is the way some are reading the latest foreclosure stats, with the number of troubled mortgages rising to 7.8 percent of all home loans, the highest since 1972, Bloomberg reports. Loans actually in foreclosure now amount to 3.3 percent of all mortgages in the country, an all-time high.The Mortgage Bankers Association is pointing to the deepening recession and job losses as a key factor behind the growing number of bad loans.Let’s just hope President Obama’s $75 billion lifeline to homeowners in trouble works a bit better than the now long list of previous multibillion-dollar rescue plans rolled out by the federal government and several states, including Massachusetts.Still, even the president’s ambitious effort won’t help you if you’ve lost your job and have no money at all to pay your mortgage.Contact Jason Donn
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Housing bailout details are released

The Obama administration today is rolling out details of its plan to help as many as 9 million homeowners restructure their mortgage debts and avoid foreclosure.Here's a link to the summary of guidelines for the program. There are plenty of additional details posted on the Treasury Department Web site.To be sure, the effort has evoked mixed feelings.The majority of folks who played by the old-fashioned rules of saving money and not buying more house than you can afford may feel a twinge of resentment at bailing out a lot of people who grasped beyond their economic reach.Others contend that many of the folks who are in a foreclosure fix got there through no fault of their own other than an unlucky turn in the economy or falling victim to unscrupulous lenders and their Wall Street enablers.The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle. And the economy is already so weak that simply letting the housing market collapse could worsen the plight of everyone.My preference, of course, would be for the feds to buy up enough mortgage-backed securities to drive down mortgage rates and enable even more folks to refinance at new lower fixed rates. The resulting cash flow tsunami cold float the entire economy.Just a - modestly self-interested - thought.Submitted by Chris Lester on March 4, 2009 - 12:22pm.National Economy
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Fannie: Renters Can Stay in Foreclosed Home

Fannie Mae announced Tuesday that it would allow qualified renters of foreclosed properties owned by a government-controlled mortgage company to stay in their homes.Under the National Real Estate Owned (REO) Rental Policy, renters of homes acquired by Fannie Mae will be offered a new monthly lease at market-rate rent or if they desire, financial aid to help them move.The properties must meet state and local building and safety codes.Fannie Mae also said it will hire real estate practitioners or property management companies to manage the properties while the units are for sale.Jason Donn
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