Affordability is Up!

Here are two great reasons to buy a home right now:  Affordability is up and interest rates are at historical lows.  Just in case you have not been paying attention, there is a proverbial clearance sale happening in real estate right now.  Additionally interest rates are still close to their lowest level in years, creating an opportunity that may be the best chance ever of owning the home you have always wanted.

Fantastic deals abound in both entry level housing as well as in upper end homes.  So whether you are looking to buy your first house or move up to that dream home, now is a great time!

Interest rates have been inching up lately and are predicted to climb higher this year.  This means that if you are using a mortgage to buy a house, your purchasing power will be reduced.

Does this mean that it is a bad time to sell?  Not necessarily.  There is quite a bit of activity going on in the housing market.  So depending on your personal circumstances, this may be the best time to sell also.

As always, if you or any of your friends or family members need any real estate advice or are ready to buy or sell, we are happy to help!

The Kennedy Team
RE/MAX equity group

Real Estate Investors Ready to Pounce.

“Opportunistic real estate investors predict 2011 will dish up more deals like the jaw-dropping short sales that made headlines, and huge profits, for speculators in 2009 and 2010.

Potential local investors include large firms like Harsch Investment Properties and smaller outfits like Menashe Properties. Gerding Edlen Development Co. and ScanlanKemperBard Cos., two firms better known for taking big hits in the recession, could also be big players in 2011.

Grubb & Ellis, the commercial real estate firm, has identified Portland as one of the nation’s top 10 investment markets in three categories — office, industrial and retail — in 2011.”

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Yet another signal to investors of all levels.  Portland is primed to become one of the top investment hot spots in the next few coming years.  With prices continuing to soften, affordability is up and investments are on the rise.

Curious to learn more about our current market?  Give us a call today, coffee’s on us – let’s talk!

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Article Courtesy of:
Portland Business Journal
Wendy Culverwell

January 14th 2011 is the deadline for Oregon’s Mortgage Assistance Program!!

Mortgage Assistance Program

If anyone you know has lost income or is unemployed and is having trouble making their mortgage payments, please pass this information on to them.  This mortgage assistance program has been established to help 5,000 Oregon households pay their mortgages for up to one year.

The application deadline is Jan. 14th 2011.  However as of Jan. 5th our sources have informed us that OHSI has only received 2,500 applications!  That’s why we’re working to help spread the word to as many Oregonians as we can.

There is a simple anonymous test on the website that you can take to see what your chances of qualifying for the program are.

As always, if you or anyone you know, has any real estate related questions or needs we are here to help!

- The Kennedy Team

Home Prices Tumble in Portland

Tuesday, December 28, 2010, 9:42am PST

Home prices in Portland and five other cities tumbled in October to the lowest levels since the start of the Great Recession.

Data released Tuesday for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices confirmed October home prices softened in all 20 markets tracked in the primary index. Six — Portland; Seattle; Atlanta; Miami; Charlotte, N.C.; and Tampa, Fla. — hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007. Most markets included in the index hit recession lows in spring of 2009.

Oregon Kicks Off First Foreclosure Prevention Program

Below is the press release issued by Oregon’s Department of Housing and Community Services on behalf of Governor Ted Kulongoski on Dec 6th, 2010.

If anyone you know has lost income or is unemployed and is having trouble making their mortgage payments, please pass this information on to them.  As of 12/10/2010 this program has begun to help 5,000 Oregon households pay their mortgages for up to one year.  There is a simple anonymous test on the website that you can take to see what your chances of qualifying for the program are.

As always, if you or anyone you know, has any real estate related questions or needs we are here to help!

www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org

OR Dept. of Housing and Community Services 12-6-10 Press Release

Salem—Beginning Dec. 10, struggling Oregon homeowners can apply online for the state’s new Mortgage Payment Assistance (MPA) program at www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org.  Applications for the program will be open from Dec. 10, 2010 to Jan. 14, 2011. Program participants will be randomly selected from eligible applicants by a secure software program and notified soon after the application’s closing date. The program is not first-come, first-served. All eligible homeowners who apply within the application period will have an opportunity to receive help with their mortgage payment.  “While we recognize there are not enough resources to serve the great need faced by homeowners in Oregon, we are pleased to have created a solid program that will help smooth the difficult path many families have been traveling,” said Oregon Housing and Community Services Director Victor Merced.  The MPA is the first program under the Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative (OHSI) to be launched. Oregon Housing and Community Services, the state’s housing finance agency, created OHSI to deliver four programs to help homeowners suffering from unemployment or underemployment because of the recession.
The MPA program is the largest of the four programs and has been funded with $100 million to help approximately 5,000 homeowners pay their mortgages for up to one year or to a maximum payout of $20,000, whichever comes first.
Each applicant will fill out an online application then meet face-to-face with an intake advisor to answer questions and to ensure that all necessary documents are submitted. Those without internet access can go to the local intake agency office in their county for help.  A certain number of eligible homeowners in each county will be randomly selected to participate.
Oregon was deemed one of the nation’s “Hardest Hit” states because of its high rate of unemployment in 2009. The U.S. Treasury granted Oregon $220 million to deliver foreclosure prevention programs.
The state is working with partner organizations throughout the state to help homeowners with questions and to help administer the MPA program.

For a full list of agencies and the counties they serve, see http://www.ohcs.oregon.gov/OHCS/DO/newsreleases/11-17-10-NewRelease.pdf
For more information about OHSI or to sign up to receive our e-newsletter, see http://www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org. If you are at immediate risk of foreclosure, call 1-888-995-HOPE.

Courtesy of:
www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org

Tiny House Movement Thrives Amid Real Estate Bust

Living small: Tiny house movement thrives as more Americans downsize amid epic housing bust

As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving.

In a country where most people want to live large, Schafer helps people live small. The California home builder has become a leader in a small but growing corner of the American housing market: the tiny house. Schaefer, who lived in a 89-square foot house with his wife before his son was born last year, builds houses that are smaller than most people’s living rooms.

To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people’s living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.

Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.

“It’s very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less,” said Jay Shafer, 46, co-founder of the Small House Society, sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. “Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else.”

Shafer, author of “The Small House Book,” built the 89-square-foot house himself a decade ago and lived in it full-time until his son was born last year. Inside a space the size of an ice cream truck, he has a kitchen with gas stove and sink, bathroom with shower, two-seater porch, bedroom loft and a “great room” where he can work and entertain — as long as he doesn’t invite more than a couple guests.

He and his family now live in relatively sprawling 500-square foot home next to the tiny one.

WaMu Must Return Foreclosed Home

Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 6:16pm PST

In an interesting development in Washington Mutual Inc.’s ongoing troubles, it looks like the door has been opened for people who were foreclosed on by the bank to reclaim their homes.

In San Jose, Calif., a 75-year-old woman won back her house that the court said was illegally foreclosed by Washington Mutual and Bank of America.

And because her struggles in dealing with alleged unfair foreclosure seem to reflect problems others have experienced, her win could be a good sign for former homeowners locked in court battles to redeem their property. Fifteen lawsuits were found against WaMu Inc. filed since the beginning of 2010. Most are surrounding the closed thrift’s lending practices.

The Home That Started it All – Frozen Foreclosures & Beyond

DENMARK, Me. — The house that set off the national furor over faulty foreclosures is blue-gray and weathered. The porch is piled with furniture and knickknacks awaiting the next yard sale. In the driveway is a busted pickup truck. No one who lives there is going anywhere anytime soon.

Nicolle Bradbury bought this house seven years ago for $75,000, a major step up from the trailer she had been living in with her family. But she lost her job and the $474 monthly mortgage payment became difficult, then impossible.

It should have been a routine foreclosure, with Mrs. Bradbury joining the anonymous millions quietly dispossessed since the recession began. But she was savvy enough to contact a nonprofit group, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, where for once in her 38 years, she caught a break.

Her file was pulled, more or less at random, by Thomas A. Cox, a retired lawyer who volunteers at Pine Tree. He happened to know something about foreclosures because when he worked for a bank he did them all the time. Twenty years later, he had switched sides and, he says, was trying to make amends.

Suddenly, there is a frenzy over foreclosures. Every attorney general in the country is participating in an investigation into the flawed paperwork and questionable methods behind many of them. A Senate hearing is scheduled, and federal inquiries have begun. The housing market, which runs on foreclosure sales, is in turmoil. Bank stocks fell on Thursday as analysts tried to gauge the impact on lenders’ bottom lines.

No-Interest Mortgages?

No-Interest Mortgages? No Chance
Still, 0% Is Thought-Provoking as Housing Slump Goes On Despite Low Rates

Imagine financing a home purchase with a no-interest mortgage. You probably never would want to move again.

Granted, it is doubtful that you will ever have that luxury. But if rates continue to drop, as some in the mortgage industry suggest they may, mortgage rates could inch in the direction of 0%. The Federal Reserve’s recent indication that it is willing to take extraordinary steps to keep the economy growing and continued concerns of deflation may also put pressure on mortgage rates.

No-interest mortgages, while a remote dream at best, could stoke a home-buying binge. Here, a home for sale in Springfield, Ill., earlier this year.  “So long as the Fed allows the word ‘deflation’ to get bandied about, mortgage rates will ease lower,” said Dan Green, a loan officer with Waterstone Mortgage in Cincinnati.

How much lower?

As Housing Languishes, Mortgage Write-downs Gain Appeal for Banks

As Housing Languishes, Mortgage Write-downs Gain Appeal for Banks
By David Bracken

RISMEDIA, September 10, 2010–(MCT)–

Eager to avoid writing down the loans on their books, banks have been extending many of them with the hope that the market will improve.  Even banks that foreclosed on properties have kept them on their books, reluctant to auction them in a market where investors offer as low as 10 cents on the dollar.  Now that appears to be changing, and it could have implications for property owners caught up in the sell-off.  “The proverbial logjam is beginning to break up,” said Jim Anthony, CEO of Anthony & Co., a Raleigh real estate services company.

As evidence, Anthony said BB&T plans to auction $1 billion of performing and nonperforming loans in the Southeast.  BB&T would neither confirm nor deny reports of the auction.  “BB&T continues to evaluate opportunities to best execute our problem loan disposition strategy, which may or may not include bulk sales,” said spokeswoman Cynthia Williams.  BB&T has been more aggressive of late in writing down its troubled loans and moving to rid itself of some of them. The bank’s CEO, Kelly King, has indicated the strategy will continue as long as investor appetite for the loans remains at current levels.