Buying Foreclosed Property: Single Homeowners Lead the Way

Singles are not afraid to commit—when it comes to real estate that is!  According to a recent survey by Coldwell Banker, 2010 saw an upsurge in single homeowners in the United States.  According to the survey, current affordability factors are so strong that 68% of single homeowners chose to purchase homes that were below their price range.  Of the 13% who purchased a home jointly, 49% partnered with parents.

Many young people are looking to the suburbs for housing, and over 50% of the group surveyed chose suburbia over urban areas.  The survey also uncovered the lack of “foreclosure phobia.”  Around 38% of men and 29% of single women would consider buying foreclosed property.

Some things that topped the lists of the surveyed group, included features and reasons to buy foreclosed properties:

  • Cost effective. 50% of single buyers indicated that purchasing a home was less costly than renting
  • More for the Money. High quality space (modernized updates and appliances)  and more of it (a nice yard and outside space to entertain) won many buyers over.
  • Freedom. The desire for independence was the deciding factor for 35% of those surveyed.

Homebuyer profiles are not what they once were!  In today’s market, single homebuyers are a major force.  Are you reserving space for them at the closing table?

Freedom from Hunger: Affecting Lives

At 48 years old, Lougue Samby is a mother who provides food for 11 extended family members every day.  Supporting a large family anywhere is a challenge—but in rural Sevare (in Mali, West Africa), the challenges are even greater.  Lougue has struggled with feeding her family by giving them limited amounts of lunch and dinner, but the children were often sick with illness and hunger.  Like others in her village, she turned to friends and family for help with money, but they could not always help.

Lougue had never contributed to her family income, but started down the path towards a better life when a Credit with Education program was introduced in her village.  By joining with other women to form a Credit Association and take out a small business loan, she became an active businesswoman and her family’s future grew brighter.  The education she received taught her how to run a small business and how to use her profits from that business to improve the health and nutrition of her children.

Lougue

With her loan, Lougue started selling beans to others in the area and today has added charcoal, wood, peanuts and more to her stock.  For the first time in her life as an income-earner, she is able to buy important items such as soap and food so that her family can stay healthy.  She can also pay school fees and purchase supplies so that her children can gain an education.  In addition, Lougue saves money in case of an emergency or if unforeseen expenses arise.

Through Freedom from Hunger’s programs, Lougue and the women of her community understand that they are not alone in their problems, support each other to pay back the loans, save money, make profits from their businesses, and encourage one another in safe health practices.  “If you need money, it’s not difficult to pay back the loans and have a successful business selling things.  I love my business and I’m good at it.”  In addition, she passes the lessons she learns on to others in her community and to her children for truly lasting change.

Freedom from Hunger, with just 42 staff worldwide and 112 in-country partners, reaches millions of women just like Lougue around the world to help them earn more and learn more.  To donate, or to learn more about Freedom from Hunger and the lives affected by this great charity, click here.

YOU can vote for Freedom from Hunger to receive a portion of charitable contribution to commemorate First Preston’s 23rd year in business.

Habitat for Humanity International

The world is experiencing a global housing crisis.  According to the United Nations, about 1.6 billion people live in substandard housing and 100 million are homeless. Every week more than a million people are born in, or move to, cities in the developing world.  Nearly one-third of the global urban population lives in slums. In the United States, 95 million people need safe, decent and affordable housing.

Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity is a global leader in addressing the issues of housing. Started in a small interracial community outside of Americus, Georgia, today Habitat and its tens of thousands volunteers work with thousands of low-income families to build affordable housing which is much more than a roof over someone’s head. In the clean, decent and safe housing Habitat builds, families create a stable environment in which to raise their children, their sense of dignity and pride grow and educational and job prospects increase. Equally important, a family’s health, physical safety and security improve. Thousands of local Habitat affiliates work in communities around the world to select and support homeowners, organize volunteers and coordinate the building of homes. Habitat is not a giveaway program.  In addition to a down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor into building their Habitat house and the homes of other Habitat families.  Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with no-profit loans provided by local Habitat affiliates. The monthly mortgage payments are used to build more Habitat houses.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, USA (6/16/09)-During the 2009 Americorps Build-a-Thon, 500 Habitat for Humanity Americorps members and alumni helped 20 families build houses in the community hardest hit by the Iowa floods of 2008. © Habitat for Humanity International *

Habitat has build over 400,000 houses across the world, sheltering more than 2 million people in 3,000 communities worldwide. To donate, or learn more about Habitat for Humanity, click here.

YOU can vote for Habitat for Humanity International to receive a portion of our charitable contribution to commemorate First Preston’s 23rd birthday.

*Ezra Millstein, Habitat for Humanity International

Homes for Our Troops

After watching a news report of a severely injured Service Member who had returned from Iraq, John Gonsalves thought to himself “What now?  What happens to this person now?”  He searched for an organization that he assumed was already in place where he could donate his building expertise for a few weeks.  When he found out none existed, he quit his contractor job and started Homes for Our Troops.

Founded in 2004, Homes for Our Troops is committed to helping those who have selflessly given to our country and have serious disabilities and injuries since September 11, 2001. They coordinate donations of labor, materials and money to build homes for these servicemen and servicewomen so they can live independently and with maximum freedom of movement.

Through donations of money, building materials, and labor, Homes for Our Troops works directly with the Servicemen and Servicewomen to provide a home to an injured veteran at no cost.  Most of the projects undertaken are brand new homes.

MSG Daniel Robles explores his new home built by Homes for Our Troops

In some cases, the Veteran already owns a home, so Homes for Our Troops renovates the home with all of the necessary special adaptations to accommodate their injury or need, providing the maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.

Homes for Our Troops reaches thousands of Servicemen and Servicewomen across the United States to give back for the sacrifices they have made.  To donate, or learn more about Freedom from Hunger and the lives affected by this great charity, click here.

Freedom from Hunger: Self-Help for a Hungry World

In many countries such as India, Guatemala, Peru, and Ghana, women are faced with wrenching choices:  Feed my children healthy food OR buy medicine for the one who is sick? Watch my children waste away with hunger OR give them my own small portion of food, praying that we all survive the hungry season? No mother should be faced with such desperate options; yet, such agonizing decisions are a daily reality for millions of women in the world living with relentless poverty—often on less than $1.25 a day.

Founded in 1946, Freedom from Hunger is an international development organization that works in 17 countries around the globe.  They bring innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty and are currently reaching more than 2.4 million women and families—a total of over 14 million people.  Freedom from Hunger has received the coveted 4-star rating with Charity Navigator for 4 consecutive years and has consistently been a top-rated charity with the American Institute of Philanthropy.

Freedom from Hunger’s ecuation sessions use pictures, because the women they reach cannot read or write. *

Freedom from Hunger provides access to small-scale loans of $14-$400 for women in the developing world so they can start or expand a small business (example: raising chickens to sell the eggs).  Women participating in Freedom from Hunger’s programs are also educated in how to run a small business and how to use profits from the business for the health and nutrition of their children.

Support for Freedom from Hunger gets money into the hands of women every day, helping them earn and learn so they can meet the needs of their families.  To donate, or to learn more about Freedom from Hunger and the lives affected by this great charity, click here. YOU can vote for Freedom from Hunger to receive a portion of the charitable contribution to commemorate First Preston’s 23rd year in business.  Vote here on our blog or on our Facebook page!

* @Freedom from Hunger, 2010

HomeTelos Launches New Website to Market HUD-Owned Properties

From the creators of BidSelect.com, HomeTelos is pleased to announce the launch of it’s new website: www.HomeTelosFirst.com dedicated to the sale of HUD-owned homes.  It provides buyer education and related tools to help your clients in the home buying process, including:

  • Simplified navigation and property searches
  • Navigation available on all site pages
  • Property searches available from the home page
  • Advanced Search to filter results by FHA Insurability

Single Registration. If you are registered on BidSelect you are also registered on HomeTelosFirst.  Your existing login and password credentials can be used to access either website, preventing the need for you to register again.

You can manage your profile, save searches and favorite properties from either website!  And with the “Find an Agent” feature, your contact information is available to prospective buyers on both sites.  Click on “My Account” to access your profile and update your contact information.

HomeTelos values the role and support real estate professionals provide in the marketing and selling process.  We appreciate your continued loyalty and commitment to “Getting America’s Homeownership Back on the Road!”  We look forward to a bright future together.

Signed Contracts for Previously Owned Homes up 3.5%

In the most recent report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the November “pending home sales index” rose 3.5% over the prior month.  The index measures the number of signed contracts for purchases of existing previously owned homes.  This follows a record 10% jump for October and beat modest expectations!

What’s behind the renewed interest in “signing on the dotted line”? It’s the dynamic duo of “…historically high housing affordability’, and “overall economic improvement” according to  NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun.  Concerns over rising interest rates played a significant role as well.  Yun is predicting an 8% rise of units sold in 2011 and an additional 4% in 2010.

Avoiding Foreclosure Just Got Easier: KnowYourOptions.com

According to a Fannie Mae spokesman, an estimated four million homes are at risk of foreclosure this year.  Last year, millions of distressed homeowners gave up and walked away from their homes due to hardships, frustration and the perceived lack of options.

An innovative online interactive video called WaysHome was released by Fannie Mae last week.   Users can select a character whose mortgage scenario is similar to their own then follow the character through a series of decisions and outcomes. The strikingly realistic scenarios are played out in a neighborhood that is no stranger to foreclosure. The interactive experience includes links to checklists, a registry of approved housing counselors and other helpful resources.

The WaysHome simulator can be found at www.KnowYourOptions.com and is free to use.  While there is no guarantee users will ultimately avoid foreclosure; this “virtual reality simulation model” arms homeowners with the power of knowledge.  Participants will find there is an abundance of help for distressed homeowners and multiple options can be evaluated.  If an exit strategy is the best option, homeowners can select an option that will be the least damaging.

This is a powerful tool for real estate professionals in “Getting America’s Homeownership Back on the Road!”

Benefits of Doing A 203K Rehab Loan

By guest blogger: Leesa Sandoval

Through the years, the FHA loan program has helped potential buyers achieve their goal of home ownership. The program features reasonable mortgage rates, low down payments and relaxed credit requirements.

The FHA 203k Rehab loan is very popular and follows the standard FHA guidelines with one addition; it allows buyers to roll rehab costs into the mortgage.  The financing includes the purchase price plus the cost of improvements required to make the home habitable. Cosmetic enhancements such as kitchen and bathroom updates can be included.

This is a great loan program for Buyers and for Selling Agents. Houses that would normally require the Seller to fund repairs prior to closing can now be closed without Seller repair concessions.  Distressed “Investor Only” grade properties can now be marketed “as is” because an FHA 203k rehab loan can take care of repairs for owner occupant buyers.

Typically foundation and roof repair requirements destroy financing potential and limit sales. This is not the case when using the FHA 203k rehab loan.  This loan program takes a home with ‘condition issues’ and allows the appraiser to perform an estimation of value, using the “as repaired” value. Such homes are appraised as if the repairs have been completed.

At closing the seller receives their proceeds.  The remaining borrowed funds are placed into an escrow account for use during the rehab.  Construction begins three days after closing.   The seller and the Agents are not involved. The closing date (close of escrow) is not delayed by pending repairs. Therefore, sales transactions usually close within a 45-90 day time frame. (Depending upon the Lender.)

Perhaps the only limiting factors with the 203k loan are that there are not many lenders that do this loan and not many buyers and sellers know the program exists. A list of qualified Lenders can be found here.  Click on HUD-Approved Lenders (at the bottom of the page), select category 203K and a geographic coverage area.

About our guest blogger: Leesa Sandoval is a Senior Loan Officer with PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company.  She has been working in the mortgage business for over 8 years and considers her niche to be rehab loans.

Mild “Double Dip” Recession Likely

Brace yourself it’s going to be a rocky road for US residential prices.  Paul Dales, US economist at Capital Economics predicts a second dip in US residential prices. His forecast is that over the next 2-3 years, “prices could slide by between 5-10%”.  However, this is considered mild in comparison to the first deadly dip of 30% between 2006-2009.

Unless you have been in hiding, you probably know that the three most likely culprits for the second dip in residential prices are:

  1. 10% unemployment and significant “under-employment”.
  2. High supply and wilted demand equals lower values.
  3. REO inventories expected to continue to rise.

However there are several things that add a silver lining to this storm cloud!

Refinancing: Lower prices and low interest rates equal affordability and purchasing power for qualified buyers. Many well positioned homeowners are refinancing to minimize housing costs.

Way Out is Up: American housing is now undervalued. Therefore there is potential for housing to perform well in the medium term.

People Still Need Homes: Productive REO professionals and Asset Management experts will be in strong demand for the foreseeable future.

Don’t get distracted by the bad news.  People are still buying homes. People still really need REALTORS.  What ‘bright spots’ are you focused on?