Still a Buyer's Market...but HURRY!

In case you missed it, the Greater Nashville Board of Realtors reported that sales for the area were up approximately  25% for both the month of April and year to date.  Inventory was also down by about 12%.   This explains the call I had from an agent this morning wanting to make sure his client had been pre-approved.  He proceeded to tell me that in the areas this young couple was looking that every time they started to look at a certain home it was sold out from under them.  So we are probably reaching a state of the new normal in the real estate industry.   It isn’t like the “good old days”. But there is reasonable hope of a seller to sell their home (average 88 days) and the buyers are still able to contract for good terms. It is still a buyer’s market, but if you are wanting to buy, the edge is slowly but surely moving toward the seller.

FEMA warns Congress clock is ticking on flood insurance program

By Erik Wasson - 04/25/12 11:33 AM ET


The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday stepped up pressure on Congress to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).


The program is set to expire at the end of May, and FEMA warned that after that time NFIP will not be able to issue new policies. The program is seen as key for limiting the costs of natural disasters.


“FEMA is urging Congress to reauthorize the NFIP and send a clear signal to citizens, communities, and private sector partners that the federal government will continue to support our nation's efforts to manage flood risk,” David Miller, associate administrator for FEMA's Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, said in a statement.


The House and Senate were unable to agree on a NFIP reauthorization last year, and extended the program without changes until May 31.


House Republicans are pushing their reform plan as part of a six-committee effort to replace the automatic spending cuts triggered by the failure of the congressional debt supercommittee last year.


The government will be forced to cut $109 billion in 2013 automatically starting on Jan. 2. The House-passed budget requested six committees to come up with detailed replacements for the across-the-board sequester.


The House Financial Services Committee has proposed a five-year NFIP bill that cuts the deficit by $4.9 billion. Authored by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), it would increase rates charged to customers.


It is unclear where the six-committee process is heading. Officially the recommendations of the six committees are to be used as part of a budget reconciliation bill, but because the Senate is not passing a new budget resolution this year, that process appears to be a dead end. More likely, the recommendations will be used in a lame-duck negotiation with the White House on budget, spending and tax matters.


In the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) urged passage of his version of the bill.


“The Banking Committee unanimously passed a bipartisan bill that provides long-term stability with a 5-year reauthorization period and makes important reforms that set the program on a more fiscally-sound path, phases in premium increases to assist homeowners, and helps educate consumers about their flooding risks," he said in a statement. "It is my hope that we can find a bipartisan path forward before this critically important program lapses.”


Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/223619-fema-warns-congress-clock-ticking-on-flood-insurance-program

Conventional VS FHA

We are seeing a few signs of the loosing of loan criteria. The main one is from the PMI companies. You may not know but several of them went out of business during the credit crunch we have experienced. The ones that are left have just been making things difficult. Now one of them has emerged and decided to go after business. They are cutting rates and making the guidelines a little better. That should start forcing their peers to adjust also. Let’s hope so. In the meantime we are using one time upfront mortgage insurance a lot. If someone has good credit scores and 5% for a down payment it is a better option than FHA.



If you want to check it out more, or would like to talk about what we can do for you..email me at george.margrave@migonline.com for more info or give me a call at 777-4663.

Pimco Housing Bear Kiesel Says It's Time to Start Buying

By John Gittelsohn-May 4, 2012

Mark Kiesel, the Pacific Investment Management Co. managing director who sold his home in 2006 when he deemed the market a bubble, says it's time to buy.


"I was one of the most negative on housing," Kiesel said in a telephone interview. "I finally came to the conclusion housing is looking pretty decent."


Kiesel said he bought a house in Newport Beach, California, where Pimco is based. Today he published a credit market note titled, "Back In" on the firm's website in which he writes, "I'm not sure U.S. housing prices have bottomed--only time will tell--but there are many more positives today than there were six years ago when I sold my house."


Home prices that have fallen 35 percent from their mid-2006 peak and mortgage rates of less than 4 percent are helping make it a good time to buy, said Kiesel, who is global head of the corporate bond portfolio management group at Pimco. Other signs the housing market is turning around include forclosure filings dropping to levels last seen in 2007 and sales of new and existing homes that have begun to increase as rising rents boost the relative affordability of purchasing, he said.


"For those of you renting or on the sidelines, I recommend you at least consider getting 'back in' and buying a house," he wrote in the note. "The future is hard to predict, but U.S. housing is healing and is probably close to a bottom."


http://www.bloomberg.com/


If you want to check it out more, or would like to talk about what we can do for you..email me at george.margrave@migonline.com for more info or give me a call at 777-4663.

Is It Hard to Get a Mortgage?

I know that you have all heard that it is tough to get a mortgage approved. Well it is, but mostly it is common sense regulations that are designed to create good mortgages for good borrowers and home owners. The kicker is that so many of my so called peers at my competitors don’t know what they are doing. They are driving their clients insane. They don’t answer their questions and if the news is not good they don’t deliver the message, much less solve the problem.


I and my team pride ourselves in recognizing and solving issues. We don’t bat 100%, but we do well if I do say so. Every month we wind up saving someone’s purchase or refinance when some other lender just didn’t know what to do. My 27 years is good for something. :)

Email me at george.margrave@migonline.com or call me at 615-777-4663 for more info or to chat about it.