February 18th, 2009

Three documents were released by the White House regarding the new “foreclosure plan” President Obama unveiled earlier today. 

Technically the name is the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. The first document is a detailed summary of the provisions outlined by the administration today. The second document describes how the plan will help different “families” facing foreclosure. The third is a question and answer series.

Things have been moving quickly and we recognize that you will have a ton of questions. Please stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.  Click on the titles below to view the documents.

2009 White House Housing Fact Sheet
2009 White House Fact Sheet Housing Examples
2009 White House Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Questions and Answers

From the Wisconsin Realtor’s Association (WRA) - Legal Hottips December 1, 2008:

Fannie Mae recently released updated underwriting guidelines for new mortgage loans that directly address individuals with various types of foreclosure history. Potential borrowers with:

a Foreclosure on their credit record must wait 5 years to be considered for new funding, and are subject to additional credit and down payment requirements for 5 to 7 years.

a Deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure warrants a 4 year wait with additional requirements for 4 to 7 years.

Finally, the silver lining…

a Short Sale require only a 2 year wait with no additional requirements.

These new guidelines make short sales a more attractive option for homeowners…

This Wisconsin REALTORS® Association Best of the Legal Hotline service is provided for you by the WRA’s Legal Affairs Department. The service should be considered a general statement of applicable legal principles. Given this format, it is impossible to fully address all potential legal issues which might apply in any particular situation. A determination of any individual’s legal rights in a transaction can only be obtained after complete analysis of the law and its applicability to the particular fact situation.

The stock market is NOT the housing market. It’s on a whole different set of tracks. And it’s been in a highly volatile state for more than a month.

Housing, on the other hand, has already endured its painful correction for two and a half years … is now pretty much stabilized … and is slowing moving toward its cyclical recovery.

Click here to read the article -

The following article is reprinted for a GMAR email newsletter dated September 25th -

It is a great time to consider moving-up for current homeowners who feel they need more space or more amenities. Current market conditions are working in favor of sellers who need a larger home or who want to move up in the housing marketplace. “While their existing home may not fetch the kind of price it may have two or three years ago, move-up homes they are looking at are also available at reduced prices.” said Beth Jaworski, current Chairwoman of the Greater Milwaukee Association of REALTORS®.

Assuming a move-up buyer has a good credit score and equity in his/her existing home to provide a nice down-payment on the move-up home, with today’s very reasonable mortgage rates, the monthly payment on the new home should not be a budget buster.

Jaworski continued, “People actually will save money trading up now, as opposed to waiting and trading up when the market turns back into a seller’s market. The savings you currently can realize on the move-up home will outweigh the loss you may take on the current home.” Jaworski qualifies any loss sellers might face because homes selling in the “starter home” price range are selling faster and for better prices than the homes in the traditional “move-up” price ranges.

Current homeowners sitting on the sidelines because they are afraid of losing money on the sale of their existing home should realize that “moving-up” is a great option right now and should consult a REALTOR® about their best plan of action.

The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors sent us a special announcement this past Wednesday, July 23rd. We thought we’d pass it on -

The Federal Reserve adopted rules last week to prevent unfair or deceptive practices by lenders and to protect home buyers from the kind of loans that drove many into foreclosure. The new rules apply to all lenders and not just to banks supervised by the Fed. Some of the new rules require lenders to escrow money to pay taxes and insurance for risky borrowers, document borrower’s income before a loan is issued, limit and—in some cases—ban prepayment penalties, prohibit lenders from making a loan without considering a borrower’s ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home’s value, and require mortgage advertising to contain information about rates, monthly payments, and other features of the loan. Most of the rules are expected to take effect Oct. 1, 2009. Escrow requirements won’t go into effect until April 1, 2010. The rules do not apply to home equity lines of credit, construction loans, bridge loans, or reverse mortgage loans.

Highlights from a July 14, 2008 article in Realty Times - “Washington Report: Foreclosure Facts of LIfe?” by Kenneth R. Harney

The article is an overview of a recent speech by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson given to an FDIC housing conference. Labeled as, ” blunt, tough love comments about the home foreclosure crisis and the real estate market …” by the author, here are a few highlights …

In addition to saying that the federal government’s clean-up role can only be limited, the author goes onto say that, “Paulson also used his speech to punch holes in the widely-accepted perception — fostered by media coverage — that the housing market is in deep trouble nationwide.”

Paulson said, “We need to recognize that there is not a national housing market,” and further Paulson noted that just four states: California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada — accounted for one quarter of all mortgages nationwide, but 42% of foreclosure filings last quarter. Adding Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, these seven states — all by themselves — have accounted for over half of all foreclosure filings this year.” [Highlighting is ours].

We’re beginning to feel that more and more people here in Wisconsin are starting to get tired of the unending bad national real estate news. If you haven’t noticed, we’ve been tired of it for some time. That’s why we look to find news that debunks this “national real estate market”.

Look around our site … there’s all kinds of credible sources that are saying the same thing - real estate here is in pretty good shape. The fact is this market is producing some unusual opportunities and you’ll see plenty of that around here too.

Click here for a related article on our local real estate market

Wisconsin’s Use Value of Land

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently issued an unpublished opinion in Thomas v. Pringle (Case No. 2006AP697) that could impact anyone involved in the sale or development of agricultural land. The key issue in this case was whether a seller/developer has a duty to disclose a “potential” real estate tax penalty under Wisconsin’s Use-Value Law to a prospective buyer.

Background

Wisconsin’s Use-Value Law assesses property based upon its agricultural value rather than its fair market value. Under the law, a penalty is imposed whenever agricultural land is converted to a different use. Also, the Use-Value Law requires sellers to notify the buyer of three things: (1) that the land has been assessed as agricultural land under the Use-Value Law; (2) whether the seller has been assessed a penalty; and (3) if so, whether the penalty has been deferred. See Wis. Stat. § 74.485(7). In 2002, the WRA Real Estate Condition Report forms were updated to include this notification requirement.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) recently posted an article about changes in the law regarding the use-value of land.

Click here to read the article

In a press release earlier this year the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) said that this real estate market is full of opportunities. We couldn’t agree more! Despite high inventories, record high foreclosures and sellers having difficulties finding buyers, this market is presenting amazing opportunities at the same time!

We get blasted with national bad news almost daily. We think it is nurturing a collective “bad attitude” which contributes to the problem. But our local circumstances have not been nearly as bad as out east, in Florida, Vegas or California, to name a few. Here’s part of the press release …

MADISON, WI – All real estate markets are not the same, and in Wisconsin, there’s more good news than bad. Explaining this reality to consumers is the goal of a new advertising campaign sponsored by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA) and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

“The fact is today’s real estate market, especially in Wisconsin, is full of great opportunities, if people take the time to look into it,” said Mike Spranger, Chairman of the Board of the WRA.