Shirley Kistler's Real Estate Blog: Serving your Real Estate Needs in Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado Counties

Foreclosure filings rose in August, as more homeowners fell behind on their mortgage payments.  

Filing were up 7% compared to July, but were still 33% lower than a year ago. 

According to Realty Tract’s report, 228,098 homes in the US received some kind of foreclosure filing in August.  Foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions, which come later in the process, both fell slightly. 

The increased in default notices may signal that lenders are starting to finally push through foreclosure paperwork that was previously delayed by “robo-signing”. 

The good news is that bank repossessions have been falling.  Lenders repossessed 64,813 homes in August, a six-month low and a 37% decline after they hit a peak in September last year. 

Meanwhile, foreclosure auctions were scheduled for 84,405 homes, the lowest number in more than three years. 

Nevada, California and Arizona housing markets are the hardest hit by foreclosures. 

Information from CNNMoney.com

Related articles

• Foreclosure filings jump 7% in August from July Foreclosures fall over the year, but monthly figures signal trouble ahead (lonerangersilver.wordpress.com)
• Mortgage default warnings surged in August (sfgate.com)

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The Sacramento Beepublished an article September 26, 2011 with the following statistics compiled by RealtyTrac and Foreclosure-Response.org.  They placed our region’s shadow inventory at 53,256 homes in the four surrounding areas of Sacramento, Yolo, Placerand El Dorado counties.

They included in this number three categories of distressed properties:

• 12,285 houses already owned by banks but not sold
• 19,367 units whose owners have received an initial foreclosure notice, or notice of default, but have not been foreclosed on
• 21,604 homeowners who are 90 days or more delinquent on their payments but have not received a notice of default

Lenderare starting to pick up the pace on repossessions once again.  The figures provided by RealtyTrac show foreclosures in the area soared 76% from July to August, the highest number in 11 months.

Based on this “shadow inventory” it would take a year and a half to sell these distressed homes.

To read the complete article by Rick Daysog of the Sacramento Bee click here

A recent survey conducted by FindLaw.com a legal information website found that 60% of Americans believe that it is “never OK” for homeowners to simply stop making payments on their mortgages.  34% say it’s OK for homeowners to walk away from mortgages, but only if they aren’t able to make the monthly payments.  Only 3% believe that homeowners should be able to walk away from their mortgage anytime they want. 

Before making any major decisions, homeowners should consult with financial and legal professionals, including accountants, real estate attorneys and financial advisors.  Any major change to a mortgage situation could lead to serious and unanticipated consequences involving taxes, contract law, credit scores, ability to borrow in the future, potential for lawsuits and much more.

Related articles

• Is Walking Away From Your Mortgage OK? (creditloan.com)
• How Will a Strategic Default Impact My Credit Score? (askthemoneycoach.com)

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 1)      Obtain a Home Inspection – The house may look great on the surface but might have hidden problems which could require expensive repairs.  On the other hand, a fixer may look bad but could have excellent bones that can be repaired at a reasonable cost.  Even if the listing agent has previous inspections and reports that may be a few months old, you may want to still consider having a new inspection as a sitting home can deteriorate a bit. 

2)      Use Common Real Estate Logic – Too many people focus on price alone.  You need to keep in mind sub-par locations, poor lighting, terrible views, below average school district, high crime rates and other negatives that may be another reason why a home went into foreclosure.  You should always try to find out how long the home has been empty; the longer it has, the more of chance it may not be a good deal.  Also, if there are other foreclosures nearby, that may be a reason for concern. 

3)      Rethink or Skip the Flip – Even if the house looks like a great flipping opportunity, beware unless you are a pro, with incredible contractor connections.  You may want to triple the amount you think you will be spending to fix up the home.  Sometimes the temptation to make fast money doesn’t always pan out, so think it through and speak to a real estate professional and contractors. 

4)      Go over the Budget – A fixer-upper means nothing if you can’t afford to fix it up.  Make sure you have an ample budget to do all of the repairs needed.

 5)      See the house in person – You should never buy a house without going in person to see it.

  Related articles

• 4 mistakes to avoid when buying a foreclosure (georgegmiller.wordpress.com)
• The pitfalls of buying a foreclosure house (theglobeandmail.com)

Despite the rising number of renters in the U.S., it is cheaper to buy a home rather than rent one in 72% of the 50 largest cities according to an index released by Trulia.com. 

Trulia’s rent vs. buy index compares the median list price with the median rent on two bedroom apartments, town homes & condominiums listed on Trulia.com as of 1/10/11. 

In 36 out of 50 of the country’s most populous cities, buying a two-bedroom home is less expensive than renting one.  These cities also include many areas that have been hit hard by foreclosures, such as Sacramento.

A price-to-rent ratio of 1 to 15 means that it’s much cheaper to buy than to rent in a particular city.  A ratio between 16 and 20 means that it’s more expenseive to rent than to buy, but depending on the family’s situation, buying could “make financial sense” the side siad.  Any ratio above 20 indicates that owning is much more costly than renting in a city.

Top 10 cities to buy vs. rent:

Source: Trulia

In 10 cities, renting is cheaper, but buying might make more financial sense, according to Trulia. These cities include Los Angeles, Boston, and Fort Worth, Texas.

The index considers the total cost of homeownership compared to the total cost of renting. Calculations for the total cost of homeownership include mortgage principal and interest, property taxes, hazard insurance, closing costs at time of purchase, homeowners association dues, and private mortgage insurance. The homeownership cost calculation also includes tax advantages from mortgage interest, property tax and closing-cost deductions.

Calculations for total rental cost include rent and renters insurance.

The total cost of homeownership was highest, compared to the cost to rent, in New York; Seattle; Kansas City, Mo.; and San Francisco.

Top 10 cities to rent vs. buy:

Source: Trulia

Related articles

• Trulia.com Rent vs. Buy Housing Ratios: First Quarter 2011 (mymoneyblog.com)

Effective January 1, 2011, California first trust deed mortgage holders who consent to a short sale of residential property (up to 4 units) are prohibited from seeking a deficiency judgment for the difference between the mortgage balance and proceeds realized through the sale. 

Senate Bill931 was passed by legistature in August and approved by the Governor on 9/30/10 to help strapped homeowners.

See the complete article at Realty Times 

Nearly 31,000 borrowers with Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) loans forfeited their homes through a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure during the 2^nd quarter of 2010.  This is a 27% increase over the 24,000 transactions completed during the 1^st quarter of 2010.

During the same period last year there were 11,700 transactions up from 3,000 the year before.

 Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) also reported that loan modification and refinancing by FNMA and FMCC were up in the second quarter.  The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) increased 65% while refinancing under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) increased by 30%.  Loan servicers completed 171,200 permanent loan modifications on these types of loans thru HAMP and nearly 88,600 borrowers in HAMP trials transitioned to permanent modifications bringing the two companies HAMP numbers to nearly 225,000.  FHFA’s report also stated that approximately 202,000 of the borrowers were in a HAMP trial period at the end of the 2^nd quarter, compared to nearly 448,100 at the end of the first quarter.  That means minus the 88,600 permanent modifications 157,500 homeowners’ HAMP trials were cancelled as a result of missed payments or inadequate documentation. 

FHFA also noted that more than ½ of the modifications completed in the 2^nd quarter lowered borrowers’ monthly payments by more then 30%.  During this same period the two companies initiated 275,100 new foreclosures, an increase of 12%.  Completed foreclosure sales and 3^rd party sales totaled 112,400, up 15% from the previous quarter.