Patty McMillen

Should you rent or buy?  Look at it this way…wealth-building potential of owning vs. renting over an eight-year holding period and found that today’s “hurdle rate” tilts in favor of buying.  The hurdle rate is the point between buying and renting at which it’s a wash in terms of wealth-building.  If today’s hurdle rate is lower than the average past property appreciation rate for a particular market, then it makes sense to buy, because future property appreciation should enable an individual, on average, to create more wealth through owning than renting.  Buy today in a down market and capture the holding period for the appreciation.

Home buyers with mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration will soon see a rise in fees.
The agency is raising its fees in an effort to try to recoup some of its depleted reserves, which suffered from the rising number of home owners who defaulted on their mortgages. The agency also says it’s raising fees to try to encourage the return of more private capital to the market.

Starting April 1, it will increase its annual mortgage insurance premium for loans under $625,500, bringing the total cost from 1.15 percent to the loan amount to 1.25 percent. Starting June 1, large loan premiums will see an increase of 0.35 percent of a percentage point, bringing the total cost up to 1.5 percent.

Image via Wikipedia

The short sales have been leading the market this year and I’m anticipating more to come.  Good news in the short sale department is now BANK OF AMERICA is now allowing me to submit backup offers on transactions if the original buyer fails to perform..this is a new procedure that they just implemented.  What this means for a buyer is that we don’t have to start the whole process again, I can just continue with the original transaction and still have the same specialist at Bank of America.  This change will save everyone time without repeating the number of process steps.

Mediation is a method of resolving disputes in which a neutral person (mediator) facilitates discussion and negotiation between the parties to a dispute.  The mediator does not have authority to impose a settlement upon the parties but instead explores with the parties the possibility of settlement.

We are still a long way from economic growth and increased employment, the pace of job cuts seems to be slowing and there are signs of life in the housing market that indicate a possible recovery is on it’s way…if not already happening.  California experienced a 59 percent peak-to-trough decline in price, hitting bottom in 2009 vs a 29 percent peak-to-trough decline experienced by the national market.  Some economist believe this steep decline indicates the state is further along in its return to a normal market than the national market…I just hope these guys are right for once!