We have reached a point in Post Falls that we knew we would get to sooner or later.  Effective October 1, 2012, USDA loans will no longer be available within the Post Falls city limits.   Since USDA financing is a 100% financing program, this will eliminate the possibility of financing for many buyers. There are still 100% financing programs, however they are limited in their use.  Therefore, if you have been thinking of buying and using USDA as a means of financing, the time to act, IS NOW!!!

USDA financing will still be available in other rural areas of Kootenai County.  Call us if you need to know more about the areas that USDA services with their loan program.

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Tammy & Brian Waggoner Windermere 208-215-8188 contactus@tammyandbrianre.com

So, I took a tip this week from the Australians.  They hold open houses (apparently) for only 1/2 hour to an hour.  Our tradition has always been 3-4 hours.  Well this Sunday, I bit the bullet and thought I would try doing an  open house from 1-2 on Sunday.  Holy COW!!!  I’m sure it was a combination of factors…the house is priced well, it was a beautiful sunny day, the home is situated on a park…but there were throngs of people!  Over 60 people walked through the house, at least 22 groups all together. 

What a fun day….I mean HOUR!  That’s why we keep on top of the trends when we are selling houses.  We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing for our sellers and I can tell you that our sellers were very happy to see all those people come through their home!

Tammy & Brian’s Blog Sign up to receive new listings to your Email What is your home worth? Free List of Foreclosed Homes For Sale Search All Homes For Sale Short Sale Solutions Explained

Tammy & Brian Waggoner Windermere 208-215-8188 contactus@tammyandbrianre.com

Wow, what a week so far!  If you have been wondering what happens with Short Sales when the appraisal come in "High", please read on.  We had such a situation recently. We listed a property at what we deemed to be Fair Market Value.  It was a property with very little comparables, so we picked up some comparables from another area and set a price….NOTHING!  There was no activity.  So we lowered the price….still no activity.  We continued to lower the price at a pre-defined pace until we reached a point where we had activity on the property and received an offer.  All is good right?  Not so fast.  We submitted the offer to the short sale lender and they did their own appriasal.  Funny enough, it came out at the price we had listed the property in the first place. 

You might think we are sunk at this point.  We’ve lowered the price substantially; we have a full price offer at that price; but the appraisal is too high and the bank says they won’t take less.  However, we have kept track of things!  We pull together a summary of the advertising we did, the number of showings at each list price and the amount of time at each list price and guess what!??!  The bank calls us back a few days after we submit our report and say "You’re Right", this is Fair Market Value for this property and we have adjusted our numbers so we can accept your offer. Needless to say both the seller and buyer are ecstatic!   What looked to be an impossible scenario, with proper planning and management on our part, turned all the way around.    We are very excited to move forward and sell this house to a new family and get everyone involved, the solution they need!!

Coeur d’Alene Homes for Sale Search All Homes For Sale What is your home worth? Short Sale Solutions Explained Free List of Foreclosed Homes For Sale

Tammy & Brian Waggoner Windermere 208-215-8188 contactus@tammyandbrianre.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

1.  The house must be valued at less than the homeowner owes on their
mortgage debt obligation. In other words, the home must be “underwater”.

2.  The homeowner must have a qualified hardship.

It is the second characteristic that we would like to touch upon in this blog post.

One question that we answer frequently is “My house is underwater. Is this an acceptable hardship?”
Unfortunately, the answer is always “No.”

The simple fact that a homeowners mortgage obligation is in access of their house value is not an acceptable hardship. A Short Selling bank will entertain a short sale when and only when there is a hardship that will, now or in the future, affect the borrower’s ability to pay their mortgage.

The following is a list of acceptable hardships that may be used when submitting a short sale package:

• Mortgage Rate
  Adjustments
• Loss of Employment or
  Reduction in Wages
• Business Failure
• Medical Hardship
• Death in the Family
• Divorce/Separation
• Military Service
• Overwhelming Debt
  Obligations
• Job Relocation

As always, should you have questions as to the acceptability of a hardship scenario, you should seekadvice from an expert that has been trained in the short sale field.

In a move to increase their financial standing (and to get the FHA back into required capital requirements), on Monday, HUD announced their anticipated increases in the premiums they charge borrowers. Simply stated, the cost of borrowing is going up.

FHA loans, by design, are more liberal in their underwriting guidelines than most conventional loan products (in terms of credit, income ratios, required investment from the borrower, and maximum loan amount). HUD is not a lender. Rather, it is a federally-insured insurance company. They insure lenders against default on loans underwritten in compliance with their published guidelines. It is because of this insurance that lenders approve and close loans with more liberal guidelines.
As an insurance company, HUD charges two types of premiums on the FHA mortgages:

 The UFMIP (Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium) will be raised effective April 1, 2012 from its current 1% to 1.75%. One advantage to the UFMIP is the fact that it is typically built into the loan amount and does not require additional cash outlay at closing. However, the increase in loan amount does impact monthly payment and cash flow.

 The MMIP (Monthly Mortgage Insurance Premium) will be raised 10 basis points on April 1, 2012 to cover the requirements of the payroll tax extension approved last year. This is a direct increase of 10 basis points in the borrower’s mortgage payment, and has the effect of a 10 basis point increase in interest rates. As a kicker, loans over $625,000 will be bumped 35 basis points from today’s levels effective June 1, 2012. This bump is substantial.

On a loan amount of $300,000, we are seeing an increased payment of $36.41, which doesn’t sound too bad. However, we know that home buyers buy homes comparing what their monthly payment will be after they close. This hike in payment is equivalent to borrowing an additional $7000. Starting next month, it’s as if the home became $7000 more expensive. What is the result? Buyers are going to have to pay more OR they’re going to have to offer less to the seller (to maintain the same mortgage payment they were comfortable with today). A $7000 lower offer is like another 2.5% decline of home prices. Not good for anyone.

Advice:

Sellers, price correctly and get into contract in March.

Buyers, today is the cheapest mortgage you are likely to see in your lifetime (all things considered)! Get off the fence and buy NOW!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Methodology as per CoreLogic: The
foreclosure inventory represents the number and ratio of homes that have been
placed into the process of foreclosure by the mortgage servicer. Mortgage
servicers start the foreclosure process when the mortgage reaches a specific
level of serious delinquency as dictated by the investor for the mortgage loan
… The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes that have an
outstanding mortgage. Homes with no mortgage liens can never be in foreclosure
and are therefore excluded from the analysis.

For further information, go to www.corelogic.com

The auction itself took about 4 minutes! At least I was able to raise my number two times before it went to high for our buyer. We were on the phone with him and it was so quick that it was almost hard to even keep up with having him on the phone. Once the bid was at $375K it slowed down though. They were trying to get it bumped up a little more but the guys for $375K got it. What a great deal for a Coeur d’Alene downtown condo!!!

So if you’re interested in attending or trying to purchase something at an auction, feel free to give us a call! We can help you get the information you need before the auction and get you situated on the auction itself.