The Federal Reserve just suggested demanding banks to make certain that debtors can repay their mortgages before they give them a loan. This may sound clear-cut and not uncommon, but there are a few specifics that I thought were of interest. This rule is currently required by the Dodd-Frank Act, and it establishes minimum mortgage underwriting standards. Borrowers could essentially sue lenders if a suitable effort isn’t engaged to warrant they can repay the loan. This allows lenders to make a qualified mortgage, a loan that meets standards that allow it to escape the liability associated with the provision. The proposal is a reaction to a surge of falsified loans that lenders offered in the years leading up to the current economic crisis. Lenders in many of these cases asked borrowers t... 01/12/2012

Home prices this year stopped their decline and gain momentum across all markets as more and more individual markets stabilize. Though national prices will be level, the majority of markets are estimated to stabilize in 2012. Clear Capital recently reported a 2.1 percent year-over-year decrease in 2011 that was reinforced by a leveling of prices in the latter half of the year and decreasing REO saturation. 2011 was reported as a comparatively unobtrusive year for home prices compared to the last five years, national prices were down a little more than the past year and sitting at their bottommost point since 2001. markets reacting to their limited economic drivers show a wide range of performance levels, the national numbers suggest markets are flat, but when looking at individual metro... 01/11/2012

I found this article recently and thought I would share: The white paper, The U.S. Housing Market: Current Conditions and Policy Considerations, calls for increased lending to creditworthy home buyers and more loan modifications, mortgage refinancings, and short sales to reduce the rising inventory of foreclosed homes and help stabilize and revitalize the housing industry; an approach long recommended by NAR to help spur the housing market recovery. “As the nation’s leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, NAR knows that a strong housing market recovery is key to the nation’s future economic strength,” says NAR President Moe Veissi. “Improving access to affordable mortgage financing for qualified home buyers and investors and aggressively pursuing more loan modifications a... 01/10/2012

Bonney Lake Lake Tapps Livin~365 Things to do DAY 209: Bonney Lake Lake Tapps Livin~365 Things to do The Puyallup Home & Garden Show is a show designed for homeowners in all stages of remodeling, landscaping and decorating their homes. The show includes hundreds of exhibits with product demonstrations geared to enhance a wide variety of interests. Combining new products and expert advice from the pros, the Puyallup Home Show inspires homeowners with wonderful ideas on enhancing their home´s comfort and functionality, as well as the overall look and appeal of their home. Location: 110 9th Ave. SW Puyallup, WA 98371 Jan. 6th-8th Krisy Clayton~REALTOR Windermere Real Estate Lake Tapps, Inc. 253-576-4303 krisy@windermere.com Bonney Lake, Lake Tapps, Sumner and Puyallup homes for sale 01/06/2012

And the Sellers are so excited! I’m always excited as well when a good offer comes in on a listing and we’re able to negotiate the finer points resulting in an accepted contract. The Sellers will be ticking off the very short list of requested repairs in the next few days … seems like there’s always stuff in the gutters in our area, no matter when they were last cleaned … and then this beautiful home will go to some also very excited Buyers. Congratulations to everyone involved! Your home sale is Pending! Now let’s get this one Closed!! 01/02/2012

I stumbled upon this interesting article today By Margaret Kelly and thought I would share it.  We have many reasons to be optimistic about housing. Past-due mortgages and foreclosure filings have been trending down in recent months, not to mention inventory is decreasing, interest rates are lower than ever and home prices are stabilizing. But the progress is fragile, and ongoing recovery won’t be helped by unreasonable regulation. The only appropriate focus for legislators is helping families who are struggling right now and doing whatever it takes to keep properties out of the REO market. Recent steps to provide distressed homeowners with more viable alternatives to foreclosure, such as easier refinancing through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), and ongoing streamlining o... 12/29/2011

It’s no secret that the housing market has been discouraging for the last several years. An unclear amount of info about rising and falling mortgage rates has solidified the market all but unreachable for a lot of potential home buyers. Whether you’re looking for a long-term residence or as an income property, the market is looking its best it has in a few years. Low mortgage rates are making houses inexpensive. One of the utmost concerns facing you as a prospective homebuyer is whether you can even secure that low rate mortgage. Lenders have had to tightened standards, requiring steeper down payments. some economists think that these tighter standards for lenders might be changing. Conventional knowledge shows that owning is better than renting. Renters have been seen as throwing money... 12/28/2011

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged up from a downwardly precedent according to the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index for December. This marks a third consecutive month in which builder confidence has improved, and brings the index to its highest point since May of 2010. While builder confidence had remained low, the consistent gains registered over the past several months are an indication that pockets of recovery are slowly starting to emerge in scattered housing markets according to the National Association of Home Builders. However, the difficulties that both builders and buyers continue to experience in accessing credit for new homes are holding back potential sales even in areas where economic conditions are improvin... 12/20/2011

Freddie Mac recently released some results indicating that average fixed mortgage rates are at or near their all-time lows. The 30-year fixed matched the average all-time record low of 3.94 percent, and a new all-time record low was set for the 15-year fixed. The five-year ARM also set a new all-time record low at 2.86 percent for the week. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.94 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending December 15, 2011, down from the previous week when it averaged 3.99 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.83 percent. Five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.86 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.93 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 3.77 pe... 12/18/2011

The UFA Default Risk Index for the fourth quarter of 2011 edged lower  from last quarter, which suggests that residential mortgage default and prepayment risks are continuing their return to normalcy. According to the latest UFA Mortgage Report by University Financial Associates, the stage is set for a recovery in the housing market. Under current economic conditions, investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans currently being originated to be only 31 percent higher than the average of loans originated last century, due solely to the local and national economic environment. Despite continuing high unemployment, our Default Risk Index has improved; which is a great sign for the housing market and the economy as a whole. Consumer balance sheets have improved and mortgage rates a... 12/14/2011

Taking time to neuter the home before it goes on the market by getting rid of the chaos, opening up corridors, living spaces and walls, lightening bold colors and exposing hidden pieces of charm and architecture goes a long way. A seller’s taste in decor and the lovingly acquired pieces can potentially, clutter their homes, this is a huge turnoff to a prospective home buyers. What’s fine for living is not always fine for selling, sellers and selling agents alike should want to portray a lifestyle that people can relate to and aspire to. You have to have them fall in love as soon as they walk in the door. As the market has switched directions and the numbers of able-and-willing buyers has dropped, home sellers are turning to staging consultants to give their properties that extra oomph t... 12/12/2011

TYPE INTO THE SEARCH WIDGET TO FIND EXACTILY WHAT YOU WANT ON THE MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE.        LUXURY PROPERTIES IN PUYALLUP WA   LUXURY PROPERTIES IN BELLEVUE WA   LUXURY PROPERTIES IN MEDINA WA     LUXURY PROPERTIES IN CLYDE HILL     Puyallup, Washington (i/pjuːˈæləp/ pew-al-əp or /pjuːˈɔːləp/ pew-awl-əp) is a city inPierce County, Washington about five miles (8 km) east of Tacoma. The population was 37,022 at the 2010 Census. Named after the Puyallup Tribe of Native Americans, Puyallup means "the generous people." Click here for a detailed report on Puyallup Washington. School ranks, weather risks, crime rate...etc Click here to see all Properties on the MLS   Thanks, Dayleen Wallace   (206)349-5648         FORECLOSURE 11818 122nd St E Puyallup, WA 98374 $189,000 1 beds/1 baths ... 12/12/2011

It’s no surprise that low home prices and a strong demand for rental properties are causing a surge in investor buying. This in turn has driving up the market share of homes purchased by investors. According to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, investor purchases hit 22.3 percent of closed transactions for the month of October, up from just 19.6 percent as of July. During the past three months, investor involvement has surpassed 20 percent, continuing a long-term trend of increased investor interest in the housing market. According to a recent article by Susanne of RIS Media  “All-cash sales accounted for 29 percent of purchases in October, little changed from 30 percent in September and 29 percent in October 2010; investors make up the bulk of ca... 12/06/2011

RISMedia, May 28 2011—Do you find yourself avoiding certain types of clients? Do you find yourself unable to speak the truth to sellers when their properties are overpriced? If you’re like most real estate professionals, your “people pleaser” pattern often gets in the way of telling the truth. When you’re not able to tell the truth to your sellers, they lose respect for you, and you end up losing the transaction. This is similar to a client of mine, named Pauline, who was unable to reach her financial goals because she only wanted to work with buyers. When I probed into what was blocking her, she said that she really didn’t like the idea of working with sellers. In fact, her dislike was so great that she actually avoided speaking with sellers. When I asked her why, she said i... 11/30/2011

I came across an interesting article a few days ago and I thought it was interesting some of the observations author Jose Perez made. The article was an overview of how to do business in the current real estate market. Perez mentioned how “If it used to take 30 days to get a transaction closed, it now takes 120 or more, If it used to take 20 contacts to get someone to listen to you, it now takes 100 or more, and If someone was inclined to do business with you before, they are now inclined to make sure they are getting the best deal regardless of their relationship with you.” I found all of these characteristics in doing business to be very important given our current economic state. The current market is very different for clients than before. As a result, you must recognize this and ch... 11/15/2011

I found this article online and thought it was worth sharing and discussing: Consumer money resource Bills.com recently released its 2011 Third Quarter Mortgage Report. Driven by an increased demand for refinance loans, consumer traffic to the company’s mortgage tools and calculators more than doubled from the second quarter. The majority of homeowners preferred 15-year fixed-rate loans as a way to combine lower interest rates with the stability of a fixed-rate product. Consumers in this quarter were also more accurate in estimating both their credit score and the value of their homes. “Homeowners are actively seeking out the sweet spot between long-term stability and the lowest possible interest rate,” says Ethan Ewing, president of Bills.com. “Fortunately, current market co... 11/08/2011

First-time buyers are out and active, buying houses at nearly the same pace as they were before the first-time homebuyers credit first stimulated demand two years ago. So far this year the first-time buyer market share has been quite steady, ranging from 32 to 36 percent of existing home sales through the spring and summer buying season, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors. A survey of real estate brokers, found that the first-timer market share has varied 35 percent in January to 37.7 percent in August. First-time homebuyer share of short sales hit a peak of 54.1 percent of all short sale transactions in November 2009, just before the originally-scheduled expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit. Today’s 32 to 38 percent range is not far below ... 11/04/2011

Even with the current economic climate, homeownership is more reasonable than ever, thanks to low interest rates and lower home values. For buyers who manage to have a twenty percent down payment, they believe this will get them the lowest monthly mortgage expense. However, simply because buyers can afford to put down this amount does not necessarily mean they should. Buyers who have saved enough to put 20% down on the purchase of a home may want to consider maintaining some of their cash for savings, investing or other purposes. It may sound counterintuitive, but with today’s interest rates and the competitive pricing of private mortgage insurance, borrowers can retain some of their money by putting less money down on a home and still get a low monthly payment. Real estate professional... 11/03/2011

With rents rising faster than last year, the picture for residential real estate investors is getting even better than it already was as a result of once-in-a-generation prices and low interest rates  for investors and real estate professionals. We need to address concerns over near term price declines and urge investors to take a long view of the opportunities. This is a long term investment differs with the “get rich quick” approach to investing. Rents are a steady return on your investment through the years, leaving you with an attractive asset when prices improve. And they will. The best profits in real estate accrue to long term investors who take a long term view. With 1.4 million new renters this year, you can see why apartment construction can’t keep up with demand. Tenants, esp... 11/01/2011

Open House   Cyndi Hodge's Home 2233 13th St SW Puyallup, WA 98371   Please join us for a shopping extravaganza! Whether you are starting to do your holiday shopping or just need something new for yourself, please join us. Friends, Food & Fun, it doesn’t get better than this! Bring a friend or 2!! Scentsy, Wild Spirit Designs, Creative Creations, Glorious Girl Jewelry, Carrie Hamm Designs, Mary Kay, Touchstone Crystals   Friday November 4th 6pm to 8pm   Questions please feel free to call me at 253-278-0997 We hope to see you there!   10/26/2011