Buy Erythromycin no Prescription - Buy Online No Prescription Needed

Monthly Archive for July, 2009

Paramount Short Sale Rule, HR 3648 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

Published

on July 30, 2009

. 0 Comments

I was meeting with some clients today at my attorney’s office and the main tenet of this law came up. When dealing with short sales do not forget that on a primary residence your debt of up to 2 million dollars will be forgiven, but you must close before Jan 1st, 2010.

The summary is detailed below.

12/20/2007–Public Law.
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on December 14, 2007. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts attributable to a discharge, prior to January 1, 2010, of indebtedness incurred to acquire a principal residence. Limits to $2 million the excludable amount of such indebtedness. Reduces the basis of a principal residence by the amount of discharged indebtedness excluded from gross income. Disallows an exclusion for a discharge of indebtedness on account of services performed for the lender or any other factor not directly related to a decline in the value of the residence or to the financial condition of the taxpayer. Sets forth rules for determining the allowable amount of the exclusion for taxpayers with nonqualifying indebtedness and taxpayers who are insolvent. Continue reading ‘Paramount Short Sale Rule, HR 3648 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007′

Mixed Market; Glimmer of Hope Amid Dark Times

Published

jadkins

on July 29, 2009

in News

. 0 Comments

I was watching MSNBC last night, the real estate hour, and the general consensus of the host and of the guests was that while the positive signs in the housing markets such as less inventory, slight gain in price and less foreclosures are a good thing by no means are they harbinger’s for a complete economic turnaround. In fact, as the host and guests also pointed out, we are potentially still in for the big hurt.

I see the big hurt finally coming to us in the form of yet higher unemployment and a crashing commercial market, coupled with prime mortgage foreclosures. This, ultimately, could spell absolute disaster for an already stumbling economy. However, I do not discount the positive signs in the market place and am glad to see at least a bit of positive news. And I still think we are in the middle of the greatest real estate buying opportunities in history.

What say you?

Don’t Wait To Buy, Here’s Why

Published

jadkins

on July 28, 2009

in Real Estate

. 0 Comments

Fear of overpaying for property is common these days, especially in places like New York where prices continue to be unstable.

If you encounter potential buyers who are frozen because they are concerned that they will pay too much, here are some factors to point out:

Waiting for the right time can be expensive. Some buyers would have more equity today, despite falling prices, if they had bought when they were first considering it, instead of continuing to pay rent.

Financing is fickle. Some people who were highly qualified last year can’t find financing this year because the credit market has tightened or their personal financial situation now makes them an undesirable borrower.

Interest rates are headed up. If prices decline by another 10 percent, but interest rates increase by 1 percentage point, the monthly payment will be the same.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Douglas Heddings (07/27/2009)

Real Estate Market May Be Shoring Up

Published

jadkins

on July 27, 2009

in Real Estate and News

. 0 Comments

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE

According to Pete Minarch of REMN in Bradenton, Florida last Thursday Existing Home Sales for June were reported UP 3.6%, to a 4.89 million annual rate, increasing for the third straight month! Sales are now up 8.9% from the low set in January. Inventories were down 0.7%, to 9.4 months, their lowest reading in more than a year. Even better, the inventory of homes priced under $250,000 is now at a 6 months supply, as reported by CNBC. 29% of all sales were to first-time buyers taking advantage of the up to $8,000 tax credit, set to expire on December 1 this year. Another encouraging sign: distressed sales fell to 31% of the total, indicating that this part of the inventory is getting cleared out as well.

The median price of an existing home also increased in June, to $181,800 – going in the right direction, but still down 15.4% from a year ago. The FHFA home price index increased 0.9% for May, showing slightly higher prices than six months ago. This index tracks prices of homes bought with conforming mortgages. Some observers say average home prices may now be very close to fair value and could edge upward by year end in many areas of the country.

Property Tax Appeal

Published

jadkins

on July 22, 2009

in Tax

. 0 Comments

If you own property in Manatee and Sarasota Counties and you feel that you are being unfairly taxed based on an inflated valuation we can help. We will take your case before the County Tax Apprasier and/or Appeals Board and get your property taxes reduced.

Please contact us for more details.

Commercial real estate woes grow

Published

jadkins

on July 15, 2009

in Commercial, Real Estate and News

. 0 Comments

NAR testifies before Joint Economic Committee

In testimony on Capitol Hill before the Joint Economic Committee, NAR noted that commercial real estate supports more than 9 million jobs and services. “The overall economic crisis in the financial market is directly impacting the fundamentals of the commercial real estate market, causing the worst liquidity challenge since the early 1990s,” testified NAR Treasurer Jim Helsel. “We support several recent moves on the part of the federal government to strengthen the Term Asset-backed Loan Facility (TALF) by expanding the program to include CMBS and the extension of TALF loans to five-year terms. But we strongly urge policymakers to extend the TALF program for another year or two to ensure that this important program remains in place to support liquidity and bring stability to the commercial markets.”
WASHINGTON – July 10, 2009 – Owners of shopping malls, hotels and offices are defaulting on their loans at an alarming rate, and the commercial real estate market is not expected to hit bottom for three more years, industry experts warned Thursday.

“The commercial real estate time bomb is ticking,” said Rep. Carolyn Mallory, D-N.Y., who heads the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Delinquency rates on commercial loans have doubled in the past year to 7 percent as more companies downsize and retailers close their doors, according to the Federal Reserve. Small and regional banks face the greatest risk of severe losses from commercial real estate loans.

The commercial real estate market’s fortunes are tied closely to the economy, especially unemployment, which hit 9.5 percent in June. As people lose their jobs, or have their hours reduced, they cut back on spending, which hurts retailers, and take fewer trips, which hits hotels.

Funding for commercial loans virtually shut down last year as the financial system unraveled. Industry executives say financing is still extremely difficult to obtain, even for financially healthy properties.

While that may seem like an abstract problem, it has real world consequences. New construction projects have come to a virtual standstill. That means reduced tax revenue for local governments and fewer construction jobs, said Jeffrey DeBoer, chief executive of the Real Estate Roundtable, an industry group.

The commercial property industry is “not going to turn around until consumers and businesses start spending money again,” he said.

Total losses in securities backed by commercial property loans could be as high as $90 billion in the coming years, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Richard Parkus. He says even more losses – up to $140 billion – are expected from construction loans made by regional and local banks, rather than those sold as securities held by investors.

“We believe the bottom is several years away,” Parkus told lawmakers.

Earlier this year, the government launched a program intended to spur lending to consumers and small businesses. The program, known as the Term-Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, was opened to commercial real estate loans last month.

But the effort has struggled to get off the ground. In mid-June, investors passed on their first chance to buy newly issued securities backed by commercial real estate loans. Later this month, the government is expected to make the program available for existing commercial mortgage securities.

Industry groups are now pushing for the government to extend this program through the end of next year and launch new government programs to support commercial real estate loans.

The pain is already spreading through the economy. In April, the second-largest owner of shopping malls in the nation, General Growth Properties Inc., buckled under $27 billion in debt and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

And GE Capital, the financial arm of the conglomerate General Electric Co., has seen its profits from commercial real estate snuffed out in recent quarters.

It went from making $476 million in the 2008 first quarter from its portfolio of office buildings, retail centers and manufacturing facilities to a loss of $173 million in the first quarter of this year and warned that losses on its commercial real estate loans and property holdings could reach $6 billion this year.

At the hearing, a Federal Reserve official said the central bank is paying extra attention to banks’ books as losses from sour commercial real estate loans keep mounting.

Jon Greenlee, associate director of the Fed’s division of banking supervision, told the panel that the central bank has stepped up training of its bank examiners so they are ready to deal with rising losses from the commercial real estate industry.

Asked whether commercial real estate poses a threat to the financial system, he said, “we view it as a very key risk … and we have put a lot of emphasis on it.”

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press, Alan Zibel (AP Real Estate Writer). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AP Business Writer Stephen A. Manning contributed to this report.

Citizens insurance approves rate changes

Published

jadkins

on July 15, 2009

in Real Estate

. 0 Comments

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – July 9, 2009 – Florida’s largest property insurer on Wednesday approved a 10 percent rate hike for many of its nearly 1 million customers; but at the same time, it also approved up to a 10 percent rate decrease for other customers.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. had frozen its rates for three years, but state lawmakers this past legislative session agreed to end the freeze in 2010 as part of an effort to bolster the finances of the state-created company.

The vote to raise some premiums, however, followed a contentious discussion over whether thousands of customers should get a decrease if computer models showed they were eligible.

Most customers, who largely reside in South Florida, are in line to get rate hikes early next year. But some people living in other parts of the state, such as Sarasota, Duval, Santa Rosa and Escambia counties, are eligible for decreases along with a handful of South Florida residents.

During discussions, some members of the Citizens board opposed any decreases, saying no one should get a rate decrease if Citizens is collecting $1.8 billion less than it needs to be financially sound. They warned that all insurance customers throughout the state would get hit with surcharges if Citizens can’t pay its claims in the event of a major hurricane.

Board members also debated what lawmakers intended when the wrote the recent law ending the freeze and capping rate hikes at 10 percent because it said nothing about allowing rate decreases. State law also says that Citizens is supposed to charge rates that are “actuarially sound.”

“The Legislature has given us a mandate to do something and made it impossible for us to do it,’’ said Allan Katz, a Citizens board member and a Tallahassee city commissioner.

But Chairman James Malone said Citizens had to allow decreases because the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) had already warned that Citizens would be breaking the law if did not. Unlike private carriers, Citizens cannot appeal or challenge in court any rate decisions made by state regulators.

“The OIR’s view of this is fiscally irresponsible,’’ said Malone. “It may be politically convenient or political expedient … it’s the not the right thing for Citizens.”

Malone warned that Citizens will still get criticized if it can’t pay off claims in a timely fashion: “If we are so unfortunate to have a Cat 4 (hurricane) hit Southeast Florida, everybody in the world is going to be wondering why we didn’t have the resources.”

Carlos Lacasa, a former Miami legislator who now sits on the Citizens board, disagreed. He said that Citizens may never get on firm financial footing, and that it was reasonable to permit some customers to receive a decrease. He noted that allowing a 10 percent decrease would cost Citizens $29 million in premiums, and the other rate hikes would generate $140 million in the coming year.

“It’s not just a question of fairness, it’s a question of community reasonableness and maintaining good will,’’ said Lacasa.

The actual vote to approve the rate hikes – and the decreases up to 10 percent – was split 5-3.

Citizens board members also on Wednesday discussed whether or not the veto of HB 1171 – and the expected pullout of State Farm Florida – will have an impact on its operations. The legislation would have allowed well-capitalized companies such as State Farm to raise rates without the approval of state regulators.

Scott Wallace, president and executive director of Citizens, said it was still too early to gauge what impact State Farm would have on the carrier. Citizens officials, however, did note that private Florida-based companies were no longer aggressively moving to “depopulate” Citizens because they were awaiting the outcome of State Farm’s pullout. State Farm and OIR are currently battling over how that pullout will work.

Belinda Miller, deputy insurance commissioner, told Citizens that OIR still planned to insist that State Farm customers not be dumped into Citizens.

Source: The News Service of Florida, Gary Fineout

Foreclosures continue to flood the market

Published

jadkins

on July 15, 2009

in Foreclosure and News

. 0 Comments

The U.S. housing market is being flooded with foreclosed homes held by trusts managing pools of securitized mortgages.

The trusts sold six times as many properties as banks during the six months ending March 31. The average property sold for 69 percent of the original loan amount, according to data compiled primarily in the Atlanta area by Data Intelligence Corp., a real-estate analytics firm.

The dump isn’t over yet with thousands of properties still awaiting sale.

“While the banks are trying frantically to get loans off their books, they face the problem of large shadow inventories of housing being dumped on the market, which would depress prices further,” says Anthony Sanders, real-estate finance professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Karen Weaver, global head of securitization research at Deutsche Bank AG, says the steepest losses involve subprime mortgages in which lenders generally are recovering just 26 percent of the original loan amount.

From a home shopper’s standpoint, there are bargains galore in many areas. Tim Hamill, an associate with RE/MAX Greater Atlanta, who is handling sales for an asset-management firm on behalf of a trust, says his mandate is to do what it takes to sell in 30 days.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Carrick Mollenkamp (07/09/09)

Congressman Proposes Home Plan to Save Jobless

Published

jadkins

on July 15, 2009

in News

. 0 Comments

Refinancing a home when the borrower is unemployed is practically impossible, but U.S. Rep Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, is proposing to spend $2 billion to help.

The proposal would revive a 1975 program that lends money to the unemployed so they don’t lose their homes.

“There has to be a reasonable likelihood that the home owner will be able to resume making the mortgage payment without state help,’’ said Brian A. Hudson Sr., the chief executive of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, in a prepared statement, noting that the assistance is temporary.

Frank’s proposal would also earmark $1 billion to build and preserve affordable housing, $1.5 billion to redevelop foreclosed and abandoned homes, and $2 billion to protect tenants in apartment buildings when the owner is facing foreclosure.

Source: The Boston Globe, Jenifer B. McKim (07/09/2010)

Categories

Recent Posts

Monthly Archive for July, 2009

Paramount Short Sale Rule, HR 3648 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

Mixed Market; Glimmer of Hope Amid Dark Times

Don’t Wait To Buy, Here’s Why

Real Estate Market May Be Shoring Up

Property Tax Appeal

Commercial real estate woes grow

Citizens insurance approves rate changes

Foreclosures continue to flood the market

Congressman Proposes Home Plan to Save Jobless