Walker’s Wholesale Houses

Va. foreclosure filings slow in February | Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Foreclosure filings in Virginia in February rose 15 percent from the same month a year ago — the smallest year-to-year percentage increase in two years, indicating that the flood of foreclosures may be slowing, according to a RealtyTrac report released yesterday.

What’s more, the number of filings — which includes default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — fell 10 percent from January to February, according to the online research firm.

Virginia has experienced mostly triple-digit percentage increases in foreclosure filings during past two years, except for August and December of last year, in which filings rose 39 percent and 84 percent respectively.

Spotsylvania tops state in February foreclosures | Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Data from RealtyTrac.com shows that Spotsylvania County had the highest foreclosure rate in Virginia in February.

According to the data, statewide, one in 679 housing units received a foreclosure filing in last month. That includes notices of default or auction sale, and bank repossessions. The national rate was one in 440, up from one in 466 in January.

In Spotsylvania, the rate was one in 199 housing units.

The top of the list of Virginia’s 134 localities also included Stafford County, Manassas, Prince William County, Orange, Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fredericksburg and Louisa.

Va. unemployment jumps to 6.4% in January | Richmond Times-Dispatch.

State unemployment rate jumps to 6.4% January reading up sharply but below U.S. figure; all 10 metro areas report increase

Virginia’s unemployment rate spiked to 6.4 percent in January, a rate not seen here since June 1992.

The increase amounts to more than 115,000 additional people forced out of work over a dozen months.

“I’d say maybe half of it is the seasonal decline and the other half of it the slow business condition,” said William F. Mezger, the commission’s chief economist. January typically has high unemployment, but extended manufacturing furloughs and the recession added to the pain, he said.

While high, Virginia’s jobless rate was below the January national average, not seasonally adjusted, of 8.5 percent.

. . . . . .

The city of Petersburg had the highest unemployment rate in the area and the fifthhighest in the commonwealth.

Unemployment rose to 13.5 percent in January, more than double the rate of a year ago, when Petersburg had 6.8 percent unemployment.

The number of people seeking job advice at the Goodwill of Central Virginia’s community employment center in Petersburg has been increasing.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Forms and Rules Now in Place.

Investors who retail their property can use the marketing of this $8000 first time home buyer credit.

First time buyers who purchase a home in 2009 can claim up to an $8k credit off their taxes for filing year 2008 (if house is bought before april 15) or 2009 filing year.

The credit is available to homebuyers who purchase a home before December 1 of this year.  In an effort to make the effects of the credit felt quickly in the economy, homebuyers can claim the credit either on their 2009 tax return or immediately on the 2008 return due in April.

The tax credit represents 10 percent of the purchase price of a home up to a maximum of $8,000 or $4,000 for married taxpayers filing separate returns.   The $7,500 credit that was authorized under earlier legislation last year was actually a 15 year loan; the new tax credit does not have to be repaid by the homeowner under ordinary circumstances.

The credit does have to be repaid if the homeowner sells the home in less than 36 months or if the home ceases to be his principal residence during that time.

And finally [week of February 8, 2009] The PMI Group of San Francisco announce it won’t insure mortgages originated by mortgage brokers!

If that’s not punative…I don’t know what is. This could be the last straw for mortgage brokers. How is a mortgage broker supposed to make a living only doing loans that don’t require mortgage insurance?

via Mortgage Brokers Get The Final Dagger In The Heart.

There are several other good articles here about the fact that mortgage brokers as an industry are getting cut out

• Mortgage Brokers Getting All Time Low Of Origination Market Share
• Are Mortgage Brokers An Endangered Species?

Beginning April 1, 2009, it’ll be tougher to qualify for a loan without having to pay increased fees.

Sure, they changed the rules to back to investors being able to get 10 loans, but the qualifications are ridiculously strict.

What do you think are the implications for your retail buyers?

Under Fannie’s (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie’s (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.) new guidelines, even applicants who assumed their FICO credit scores would get them favorable rates will be charged more unless they come up with down payments of 30 percent or more.

For example, a buyer with a 699 FICO score who can bring a sizable down payment of about 25 percent to the table will now get hit with a 1.5 percent “delivery” fee at closing under the new guidelines.

A buyer with a FICO score between 700 and 720 will pay an extra three-quarters of a point. Even someone with a 739 FICO — once considered a platinum guarantee of the best rates available — will get dinged with a quarter-point add-on.

via Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to hike fees | Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The rules go on to share that condos will require 25% or receive a .75% penalty fee, no matter how high their score is.  Duplexes that are owner occupied on one side, and rented on the other, will get a 1% point charged.

Cash out refis will be charged up to 3 points (3%).

Of course, realtors are mad.

Real estate investors who are remaking homes available to first time home buyers are finding that it’s not the availability of buyers that is the problem.  It’s Fannie and Freddie making it darn near impossible to get a qualified buyer.

So what?

This suggests that a flood of lease options might be your exit strategy — buyers who cannot get funded now, but when the credit markets stablize, they might.

What do you think?

As Richmond area is experiencing layoffs and downsizing, some of you may be thinking about getting your feet wet in Real Estate.

To get started, the trick is to simply find the real deals.

Let me tell you the quickest way you could start making money in real estate right away. It’s the quickest way to make money now.

Find Houses for Me

Visit www.bringhousestome.com and sign up for the free training course that I offer you.

Go around and start looking for empty houses.

That training course will help you get started in your career in real estate.

If you are aggressive and get out and look for properties today, you could be making a few hundred dollars a week by next week.

These techniques work but they require work.

Interestingly enough you could do a lot of this work from a bicycle if you had no car (but maybe not in Detroit during the winter).

None of these techniques require cash or credit and will get you started in real estate investing right away.

Visit www.bringhousestome.com and sign up for the free training course that I offer you.

Source: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2008/0816.pdf

From the August 2008 requirements from fannie mae.

Bankruptcy

Updating the requirements for bankruptcy actions to apply from the discharge or dismissal date, whichever is applicable, and requiring a longer elapsed time period for Chapter 13 bankruptcies that were dismissed.

For all bankruptcy actions, the elapsed time period to reestablish credit will now be measured from the bankruptcy discharge or dismissal date.

For all bankruptcy cases, other than Chapter 13 cases, the time period to reestablish credit remains at 4 years.

For Chapter 13 cases, a distinction is being made between Chapter 13 bankruptcies that were discharged and those that were dismissed.

The updated policy recognizes the fact that borrowers have reestablished credit through the successful completion of a Chapter 13 plan and subsequent discharge by requiring only a 2-year time period to elapse.

A borrower who was unable to complete the Chapter 13 plan and received a dismissal, however, will be held to a 4-year time period for reestablishing credit.

More than one bankruptcy

Establishing a new policy for borrowers who have more than one bankruptcy filing in the past 7-year time period.

A 5-year elapsed time period is now required to reestablish credit from the most recent discharge or dismissal date for borrowers who have more than one bankruptcy filing in the past 7 years.

The presence of multiple bankruptcies in the borrower’s credit history is evidence of significant derogatory credit and increases the likelihood of future default. The greater the number of such incidences and the more recently they occurred, the higher the credit risk.

Pre foreclosures / short sales

Establishing a new policy for preforeclosure sales.

A preforeclosure sale involves the sale of the property by the borrower to a third party for less than the amount owed to satisfy the delinquent mortgage, as agreed to by the lender, investor, and mortgage insurer.

Due to the increased incidence of preforeclosure sales, Fannie Mae is establishing a 2-year elapsed time period for reestablishing credit following completion of the action.

See the source document: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2008/0816.pdf for full chart.

Virginia foreclosures in January fell 30 percent from December, but were 82 percent higher a year earlier, according to monthly data released this morning by RealtyTrac.

While good news, the month-to-month decline is likely attributable to a foreclosure moratorium by some lenders.

One in every 610 households in Virginia, or a total 5,366, received a foreclosure filing in January. Filings include notices of default, auction and foreclosure sales.

…

Virginia had the 15th highest rate.

According to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of court records, there were 2,452 foreclosures in central Virginia in 2008, up 100.8 percent from 2007.

via Va. foreclosure rate reveals uncertainty | Richmond Times-Dispatch.