Archive for the ‘National Real Estate News’ Category

Federal Government Launches New Home Affordable Website

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

MakingHomeAffordable.gov Features Self Assessment Tools, Calculators to Help Borrowers Determine Eligibility, Payment Reductions under Administration’s Refinancing and Loan Modification Program

Washington, DC– The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today launched a new website for consumers seeking information about the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable loan modification and refinancing program. MakingHomeAffordable.gov offers features including interactive self-assessment tools that will empower borrowers to determine if they’re eligible to participate and calculate the monthly mortgage payment reductions they could stand to realize under the Making Home Affordable program.

First announced by President Barack Obama in February, Making Home Affordable will offer assistance to as many as 7 to 9 million homeowners making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments, while attempting to prevent the destructive impact of the housing crisis on families and communities. MakingHomeAffordable.gov is a joint effort of the Department of the Treasury and HUD.

“Education and outreach is central to the success of our Making Home Affordable program,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Putting resources and tools directly in the hands of homeowners will expedite the process of delivering relief to responsible borrowers, and stabilizing the housing market is central to our overall economic recovery.”

“The tools offered on this site will help American families access the help they need even faster,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Communicating how this program works and who is eligible to those who need it is critical to the program’s success, and this website does just that.”

Since releasing the guidelines to enable servicers to begin modifications of eligible mortgages under Making Home Affordable on March 4th, representatives from Treasury, HUD and other members of a broad interagency task force have conducted detailed briefings and training sessions for mortgage loan servicers and investors, nonprofit housing counselors and nationwide borrower advocacy groups. Through these early and aggressive efforts to arm those interacting directly with borrowers with information, interagency representatives have briefed more than 2,500 participants on the Administration’s plans in the last two weeks.

A wide array of large banks to small lenders have already agreed to participate in Making Home Affordable, and servicers have undertaken steps to proactively engage borrowers and respond to their inquiries related to the new program. For example, JP Morgan Chase has put several special tools into place and initiated proactive solicitations to eligible borrowers around the Making Home Affordable program, including an online site to provide program details and allow borrowers to download a new financial information package; increased staffing in a dedicated service center that provides simple entry point for all borrowers, including CHASE, heritage Washington Mutual and EMC; a partnership with Fannie Mae to solicit over 125,000 eligible borrowers; and solicitation to an additional 180,000 non-GSE eligible borrowers.

With those wheels in motion, the Administration is now accelerating efforts to communicate directly with borrowers about the Making Home Affordable program. Features of the MakingHomeAffordable.gov website launched today include:

Extensive information about the Administration’s Making Home Affordable plan
Self assessment tools to allow borrowers to determine if they are eligible for the program
A calculator feature that allows homeowners to estimate the reduction to their monthly mortgage payment that they might stand to realize under the plan
Resources to find free, HUD-approved counseling services for borrowers who have additional questions
A handy checklist to ensure homeowners collect all the documents they need before calling their servicers

For more information on the Sarasota Florida housing market contact:

Daniel Hilts & Christine Huxtable Team GRI, CFIC, ABR, REOS
Phone
(941) 360-7777
Fax
(941) 360-7678
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(941) 809-8448
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(941) 504-2236

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Appraisers Valuations Key to Foreclosure Relief Plan

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Appraisers – Reliable Valuations of Mortgaged Properties Are Key to Foreclosure Relief Plan

RISMEDIA,
The nation’s four largest organizations of professional real estate appraisers-the Appraisal Institute, American Society of Appraisers, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers-delivered the second of two letters to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging the Administration to protect homeowners and taxpayers by requiring that the market values of homes under President’s Obama’s Homeowners Stability Program be determined by professional appraisers who are state certified and licensed.
Current bank agencies guidelines require new appraisals in restructuring loans when a material change in market conditions exists. In the letter, the groups affirm that reliable valuation and appraisal products are available from professional appraisers in every community in the country. There are more than 100,000 certified or licensed real estate appraisers in the United States. Because of new technologies and methodologies, these professionals are prepared to deliver a wide variety of necessary services quickly, including summary and streamlined appraisals that are cost effective and highly reliable.
To ensure that all parties have accurate and reliable information when restructuring loans, the letter cautions against the use of real estate sales people to provide broker price opinions. These individuals have no valuation training, do not observe uniform valuation standards, are accountable to no one for their estimates of home prices and may sometimes have an economic interest in whether loans are modified or defaults occur requiring a resale of the property to another buyer. By contrast, all 50 states license, certify and supervise the work of appraisers; and 23 states specifically prohibit realtors from valuing properties for any mortgage related purpose, including loan modifications.
According to the organizations, if the Administration’s mortgage relief plan permits the use of broker price opinions to determine the current value of residential properties, it could lead to widespread violations of state laws. The appraisal organizations also warned against the use of automated valuation models (computer-generated values) which do not factor the condition of properties into their market values and are not reliable in declining markets and in areas with diverse housing stock. The groups also cautioned against reliance on national housing indices to determine the market value of individual properties. These indices often contain data many months old, and generally fail to consider foreclosure or short sales in their calculations. Homeowners who might otherwise be eligible for loan modification could be denied a lower cost mortgage because a BPO, AVM or housing index could improperly value their collateral property.
In the letter, Bill Garber, Appraisal Institute Director of Government Affairs and External Relations, said, “Individuals who become state licensed or certified appraisers must meet meaningful requirements involving valuation-specific training, education and experience; and, their conduct is regulated by appraiser licensing agencies in the 50 states and territories. Real estate appraisers can provide a range of services in a loan modification or refinance situations, including streamlined appraisals, under existing standards. For a stable economy and secure mortgage finance system, valuations must be reliable and those performing the appraisals must be accountable and professional.”
The chairman of the American Society of Appraiser’s Government Relations Committee, Jay Fishman, added, “We believe a foreclosure relief program which relies on valuation professionals to establish the market values of properties collateralizing mortgages will benefit homeowners and protect America’s taxpayers who are ‘on the hook’ for losses resulting from the inevitable defaults on some modified mortgages. The safety and soundness of taxpayer guaranteed loans in today’s tumultuous mortgage markets require reliance on professional appraisers, not on part time salespeople and unreliable computer-generated values.”
ASA is an international organization of appraisal professionals and others dedicated to the education, development and growth of the appraisal profession. ASA is the oldest and only major organization representing all disciplines of appraisal specialists, originating in 1936 and incorporating in 1952. ASA’s headquarters is in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.
For more information, visit http://www.appraisers.org/.
Daniel Hilts & Christine Huxtable Team
 
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RE/MAX Alliance Group
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