By Kevin Chiu Home buyers are making multiple offers to purchase homes that are short sales in rising numbers as they grow impatient with the drawn out short sale process with banks, and mortgage servicing companies. The long waits and other obstacles have taken the excitement out of the home buying experience for first time… Continue reading Home Buyers Making Multiple Offers
Category: California
California housing market
Mortgage Defaults Edge Up in August
Mortgage defaults were filed for the first time against the largest number of homeowners in more than four years in August as foreclosures surged higher for the month, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure auctions and formal lender repossessions were filed against 228,098 homes during the month. The figure represented a 7% surge in lender takeovers for… Continue reading Mortgage Defaults Edge Up in August
Housing Starts Surge in California
By Mike Colpitts Anchored by a jump in multi-family building permits, new housing starts soared in California during August, despite a decline in starts elsewhere in the U.S. Housing starts during the month nationally totaled just 571,000 units, the fewest since record keeping has been monitored during 1970. Permits were pulled on 4,695 housing units… Continue reading Housing Starts Surge in California
Brad Pitt Puts Malibu Mansion Up For Sale
Superstar Brad Pitt has listed his spacious California beach house for sale, and judging from its location the two time Academy Award nominee shouldn’t have much of a problem selling the massive estate even in the current market, as many Hollywood stars make this part of the Southern California coastline their second home. The huge… Continue reading Brad Pitt Puts Malibu Mansion Up For Sale
Renters Ripoff Landlords in $6 Million Mortgage Scam
By Mike Colpitts In a rare turnaround of sorts, seven people have been arrested for allegedly posing as homeowners of the homes they were renting and applying to take out nearly $6-million in home equity mortgages. The seven were arrested in Southern California by sheriff’s investigators after a major investigation, including the FBI led to… Continue reading Renters Ripoff Landlords in $6 Million Mortgage Scam
Refinancing Program to Aid Underwater Homeowners
By Mike Colpitts The U.S. government’s giant mortgage lenders will soon expand refinancing to underwater homeowners on their mortgages in efforts to reduce the growing number of homes being foreclosed, and aid the nation’s hurting economy. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will “remove barriers that exist in the current refinancing program” allowing more homeowners to… Continue reading Refinancing Program to Aid Underwater Homeowners
Jumbo Mortgage Rates to Feel Little Impact
By Mike Colpitts Loan limits on jumbo mortgages are scheduled to be slashed as a result of changes required in the Housing and Economic Act of 2008. However, the impact is expected to be limited by many lenders. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will reduce mortgage limits on loans in the highest metropolitan areas of… Continue reading Jumbo Mortgage Rates to Feel Little Impact
Guilty Plea in Condo Fraud Scheme
By Kevin Chiu A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme to gain control of a condominium owners association and illegally direct business to a law firm and construction business. Steven Wark, 54, admitted that he operated a fraud scheme for nearly six years starting in May 2005, in which… Continue reading Guilty Plea in Condo Fraud Scheme
Homeowners Stuck With High Mortgage Rates
The over-whelming majority of homeowners with underwater mortgages are stuck with high interest rate loans and are unable to refinance their mortgages, according to real estate research firm CoreLogic. Some 10.9 million home mortgages were in negative equity in the second quarter of the year, and another 2.4 million were close or within 5% of… Continue reading Homeowners Stuck With High Mortgage Rates
Bargain Hungry Home Investors Thin
By Kevin Chiu Like them or hate them the real estate market needs bargain hungry home investors to pick through foreclosures as scavengers to eventually clean-up the inventory. But the ranks of investors hunting for deals are thinning out as homes that need work become harder to re-sell. The distressed real estate market, high unemployment… Continue reading Bargain Hungry Home Investors Thin