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The U.S. Treasury and Department of Housing and Urban Development released a monthly “housing scorecard” Monday and declared that housing is on the mend. The report, though, also showed more loan modifications canceled than approved. More than 340,000 households had received long-term reductions...
06/22/2010
Foreclosures are hitting minorities the hardest, a study by the Center for Responsible Lending reported last week. Of borrowers who received loans between 2005 and 2008, 8 percent of both African-American and Hispanic borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosures, compared to 4.5 percent of no...
06/22/2010
Revealing 'Material Facts' Pays Off in the End Most states require home sellers to disclose “material” facts. But the question is, what’s material? In general, says real estate author Dian Hymer, a fact is material when it would affect a buyer’s willingness to buy at the asking price. She says to...
06/22/2010
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In a case closely watched by developers nationwide, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that condo developers are responsible for taxes on condos that have been approved for construction, but aren’t built yet. The issue particularly affects owners of partially built condo developments. In m...
06/22/2010
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You do not have to be Bill Gates to get a mortgage, however, mortgage requirements have tightened up considerably. Unless you are a vet applying for a VA mortgage, 100% financing is gone. Stated income programs, programs where income was not verified, have gone the way of dollar a gallon ga...
06/22/2010
When it's over, It's over! Most business people take some level of pride in their negotiating prowess. After all, the "worth" of many folks in their professions relies heavily on their ability to coax and persuade in order to get whatever it is that they or their client wants . . . resulting in a...
06/22/2010
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Unrealistic buyers are ruining the deal for sellers who are unwilling to make extreme concessions, some real estate practitioners complain.''We see buyers who must have learned their moves from the World Wrestling Federation,'' says Glenn Kelman, CEO of the online brokerage Redfin. ''They think t...
06/21/2010
The U.S. Senate voted last week to extend the home buyer tax credit closing deadline to Sept. 30, giving an estimated 180,000 buyers who met the contract deadline of April 30, extra time to close the transaction. The extension was added to a bill to pay for jobless benefits, which still must pa...
06/21/2010
Last week, Gov. Strickland signed into law, House Bill 292, legislation the Ohio Association of REALTORS worked very hard to pass that would prohibit developers, builders, etc. from being able to attach a 99-year private transfer fee covenant to the title of residential or commercial property i...
06/21/2010
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Expiration of the National Flood Insurance Program is leaving home buyers high and dry. Congress still hasn’t voted to extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which expired June 1. It provides most of the flood coverage in the U.S. Because flood insurance is required on federally insured mo...
06/21/2010