General Topics affecting / related to the 1-4 unit Residential Real Estate Financing Market

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The Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department (HCIDLA) held a public hearing on Wednesday, February 1st down on Vermont and 85th street. The purpose was to discuss how federal funds are being used by the city to help communities in Los Angeles. Here's what they shared...

 

Five Years Later 

The speaker pointed out that HCIDLA was now in its 5th year of its 5-year program. This program has had four main objectives to help improve conditions. These are: 

  • The Community Development Block Grant
  • Home Investment Partnerships Program
  • Emergency Solutions Grant
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development required that the city submit plans for these grants, and it has been a…

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Down on the corner of South Virgil Avenue and 5th Street, a short walk away from the bustle of 6th street and Wilshire Blvd, are the luxury condos of Element 436.

 

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Having opened its doors in July 2016, Element 436 is a new structure that houses luxury condos near the heart of Koreatown. All residences offer either 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, or 3 bedroom and 2 baths with varying floorplans. Square footage ranges from 1,042 to 1,164 for the 2 bedroom homes, and from 1,341 to 1,385 for 3 bedrooms.

 

Prices have more variance than sizes, starting at $597,600 and reaching up to $914,500 for penthouse level homes. These prices have been rising as more residences are being purchased, so hesitating on getting a spot here won’t do you any favors.

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They should really be doing this in the geographic areas with the most foreclosures.  Los Angeles County has very few HUD foreclosures (mainly because no one used FHA prior to reform in 2007).  Borrowers are just going to use different loan products now so HUD won't end up getting anymore revenue...seems like a stupid move strategically by HUD.  I highly doubt this will drastically increase their revenues unless the goal of this is to get people to stop using FHA loans (which it might be for political reasons).  If this is the governments plan, homeowners prepare to get seriously screwed by private mortgage lending industry in coming…

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The article fron Transunion entitled "TransUnion Study Finds Opportunity in Mortgage-Only Default Market" is the first data I've seen that shows what many real estate and mortgage industry participants have known for a long time.  People that have good credit take away mortgage lates related to a loan modification or a short sale are much lower credit risks than people that actually let their house go to foreclosure.  There are many reasons that may have forced a consumer to move at a time when due to greater macro economic circumstances there home may have been underwater.  They could have been laid off and had to find a new job in a new area being a very common cause in our current economy as an example.

I've always said that lenders want to lend,…

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HUD is doing this because apparently their insurance reserve is low,  FHA volume only picked up since the Mortgage Industry imploded.  Since that time values have crashed and many first time homebuyers who use FHA financing have rates so low that they are literally owning for less than they can rent for, why would they default?  Are defaults really that high with FHA now?  What is draining the HUD insurance reserves so quickly?

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The federal tax credit for home buyers is set to expire on April 30th 2010!!

 

Buyers and Sellers need to be in a purchase contract by this date and the transaction needs to close escrow by June 30th 2010 to qualify for this tax credit. 
 
This a hard federal government deadline and it will _NOT_ be extended!!

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 Guidelines for the 2010 Tax Credit for New & First Time Home Buyers have been officially posted on the California Franchise Tax Boards website:

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/new_home_credit.shtml

 

Highligts:

  • Max $10,000
  • Starts for escrows closed after May 1st, 2010 and before January 2011
  • Total amount of allocated tax credit for all taxpayers may not exceed $100 million for the New Home Credit and $100 million for the First-Time Buyer Credit
  • State will allocate money for the tax credits on a first-come, first-served basis

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Due to the success of the 2009 Homebuyer Tax Credit program lawmakers (on November 6, 2009) have extended and expanded eligibility for the $8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit into 2010. This popular rebate program proved to be an incentive to first time homebuyers and caused a direct increase in home sales at the end of 2009. The original program was due to expire on November 30, 2009. The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 extends this deadline for closing on the homes until April 30, 2010 or until June 30, 2010 for those buyers who have a binding contract in effect by the end of April 2010.

To qualify as a first time homebuyer the buyer must not have owned a primary residence in three years previous to the purchase date. Lawmakers…

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