Good News Friday

May 01, 2009

Mortgage Applications Soar!

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Good News Friday Podcast

Week 20

(4 Minutes and 50 Seconds)

Hello and Welcome back to Good News Friday! Today is Friday May 1, 2009. My name is Bruce Karasik.

There are now numerous signs that the Real Estate Market has moved beyond just bottoming out, but seems to be in a slow recovery mode. Here are some examples:

· The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that Mortgage Applications are up 77% for home purchases and refinancing from the same time last year.

· Mortgage Interest Rates continue to average below 5% for a 30 year fixed loan. These low rates are a major reason why Mortgage Applications continue to rise, but sharply lower prices for homes are another reason as well. Many of the buyers are true first time buyers but many are people who have been out of the Real Estate Market for a few years and are coming back in to buy a home after not owning for a few years. What is bringing them back to the market? The answer: Lower prices and lower interest rates.

· The National Association of Home Builders reports that nearly 600,000 have take advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit that we talked about in our previous podcasts.

· Bank of America has announced that they are going to be hiring up 5,000 new employees to help with their Mortgage Business after closing over $400,000 loans in the first quarter of this year. And other big lenders are hiring loan officers, underwriters, and processors too.

· House prices are starting to move up slightly again nationally after many months of decline. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency national home prices rose seven tenths of one percent last month after falling for 12 straight months.

Now more than ever it is important to contact a real professional to get the best advice. So call me or email and I will be happy to talk with you about the most current information about the Real Estate and Mortgage market and how it can affect you. Our goal is to save you money when you buy your home this year or refinance at the new lower rates.

So we do have some good news to be grateful for. And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous week. And that’s it for now. I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday!

Posted at 10:04 AM in Week 20-Mortgage Applications Soar! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 24, 2009

$10,000 California Tax Credit for the Purchase of a Newly Constructed Home!

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Good News Friday Podcast

Week 19

(4 Min. 37 Sec.)

Hello and Welcome back to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 24, 2009. My name is Bruce Karasik.

A couple of weeks ago a talked to you about the $8,000 tax credit being offered to first time home buyers by the Federal Government. This week I want to talk with you about an additional $10,000 being offered by the State of California for purchasers of newly constructed homes.

1. The tax credit is good for 5 percent of the value of the newly constructed home, up to $10,000. (That would mean any home priced over $200,000 would qualify for the full credit.)   

2. The tax credit will be available between March 1, 2009 and March 1, 2010, or when the funding authority runs out. (The Legislature has earmarked $100 million for this credit. That means at least 10,000 new home sales. We don’t know yet if the tax credit will be based on when the contract for sale is written or when the escrow is closed for the purchase.)  

3. The tax credit will be allocated by the Franchise Tax Board and will be available to new homebuyers over a three-year period. (Roughly one third of the tax credit will be available each year, details here are still being worked out.)   

4. The new home purchaser must live in the home for at least two years.  

5. There are no income limitations for the purchaser.   

6. There is no “first time buyer” restriction.   

7. There is no repayment requirement (unless the purchaser sells or rents out the home before two years have past from the close of escrow).   

This is great news for California homebuyers. And, if the homebuyer also qualifies for the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit then the total tax credit for buying a newly constructed home would be $18,000. That is $10,000 from the state of California and $8,000 from the federal government.

So if you are thinking about buying a new, let us know and we can represent you, negotiate with the builder, review all the contracts and save you money.

Posted at 10:40 AM in Week 19- $10,000 California Tax Credit for the Purchase of a Newly Constructed Home! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 17, 2009

Good News Friday- New Federal Loan Modification Program

Week 18

Hello and Welcome back to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 17, 2009. My name is Bruce Karasik.

The Obama administration has now kicked off a new loan modification program.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday the first six participants to sign up. They include three of the nation's largest banks: JPMorgan Chase, which will get up to $3.6 billion in subsidy and incentive payments; Wells Fargo, $2.9 billion; and Citigroup, $2 billion. The others are GMAC Mortgage, $633 million; Saxon Mortgage Services, $407 million; and Select Portfolio Servicing, $376 million.

Additional loan servicers will be added to the list over time.

"The plan would help up to 9 million borrowers stay in their homes, the two-part plan calls for servicers to reduce monthly payments to no more than 31% of eligible borrowers' pre-tax income or to refinance eligible mortgages even if the homeowner has little or no equity. The government is allocating $75 billion to subsidize part of payment reduction, as well as provide thousands of dollars in incentives for servicers and borrowers to participate.”

The modification plan calls for the servicer to reduce interest rates so that the monthly obligation is no more than 38% of a borrower's pre-tax income, and then the government would kick in money to bring payments down to 31% of income. Servicers can also reduce the loan balance to achieve these affordability levels. The government will share in the cost, up to the amount the servicer would have received if it had reduced the interest rates.

The Treasury will not provide subsidies to reduce rates to levels below 2%.

Homeowners, meanwhile, will get up to $1,000 a year for five years if they keep up with payments. The funds will be used to reduce their loan principal balance. As more details of the plan are released, I will keep you up to date.

We continue to believe that homeownership will remain the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward to our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com, call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com. So we do have some good news to be grateful for. And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous week. And that’s it for now. I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday!

Posted at 07:40 AM in Week 18-Good News Friday- New Federal Loan Modification Program | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 10, 2009

New Government Program-Refinance Your Home up to 105%!

Week 17

Hello and Welcome back to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 10, 2009. My name is Bruce Karasik.

The Good News Friday Podcast is back and so each week we will bring you good news and positive developments in the Real Estate Market, Mortgage Market, in our economy and our country. If you miss any podcast, we have archived all or our past shows so you can listen to them at any time by going to www.goodnewsfriday.com. This week I want to talk with you about Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP). If you or someone you care about is upside down on their home and you don’t know what to do, you really need to listen to this weeks podcast.

The new $275 Billion Homeowner rescue plan, HASP has three main avenues to prevent foreclosures. Today we are going to talk about just one aspect of the plan, The Streamlined Refinance Mortgage Product. Beginning this month April 2009, the government will make refinancing easier for many borrowers who are current on their mortgages, yet unable to refinance their loans due low or no equity. Under current loan guidelines, borrowers were unable to take advantage of today’s low rates, and are may be trapped in loans with higher fixed rates or adjustable rates, and high payments. This part of the Plan is meant to aid “millions of responsible homeowners who put money down and made their mortgage payments on time” and “have – through no fault of their own – seen the value of their homes drop low enough to make them unable to access these lower rates.” Most borrowers refinancing an existing Fannie Mae loan will not be required to buy new or additional mortgage insurance if the loan at the time of the refinance is more than 80 percent of a home's value. Any existing mortgage insurance may be carried forward to the new loan. But here is the best part, borrowers can refinance loans up to 105 percent of a home's value with this new flexibility, so even borrowers who are "underwater" -- who owe more than their home is worth -- may be able to refinance. This will expand the number of borrowers able to take advantage of lower interest rates that reduce monthly payments, or refinance into a more sustainable mortgage.

What Do Borrowers Need to Know:

To qualify, your mortgage loan must be owned by Fannie Mae.
You must have a solid payment history on your existing mortgage.
The expanded refinance flexibility end June 2010

The government estimates that 4 to 5 million borrowers will be eligible.

T· The refinance loans will have 15 or 30 year fixed rates. The rates and fees will be those available in the market at the time of the refinance.

· T The new first mortgage, including any financed closing costs, cannot exceed 105% of the value of the home. Property values will be determined after the application is submitted to the lender.

B· Borrowers will have to provide income documentation to qualify for the new loans.

H Homeowners with second mortgages will be eligible for a refinance, if the second mortgage lender agrees to remain in second position to the new loan.

Th This plan is very new and many details are still unfolding, I will keep you updated in future podcasts as more details become available. So if you or someone you care about is upside down in their home and don’t know what to do, have them get in touch with me.

Posted at 10:03 AM in Week 17-New Government Program-Refinance Your Home up to 105%! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 03, 2009

Welcome Back to Good News Friday!

April 3, 2009

Hello and Welcome back to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 3, 2009. My name is Bruce Karasik.

After receiving numerous requests from our listeners, we have resumed our weekly Good News Friday Podcast. So each week we will bring you good news and positive developments in the Real Estate Market, Mortgage Market, in our economy and our country. If you miss any podcast, we have archived all or our past shows so you can listen to them at any time by going to www.GoodNewsFriday.com.

If you are a Homeowner or if you are a family or individual who is considering buying or selling, refinancing a home this year, it is important that you know, that there has been a large amount legislation coming out of Washington in recent months that will have a significant affect on you. It is so important that you have the latest detailed information on all these programs. So we are going to be talking about these programs and they can help you. I invite you to listen or read my podcasts each week and call me or email me with any questions so you can get the answers you need to make intelligent informed decisions.

Today we are going to be focusing on the First Time Home Buyer Credit. Many of you have heard about the First Time Home Buyer Credit passed in February of this year.

Here is how it works:

First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 - or 10% of the home's value, whichever is less - on their 2008 or 2009 taxes.

A big plus is that the credit is refundable, meaning tax filers see a refund of the full $8,000 even if their total tax bill was less than that amount. Does that mean if you purchased now that I would get an extra $8,000 added on top of my current refund?"

The short answer is Yes, but the long answer is that it depends on several factors:

Here are three scenarios:

Scenario 1: Your final tax liability is normally $6,000. You've had taxes withheld from every paycheck and at the end of the year you've paid Uncle Sam $6,000. Since you've already paid him all you owe, you get the entire $8,000 tax credit as a refund check.

Scenario 2: Your final tax liability is $6,000, but you've overpaid by $1,000 through your payroll withholding. Normally you would get a $1,000 refund check. In this scenario, you get $9,000, the $8,000 credit plus the $1,000 you overpaid.

Scenario 3: Your final tax liability is $6,000, but you've underpaid through your payroll witholding by $1,000. Normally, you would have to write the IRS a $1,000 check. This time, the first $1,000 of the tax credit pays your bill, and you get the remaining $7,000 as a refund.

To qualify for the credit, the purchase must be made between Jan. 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009. Buyers may not have owned a home for the past three years to qualify as "first time" buyer. They must also live in the house for at least three years, or they will be obligated to pay back the credit.

Additionally, there are income restrictions: To qualify, buyers must make less than $75,000 for singles or $150,000 for couples. (Higher-income buyers may receive a partial credit.) Applying for the credit will be easy - or at least as easy as doing your income taxes. Taxpayers who have already completed their returns can file amended returns for 2008 to claim the credit.

The stimulus plan improves on the current $7,500 tax credit, which was passed in July and was more of a low-interest loan than an actual credit.

We continue to believe that homeownership will remain to the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com, call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com. So we do have some good news to be grateful for. And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous week. And that’s it for now. I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday!

Posted at 10:15 AM in Welcome Back to Good News Friday! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 23, 2008

Real Estate Outlook: Worst is Over

Good News Friday
Week 15
May 23, 2008

(5 Minutes and 14 Seconds)

(Click Play To Listen To The Podcast Above)

Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday! Today is Friday May 23, 2008. My name is Bruce Karasik.

Each week we bring you good news and positive developments in the Real Estate Market, Mortgage Market, in our economy and our country. If you miss any podcast, we have archived all or our past shows so you can listen to them at any time by going to www.GoodNewsFriday.com.

Since I first began this podcast, it has always been by intent to represent a more realistic and positive outlook about our Real Estate and Mortgage Market. So it has become a very uplifting project to open to seeing and receiving good news. This week I want to thank my good friend Steve Brooks, President of Steve Brooks Insurance Services, Inc. here in Westlake Village for forwarding me and article by Kenneth Harney entitled Real Estate Outlook: Worst is Over. Steve is a true professional and very service oriented and I truly appreciate his contribution to this weeks show.

Here are some of the news from the article:

There are more economic signs this week that the worst is over for the three year real estate correction cycle.

New home starts up by 8.2 percent last month and building permits up by 5 percent.

Southern California, home sales in April were up 22 percent compared to March, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

One of the country's most prestigious groups of market forecasters, the National Association of Business Economists, says housing and consumer credit conditions will stabilize and begin improving as the year moves on.

Rates fell again for the third straight week. Thirty year fixed rate conventional mortgages averaged 5.8 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Fifteen year rates also dropped, averaging 5.5 percent.

Why the continuing decline in rates? One reason is that inflation is not a major worry for capital markets investors at the moment -- even if gas and food prices are over the top for most of us. The latest Consumer Price Index report -- that's the federal government's measure of inflation -- came in at just zero point two percent (0.2%) for April, which is very low. Year over year, inflation is still only around 2.3 percent.

If you look at conditions in most markets objectively he says, most of the current numbers add up to an excellent buying opportunity. Prices are more affordable they've been in several years. There's a bumper crop of houses to choose from. And mortgage money is cheap and getting cheaper. Maybe the message is just taking a little time to get out there.

Everything that we are seeing in the Real Estate market here leads me to agree very strongly with the main points of this article.

And just as Steve Brooks did this week, always feel free to forward to us any article that you would like to hear me comment on.

The key to success is having the right advisors and consultants in place so you can have the right strategy. As your trusted Real Estate consultants and advisors, we at the Karasik Team work in our unique ability. My unique ability is consulting, negotiating and overseeing the transaction details. We take a customized approach and enable our clients to make informed decisions to accumulate wealth through Real Estate. In addition, we at Karasik and Associates, Mortgage Consultants, can help you come up with a strategy to determine whether this is the right time for you to buy your first home or to refinance your existing home.

We continue to believe that homeownership will remain to be the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com, call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com.

So we do have some good news to be grateful for. And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and prosperous week. And that’s it for now. I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday!

Posted at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

April 18, 2008

More Good News For You!

Good News Friday
Week 14
April 18, 2008

(4 Minutes and 56 Seconds)

(Click The Play Button To Listen To The Podcast Above.)

Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 18th, 2008. My name is Bruce Karasik.

In our last podcast I talked about the details of the bipartisan bill being debated in congress to assist homeowners, new buyers and businesses. The congress is not finished debating but it appears pretty certain congress will pass a bill that will expand the government’s role in assisting troubled borrowers. Several plans have been proposed. All of them would let the FHA insure mortgages for troubled borrowers whose lenders voluntarily write down loans to an affordable level. Once refinanced, the loans could be sold to investors, which in turn could stimulate the mortgage market as a whole. "Given election-year pressure and the lack of differences between plans, it's hard to see how they can't get this done," said Jaret Seiberg, senior vice president at the Stanford Group, a Washington policy research firm. As promised, I will continue to update you on the bill’s progress.
Mortgage application volume increased 2.5% during the week ending April 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey. Refinance volume increased 5.2% during the week.
Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), the second-largest U.S. financier and guarantor of home mortgages, said it would buy $15 Billion in mortgages of up to nearly $730,000 from Wells Fargo JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Washington Mutual Inc. Richard Syron, chief executive of the McLean, Va.-based-company said the move "shows how we can bring new liquidity to markets other investors have all but abandoned and make full use of the new tools Congress gave us to help restore stability during the current housing crisis."
Borrowers looking for fixed-rate mortgages can now find the lowest rates in more than a month. But experts warn the decline may not last for long. Rates on fixed-rate mortgages dropped sharply in the past week, after the Federal Reserve took several historic steps to shore up the financial markets. The rate on a 30-year loan dropped to an average of 5.87%, down from 6.13% a week ago, according to new Freddie Mac figures released.

We continue to believe that homeownership will remain to be the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com, call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com.

Posted at 09:03 AM in Week 14-"More Good News For You!" | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 04, 2008

Multi-Billion Dollar Real Estate Relief Plan Advances

Good News Friday
Week 13
April 4, 2008

(4 Minutes and 1 Second.)

(Click Play To Listen To The Podcast.)

Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 4th, 2008. My name is Bruce Karasik.

This week the congress is working on a bipartisan bill to provide another boost to the housing market and to provide assistance to homeowners, new buyers and businesses. This compromise measure is being placed on the fast track for quick approval by the congress. The following are the bills major highlights:

Provides a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy and move into foreclosed homes
Provides $4 billion for local governments to buy homes in areas here foreclosures are high
Authorizes State and Local Governments to issue up to $10 billion in tax exempt bonds to refinance sub-prime loans
Provides $100 million in counseling services for households facing foreclosure
Requires Lenders to disclose complete loan terms at least 7 days before closing so borrowers can shop for a new mortgage in they don’t like the terms
Aid for home builders and other related business to apply losses in 2008 and 2009 to tax returns from profitable years as far back as 2004 and 2005.

Now very often these bills are subject to change as it moves through congress and I will keep you posted on more developments as they become available. But the focus of the congress is to take immediate action to help homeowners, business, and stimulate the housing market.

Now more than ever it is important to contact a real professional to get the best advice. So call me or email and I will be happy to talk with you on how these new developments can help you save money when you buy your home this year or refinance at the new lower rates.

The key to success is having the right advisers and consultants in place so you can have the right strategy. As your trusted Real Estate consultants and advisors, we at the Karasik Team work in our unique ability. My unique ability is consulting, negotiating and overseeing the transaction details. We take a customized approach and enable our clients to make informed decisions to accumulate wealth through Real Estate. In addition, we at Karasik and Associates, Mortgage Consultants, can help you come up with a strategy to determine whether this is the right time for you to buy your first home or to refinance your existing home.

Posted at 07:37 PM in Week 13--"Multi-Billion Dollar Real Estate Relief Plan Advances." | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 21, 2008

Fed Lowers Interest Rates/Frees Up 200 Billion Dollars for Banks!

Good News Friday Podcast
Week 12
March 21, 2008

(4 Minutes and 39 Seconds.)

Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday! Today is Friday March 21, 2008. My name is Bruce Karasik.

This week the Federal Reserve Board lowered the Federal Funds Rate by three quarters of a point to 2.25 percent in effort to stimulate the economy and the housing market. This rate is the rate that banks are charged when they borrow money. So now we have an equivalent drop in the prime rate, which has been reduced to 5.25%. The drop in these short term rates do not mean that an equivalent drop will take place in Mortgage Rates. This, however, will have a direct effect on car loans, home equity lines of credit, and credit card rates.

The mortgage rates are more affected by economic news, than reductions in short term rates. However, fears of inflation can increase mortgage rates. When the Fed cuts short-term rates, the intent is to lower borrowing costs for corporations so that they'll invest and hire. But this economic growth can lead to inflation. That in turn leads bond traders to demand higher rates on their long-term bonds - and that drives up mortgage rates too. So the Fed decided to encourage the banks to lower their long term rates by making more capital available. An additional $200 billion in financing is headed to the battered mortgage markets after federal regulators said they would allow finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the capital they keep on hand.

Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) are two publicly-traded companies set up by the federal government nearly 40 years ago to help provide financing needed by lenders looking to make home loans. With the change, they are expected to buy or guarantee $2 trillion in mortgages. That is about $200 billion more than they would have without the rule changes announced Wednesday. This additional liquidity is intended to make more money available to banks so they can make loans to the public. However to date, the banks however have been slow to release this money.

So this week the stock market was up one day and down the other. There is tremendous volatility in the mortgage Market and so it is really important for you to call us and let us help you determine when the best time is to lock your interest rates either for a refinance for existing purchase. It would be a smart idea to get your loan applications in now so when the rates dip we are ready to lock you at the right time.

The key to success is having the right advisers and consultants in place so you can have the right strategy. As your trusted Real Estate consultants and advisers, we at the Karasik Team work in our unique ability. My unique ability is consulting, negotiating and overseeing the transaction details. We take a customized approach and enable our clients to make informed decisions to accumulate wealth through Real Estate. In addition, we at Karasik and Associates, Mortgage Consultants can help you come up with a strategy to determine whether this is the right time for you to buy your first home or to refinance your existing home.

We continue to believe that homeownership will remain to be the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com, call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com.

Posted at 10:17 AM in Week 12--"Fed Lowers Interest Rates/Frees Up 200 Billion Dollars for Banks!" | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 07, 2008

Important Update On Interest Rates!

Good News Friday
Week 11
March 7,2008

(4 Minutes and 19 Seconds.)

(Click The Play Button Above To Listen To The Podcast.)

Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday! Today is Friday March 7, 2008. My name is Bruce Karasik.

We have been talking in recent weeks about the bill H.R. 5140 and its effect on the housing market. New higher conforming loan limits are now set to take effect this month. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the new median home prices this week and these new median home prices were used to calculate the new conforming loan limits. The good news is that Los Angeles and Ventura County will have their limits increase to the new maximum amount of $729,750. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who back these loans and buy loans from the banks to create more liquidity in the market are reprogramming their computers and gearing up to implement the new program.

Despite the confusing language in the Bill, there is actually no date restriction for refinancing past loans, and the new limits will apply to FHA loans as well. That means you can refinance any past loan using the new loan limits, regardless of when the loan was first originated.

Remember... There Is No Date Restriction on When Loans Were Originated.

That means if you buy a home in 2008 or if you refinance your home in 2008 you will be able to get a lower conforming interest rate for loans up to $729,750. The previous limit was only $417,000. Now there are some limitations and this program is set to expire by December 31st of this year.

I am posting the link to the HUD website on my Blog where you can view the specific loan limits for your county.

https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm.

So call me or email and I will be happy to talk with you on how these new developments can help you save money when you buy your home this year or refinance at the new lower rates.

Posted at 10:38 AM in Week 11--Important Update On Interest Rates! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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