A Murfreesboro Realtor and member of the Tennessee Real Estate Network, who has dedic
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Added by Jim Gibbs on October 16, 2009 at 7:43am —
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Wags call it government-sponsored subprime. Realtors and mortgage brokers call it the only sign of life in the lending market.
Federal Housing Administration loans are by far the most popular choice for
loan borrowers these days, thanks to low down payments and newly raised loan
limi
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Added by Jim Gibbs on March 17, 2009 at 6:03am —
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Between 2002 and 2007, the city of Indio, California experienced a housing boom, but by late 2007 found itself on the leading edge of what is now a national foreclosure crisis. Faced with increasing numbers of citizen complaints of poorly maintained properties as well as concerns that neighborhood blight was leading to more serious crime and disorder, the Indio Police Department launched a multipronged project to contain the impact of vacant properties on the surrounding neighborhoods.
Indio…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on March 4, 2009 at 9:34am —
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U.S. home foreclosure filings in January decreased from December, an indication that an array of efforts to curb the process may be making an impact, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
Foreclosure activity was still 18 percent higher than a year earlier, the 37th consecutive month with a year-over-year increase. Nevertheless, the fall in foreclosure filings last month provides a glimmer of hope for the hard-hit U.S. housing market.
Home foreclosure filings in January totaled 27…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on February 12, 2009 at 10:15am —
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The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that went into effect October 1st will assist up to 2 million borrowers in danger of foreclosure by allowing them to refinance their current mortgages with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed loan. The bill also allocates funding to assist Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Most borrowers will receive substantial savings on FHA-backed loans, which carry reasonable interest rates that are fixed for the life of the loan. It also would give the FHA n…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on October 3, 2008 at 10:25am —
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Rates on 30-year mortgages have risen for a second straight week, climbing to the highest level in a month.
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Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.10 percent this week, up slightly from 6.09 percent last week. It was the highest level since 30-year mortgages averaged 6.35 percent for the week ending Sept. 4.
Financial markets have been turbulent in recent weeks as demand for safe-haven Treasury securities has pushed tho…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on October 2, 2008 at 1:16pm —
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Existing-homes sales totaled 4.91 million units in August on an annualized basis -- a 2.2% decline from the level recorded in July -- as mortgage financing became more expensive and Americans continued to worry about their jobs. According to figures compiled by the National Association of Realtors, resales fell 10.7% from the level of a year earlier. The bad news on home sales came as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told a joint committee of Congress that U.S. "economic activity appears…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on September 30, 2008 at 12:50pm —
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The U.S. attorney in New York has subpoenaed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of an investigation into whether fraud contributed to the demise of these now government-owned mortgage investing giants. According to public filings, Fannie and Freddie said they face ongoing investigations from both the U.S. attorney and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The two agencies are seeking information about their accounting, financial disclosures, and corporate governance. Freddie said the subpoena…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on September 30, 2008 at 12:44pm —
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Homebuilders are always trying to sell their homes, but these days they have an extra incentive — beating the clock.
In a few weeks, a financing option used by almost 20 percent of new-home buyers to help scrape together a down payment is going away, making it tougher for many people to become homeowners.
It's a loophole in the Federal Housing Administration rules that let builders and other home sellers channel money through a charity to help homebuyers cover their down payment.
But lawmaker…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on August 31, 2008 at 8:09pm —
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The massive attack that has infected PCs by tricking users into clicking links in fake messages from CNN.com shows little sign of ending soon, security researchers say.
According to MX Logic Inc. , spam posing as CNN.com Top 10 lists peaked at close to 11 million messages per hour early Thursday, but remained at high volumes throughout the day Friday. The Colorado security vendor said it had been tracking an average of 8 million messages per hour since midnight.
MX Logic's vice president of in…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on August 12, 2008 at 6:54am —
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Recently the New Jersey Association of Realtors reported that it is diving deeper into cyberspace, purchasing virtual real estate in the online world of Second Life, building profiles on networking sites LinkedIn and Facebook, and rolling out audio podcasts for members.
The association announced that it has opened a virtual office in Second Life which is a three-dimensional, interactive online world. Other real estate entities, including Coldwell Banker and the California Association of Realtor…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on July 7, 2008 at 10:11am —
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I have written recently of the efforts of TAR Government Affairs Director J.A. Bucy to change the rules and or law concerning education for TREC licensing, and my concern over the lack of communications coming from TAR regarding the proposed changes.
The recommendations are:
• Core Course requirements be extended to from 4 to 6 hours (of the 16 hours of mandatory Continuing Education.), and that this 6-hour course be permanently devoted to Contracts and TN Agency Law instruction.
• Only live,…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on June 22, 2008 at 7:55pm —
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Google Street View is now in Tennessee, and it is absolutely amazing. Currently Google has photographed much of Nashville and Knoxville and just within the last week or so taken in Murfreesboro and Franklin and is moving on to Columbia. Just go to
Google Maps, type in Tennessee, select street view, and voila, you’ll see the streets that are photographed highlighted…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on June 17, 2008 at 10:28am —
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Years ago I worked for a broker that was also a lawyer. He was very explicit in his instructions to us regarding mortgages. Office policy was, “Develop a relationship with a mortgage banker and not a mortgage broker – and if you don’t know the difference, see me!”
Now a study of closing costs supports his narrow view of who to do business with. The study says that mortgage brokers charge more than lenders and African-American and Latino communities often pay more, the U.S. Department of Housing…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on May 31, 2008 at 10:29am —
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According to recent commercials about Las Vegas, the TAR Governmental Affairs Committee meeting and Las Vegas share a similarity: What goes on there, stays there!
Last year I spoke up after discovering TAR Lobbyist J. Bucy recommending to the TREC not to make changes in TREC rules at the request of the TAR membership. “Wait a minute”, I thought, I’m a member and I don’t have a clue what he is talking about. I want those changes made. Most specifically the discussion before the TREC was about th…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on May 25, 2008 at 1:59pm —
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The summer driving season officially kicks off this Memorial Day week as gas prices continue to soar to new record highs above the $4-a-gallon mark. The Internet, the media and your next-door neighbor are bristling with advice on how to save gas, but unfortunately, not all these tips are useful or even accurate.
If you've decided, "Damn the pump prices, full speed ahead," and are even now gearing up for your trip, how can you save as much on gas as possible?
First of all, good news for those o…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on May 22, 2008 at 7:00am —
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There are a number of skills and qualities that a highly successful real estate agent will utilize. But one of these qualities, and one that I rarely hear discussed by people, is the quality of resiliency.
Resiliency, though, can at times be the most important quality for a good agent to possess. This is because real estate sales and leasing is a business where agents normally experience extreme emotional highs and lows. One day you have eight transactions that all look like they're going to cl…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on May 13, 2008 at 6:40am —
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Welcome to Tennessee’s latest incarnation of the Internet, the Tennessee Real Estate Network. Real estate professionals who simply created Web sites for online exposure are giving way to the next generation of Web users. The tech world has dubbed tools like blogs and social network sites like Facebook as Web 2.0, enabling Web users to connect with one another rather than view content passively.
These tools offer real estate practitio…
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Added by Jim Gibbs on May 11, 2008 at 1:00pm —
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A Murfreesboro Realtor and member of the Tennessee Real Estate Network, who has dedic
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