With Interest Rates dropping, some things to consider

Interest rates are dropping across the board on all fixed loan structures for residential mortgages. Here are some things to consider:

- A non-Jumbo loan structure, fixed for 7 years with an interest rate of 3.50%

- Nothing fancy, no pre-payment penalties, amortized over 30 years, standard old FannieMae product

- In the 8th year, the rate can go no higher than 5.00% … so you’re protected for a total of 8 years

- This is not an FHA or VA product

There's never been a better time to purchase or refinance!

Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

Lead Based Paint Requirement Delay

Good news for contractors and home re-modelers living in older homes. The Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday, that it will delay until October 1 the requirement that all contractors be trained and certified to work on homes built prior to January 1, 1978. The concern is that the possibility of lead based paint in these homes presents a safety issue and specific training is necessary.

EPA requires that firms performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes built prior to 1978 be certified by EPA. Anyone remodeling homes, schools and child care facilities must use certified renovators who are trained by EPA approved training providers to follow lead safe work practices. Contractors can become certified by taking an eight hour class from EPA certified instructors. Contractors must follow these three safety rules: contain the work area, minimize dust and clean up thoroughly.

Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

A Snapshot of the Market

Yes, April was a busy month with the final expiration of the Federal tax credit for both new and repeat buyers. This last minute dash found more homes going under contract in any April since the mid 1980's.

Inventory was up in April with 16,344 homes on the market and 3,308 sold. The median price was also up, to $225,000. In February of this year the median price was only $217,000.

Will this trend continue? Probably not at this pace, but working in our favor is the motivating current reduction in interest rates, to only 4.625%.

For more information on your personal values, please contact me or my office.

Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

Information from Garold D. Bauer and Metrolist.
Deemed Reliable but not guraranteed.

Are you keeping your clients S.A.F.E?

Does it Make You Cringe?

Your buyer mentions that they have found a "DEAL" with an online, newly named, Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO),who has offered unbeatable rates.

How do you guide them to verify that what sounds too good to be true, just might be?

The S.A.F.E Act is something we've heard about, but how many of us know its content and how to use this resource to protect our clients?

ALL MLOs must be registered with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) by July 31, 2010.
Anyone can go to the websites (http://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/Pages/default.aspx or
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/safe/smlicact.cfm)
to verify that an MLO is registered and operating within the required guidelines of the S.A.F.E Act.

Pass this information on to reinforce your professionalism and concern for your clients!

Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

Did you Share With Your Clients?

NAR's report released last Thursday showed an increase in existing homes sales of 7.3% in March. How much of this is due to the tax incentives no one really knows, but there are other good indicators.

1.Unsold inventory decreased by 2%
2.Single family home starts were up 1.6%
3.New Permits rose 7.5% for the month of March
4.According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, loan applications were up 10%. This is also probably due to the tax credits.
5. Median prices are rising.
6. Fannie Mae's economic department released a forecast for the balance of 2010 projecting a gain in GDP of about 3.1%.

Are we out of the woods, not yet, and yes jobs are still a vital issue, but this is optimistic news to share with your clients!

Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

Image from Businessweek.com

Check on That Final Divorce Decree

Three similar stories in the last three weeks. Three women had contacted me to help them find a home before the April 30th deadline. They all shared an increasingly common problem.

Their final divorce decree had been written to remove them from title on the marital home, and the loan that accompanied it. There was one major problem.

Just because a final divorce settlement states that someone will be removed from a loan does not necessarily mean that automatically happens. In fact, it rarely does. Lenders generally do not modify loans to remove a borrower.

The procedure usually requires the person remaining in the home refinance to pay off the present loan. Frequently this is the only remedy to remove a co borrower from this financial obligation.

It's been my experience that many attorneys are unaware of this. Apparently they believe the only requirement is the final settlement state a party be removed from the loan for that to occur.

When working with divorcing clients and customers, please be sure to verify that they no longer have the previous loan on their credit report. If they do, it will take some time to have the situation corrected and usually causes additional stress to an already fragile individual.

Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.