According to Treasury Department figures, nearly 700,000 trial modifications under Making Home Affordable were underway by the end of November. But with fewer than 32,000 converted to permanent modifications, it means a net drop of permanent loan modifications since the Obama plan began.

Servicers, White House Point Fingers as Foreclosure Plan Fails « The Washington Independent.

HUD has issued a mortgagee letter to lenders and underwriters explaining that effective immediately, borrowers in default on their mortgage at the time of a short sale or pre-foreclosure sale will not be eligible for a new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) -insured mortgage for three years.

Distressed Short Sellers Locked our of FHA Loans

Read the entire article here

“But while the 2010 outlook appears inviting, there’s one key catch. “You need to have a stable job,” says Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com.”

Ya think?

Read the entire article here:

10 Things to Know About Real Estate in 2010 – Yahoo! News.

What I find interesting is that even where home sales have increased the most  prices are DOWN significantly:

“Biggest sales gain: Sales in Boise more than doubled from a year ago. But the metro’s median home price declined versus a year ago by almost 19 percent to $137,990.”

The housing market in Fresno is still fraught with foreclosures, posting the nation’s 15th-highest rate in the third quarter, according to RealtyTrac.com.

That means the market there is saturated with available homes, right? Not quite.

read the entire article here

Havent done this for awhile but couldn’t resist.  Got these via email about an hour ago:

This means there is a shower:

This is the shower door

NO explanation needed – this is a room

This is a _________________ (fill in the blank if you know)

Foreclosures: Prime Borrowers Are The Latest Victims.

Prime Borrowers = people like you and me.

I have one client who, until recently had excellent credit, and lives in a  3000+ sq. ft. — 5 bd. / 3 ba–  home, which will soon be the property of the bank.

His retail business hasn’t just slowed, it’s fallen off the cliff.  The retail mall he is in is becoming a ghost town.  He has days when the cash register does not even ring.

He asked me to sell a small (around 800 sq. ft) 2 bedroom 1 bath rental that he owns free and clear and I was able to convince him to keep it.

He has taken my advice and is currently renovating the property and preparing to move into it.  Its a HUGE step down for him but I told him that when he’s done he will have the envy of many a man in Fresno (including me);  he will be living in a home he can call his own which places him among a small minority.

He isnt going to have those $3000.00 a month payments to make. HOW SWEET IS THAT!

Back in April I called: FHA – THE NEW SUPRIME LENDER

Now I’m not alone

Toll Brothers Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robert Toll said. “Yesterday’s subprime is today’s FHA,”

It’s crazy!

It’s OBSCENE!

A buyer puts in an offer for quarter of a million dollar home, puts up $8750.00 and asks the seller (more often than not: A BANK) to pay the closing costs. Closes on the the home then gets a $8,000 tax credit.
Assuming you have the credit and income, buying a $250,000 home today is almost without risk and can be done almost entirely using OPM (other people’s money)

BUYER HAS NO SKIN IN THE GAME ON A QUARTER OF MILLION DOLLAR HOME!!

THIS MAY BE GOOD NEWS FOR BUYERS, BUT IS IT REALLY GOOD FOR AMERICA???

Associated Press Interactive: AP Economic Stress Index.