Winston Ho\’s Blog

If you™re the owner of even a single unit of rental property, starting this year you must start tracking all vendors doing at least $600 worth of work for you. Federal law now requires you to send them an IRS  1099 form. There are a few exceptions which may apply. See the detailed article from Realtor ® Magazine.

The latest national trends are indicating that the market is slowly recovering. Home sales inching up, prices remaining stable, inventory inching downword and mortgage interest rates remaining at historic lows. Read the  Jan 2011 edition of  KW’s  This Month In Real Estate update. Contact me, info@HoHomes.com,  for local market conditions in MA and RI.

The 30 yr fixed rate has remained stable, fluctuating between 4.25% and 4.5% over the past few months. Home prices also remain stable with a slight upward tendency in the southeastern MA area. Realty Times reports quoted Frank Nothaft, VP and Cheif Economist, as saying “Mortgage delinquency rates continued to move down in the third quarter, with the overall delinquency rate falling to 9.13 percent, the lowest since the first quarter 2009″. See the Realty Times Update  for more information and other interesting articles.

Like a car dealership at the end of its model year, Fannie Mae is offering special incentives exclusively for owner occupants that purchase property from its sizable inventory of foreclosures, also known as HomePath properties.

Owner occupants that purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath property by December 31 will receive up to 3.5% toward closing costs and a home warranty. These incentives for foreclosures are unheard of “ banks typically sell foreclosures œas-is without incentives, warranties, or repairs. This could help buyers to view a HomePath property more like a traditional sale, not a foreclosure, during their search process.

Owners and investors can purchase HomePath properties for 3% down and no mortgage insurance. For homes that are not in tip-top shape, Fannie Mae also offers the HomePath Renovation financing, which works similarly to FHA™s 203(k) mortgage by allowing the cost of light renovation to be included in the mortgage. Furthermore, owner occupants get a 15-day œfirst dibs on HomePath properties through the First Look program.

Fannie Mae is also offering agents an additional $1500 for representing owner occupants who purchase these properties, helping to compensate them for the extra paperwork and other potential obstacles that come along with foreclosure transactions.

Buyers should be sure to take a second look at Fannie Mae™s HomePath properties before settling on œthe one. It could mean not just a great deal but an excellent one.

To get a list of Homepath properties,

drop me an email at info@HoHomes.com.

If you are thinking of buying, there may never be a better time than right now! There are many factors that come into play, but my big 3 are:1. Home Prices have steadily come down since the peak in 2005-2006, and is starting to show a very slight upward trend. Many areas are reporting slight gains in home prices over the last year.2. Mortgage interest rates are at historic lows. I can’t imagine that it could get much lower than where it is today.3. Home affordability is at an all time high. Over the last 10 year period, the ratio of the median mortgage payment to median income is averaging around 20%. During the peak years, that ratio was around 25%. Today, that ratio is only 15%!So don’t sit on the fence too long. Take advantage of the great deals plus the fact that sellers are still very motivated and are willing to negotiate.

It all depends on whether you are a seller or a buyer!The chart below gives you an idea of how the market has changed over time since 2003 in Franklin and surrounding areas. The trending is starting to show signs of leveling, but it may still be a bit early call. The average days on market is hovering around the 6 month mark which is an indicator of a balanced market.For more detailed information in your area, give me a call or drop me an email.

It is estimated that approx  180,000 home buyers eligible for the home buyer tax credit,  and met the requirement of having a binding contract to purchase a home by April 30th, may lose out on the credit due to delays in getting to closing by end of June. The excuse is that the lenders are not able to keep up with the loan applications. BUT, there is hope. The US Senate adopted a bill (H.R 4213) last week to extend the deadline for closing from June 30th  to Sept 30th. This bill does not extend the eligibilty for new buyers, but will allow the 180,000 transactions pending to get the credit if they were not able to close by end of June. The bill has failed to get enough votes to pass and has been withdrawn, but is expected to be back on the senate floor before the end of the month.  If it gets passed by the senate,  it will also need approval from the  House of Represenatatives and the President.  

I received an email this morning from a Zillow user with the following message:

” Dear Sir/Madam I am Mr. Cheng Liu I am currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO CMEC) www.cmec.com I am retiring soon and I will be relocating for Good, after searching the Internet for a reliable real estate agent I found your address for your firm and its rating was so high and I have decided to choose your firm to buy my permanent home. The home will be a cash buy and I will fly to your country to view the property. if you receive my mail pls get back to me as soon as possible. I need a 4 bed room home of $300,000.00USD – $600,000.00 in nice neighborhood in your city and state.Pls contact me with my personal Email:chengliu2010@9.cn or Mobile +8618745098245 Regards Mr. Cheng Liu Chief Financial Officer Email :chengliu2010@9.cn Phone: +8618745098245”

I did a little research as this sounds very suspicious. It appears that this is a scam that is being sent to agents around the country. There is a blog from another agent out of Florida that received the same email, different name and company. Here is a link to his blog with additional details:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1591214/scam-alert-mr-lee-chang

Be careful out there!

The recent storms in the northeast caused havoc in many areas. Reports of flooded basements where they hadn’t had a drop of water before. The unfortunate thing is that many insurance policies do not cover damage due to flood if they are not in a flood zone and does not have the optional coverage. This was a big eyeopener for many people. A local insurance expert advises homeowners to review their policies closely with their insurance agents to determine if they have adequate coverage for these and similar types of events.  Maybe a little late now but it could happen again! This is like installing an alarm system AFTER your home  has been  burglarized!