Lendisphere

CNNMoney.com has an interesting article about the next big demographic trend and its effect on housing demand:  The Echo Boomers.

“There will be 5 million more echo boomers than there were boomers when they first started swelling housing markets,” said Eric Belsky, executive director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

“This is a powerful, powerful underpinning of future demand,” said Belsky.

 To read more, click HERE.

Do you ever feel like David battling Goliath when trying to negotiate a short sale deal with the bank?

It never seems to make sense why the transaction should be drawn out so long.  All the pieces are in place:   the seller is desparate, the buyer is willing.  So you put in a fair offer and assume you will hear something in a reasonable amount of time, knowing that the bank has a backlog of ten million more vacant properties properties just like it costing them money.

You put in your offer and wait.  And you wait.  And you wait some more. 

Do you ever wonder if there’s something sketchy going on behind the scenes?  Do you ever wonder if they really don’t WANT to sell the house?

Bob Hanzey, a San Diego realtor thinks so.  He thinks the big banks go so far as to transfer equity lines of credit to unregulated affiliates during the actual process of the short sale in order to circumvent the rules set up under Obama’s Foreclosure Alternative Program (FAP).   Then the affiliates refuse to cooperate on the short sale, effectively forcing a foreclosure.

Do you have a short sale horror story?  Bob Hamzey is collecting them so he can deliver the lot of ‘em  to federal regulators and show them firsthand what a shoddy situation this is for both the buyers and for the sellers that the FAP program was designed to protect.  If you’d like your story included, you can send it Bob at:  besthomessd@aol.com.

Fight the power, Bob.

And I’m not talking about The New Kids On The Block.

I’m talking about our friends at HUD once again bringing back the Mortgagee Letter 2009 - 15 having to do with how to use that pesky $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit to actually get a buyer into a home. 

HUD’s posting sends a mixed signal regarding how this cash for closing can be accumulated.  But if you are confused – and I know I was –Robin Medecke does a fantastic job of breakin’ it down for us right here.  Take us to the bridge, Robin…