Saturday, April 17, 2010

Fannie Mae and Southern Utah Foreclosures

Fannie Mae's Home Path Mortgage program offers special financing options and incentives to individuals and real estate investors. Buyers who purchase Fannie Mae foreclosure properties can take advantage of Home Path's low down payment requirements and flexible mortgage terms.

Properties listed through the Home Path Mortgage website consist of single family homes, townhouses, and individual condominium units. Real estate for sale listings include bank owned homes and foreclosure properties.

It is imperative for buyers to conduct due diligence when purchasing repossessed homes. HomePath properties are sold in "as is" condition and often require repairs or renovations. In some cases, Fannie Mae will invest in minor repairs to improve the property's marketability.

Properties requiring significant repair may qualify for the Home Path renovation program. Under this program, buyers can apply for a home loan which includes additional funds for repair work.

The Home Path Mortgage program is a good option for borrowers unable to meet conventional home lending down payment requirements. A unique feature of HomePath is borrowers are allowed to obtain down payment assistance from outside sources. These can include grant money, monetary gift or loan from family, friends, employer, non-profit group or charitable organization.

Borrowers can apply for down payment assistance grants through the Department of Housing and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program. NSP grant eligibility requirements and program details are presented at HUD.gov.

Prior to submitting an offer on Home Path Mortgage properties, borrowers must be prequalified. While mortgage prequalification does not guarantee mortgage loan acceptance, it does let borrowers know how much home they can afford. Borrowers can apply for prequalified lending with the lender of their choice.

First time home buyers can further increase savings by taking advantage of the $8000 federal housing tax credit. This tax incentive is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2010; although mortgage financiers believe the home buying credit will be extended. Individuals interested in purchasing a HomePath property should take advantage of tax incentives, along with first time home buyer programs, prior to the scheduled deadline.

Real estate investors can also apply for NSP grants to purchase discounted Fannie Mae properties. HomePath real estate is listed using the "first look" provision which gives first time home buyers and NSP grant money recipients first dibs on listed homes. Unless investors have received NSP funds, they must wait 15 days before bidding on HomePath properties. Under the program, investors can submit offers on up to five homes for sale.

Investors can use Home Path Mortgage homes as rental property; rehab the home and flip it; or enter into seller carry back mortgages. Seller carry back is a finance option where sellers carry a portion of financing. This technique is often used to sell properties to buyers with poor credit.

Not all Fannie Mae homes qualify for HomePath financing. Only properties presented at Home Path website are eligible for the special finance options. Borrowers should comparison shop to obtain the best rate. An additional 1/4-percent interest rate can increase the overall loan by several thousand dollars. Several local and national mortgage lenders are participating in the Home Path Mortgage program. Learn more about the program and participating lenders by visiting www.HomePath.com.

Source: www.HomePath.com


Saint George Homes at your service:

Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet
If you would like to view the newest listings for the Southern Utah
Board of Realtors… check my MLS Hot Sheet.
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Foreclosures
If you would like to view all of the MLS Foreclosures Listings for Southern Utah without any Registration Saint George Homes is the place
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Golf Homes
If you would like to view every single Southern Utah Golf property on the Washington county board of Realtors MLS system follow this link
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Horse Properties
If you would like to view all of the Southern Utah Horse property listings on the Saint George Utah MLS system go to Saint George Homes.




Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet


If you would like to read my blog for the Southern Utah area and its related real estate market condition and statistics… you know what to do!



Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet


If you would like to view all of the MLS listings for all of the 55 + communities in Southern Utah… follow the link above

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Utah...Best in Hard Times

With the real estate market bouncing up and down during these trying times there are 10 cities that are going to be the places many are going to consider living in because real estate is reasonable and offers a higher chance for job and career opportunities. With the recession affecting the real estate market it also gives way to the fact that smart shoppers can snag serious deals on homes and condos at some of the best prices on the market and many of those real estate deals are in these 10 cities. The ten cities that are featured are in fact scattered throughout the United States from all directions and it's becoming the choices for many who are moving from high priced places like New York and San Francisco. Below are a list of these cities and how many people are starting to call these cities home:

Raleigh, North Carolina
Boise, Idaho
Cincinnati, Ohio
Chicago, Illinois
Salt Lake City, Utah
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Atlanta, Georgia
Little Rock, Arkansas
Birmingham, Alabama

These 10 cities are going to be a choice for many who are looking for more job opportunities and somewhat more inexpensive living since New York and San Francisco are two most expensive cities to live in right now and many can't keep up with the rising cost of living in these two cities and are needing more of a break instead of having a financial choke hold. These cities are right now offering cheaper living and better job opportunities especially to those who are in the health care field because the job market for these 10 cities is booming big time and will continue to rise in the next 2-5 years. This is also the time now for many people to go back to school in these cities as well to make themselves more employable for the job market so when certain areas take off people are ready to jump right in and work and not have to face a crisis the way many people did when the recession started and for those who were working during the last recession when Reagan was president who are getting ready to retire, but will find themselves considering these cities as a place to move to because retirees will be looking for more cheaper accommodations and even a second career since many retirees ardent going to get much from retirement which may lead them to move to a more affordable city that offers them a chance to scale back financially and is friendly to the smaller budget.

These cities are also being noted for other things besides cheaper living, but it's also more about education, career, and the best place to raise a family because some cities aren't suited for family life and are more suited for different lifestyles. More Midwestern cities such as Chicago are not only career savvy, but also family friendly for the working professional who wants to have an affordable place to raise a family. Southern cities like Little Rock and Birmingham are also good places to consider for cheaper living and a good place to raise a family. With the real estate market in recession mode this is the time to shop for the home of your dreams because the prices are fallen within affordable standards so those who are first time home buyers will snag deals on homes and even rental property because so many people who lost their homes to foreclosure have left a cornucopia of property that's worth taking a look at. You can get a lot out of this real estate recession by finding cheaper living in the 10 cities mentioned, but you can also find bigger and better opportunities in these cities where you can live in modest comfort without breaking the bank.

Saint George Homes at your service:

Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet
If you would like to view the newest listings for the Southern Utah
Board of Realtors… check my MLS Hot Sheet.
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Foreclosures
If you would like to view all of the MLS Foreclosures Listings for Southern Utah without any Registration Saint George Homes is the place
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Golf Homes
If you would like to view every single Southern Utah Golf property on the Washington county board of Realtors MLS system follow this link
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Horse Properties
If you would like to view all of the Southern Utah Horse property listings on the Saint George Utah MLS system go to Saint George Homes.




Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet


If you would like to read my blog for the Southern Utah area and its related real estate market condition and statistics… you know what to do!



Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet


If you would like to view all of the MLS listings for all of the 55 + communities in Southern Utah… follow the link above

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Four Corners is Off By 2.5 Miles ...

Tourist love visit the American Southwest tourist attraction called the Four Corners, BUT is it where it should be? For over a century, it has been west of the US Route 160 and US Route 40 intersection, or is it?

The only place in the entire USA where four states come to a point is the Four Corners. The states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah touch, as seen in some pictures. It forms a ” + ” symbol, and each straight spoke radiating from the center of the plus sign extends in 4 cardinal directions to finish a perfect straight line boundary for all states. The map of the 4 states, with the exception of Colorado ( which has 4 straight state boundaries separating it from surrounding states), shows New Mexico to the south east, Arizona to the southwest and Utah to the northwest showing these straight spokes representing the only perfectly straight lines for each state.

As reported by Associated Press, the National Geodetic Survey now announces that the Four Corners marker, where all these states meet, is off by 2½ miles. The new location should be 2½ miles to the east of U.S. 160 in Colorado and northeast of the San Juan River as it flows into New Mexico. By today’s official marker, it sits at 109 02 42.62019 W longitude and 36 59 56.31532 N latitude, according to the Desert News in Utah, making the “wrong location” too far to the west.

The Four Corners ” + ” marked in concrete on the ground has always been west of the intersection of U.S. Route 160 and U.S. Route 64. Traveling about 5 miles west of this intersection, the landscape continues to be a wasteland of Colorado (or coming from the south through New Mexico or Arizona, the landscape is still void of trees or hills, just flat wasteland, nothingness) in order to get to this tourist attraction.

Supposedly, this 4 state meeting point was surveyed by the government in 1868 in an initial survey of Colorado’s southern boundary.

However, the current claim by the National Geodetic Survey is that this survey is inaccurate.

A statement made by the San Juan County surveyor David Bronson comment about the present monument, “That’s the accepted location.”

“That’s a long ways to be off,” he acknowledged of the 2.5-mile discrepancy, but stressed to the Desert News that once it was set, it remained.

For travelers not familiar with this tourist attraction, it may not be an insignificant trivia. Travelers who have made an extraordinary effort to go out of their way to traverse uninspiring landscape just to arrive at this very spot, would be very disappointed that the new revelation nullifies their pilgrimage and pictures.

What is the significance of this new National Geodetic Survey for the four states? What are the major ramifications with the new discovery that the Four Corners is off the mark by 2½ miles to the east, downhill from US Route 16?

1. This predicament poses problems for politicians, communities and the legal system. Utah

affected by the new location. The use of crude equipment versus the current GPS (global positioning system) resulted in Utah and Arizona to the west losing the most land in the original survey “mistake” while Colorado and New Mexico gained ground. This property is affected by the 2½ miles shift of boundary to the east.

2. It is not clearly stated in the media, but one wonders if an entire rectangular block of land the length of the north south boundary 2½ miles wide. The new boundary further east affects a significant amount of real estate as the states out west are relatively large compared to small states back east. It is not defined, but it does not seem that the new shift east only affects a linear relocation along the boundary that is in between the north states of Utah and Colorado and the southern states of Arizona and New Mexico.

3. Besides acres of real estate, other considerations involve state taxation and water rights.

4. In addition, there needs to be an upfront capital to relocate the tourist facility and new roads leading to the new tourist attraction to continue to attract tourists, particularly foreigners who LOVE the Four Corners. It is an added 20 miles from a very popular internationally renowned Mesa Verde National Park. Perhaps the Obama stimulus could be used to resolve this legitimate issue.

5. The discovery may just be numbers of longitude and latitude, but the significance of this important information is likely to be pursued for long-term,

8. Fortunately all states affected are all within states within one country of USA. The resolution may not be fast or easy, but communities are not torn asunder by citizenship.

The Four Corners is a popular tourist attraction, especially popular with European and other overseas tourists who make a pilgrimage to this very location in the middle of nowhere just to take the must-have picture . The traditional pose is to stretch a hand or a foot in each of 4 states as seen in these pictures. http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&sa=1&q=four+corners+in+Colorado+&btnG=Search+Images&aq=f&oq=

Having personally made the trip to the Four Corners twice, it was decided then that the long and uninspiring landscape to the Four Corners was too boring and too much of a hardship to have a 3rd visit. If changes are made regarding the relocation of this site, tourists including myself may again make a bee-line to the Four Corners just to read a plague about the new discovery and it’s ramifications and to take updated pictures..

Information that might motivate your next visit to the Four Corners include tourist attractions in the vicinity:

de Chelly National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Mesa Verde National Park and Monument Valley

Mountain Ranges in the Four Corners include Sleeping Ute Mountains, Abajo Mountains and the Chuska Mountains

Economic capital and largest city in the region is Farmington, New Mexico.

Source:

Tourists @ 4 corners http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&sa=1&q=four+corners+in+Colorado+&btnG=Search+Images&aq=f&oq=

Four Corners marker, where states meet, is off by 2½ miles http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2009089938_webfourcorners20.html

Mesa Verde in Colorado http://www.mesaverdenationalpark.explorefourcorners.com/

Four Corners National Parks http://www.explorefourcorners.com/national_parks.html

The new GPS location of the Four Corners http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705298412,00.html

Four Corners marker 21/2 miles off? Too latehttp://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705298412,00.html


Saint George Homes at your service:

Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet
If you would like to view the newest listings for the Southern Utah
Board of Realtors… check my MLS Hot Sheet.
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Foreclosures
If you would like to view all of the MLS Foreclosures Listings for Southern Utah without any Registration Saint George Homes is the place
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Golf Homes
If you would like to view every single Southern Utah Golf property on the Washington county board of Realtors MLS system follow this link
Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Horse Properties
If you would like to view all of the Southern Utah Horse property listings on the Saint George Utah MLS system go to Saint George Homes.




Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet


If you would like to read my blog for the Southern Utah area and its related real estate market condition and statistics… you know what to do!



Southern Utah Board of Realtors MLS Hot Sheet


If you would like to view all of the MLS listings for all of the 55 + communities in Southern Utah… follow the link above

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Saint Utah Real Estate ... Curb Appeal is King

For many Southern Utah families, job transfers have led the way for moving into new homes every few years. For many Saint George Utah families seeking to transfer and purchase real estate, it is quickly realized the floral display often seen in one area of the country is in great contrast to that of another area of the country. This is especially true for families who are seeking to move away from the New England area into the southern part of North America, in search of the perfect southern home. Therefore, creating gardens that mimic the Northeast floral display, in your Southern real estate sale, can be challenging but achievable with the right gardening arrangement thereby improving the opportunity for sale by appealing to those families who are transferring from the Northeast area of the country.

Gardens of the Northeastern United States often display beautiful blooms of poppies, foxglove, iris and even peonies. While most of these floral displays can not survive the extreme heat and humidity of the South, families who wish to create beautiful outdoor landscaping and gardens, with New England appeal, must find annual alternatives, most often with blooms into the winter; such is the case for poppies. In doing so, this will boost your curb appeal in the real estate sale market.

In the south, poppies bloom best in the winter season. While the best floral displays, in the northeast United States may be found in the Oriental poppy, in the south, homeowners commonly use Iceland poppy, planting the seed in the fall and watching many months of beautiful poppy blooms into the winter. If, however, you are selling your home in the spring, consider planting spring blooms with the California poppy. Without regard to the species of poppy, the general appearance will boost curb appeal and promote sale, especially to families who are tranferring from the Northeast and interested in purchasing a home in the south.

Beyond the poppy, families who have moved from the northeast to the south, also tend to feel most comfortable in landscapes using foxgloves. The foxglove is a biennial and will provide beautiful blooms into winter and extending all the way through spring, providing for a relatively simply landscape curb appeal to your home.

The key to creative gardening as part of a real estate sale technique, especially in the south, is to position landscaping in such a way so as to coordinate floral displays that bloom in the winter among floral displays that bloom best in spring and summer. As a families from the northeast area begin to search out homes for sale in your area, your home will be at an advantage in terms of floral selection as the flowers you often see in the summer, in the northeast, will make great strategic selling points in the real estate market. Once these blooms have passed season, the traditional southern blooms will begin to flourish, providing your home landscape with a beautiful array of floral display, representing all aspects of the United States and, thereby, opening your home to potential buyers from all over the country.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Saint George Utah ... Real Estate Survivalist

Saint George Utah Foreclosures

Financial institutions are going bankrupt. So are families who suffer home mortgage foreclosures. Jobs are being wiped out. Prices are skyrocketing.

So we're all in this together, right?

Actually, a good number of us are deciding to go it alone. The survivalist movement, unlike the stock market, is surging in numbers, according to an MSNBC report.

You might want to buy stock in Utah Shelter Systems, which manufacturers underground shelters that are designed for surviving the aftershock of a nuclear or biological attack. Sharon Packer is a co-owner of Utah Shelter Systems, and she's not among those who are suffering financially. Like a bomb, business is booming.

The odd aspect is that Utah Shelter Systems did not immediately have a big boom after the 9/11 attacks. The surge in orders for these $40,000 dwellings instead has accompanied an economic downtown that some survivalists describe as "the Greater Depression."

Sharon Packer says most of the orders for Utah Shelter Systems are coming from well-heeled folks who fear the worst. Still, what connection would a lousy stock market have with a terrorist attack? Packer says her customers perceive that if the United States has a weak economy, then terrorists will perceive that the nation is more vulnerable to attack. (Note to Readers: Terrorists were not immediately available for comment.)

A decision to purchase an underground shelter from Utah Shelter Systems may seem like quite an overreaction. This isn't the Cold War of the 1950s, the Soviet Union no longer exists, and Dwight D. Eisenhower is not the president of the United States.

More sensible is the decisions, among families who can afford it, to stock up on non-perishable foods such as rice, dry beans and canned goods. Some analysts forecast that this year's sharp rise in food prices may be only a start. Nobody says that the price of food will become as volatile as the price of oil, but a similar trend could emerge. Families who fill their pantries may be glad that they did so, down the road.

As for the New York City company that designs furniture with food storage compartments, this again seems a bit extreme.

Then there's the Survival Center in McKenna, Wash. General Manager Richard Mankemyer told MSNBC reporter Kari Huus that a major corporation placed an order to stockpile survival foods for its executives. Mankemyer said he gently suggested that the corporation may also want to stock up for its employees.

Are we all in this together? Not always, apparently. And the sad part is, the people who survived the original Great Depression are best known for how they shared and supported one another.

SOURCE

www.koaa.com/aaaa_featured_stories/x1949200918/Planning-for-Greater-Depression.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Saint George Utah Real Estate Market Statistics


O.K. I have found a way to give out the most current and active MLS activity reports straight from the Washington Country Board of Realtors MLS system, for all of Saint George Utah and the greater Washington County...

The spreadsheet to the right has all listings classes and their respective numbers of currently active listings, pending listings and sold listings for all the greater Saint George area.

New-home sales declined 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 342,000 units in May. Meanwhile, the number of new homes for sale fell 2.3 percent to 292,000, which is a 10.2-month supply at the current sales pace.

Regionally, the decline in new-home sales was entirely focused on the South, where sales fell 8.5 percent for the month. Meanwhile, sales of new homes gained 1.3 percent in the West and posted double-digit gains of 28.6 percent and 18.6 percent in the Northeast and Midwest, respectively.

All of that being said… its 6/29/09…I keep these live links posted for the different search criteria that I receive the most requests for.

Southern Utah Foreclosures
Southern Utah Adult Communities
Southern Utah Golf Homes
Washington City Utah Homes & Condos
Santa Clara Utah Homes & Condos
Southern Utah Horse Property
Washington County Board Of Realtors Hot Sheet

This last handy little link will pull you into The Washington Country Board of Realtors MLS system. From there you can see the newest MLS listings on the WCBR MLS system as well as all price reductions…Knowledge is Power!

As of today June 29, 2009 there are currently on the Washington County Board of Realtors MLS system…

80 Active Southern Utah Foreclosures in Saint George Utah on the WCBR MLS system
• 159 Closed Southern Utah Single Family Homes & Condo’s in St George Utah, on MLS from 5/29/09 thru 6/29/09.
1,534 Active Single Family Homes & Condo’s in the Greater Saint George area of Southern Utah on WCBR MLS
• 299 Southern Utah Single Family Homes & Condos in the Greater Saint George area currently under contract or “pending”

In any event its off to Twitter…I have few Twitter names, and here are two: StGeorgeHomes or EquityStGeorge. I post these same stats there if you would like to get…”Just The Fact’s” Till Tomorrow. Saint George Homes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Saint George Utah Real Estate Listings, Links, and Market Conditions

Well, the Nation Association of Realtors just came out with some new numbers regarding housing inventory… NAR chief economist, expected an improvement. “Historically low mortgage interest rates clearly drew buyers into the market, and housing remains very affordable even with a recent uptick in rates,” he said. “First-time buyers also are being drawn off the sidelines by the $8,000 tax credit, which is helping to absorb inventory. However, the increase in sales is less than expected because poor appraisals are stalling transactions. Pending home sales indicated much stronger activity, but some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 4.86 percent in May from a record low 4.81 percent in April; the rate was 6.04 percent in May 2008. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed at 5.38 percent; data collection began in 1971.

Total housing inventory at the end of May fell 3.5 percent to 3.80 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.6-month supply2 at the current sales pace, down from a 10.1-month supply in April.

NAR Inventory Chart

All of that being said… its 6/26/09…I keep these live links posted for the different search criteria that I receive the most requests for.

Southern Utah Foreclosures
Southern Utah Adult Communities
Southern Utah Golf Homes
Washington City Utah Homes & Condos
Santa Clara Utah Homes & Condos
Southern Utah Horse Property
Washington County Board Of Realtors Hot Sheet

This last handy little link will pull you into The Washington Country Board of Realtors MLS system. From there you can see the newest MLS listings on the WCBR MLS system as well as all price reductions…Knowledge is Power!

As of today June 23, 2009 there are currently on the Washington County Board of Realtors MLS system…

80 Active Southern Utah Foreclosures in Saint George Utah on the WCBR MLS system
• 159 Closed Southern Utah Single Family Homes & Condo’s in St George Utah, on MLS from 5/26/09 thru 6/26/09.
1,534 Active Single Family Homes & Condo’s in the Greater Saint George area of Southern Utah on WCBR MLS
• 299 Southern Utah Single Family Homes & Condos in the Greater Saint George area currently under contract or “pending”

In any event its off to Twitter…I have few Twitter names, and here are two: StGeorgeHomes or EquityStGeorge. I post these same stats there if you would like to get…”Just The Fact’s” Till Tomorrow. Saint George Homes.