Today on the Ilyce Glink show, Ilyce discussed her trip last week to Washington, DC for the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) meeting. We had a number of questions about long-term care insurance. Long-term care insurance is expensive, but it can be a lot more affordable if you buy it in your early 50s or 60s rather than waiting until you're in your 70s or 80s, when it can be unaffordable.
James B. Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency spoke before the National Association of Real Estate Editors on "The Roles of Fannie...
Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), spoke to members of the National Association of Real Estate Editors...
Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, spoke to the members of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, at the organization’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 18, 2009. Here’s what he had to say about Sen. Johnny Isakson’s (R-GA) proposal for a $15,000 home buyer tax credit with no income limitations.
Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), spoke to a members of the National Association of Real Estate Editors yesterday afternoon in Washington, D.C. After he made his prepared remarks, Donovan took questions from the media on the topics of foreclosures, mortgage lender compensation, and whether he is satisfied with the response from mortgage lenders to the loan modification program.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan spoke at the National Association of Real Estate Editors Annual Conference. Secretary Donovan spoke about how HUD is involved in President Obama's plans for the economic crisis and the Making Home Affordable act, FHA reform and how that will affect the housing markets, consumer protection, and building more sustainable communities. The transcript of the speech is below. See the blog for more details from Ilyce at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference.
Can you be a real estate agent and a mortgage lender in the same deal? In many cases, you cannot. RESPA (Real Estate and Settlement Procedure Act), has restrictions on what certain parties to a real estate transaction can and can't do. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has its own rules and requirements for real estate agents and mortgage lenders. But the essence of these rules is to protect the home buyer from undue influence from real estate agents and mortgage loan officers.
You know that the real estate market has hit bottom when buyers are starting to bid above the list price for homes. With the large number of homes on the real estate market, real estate investors and first time home buyers are looking at the best priced homes. At times, bidding wars arise and homes are sold above the list price. With the first time home buyer federal income tax credit of $8,000, quite a number of first time home buyers are out there looking.
Generally when people buy homes, they don't buy them on the basis of the number of square feet the home has. If the square footage of a home is important, the parties to that transaction need to make sure that they know and understand how the square footage of the home is computed and what happens if the numbers are wrong. Can you cancel a contract if the square footage is less than what is advertised? How difficult is it to cancel a contract? Can you get your money back?
What can you do when you need to sell your home fast? If you aren't using a real estate agent, you'll need to use grass roots marketing to gun the home sale process. For starters, you will need to talk to your neighbors, real estate agents and real estate brokers that work in the community. And, don't forget, to use the resources available on the internet.
