My New Blog

Congress has given qualified homebuyers 8,000 reasons to buy a home in this buyer's market. There's really never been a better time to buy a home.That's because Congress is now offering a new $8,000 tax credit to assist first time homebuyers purchase a home.

Who qualifies for this tax credit? If you are a first time homebuyer or you haven't owned a home within the past 3 years, you pass the first qualification. If you qualify and purchase a residence before December 1, 2009, then you're eligible for the tax credit. This will allow you to deduct 10% of the purchase price of your home up to $8,000, when you file your income taxes. For more detailed program information go to www.HousingMarketFacts.com.

Don't sit on the fence with this program out there for you. With the rates still under 6% and a pure buyers market, you will get the most home for your dollar now than ever before. Call me today to sit down and review your home needs, and discuss this great opportunity.

Have your best day!

Jeff  

For the past two years we've seen a steady rise in the sale of foreclosures and other distressed type properties. This has become a specialty market for many local real estate agents. I'm sorry to report that we can expect to see a rise in these sales for a few more years. Are these really good deals, and what is the process to buy one of these properties?

First of all you will need to build a team of professionals to help you through the process. Find a successful Realtor in the market you have targeted to buy a home in. Have them assist you in selecting a longtime Mortgage representative who can pre-approve you for the amount of home you are looking to buy. Determine the location, price, style, and amenities of the home you want and begin your search.

Your agent will have access to most of the distressed homes through their local Multiple Listing Board. They will also search the HUD site, and other foreclosure sites. Once you have found your home you need to understand the system and how it works.

There are many stages of the foreclosure process. You need to know which stage this home is in. Is the seller current with their mortgage payments, but they realize they can't pay off their mortgage for what they will receive for the sale of their home? If this is the case then you'll be involved in a "Short sale". The Lender will have final say on what the terms of the sale will be. This process could take up to 3-4 months for approvals from the Lender. In some cases you will be tied to this agreement, and they will take multiple offers at the same time and pick the best one. This can be a very frustrating and one sided negotiation. Just know going in that you need to know the Lender's financial stake in the home, and be aggressive in getting an answer from them. If the Lender doesn't act like they want to sell the home...this could take some time. They should be willing to provide an estimate of the time it will take to close.

Working with HUD on a foreclosed home is fairly straight forward. Your agent must be an approved  HUD Agent and will submit your offer on HUD forms. Some homes are restricted to owner occupants and some are open to investors as well. Inspections are advised but HUD will rarely repair any items for the buyer. You can request money in your offer for some repairs. You are basically buying these homes "as is". Expect some competition on the good homes, which will test you and your Agent's negotiating ability. Delays are almost a certainty in these sales, so be patient. The longer these homes are on the market, the lower the price will be. HUD is very good at lowering the price until it sells. 

Lender owned listings can be a very big waste of time if you don't ask the right questions upfront. If the home has a private mortgage insurance policy on it, the lender will wait to get an amount above what they will be paid by the policy. They won't tell you this and they'll leave you hanging for months. Lender's will also accept multiple offers and sit on them for weeks or months until an offer comes in that they like. You need to ask if other offers exist, and if there is an P.M.I. policy in place. You need to ascertain what their motivation level is before you start the process. Second Lien Holder's will try to bid on homes when they feel that's their only chance of getting their money back. Be sure to find out how many lien's are on the home.

When you are considering a home...Be sure to know what similar properties sold for in the past 6 months. How many distressed homes were sold in this area? Get realistic estimates on the repairs needed to get the home up to market quality. Some homes won't qualify for FHA or VA loans if there are numerous repairs needed. 

My best advice is to go out and find the best home for the best price....period! If that is a short sale home, pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, or any other market ready home. Just know the rules going into all negotiations. Happy Buying & Selling!

Jeff        

I've been outraged for years now at the irresponsible lending practices and lender deceptions that have finally brought our economy to a halt. When buyers couldn't come up with a down payment for their home, the lenders came up with zero down programs. When the buyers credit was "bruised", (the real word is BAD), the Lender lowered the credit scores. Buyer's have a bankruptcy...no problem...we'll reduce the number of years you have to wait to get your credit straight. Buyer's have 40-50% debt and can't verify their income...no problem...we'll qualify them on a non conforming program and package them to unsuspecting investors. Whoever wanted a home could get a home. 

There was virtually no regulation on the Mortgage Broker's doing these high risk loans. Many of these brokers and their reps. worked online or out of their homes. Traditional Banks and Mortgage Companies wouldn't touch these loans. They took the bad loans and made them look good, and collected 1-2% of the mortgage amount from each buyer at closing. All they had to do is package the loan and make sure it met the investors guidelines. They manipulated most of the bad loans and made them look good by changing the information the buyer's gave them in some cases. Increasing their income and decreasing their debt, funding down payments outside of closing through "side" deals. The secondary market didn't care because they were packaging thousands of bad loans together and selling them for record profits. As long as the money flowed in the investors didn't care either...they were making too much money to know they had bought bad loans. When the loans started to default in record numbers...everybody started to see the problem.

This was done Commercially as well. Builders, Developers, Investors, and others created wealth through buying properties and land they couldn't pay off unless appreciation kept up at record pace. When it all stopped they couldn't make their payments. Home & Land speculators have accounted for a large part of this fiasco. We're not through the worst of it with Land yet. Many of the large parcels sold are just now starting to be defaulted on, as Builders and Developers can't afford to carry land and new home sales are at record lows.

The recent 750 Billion Dollar Bail out plan blames the real estate homeowner in great part for this predicament. It also benefits the nine or ten large banks left in America who played a pivotal part in this mess. No plan has been devised to assist the homeowners who are currently or soon to be in default. This is a major flaw in the plan and needs to be changed. Interest rates have risen an average of 3/4% in the last three weeks. We hit 7.0% just last week.This is causing an even greater strain on the homeowners who have variable rate mortgages. 

Stricter guidelines need to implemented on all Mortgage Lenders. I think they all need to be licensed within the State they practice. I think they need to restrict the mom & pop lenders who prey on the ignorant buyers and have little or no accountability for thier actions. We need to penalize unethical practices and lending violations vigorously. Proper disclosures need to be provided to Buyers, and uniform buyer guidelines need to be adopted by all Lenders.

It might be helpful if we all just buy what we can afford too! 

Enjoy your best day!

Jeff

Remember the build up and excitement we all felt when we exited the 1990's and entered the new Century? Sure we all had concerns about the computers crashing, and the technology stock bust was under way, but everything else looked pretty good to us. Life was pretty good and getting better.

Well, the start of the 21st Century hasn't been that gracious to us Americans. We went from prosperity and growth to encountering some major life changing challenges. The terrorist's changed our lives on 9/11...but didn't defeat us. Mother nature has hit us with her best shot multiple times...but hasn't beat us. The War in Iraq has taken too many lives and caused spirited debates around the country...but hasn't divided us. Millions of foreclosures worth billions of dollars have chased families from their homes, and forced major institutions into bankruptcy...but we're still hopeful. Everything from rising unemployment, increased political tensions from abroad, loss of wealth due to a sluggish economy, loss of life from increased murder rates around the country...the list is endless.

Our will is going to get us through this..I'm proud to be an American.

Our innovation and resolve will get us through this...I'm Proud to be an American.

Our fighting spirit and dedication will get us through this...I'm Proud to be an American.

Our faith, love of Country, love of all lives, sense of honor, will to win, dedication, faith in our cause, belief in one another, hope for all Americans. compassion,  generosity, ingenuity, and trust will get us through...

I'm Proud To Be An American.

Investors rallied at the news of the Governments seizure of the nation's two troubled mortgage giants. Most experts view this as a real short term homerun. It had to be done. International pressure came from many foreign banks that were concerned with the possible collapse of these two mortgage giants. Wall Street and Politicians were concerned that if these two companies failed and went out of business, the entire real estate market would be on the verge of collapse. Nearly 2/3  of the mortgages were tied to Fannis Mae & Freddie Mac. Collapse wasn't an option.

Where do we go from here? Well, mortgage rates came down by 3/8 to 1/2%. That should stimulate some real estate sales. It all depends on whether or not Congress can work together and pass a plan that will secure the 200 Billion dollars in mortgages we just took over from the two failed companies. We are on the hook for this and we need a plan that will protect our interests, and still revive a sluggish mortgage industry. Our economy couldn't take a collapse of this enormity. Now let's hope our leaders will work "together", to provide a plan that will turn this bailout into something more profitable for our Nation.  

Just after tiny Milan High School won Indiana's State Basketball Championship in 1954, a rally was held in front of 25-40,000 fans. (This is impressive in that Milan only had 162 kids in their entire High School).

There were a number of speakers on this historic day, but one left a memorable and profound impression on this crowd. Mary Lou Wood was the wife of Coach Marvin Wood. Not knowing she would be a speaker at the rally, she had nothing prepared and could only speak from her heart. 

Mary Lou walked onto the stage, looked out into the crowd and captured the hearts of everyone there. "It's nice to be important", she said, "but it's more important to be nice". 

Well said Mary Lou!  

Have a great day!

Jeff Carroll 

I was enjoying my son's swim meet last evening when a very upset pool dad came over for a quick chat...which lasted over forty five minutes. He had listed his home with another Agent but wanted my opinion on why he hadn't sold his home. He mentioned all of the Agent's faults and inability to sell his priceless gem. Finally he asked me what my opinion was of the market, his home, and the other Agent.

I was very honest with him. I knew where he lived and his market has been selling fairly well. Although I didn't know this person very well, I was familiar with his home. I actually showed it to my Buyer's during the time they bought it 5 years ago. The home had some minor flaws that I was sure he had repaired by now. NOT!!!!! I try to never discuss Agent's or their performance...usually it isn't in the top ten reasons why homes don't sell.

Here's what I told him to do. Go home tonight and pretend you are visiting your home for the first time. As you park the car on the street and walk up to your house, how do you feel? What do you see? What is your first impression of this house? If you don't like something you see...fix it! Do this as you enter the home and all the way through your home. Chances are that this home is not ready to be put on the market. It needs some painting, maybe some carpet or updating, possibly some wallpaper removal. Maybe the wood paneling needs to come down after 60 years on the Family Room walls. Have your Agent come back over and walk the home again. Ask for suggestions on making your home more marketable. Buy some paint and you'll be amazed at the changes it will bring. You can spend hundreds of dollars - not thousands, and impress most Buyers.

My advice:

1) Make sure your home is in very good condition. If it is a problem for you...it will be a larger problem in the eyes of the Buyer.  

2) Be sure to price your home based on recent Comparable sales, and don't inflate the price for room to bargain. This market won't allow it.

3) Be sure your Agent outlines their Marketing Plan before you list your home. If a plan doesn't exist...how can they sell your home? Call your Agent weekly for updates. 

4) Watch for sales in your area and also new listings. Lower your price to be as competitive as you can be in this tough market until it sells.

Good homes are still selling within a reasonable time frame. The ones that sit for month after month are the ones with some type of problems. Priced to high, too much updating needed, poor condition, etc... Follow these simple steps and I promise you that your home will not languish on the market.

Happy Selling!

Jeff Carroll   

Have you seen the ads on T.V. or heard the radio spots about the Real Estate Seminars on investing? They make you think that they've found all the secrets and if you trust them and their "proven" techniques, you'll be a millionaire soon. I am all for investing in Real Estate and I think everyone should consider it as an investment option. Don't pay for these seminars and don't send away for these tapes. All the information you need can be obtained through qualified Real Estate Brokers.

Why use a Real Estate Broker or Salesperson? They are licensed and work under license laws and ethic codes for one. They are local and know the market. They will be paid by the Seller at closing but owe you their loyalty and are working for you...their service is free to you. They will be there when you decide to sell your investment home, and are vested in your long term success. They know factual data that you will need to make a good investment decision. They are knowledgeable about the financing of investment properties and will help you clear some of the hurdles in your way. They have access to most of the available properties and will know about the real good ones before they hit the market, in some cases.

With prices at their record lows, now could be the best time for you to enter this investment market. Find a home with a positive monthly cash flow, buy it right to provide a positive appreciation, make good rental decisions, and try to pay it off as quickly as possible. After ten years or so this will be a strong part of your investment portfolio. Good luck and happy hunting!

Jeff Carroll

Broker/Vice President

F.C.Tucker Company   

You can tell from the title of this blog, that the Indianapolis area is seeing record low home prices. This is great for buyers! Unusually high inventory of existing and new construction homes ,and a severe credit crunch are fueling these prices. A recent survey showed that 90% of all area homes are selling for less than $200,000. This is a troubling trend and one I hope will reverse soon. We really need to increase sales across the board for a more balanced market. Move-up Buyers are not making the "move" right now. We are seeing our home inventory drop within this price range, but home values are dropping as well. 

We had a remarkable run in the real estate market over the past 15 years or so. Compared to the past three years we are in a soft market and getting softer. Does this mean we shouldn't buy homes or invest in any form of home  ownership? Absolutely not! Buying a home has never been more affordable and the future will shine bright for homeowners. What we all should be doing is shoring up our finances and buying homes we can comfortably afford. Let's pay down or eliminate these equity lines on our homes that can jeopardize our long-term investment. If you need to refinance your home, look to a 15 year program that will pay down your debt quicker and save you tens of thousands of dollars. Don't refinance your home on a 30 year note over and over again. All you are doing is creating more debt. Appreciation will be back but it won't be at the levels we've seen before. Don't borrow against future appreciation estimates.

The Midwest is starting to recover and positive signs are emerging in our market. Low interest rates, lower inventory, lower prices, stable local economy & tax base, and a positive change in consumer confidence are turning this market around. It is a slow movement but we expect these home prices to come back within the next 12-18 months. That's when I think the market will balance itself and we will begin to see an increase in the move-up buyer's.

Have your best day ever!

Jeff