Living in Littleton Colorado: Neighborhoods & Lifestyles

Attached is a link to a very timely article from Realtor.com

With resale home inventory levels the lowest it has been in years, the local real estate industry has been expecting a new wave of foreclosures to start coming on the market soon.  Most of the banks ended the voluntary moratorium in February.  With a 4 month foreclosure process in Colorado, we should begin to see new bank-owned listings very soon.  This may be good news for investors and 1st time home buyers, as home prices will likely stay depressed through the end of 2009.

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Another Rash of Foreclosures Coming Soon

Interesting article for anybody considering buying or selling a home.  A professional home inspection should uncover obvious home modifications that do not comply with local building codes.  However, the home inspector can usually only identify what is visible to the naked eye – wiring, plumbing, and structural defects may be hidden inside walls, ceilings and floors.  The best protection for the home buyer or seller – verify building permit records at the county office before buying or selling any resale home.  Unpermitted work completed years ago may come back to haunt the unwary homeowner.

Arvada homes haunted by past due code violations – The Denver Post

I found this article on MSN money.  It nicely summarizes the latest changes to the $8,000 tax credit program for buyers who have not owned a home within the past three years.  While there are not many single family homes under $150,000 in Littleton, townhomes, condos, or bank owned fixer uppers (take advantage of HUD’s 203k home renovation program), there are many outstanding opportunities for buyers who are pre-approved and ready to act.  Call me or email for more details about any of these buyer programs.

Got $2,500? Buy a house – MSN Money

It was announced May 29, 2009 that the $8000 Federal Tax Credit may be utilized to help home buyers pay for closing costs, buy down interest rates, or even apply the money toward the buyers’ down payment.  Lenders have been awaiting this ruling from HUD/FHA, as it will likely allow many buyers with little cash and fair to excellent credit scores to take advantage of low mortgage interest rates and low home prices.  Attached is a link to a recent BusinessWeek article that explains the program benefits and restrictions in more detail.

FHA Loans: Return to 0% Down – BusinessWeek

This is good news for First Time Homebuyers or anybody who has not owned a home within the previous three years.  Combine the $8000 tax credit opportunity with down-payment assistance programs like CHFA, and a homebuyer can purchase a home with a very low down payment, an incredible rate on 30 year fixed mortgage, and buy at the bottom of the housing market cycle.

If you, or somebody you know, is considering buying a home, now is the opportune time.  Call me or email me and let’s discuss the details.

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-HUD: Tax Credit Can Be Used on Closing Costs

Home owners and investors who are considering remodeling need to consider the items that are most important to potential buyers.  The link below is timely information – bottom line, improvements to curb appeal get buyers inside the door, and staging, tasteful decor, and updated appliances and countertops often provide the best return on investment.

Rethinking Remodeling: Homeowners Want More Bang for Their Home-Improvement Buck | RISMedia

A warning to home buyers and sellers in the Denver area.  Fall-out from the mortgage crisis is over-regulation and tightening of lending and appraisal standards.  This is not necessarily all bad, but as explained in this recent Denver Post article, good intentions have created some consequences that will hinder the real-estate recovery, rather than helping it.  And if you are buying or selling a home and FHA financing is involved, make certain you have sold comps within the last 3 months equal to or above the sales price of your home, or the deal will likely fall due to appraisal issues.  This will likely keep home values down, and possibly deflate appraisal values, in the low end of the price spectrum for the foreseeable future.

Rules rile up appraisers – The Denver Post

In the Greater Denver area, we are finding a shortage of non-distressed homes priced below the $200,000 price.  This shortage of supply is 1) creating a multiple-offer “bidding war” situation between investors and owner-occupant buyers in the starter home market, and 2) homes are going under contract quickly if in good condition, good location, and priced attractively.

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Homes May Be Undervalued Today

Daily Real Estate News  |  May 15, 2009  |  Share

After dropping for two years, home prices appear to be bottoming out, and any further declines would be an overcorrection, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told thousands of practitioners at the REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
The median national home price today is about $169,000, down almost 14 percent from a year ago and an estimated 30 percent from its peak. Today’s prices are justified by the fundamentals of the economy and may even represent an undervaluation, Yun said.
Lender Policies Hinder Recovery
Distressed sales, which today comprise about 50 percent of transactions nationwide, are creating market distortions in otherwise stable neighborhoods. “We’re only capturing transaction prices,” he said, and those prices might be 20 percent to 25 percent below actual values. For that reason, it’s possible that widely cited projections that a third or more of homeowners are underwater might be off the mark, he said.
The consequences of these missed projections could be huge. Lenders, shying away from refinancing mortgages of troubled owners, exacerbate the downward spiral of homeowners’ financial position and that, by extension, hurts the broader economy.
Contributing to the problem is the lack of reasonably priced financing for higher-cost homes at a time when declining prices, low rates, and the home buyer tax credit are helping the entry-level market.
Indeed, while housing overall is at a 9.5 month supply, down from double digits not that long ago, homes above $729,750—the threshold for jumbo loans—face a 40-month supply.
Key Test
By summer, all of the incentives that have been put into place by the government will have had several months to work, Yun said. If sales start picking up significantly, then prices should stabilize and trigger a broader economic recovery.
If sales don’t show a significant response, then the federal government might have to look at another big injection of funds into the economy, something no one has an appetite for.
Yun’s forecast reflects the brighter scenario: “My projection is home sales will be 10 to 20 percent higher the second half of this year than last year and we will come out of this recession in 2010,” he said.
—Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine