foreclosure help

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Successful investment requires cash flow. That's the type of any type of business or investment, especially property investing. You put your money into something that you desire and plan can make you more income.




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It requires about 6 months to decide if property investing set for you. If you have decided in which, hey I enjoy this, then provide yourself many years to really start earning profits. It often takes at the very least five years being truly successful in real estate investing.




Persistence is the key to be able to success in property investing. If you have decided that real estate investing is perfect for you, surface encounters chuck russo keep plugging away at it and the rewards will be greater than you imagined.

Socially responsible investments might be emotionally compelling investments, but do they necessarily have compelling financial returns?

The term "Impact Investing" has taken on many meanings in the past few years. I want to end the confusion and underscore that impact investing must by definition deliver impactful and compelling financial returns.

Impact investing has been labeled as a subset of socially responsible investing (SRI). But, it is not a subset of SRI.

The basic premise of socially responsible investing is to avoid investing in businesses that cause harm to the environment or society. Since SRI's approach to investing is narrow and passive, it is by definition often a niche investing strategy, which in many cases has delivered lukewarm returns.

SRIs don't necessarily impact an industry, impact investments necessarily do. Yet, many organizations still treat SRI and impact investing like synonyms - causing confusion.

For example, here is the definition of SRI from ecolife, a website that is an online guide to green living:

"Socially responsible investing is an investment strategy employed by individuals, corporations, and governments looking for ways to ensure their funds go to support socially responsible firms. The concept goes by names like sustainable investing, impact investing, community investing, ethical investing, and socially-conscious investing; it is a non-financial gauge that is used when selecting various investment options that takes into account factors such as environmental, social, and ethical values."

The reality is that some socially responsible investments can be impact investments, but not all impact investments are socially responsible investments. So, SRIs are really a subset of impact investing. According to the Monitor Institute's new report "impact investors want to move beyond 'socially responsible investment'."

All impact investments have the potential to move towards a new economy - an impact economy, not all SRIs will. In fact, most SRIs won't.

Why? Impact investing is socially responsible and must have compelling returns. Returns that make the professional investor consider it seriously as a critical piece in the portfolio. According to Dr. Arjuna Sittampalam, research associate with EDHEC-Risk Institute, "in other words, the investor makes an active decision to seek a social or developmental return alongside their financial return."

Since impact investments create compelling returns, they have a greater chance of attracting more serious professional investors than SRIs -- a necessity for creating worldwide social change and impact.

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) defines impact investments as those that: "aim to solve social or environmental challenges while generating financial profit. Impact investing includes investments that range from producing a return of principal capital (capital preservation) to offering market-rate or even market-beating financial returns. Although impact investing could be categorized as a type of 'socially responsible investing,' it contrasts with negative screening, which focuses primarily on avoiding investments in 'bad' or 'harmful' companies - impact investors actively seek to place capital in businesses and funds that can harness the positive power of enterprise."

This definition is more on target with the real definition of impact investing, but to revise part of GIIN's definition: Impact investments only include investments that can offer market-rate or even market-beating financial returns.

So, my definition -- impact investing must achieve four significant goals:

1. Make an impact in solving a pressing problem of our time,

2. Generate compelling returns for investors,

3. Generate growth for economies, and

4. Generate prosperity for developed and developing nations.

An example is my own case-in-point. I founded SunEdison that created the power purchase agreement (PPA) model for the solar industry. This business model used net metering, streamlined interconnection standards, ways to connect to the grid, and actually provided a new solar power service to customers.

Investments in PPAs are delivering 7-12% unleveraged after tax returns. In today's financial environment; these are compelling returns given the low risks.

Plus, PPAs have lowered the use of fossil fuels to deliver electric energy; created thousands of jobs worldwide and are growing. They have impactful financial returns and impact a big problem.

According to the Monitor Institute's new report Investing for social and environmental impact: a design for catalyzing an emerging industry "it is certainly plausible that in the next five to 10 years investing for impact could grow to represent about 1 percent of estimated professionally managed global assets in 2008. That would create a market of approximately $500 billion. A market that size would create an important supplement to philanthropy, nearly doubling the amount given away in the U.S. alone today."

But that is only a start, a start to an "Impact Economy." To really make a difference - to leverage impact investing to create an impact economy, it must be larger. Some estimate that we need to invest over $1 trillion to combat issues like climate change, poverty, and lacking global health, to put the world back onto a stable more equitable footing.

So, let's put our money where the impact is. Stop selling impact investors short.

Jigar Shah is CEO of the Carbon War Room, a nonprofit that harnesses the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change and create a post-carbon economy.

It is very difficult to determine the sex of a pigeon. I used to keep pigeons as a kid so I’m good at it.

There are three ways to do it:

1 – Check their reproductive organs

Pigeons genitalia all look the same (they have ‘cloaca‘) so you will have to cut them open to actually see their reproductive organs. Not a very efficient method.

2 – See who goes on top

There isn’t much variation in the sex life of a pigeon. Males go on top. No Kama Sutra here. Fortunately all they do is eat and, ehm, reproduce. You won’t have to wait very long to see that happen. But you do need 2 pigeons and some patience.

3 – Look at their faces

Yes, pigeons have faces just like humans.

It takes years to be able to read the face of a pigeon. I kept pigeons as a kid so I can tell the sex of any pigeon just by looking at their faces for few seconds. Just like with most humans. Humans have the added benefit of clothing, hair and breasts. But even without that a face looks feminine or masculine.

Investors try to look under all those feathers but up close all excel sheets look the same. They try to see who goes on top but then you would have to wait until the entrepreneur meets an actual client.

But once you have met enough starting entrepreneurs one look at someones face is usually enough. You know what you have got and who is a good bet and who isn’t.

Just like with pigeons.

This is a variation of post I published in 2007. Photo credit: Igor Stevanovic via Shutterstock.

foreclosure homes

Zandi said the government effort will likely end up helping only about 500,000 homeowners lower their monthly payments on a permanent basis. That's a small percentage of the number of people who have already lost their homes to foreclosure or distressed sales like short sales – when lenders let homeowners sell for less than they owe on their mortgages.

Zandi predicts another 1.5 million foreclosures or short sales in 2011.

"We still have a lot more foreclosures to come and further home price declines," Zandi said. He said home prices, which have already fallen 30 percent since the peak of the housing boom, would drop by another 5 percent by next spring.

Many borrowers have complained that the government program is a bureaucratic nightmare. They say banks often lose their documents and then claim borrowers did not send back the necessary paperwork.

The banking industry said borrowers weren't sending back their paperwork. They also have accused the Obama administration of initially pressuring them to sign up borrowers without insisting first on proof of their income. When banks later moved to collect the information, many troubled homeowners were disqualified or dropped out.

Obama officials dispute that they pressured banks. They have defended the program, saying lenders are making more significant cuts to borrowers' monthly payments than before the program was launched. And some of the largest mortgage companies in the program have offered alternative programs to those who fell out.

Homeowners who qualify can receive an interest rate as low as 2 percent for five years and a longer repayment period. Those who have successfully navigated the program to reach permanent modifications have seen their monthly payments cut on average by about $500.

Homeowners first receive temporary modifications and those are supposed to become permanent after borrowers make three payments on time and complete all the required paperwork. That includes proof of income and a letter explaining the reason for their troubles. But in practice, the process has taken far longer.

The more than 100 participating mortgage companies get taxpayer incentives to reduce payments. As of mid-June only $490 million had been spent out of a potential $75 billion the government has made available to help stem the wave of foreclosures.

___

AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel in Washington and Alex Veiga in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Existing Home Sales lowest since 1996, 12.5 months of supply

The NAR reported:

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 27.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million units in July from a downwardly revised 5.26 million in June, and are 25.5 percent below the 5.14 million-unit level in July 2009.
...
Total housing inventory at the end of July increased 2.5 percent to 3.98 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 12.5-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.9-month supply in June.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.

Sales in July 2010 (3.83 million SAAR) were 27.2% lower than last month, and were 25.5% lower than July 2009 (5.14 million SAAR).

The next graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Inventory is not seasonally adjusted, so it really helps to look at the YoY change.

Although inventory increased from June 2010 to July 2010, inventory decreased 1.9% YoY in July. The slight year-over-year decline is probably because some sellers put their homes on the market in the Spring hoping to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit.

Note: Usually July is the peak month for inventory.

A normal housing market usually has under 6 months of supply. The following graph shows the relationship between supply and house prices (using Case-Shiller).

This graph show months of supply (through July 2010) and the annualized change in the Case-Shiller Composite 20 house price index (through May 2010).

Below 6 months of supply (blue line) house prices are typically rising (black line).

Above 6 or 7 months of supply, house prices are usually falling. This isn't perfect - it is just a guideline. This is a key reason why I expect house prices to fall further later this year as measured by the Case-Shiller and CoreLogic repeat sales house price indexes.

New Home Sales decline to Record Low in July

The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 276 thousand. This is an decrease from the record low of 315 thousand in June (revised down from 330 thousand).

This graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions for the last 47 years.

And another long term graph - this one for New Home Months of Supply.

Months of supply increased to 9.1 in July from 8.0 in June. The all time record was 12.4 months of supply in January 2009. This is still very high (less than 6 months supply is normal).

The 276 thousand annual sales rate for July is the all time record low (May was revised up a little). This was another very weak report. New home sales are important for the economy and jobs - and this indicates that residential investment will be a sharp drag on GDP in Q3.

MBA Q2 2010: 14.42% of Mortgage Loans Delinquent or in Foreclosure

Here is my post on the MBA Q2 delinquency report: 14.42% of Mortgage Loans Delinquent or in Foreclosure . This graph (from the earlier post) shows the delinquency rate by "bucket" (30 days, 60 days, 90+ days, and in foreclosure process):

The total percent of loans delinquent or in the foreclosure process declined only slightly in Q2 from Q1 - and the rate is the second highest on record.

Loans 30 days delinquent increased to 3.51%, and this is about the same levels as in Q4 2008 (slightly below the peak of 3.77% in Q1 2009).

Delinquent loans decreased in all other buckets - especially in the 90+ day bucket. MBA Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann suggested the decline in the 90+ day bucket was because of some successful modifications - since the lenders reported the loans as delinquent until the modification was made permanent.

The second graph shows the delinquency rate by state (red is seriously delinquent: 90+ days or in foreclosure, blue is delinquent less than 90 days).

Clearly Florida and Nevada have a large percentage of loans delinquent or in foreclosure. But the delinquency problem is widespread with 36 states and D.C. all having total delinquency rates above 10%.

With house prices falling - and growth slowing - the delinquency rate will probably increase later this year.

CoreLogic: 11 Million U.S. Properties with Negative Equity in Q2

Here is my post CoreLogic: 11 Million U.S. Properties with Negative Equity in Q2

This graph shows the negative equity and near negative equity by state.

Although Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Michigan and California, have the largest percentage of homeowners underwater, there is a negative equity problem in most states. In 33 states and the D.C., 10 percent or more of homeowners with mortgages have negative equity.

Other Economic Stories ...

From Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy

BEA: Q2 real GDP revised down to 1.6% annualized growth rate

Estimate of Decennial Census impact on August payroll employment: minus 116,000

From Jon Hilsenrath at the WSJ on the debate at the August FOMC meeting: Fed Split on Move to Bolster Sluggish Economy

From the Richmond Fed: Manufacturing Growth Continued to Ease in August; Expectations Drifted Lower

Kansas City Fed: Manufacturing activity slowed in August

From MarketWatch: S&P downgrades Ireland on financial sector cost

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported that vehicle miles driven in June were up 1.3% compared to June 2009.

ATA: "Truck freight tonnage has essentially gone sideways since April 2010"

Unofficial Problem Bank List increases to 840 institutions

Best wishes to all.

eric seiger

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foreclosure auctions

Realtors are not reporting the true sold prices on homes.  Here are 2 examples.  If a home is listed on the MLS and then sells at a auction like Hudson & Marshal or RealtyBid, you can see the sold price online or if you attend the live auctions, see the house sell at open outcry auction.  The next day the houses are reported sold on the MLS but always at full price.

The example below sold for $115,000 at Realtybid but is listed as sold for $159,500 on the MLS.

Also, homes are listed on the MLS and sold on the HUD site.  You can see the sold area on HUD and the Bid Stats.  The house listed below sold on the Hud site for $90,061 but again was listed as sold for full price on the MLS $113,400.

These are only 2 examples, I have seen over 100 and assume it is occurring everywhere.  I understand that foreclosures are not included in the sales stats from the Realtor Assoc. but the stats they use are taken from the sold prices listed on the MLS.  They are all false.

Simply said, this means that any pricing data coming off Multiple Listing Services is fatally flawed, and if this observation is verified, could potentially be a simplistic means to misrepresent the true home price by up to 40% higher.

As for the examples, here is property 1 as represented by the MLS: note the price of $159,500

And below is the actual final auction price on the exact same property taken from RealtyBid:

The MLS certainly pulled all the correct information on the property... all except for the price.

Another example: 5572 Goodhue Ave, Rockford IL 61109. The house was sold in auction for a purchase price of $90,061 as the below screenshot from the HUD auction indicates:

Yet the very same property was listed on foreclosure.com, and subsequently pulled by Zillow, as having a value of $113,400

These are merely two examples.

We have a simple question: which price is the NAR, Case-Shiler, and every other resi real estate index service pulling: the higher or the lower. For the ongoing credibility of the suddenly green shoot free recoveryless recovery, we at least hope it is the correct one. Which is why we ask readers to advise us of any comparable bifurcations between paid and listed price on properties they may be aware of.

Suddenly David Rosenberg's claim that no properties over $750,000 sold in the past month doesn't seem all that outlandish...

Amid all this talk of foreclosure, auctions, and tanning salons, The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice sat down with the ladies of The View this morning to address her family’s financial situation on national television.

According to Teresa, she and husband Joe filed for bankruptcy for two reasons: 1) Failure to receive rent money from the tenants living in the four apartment buildings Joe owns in East Orange, N.J., and 2) Expenses from the lawsuit Joe is currently involved in with his ex-business partner. Like we’ve seen on RHONJ, this explanation seemed rehearsed, and when pressed further, Teresa became flustered (“Is your husband a slumlord?” “What?”). Neither Joy Behar nor guest co-host Bryant Gumbel could fathom how someone could possibly get themselves into such financial disaster (they must not watch the show), and both kept looking for the ultimate reasoning behind the Giudices’ troubles. Behar used terms Teresa didn’t understand, while Gumbel peppered her with follow-ups that included facts about Joe’s mysterious business partner: “Your husband’s partner said it wasn’t just that, that he was collecting the rent but that he wasn’t even paying the utility bills, that the building was in disrepair?…The absence of rent money doesn’t explain $11 million in debt!”

Elisabeth Hasselbeck took a backseat to Behar and Bryant, but did ask Teresa if Joe ever put some of the fault on her outrageous spending. “No, not at all…because I always live within my means. Always,” Teresa insisted. After lavish parties, shopping sprees, and breast implants, viewers of RHONJ may beg to differ, though she insisted that she is careful with her money and no longer uses credit cards. “How can you live within your means if you’re now $11 million in bankruptcy? I don’t get that,” Behar exclaimed. Fellow guest co-host Mario Cantone remained quiet before chiming in about the hard-to-miss diamond ring (a 10th anniversary present from Joe, which is actually fake — phew!), Teresa was wearing (“Do I heard $20 million! 20? 20?”), which provided some much-needed comic relief.

Were the ladies and gents of The View too harsh on Teresa, or not harsh enough? I give her credit for talking about an obviously difficult subject live on national television, but I can’t help but feel that she doesn’t understand (or at least hasn’t divulged) the vastness of her problem. Throughout the morning, she resorted to her old faithful of an excuse: the economy. Yes, it’s timely and yes, the economic crisis may have added to the Giduices’ situation, but “the economy” has become all-purpose solution for Teresa: “Why did you lose your job?” “The economy.” “Why did you chase Danielle around a country club?” The economy.”

What did you think, PopWatchers? Do you believe Teresa’s explanation for her debt? Considering the Real Housewives of New Jersey has been putting up record ratings this season, maybe it’s time the women negotiate some new contracts with Bravo? (If the Jersey Shore cast has taught us anything, it’s how to get more money from a reality show.)

Read more:

‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey’: Teresa Guidice tans, sprays, and brings the heat to New Jersey

make money from home jobs

foreclosure victims

This is part of my What Happened to ACORN series.

Last week a group called New York Communities for Change (NYCC) joined with New York City Comptroller John Liu and seven of New York's largest unions to demand that Wall Street's biggest banks reform their loan modification policies so families facing foreclosure will not lose their homes. If other groups follow that lead, we might make a big dent in the foreclosure crisis.

NYCC and its sister organization, Mutual Housing Association of New York, have been working with foreclosure victims neighborhoods like St. Albans in Queens, or Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn not far from Wall Street, where homeowners have been forced to make impossible choices: keep up their skyrocketing mortgage payments or provide their families with food and clothing.

Members of the group are angry at banks, who have been painfully slow to offer loan modifications, or simply refuse to lift a finger to help vulnerable families and neighborhoods to avoid foreclosure. Some banks often screw homeowners by sending numerous requests for already-submitted documents, and then foreclose on the hapless homeowner because the banks falsely claim that they never got those same documents!

The federal government's attempt to solve the foreclosure crisis has failed. In 2009, 50,000 foreclosures swept New York state, with nearly half in NYC. Across the country the crisis is getting worse, not better. Katrina vanden Heuvel on July 15, in the Nation, reported that New York City foreclosures rose 16 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year, with "...over 265,000 mortgages -- 13 percent of the mortgages in New York State-are now past due or in the foreclosure process. Meanwhile, banks have made less than 12,000 permanent modifications in the state since May 2009."

After several community meetings it became clear that many NYCC and union members need their mortgages modified because they are underwater or delinquent. The community and labor groups put together an action plan with Comptroller Liu, SEIU 32BJ & 1199, United Federation of Teachers, TWU, DC37, RWDSU, and the NY Hotel and Motel Trades Council.

To start they will send a letter to Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, criticizing them for dragging their feet and demanding they do "everything possible" to avert foreclosures, including mortgage modifications.

At a July 13th, press conference, Michael Mulgrew, President, UFT, said he has brought the issue to the pension funds and they will consider all options. John Samuelsen, President, TWU Local 100 said that "since he was on the board of the city pension fund, he would ask that the bank's response be one of the ways in which they evaluate where they put their money." NYCC member, Jean-Andre Sassine, caught in the mortgage bind, said, "if the big banks won't listen to homeowners, we thought that they should hear from some of their biggest investors -- the city, the unions and their pension funds."

If the banks fail to act, all parties involved could move their pension funds and bank deposits to other institutions. That is why the groups call their plan the Move Your Money campaign.

They claim it will not only modify foreclosures and save homes, it will hold big banks accountable to the community where they take deposits and profit from government supported loans. After foreclosures, neighbors who remain behind suffer from declining property values, and local and state revenues plummet, contributing to a stagnant economy and high unemployment. The coalition is demanding answers by September 1.

Thus far the Obama administration plan -- which relies on a voluntary mortgage modification program -- has not worked, forcing New Yorkers to take matters into their own hands.

The groups put Wall Street on notice that unless the banks increase the number of modifications, including principal write-downs, expedite the modification process and stop foreclosure proceedings while applications are being reviewed, the group will increase the pressure. "This is just the first step in a campaign to win loan modifications that stop preventable foreclosures. We're saying it loud and clear - if the banks won't listen, it's time to move our money," Jon Kest, NYCC's executive director.

What happened to ACORN?

It is a rare showing of both money and people power, with the unions representing over 500,000 working families. NYCC is a coalition of low- and moderate-income working families fighting for social and economic justice throughout New York State and includes some of the leaders and organizers from the now defunct ACORN. The group also uses many of the same tactics and strategies. NYCC's members and leaders hope the action taken by New York City's Comptroller and labor leaders will lead to a dramatic shift in how the banks deal with borrowers.



Civic leaders across the country should follow the coalition's lead. Either big banks become part of the solution or the rest of us will have to Move the Money.

You can buy a copy of John Atlas's new book about ACORN, which tells the whole Acorn story at Amazon or Vanderbilt University Press or in most local book stores.

4 Comments

• 
  
  
  

  Note: the video is not showing on iPad.
  
  Any chance of an alternative format (I assume the one on the page is in Flash)?
  
  Thx.

  
  

  Posted by readerOfTeaLeaves | July 9th, 2010 at 11:03 pm

  
  
  






• 
  
  
  

  Parents, Education, & Symptoms

  
  

  Parents have got to get in the game, if they want to continue participating. The education system is an abject failure. It has to be replaced, and the tool is there to do it. Parents do not require permission from government or multinational corporations. Uncontrolled multinational growth is a function of community failure.

  
  

  Of course the multinationals want nations, states, communities and individuals competing against each other; their controlling interests naturally breed on control. Of course they pay the economists to argue that competition is the be all and end all. On the one hand parents are competing in a system designed to ensure they lose, and on the other they attempt to give their own children a comparative advantage over other kids, locking failure in for the community.

  
  

  The best thing parents can do is build strong, independent communities, so all kids can be successful. In net, parents are isolating their children into a competition with the multinationals, while their own governments are offering them a near-term profit to dissolve their families, paid for by the multinationals, which the governments are competing for, by giving them your money, your property, your taxes, and your ideas. And what makes it all work is parents competing to get in their cars and go shopping to feed the multinationals.

  
  

  Economies are self-correcting. Multinationals cannot change their behavior. They destroy their own food chain, new families, by economic design. The multinationals are writing the laws, to which parents are subjected, and to which the multinationals are exempted, in a political system paid for by the parents. If the community is simply an extension of the State, the system may only liquidate. A constitution is designed to protect the State from itself. Only a community can protect liberty, and liberty is the path to the future.

  
  

  Much of America is a victim of its own success. The multinationals have grown alongside strong communities. GDP measures consumption cost. It in no way measures investment or profit. The multinationals are simply a looking glass, and what parents see is what they want to see. Politicians tell parents whatever they want to hear, largely that the problem is government or corporate.

  
  

  Yes. The more you shop, the longer it will take for the machine to target you, but the machine has caught up to everyone now. An American flag does not make a multinational American. Because some communities choose to be fat, dumb, and lazy in no way limits other communities. Liberty is not subject to majority vote. If a majority jumps off a bridge, will you?

  
  

  Anything is fixable, if the right people are in charge. In this case, the parents have to take charge of the economy. There is always a reservoir of goodwill for children somewhere. When you have ruled everything else out, what remains, no matter how improbable, is the solution. Not so ironically, Barack Obama was a community organizer.

  
  

  So long as those cleats hold onto the bank, and you have a good strong rope of small businesses, we’ll pick that $500T load.

  
  

  Right now, your problem is RICO organization of multinationals through every level of government to preempt participation by small family businesses, to backfill the economy.

  
  

  Posted by kevinearick | July 10th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

  
  
  






• 
  
  
  

  @readerOfTeaLeaves Unfortunately the video we embedded is from GRIT’s site, and they put it up in flash, so there’s not much we can do. Sorry I can’t be of more help!

  
  

  Posted by Bryce | July 12th, 2010 at 10:57 am

  
  
  






• 
  
  
  

  Thanks Bryce. I came back and viewed it on a ‘not-an-iPad’, but appreciate your explanation.

  
  

  Posted by readerOfTeaLeaves | July 12th, 2010 at 5:41 pm

  
  
  

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Shakesville: Today in Not <b>News</b>: The Afghanistan War Blows

The biggest news about this leak should be that the horror the documents reveal isn't actually news. Not to anyone who's been paying attention to the war we're totally not supposed to be paying attention to. ...

App review: BBC <b>News</b> on iPad &amp; iPhone | Econsultancy

Despite concerns expressed by commercial rivals, the BBC's first iPhone and iPad apps were released last week, with BBC News the first release.

iPhone 4 hitting 17 more countries on Friday | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

The newest flavor of Apple's smartphone will arrive in additional markets July 30, including Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, and Singapore--but not South Korea. Read this blog post by Lance Whitney on Apple.

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Shakesville: Today in Not <b>News</b>: The Afghanistan War Blows

The biggest news about this leak should be that the horror the documents reveal isn't actually news. Not to anyone who's been paying attention to the war we're totally not supposed to be paying attention to. ...

App review: BBC <b>News</b> on iPad &amp; iPhone | Econsultancy

Despite concerns expressed by commercial rivals, the BBC's first iPhone and iPad apps were released last week, with BBC News the first release.

iPhone 4 hitting 17 more countries on Friday | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

The newest flavor of Apple's smartphone will arrive in additional markets July 30, including Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, and Singapore--but not South Korea. Read this blog post by Lance Whitney on Apple.

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foreclosure listings

goulet

Bungie.net : Bungie Weekly Update: 07.09.10 : 7/9/2010 2:53 PM PDT

Truly Old School. There's this odd – and often misunderstood – rule in the NFL with respect to Quarterbacks. It rarely pops up, because it's not often that an NFL team has their third quarterback (generally referred to as the Emergency ...

Washington Post acquires iCurrent, a personal <b>news</b> aggregator <b>...</b>

The Washington Post Company has acquired iCurrent, an online tool that allows users to collect news automatically according to their ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media and Blogging Basics | Small <b>...</b>

Social media and more specifically blogging have become increasingly important to marketing a small business in today's evolving business world. But probably no.

foreclosure sales

Three housing related reports will be released this week: existing home sales on Monday, Case-Shiller house prices on Tuesday, and new home sales on Wednesday.

On Monday, the April Chicago Fed National Activity Index will be released at 8:30 AM. This is a composite index of other data. At 10 AM the National Association for Realtors (NAR) will release the April existing home sales report. The consensus is for an increase to 5.6 million sales in April as a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Also on Monday, the DOT will probably release the Vehicle Miles Driven for March. This has been showing declining Year-over-year miles driven.

On Tuesday, the March Case-Shiller house price index will be released at 9:00 AM. The consensus is for a slight decline in the house price index. At 10:00 AM, the Conference Board will release Consumer Confidence for May (consensus is for an increase to 59). Also on Tuesday, the FHFA house price index, and the Richmond Fed survey will be released.

On Wednesday, the April Durable Goods Orders will be released at 8:30 AM. The consensus is for a 1.5% increase. At 10 AM, the Census Bureau will release the April New Home sales report. The consensus is for an increase to 425K (SAAR) from 411K in March. Since new home sales are reported when a contract is signed, April was the last month that reported sales will be positively impacted by the tax credit.

On Thursday, the first revision of the Q1 GDP report will be released at 8:30 AM. The consensus is for an upward revision to 3.5% from the initially reported 3.2%. Also on Thursday, the closely watched initial weekly unemployment claims will be released. Consensus is for a decline to 450K from 471K last week.

And on Friday, the BEA will release the Personal Income and Outlayreport for April at 8:30 AM. Also on Friday the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for May will be released. And of course the FDIC will probably have another busy Friday afternoon ...

There will be several Fed speeches this week, and a few other economic releases (trucking index, restaurant index).

And a summary of last week:

MBA Q1 2010: Record 14.69% of Mortgage Loans Delinquent or in Foreclosure

The MBA reported a record 14.69 percent of mortgage loans were either one payment delinquent or in the foreclosure process in Q1 2010 (seasonally adjusted).

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the percent loans delinquent by duration. Loans 30 days delinquent increased to 3.45%, about the same level as in Q4 2008.

Delinquent loans in the 60 day bucket increased too, and are also close to the Q4 2008 level. This suggests that the pipeline is still filling up at a high rate, but slightly below the rates of early 2009.

The 90+ day and 'in foreclosure' rates are at record levels. Obviously the lenders have been slow to start foreclosure proceedings - and the 90+ day delinquent bucket is very full. Also lenders have been slow to actually foreclose - and the 'in foreclosure' bucket is at record levels.


The second graph shows the delinquency rate by state (red is seriously delinquent: 90+ days or in foreclosure, blue is delinquent less than 90 days).

Thirty four states and the District of Columbia have total delinquency rates over 10%. This is a widespread problem.

Housing Starts increase in April

Total housing starts were at 672 thousand (SAAR) in April, up 5.8% from the revised March rate, and up 41% from the all time record low in April 2009 of 477 thousand (the lowest level since the Census Bureau began tracking housing starts in 1959).

Single-family starts were at 593 thousand (SAAR) in April, up 10.2% from the revised February rate, and 65% above the record low in January 2009 (360 thousand).

Permits declined sharply suggesting that starts will decline next month.

NAHB Builder Confidence Increases in May

This graph shows the builder confidence index from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The housing market index (HMI) was at 22 in May. This is an increase from 19 in April. This is the highest level since August 2007 - and builders were seen as depressed then!

The record low was 8 set in January 2009. This is still very low ... Note: any number under 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as poor than good.

First American CoreLogic: House Prices Decline 0.3% in March

On a month-over-month basis, the national average home price index fell by 0.3 percent in March 2010 compared to February 2010.

This graph shows the national LoanPerformance data since 1976. January 2000 = 100.

The index is up 1.7% over the last year, and off 30.5% from the peak.

Moody's: CRE Prices Decline 0.5% in March

Moody's reported that the Moody’s/REAL All Property Type Aggregate Index declined 0.5% in March. This is a repeat sales measure of commercial real estate prices.

This is a comparison of the Moodys/REAL Commercial Property Price Index (CPPI) and the Case-Shiller composite 20 index. CRE prices only go back to December 2000.

Commercial real estate values are now down 25% over the last year, and down 42% from the peak in August 2007.

AIA: Architecture Billings Index shows less Contraction in April

The American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index increased to 48.5 in April from 46.1 in March. This index is a leading indicator for Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction.

According to the AIA, there is an "approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending" on non-residential construction. So there will probably be further declines in CRE investment through all of 2010, and probably into 2011.

Other Economic Stories ...

Financial Reform passes in Senate: From the NY Times: Bill Passed in Senate Broadly Expands Oversight of Wall St.

From Bloomberg: German Lawmakers Approve Share of $1 Trillion Bailout

From the NY Fed: Empire State Manufacturing Survey. Manufacturing Conditions Improve, but at Slower Pace

From the Philadelphia: Business Outlook Survey.. Philly Fed Index increases slightly in May, New orders index declines

From Treasury: HAMP Servicer Performance Report Through April 2010. HAMP April data shows program slowing down

From Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto: Forecasting in Uncertain Times. "Subdued" Recovery, Unemployment Rate to decline "Gradually"

April State Unemployment Rates: California and Nevada at series highs

From Freddie Mac: Long- and Short-Term Mortgage Rates Fall Again This Week. Near record low mortgage rates.

Unofficial Problem Bank list hits 737

Best wishes to all.

The good news is that it's only 30 points higher than the pre-recession number.

Foreclosure homes accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales in the first quarter of 2010, with the average sales price of properties that sold while in some stage of foreclosure nearly 27 percent below homes that were not in the process, Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac said.

"In a normal market, only 1 to 2 percent of home sales are foreclosures, so this is certainly a significant level," Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac, said in an interview.

Total U.S. foreclosure sales in 2009 were up more than 1,100 percent from 2006 and more than 2,500 percent from 2005. Foreclosure sales accounted for 29 percent of all sales in 2009, up from 23 percent in 2008 and a mere 6 percent in 2007, the real estate data company said.

Mike Fuljenz Mike Fuljenz

foreclosure sales

From Kenneth Harney in the WaPo: Foreclosure alternative gaining favor (ht ghostfaceinvestah)

There are two programs in Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA), short sales and deed in lieu of foreclosure.

Harney writes:

Some of the largest mortgage servicers and lenders in the country are gearing up campaigns to reach out to carefully targeted borrowers with cash incentives that sometimes range into five figures, plus a simple message: Let's bypass the time-consuming hassles of short sales and foreclosures. Just deed us the title to your underwater home, and we'll call it a deal. ...

The deal can be quick, and the first lender will agree not to pursue a deficiency judgment. However 2nds are a problem, and "deed in lieu" transactions still hit the borrower's credit history.

Borrowers with 2nds considering a "deed in lieu" transaction should contact the 2nd lien holders. HAFA offers a payout to 2nd lien holders in deed in lieu transactions who agree to release borrowers from debt (see point 4 here for payouts under deed in lieu).

Under the HAFA deed in lieu program, the borrower needs to be proactive with 2nd lien holders.

The deed in lieu program is gaining in popularity, from Harney:

Bank of America, has mailed 100,000 deed-in-lieu solicitations to customers in the past 60 days, and its volume of completed transactions is breaking company records, according to officials. ... To sweeten the pot, Bank of America is offering cash incentives that range from $3,000 to $15,000 ... [Matt Vernon, Bank of America's top short sale and deed-in-lieu executive] said.

On the credit impact, from Carolyn Said at the San Francisco Chronicle:

[Craig Watts, a spokesman for FICO] said it is a "widespread myth" that short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure have less impact on credit scores than do foreclosures.

"Generally speaking, when you can't pay your mortgage, in the eyes of the FICO score what matters is that you were not able to fill your obligation as you originally agreed and that failure is highly predictive of future risk," he said.

And a video from HAMP / HAFA: "Your Graceful Exit"

From a report emailed to me over the weekend:

At the core of the foreclosure-prevention strategy is ignoring delinquencies. The percentage of older delinquent loans not yet in foreclosure is startling: 60% have at least 12 missed payments, and 35% have at least 18 missed payments. Add to this that three-fourths of delinquent loans are not in foreclosure, and we see that hidden losses well exceed those in the open.

Uh, they're not being "ignored" - this is systemic and intentional fraud.

Remember, these loans are either being held by someone or securitized into some sort of package.  When you have a loan that has no chance of "curing" (to cure a loan with 12 missed payments the borrower would have to come up with the 12 payments to bring it current!) that loan should be carried at its recovery value - that is, the value of the collateral that can be seized and sold, LESS the cost of eviction, remediation and resale.

Does anyone recall all the entries I've written about getting competent legal and accounting (tax) advice before proceeding with any sort of action regarding walking away, short sales or foreclosure?  This same report says:

Many homeowners would be better off going into foreclosure, than doing a short sale. Short sales are fraught with potential legal, credit, and complicated tax issues. For example, someone who refinanced could owe capital gains taxes, which are not forgiven under federal and California temporary debt relief acts. In the foreclosure route, borrowers can live in their house mortgage-free for at least one year, maybe two years. Both short sales and foreclosures are reported as “account not paid in full”, and are equally damaging to a credit score. An exception exists if short sellers can negotiate better terms with their lender on recourse liens. The other possible advantage to a short sale is the ability to get a mortgage again in 2 years (Fannie, Freddie), rather than having to wait 3-5 years after a foreclosure.

Homeowners pursue short sales, unaware of the problems they are creating for themselves. Their agents never warned them of deficiencies, ruined credit, taxes due on forgiven debt, or legal consequences. Agents made flowery promises to get listings, and now the lawsuits are starting.

No, really?  You mean that people in the real estate business are less than truthful with their clients?  That would never, ever happen with licensed professionals, right?

Then there's this, which I also have written about:

Another gray area is junior lien holders asking buyers for additional payments. As the market improved, juniors were no longer content with $3k thrown to them from the senior. They now want 10% of the junior note. They argue the additional payment is legal practice because the payment is made to escrow and appears on the HUD-1. However, they are actually hoping the senior lien holder does not read the HUD-1. The California Association of REALTORS® position is that all payments made by the buyer or agent in the purchase of a short sale must be part of the written short sale agreement signed by the senior lien holder. Concealing payments from seniors is loan fraud, and omitting these payments from the HUD-1 closing statement may violate RESPA. Some seniors reinstate their security interests because of the fraud. It’s surprising that the biggest banks are responding, when pressed on the fraud of their request, “just do it if you want the deal done”.

Right.  Big banks saying "just do it"?  Why would they do that?  Is it so they can re-instate their security interests?  No, nobody would ever do anything that hoses the consumer, would they?  Naw.....

Few people understand that the bank that gave them their mortgage turned around and sold it into a mortgage bond, and the “bank” on their mortgage statement is actually a servicer.

Actually, it's a bit more complicated than that.

As I've been working on (and writing on) for a long time, and as a few attorneys are now starting to understand, the entirety of this process was corrupted and is rife with outright fraud from top to bottom.

Let's go through a (partial) list of the problems:

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