State might ask cities to maintain more roads

Shifting burden of upkeep on 5,000 miles poses questions.
http://www.rebic.com/library/North%20Carolina/2008/110308%20CO%20State%20might.pdf>

Stop Worrying About Stock Market Losses

If you're worried about how much money you lost from your retirement account over the past few months, it’s time to refocus your thoughts.

The stock market will regain strength and your investments will grow over time, certified financial planner Chris Bird told a packed audience Thursday at the 2008 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando. Getting caught up in short-term fluctuations will only cause distress.

Selling Green? Practice What You Preach

“If you’re not doing green at some point, it will effect your profits,” energetic instructor Terry Watson told REALTORS® attending NAR’s first-ever GREEN designation course in Orlando Thursday."

Obama Will Support Housing, Says NAR

"President-elect Barack Obama is likely to make a housing market recovery a central part of his economic revival plan.

That was the assessment of NAR leaders, speaking to a packed audience Thursday at the Peabody Hotel during the opening forum of the REALTORS® Conference."

Stalled Uptown Condo Project gets a Buyer!

There's a buyer for The Park condos, the stalled uptown tower, with the beginnings of a deal emerging Tuesday from a topsy-turvy three-hour court hearing.

Fed slashes key interest rate a half-point

The Federal Reserve today slashed a key interest rate by half a percentage point as it seeks to revive an economy hit by a long list of maladies stemming from the most severe financial crisis in decades.

Fed slashes key interest rate a half-point

The Federal Reserve today slashed a key interest rate by half a percentage point as it seeks to revive an economy hit by the most severe financial crisis in decades.

Credit markets improve gradually

"The government's efforts to crank open the credit markets have led to some mild improvements in lending rates and Treasury bill yields. But it will probably take months, and perhaps a few years, before lending returns to healthier levels."

Wells Fargo wins Wachovia

"In a dramatic showdown over the future of Wachovia, Wells Fargo prevailed Thursday evening, saying it will move forward with its purchase of the Charlotte bank after Citigroup stepped aside."

Final touches on the Metropolitan (w/ a Trader Joes!)

Metropolitan, conceived more than eight years ago, is on its way to becoming a Next Big Thing
for uptown dwellers and residents of neighborhoods that ring Interstate 277. It's got a Trader oe's Too!

HomeArama at The Palisades!

Three lavish, multi-million-dollar homes are the focus of this year's
HomeArama.

N.C. 3 Study: Cabarrus provided planning options

A regional study of how best to expand N.C. 3 and foster development along the
highway has garnered different opinions from Cabarrus County and Kannapolis.

http://www.rebic.com/library/Cabarrus/2008/100708%20IT%20NC%203.pdf

What an interest rate cut is supposed to do

"Will U.S. consumers benefit from the interest rate cuts announced Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and several other countries' central banks?"

Two encouraging bits of real estate news brightened my morning today.

First, pending home sales, based on contracts signed in August, jumped unexpectedly to the highest level since June 2007. According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, this improvement was a result of improved affordability and lower interest rates.

In addition, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications increased 2.2 percent last week due to lower home loan rates.

More pending home sales and loan applications mean more closed business. Paired with the expectation of freer credit moving forward and the $7,500 buyer tax credit, this is all promising news for the real estate industry."

Attendees at N.C. Association of Realtors convention in Charlotte are mostly upbeat about prospects, sales.

"Mary Davenport, a real estate agent in Kitty Hawk, said Monday a falling stock market has brought a wave of second-home clients to her business."

Senate approves financial rescue plan

The U.S. Senate passed the $700 billion financial industry bailout last night by a wide margin, 74-25. Keeping the core of the original plan intact-buying up troubled mortgage assets-the Senate version adds in several new provisions, including a number of tax breaks and credits, temporarily raising the insured deposit limit to $250,000, and allowing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to borrow from the Treasury Department to cover any losses.

Commenting on Congress' revival of EESA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's (SIFMA) president and CEO, Tim Ryan, said, 'This legislation wisely provides the Treasury Department maximum flexibility to restore the health of our credit markets which will ensure all Americans continue to have access to loans for homes, cars and education. It also guarantees the necessary government oversight and accountability, while building in a series of important protections for taxpayers.'

Officials believe that Republican opposition has now softened and are hoping to push the legislation to a House vote by soon."

2.3 million foreclosures prevented in past 14 months

2.3 million foreclosures prevented in past 14 months

HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors that has been working aggressively to prevent foreclosures, today announced that nearly 2.3 million homeowners have avoided foreclosure and have been able to stay in their homes due to the continuing efforts of HOPE NOW and the broader mortgage industry.

In August 2008, mortgage servicers helped homeowners avoid foreclosure by completing more than 189,000 mortgage workouts. Workouts include both modifications to the terms of existing mortgages and repayment plans. Barring a life event such as a job loss, death, or illness, all workouts are intended to enable a homeowner to remain in that home as long as he or she wishes to do so.

The HOPE NOW report estimates that on an industry-wide basis:

● Mortgage servicers have helped 2.26 million homeowners avoid foreclosure since July 2007.
● Mortgage servicers provided loan workouts for approximately 189,000 borrowers in August 2008.
● In August, approximately 110,000 homeowners received repayment plans; approximately 79,000 received loan modifications."

Down payment assistance ban takes effect

A ban on seller-financed downpayment assistance went into affect Oct. 1. according to Nehemiah Corporation of America, a report issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week confirms that The FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform and Risk-Based Pricing Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6694) would not cost the federal government any money for the next five years. This is due largely to the self-funding mechanism that sets premiums based on an individual's credit scores.

According to Nehemiah Corp. of America, a DPA provision within the bailout to reinstate DPA could help ensure continued liquidity in the stagnating housing market by providing aid to an estimated 600,000 working-class people for home purchases next year, generating $150 billion in home sales."

New Hope for Fmailies Facing Foreclosure!

Struggling families facing foreclosure will find one more avenue to take-mortgage assistance through a program called HOPE for Homeowners program, which will refinance mortgages for borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments, but can afford a new loan insured by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

The HOPE for Homeowners program begins today and ends September 30, 2011. The program is available only to owner occupants and will offer 30-year fixed rate mortgages, so the borrower's last payment will be the same as the first payment. In many cases, to avoid what would be an even costlier foreclosure, banks will have to write down the existing mortgage to 90 percent of the new appraised value of the home."

Charlott's Official "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Viewing Party

Join the CRRA Housing Opportunity Foundation (HOF) Oct. 19, 6:30-9:30 p.m., at The Mint Museum of Craft+Design for cocktails, music, hors d’oeuvres and the national television broadcast of Charlotte’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” All proceeds benefit HOF. Buy tickets at www.CarolinaRealtors.com.

NCREC Compensation Rule Requires Disclosure of Fees and Compensation Effective Oct. 1

NCREC says that brokers must disclose to their buyers and sellers all compensation the broker expects to receive from the transaction, including bonuses. NCAR created Form 770 to assist Realtors® with making the disclosure. There were changes to the Exclusive Right to Sell Listing and Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer agreements, too. For more information, click here to view NCAR’s webinar that aired Sept. 16. The new forms are now available at www.ncrealtor.org/ in the forms library, and will be available in the Realtor® Store next week. The forms will be available on Realfast and other form software packages by Oct. 1.

House defeats $700B financial markets bailout

The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive into recession without it."

McColl: Wachovia sale is 'body blow' to Charlotte

"Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp., saddled with bad loans and a loss of investor confidence that escalated on Friday, said today it is selling its retail bank, wealth management unit and corporate and investment bank to Citigroup Inc."

Beazer settles federal probe

"Beazer Homes, once a major Charlotte-area homebuilder, said Wednesday it settled one of several federal investigations admitting no wrongdoing and paying no fine."

BofA names new head of mortgage sales

"Bank of America Corp., the nation's second-largest bank, named Craig Buffie as its top mortgage-sales executive, displacing former Countrywide Financial Corp. executive Drew Gissinger."

No Exceptions for Short Sales

"Increasingly, sellers seeking short sales are encountering a new twist. Lenders are agreeing to let some short sales go through, but they want the home owners to sign a note promising to pay some or all of the balance due - debts that could burden borrowers for the rest of their lives. Moody's Economy.com estimates that about 10 million homeowners have negative equity, a condition known colloquially as being upside down or underwater. By next June, the forecasting company expects the total to rise to 12.7 million-a quarter of all homeowners who have mortgages.

'The first wave of foreclosures involved a lot of investors who just disappeared,' says Lance Churchill of Frontline Seminars, which teaches real estate practitioners how to negotiate with lenders on short sales. 'Now, homeowners with jobs and assets are underwater and want to sell. The banks want as much as they can get, today or in the future, and the owners want to get away clean.'

If the lender does a short sale without extracting anything from the seller, everyone in the country who is upside down could try to wiggle out from under and banks will take a fresh wave of hits. But if the lender pushes too hard, the borrower will default, leaving the bank in worse shape.

Source: The New York Times, David Streitfeld (09/18/08)"

REAL Trends Comment on: $700 Billion Bailout!

REAL Trends Comment: The proposed bailout was brought on by several factors. High levels of liquidity in world capital pools and extremely low interest rates for too long a period of time created an environment where debt became too attractive a means for investment; both regulated and unregulated mortgage conduits lowered or removed any restraints as to historical underwriting standards; the "mark-to-market" provisions of recent financial re-regulation forced firms to write down and write off bad investments and the affordability crisis hit housing sales hard enough to drop units and prices hard.

Whether a bailout of the proportions estimated by the Treasury will actually diminish the declines in prices and units is unknown at the time of this writing. We do believe that the last thing that Federal regulators should do at this time is reduce liquidity or raise interest rates.

$700 Billion Bailout!

The Bush administration's proposed $700 billion financial rescue began to take shape today with lawmakers debating whether to add provisions to protect taxpayers, according to CNNMoney.com. Banks and other companies called for expanding its scope beyond mortgages. CNNMoney reports that Democrats want independent oversight, homeowner protections and limits on executive pay.

Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), says "The National Association of Home Builders applauds the Bush Administration, Federal Reserve and Congress for moving quickly to stem the ongoing financial crisis. Policymakers realize the root causes-falling home prices, mounting foreclosures and a frozen credit market-must be addressed now.

John A. Courson, Chief Operating Officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) agrees. "The broader steps outlined by Treasury are aimed at ending the further meltdown in the financial markets and are designed to minimize the resulting impact of the market turmoil on the broader economy. It's another step in the long-term process of restoring a balance between the supply and demand for housing in a number of markets and thus addressing the continuing problem of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures.

However, The Center for Responsible Lending's President Mike Calhoun says that the bailout won't stop foreclosures that push down property values. "The government plan announced by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke fails to deal with the root cause of the crisis- families in foreclosure-and instead is purely and simply a bailout of the lenders who created this disaster. The bailout will not solve our economic problems because it will do virtually nothing to stop the foreclosure epidemic.

VA Loans still don't need down payment

"The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, whose loans remain one of the few no-down-payment options in this tight market, have made more than 162,000 home loan guaranties this year, an increase of more than 31 percent over the same period last year.

The VA has tried to streamline the loan process by allowing veterans to apply for a loan before they obtain a VA Certificate of Eligibility. Once the borrowers have demonstrated that they are otherwise eligible, lenders can access the program's Web portal to use VA's online Automated Certificate of Eligibility (ACE) system and obtain the certificate for the veteran. Many times, lenders can receive the certificate within seconds. The VA can process the application in less than 24 hours.

VA-guaranteed home loans are made to eligible veterans, service members, and surviving spouses through private mortgage lenders throughout the United States."

BofA claims success in halting foreclosures

A Bank of America official testified Wednesday that the company helped save 52,000 homes from foreclosure in the two months following its purchase of Countrywide, the troubled mortgage lender.