GMAC Will Review Foreclosures in All 50 States

GMAC Mortgage will review its foreclosure procedures in all 50 states, broadening an initial review that began about two months ago. The move follows Bank of America's decision to do the same.

GMAC, which is a unit of Ally Bank, has hired a number of accounting and legal firms to go over its foreclosure procedures. The company earlier started reviewing foreclosure-related affidavits in 23 states, and in some cases halted the foreclosure process, though GMAC says it hasn't yet found evidence of "inappropriate" foreclosures.

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The Housing Market: Is It Time to Rent or to Buy?

The stalled economy, expiration of homebuyer tax credits, marked-down home prices, stubbornly high unemployment and concerns about a double-dip recession all leave prospective homebuyers wondering if now is the time. Is it time for renters to convert to buyers and for existing owners to grab that dream home on the cheap? Or will housing get even cheaper?

Home prices have plunged about 30% from their mid-2006 peak on average, with some areas, like Las Vegas, seeing prices plummet in excess of 60%. At the same time, foreclosures have continued to rise in 2010 from their 2009 historic highs and have pressured prices further.

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Homeowner Makes Sign In Foreclosure Fight

Juan Guzman has a large, lawn-wide sign in his front yard labeled 'JP Morgan Chase help.' It's his last hope to save his dream home.  The Acreage man built his house in 2007 but couldn't handle the mortgage payment of $3,600 a month.  He said he tried negotiating a lower loan from his bank but it wouldn't budge.  Last year Guzman became unemployed and now his house is in foreclosure.

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Homeowning Rarely Has Been More Affordable Than Now

Buying a home can be a life-changing decision and one many people take seriously, especially in this market.

Part of becoming a responsible homeowner is weighing every aspect of the decision before buying, including lifestyle preferences, job and financial situation and affordability.

Fortunately, for anyone who is considering buying a home, current housing affordability conditions can benefit today’s buyers for years to come.

 According to economists at the National Association of Realtors, NAR’s housing affordability index could reach an all-time high of near 200 in the second half of this year.

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The Great Mortgage Mystery

The big question from the mortgage meltdown isn't why so many distressed homeowners are defaulting on their loans.

It's why any of them are still making payments.

In the worst-hit areas millions have no equity left, and little hope of seeing any anytime soon. The market value of their homes is far below the size of the mortgage.

If they just stop paying, what is going to happen to them? In many cases they may get to live in the home rent-free for months, even years, until the bank gets around to seizing it.

If Frank Abagnale—the con man played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film "Catch Me If You Can"—were operating today, he'd probably be living rent-free in a super-luxury high-rise in Miami.

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America's Most Expensive Homes

There's been a lot of denial among luxury homeowners. In 2006, it was thought that the luxury market wouldn't suffer the same fate as the broader market. A year later, high-end home buyers were thought to have endless, deep pockets, further insulating the top-tier from the cratering economy. As the nation's markets in 2008 went from bad to worse, some in the industry claimed that the dearth of trophy properties outstripped supply.

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Bob Eubanks Lists Westlake Village Home

Game-show host Bob Eubanks and his wife, Deborah James, have put their Westlake Village residence up for sale at $2,595,000.

On 3 1/2 acres at the end of a cul-de-sac, the Normandy-style home was built in 2006. The single-story house has custom built-in cabinetry, French doors, four bedrooms, an office and 4 1/2 bathrooms in nearly 5,000 square feet of living space. The kitchen has Viking appliances, granite counters and a marble backsplash.

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Heber B Creeper Leaves The Haunted Canyon To Visit

Whether your family enjoys spooky stories or a pleasant autumn excursion, Heber Valley Railroad has something for everyone this October.

Every year in October the Provo Canyon becomes haunted with ghosts and legends of its past. The safest way to experience the canyon is on the Heber Valley Railroad's Haunted Canyon ride departing every weekend at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon. This is a fun and exciting FAMILY Halloween activity because you are all together safely on aboard Utah's only historic railroad. The stories and legends are spooky and fun but not too scary for kids. You don't have to worry about losing anyone in a maze or haunted house.

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BofA Halts Foreclosures In 23 States

Bank of America has joined GMAC Mortgage and JP Morgan Chase in suspending foreclosure proceedings in 23 states where courts have jurisdiction over foreclosures, to check that it followed correct procedures in filing affidavits.

The latest development in the "robo-signing" controversy follows allegations that workers at GMAC Mortgage and JP Morgan Chase signed court affidavits that contained information they had not personally verified, opening the door to potential legal challenges.

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After Foreclosure: The Consequences of Bad Credit

After foreclosure, you can expect your credit score to drop – by as much as 180 points. Even if your home is lost through short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure, the result is the same – bad credit. Considering that you need a credit score of at least 580 to get a loan, a reasonable interest rate on a credit card, or even many apartments, the effect of foreclosure on your credit, and your life, is significant.

1. HOUSING: First, realize that after foreclosure, your housing situation is going to change. This may be somewhat obvious as you are losing your home, but consider the effect of foreclosure a bit deeper. You will not be able to purchase a home for at least seven years unless there were verifiable extenuating circumstances. Likewise, you may experience problems finding a new place to live as many landlords will not rent to people with bad credit (in many cases, property management agencies have strict guidelines prohibiting it). As such, it is in your best interest to apply for housing before filing for foreclosure (or at least spend time figuring out where you will live).


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Hands Off My house: Dutch Outlaw Squatting

The scene has unfolded countless times in the Netherlands: Young people break into an unused building, move in a table, chair and bed, and then tell the police they are now the official residents _ with no permission from the owner and no plans to pay rent.


On Friday, the once-respected Dutch tradition of squatting becomes illegal. It is the latest pillar of the country's liberal institutions _ such as legal prostitution and cafes that openly sell marijuana _ to be abolished or curtailed as the Dutch become more conservative and rethink the boundaries of their famed tolerance.

In Amsterdam, the epicenter of the movement known in Dutch as "kraken," or "breaking," squatters plan a demonstration Friday against the new law that makes their way of life punishable by up to one year in prison.

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Ten Habits Of Highly Effective Real Estate Investors

Real estate has long been regarded as a sound investment. Wholesaling and property management of commercial and residential property are just a few of the ways investors can profit from real estate, but it takes a little savvy to become successful in this competitive arena.

While certain universities do offer coursework and programs that specifically benefit real estate investors, such as the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School's Master of Science in Real Estate, a degree is not necessarily a prerequisite to profitable real estate investing. Whether an investor has a degree or not, there are certain characteristics that top real estate investors commonly possess.

Successful real estate investors:

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RealtyTrac: Chase and GMAC Could Prolong Housing Recovery

Halting the foreclosure process on tens of thousands of homes nationwide will likely skew RealtyTrac’s closely watched foreclosure data in coming months and prolong the housing market’s recovery, says Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac senior vice president.

Chase and GMAC Mortgage Co. both suspended foreclosure sales in some states to review paperwork and the document-signing process. That means October and November’s reports will likely show an artificially low number of foreclosure starts. Some might interpret the falling numbers as improvement.  But “don’t get too excited about the market getting better,” Mr. Sharga warns.

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A New Way To Save Housing? Let The Rich Profit From Poor Homeowners

Could the government create a better housing rescue? Some people say it should try, and their favorite idea is “shared appreciation”—wherein rich investors profit from the travails of the poor.

The idea of the government helping transfer wealth from the poor to the rich may strike you as unseemly. But before you dismiss it, give it a listen. (And remember that by “the rich” we’re talking about anybody with money to invest. That could mean a member of the Forbes 400 but it could also be a pension fund for teachers or even a non-profit group set up by concerned neighbors.)

I’ve been interested in this idea of helping homeowners with equity infusions for a long while. Some bright people steeped in the economics of the housing market, including Michael Feder of housing-data analytics firm Radar Logic, have been lobbying officials at the U.S. Treasury to consider shared-appreciation programs. There’s been a fair amount of action in Congress on it, from both sides of the aisle. The big Frank-Dodd financial reform package passed this year contained language commanding the government to study shared-appreciation arrangements as a solution for the country’s housing ills. And on Wednesday Representative Gary Miller, a Republican from California, introduced H.R. 6256, “the Strengthening FHA Through Shared Equity Homeownership Act of 2010.”

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Chase Puts Hold On 56,000 Foreclosures

In what's been dubbed the "robo-signing" scandal, JP Morgan Chase and Co. has joined GMAC Mortgage in temporarily halting foreclosure proceedings in judicial foreclosure states, following allegations that workers the companies employed failed to follow the proper legal procedures in filing paperwork demonstrating that the lenders had the right to foreclose.

In the past, such allegations -- often brought by attorneys representing homeowners in disputed foreclosure proceedings -- have mostly delayed, not stopped foreclosure proceedings.

But the robo-signing allegations could affect other lenders who rely on a paperless loan registration system developed for the industry by Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS), slowing foreclosure proceedings in courts nationwide.

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Luxury Hong Kong Home Sells For Record 36 Million US Dollars

Hong Kong - A Hong Kong home has sold for a record 280 million Hong Kong dollars (36 million US dollars) as property prices in the wealthy city boom and fears of a bubble proliferate, a news report said Tuesday.

The ocean-view, three-storey, 395-square-metre property on Repulse Bay Road last changed hands in 1998 for less than 5 million US dollars, the Hong Kong Standard reported.

The price of the home, called Sunbeam House 5 and sold by the son of a property developer, makes it Hong Kong's most expensive home in terms of price per square meter, the newspaper said.

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10 Things Your Real Estate Broker Won't Say

1. “Your open house is really just a networking party for me.”
Hire a real estate broker to sell your home, and one of the first things he’ll likely suggest is hosting an open house so that potential buyers can casually check out your property on a weekend afternoon. But while open houses are promoted as a great way of finding a buyer, a National Association of Realtors study found that their success rate is quite slim.

No matter. Holding an open house serves another important purpose—for the broker. “It gives him a database of clients,” says Sean McNeill, an independent real estate broker based in New York City who says that he doesn’t like open houses, preferring to match clients with appropriate buyers. “At open houses, you get all kinds of people walking in. Some are [trying] to see how much they should sell their own places for; others just want to get a look at what’s out there.” All are perfect pickings for a broker looking to increase his roster of buyers and sellers. “Think about it,” McNeill says. “The broker is devoting a couple hours of a weekend. He won’t do that unless it helps him in a big way.” But it doesn’t necessarily mean that a seller should forego an open house altogether—says McNeill, “It’s still a real good way to showcase your house.”


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Building The Next Subprime Crisis

President Obama and Democrats in Congress haven't moved to stop subprime lending -- they've just taken it over.
They've created a federal subprime-lending monopoly by seizing control of the financial apparatus -- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration -- and lending 100 percent of the home price to borrowers who can't afford it.
Private lenders can't make these loans -- they need to get paid back.


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CEDIA 2010 Wrap Up: New Trends In Home Theater

Green home automation, 3D projectors and iPad remote apps all took center stage at this year’s annual CEDIA custom electronics trade show.

The annual CEDIA Expo in Atlanta might not perk up ears quite the same way CES ignites public interest in January, but for true techies, it’s still a sight to behold. From home automation systems that will prime your house for relaxation before you even arrive to stereos that rival the cost of a modest house, CEDIA presents a look into an amazing high-tech lifestyle few of us can afford, but also a peek ahead of the curve to technologies heading down the pipeline to the mass market. Here’s what made waves at CEDIA this year – and what could be coming down the pipe to a retailer near you sometime soon.

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Talk Is Cheap for Fannie and Freddie

When it comes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the most likely course of action over the coming year might end up being inaction. Not that you would know, listening to the Obama administration or its Republican opponents. Both are preparing plans to overhaul the mortgage giants and housing finance.

The administration says it will have proposals ready by January. Its revamp may include some form of continued backstop for mortgage-finance. Republicans in their "Pledge to America" last week, meanwhile, called for an end of the "government takeover" of Fannie and Freddie and a "shrinking of their portfolios."

For all the talk, paralysis may be more likely, especially if elections change control in Congress. And secretly, this may be just what politicians from both parties prefer.

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