Well the good news is that many homes are selling for 50 to 60% of what they had sold for in 2005 to 2006. This really means that buyers have a lot of options available and they can now buy homes that were completely unavailable to them a mere 3 years ago. The other good news is that interest rates are insanely low, anywhere from 4.625% to 5.55% depending on the program, the down payment, the points, and your particular credit worthiness.The bad news is that most banks are still looking for e... Read Full Story

First the good news:It's good to have a President that can assess a situation and move quickly to try to fix a known problem of enormous magnitude namely the Real Estate and Mortgage MESS. I am glad that many existing homeowners who have fallen on hard times will get the opportunity to remain in their homes because they now will be able to get their interest rates automatically reduced and may also get part of their loan balance forgiven. That sounds nice but it also reeks of a Giant Gove... Read Full Story

I've been meaning to get this topic off of my chest for awhile so here it goes..... Everyone, including the papers, the pundits and now the politicians say we are in a bad economy, right? So why is it that when I call a company for service they don't get back to me or lose my information? I'll give you an example of this. I called a permit expediting company several months ago because I thought I needed professional help in legalizing a structure. I left not one but two messages w... Read Full Story

Well it's that time of year again when most of our thoughts turn to holiday festivities and holiday stress. I have definitely noticed a more somber attitude this holiday season due to the overwhelming financial pressures that face most of us. Big retailers are having sale after sale and yet are selling less. Internet retailers are offering bigger and better bargains and even free shipping. It's a pity that there seems to be so much pressure on people to make sure that they buy plenty ... Read Full Story

Our country finally did it, we chose hope over fear. A new day is dawning for America and it couldn't come at a better or bleaker time. We will have new leadership in the White House and we will have a thoughtful and intelligent President who was voted in by a majority of us. Things will not change overnight, it took time and many poor decisions to get us into the mess we are in now and it will take time and many good decisions to get us out of it. Still, this is really, really big histor... Read Full Story

Well, my pretties, with Halloween approaching, it is time to think of Trick or Treating. When you are going door to door asking for candy, will your neighbors answer their door and hand you a treat or will they be chained to the door hoping to stave off foreclosure. These are awful times for many homeowners and while the average "Joe the Plumber" says that they do not want government interference in their lives it is time the government really does something to help out all the stru... Read Full Story

A couple of nights ago I was watching the news and heard that banking giant, Lehman Brothers would be filing for bankruptcy.  The other big news of the evening was that Merrill Lynch was probably going to be bought by Bank of America and that AIG (the insurance giant) was also in danger of going out of business.  I receive an online publication called "The Mortgage Graveyard" and for the past year and a half more and more banks have been added to that list. I couldn't believe it... Read Full Story

One of the more obvious reasons that we are in the midst of such a housing crisis is that the same banks who had no problem lending money to anyone who could fog up a mirror now seem to have a problem loaning money to very viable purchasers. We will not see a complete housing market turnaround until credit starts to become more readily available.Bank after bank is going out of business and the requirements necessary to obtain a mortgage have become herculean in nature. Is it any wonder that ... Read Full Story

Do you know that most people including real estate agents have no idea what's the difference between REO properties and short Sales? You are probably asking yourself why this matters. The reason this matters is if you are a buyer and are looking for a really good deal you will undoubtedly come across both of these types of listings. You will also probably think they are the same thing. This will be a big mistake since they are not the same thing.REO properties are properties that are curr... Read Full Story

The question on many peoples' minds is "Have we hit bottom yet?" This is not an easy question to answer. My belief is that there are some areas in the country that have not hit bottom yet and there are others that are darn near close. On Long Island we have seen some drastic reductions in price compared to just one short year ago. Homes that had sold for $400,000 in early 2007 are now selling for $300,000. For buyers this should seem to be good news however there still is a segm... Read Full Story