Help for Bad Mortgage Deals?

More Details Emerge in $25B Mortgage Deal

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The government vows to closely monitor that the nation’s five largest banks fulfill the aid to home owners outlined in a $25 billion mortgage settlement over foreclosure allegations.
More details emerged in court filings on Monday of the landmark settlement among the nation’s five largest banks and state and federal government officials. The settlement, first announced last month, stems from allegations over banks’ foreclosure practices, although as part of the settlement the banks do not have to admit to any wrongdoing.
Among some of the aid outlined in the $25 billion settlement for home owners:

• Banks have agreed to pay about $20 billion to help home owners avoid foreclosure. The majority of that money will be allocated to reducing the mortgage principal and modifying loans for about 1 million underwater home owners.
• Banks have agreed to pay $5 billion to federal and state government officials, with a portion of that money going to compensate about 750,000 Americans who have been found to be wrongfully foreclosed upon from 2008 through 2011. Affected home owners will receive $2,000 checks.
• Banks will be required to adopt new processing standards for foreclosure. For example, banks will be unable to pursue a foreclosure when home owners are being considered for a loan modification.
• Banks must comply with the terms of the settlement or face stiff penalties. Banks are required to complete all loan relief requirements as part of the settlement within three years; 75 percent of it is to be fulfilled within two years. Any bank that violates the agreement will be fined $1 million for each violation, capped at $5 million for repeat violations.
• The settlement does not free banks from criminal action. Federal and state officials can still pursue criminal action action against banks for any wrongdoing over foreclosures.

The mortgage settlement only applies to mortgages held privately. It does not apply to mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The banks part of the settlement are Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Chase, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial.
Some banks have negotiated separate requirements so they won’t have to pay as much in penalties to federal and state officials. For example, in return to a reduction in penalties, Ally Financial has agreed to cut the mortgage principal for struggling home owners by 105 percent of the home’s value. Bank of America says it will trim the mortgage principal of more than 200,000 struggling borrowers.
The settlement still must be approved by a judge to be final.
Source: “Feds Promise Tough Oversight in Mortgage Deal,” Reuters (March 12, 2012) and “Gov’t Files $25B Mortgage Settlement; Banks to Provide Relief Without Admitting Wrongdoing,” Associated Press (March 12, 2012)
This story was published in REALTOR Magazine March2012

American White Pelicans in The Desert

My wife and I visited Apollo Park yesterday and to our suprise swimming along with the Candian Geese, Coots, Ducks and white geese was a flock of about 20 of these White Pelicans. We are use to seeing the Brown Pelicans at the Beach. Apollo Park is in Lancaster Calif. located in the Mojave Desert.

American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Characteristics Range Habitat Diet Life Cycle Behavior	Classification Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae Genus: Pelecanus	Click on the images for a larger view.

Characteristics The American white pelican about four feet tall and has a wingspan of about nine feet. It is entirely white except for its black-edged wings that are visible when the American white pelican is in flight. It has a long neck, a long orange bill with an expandable pouch and short orange legs with big webbed feet. In breeding season, it has a light yellowish crest on the back of its head and a nuptial tubercle or fibrous plate on the upper part of its bill. The nuptial tubercle will fall off when mating season is over and the crest will turn gray. Young American white pelicans have grayish markings on their heads and backs. Range The American white pelican breeds in isolated areas from Manitoba, Canada and Minnesota west to northern California. The American white pelican migrates to its winter grounds in early fall. It winters in California, Mexico, Central America, along the Gulf Coast and in Florida. Habitat The American white pelican lives on inland shallow freshwater lakes, wet prairies and marshes in the summer and on coastal lagoons in the winter.

Diet The American white pelican doesn't dive into the water for its food like the brown pelican. It floats on the water and scoops up fish and water in its pouch. It holds its heads up and drains out the water and then swallows the fish. The American white pelican only carries food in its pouch when it is taking food to its chick. American white pelicans often hunt for food in groups. They will form a line and start swimming towards shore while flapping their wings and herding their prey towards the shore. Sometimes, one group of pelicans will even drive the prey towards another group of pelicans! The American white pelican eats up to three pounds of fish per day. It also eats salamanders and crayfish. Life Cycle The American white pelican nests in colonies. Male and female American white pelicans show off their bright orange bills during courtship. They strut around, bow, and take short flights in an attempt to attract a mate. The female lays 1-3 eggs in a depression on the ground or on a mound of vegetation and dirt. Both parents incubate the eggs with their large webbed feet! The eggs hatch in about a month. If the female lays more than one egg, usually only the strongest one will survive. The other chicks die of starvation because they can't compete for food with their stronger sibling. Chicks are naked at birth. By the time they are 10 days old they are covered with white down. Both parents care for the young. The chicks dig regurgitated food out of their parents pouches. Chicks leave the nest and join the a pod or a creche of young pelicans when they are 17-28 days old. Chicks fledge when they are about 10 weeks old. Behavior The American white pelican is clumsy on land, but it is a good swimmer and very graceful in flight. American white pelicans fly in flocks in a long line, with their necks necks bent back over their bodies.

Happy Birthday!!! Baby Girl

What were you doing 25 years ago today? I know what Susan and I were doing. Susan was dressed in a very beautiful Denim Muumu I mean Denim maturnity jumper. We were off to Antelope Valley Hospital. Where we were Blessed with a beautiful 8.9 lb baby alien i mean baby girl she was not that beautiful when she first arrived, come on all you parents you know with all that yucky stuff on them they aint pretty till they have been wisked over to be cleaned up. But really she was pretty then and she is even prettier today. She came into this world full force and with an agenda and thats how she is to this day. Most young ladies would be preparing for some type of party celebration but not Miss Candace she is off in Alabama working with Community Collabrations and working with college students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama helping this community clean up from the tornado they had and also voluntering at shelters. Her mother and I are very proud of this young woman and are very blessed to have her as Our daughter.

Happy Birthday!!!! Candace Marie

Its Spring Ahead Time Again

By Sarah Meehan, USA TODAY

Sunday's start of daylight saving time will throw off the clock only by an hour, but that's enough to leave people feeling groggy for a day or two, sleep experts say.

By setting clocks ahead an hour, daylight saving time allows us more light through the spring, summer and fall. But when the time changes at 2 a.m. Sunday (except in Arizona and Hawaii), it will cost one hour of sleep. We'll regain that when the clocks fall back on Nov. 4.

"Losing an hour is harder than gaining an hour," says Steven Feinsilver, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. "It's sort of like a mini jet lag."

It takes no more than 48 hours to adjust to a one-hour loss, says New York pulmonologist and sleep specialist Nicholas Rummo of Northern Westchester Hospital's Center for Sleep Medicine. "The day or two after people aren't quite alert," he says. "Most people might feel it Monday into Tuesday."

Some people will be more sluggish than others Monday morning — particularly those without regular sleep habits, such as waking up at a consistent time or snoozing seven to eight hours each night.

"Millions of Americans can ill afford to lose one more hour of sleep given that so many of them are so sleep-deprived," says Russell Rosenberg, board chairman for the National Sleep Foundation.

Sleep directly affects health and safety, Rosenberg says, and the sleep loss associated with daylight saving time has been linked to increases in traffic and on-the-job accidents the Monday following the time change.

Specialists encourage people to use this, the National Sleep Foundation's National Sleep Awareness week, to adopt good habits so that next year, it won't be quite so tiring to make the leap forward. Sleep doctors offer a few tips for making up for lost z's:

•Start early. Move your schedule up a few minutes each day — eat dinner and go to bed 10 to 15 minutes earlier every night.

•Take a nap Sunday to "build up a little sleep in your sleep bank," says Russell Rosenberg, board chairman for the National Sleep Foundation, noting that siestas should be less than an hour.

•Every minute counts, so set the alarm clock for the last possible minute Monday morning.

•Soak up the sun. Sunlight jump-starts our bodies and sets our internal clocks forward, so sip your coffee in front of a window for an extra jolt. "Light in the morning makes us want to go to bed earlier," says New York pulmonologist and sleep specialist Nicholas Rummo.

•Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which interfere with the hormones and chemistry that regulate our bodies and make it more difficult to fall asleep and wake up, Rummo says.

By Sarah Meehan, USA TODAY

Dont Forget to Change The Batteries In ALL your Smoke Detectors!!!!!!

Thirty Days

Thirty days, what are you gonna do in the next thirty days? It can be anything, take a picture everyday, make a video, blog, learn something new, send a card or letter to a service person for 30 days, exercise, write. There are so many things you could do.

 I started March 1. I have added to my workout routine planks, squats and pushups. I said I would never do push ups, well my goal is to get to thirty at one time without stopping. Sounds easy, its not well at least not for me. Currently 6 is my max when I started barely could do 3. Planks I could not hold  for15 secs.  up to 40 secs., Squats 40.

 I have been following a blog called Blog of Impossible Things, By Joel Runyon. Follow him he has good info on doing impossible things.

Meet Joel

My name is Joel Runyon and I write about pushing your limits and telling a great story by doing impossible things. I run triathlons, travel the world, adventure, and throw spears on occasion.

You can get free updates directly in your inbox via your new favorite newsletter.

Twitter --> @JoelRunyon
Facebook Page.
Follow Me On Google+.

Current Location: Chicago, Illinois

My Vision Board

I finally put together my vision board. Interesting that most of my vision is on health/fitness
and acting and a small part is on real estate. My daughter gave me a card and I cut out the words from the front of it . It says: patience & strength & faith & courage & humility & execellence & laughter & LOVE. I am trying to remember these as I go along my days.

My BIG Goals for the year: $40,000 in my pocket from Real Estate
                                              Knock personal debt down
                                              New to wife car.
                                              New Bike
                                              Teeth
                                              Lose 45Lbs be at 200 (-1.5 a week)
                                              Run 5K in April
                                              Triathlon in July and Sept.
                                              Get back to Acting
                                              Pictures,Audition, Get Gig
                                           

A look into the future by Trulia's Chief Economist

As we wrap up 2011, Trulia’s Chief Economist looks ahead at what’s in store for the battered housing market and which cities have a big reason to celebrate the New Year.My crystal ball is never as crystal-clear as I’d like, but I do think that we can expect a gradual economic recovery to move the housing market a few steps back toward normal in 2012.
Before getting into the predictions, let me be upfront about what I’m assuming. After 14 months of job gains, I expect the economy to continue its slow but determined recovery. I don’t do my own macroeconomic forecasts, but every single one of the fifty-ish economic forecasters surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expects the economy to grow throughout 2012, and that makes sense to me.
Here’s what I expect in 2012 and what it means for agents:

Delinquencies will go down, but foreclosures will go up.

Fewer borrowers will fall behind on their payments next year, thanks to the strengthening economy and refinancings. The share of delinquent borrowers is already down more than a quarter from the peak a couple of years ago. But many borrowers who fell behind on their payments during the housing crisis are still in limbo: last year’s robo-signing controversy threw a wrench in the gears of the foreclosure process. That means that some delinquent loans haven’t yet gone through the foreclosure process. Once a settlement is reached with banks over robo-signing, we’ll see a new wave of foreclosures and foreclosure sales.

What it means for agents: Despite the decline in delinquencies, the wave of foreclosures will hurt. New foreclosures will depress prices for several reasons – foreclosed homes are often sold at a discount and used as comps for non-distressed homes; vacant homes bring down the value of their neighbors; and high foreclosures are the worst thing for consumer confidence in the housing market. That will hurt seller motivation even more than buyer motivation since lower prices will mean deals for some buyers. Agents should be gearing up with competitive pricing strategies to catch buyers and preparing to counsel their traditional seller-clients about the depressed prices to come in high-foreclosure areas.

Rents will rise – which is a bad thing.

With fewer people buying homes and more people losing their homes to foreclosures, rental demand is increasing. High rents will hold back economic growth if businesses can’t pay workers enough to have a roof over their heads. Squeezed city-dwellers won’t get relief until late 2012: that’s when a wave of new multi-unit construction projects that started late this year will be completed and available for rent. To tackle growth-killing high living costs in the priciest cities head on, local governments need to get rid of height restrictions and arduous permitting processes, which hold back urban construction and push development to the suburbs.

What it means for agents: Rising rents and falling prices make buying a great deal – but only for prospective buyers who can afford the downpayment and qualify for a mortgage. When counseling buyers, agents need to be aware of the struggle and sacrifice required to save for down payments in this climate. But the good news is that there will be clients motivated by available inventory and low prices – even though these clients may require more hand-holding around financing options.

Mortgage rates will inch up – which will probably be a good thing.

A stronger economy will push Treasury bonds and mortgage rates up because inflation becomes more likely and investors demand higher rates to hold bonds. But lots of factors can push rates up or down. For the housing market, which direction rates go is less important than why. Gradual economic recovery is good news for the housing market even if it means higher mortgage rates – because higher mortgage rates should go hand-in-hand with greater housing demand.

What it means for agents: Higher mortgage rates mean higher monthly payments for buyers, but a stronger economy means that buyers will be better able to afford those rates. Higher rates probably won’t hold back buyers much: rates are only one of many factors that enter into the cost of buying a home, and for many buyers the downpayment is a much bigger barrier to homeownership than the monthly payments. Also, buyers need to be reminded that homeownership has other costs on top of the monthly mortgage payment, like insurance and maintenance, which can add half again as much to the cost of owning a home. Agents should help buyers figure out the overall costs and benefits of homeownership, not just the monthly mortgage payment.

Government will sit on its hands.

In election years, politicians don’t take risks: they’re more talk and less action, so don’t expect any bold housing policy reforms next year. What’s more, with the housing market now recovering, we’re not in enough of a crisis to force political opponents together. Instead, in 2012 we’ll see the effects of modest housing proposals from this year: easier refinancing under the expanded HARP program, and more government-owned homes coming to market for sale or rent. But the bitter debate in Washington over the budget deficit and debt will continue.

What it means for agents: No news may be good news: I don’t expect major changes in policy that will upend the housing market. But government is slowly scaling back support for housing, both to encourage the private sector to come back in and also to help deal with the federal budget deficit. Late this year we saw increased fees on Fannie and Freddie to help fund the payroll tax cut, lower conforming loan limits, and proposals to scale back mortgage interest deduction. Agents should explain to buyers what these changes means for their mortgage costs, both before and after taxes.

Smart cities are hot.

In 2012, the local housing markets that will enjoy rising prices, new construction or both, are those that start the year with stronger job growth and fewer empty homes holding back the market. My top five cities to watch are Austin TX, Houston TX, San Jose CA, the Boston suburbs, and Rochester NY. Most of these cities have strong high-tech industries or high-skill workforces. During the housing boom, the go-go cities tended to be lower-skill, lower-education metros. But in 2012, smart is hot.

This is a e-blogg from Christope Choo's facebook page

Thanks for the info Christophe