US Foreclosure Filings Up 121 Percent

The numbers aren’t great - U.S. foreclosure filings are up 121 percent over last year. They rose 14 percent in the second quarter, the eighth consecutive quarterly climb. These numbers are according to RealtyTrac and the figure is a total of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions between April and June.

The government is trying to help by passing a mortgage rescue plan, which includes $4 billion in grants to local communities to buy up foreclosed properties that may be negatively affecting the communities. Fairfax County recently approved such a program, but Loudoun County is yet to do so though they’ve been discussing it for a while now.

The good news for us in Loudoun County is that most of the activity is coming from a small number of states such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan. Yes, the DC metro area including Loudoun County has been hit hard. But there are lots of investors and traditional home buyers buying up foreclosure/bank-owned properties, which is helping to keep the inventory down and softening the blow a bit around here as compared to other areas of the country.

Graph courtesy of RealtyTrac

House OKs $300B Mortgage Rescue Plan, Backs Up Fannie and Freddie

The House just ok’d a $300 billion (yes, with a "b") mortgage rescue plan that includes backing up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The plan is aimed at rescuing troubled homeowners and backing up Fannie and Freddie to help ease the housing meltdown (aka foreclosure, mortgage and credit crisis).

There are many proponents of the plan and an equal number of critics. Either way, it looks like the legislation will go through - President Bush said he’d sign it and the Senate is likely to approve it (though the Senate is not sure when).

"This isn’t a perfect solution by any means," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. But, he added, it enjoys support from a broad and unlikely coalition, including bankers, housing advocates, governors and mayors struggling with the foreclosure crisis.

For more on the story, click here, here and here.

UPDATE: Senate ok’s the mortgage rescue plan today. President Bush set to sign off on it soon.

New Dulles Association of REALTORS® Web Site Up and Running

After months of meetings and work by the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS® (DAAR) Technology and Communications Committees and various other DAAR staff including Ben Lizik (programmer), the new DAAR web site is up and running.

The overall focus of the new site was to create greater engagement and communication amongst Realtor® members, the public and the media. Much like any blog, you are able (and encouraged) to leave comments and opinions on the site regardless of whether you’re a Realtor® or not.

The new site’s layout and design incorporates some of the latest RE 2.0 and Web 2.0 technologies and functionality.

Providing the latest and most relevant information, data and statistics regarding Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince Williams counties will be the content-focus moving forward.

The site will be undergoing additional tweaks and we will be adding functionality to the site over the next few months. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please let us know - we’d love to hear your take on things.

Frustrated In Your Search For Foreclosure/Bank-Owned and Short-Sale Properties?

Does "frustrated" describe how you feel when trying to search for foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties online? You’re not alone. Buyers often ask me why they can’t just click a search field labeled "bank-owned" or "short-sale" and pull up those types of properties on listing sites. Here’s the answer to that question:

Listing sites…

Realtor.com, HomesDataBase.com and other listing sites generally get their data from either the local MLS and/or a straight data feed from brokerage firms such as Keller Williams, RE/MAX, Century 21, etc. There are certain "standard" fields that data is pulled from. That data is then auto-populated into the listing site’s template.

MLS’s/MRIS…

Unfortunately, there is no field or check box labeled "Foreclosure/Bank-Owned" or "Short-Sale" for Listing Agents to use when uploading a listing into the MRIS. Because of that, there is no way for listing sites to pull "foreclosure/bank-owned only" or "short-sale only" data. Therefore, there is no way for you, the consumer, to search for only those types of properties.

But agent’s can search for them…

Yes, we can. But there’s no "magic button" or "insider trick" for us either. When searching for these types of properties, I have to check off several search fields such as "As is condition clause required", "Relo/bank addendum required", etc. Then I have to manually go through each listing to see whether it’s a foreclosure/bank-owned or short-sale property (or relo - they get thrown into that mix too). I check the agent-only remarks, tax records, owner records, etc. It’s frustrating for myself and other agents as much as it to you, the consumer.

To answer your next question…

I have no idea why the MRIS hasn’t done anything about it yet. And there’s nothing about them something about it on the horizon either. It’s ashame because the MRIS makes millions of dollars (literally) every month from all the dues they collect from agents. Yet, they can’t make a few programming changes that would make everyone’s lives so much easier. Instead, they waste their (our) money on things such as Mr. IS without ever consulting us about it first.

Good and Bad News In The World Of Foreclosures

There’s good news and bad news in the national and local Loudoun County foreclosure world. You probably want to hear the bad news first, right? Ok, here goes…

Bad news

• Nationwide, foreclosure filings in June 2008 were up 53% over June 2007
• Economists project 2.5 million homes nationwide will enter the foreclosure process this year, up from 1.5 million in 2007
• Analysts say the mortgage industry’s effort to assist troubled borrowers is being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the foreclosure crisis

Good news

• Nationwide, foreclosure filings are down 3.4 percent in June over May
• The local Loudoun County foreclosure market has shown signs of stabilization over the past 6 months
• The new Virginia law that went into affect July 1 may help some financially-stressed Loudoun County homeowners moving forward

Yes, the bad news is pretty bad. But remember that the bad news is nationwide and that the Washington, DC metro area, including Loudoun County, is about 6 to 9 months ahead of the rest of the country.

New Virginia Law Aims At Easing Foreclosures

A law that took affect on July 1 requires that lenders and mortgage-servicing companies send delinquent borrowers with high-interest loans the names of housing counselors who can provide foreclosure-prevention guidance.

"The new law requires that lenders and companies that collect mortgage payments make available a 30-day grace period to borrowers who ask for help.

By slowing down the foreclosure process, the new regulations could buy time for homeowners seeking to work out arrangements with their lenders."

Though the law requires a list of housing counselors to be sent and a 30-day grace period, there’s nothing that says that the lenders have to work out an arrangement with borrowers. Unless banks are more willing to work out arrangements with borrowers, this law may only delay the inevitable.

Source: PilotOnline.com

Happy 4th!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July holiday weekend! See you back here on Monday.

Foreclosures/REO and Short-Sales Selling Like Hot Cakes

Sales of foreclosure/bank-owned and short-sale properties in Loudoun County are up…way up! So what’s "way up"? How about 378 percent!

As of a few weeks ago, distressed properties made up almost half of the total sales in Loudoun County. Investors and traditional buyers are out in full force taking advantage of the deals to be had.

Here are the numbers:

• The number of foreclosure/REO and short-sale properties that sold during the 2nd Qtr of ‘07 - 227
• The number of foreclosure/REO and short-sale properties that sold during the 2nd Qtr of ‘08 - 859
• That’s an increase of 378 percent

With the Loudoun County real estate market looking up and interest rates having jumped recently, this may be just the time to start picking up an investment property or two. And if you’re a traditional home buyer that doesn’t mind putting in some money and sweat equity into a great deal, you may want to check out some of those great deals.

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