As Home Prices Drop, Home Sales Increase

The Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index has come out with some low home price values for the US. From November of 2009, the 10 city composite is down .4 percent and the 20 city composite is down 1.6 percent. Cities that had home price peaks in 2006 have had their home prices decreased at staggering levels such as Las Vegas with 57.2 percent, Phoenix with 53.9 percent, and Miami with 48.8 percent. The national median home price for all home types in the US is sitting at $168,800, a 1 percent decrease since December of 2009. The market share for distressed homes has increased to a whopping 36 percent from 32 percent in December of 2009.

So what does all this mean for the market? Home sales have increased for the 5^th time in the last 6 months and are projected to continue to do so. There has already been a 2 percent increase since November’s home sales and it shows a good transition into 2011 for the selling market.

Guide for the First Time Home Buyer

Buying your first home is a serious step and takes some careful consideration and planning. Here are a few guidelines to help you along the way and to make sure you make the most financially sound decision for your individual situation.

Make sure you are completely ready to buy

•  Look and compare real estate prices against rental prices in your location. Right now is a great time for deals as many cities it is actually cheaper to buy than rent.
• Make sure you have a steady job and feel confident in your staying power within your location
• Evaluate your near future and see if you are ready to settle down in one spot for at least a few years

Check your credit

• A good credit score can be very important in this day and age of tight underwriting regulations. There are programs that accept lower scores, but the high you have, the easier the loan process can be.

Cash

• Consider having a cash down payment of at least 20% on your home
•  A down payment adds equity and lowers monthly down payments
•  If you end up having financial problems down the road, a cash down payment will enable you to engage in loan modifications

Alternative loan programs

• There are loan programs that can offer 0 to 3.5% money down
•  Fannie Mae offers Home Path, a program that sells foreclosed homes at 3.5% down and does renovation loans. These houses can range anywhere from older small single family homes to brand new 5 bedroom ranch styles. For more information on Home Path, click here
• The Department of Veterans Affairs offers loans to former military members and the Department of Agriculture offers loans for home in rural areas.

Understand your budget

• Take into consideration all your current debt as underwriting regulations for many loans only allow a certain amount of debt ratio in order to be approved
• Add all your monthly bills together and see if you can handle another payment
• Look at your future costs and gauge how much you will need in savings
• Consider other expenses such as private mortgage insurance (PMI)

Inspection

• Understand the importance of a good inspection to fully comprehend how much your home is worth
•  Inspections are especially important with foreclosure homes

More Bad News for Bank of America

Bank of America has been in the media for some time now and it hasn’t been for any positive reasons. Bank of America purchased the largest US mortgage lender, Countrywide, in 2008 and is now being sued by investors who say they have been victims of a “massive fraud” deal. According to large investors such as TIAA-CREF, New York Life Insurance Company, and Dexia Holdings, Bank of America misrepresented the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of securities they sold to them as low risk and conservative. Investors are now upset as these securities have accrued “junk” credit which has resulted in large losses for them. Shirley Norton, Bank of America spokesperson, claims that these large investors are just using them as a scapegoat as to why their investments have lost value in this economy. The lawsuit was filed this last Monday with 12 plaintiffs involved.

MORE EXPENSIVE TO RENT!

Still thinking about buying a home? Here is some interesting data that may help you make up your mind. In 72% of the largest US cities, it is CHEAPER to BUY a home than RENT! So when people refer to renting as throwing your money away, they really mean it. Trulia, a San Francisco based company, conducts an annual Rent Versus Buy Index which compares the costs of leasing and buying 2 bedroom homes in the 50 largest US cities. In only four of those 50 cities is it cheaper to rent than to buy: New York, Seattle, Kansas City (MI), and San Francisco.

Rent is up so high simply due to the law of supply and demand. In 2010, there was a 2 percent gain from 2009 with 2.87 million homes that received notices in foreclosures, auctions or repossess. Many past homebuyers have fled the market and went into the renting avenue, therefore increasing the demand and price for rentals. This means one thing, now is a great time to buy if you are financially able because it’s cheaper than renting and it earns you credit and equity.

Increase Search Ability of Realtor's Website

When focusing on certain neighborhoods for your website, there are a few strategies that can help your buyers and sellers see the benefits.

•    Have each neighborhood you feature have its own page and show the sellers how they can benefit from having their neighborhood on your site by giving the buyers easy access to their property by searching through that individual neighborhood and its amenities.
•    Buy a domain name for the neighborhood section that is easy searchable and pertains directly to what the buyers will be finding on that site. This will increase the site’s search engine optimization.
•   Specifically focus on the site’s section of new and hot properties by buying a domain name for it such as www.hotpropertiescharlotte.com and then from there you can have sections for each neighborhood such as www.hotpropertiescharlotte.com/MyersPark. 
•    Fill the site with important keywords such as “low prices”, “hot properties”, “great schools”, etc. to increase the chance of your website gaining from searching functions.
•    Be sure to syndicate all your social media with your site for easy access of uploading and featuring new properties across all your channels.

These are just a few ways to increase your website’s SEO. Please feel free to contact me regarding innovate and result orientated ways to gain more closings, nicole.hale@aapexfinancial.net.

 

Bank of America's Bad Marketing Scheme

Bank of America is going to be implementing some interesting changes in February regarding their mortgage accounts. Traditionally, customers have a 15 day grace period for their mortgage payment, but starting on Feb. 14, Bank of America is reducing this grace period to 9 days. They are doing this by charging a $6 fee to anyone who uses a DIFFERENT bank’s checking account to pay their mortgage payment if it is within the last 6 days of their 15 day “grace period.” What is striking about this is the fact that it is all a marketing scheme, and a bad one at that, to get customers to change to Bank of America checking. Considering all the heat Bank of America has received lately and the low ratings it has been given by customers regarding service, this does not seem like the most sensible strategic marketing plan. Bank of America has already started sending out notices to customers as following:

“If your payment is due on the first of the month and you have a 15-day grace period, you can schedule your payment to be drafted prior to and including the ninth of that same month to avoid a service fee. If you schedule your payment to be drafted on or between the 10th and 16th of the month, you will be charged a $6 service fee that will be included in your total deducted amount.”

We will see how Bank of America customers take to the new change in February.

Now Hiring Loan Officers and Branch Managers

Are you an established mortgage broker or branch manager seeking to expand your earnings with a direct lender? Do you need targeted markeing tools to gain a competitive edge and close more deals?

• Concerned about the requirements of maintaining your broker's license?
• Are you seeking financial stability with a direct lender?
• Want to continue to receive the YSP you deserve?

Aapex Financial Solutions, Inc. is a Direct Lender who is seeking to expand its operations by recruiting branches with existing pipelines. We are currently licensed in the following states: CA, TX, FL, NC, SC, GA, IN, MD, MI. Aside from growing within the states we are license in, Aapex is seeking to extend its reach to Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.

Why become an Aapex branch?

• In-house Underwriting with 24 Hour turnaround
• Ability to transact in multiple states
• Wide varieties of loan programs
• FHA
• Conventional
• USDA
• VA

• Manage your own bank account
• Marketing Support
• Payroll Support
• Strong warehouse line capability
• DocVelocity for e fficient processing

Please send resume to careers@aapexfinancial.net. 

Include NMLS license number to be considered.

Win Gift Certificate to any one of CSN's 200 websites

Aapex Financial is giving away a CSN Stores Gift Certificate to one lucky winner! CSN has over 200 different websites in which they sell items such as clothing and apparel, home appliances, fitness equipment, and all sorts of home decor like modern dining room furniture. CSN carries a vast variety of highly recognized name brands such as but not limited to:

• Cuisinart
• Fisher-Price
• Sealy
• Bowflex
• Kohler
• Bissell
• Tommy Bahama
• Timberland
• Adi Design shoes
• Kibbles N Bits

HOW TO WIN CSN Gift Certificate:

 Become a follower of this blog and become a fan of Aapex Financial Solutions on Facebook at:

Aapex Financial Solutions on Facebook

The winner will be selected randomly and announced on Jan 15th. You can view CSN's main website to get a grasp of how large of an inventory they have to pick from. Consider it a New Year's present!

Credit Card Tips for the New Year 2011

 

Here are some credit card guidelines for the New Year to make sure you stay informed, protected and in good credit.

• It is no longer a violation for stores to have a credit card minimum purchase restriction on their goods. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act allow retailers to apply a $10 minimum credit card purchase on store bought items. This is not applicable to debit cards.
• Not only do you receive a credit card agreement but you now will also receive a one page summary in which you can keep for later reference.
• Not all changes to accounts must be disclosed 45 days before changes occurs. Credit card limit reductions and account closures are some of the changes that are not required to be announced under the CARD Act.
• New risk-based pricing rules take effect this January that require creditors to inform applicants if they don’t qualify for best terms but an exception is if the creditor provides free credit score disclosure to anyone who applies. This would mean that for just trying to open an account, you may be able to receive a free credit score.
• Read the credit score requirements are for each credit card. This will help you to not apply and hurt your credit score for a card you aren’t even eligible for.
• Take advantage of receiving your annual free credit score by going to AnnualCreditReport.com. You can get all three scores at once or space them out throughout the year. Avoid the websites that charge you a monthly fee for your credit score because the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act gives you a free score disclosure each year.

Bank of America Sets Aside $3 Billion for Mortgage Claims

Bank of America has decided to pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.8 billion to settle the claims it sold to the companies in bad home loans. Bank of America made a $1.28 billion cash payment to Freddie Mac to end all 2008 claims for mortgages sold by their devastating acquisition of countrywide and paid $1.52 billion to Fannie Mae in cash and credits to settle on 12,045 Countrywide loans. 

Bank of America will put aside $3 billion in the fourth quarter to settle the claims with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and feels that this, along with a $2 billion goodwill impair charge to their home loans and insurance business unit, will resolve the remaining exposure they have with the companies. Fannie Mae states that this addresses about 44 percent of the $7.7 billion outstanding repurchase requests for the end of September.

Bank of America’s shares went up 4 percent in premarket trading and investors are scared that the bank will need to buy back billions of home loans they feel should never have been sold to them due to the fact that they did not meet the investor’s underwriting guidelines. Bank of America previously fought with these mortgage investors but has since decided to negotiate with them regarding these claims.