Fannie Mae EXTENDS Popular Closing Cost Assistance Program!
Welcome Back Readers! It’s been a hugely busy month for me in real estate, with the end of the Federal Tax Credit for Homebuyers the Lancaster County real estate market has warmed up with the spring! Even as we close the door on the tax credit, there are many, many other incentives still available for buyers though as we proceed through summer. For example, I wrote a post a few months ago about Fannie Mae offering 3.5% closing costs assistance/appliance... Read More
The Numbers are In – February was Pretty Good!
Welcome Back Readers! It’s time for a Market Update, The Lancaster County Association of Realtors® (LCAR) just released their monthly recap of real estate market activity in February 2010 and there were a few good things to point out. I’ll tell you what those are after the jump, but in the meantime just a note, March was busier than February, April will most likely be too. As a reminder, if you are buying a home, as a first time... Read More
A FEW FORECLOSURE SOLUTIONS SIMPLIFIED, HELP FOR DISTRESSED HOMEOWNERS IN PA
Welcome Back Readers! I wrote this article a little over a year ago and thought it would be worthwhile to refresh it and repost. Why? Well, here in Lancaster Pennsylvania we are in much better shape than many other areas, we do not have, and should not expect, a flood of foreclosures. That being said, foreclosure is the reality many homeowners are currently facing and the majority of them do not understand the process. First and foremost,... Read More
Fannie Mae Offers Closing Cost Assistance and Appliance Incentive
Welcome Back Readers! It’s been a busy month in real estate, so many things happening both locally and nationally it seems everyday there is something new! That’s actually the becoming the normal state of affairs nowadays and I don’t mind as it gives me lots of things to write about! I wanted to let you know about a program announced today by Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae has a little problem, namely 50,000 homes they now own through... Read More
The Trouble with Tribbles or Why Loan Modifications are Failing to Solve the Foreclosure Problem
Welcome Back Readers! I put up a post the yesterday about how FHA has recently changed their policies to allow loan modifications for qualifying borrowers before they miss a payment . This is a great policy and I sincerely hope it will help more people stay in their homes. The problem though is that in many cases it won’t. Loan modifications nationwide are failing to help avoid foreclosures. Why is that? What does it have to do... Read More
FHA Allows for Loan Modifications for Homeowners Who Haven’t Yet Missed a Payment
Welcome Back Readers! It was a busy week last week in the real estate world, the Lancaster County PA Real Estate Market is moving quickly. I apologize for the shortage of posts recently due to this but you can expect a little more consistency in the coming weeks. I wanted to start of this week with a nice change announced by HUD last Friday. Until HUD made this change to the rules for FHA loans, in order to qualify for a loan modification,... Read More
Did FHA Just Throw First Time Buyers in Front of the Bus for a PR Gain?
Welcome Back Readers! I apologize in advance for the negative tone of this post, but it is information that people who plan on buying this year need to have. Let me start with this: There are many solutions available to FHA’s problems, and there are other programs that allow cash poor buyers to still purchase homes. It is not the end of the world, FHA is still a fine program, but I have an issue with their changes not offering a... Read More
It Isn’t a Question of “If” Waiting Will Cost You, but Rather “How Much?”
Waiting. Sometimes a wise strategy, sometimes a foolish one. When it comes to home buying, waiting will surely cost you. There are a number of reasons why, but before I go into that, let’s get one thing clear…. if you aren’t in a positions to buy, if you truly can’t afford it, don’t do it. But if you are unsure, if you are “thinking about it”, if you are planning to “start looking” in... Read More
