real estate: December 2007

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Digital Branding Announces Launch of New Free Stuff Website

Digtal Branding, owner and operator of popular online loyalty program QuizPoints.com, announces the launch of a new business dubbed "GoFreebies." GoFreebies.com is a directory of links to free stuff online.

Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) December 18, 2007 -- Digtal Branding, owner and operator of popular online loyalty program QuizPoints.com, announces the launch of a new business dubbed "GoFreebies." GoFreebies.com is a directory of links to free stuff online. The site offers freebie links to various categories such as babies, games, music, paid surveys, free samples, and numerous others. Digital Branding boosts hype for its new service by offering a daily drawing for prizes. Members that sign up for the GoFreebies daily newsletter are automatically entered into the drawing, and they can win up to once per day. Typical prizes include ten-dollar gift cards to online retailers and similar electronic prizes. Users can increase their chance of winning by referring friends, submitting freebies, and by participating in other bonus opportunities. The site also promises even larger rewards as its membership base expands.

The GoFreebies daily freebies newsletter includes links to the newest freebie posts, reminders for expiring offers, and links to the most popular and best-rated content for the previous day. Members have responded very positively to the newsletter's format, its non-intrusive sponsors, and most importantly, the daily prize drawing. Members who earn bonus entries can use up to ten entries per day. GoFreebies recommends that its visitors sign up early while the chances of winning are greater.

GoFreebies contains a rapidly growing directory of quality links for its visitors. Visitors are able to vote on their favorite links, and links that receive poor rankings from subscribers are removed automatically.

Digital Branding is an advertising agency based in Raleigh, NC. Digital Branding specializes in online marketing primarily via its loyalty cash back program QuizPoints.com, where users can earn free gift cards for completing offers online, and GoFreebies.com, its newest web property.

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source: prweb.com

Good job news causes rates to increase

Want to goose mortgage rates higher? Get a job with the government and mess up the count of employment growth.

On Friday, the Labor Department released the monthly employment survey, in which it reported that the economy grew by a net 110,000 jobs in September. That was unsurprising. But another number in the employment report did cause investors to do double takes. The Labor Department revised its August number upward -- way up.

A month earlier, the Labor Department estimated that the economy shrank by 4,000 jobs in August. Now the department says the economy actually gained 89,000 jobs in August. The 93,000-job swing shocked Wall Street (in a pleasant way), and long-term interest rates rose.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 8 basis points to 6.5 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.34 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.42 percent; four weeks ago, it was 6.28 percent.

The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 8 basis points to 6.18 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose 11 basis points to 6.37 percent. And one rate went down -- the 30-year fixed jumbo, for mortgages of more than $417,000. It fell 1 basis point, to 7.27 percent. The spread between the conforming and jumbo 30-year rate is 77 basis points -- the smallest the gap has been in two months.

source: bankrate.com

Pay mortgage payments in full

Dear Debt Adviser,
I left active duty in the Marine Corps about seven months ago and got behind on my mortgage payments. I found a new job and am able to make the payments and some extra, but the mortgage company will not accept partial payment. They sent me an agreement stating I had to pay $1,400 by Oct. 18 and then $1,900 for four more months until my regular mortgage of $901 is caught up. They also stated all of those payments have to be in full; even if the total of partial payments are paid before the due date, they will not accept them. Can they do that? I do not understand why the money has to be paid in one lump sum as long as they get it before it is due.

Dear Jeremy,
I hear your frustration at the mortgage company's rigid requirements for catching up on your mortgage loan. Unfortunately, you are not the only one, by a long shot, who is trying to catch up with missed mortgage payments. But I'm happy to say that there are some new innovative solutions that are available.

One such program is called PHASES, short for Preserving Homeownership and Savings Education Strategy. Currently, this program can give borrowers in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Ohio, who meet certain criteria, a grant to catch up on their mortgages.

The program is administered by Money Management International, the largest HUD-certified national nonprofit credit counseling agency. The program combines an online education program with counseling and the opportunity for individuals to receive a grant for up to $5,000 to bring past-due mortgage payments current. They may also be able to have other, nonmortgage debts, such as vehicle loans, brought current (as car repossession can put new pressure on a mortgage and lead to renewed problems).

This kind of innovative response to the mortgage crisis facing many families is refreshing. The number of states involved has grown, so if yours is not on the current list, I'd check to see if it has been added. You can get more information about this program at (888) 589-6959 or on the Money Management International Web site.

For those of you who live in the other states; I suggest you check for what programs may be available in your area by contacting a HUD-certified counseling agency. You can find a list of approved agencies on the HUD Web site.

It sounds to me like you have the money that is necessary to meet the agreement to catch up on your loan; you would just like some flexibility in making the payments. What you have experienced so far is a variation on business as usual: Often inflexible approaches offered by mortgage lenders who are following bureaucratic process and procedures laid down by investors and regulators that need to be updated.

Let me caution you to be sure to make each payment exactly as scheduled and in the full amount. Mortgages are very different animals from other bills. Once you reach a certain point in delinquency, usually between 60 days and 90 days, the rules become very inflexible. A mistake at this time can lead to a fast train ride to foreclosure with no stops on the way.

If you rely on the discipline you learned in the Marine Corps and stay with it, you'll get caught up with your mortgage before you know it.

source: bankrate.com

September foreclosures fall

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of foreclosure filings across the country dropped in September, falling 8 percent from a 32-month high in August, according to a regular monthly survey.

Delinquencies and defaults fell to 223,538 filings, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties.

RealtyTrac also reported that nationwide numbers were down in all foreclosure categories, which include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, with 39 states reporting decreased activity.
Mortgage meltdown: Vulture investors

But the figures were still double the number reported a year ago. "It's important to note that September's total was still the second highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing our report in January of 2005," James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.

"It's too early to tell if September's numbers represent a one-month lull," he said, "or if they could signify that more buyers and investors are getting back in the market and snatching up discounted foreclosure properties, thereby providing a release valve for distressed homeowners and overwhelmed lenders."

The last time foreclosures showed a monthly drop was in June, when activity fell 7 percent.

States in the Sun Belt and the Rust Belt continued to dominate foreclosure filings.

Nevada led the pack in the rate of September filings: one for every 185 households for a total of 5,504. Other hard-hit, Sun Belt states were Florida (one in 248), California (one in 253), Arizona (one in 316), Georgia (one in 316), Colorado (one in 326) and Texas (one in 615).

Florida's foreclosure activity dipped 2 percent from August, but the state's foreclosure rate moved up to the nation's second highest, after placing third last month.

Rust Belt states, or those located in the nation's former industrial centers, that made the top 10 included Michigan (one in 314), Ohio (one in 319), and Indiana (one in 615).

Among the states with the highest foreclosure totals, Illinois was the only state to see a month-to-month increase in foreclosure activity with 8,257 filings, up 33 percent from August.
'Tweak' could save 600,000 homes

California claimed six cities among the top 10 metro areas for the number of filings. Merced topped the list with one of every 68 households, followed by Modesto, Stockton, Riverside-San Bernardino, Vallejo-Fairfield, and Sacramento. Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Cape Coral-Fort Meyers and Las Vegas also landed on list of worst hit metro areas.

California also led the nation in the actual number of foreclosures with 51,259 households in some stage of default during the month. Florida was next with 33,354 and Ohio, with 15,709, was third.

Washington D.C. saw the biggest drop in foreclosure activity in the U.S., falling 82 percent from last month.

Although foreclosures showed a broad-based decline, RealtyTrac still expects the number of filings to hit over 2 million this year. Top of page

source: cnn.com

Subprime: 'HopeNow' may help only so much

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Efforts to help subprime borrowers have been disjointed and inconsistent, and a new mortgage industry alliance formed this week is trying to remedy that. But some who counsel distressed homeowners say the alliance won't resolve key issues.

The alliance, called HopeNow, was announced by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and counts as members some of the largest lenders and servicers that collect payments, a handful of housing counselor networks, and a group representing investors who hold mortgage debt.

It is intended to coordinate efforts between servicers and counselors to provide "workouts," which can include lowering the interest rate on a loan, spreading out past-due payments over the life of the loan or a short-term repayment plan.

To date, getting resolution on loan workouts has been difficult in part because of a lack of communication. The alliance members have agreed to provide dedicated teams to rectify that, a move borrower advocates commend.

But some of the advocates say the alliance shows signs of being more talk than action, especially given that their "best-practices" guidelines are still being debated.

"[It's] a smokescreen for not doing anything. It's a PR gimmick. Having a process without a realistic opportunity for results is setting the homeowner up for failure," said Bruce Marks, founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA).

Marks and Michael Shea, housing director of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), said they are highly skeptical because of the reluctance they've seen among many of the alliance members to modify loans to levels affordable to borrowers. In addition, they say, lenders have relied on temporary concessions that potentially just postpone rather than prevent foreclosure.

Marks and Shea support a suggestion made by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair last week. She called on servicers to permanently freeze interest rates on subprime adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) for those homeowners who are current on their payments and whose rates have yet to reset. Part of her reasoning: evaluating loans on a case-by-case basis is taking too long, and time is of the essence.

Roughly 1.3 million subprime ARMs are due for a rate reset between now and the end of 2008, according to data from First American Loan Performance. Monthly foreclosure filings are nearly double what they were one year ago.

While one of the alliance's goals is to improve turnaround time on case evaluations by streamlining the process, both Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the American Securitization Forum (ASF), an alliance member which represents mortgage investors, have stated that the alliance doesn't support across-the-board modifications.

"Every situation is different. ... It's very difficult to say we'll have a one-size-fits-all solution," said Paul Leonard, vice president for government affairs for the Housing Policy Council, which is organizing the alliance. "We're not going to dictate how cases should be solved."

"Our goal is to reach out to as many people as possible and have positive outcomes," said Leonard.

Those positive outcomes include but aren't limited to loan modifications, Leonard said. They also would include everything from setting up temporary repayment plans to having a short sale, when servicers determine that no matter how generous a concession is made the borrower still wouldn't be able to afford the home. In a short sale, the homeowner sells the home and if the sales price doesn't cover the remaining balance on the mortgage, the bank agrees to forgive that debt.

It's not clear whether all counseling agencies helping homeowners, not just those who are members of the alliance, will be given access to the dedicated loss-mitigation teams the alliance members are setting up.

Leonard noted that how to make that process easier for everyone will be a focus of the alliance's working group discussion. Top of page
Countrywide's 'workouts' fall short, critics say