My Client Got a Loan Modified!!

I feel like celebrating!  One of our clients just got his loan modified for his home on Orcas Island- just about cut in half - to an amount that he can actually afford. He has never been well, but the downturn in our economy and the devaluation of his land was the final straw. I did not know what would happen to him.

This client, like so many fellow Americans has always worked to pay his bills, and made a real estate investment which should of made him some money based on his work on the property. Instead it looked like it might result in his becoming homeless..and bankrupt.  But today, he called and he got a modification! I could not be happier!

There are some hidden downsides to getting help from your lender. Of course the 9 months to a year fighting with them to help you is the first and most obvious nightmare. But what many people don't know is that as soon as you ask for help your credit is affected. It can drop your credit score as much as 100 points according to MSNBC news, as soon as you ask for help EVEN if you have managed to pay your bills on time! So don't be surprised if your credit card companies start notifying you that your line of credit has been slashed to 10% of what it was formerly.


"Why should people's credit be hurt even worse when they're trying to do the right thing?" said Eileen Anderson, senior vice president at Community Development Corp. of Long Island, a housing counseling group in New York.

And many homeowners are angry that a program designed to help carries such a penalty, said Kathy Conley, a housing counselor with GreenPath Inc., a nonprofit group in Farmington Hills, Mich.

"It's a feeling of being duped," she said.

Credit score issues are an unexpected consequence of the program that has been plagued with problems and disappointing results since its launch last year. Only about 170,000 homeowners had completed the process as of February. Hundreds of thousands more are still in limbo, but one lucky homeowner will sleep better tonight.

89 Parkwood Drive, Eastsound WA 98245

T

Green Built Home on Orcas Island  
JUST REDUCED TO $448,500!!

Are you looking for a Sustainable Lifestyle? What to live in or near a small town with a caring community, where folks visit while sipping lattes in front of locally owned coffee shops? Are you wanting something different than the big malls and stoplights, hours spent in your car rushing from place to place?  Are you a nature lover, and does nature nuture your soul? Do you long for a quiet place to call your own, walks in the park, kayaking calm waters, sailing on those long days of summer with your skin tight and salty from the sun and water. Are you ready to slow down and smell the roses? 

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home. European style kitchen offers high end stainless appliances, quiet energy effecient dishwasher, Commercial gas range, butcher block counter tops and bamboo floors. 

Kitchen opens to the Great Room and Sunny Southern Deck

 Natural Light throughout this Home!

Window Pop-Out

Corner fireplace adds warmth on cool days.

  French Doors open to Deck creating a natural flow to the out of doors.

 The Master Suite has vaulted ceilings, windows on three sides, and a door to the garden. 

Arbor is built from trees grown on the property.

Located on TWO FULL ACRES this property has great sun and good privacy.

View across the side yard toward neighbors horse barn. 

Currently offered at $456,500. 

Call OrcasDreams-island Properties

360-376-6396

Or

EMAIL ME!

Getting Paid to Leave Your Home

Obama's latest approach to our housing woes is paying some homeowners to leave. This will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way. If you think $1,500 is going to be much help after you leave your home, then your needs are more modest than my own..


We are not seeing many foreclosures on Orcas, but Natiionwide, more than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped very few. The Modification program is a joke, the banks have the money and they clearly don't want to share!  You can never talk to someone who can actually make a decission, and you can never even speak to the same person twice. You will be asked to constantly update your financial information and a program that should take two weeks is often still in limbo after nine months. Personally I have created an entire human being in that amount of time!  If they can get you  mortgage in 15 to 30 days why not a modification?

The new plan is a Short Sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed. This plan sprung from the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers  to shed their houses thus creating the biggest land grab this country has ever seen!  Goodby to the middle class! Hello poverty. What happens to all these former homeowners who have ruined credit, no home, stressed out marriages and upset children? It can't be good for our country or our neighborhoods.

Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in “relocation assistance.” Personally I have wondered why the money was given to the banks in the firsrt place, why not give the distressed homeowners the $18,000 that was allocated to the banks for each distressed loan? Too simple? Or is the banking lobby just more important than real live folks?

Should the incentives prove successful, the short sales program could have multiple benefits. For the investment pools that own many home loans, there is the prospect of getting more money with a sale than with a foreclosure. That's because it costs the banks $40,000 to $60,000 to foreclose on your home.

For the borrowers, there is the likelihood of suffering less damage to credit ratings. And as part of the transaction, they will get the lender’s assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance, so there is some good to come out of this after all!

Cottage for Sale or Rent

Have you ever been to Coupeville? It is on Whidbey Island and it is one of the oldest towns in Washington. Many of the homes are on the Historic Register and the downtown is along the waters of Penn Cove looking across to the mainland. There antique shops and speciality stores, restaurants featuring seafood from the local waters and art galleries are to be found. It's a great place for a lazy stroll along the water and don't miss the huge ice cream cones sold at Iskreme at the north end of town for $2!

Well, we have  a little home there. It was built in 1910. Last spring and summer we worked on it for months redoing the gardens, putting up a picket fence, tearing out the old carpet and sanding and refinishing the 100 year old fir floors. We also had the entire interior scrubbed and painted. Ken installed new energy efficient baseboard heating, and new  cabinets in the kitchen. This may be the house your Grandmother had! It is surrounded by mature gardens with hundreds of bulbs, twenty foot high deep purple lilacs, a prolific old pear tree and a graceful curly willow. This two bedroom home has an ample living room with big windows and high ceilings, a panneled and wall papered dining room, an old fashioned kitchen and laundry area.

We just listed it for sale for $199,000. It is not currently rented, but we rent it for $850 per  month.  Ken is scraping and painting the exterior of the house now. We plan to paint it shades of green.

Somebody is going to get a really sweet deal! From the house it's a few minute walk to the waterfront, and one block to the bus station. In town living! Near the County offices, which make for quiet neighbors.

Give us a call if you think this may be of interest for an Island get away, a retirement home, or investment property. If you are a first time home buyer don't miss the $8000 tax credit!
360-376-4642

Is the Seattle Housing Market Recovering?

According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service there was a strong gain in home sales in February. Since this is generally the busiest home selling seasong, it will be interestting to see how much the market increases this spring over last spring. King County generally leads the trend and the San Juans are usually at the end of the trend. Closed sales in Feb were up 45% from Feb last year.

Agents in Seattle are reporting heavy traffic at Open Houses and many think the looming deadline for the homebuyer tax credit is helping to boost activity.

Pending sales (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed) also increased 45% from Feb last year. This will be the 11th straight month of increases.

Seattle is seeing more  'Move up Buyers' than last year, which bodes well for the San Juan's and Orcas, as generally the buyer on Orcas Island is mature and sells a home to purchase here, or is purchasing a second home. Contributing to these higher end sales is the thawing of the Jumbo Loan Market.

To see Listings on Orcas Island and the San Juans go to: OrcasDreams-Island Properties

Are Home Prices Changing on Orcas?

According to Inman News today, home prices fell 0.4 percent in the last three months of 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier. However, four of nine regions posted gains, and this included the Northwest, according to a home price index published by Freddie Mac, 

 

Low interest rates and the first-time homebuyer tax credit helped boost home sales to their highest level in 2 1/2 years during the final quarter of 2009 after a seasonal adjustment, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

Regions seeing year-over-year price gains were the Pacific Division (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington), up 1.6 percent; the East South Central Division (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee), up 0.8 percent; the West South Central Division (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) up 1.5 percent; and the West North Central Division (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota) up 1.1 percent.

Prices were essentially flat from a year ago in the Middle Atlantic Division (New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania), which was down 0.1 percent; and the New England Division (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont), down 0.1 percent.

Prices fell 7 percent from a year ago in the Mountain Division (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming); 1.8 percent in the South Atlantic Division (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.); and 0.9 percent in the East North Central Division (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin).

While Orcas has been somewhat insulated from Bank Repo's to date, there is an occassional sale. For example this month a view home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths on 5 Acres sold for under $478K, this was a bank Repo.  This home would have sold for over $750K not long ago. Great deal for that lucky buyer. 

Call me at 360-376-4642  if you are looking to buy on Orcas!

Kate