Anita Acacio- Preventing Foreclosures » Real Estate

Housng downturn spurs a boom in foreclosure-to-rental conversions

Anita Acacio — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:26:46 +0000

The Washington Post

With home prices at historic lows and rental rates on the rise, a growing number of investors with cash to spare are seeking lucrative returns by gobbling up foreclosures in distressed markets across the country and turning them into rentals.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/housing-downturn-spurs-a-boom-in-foreclosure-to-rental-conversions/2012/04/24/gIQAFWUZeT_story.html?hpid=z2

Tip of the Week: Nonprofit warns foreclosure prevention scams up 60 percent in 2012

Anita Acacio — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:38:44 +0000

Fraudulent foreclosure prevention providers are coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of today’s loss mitigation culture, according to the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF).

The nonprofit group, which helps distressed homeowners through the group’s HOPE hotline, says the number of mortgage foreclosure scams grew nearly 60 percent in 2012. The scammers, they say, are able to capitalize on the hype surrounding homeownership preservation as federal programs are being modified to help more and more borrowers.

HPF said it’s unknown whether all of the reported instances were truly fraudulent, but the agency still forwarded all of the complaints to the appropriate regulators and law enforcement agencies.

About half of the scams involve an attorney or individual claiming they can offer special legal services to distressed borrowers. HPF says, in fact, the services they offered are already provided by nonprofits for free.

HPF put out a warning nationwide, saying no one searching for a home-saving remedy should pay upfront fees to a firm offering assistance.

Rents rise, home prices fall in February

Anita Acacio — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:46:25 +0000

Median rents rose 2 percent from February 2011 to February 2012, but home values declined 4.5 percent during that period, according to the February Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

The Zillow Rent Index showed year-over-year gains for nearly 68 percent of metropolitan areas covered by the index. By contrast, only 8 percent of the metro areas covered saw home values rise.

Foreclosures continue to be a key driver in keeping home values down. Foreclosure resales accounted for 20.3 percent of all sales in February, slightly higher than their previous peak of 20.2 percent of all sales in March 2011. Foreclosure re-sales made up 19.1 percent of all sales in February 2011.

In the short term, national monthly rents declined slightly from January to February, falling 0.5 percent to $1,212. Home values fell 0.5 percent during the same period to $145,400.

http://zillow.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=159&item=269

CalHFA to end School Facility Fee Down Payment Assistance Program

Anita Acacio — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:24:15 +0000

CalHFA has announced it will end its School Facility Fee Down Payment Assistance Program, which has been responsible for providing more than 14,000 grants totaling more than $61 million. Associated with this down payment assistance was more than $3.3 billion in first mortgage loans for people purchasing newly constructed homes throughout California. The program currently has approximately $700,000 left in funds, and CalHFA anticipates the final funds being expended by the end of April.

CalHFA will continue to accept applications for SFF until funds are exhausted. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

As home prices fall further, is it time to buy?

Anita Acacio — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:33:18 +0000

USA Today

Housing appears to be rated a “buy” these days, especially among investors, who see a ripe and rising rental market and big potential for income.

Read the full story:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-03-04/cnbc-real-estate-is-it-time-to-buy/53338660/1