http://www.lasvegasluxurypropertieslink.com/ For the best in, luxury homes las vegas, high rise las vegas, summerlin homes, gay realtor las vegas en-US http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss OVERVIEW ~ As now seems the usual course for the markets, sentiment among investors turned from optimistic, over the week of Feb. 16 (Feb. 15 was a holiday) to Feb. 19, to pessimistic in the week that followed. At the start of the day on Monday, Feb. 22, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had risen to 10402.35. By the end of the week, the DJIA had declined to 10325.26. This is not a precipitous fall, but stock market indices remained somewhat sluggish over the entire week, brought down by disappointing economic indicators and worries about developments in Greece. Further, the week saw very large Treasury security auctions in which bidders pushed rates slightly higher than the Treasury had anticipated. Again, not a great deal higher, but enough to create worry, particularly over Monday's and Wednesday's auctions. The Freddie Mac average 30-year fixed-rate, meanwhile, rose from 4.93% the week prior to 5.05% on Thursday, Feb. 25. This signaled the possibility of an on-going uptrend among mortgage rates (though, as always, concerns that present events foretell future trends usually fall away as the mood among investors moves from negative to positive and back again). FOLLOW-UP ~ Greece remained in the news, postponing its sales of 10-year notes for one to two weeks, much to the concern of international investors. Greece needs to borrow at least 54 billion this year to pay off existing notes and bonds; it has thus far raised 13 billion. About 22 billion of bonds mature in March and April, and so Greece is under the gun to find enough money to pay off the 22 billion. The country also currently faces the possibility that Standard & Poor's, and possibly other rating agencies, will lower its rating for Greece, which could make it still harder for Greece to sell its notes. Coming this spring as well, the Fed will stop helping keep mortgage rates low as its program of buying very large quantities of mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) comes to an end. Investors have had plenty of advance warning that this will happen, and it is therefore difficult to predict the reaction in the markets. More important, though, we can't know to what extent this will leave the MBS markets vulnerable to an imbalance of growing supply and lower demand, elevating the rates required by investors. FOCUS ~ The Federal Reserve Board Chairman, in testimony before Congress on Wednesday, Feb. 24, once again reassured the markets that the Fed would continue to help keep rates low for an "extended period." His comments appeared to briefly help lift the stock index nearly a full percent, but investors remain skeptical, worried that interest rates may turn higher before the Fed Chairman currently predicts they will. The rate the Fed charges at its "discount window," after all, was nudged higher last week. And purchases of MBSs will cease in March. What we can see here is an anxiety among investors which cannot be salved by the Fed chief (surely assuring continued market volatility) as rates and indices climb and fall unpredictably The Las Vegas Housing Market continues to see high buyer traffic The month of February saw 3,178 properties change hands of buyers looking to capitalize on the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit. 23% of those sold properties were short sales 54% of those sold properties were foreclosures 23% of those sold properties were regular sellers The available inventory has dropped dramatically from a year ago: There are currently 10,724 condos, townhouses, and single family residences on the market. 45% of those properties are listed as Short Sales (where the bank has to approve the sales price and take a loss) 38% of those properties are regular sellers 15% of those properties are foreclosures. This is a HUGE drop in available foreclosures. If you are interested in short selling your home, visit http://www.LasVegasShortSaleConnection.com or call me toll free at 1-866-589-1646. You can also do your own home search below for FREE. Felipe Crook Prudential Americana Group Realtors, Las Vegas NV 89117 http://www.lasvegasluxurypropertieslink.com/las-vegas-weekly-economic-update-summary-march-5th-2010 We're number 1, we're number 1....in up-side-down mortgages. Again, not the thing you really want to be leading the nation with, but that's our market right now. There is a great report just released from First American CoreLogic on the Fourth Quarter housing statistics. Over 11.3 million mortgages are under water. Nevada seems to be the epicenter of the housing meltdown, even though prices have stabilized, the numbers are surprising. Here's an excerpt from the report: Negative equity continues to be concentrated in five states: Nevada, which had the highest percentage negative equity with 70 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (51 percent), Florida (48 percent), Michigan (39 percent) and California (35 percent). Among the top five states, the average negative equity share was 42 percent, compared to 15 percent for the remaining 45 states. In numerical terms, California (2.4 million) and Florida (2.2 million) had the largest number of negative equity mortgages accounting for 4.6million, or 41 percent, of all negative equity loans. The blog "Calculated Risk Blog" reported: These homeowners are far more likely to default. The rise in negative equity is closely tied to increases in pre‐foreclosure activity and is a major factor in changing homeowners' default behavior. Once negative equity exceeds 25 percent, or the mortgage balance is $70,000 higher than the current property values, owners begin to default with the same propensity as investors. Here is figure 4 from the report. The default rate increases sharply for homeowners with more than 20% negative equity.This graph fits with figure 2 above and suggests a large number of future defaults in Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California. The aggregate dollar value of negative equity was $801 billion, up $55 billion from $746 billion in Q3 2009. The average negative equity for an underwater borrower in Q4 was ‐$70,700, up from ‐$69,700 in Q3 2009. The segment of borrowers that are 25 percent or more in negative equity account for over $660 billion in aggregate negative equity. Because Nevada is SO upside down, loan modification programs, and short sales have taken over our market. Out of the 10,135 Single Family Homes, Townhouses, and Condos that are currently available on the multiple listing service in Las Vegas/Henderson, 4900 are short sales, and 1550 are foreclosures or bank owned properties. Banks are now on board the short sale wagon. They want to work with sellers to avoid foreclosure. Bank of America, one of the most notorious banks in the short sale world, is the first large bank to sign on for the Second Lein Holders program-H.A.M.P. (Housing Affordable Modification Program). If you'd like more information regarding a loan modification, please visit Making Home Afforable. These programs also facilitate the short sale process. Some of these programs do seem to be making a difference. Short sale closings have increased to 22% of all home sales in January 2010. If you would like a FREE, confidential short sale consultation, please give me a call toll free at 1-866-589-1646. We're here to help you avoid foreclosure, get a loan modification, or assist you to short sale your home. Certified Short Sale Professional and Certified Distressed Property Experts handle every aspect of your short sale. Felipe Crook Prudential Americana Group Realtors Las Vegas, NV 89117 1-866-589-1646 http://www.lasvegasluxurypropertieslink.com/nevada-leads-nation-with-70-of-mortgages-under-water With the majority of all of our sales being foreclosures or short sales, few people consider new homes, and I keep telling them they are missing out. I just attended a National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, NAHREP for short, luncheon last week with a huge panel of brand new home builders. It was very informative and gave everyone a clear indication of new building trends....here's the biggest trend: GREEN BUILDING. Many of the builders are now constructing Enery Plus which is 30% more efficient than Energy Star. Out here in the hot summers and chilly winters, having an energy efficient home is ideal. The builders are ramping up for the expiration of the home buyers tax credit. Many builders offer incentives to the buyers, such as closing costs, upgrade or option credits, and some even reduce the price. New home builders require that your Realtor accompany you on your first visit, so make sure you let your agent know you'd like to visit a new home community otherwise the builder's employee will represent you AND the builder. If you'd like to see new construction homes in Las Vegas, you can start your search below or call me toll free 1-866-589-1646. I have relationships with a lot of builders around town, and can usually get the latest and greatest deals available. Felipe Crook Prudential Americana Group Realtors Las Vegas, NV 89117 1-866-589-1646 http://www.lasvegasluxurypropertieslink.com/las-vegas-new-homes-for-sale If you want to stay in your home, I highly recommend you apply for the HAMP program created by the Obama administration. What is the program about? You can visit: Making Home Affordable. Here's an exerpt from their website: "The Obama Administration has introduced a comprehensive Financial Stability Plan to address the key problems at the heart of the current crisis and get our economy back on track. A critical piece of that effort is Making Home Affordable, a plan to stabilize our housing market and help up to 7 to 9 million Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels. The Home Affordable Refinance Program gives up to 4 to 5 million homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac an opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly payments. The Home Affordable Modification Program commits $75 billion to keep up to 3 to 4 million Americans in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures.Our consumer website, www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov, provides homeowners with detailed information about these programs along with self-assessment tools and calculators to empower borrowers with the resources they need to determine whether they might be eligible for a modification or a refinance under the Administration's program. Through this website, borrowers can also connect with free counseling resources to help with outstanding questions; locate homeowner events in their communities; find a handy checklist of key documents and materials to have ready when making that important call to their servicer as well as FAQs from borrowers in similar circumstances; and much more. Recommended steps for homeowner to see if HAMP is a viable alternative to foreclosure: Complete the quick online form on the eligibility page of Making Home Affordable http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/eligibility.html Determine if your lender is participating in HAMP by either looking them up on this page: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/contact_servicer.html AND calling your lender to verify and discuss your options. HAMP has a Request a Modification process - http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/requestmod.shtml. Recommend contacting your Mortgage Servicer first. If your loan is NOT a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, then HAFA is the program you would use. What is HAFA? HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which will issue their own versions of HAFA in coming weeks. HAFA is a complex program, with 43 pages of guidelines and forms, designed to simplify and streamline use of short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. HAFA: Complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home. Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification. Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds). Prohibits the servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement (up to 6 percent). Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed). Uses standard processes, documents, and timeframes/deadlines. Provides financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to $1,000 for investors for allowing a total of up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders (on a one-for-three matching basis). Requires all servicers participating in HAMP to implement HAFA in accordance with their own written policy, consistent with investor guidelines. The policy may include factors such as the severity of the potential loss, local markets, timing of pending foreclosure actions, and borrower motivation and cooperation For the full HAFA Guidlines click here. For frequently asked questions regarding the HAFA Program click here. The part about these programs which are hugely beneficial to clients considering doing a short sale is that the banks are required to release their right for defficiency judgement. That is the number one reasons short sales don't move forward. If we can eliminate that threat, we will be able to keep so many foreclosures from hitting the market which will greatly affect our prices and neighborhoods. If you'd like to condifentially discuss your scenario, please contact Felipe Crook at 1-866-589-1646. Prudential Americana Group Realtors Felipe Crook 7475 W. Sahara Ave Ste 100 Las Vegas, NV 89117 http://www.lasvegasluxurypropertieslink.com/two-government-programs-designed-to-help-home-owners I just listed a very charming, remodeled home in Mcneil Manor here in Las Vegas. This neighborhood doesn't feel like you're in Las Vegas with huge trees, big lots, and great neighbors. I am a little biased with this listing, because I live here and can vouch for how awesome it is. This is a very centrally located neighborhood with fantastic access to I-15 and I-95, and five minutes to the strip. It's primarily made up of single story homes, and if you're looking to escape the cookie cutter feel of the rest of Las Vegas, you need to visit this area. The neighborhood was built in the 1960's and the average lot size is nearly a quarter of an acre. The new listing is on 2707 Colanthe Ave, Las Vegas NV 89102. 2195 Sq ft 3 Bed 2.5 Bath 2 Car Garage Pool and Spa Remodeled Kitchen with stainless steel refrigerator, double oven, and corian counter tops Porcelin Tile and Pergo in main areas Slate flooring in master bedroom Large Jetted Tub and steam show in the master bath French Doors with Roladen Security Shutter. Covered Patio with great view of Stratosphere Large lot dog run Stacked Stone Fireplace If you would like a private tour of this beautifully remodeled home in Mcneil Manor, please contact Felipe Crook at 1-866-589-1646 or email me at Felipe@felipecrook.com Felipe Crook Prudential Americana Group Realtors Las Vegas, NV 89117 1-866-589-1646 http://www.lasvegasluxurypropertieslink.com/remodeled-mcneil-manor-home-with-pool-for-sale-in-las-vegas-nevada-2707-colanthe-ave