Erica Holm Martin's Blog

I recently had the opportunity to assist a young couple in buying their first home. They were renting an apartment and paying more than they could afford ($930.00/month). They knew it was a good time to purchase a home but didn’t know where to start. I was confident that I could help them find a home with a mortgage payment that was lower than their rental payments. I started by contacting a lender that guided me to an FHA loan program that would fund 97% of their purchase price.

The buyer originally believed that their credit rating was good, around 720; WRONG, his credit score was 569 and his monthly income was only $1,800 in a retail sales position. Working with the lender, and the help of an attorney which his mother paid for minimum, he was able to remove a couple of questionable problems with his prior credit. Since his mother suggested that this was the RIGHT TIME TO BUY and felt that if he could not buy now he may never be able to buy a home she agreed to invest the 3% down payment.

They found a townhouse that was a significant improvement over their apartment and met all their other objectives. Their monthly payment, including their home owner’s association dues, is $200 less than their prior rent. They are very excited and already planning to use their EQUITY to upgrade to a single family home in three years. Seeing young people realize their dream, and helping them establish goals to develop and grow their ASSET is very rewarding to me as a realtor.

With the lowest home prices in many years, as well as the low interest rates, coupled with the proposed $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers as an added incentive, I agree with the buyer’s mother, this is a GREAT TIME TO BUY.

See below link for additional information.

My listings: http://www.equitynw.com/Vancouver_listings/Ericas_Listings_listings.shtml

Source: http://exceptionmag.com/news/law/000376/8000-home-buyer-tax-credit

Erica Holm Martin

Your Reliable Real Estate Agent

Equity NW Properties

360-699-1111

emwarealtor@gmail.com

RE: Columbia Vista Subdivision

Six of my Columbia River VIEW lots, MASSIVE PRICE REDUCTION.

ML# 8111192 (lot 1) was $149,000 to $89,900

ML# 8114495 (lot 2) was $149,000 to $89,900

ML# 8114499 (lot 3) was $149,000 to $89,900

ML# 8114501 (lot 4) was $149,000 to $89,900

ML# 8114503 (lot 8) was $129,000 to $85,000

ML# 8114505 (lot 9) was $139,000 to $89,900

http://www.equitynw.com/Vancouver_listings/Ericas_Listings_listings.shtml

Erica Holm Martin

Realtor

Equity NW Properties

360-699-1111

My son is living in Golden, CO now. He is pre-qualified for an FHA loan up to $108,000. I would appreciate it if any agents that have a home listed within this price range please email me the listings to review. My email address is: emwarealtor@gmail.com

I have encountered many obstacles associated with the short sale processes. One of the biggest obstacles is dealing with the bank negotiator. Sellers want to get out of their situation, so when they receive a reasonable offer they want to sell. After the seller accepts an offer to sell their property the purchase and sale docs are toss over to the bank/lender negotiators. The negotiators come in many different forms. There are bank internal negotiators, independent contract negotiators, and negotiating firms that strictly negotiate short and REO’s sales. With today’s sophisticated electronic networking systems, negotiators and bankers have no excuse for their failure to respond in a timely manner to the transactions they process; this situation is unacceptable in our society. Reasons for these unjustified delays are not provided to either the seller or the buyer. Success comes from good organization skills, and we are certainly not seeing these skills exhibited by the banks or negotiators.

In August, my buyer came to me and asked me to show them a short sale home; I explained my buyer process on short sale homes. I also explained to her that “buyer to be aware” about the lengthy waiting time for banks to respond. She made a cash offer that has been going on four months now. Last week I got call from the listing agent, she said it has approved and she is waiting for an approval letter. A couple of days ago, I received a phone call from the listing agent, she said the negotiator wants my buyer to pay $5,000 more, which made the price higher than the listing price. My buyer is getting fed up with it and is ready to find other home.

Erica Martin

Homeowners are trapped in high-cost variable rate mortgages and are suffering because their payments are going up and becoming unaffordable. These homeowners are now able to cancel their old mortgage loans and replace them with fixed-rate loans for up to 90% of the home’s current value; but the banks that made the loans would have to accept a loss on the old mortgage. However, the banks would benefit by avoiding a costly foreclosure and accepting the losses.

Who is eligible?

The main eligibility rule is that homeowners must be able to pay their new refinanced mortgage based on HUD rules of mortgage financing.

1.  The homeowners spend more than 31% of their monthly income on their mortgages as of 3/31/2008

2.  The loan must have originated no later than 1/1/2008

3.  The homeowners must show they did not intentionally miss mortgage payments.

4.  The home being refinanced is the only home the homeowner owns.

The law goes into effect 10/1/2008 and runs through 9/2011

Local HUD eligibility assessments contact number is 888-995-4673 (HOPE) and ask for counseling agency or Hope Now Alliance.

The lenders can choose which loans to refinance. The homeowner should check with the lender who has your mortgage, but don’t expect a quick response. It takes weeks to decide if it will choose your loan to refinance. If the homeowner decided to sell the home within the next five years, the homeowners have to agree to share half the profits from the resale with the government. Refinancing under this scheme, you refinance 90% of the value of the house, therefore, you must have 10% equity in your home.

Sources: A. http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/

HousingandEconomicRecoveryActSummary.pdf. The FHA's

Web site at http://www.fha.gov is a place to watch for updated

information.