Blog entries

Why Houston is Leading the Recovery

Nick Will — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:33:41 +0100

This chart tells the story of what I'm seeing through other economic indicators being released now and in recent weeks. This is a chart of the past 10 years of Producer Price Indices, the general economic cost index for companies that produce things. If a steel cookware company wants to sell more cookware, it cares a lot for example about the cost of steel. Same for a fast food compRead More...

The Recovery is Real: Look at These Charts

Nick Will — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:05:17 +0100

In times of fear, the courageous get wealthy. We're seeing smart money get invested in this economy, including in real estate. Don't get me wrong - there are a million ways to screw it up (that's why you need an expert broker/adviser). But the underlying dynamics are getting more solid with each new economic report.

Real Gross Domestic Product

The following chart, from the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Department of Commerce, shows things are moving in theRead More...

The Complexity of Square Footage in Real Estate

Nick Will — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:38:49 +0100

Square footage is the most common driver of a comparables approach to market valuation of real estate. For example #SF x average comparable sale price per square foot = market value assessment. There are other methods of valuation, but this is most common. It's also laden with complexity.

The Houston MLS system not only requires a SFRead More...

FHA Delinquencies Drop in February

Nick Will — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:15:10 +0100

From The Washington Post, FHA delinquencies dropped significantly in February after several months of increasing. Definitely good news. Now we need more investors to get back in this market, the good signs keep coming.

The default and claims rate is now the lowest it has been since August, when the rate was 4.8 percent. The number of troubled loans fell from about 166,000 to roughly 162,000.

Brian Chappelle, a banking consultant and former FHA official, attributes thRead More...

Geithner: Careful Who You Listen To

Nick Will — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:10:37 +0100

Disregard my grammar, I know it should be "to whom you listen." Sounds weird. More importantly, in comments released by Treasury moments ago about Sec. Geithner's statement today on financial reform to the American Enterprise Institute. Let's hope his words are heeded by Chris Dodd and congress more broadly. Words meet action, please...

Listen less to those who told us all they were the masters of noble financial innovation and sophisticated risk management. Listen less to those who complaRead More...

Sen to Punch Financial Industry in Speech Today

Nick Will — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:49:41 +0100

This is welcome news, courtesy of MIT Professor Simon Johnson, a notice that Sen. Ted Kaufman (Delaware) is set to lay down a few tenets that underscore the nation's financial situation. And he's spot on.

According to Kaufman's website, he will say: 1. Excessive deregulation allowed big finance to get out of control from the 1980s -- but particularly during and after the 1990s. This led directly to the economic catastrophe in 2007-08. 2. We need to modernize Read More...

Buffett: Housing Problems Are Largely Behind Us

Nick Will — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:03:13 +0100

Jonathan Stempel of Reuters wrote yesterday that Berkshire Hathaway's "oracle" Warren Buffett sees the housing crisis as mostly behind us, as do we at our firm. Writes Stempel:

[Buffett] said "residential housing problems should largely be behind us" within about a year as supply falls into line with demand, though "prices will remain far below 'bubble' levels."

This is the same observation we're hearing from non-celebrity analysts and industry colleagues on the ground. Read More...

White House May Ban Some Foreclosures

Nick Will — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:20:54 +0100

The inestimable Dawn Kopecki of Bloomberg posts this headline yesterday about some possible White House moves to ban some foreclosures -- at least for people under review for permanent loan modification. Right now, foreclosures are still allowed even while homeowners are under review for a loan modification program. Apparently the action under consideration at The White House would now allow foreclosure during that period. This would help. It would help homeowners acting in goodRead More...

Tax Assessed Value vs True Market Value

Nick Will — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:14:30 +0100

Many people want to know about the relationship between a county assessed value of their home versus the "true" market value of their home. Boy does this issue change over the years back and forth.

1. Remember Texas is a no-income-tax state. So the primary tax revenue vessel is property tax. So when business taxes and sales taxes are down, the state needs money elsewhere, and by "state," I mean taxing authorities allowed by law to tax your property. You can see that list by going to Read More...

Who is eligible to claim the $8,000 tax credit?

Scott Jones — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:06:08 +0100

First-time home buyers purchasing any kind of home—new or resale—areeligible for the tax credit. To qualify for the tax credit, a homepurchase must occur on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. For the purposes of the tax credit, the purchase date is thedate when closing occurs and the title to the property transfers to thehome owner. A limited exception exists for certain contract for deedpurchases and installment sale purchases. See the IRS website for more detail.

Consider The Commute & Find More Options

Nick Will — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:03:30 +0100

Not every city requires that you live close to work. I have always lived close to work and I have lived in several cities from Texas to multiple cities on the east coast including New York, Boston, and DC. But a carefully planned commute can give home buyers surprising new options in their home search in large well-planned cities such as Houston. There are survivable and livable commutes.

Houston and its outlying areas are built for "sprawl" - and I mean that in a positive sense - iRead More...

List Now or Wait?

Nick Will — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:26:56 +0100

We often get asked by people across the country this time of year: should we put our house on the market now or wait until the spring? Here's our answer now that we're telling people and posting on other sites nationally where we maintain a presence:

Depends on where you are! In general, many people will believe that "it's not a good time to sell in the winter months" and will take their homes off the market until the spring, which will only reduce the amount of competition on the marRead More...

FHA Needs Funds: You Read It Here 6 Weeks Ago

Nick Will — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:30:26 +0100

Okay so reading this blog is like getting the news 6 weeks early. Granted, I thought it would make the news at the end of September, and here it is in today's Times:

The Federal Housing Administration said Thursday that its cash reserves had dwindled significantly in the last year as housing prices slumped and many of its borrowers defaulted on their mortgages.

Still, government housing officials stressed that the agency, which insures loans made by private lenders, Read More...

Move Up or Down Size Home Buyer Tax Credit $6,500

Nick Will — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:44:25 +0100

The new law extending the existing new home buyer tax credit of a refundable $8,000 for "new" home buyers (there are details of course) includes a new "move up" or "down sizing" existing home buyer tax credit refundable and non-repayable tax credit of $6,500 if you have owned a home 6 of the past 8 years and your income is less than $125,000 if single or $250,000 if married (with some other details you can google). You do not have to sell your existing home by the deadline of April 30, 2010, butRead More...

Change is good for borrowers| HUD -1 settlement statement

Scott Jones — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:43:04 +0100

HUD is requiring that loan originators provide borrowers with a standard Good Faith Estimate that clearly discloses key loan terms and closing costs and that closing agents provide borrowers with a new HUD-1 settlement statement. These terms are not to increase more than 10% of what is on the Good Faith Estimate. This new change will also give the borrower 10 days to shop the GFE and get the best possible rates and fees. New RESPA regulations wereRead More...

Explanation of a Title Commitment - First American Title The Woodlands

Scott Jones — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:35:12 +0100

The first time you receive a copy of title company commitment, you might find it difficult to understand. Actually, the commitment is an easy document to read. Once familiar with the commitment, it becomes a road map to follow to ensure that the property being transferred is in insurable condition.

Explanation:
Schedule "A"
· Date - This is the date and time to which the records have been examined.
· GF Number- (Guaranty File Number)Number given by compRead More...

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit to 04-2010 This Week?

Nick Will — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:27:23 +0100

The Seattle Post PI.com is reporting that after clearing a Senate hurdle this week that the New Home Buyer Tax Credit of $8,000 is widely expected to pass congress this week to extend the credit into the spring season of 2010, which would be most welcome across the country. The program essentially creates a refundable $8,000 tax credit for qualified first-time home buyer tax credits (some limitations apply and "first" doesn't always mean "first"). This is very welcome news.

New vs Resale Stats: More of My Case

Nick Will — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:18:04 +0100

The inestimable Lucia Mutikani reports for Reuters that existing home sales rose to a 2-year high in September. These numbers are more meaningful than how, in two posts ago as I mentioned, new home builders have just been messing all over themselves. From Mutikani's article:
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent in September to an annual rate of 5.57 million units, the highest level since July 2007. Financial markets had expected sales to rise to aRead More...

Rules on Choice of Title Company - Buyer Be(A)ware

Nick Will — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:24:14 +0100

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2008 to govern certain aspects of closing most residential transactions in the United States. RESPA had a giant impact on how business is conducted in certain segments of the real estate industry, especially in title/escrow companies and mortgage lending companies.

The Housing and Urban Development Agency is the regulator of the Act, as it is the closing statements used in most residential transactRead More...

New Home Sales Stats: Some Truth to Power

Nick Will — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:41:56 +0100

Okay so new home sales numbers weren't reported to be up last week. So? First of all, the housing market is local in nature. If all politics is local as Tip O'Neill said, then real estate and housing is darn near skin-tight.

Here's what Deutsche Bank said in the linked article above: "Overall, we think today's weak number supports our contention that based on waning government stimulus the housing recovery could end up being W-shaped..." What blather.

&nbsRead More...