Most federal assistance programs are a waste of money. They set up an entrenched bureaucracy that drains taxpayer resources and provide little economic return. 
There are exceptional government programs that deliver great benefit at little cost to taxpayers, but the foreclosure counseling services are not one of those programs. Most of these borrowers are hopelessly underwater or overextended. The counseling might have done some good before they got into this mess, but at this point, telling them what they should have done differently isn’t going to help.
Programs like this are created as political cover to deflect criticism that the government is not doing enough. There is little or no hope these programs will have positive outcomes for anyone involved. Most of the borrowers who “benefit” from these programs get sold into slavery for a lifetime to “save” a house they would be better off losing in foreclosure. These programs are a sham, and they should be eliminated.
Harder-Luck Foreclosures Grow as Funding Wanes
By Emma Fidel on August 07, 2012
… Last November, Congress also appropriated $45 million for housing counseling in fiscal year 2012 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development after slashing all counseling funding during April budget negotiations. HUD had requested $88 million.
Veto Threat
The House passed a 2013 HUD appropriations bill in June allocating $45 million to housing counseling, $10 million less than HUD requested. The bill is now stalled in the Senate, and the White House has said President Barack Obama plans to veto the bill if passed in its current form. …
“The housing counseling community needs to work to restore federal funding,” said David Berenbaum, chief program officer for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “Housing counseling organizations have had to downsize across the country at a time when the demands on service are at an all-time high.”
They should be downsized out of existence. These services are part of the amend-extend-pretend charade. Banks need to foreclose on these people and be done with it. Most of these people have been struggling for five years. At this point, a foreclosure is a mercy killing.
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Proprietary Irvine Housing News home purchase analysis
18 East DEERWOOD Irvine, CA 92604
$829,777 …….. Asking Price
Cost of Home Ownership
——————————————————————————
$829,777 …….. Asking Price
$165,955 ………… 20% Down Conventional
3.64% …………. Mortgage Interest Rate
30 ……………… Number of Years
$663,822 …….. Mortgage
$156,176 ………. Income Requirement
$3,033 ………… Monthly Mortgage Payment
$719 ………… Property Tax at 1.04%
$0 ………… Mello Roos & Special Taxes
$207 ………… Homeowners Insurance at 0.3%
$0 ………… Private Mortgage Insurance
$75 ………… Homeowners Association Fees
============================================
$4,035 ………. Monthly Cash Outlays
($683) ………. Tax Savings
($1,019) ………. Equity Hidden in Payment
$197 ………….. Lost Income to Down Payment
$124 ………….. Maintenance and Replacement Reserves
============================================
$2,653 ………. Monthly Cost of Ownership
Cash Acquisition Demands
——————————————————————————
$9,798 ………… Furnishing and Move In at 1% + $1,500
$9,798 ………… Closing Costs at 1% + $1,500
$6,638 ………… Interest Points
$165,955 ………… Down Payment
============================================
$192,189 ………. Total Cash Costs
$40,600 ………. Emergency Cash Reserves
============================================
$232,789 ………. Total Savings Needed
The property above is available for sale on the MLS.
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Cost of Ownership Analysis
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Nearby Foreclosures
Gain a competitive advantage over other buyers. By locating distressed properties -- before they hit the MLS -- you can discover where tomorrow's REOs and short sales will appear. Most of these properties are not listed on the MLS, but they will be soon. Research properties in advance and get a jump on your competition. Don't miss out on another deal because you couldn't act quickly. Use this tool to your advantage! The red properties are already bank owned. As soon as REO asset managers prepare them for sale, they will be on the MLS. Get ready! The green and blue properties have owners who are not paying their mortgages. They may be offered as short sales, or they may go through foreclosure and become REO. Either way, they will also likely be available on the MLS soon. Find your next home! Be prepared to offer on these properties by researching them in advance or risk losing out to buyers who are have done their homework. Start your research today! To find distressed properties, enter your desired location and press search. Scroll through list by pressing "next."Comparative Market Analysis
Are you ready to make an offer, but you are worried you will either (1) underbid and miss the property or (2) overbid and pay too much? Don't make a mistake and miss your dream home, or worse yet, overpay for it! Get the advice of a seasoned professional. Contact us at info@ochousingnews.com today!
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$979,999 15306 NORMANDIE Ave |
0.23 miles 5 bd / 5 ba 3,700 Sq. Ft. |
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$875,000 16602 BAYBERRY Rd |
1.34 miles 5 bd / 4 ba 2,872 Sq. Ft. |
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$815,000 63 LINDBERG |
1.39 miles 6 bd / 3 ba 2,900 Sq. Ft. |
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$999,500 16608 SONORA St |
1.43 miles 5 bd / 3.25 ba 3,137 Sq. Ft. |
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$1,150,000 16605 CAMILIA Ave |
1.57 miles 4 bd / 3.5 ba 3,200 Sq. Ft. |
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$889,000 7 HIGHFIELD Gln |
1.69 miles 4 bd / 2.5 ba 2,800 Sq. Ft. |
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$949,000 85 FRINGE TREE |
1.7 miles 4 bd / 2.5 ba 2,803 Sq. Ft. |
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$839,900 5 BIRCHWOOD |
1.73 miles 4 bd / 2.5 ba 2,907 Sq. Ft. |
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$929,000 61 FRINGE TREE |
1.73 miles 4 bd / 2.5 ba 2,803 Sq. Ft. |
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$899,900 10 RHODE Is |
1.75 miles 5 bd / 2.5 ba 2,872 Sq. Ft. |
According to their customer, most realtors suck.
Customer Satisfaction with Real Estate Companies Falls to New Low
There are some things we tend to take as fundamental truths.
Just a few examples might include the law of gravity or how Treasury debt – even in the face of credit downgrades – remains beyond reproach for investors. Or how, given the choice between making safely innocuous remarks and off-the-cuff zingers that land him (and his boss) in hot water, Vice President Joseph Biden will probably choose the latter, if we take one recent gaffe as proof positive of the trend.
Nowadays, people may add to their roster the idea that home buyers and sellers seem to downright dislike their real estate companies.
According to a recent report by J.D. Power and Associates, home buyer satisfaction with national real estate companies fell to its lowest level in the history of the five-year-old survey, a record low on par with mortgage rates.
The firm said that overall satisfaction slipped to 789 on a 1,000-point scale, down from 797 in 2011. Seller satisfaction followed the trend by averaging 768, down from 779 from the same time frame.
“Although home buyers and sellers are aware of continuing challenges in the real estate market, a key reason satisfaction is down is that customer expectations are not being met, either in terms of sellers having to compromise on their listing price, or for buyers who are compromising on the home’s condition and size,” Christina Cooley, senior manager of the real estate practice at J.D. Power and Associates, offered in a statement.
“This is understandably frustrating all around,” she added.
The study tied real estate companies viewed more favorably by buyers and sellers to the frequency with which these companies capture a sizeable proportion of the listing price. The firm said that sellers report obtaining 89 percent of their listing prices from their real estate companies.
Several companies withstood the test of customer satisfaction – at least by the standards of 2,990 evaluations and more than 2,790 respondents. These included Keller Williams, which J.D. Power found ranking highest in both buyer and seller categories, with lofty scores among agents and salespeople to boot.
Buyers ranked Prudential Mortgage second after Keller Williams and sellers second-placed Coldwell Banker.
According to Cooley, companies like these “set themselves apart in terms of working closely with their customers and meeting their needs,” a courtesy that she says “may play an important role in both managing expectations, but more importantly, exceeding them.”
This isn’t the first time real estate companies wallowed near the bottom of customer satisfaction surveys. A Leads360 white paper from August last year found that only 21 percent of mortgage lenders made an effort to follow up with borrowers.
Then again – revealing just how wishy-washy these surveys sometimes are – the same report by J.D. Powers from July tracked a jump in customer satisfaction among servicers. Which maybe means that you should get the facts and find your own truth.