Unemployed homeowners will soon be able to access $3 billion in aid to help them make their mortgage[1]. The administration will be providing $2 billion in funds to the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets, and HUD will complement that with $1 billion more from the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. Homeowners can qualify for assistance for up to 2 years if they are facing foreclosure due to a substantial reduction in income thanks to “involuntary unemployment, underemployment or a medical condition.”

While this initiative appears to have its heart in the right place, it includes much to be concerned about, including the addition of vague description of “medical condition” to the list of things that qualifies one for mortgage assistance.  While disability has been a reason for aid for years, a “medical condition” does not seem to qualify as the same type of extenuating – and possibly dynamic – circumstance that unemployment does. Do you think that this program is being used as a gateway for more government-funded assistance and housing? Ultimately, is it going to do any good?

Thank you for reading! Your comments and questions are welcomed below.

[1] http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/

One of my favorite sources of up-to-date public opinion information is Rasmussen Reports by pollster Scott Rasmussen, and an article in today’s edition really caught my attention.

According to Rasmussen’s polling, only 23% of the public believes that if a person can’t pay their mortgage, it is better for the government to assist in making payments.

You’d think, based on the way the government behaves, that everyone in the country is a believer that the government should be the end-all, be-all provider for the entire citizenry.  This poll suggests otherwise.

A curious similarity: 23% is shockingly similar to the approximation for the percentage of mortgages that are under water in America.  (Depending on the source, most people peg the “underwater mortgage” rate at somewhere between 19% and 25%.)  One must wonder if the 23% who support the idea are largely the same people who are facing mortgage difficulty, and making their [flawed] judgment based on that circumstance.

Like so many things, this question drives to the heart of the question of individual responsibility.  Fundamentally, this poll result shows that 23% of American home owners believe they shouldn’t be ultimately responsible for paying their own mortgage.

Under what asinine, kindergarten-level type of thinking could a person possibly believe they should not be responsible for paying their own mortgage? In a similar vein, it should be noted that Rasmussen’s polling reveals that Democrats are twice as likely as everyone else (Republicans, Independents, and third parties) to believe its acceptable for home owners to be irresponsible and depend on the government to make their payments.  (If you’re wondering for whom you should vote during the next election, a good place to start is to ask this question:  If you’re happy with the idea of your tax dollars being used to support people who choose not to behave responsibly and who depend on responsible tax payers to fund their irresponsibility, then you should vote for a democrat.  If you don’t subscribe to that foolish notion, vote for ANYBODY ELSE.)

Oh - and you mind-numbed libs who are going to try to change the subject by saying how much you hate George Bush or how horrible you think big corporations are - remember that ONLY 23% of Americans agree with the notion that a person shouldn’t be responsible for their own mortgage payments, so go ahead and spew your infantile venom (it’s always entertaining) knowing that less than 1/4 of the country agrees with you.

Thanks for reading the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter - your comments and questions are always welcomed!

Countrywide Home Loans, who used to be the largest home mortgage lender before being acquired by Bank of America, reached a settlement agreement with several state’s Attorneys General regarding their huge pool of subprime loans.

One of the tenets of that agreement is that Countrywide will proactively modify 400,000 loans to more “reasonable” terms.

But that’s easier said than done.  According to my research, many of the loans Countrywide made are owned by outside investors who were not party to the agreement Countrywide made and are balking at taking less money than they are owed.

In fact, Mr. William Frey is suing to prevent Bank of America (owner of Countrywide) from performing the loan modifications since, according to Frey, doing so is in violation of the contracts that investors hold with Countrywide.

So who is right?  Mr. Frey, who advocates that contract law should be followed in this and every case?  Or BOA/Countrywide/Attorneys General whose agreement requires that this circumstance be judged as an exception to contract law?

Your thoughts and opinions are welcomed and encouraged.  Thank you for reading RealEstate.BryanEllis.com!

With foreclosures at epidemic levels right now, there’s more opportunity than ever.  Problem is, most investors use the same old tired, worn out tools to attract the unfortunate home owners facing that circumstance.  As a result, more properties are hitting the auction block than necessary, and investors are missing out on thousands of excellent opportunities.

I can do something to help, and I’m going to give it away for free so that you can use it too.

But before I tell you what it is, I’d like to get your input on the topic.  I’ve been involved in a lot of foreclosure deals, but I want the benefit of your experience also, so here’s the favor I am asking of you:

In the comments area below Please tell me the most common questions and concerns you’ve experienced from people facing foreclosure.  The questions/concerns can address any topic, including the foreclosure process itself, questions about contracts, questions/concerns about where the home owner will go, etc.

If you want to include your answers to the questions/concerns, please do that also.

Important: As more people tell us about the questions/concerns they have encountered, you’ll probably be tempted not to tell us about the questions/concerns you’ve encountered because you may see that someone else has already listed a similar or identical question/concern.  Please, please:  Go ahead and tell us what you have encountered, even if someone else has already mentioned it.  This will bolster the significance of the question/concern at issue.

My friend, if you will assist me with this, I will provide a free resource you can use to get more foreclosure deals more easily, and you’ll have it by the end of this month.  But for that to happen, I need for you to tell me about the questions/concerns you’ve faced in dealing with foreclosure victims.  Thanks so much!

(Note - please feel free to enter as many separate questions/concerns as you can think of.  There’s no need to limit this to one or two issues.  Thank you!)

Thank you so much for being a loyal FreeRealEstateTraining.com reader.  I truly appreciate you!

If you’d like to see some hard numbers to demonstrate the revitalization of the U.S. real estate market, you’re in the right place.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange manages a stock index called the Housing Index (symbol HGX).  The housing index is calculated based on the market value of 20 of the largest home builders across the United States.

To be certain, this index tracks the value of home building companies rather than real estate values.  However, a reasonable observer can not deny that a primary driver of the value of home building companies is the health of the underlying real estate market.  So in many ways, the HGX index can reasonably be viewed as a proxy for the underlying real estate market.

The Housing Index hit a low value of 96.50 back in July of 2008 - right when the negative news was at its height about the U.S. real estate market.  Since then, the negative news has continued, with the “fall” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac along with regulatory intervention by the FDIC into many banks and lenders.

But ever so quietly, the Housing Index has been on the move - and by a very significant margin.  Since it’s low value of 96.50 back on July 11, the HGX has gone all the way to its current value of 133.98 - an increase of 38.8% in under two months.

Consider these interesting facts:

• The stock market tends to be a “leading indicator” - this means that the action of the stock market (or pieces of it) tend to predict what will happen in the broader economy.  If the Housing Index is a leading indicator, much better times are headed towards home builders and by extension the U.S. Real Estate Market
• The primary index used to judge the value of U.S. real estate is the Case-Shiller Index.  It is a “lagging indicator”, which means that it is based on data from the past rather than expectations for the future.  The Case-Shiller index has shown month-over-month improvements for most of the 20 major real estate markets they track during the past couple of months, along with a significant leveling of the national real estate decline.  If the Case-Shiller index is a lagging indicator, then real estate values are already more firm and better than anyone yet realizes.

There’s a lot to be happy about if you’re an active real estate investor.  You just have to read between the lines to get to the real heart of the matter!

Thank you for reading FreeRealEstateTraining.com!