Recent Articles
The Home Buyer Tax Credit: Success or Not?
Recently, the Home Buyer Tax Credit program was extended to September 2010. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this program gave first time home buyers a 10% tax credit for qualified transactions. The credit was later extended to repeat home buyers. So, the question is, has this tax credit been [...]
Read Article ›Inspecting a Foreclosed Home Before Buying
So perhaps you’ve already decided on purchasing an bank-owned or REO property and now all you have to do is actually look for that home to fix up. Sellers and agents will most likely allow you to go to the property of course, and be glad to show you around. It is, of course, quite [...]
Read Article ›Can REOs Help The Market Recover?
According to Housing Wire’s publisher Paul Jackson, Real Estate Owned properties or REOs may hold the key to the recovery of the devastated real estate market. Jackson analyzes that because of the shortcomings of the HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) program and second liens making short sales difficult, REOs are the only way the [...]
Read Article ›Habitat for Humanity to Refurbish REO Homes
As reported by DSNews.com, Habitat for Humanity is making use of REO properties, by turning them into low-cost housing. The organization, which builds homes for free to provide affordable homes, is teaming up with the National Community Stabilization Trust, in order to purchase these run-down foreclosed homes and renovating them. Through the trust’s Property [...]
Read Article ›Flipping Properties Part 1: Fixing the Fixer-Upper
Perhaps you’ve seen it in the movies or TV, or maybe you have friends who’ve tried it. Flipping houses has been a fairly recent trend, that is, purchasing a low-cost property and then making money by re-selling it, sometimes for 3 or 4 times its value. It seems like a dream come true – it’s [...]
Read Article ›Foreclosure’s Effect on Communities
Not surprisingly, foreclosures can lower the surrounding homes’ value by at least 27%, according to a report entitled “Forced Sales and House Prices,” from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) economist Parag Pathak andHarvard researchers, John Y. Campbell and Stefano Giglio. By increasing the housing supply in the area and having the owners (banks and [...]
Read Article ›Ten Percent Discount on REOs for Gov’t and Non-Profits
According to a report by Housing Wire, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has started a program to encourage the sale of Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. Non-profit organizations and state and local governments wishing to purchase HUD properties will be given a 10% discount under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) program. They [...]
Read Article ›“First Look” to Benefit Local Communities
The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is hoping to help revitalize communities hard-hit by foreclosure through its “First Look” initiative, according to Realty Times. In concurrence with the Department of Housing and Urban and Development’s (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) (which gives a discount to non-profit organizations and government entities when purchasing REO homes) the FHA [...]
Read Article ›Can You Legally Stop Foreclosure?
For many families facing foreclosure, the process can be a difficult and emotional experience. Often, there’s just no way prevent a foreclosure. However, there are a few legal tactics which can help delay or even stop foreclosures on homes. If you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage payments and have that sinking feeling that the wolves [...]
Read Article ›Investors Sue Alleged REO Scammers
Mortgage and finance news website HousingWire, a group of investors has filed suit against Fortuno Enterprises, a real estate company which allegedly deceived the plaintiffs into purchasing worthless properties which were billeted as REO homes which they could then flip for a substantial profit.A total of 24 investors bought 41 REO properties in Ohio and [...]
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