News & Commentary
When Should A Real Estate Broker Be Paid?
Millions of homes are sold each year and the overwhelming majority are marketed through professional real estate brokers. It might seem as though real estate brokers are paid when they list and sell homes but technically that’s not quite the case, something which has created a stir in California and a controversy which is likely [...]
20May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Are More Foreclosures And New Construction Good For Home Prices?
A new study find that new construction and foreclosure activity are running neck-and-neck, with building permits and foreclosure both up 27 in the first quarter from a year ago. The new numbers from RealtyTrac suggest that housing markets in many are areas are returning. “Nationwide and in most markets it appears builders are planning to [...]
16May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Will An Internet Sales Tax Save Shopping Malls?
You can think of it as the “shopping mall protection act” or maybe just a hint of marketplace fairness, legislation recently passed by the US Senate would require online retailers with revenues of more than $1 million to collect and pay sales taxes. This is something very new in the history of the Internet, a [...]
13May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Foreclosure Activity Hits Six-Year Low
Foreclosure activity hit a six-year low in April according to RealtyTrac, but while home losses were down in general they actually rose in states where foreclosure actions must go through local courts. Maryland, for example, is the nation’s wealthiest state in terms of household income and yet foreclosure activity – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank [...]
9May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
New Mortgage Rules Favor Borrowers — and Taxpayers
Mortgage borrowers are about to get more protections when financing real estate as a result of new rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, lenders can avoid virtually all liability by making what are called “qualified mortgages” or QMs. In basic terms, such loans include all fully-documented, [...]
7May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Rent Affordability Drops As Incomes Fall
While stock market values soar, executive bonuses rise and big corporations continue to shelter massive profits the fate of many renters continues to decline: a new study by the Center for Housing Policy shows that one-in-four tenants now spend at least half their income on rent. The big question raised by the report is just [...]
3May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Par Pricing Mortgage Option Still Available
It seemed like a good idea at the time: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was thinking that maybe lenders should be required to offer mortgage borrowers a zero-zero financing option, but after lots of letters and comments it ultimately rejected a zero-zero requirement. What is a zero-zero mortgage option? And why would you like to [...]
1May2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Wealth Gap Creates More Foreclosures and Short Sales
The worst of the foreclosure crisis seems over, if you can accept the idea that today’s foreclosure levels are in any way acceptable. Many of the foreclosures and short sales seen today actually have their roots in the period between 2000 and 2008 when lending standards went out the window. Today, with the better underwriting [...]
30Apr2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Should Paid-Off Medical Bills Damage Credit Scores?
There are a lot of people who do not get home mortgages or automobile financing because of events which are far beyond their control, especially medical bills. Now there is an effort on Capitol Hill that would limit the way health costs are listed on credit reports and thus how they impact credit scores. “Illness [...]
29Apr2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Are Cash Investors Missing Real Estate Profits?
There are a lot of real estate investors who finance with cash but are they getting the best deals? According to the National Association of Realtors, 32 percent of all existing home transactions in February were cash deals. On many levels such an approach to financing makes sense: There are no loan applications, no mortgage [...]
22Apr2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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