Finance, Mortgages, Real Estate & More

It’s gettin’ hot up in here! Many of the real estate professionals we’ve spoken to have seen a big uptick in activity. The stock market is in record breaking territory. The housing market is looking up. What’s going on here?

We just wanted to say “congrats” to our friend, Greg Gianoplus, for getting a great team started at Gateway Bank Mortgage here in Wilmington, North Carolina. Greg is one of the managing members of CMG Equities, LLC which runs ForTheBestRate.com and he is now the Division Manager of the Reverse Mortgage Team at Gateway Bank Mortgage.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with HECM Reverse Mortgages, they offer senior homeowners (62 years of age and older) the ability to tap into the equity that they have built up in their homes over the years. HECM loans were designed by HUD and they are insured by FHA.

For those who are interested in learning more, Fannie Mae has are very in-depth brochure on reverse mortgages and Greg’s ReverseMortgageValue.com web site also contains a lot of great information including a informative FAQ section.

Recently, Wrightsville Beach Magazine did a piece on Greg’s group which we encourage you to check out if you live in the greater Wilmington area. It’s a little tricky to navigate to since the publisher uploads their issues as standalone Flash files in their archive section. Just go to: http://www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com/archive.asp - Find February 2013 and then, scroll to page 67.

Currently Greg and his colleagues John Perritt, and Dan Hegarty are offering reverse financing assistance in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Best of luck Greg with your new endeavour.

What’s happening in the real estate market in our own backyard in Wilmington, North Carolina. According to real estate agent, Jay Seville, it’s an investors paradise (see video) where almost everything has the potential for positive cashflow. In 2012 there was a “mini boom” where median listing prices jumped for single family homes from $251K to $258K. Inventory dropped off a cliff (60%) and transactions increased 30-40%. High demand + declining inventory = “Nice Real Estate Cocktail” according to Mr. Preville. .

The video goes on to look at specific numbers (rental income, taxes, HOA dues, etc) for a couple of rental properties including one close to the local university (UNCW) which is sought after by the student population. Pretty compelling stuff.

You can also find good real estate data on the local Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS® web site at http://www.wrar.com/.

HARP refinancing rose significantly from 25,475 in 2011 to 67,456 in May of 2012. Of those numbers, two thirds went to borrowers with LTVs (loan-to-value ratios) of 80 to 105 percent, and the remaining third went out to borrowers who were severely underwater.

Based on figures from July, new home sales were reported to be up by 3.6 percent from June. Regionally, the Northeast saw the most activity, with a whopping 76.5 percent increase in new-home sales from June. The Midwest came in second best with a 7.7 percent gain.

9,000 defaulted FHA loans will be put up for sale by HUD under its Distressed Asset Stabilization Program. Of those, about 40 percent will be located in Chicago, Newark, Phoenix, and Tampa, the four most notoriously recession-hit metropolitan areas.

According to Freddie’s statistics, the 30 year fixed rate average dipped to 3.49% with .6 pts which was down from 3.55% last week. The 15 year fixed rate average also moved lower going from 2.85% down to 2.77% with .6 pts. The 5 year treasury indexed ARM moved in the opposite direction going up from 2.72% to 2.76% with .6 pts. Check today’s pricing on forthebestrate.com.

If you are planning to stay in a home for three years or longer it may be better to buy than rent according to a recent analysis by Zillow. The study set out to find out when owning a home became more financially beneficial than renting the same property. More than 200 metropolitan areas and 7,500 US cities were analyzed According to the study, 75% of the time an individual would break even after three years or less of owning their home.

The expenses factored into the analysis included downpayments, mortgage and rental payments, tax deductions, utilities, maintenance costs, transaction costs, property taxes and opportunity costs. Zillow also adjusted for inflation.

There are markets across the country in which homeowners may be able break even earlier than three years. These areas were the ones that experienced some of the most dramatic declines in home prices during the housing recession. In these pockets, many homeowners could break even after two years of owning a home.

According to Zillow, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale metro is one of the most ideal places for home buying because owners will break even after only 1.6 years. On the flip-side, San Jose metro has some of the highest home prices in the country, therefore it could take up to 8.3 years before a homeowner could breakeven. The “breakeven horizon” varies greatly from community to community within each market. You can find more real estate and mortgage news on ForTheBestRate.com.

(Source: nationalmortgageprofessional.com)