The Bains

The oil spill & the statewide budgets cuts are making it difficult to project
what will happen to the TX economy in coming months. The effects of the oil spill are concentrated in south east part of TX, but uncertainity
about whether OFFSHORE DRILLING WILL BE STOPPED. TX markets rely
on oil field service & the offshore service industries. With revenues DOWN, spending has to be cut. This could result in short-term layoffs -
if not permanent layoffs – of personnel. This prediction from Dr. Jim Gaines at the TX Real Estate Center.

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct – to insure appraiser independence is a year old now. Realtors can go to a listing & be
sure the appraiser is doing a thorough job. The Realtors MLS information needs to be detailed to help the appraisers. Sometimes a
a low appraisal is justified, but be sure comps used are justisfied.
Take legitimate concerns about appraisals to the lender particularly if
there is a pattern of excessive delays or bad appraisals. Most competent lenders have lists of local lenders for the managment company.

in the Dallas area & 1.5 in Fort Worth, with 3.1% nationwide. Yes, there have been recent price increases, BUT no more first-time homebuyer tax credits, the Federal Reserve has stopped buying
residential mortgage-backed securities & the extremely high number
of projected foreclosures, so that causes prices to float down. These
projections are from Case-Shuller and Fiserv researchers’ & their new
projections. Probably will be this way for the rest of the year.

A loan modification is a permanent change in one or more of the terms
of your loan. Brings you a fresh start and resulting in a payment that
you can afford. The sole purpose of a loan modification is to enable the borrower to meet the terms of the new loan for the foreseeable
future. Does require diligence with the paperwork with your lender &
about 27% have not proceeded & more seems to be dropping out. You
must be prepared to make 3 payments on time during the procedure.

The number of borrowers failing to meet the requirements of the Obama
administration’s mortgage modification program is rising, almost equaling
the number of homeowners who have received permanent relief. About
25% of the 1.2 million borrowers who started the program have received loan modification. 23% of those enrolled, dropped during the
trial phase, which requires borrowers to make at least 3 mortgage
payments on time. Staying up with the paperwork & procedure seem
to be the downfall.