QRM, FHA, Loan Type Delinquences

in General Real Estate on
Mortgage Delinquencies by Loan Type - Courtesy of Calculated Risk

I found the above chart fascinating.

If you’re a consumer/homeowner (and voter) you should pay attention. People who likely understand this stuff less than we do (politicians) and who probably won’t read the relevant bills are likely going to be making incompetent decisions that affect all of us. As always, there is a likely a middle ground between the lobbyists (NAR) and the government (who have no desire to actually fix the problems).

Briefly: sea changes in the lending environment are in the offing. Proposals range from forcing lenders to have skin in the game to requiring many/most buyers to put down 20% downpayments – this would affect buyers, sellers, real estate agents (like me), all the ancillary professions and the entire American economy.

Educate yourselves; I’m trying to do so myself.

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Charlottesville Real Estate Conversation – May 2011

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

Big thanks to Rick and WNRN radio for hosting us again on Sunday to talk about real estate … an hour is never enough.

We covered a lot, so much so that I’m going to break this post up into three posts – one this morning, one this afternoon and one on Thursday.

Listen to the show yourself – it’s an hour long, but I think we covered an awful lot of ground, ranging from whether buying is smarter than renting, what is QRM, FHA, VA, foreclosures and short sales, the benefits of quality real estate representation, the sociological benefits of a recession (specific to real estate), why “Reply-All” can be a life-saver and backyard gardens and Farm Colony.

First, two thoughts. One from Seth Godin that applies to his world – marketing (broadly) – as much as it does mine (and ours) – real estate (bolding mine) :

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Thank you – Memorial Day 2011

in General Real Estate on
The Nation's Most Sacred Shrine

Memorial Day. Thank you. Thank you to all those who have served and died for our freedoms. May we recognize, remember and never forget what you fought and died for and may we never forget your and your families’ sacrifices. Please take the time to educate yourself about the true meaning of Memorial Day. “The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address: Changing the…

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What is “Charlottesville”? (via the ears of The Corner)

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

“We love the community, we love the University and we just love being here.”

106.1 The Corner in Charlottesville

When I’m in the mood to listen to music, I tend to be listening to the Corner. Why?

Note: Listen to their commercial here. With the blog redesign, I’m having some issues with playing mp3 files

1 – They play good music. Consistently.

2 – Listen to Kathy’s reasons for moving to Charlottesville; her reasons echo the reasons many of my buyer clients either move here in the first place or choose to stay in Charlottesville. With all of our problems, Cville is still a great place to live.

3 – They understand what Charlottesville is about and demonstrate that they get Cville.

4 – They’re not a homogenous station.

5 – They support local music.

6 – As Charlottesville increasingly becomes homogenized – tell me what is “Charlottesville” about the Hollymead Town Center, which could be Anytown USA – it’s nice to have a local radio station that both understands and values the importance of the Charlottesville culture and its uniquenesses and idiosyncrasies.

* Note to the FTC: I’m not getting paid to write this.

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