Existing home sales jump, prices sink

The statistics are even better in Florida! Looks like we're turning the corner...

ARE WE AT THE BOTTOM YET?

Interesting dose of perspective from The Niche Report

Could God Get a Mortgage Today?

Ever deal with FHA?

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down.

After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply (actual letter): "Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows (actual letter):"Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the U.S. from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application."For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U. S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the then reigning monarch, Isabella. The good queen, being a pious woman and careful about titles, almost as much as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to fund Columbus' expedition.

"Now the Pope, as I'm sure you know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that He also made that part of the world called Louisiana. He, therefore, would be the owner of origin. I hope ... you find His original claim to be satisfactory.

"Now, may we have our ... loan?"

They got it.

Good News for Some Homeowners!

HUD just approved a new FHA program that will allow some people to keep their homes; read on...
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-100208.cfm

Bailout Fallout

What's the matter with our leadership in Washington? Why don't they get it? They seem to be more concerned about positioning themselves for re-election, rather than doing what is right for the country. I know that the seeds for this crisis were planted many years ago, and that a solution is not going to be quick or easy, or without pain. That being said, it just appears to me that they are trapped in ideological disagreements over what amount to bandaids for the problem.

Clearly, the crisis exists on a couple of levels: First, citizen and voter distrust of politicians is at an all time high. What we've seen this week with all the posturing, grand standing and finger pointing isn't likely to help that concern. And second, investor psychology is pretty much in panic mode. Most Americans don't understand the relationship between the credit markets and the economy at large. So they believe that any "bailout" is targeted at the fat cats on Wall Street - the rich get richer, or get out of jail free, etc. In reality, the lack of liquidity has gotten so bad, that unless some confidence can be infused back into the market and soon, we are looking at an even longer and much more painful recovery. It is already extremely difficult to get a business loan, and two thirds of our economy is generated by small businesses. As resilient as our economy is, without access to capital, we're in big trouble.

Anybody who works in a real estate or mortgage related business, has gone through 3 pretty tough years - with no clear end in sight. Over the last few months, we have seen some positive signals that are cause for optimism: leveling off of price declines or actual increases, reduction in inventory and a similar reduction in days on market. But if the clowns in Washington don't do something soon and get it right, all bets are off. What do you think? I'd love to hear from you.