Should Jackson County Builders Offer New Car With Home?

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Home builders in Braselton, Hoschton and Jackson County have long offered incentives and discounts for home buyers. They’ve also thrown in material perks like a Mercedes, a trip to Maui or even another house. Now a home builder wants to help ease the burden of a long commute and soaring gas prices by giving buyers a free 2008 Honda Civic, according to an article in today’s WSJ.

William Grant, the owner of Brodheadsville, Pa.-based Grant Homes Inc., is using the Hondas to lure prospective buyers to a new 75-home development in rural Pennsylvania. Allentown, the largest center of employment near the development, is about 25 miles away.

The Hondas are worth about $20,000, and that value is not included in the price of the house. Buyers can choose to accept the free car or have the company pay the closing cost and buy down their interest.

Of four home sales last weekend, two buyers chose to take the car, Mr. Grant says. “The buying public is certainly waiting to do something,” he says.

Are you looking for a new home and would a new Honda influence your decision -- Let me know?????

ray@selectbrokersrealty.com

President signs the housing stimulus package

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Great news for the housing market - Today President Bush signed the housing stimulus package into law.

This milestone legislation will help provide an enormous boost to the housing industry in the form of a tax credit for first-time home buyers, as well as much-needed measures that will improve mortgage liquidity, foster refinancing of troubled loans and expand the supply of affordable rental housing.

The temporary first-time home buyer tax credit of $7,500 will help stimulate home buying, reduce excess supply in housing markets and shore up home prices.

For more information on this stimulus package visit www.selectbrokersrealty.com

Demand for Homeownership in Braselton, Hoschton and North Georgia Remains Healthy

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Underlying demand for homeownership remains healthy in Braselton, Hoschton and North Georgia despite the ongoing challenges for would-be buyers in the current market, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Move, Inc. As reported in last week's NBN Online, the survey found that about 41% of current home owners who were polled said they do plan to purchase a home again, while 80% of all renters surveyed expect to eventually become home owners. In fact, 47% of renters in the poll indicated that they plan to purchase a home within the next five years. In addition, most prospective home buyers (57%) indicated that they are willing to make sacrifices to save and earn extra income for down payments and will compromise on neighborhood features and residential amenities in order to buy a home in the current market. On the flip side, 81% of home buyers in the poll indicated that they remain nervous about the current housing market and cited significant barriers to homeownership. Even so, 44% believe the housing market will improve once a new president takes office next January. Read more on this encouraging study in NBN Online.

FHA Provides Relief to Owners Facing Foreclosure

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To address Braselton, Hoschton, North Georgia and the nation’s foreclosure crisis, the housing stimulus package approved by Congress will allow the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to guarantee up to $300 billion in new mortgages if lenders voluntarily agree to reduce the outstanding principal and adjust the terms to make them more affordable for borrowers.

“Expansion of the FHA program to provide new loan guarantees will help finance at-risk borrowers into viable mortgages and prevent further foreclosures,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the FHA foreclosure relief plan could help as many as 400,000 struggling home owners to stay in their homes.

According to the CBO, this three-year program, which becomes effective on Oct. 1, will not cost taxpayers a dime - it will be more than paid for by using funds in the first few years from a new affordable housing trust fund to be established by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Known as the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act, the program is designed to help borrowers in danger of losing their home to refinance into lower-cost government-insured mortgages they can repay.

The program contains key protections to limit its budgetary impact, including higher refinancing fees that will be used to establish a new FHA reserve to cover possible losses from defaults on these government-backed mortgages.

In order to participate in the voluntary program, lenders and mortgage investors must take significant losses by reducing the loan principal on an existing mortgage. In exchange for an FHA guarantee on the home loan, borrowers must share any profit from the resale of a refinanced home with the government.

Only primary residences are eligible; no speculators, investment properties or second homes will be refinanced.

Specifically, the FHA would pay the existing lender no more than 85% of the property’s present appraised value. The FHA would then charge the home owner a loan at 90% of the appraised value. The extra 5% is a cushion against losses and would pay for the up-front premium.

In the example of a $250,000 home with a 100% mortgage that has declined 10% in value to $225,000, the FHA loan would repay the lender 85% of the home’s current worth, about $191,250. The existing home owner’s new loan would be for 90% of the $225,000, or $202,500.

The plan also provides $180 million for financial counseling and legal assistance to help families stay in their homes.

Weak Market & Inflation Spike Rates

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Weak market and the fear of inflation, in Braselton / Hoschton and the rest of the country, are among the reasons for Spike in Mortgage Rates this Week
Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.63 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending July 24, 2008, up from last week when it averaged 6.26 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.69 percent.

Help for Fannie and Freddie

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Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Tuesday urged Congress to quickly approve support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, calling it "central to the speed with which we emerge in the Braselton, Hoschton and North Georgia areas from this housing correction."

Meanwhile, Treasury officials confirmed that bank examiners from both the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller are currently inspecting the books at both Fannie and Freddie. Paulson said in an interview published Tuesday in the New York Times that he believed the results of those examinations will give Congress confidence.

Paulson said that Fannie and Freddie have issued $5 trillion in debt and mortgage backed securities. Of that amount, more than $3 trillion is held by U.S. financial institutions and over $1.5 trillion is held by foreign institutions, making the stabilization of the two companies essential to the global economy.

Sheree Garrison joins Select's Team

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Select Brokers Realty is pleased to welcome Sheree Garrison to our Braselton / Hoschton "Home Town Team" of professional realtors. Sheree has 14 years of experience in Georgia as a licensed real estate agent. Call Sheree at 678.227.1402 for help with any of your real estate needs.

Win $380,000 House and Pay $170,000 in Taxes

A man from Hagerstown, Md., who won a four-bedroom house in a charity raffle is having trouble selling it for enough to pay the taxes on the prize.

Dennis Weaver paid $100 for a ticket in a raffle to benefit the San Mar Children’s Home. He won a restored farmhouse in nearby Big Pool, Md., appraised at $380,000.

Income taxes on the prize plus property taxes totaled $170,000. To pay them, Weaver took out a mortgage. This week he put the house up for auction to get enough money to pay off the mortgage, but there were no bidders, according to a news story in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail.

Weaver is giving up his apartment in Hagerstown and moving into the farmhouse to avoid paying rent on top of his mortgage.

He’s given up on the idea of selling. He says he’ll just wait until the market improves.

Is This The Housing of the Future

Builders in many parts of the country are turning to building tract houses that are half the size of the average U.S. home and cost a lot more per square foot. What's surprising is how quickly they sell them. Many homeowners are leaving their larger homes and seeking smaller, easy to care for and maintain, homes.

Retail Developments Slowing

Construction of retail-property is also slowing as consumer spending wanes. Portfolio & Property Research forecasts that in 2009, retail-space construction in the top 54 U.S. markets will drop 48%, to 71 million square feet, from this year. Existing properties are hurting, too. Vacancy rates at U.S. malls and shopping centers have climbed to 7.4% this year, the highest level this decade, according to market-research firm Reis Inc.

Bush Calls on Congress to Pass Housing and Energy Bills

President Bush said Tuesday the nation's troubled financial system is "basically sound" and urged lawmakers to quickly enact legislation to prop up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

He also called on the Democratic-run Congress to follow his example and lift a ban on offshore drilling to help increase domestic oil production.

"I readily concede it won't produce a barrel of oil tomorrow, but it will reverse the psychology," Bush told a White House news conference - his first since late April.

Bush said the two troubled mortgage companies play a central role in the nation's housing-finance system and that government action to help them were not bailouts because the two would remain shareholder-owned companies.

"I don't think the government ought to be involved in bailing out companies," Bush said.

Amid soaring gas prices, the toughest real estate market in decades, falling home prices and financing that's harder to come by, Bush said: "It's been a difficult time for many American families." But he also said that the nation's economy continues to grow, if slowly.

Feds Help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury step in to help bolster mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as losses from their mortgage holdings threaten their survival. The two housing companies either hold or back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt, which is about half of the outstanding mortgages in the U.S.

Senate Housing Bill Still Not Put To A Vote

WASHINGTON -- The Senate failed to pass a huge housing package on Thursday, continuing a legislative process that has been repeatedly bogged down by procedural hurdles, even as the housing market worsens.

The multifaceted bill, likely Congress's biggest response to the housing mess, would revamp oversight of the struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a measure that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said is vital to restore confidence in the U.S. housing market. The bill would also allow the government to insure up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages, which Democrats say could help up to 500,000 people avoid foreclosure.

A final vote could still occur Friday, but other attempts to pass the bill have slipped during the past two weeks. The holdup Thursday was an objection to the legislation by Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), who has called the package a "bailout" and demanded more time for debate. Lawmakers can pass the bill without his support, but it takes longer under Senate rules.

"We've been close, but close doesn't count on Senate business," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said. The chamber now plans to vote on the measure late Friday afternoon.

Lawmakers from both parties have begun to express frustration at how long the process was taking. The bill is expected to pass easily once a final vote is called.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican who supports the bill, said he is pushing to have the package completed by the end of the month.

"We're almost at the point where what we're doing is too late," Sen. Isakson said. "You reach a point where what you are doing may stop the bleeding but doesn't turn the market around."

RealtyTrac Inc., an online foreclosure marketplace based in California, said 252,363 people entered foreclosure during the month of June, up 53% from 2007

Vote Next Tuesday July 15

Just a friendly reminder to hit the polls on July 15 for the primary! Historically voter turnout in Jackson County has been fewer than 20 percent. This means that only one in five citizens are helping make the decisions that effect them, their parents, children, and grandchildren. Be sure your voice is heard this go-round: Don't forget to vote!Learn about the candidates at www.JacksonCountyDecision2008.com And while you're at it, contact them directly - our local candidates are real people just like you and me!

McCain & Obama Seek To Fix Housing Problems

Which candidate would do a better job of handling housing prices? According to a recent AP-Yahoo News poll, 25 percent of those surveyed said Barack Obama and 17 percent thought John McCain. But nearly 30 percent said neither. Both Obama and McCain envision the Federal Housing Administration providing new, cheaper mortgages to distressed home owners.
Obama wants to create a $10 billion fund to counsel distressed home owners before they slide into foreclosure; help people sell homes they bought but could not afford; and team with state governments, community groups, and lenders to ensure loans can be modified in a timely manner to avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy.
McCain sees a more limited government role. "In some cases, lenders and borrowers alike were caught up in the speculative frenzy that has harmed the housing market," the Arizona senator said. "It is not the responsibility of the American public to spare them from the consequences of their own bad judgment."

Scarecrow website

Everyone knows by now that Hoschton is seeking a spot in the Guinness World Records with the most scarecrows in one location - they now have a website www.scarecrowstampede.com.