Updated foreclosure information

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Decreases 2% in February 2010 – Every little bit of good news helps in these trying times. According to RealtyTrac the foreclosure rate for February was down 2% from the previous month, this was still 6% above what was reported in February of 2009. Also that 6% increase from February 2009 to 2010 was the smallest increase we’ve seen since 2006. While it would be nice to say that this meant less people were losing their homes, what it probably indicates is that foreclosure prevention programs are helping homeowners. Read more here http://mizrealty01.wordpress.com Or click here to read the full article.

I know someone that used NACA to help avoid her foreclosure. It has taken her a long time, about 18 months, but she is finally getting some relief.

Buy it or Sell it? So that amazing weather we had earlier this week got me thinking of the beach. Wouldn’t you love to be here? Sea Island Home It is always fun to dream!

Please remember to turn your clocks back. This Sunday daylight savings time begins, so set your clock forward before you go to bed on Saturday.

Don’t Forget! There are only 49 days left to take advantage of the first time homebuyer's tax credit of $8000--it expires April 30th--a house has to be under contract by then and close by June to take off taxes this year. Click Here for IRS.gov info on First Time Homebuyer Credit.

Let Us Know! Do you have a neighborhood event, charity drive, yard sale coming up? Let us know and we will share with our audience whenever possible. sprinkleruth@mindspring.com

Buying Opportunity

Housing Most Affordable in 18 Years – The HOI shows that 70% of homes sold at the end of 2009 were affordable to those families earning the national median income of $64,000.

Buy it or Sell it? Would you like to buy or sell Vatu Vara Island? Also known as Hat Island it is a cozy little hideaway near Fiji surrounded by a coral reef, lagoon and beaches for a cool $76 million…why not?

Better safe than sorry! Make sure anyone doing work on your home is licensed where required bonded and insured. Protect yourself from lawsuits from workers injured while working on your property and damage that may be done to your property.

Timing is everything. At least in this case it is! There are only 57 days left to take advantage of the first time homebuyer's tax credit of $8000--it expires April 30th--a house has to be under contract by then and close by June to take off taxes this year. Click Here for IRS.gov info on First Time Homebuyer Credit.

Let Us Know! Do you have a neighborhood event, charity drive, yard sale coming up? Let us know and we will share with our audience whenever possible. sprinkleruth@mindspring.com

A Street Car Named Desire

A Desire Named StreetcarFebruary 22, 2010 by mizrealty01
STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Okay, if someone gave you 87 million dollars and said there is more where that came from if you spend it…what would you do? Personally, I would spend it, but apparently that didn’t happen with the government funding Atlanta received to spend on the Atlanta-Lovejoy commuter rail line.
Some point to that reason for why we didn’t receive the recent stimulus money offered for the streetcar project that is proposed to run up Peachtree from Five Points (Downtown) to Midtown and an intersecting line from Centennial Olympic Park and the King Center.
For a complete list of those cities that did receive stimulus money in this recent offering, click here Final TIGER grant info.
I’m glad to hear that according to AJC, city officials haven’t given up hope and will continue to compete for funding for this project as well as others. Another $600 million will soon become available for federal grants.
This project, like any, has as many detractors as supporters, but with our worsening traffic I have to ask – are we just masochists or are we worried that if we support mass transportation projects like the streetcar, high-speed rail and the Brain Train that we would lose our favorite topic of conversation in Atlanta? Traffic!
OH, and by the way, out of 51 projects awarded by the Obama administration, none were awarded to Georgia

Time is getting short!

The Federal Government has announced that they are going to ease out of buying mortgages in the secondary market, as of March 31, 2010. What does that mean for you as a buyer? It means mortgage rates will go up! If you pair that fact with the fact of the expiring home buyer's tax credit ($8000 for first time buyers, and $6500 for move up buyers) ,which expires at the end of
April, it means that sellers have a very limited time frame this year to try to get their home SOLD!

We are actually getting multiple offers on our listings THAT ARE PRICED RIGHT!! So, there are ready willing and able buyers out there,who can act fast, when they find the right house at the right price.

Time is running out!

Only 24 days left to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit. If you live in Georgia, there are other tax incentives for purchasing, totaling up to $14,000! It's almost like getting free money!!

We have plenty of opportunities now for first time home buyers, with more coming. LOTS of foreclosures and short sales available, and it is DEFINITELY a buyer's market! In fact, buyers won't buy now unless they think they are 'getting a deal'...so, if you've been waiting on the sidelines, now is the time to JUMP IN!

Keeping up with Technology

Got the new iPhone and am learning (slowly! and with the help of some teenage neighbors) all the applications that this phone can do besides telephoning--it's like having a computer, a gps system, a video camera, a palm pilot--a virtual assistant in one device!!

I'm not selling these phones, am just amazed at what technology is available in a small, compact design!

Dawn of a New Day!

We celebrated July 4th this past weekend, 10 days or so after the passing of several celebrities--Michael Jackon's passing has received most of the media attention, due to his talent as a performer, his international audience, and his personal life and tribulations. While I don't want to diminish Jackson's talent, it seems to me that the accolades and tributes, which are
STILL ongoing , surpass his actual legacy, as he was NOT a leader of a country, nor a spiritual icon....and, ...yet, the tributes continue, and projections are that his estate will make more money than he did while he was alive.....so, what does that say about our society and our need to idolize celebrities?...and what does any of this have to do with real estate?

Michael Jackson's Neverland estate had gone into foreclosure proceedings a year or so before our current economic collapse! It's my understanding that it was saved from being foreclosed on, but that someone of his great wealth could become a foreclosed homeowner was an 'eerie' prediction of what we're living through right now. Ed McMahon at age 86 was about to lose his home to foreclosure--this after a lifetime of TV promotional work and at wages that must've been 'above average' earnings.

So, the lesson here? Save more? Spend less?...or, is the lesson that maybe there's a basic flaw in our system?... that these two very wealthy people could almost lose their homes, where does that leave the average American homeowner? Current predictions are that up to 4 million Americans will lose their homes (or will have lost their homes) before the economy turns around--those numbers are staggering, to say the least, and the next wave of foreclosures is going to be in the 'high end' of the market, the luxury homes.

So, the dawn of a new day, is us taking responsibility for our actions;prosecuting and jailing those wall street crooks(other than Madoff, is anyone else even targeted?!) that encouraged the mortgage brokerages to make loans, knowing the loans would go bad. With this 4th of July celebration, let's all set our intentions for appreciation of true independence and true justice, and true FREEDOM!