Girdwood Real Estate - Girdwood Real Estate Blog

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Click here to a link on the U. S. G. S. site that details what you should do in the event of an eruption of Mount Redoubt.

POSTED BY: Bryan Epley AT 06:30 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments | E-mail this

Monday, 26 January 2009

Loan Modification Plans Draw Critics

Daily Real Estate News | January 26, 2009

Loan Modification Plans Draw Critics

With the estimated number of foreclosures approaching 8 million, it seems like everybody has a plan for modifying mortgages, but no one can agree on which one could work.

One outspoken critic of most loan modification plans is Norm Miller, a professor at the University of San Diego's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. He says he has looked at all the plans and remains unsure that mortgage modifications can really resolve the housing crisis.

Miller thinks that home owners who have lost jobs, died or divorced account for 50 percent of the defaults. Another 25 percent, he says, are a result of resets of adjustable-rate mortgages that borrowers can no longer afford on loans that are underwater.

"There are probably a few million people out there thinking this TARP money is going to help me stay in my house," he says. "We don't want to artificially prop up the process beyond what the fundamentals will support because all that does is delay the problem."

Source: BusinessWeek.com, David Bogoslaw (01/23/09)

POSTED BY: Bryan Epley AT 02:00 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments | E-mail this

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

Jury Duty Scam

Jury Duty Scam

(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) – Alaska State Troopers are warning the public against a scam hitting the nation aggressively pursuing identity theft through jury duty summons.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator and states that you failed to show up for jury duty. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth. The caller claims they need the information to check their system for an error and so the fictitious arrest warrant can be cleared. DO NOT COMPLY!!! By providing the caller with your personal information, you become the victim of identity theft.

Most of us take summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that this new scam has surfaced. This scam has been reported in 11 states. The scam is particularly insidious because the callers pretend to be with the court system and use intimidation tactics over the phone to try to bully people into giving information. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Click here to check it out.

POSTED BY: Bryan Epley AT 12:30 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments | E-mail this

Friday, 16 January 2009

Fourth Quarter 2008 Girdwood Real Estate Market Summary

The fourth quarter of 2008 saw eleven reported sales within the Girdwood and Turnagain Arm areas. Of these eleven sales, two were of homes, eight were of condos, and one was of vacant land.

Of the two home sales, one was located on St Moritz Dr, and one was located on Echo Ridge Dr. Of the eight condo sales, four were in the Snow Raven project, two were in the Alyeska West building, one was in the Timberline Building, and one was a Bird House Chalet. The single vacant lot sale was within the Chugach Park Subdivision located in Indian.

Activity in the fourth quarter was significantly higher than activity in the second and third quarters. Summers are slow for real estate sales in Girdwood typically, but the lack of activity in the third quarter was most likely a symptom of overall uncertainty in the national economy and stock market. Activity seemed to return to some level of normalcy in the fourth quarter and was in line with the calendar year as a whole.

POSTED BY: Bryan Epley AT 08:45 am | Permalink | 0 Comments | E-mail this

Friday, 16 January 2009

30-Year Rates Fall Below 5 Percent

Daily Real Estate News | January 16, 2009

30-Year Rates Fall Below 5 Percent

Mortgage rates dropped to their 11^th straight weekly decline, reaching new record lows, according to Freddie Mac.

Interest rates on 30-year, fixed rate mortgages averaged 4.96 percent this week, down from a previous week's 5.01 percent.

The low rates have caused a spike in home refinancing loans and a welcome relief to cash-strapped home owners facing a slowing economy and rising unemployment rates.

"The fact that interest rates have dropped to a record low is an important development since more affordable home financing could help bring buyers back to the market and prevent some of these foreclosures," says Lawrence White, professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Other rates were mixed for the week:

15 year fixed rates: averaged 4.65 percent, up from 4.62 percent.
1-year adjustable rate mortgages: fell slightly averaging 4.89 percent from 4.95 percent last week.
5/1 ARMs: averaged 5.25 percent compared with 5.49 percent last week.

Mortgage rates have continued to drop ever since the Federal Reserve announced a plan in December to buy up $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae—the government-sponsored enterprises.

Freddie Mac started recording mortgages in 1971.

Source: Reuters, Julie Haviv (1/15/09)

POSTED BY: Bryan Epley AT 07:15 am | Permalink | E-mail this