JUDGES PARTICIPATE IN LOAN MEDIATION HEARINGS

BROUGHT TO YOU BY KIM DUCLOS OF COLDWELL BANKER WARDLEY

KVBC - LAS VEGAS

If you recently received a notice of default on your home, the Nevada Supreme Court and Nevada Legislature have now made it a law that your lender go to mediation.
To prepare dozens of district court judges to act as mediators, they are participating in mock sessions that will help them help you through the process.
News 3's explains how these mediations may help keep thousands of folks in their homes.
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Nearly two dozen judges showed up Friday at UNLV's Boyd School of Law in an effort to learn how to be better mediators.

"What were doing here today is expanding the skill set of our district court judges," says Jennifer Elliott, District Court Judge. "The judges need to learn and the judges know they need to learn. They are here desiring to learn an impartial set of skills."
The reason these judges are practicing now is because soon, they will be asked to mediate hundreds - if not thousands - of foreclosure cases.
Thanks to Assembly Bill 149, it is now Nevada law that all homeowners facing default after July 1 participate in mediation with their lender.
Attorney Ed Bernstein has clients facing foreclosure. He says mediation will end up helping thousands of families to stay in their homes.
And the best part is that it's simple to apply and affordable, only costing $200.
"This system is so simple," says Bernstein. "Our supreme court has done a great job. They've made it easy and the form - any layman can fill out the form. You don't need to be an attorney."
Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, James Hardesty, hopes that these mediations will stop the rising number of foreclosures in the Silver State.
"My hope is that lenders and borrowers will get together and reach reasonable economic decisions about how best to handle the residence they've got."
The entire mediation process, beginning with when you apply and lasting until a decision is reached should take no more than 90 days. Anyone receiving a notice of default since July 1 will receive a mediation application in the mail.
For more information, visit the Nevada Judiciary web site.
The Saving You Money Team also wants to let you know about two foreclosure workshops to help you stay in your home.
The Hope Now Foreclosure Prevention Workshop is happening Friday until 8 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm at the Aliante Station Casino in the Scottsdale Ballroom. You'll be able to meet face-to-face with a housing counselor and discuss your best options.
Best of all, this workshop is free and open to the public.
Also, there is another educational event that will help lay out all of your options, explain what loan modification is, and help you recognize what to watch out for if you go to a loan modification company.
It's being held at the AAA Home Rescue Office on Sunset Road near Jones and the 215 Beltway. This workshop begins at 11 am on Saturday.

Loan Modification Plan: 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Brought to you by Kim Duclos of Coldwell Banker Wardley

The White House releases fresh details on its plan to save the housing market By Luke Mullins Posted March 4, 2009

At the heart of the President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to rescue the housing market is the conviction that restructuring distressed mortgages will keep struggling borrowers in their homes and help insert a floor beneath plummeting property values. With $75 billion dedicated to reworking troubled loans, that's a big bet—especially considering that a top banking regulator said last December that almost 53 percent of loans modified in the first quarter of 2008 went bad again within six months. But supporters argue that mortgage modifications need to be properly engineered to work—and many early ones weren't. To that end, the Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled fresh details on its plan to restructure at-risk loans and help as many as four million home owners avoid foreclosure. Here are seven things you need to know about Obama's loan modification program.

1. Payments, not prices: The plan centers on the belief that struggling borrowers will stay in their homes—even as values decline sharply—as long as they can make their monthly payments. Although not everyone agrees with this, billionaire investor Warren Buffett endorsed the philosophy in his most recent letter to shareholders. "Commentary about the current housing crisis often ignores the crucial fact that most foreclosures do not occur because a house is worth less than its mortgage (so-called “upside-down” loans)," Buffett wrote. "Rather, foreclosures take place because borrowers can’t pay the monthly payment that they agreed to pay."

2. Thirty-one percent: To that end, the administration's plan requires participating loan servicers to reduce monthly payments to no more than 38 percent of the borrower's gross monthly income. The government would then chip in to bring payments down further, to no more than 31 percent of the borrower's monthly income. In lowering the payment, the servicer would first reduce the interest rate to as low as 2 percent. If that's not enough to hit the 31 percent threshold, they would then extend the terms of the loan to up to 40 years. If that's still not enough, the servicer would forebear loan principal at no interest. The plan does not, however, require servicers to reduce mortgage principal, which Richard Green, the director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at USC, considers a shortcoming. "For underwater loans, if you don't write down the balance to be less than the value of the house, people still have an incentive to default," Green says. "Writing down the principal first instead of last—which is what [the Obama administration is] proposing—makes sense to me."

3. Cash incentives: To encourage participation, servicers will be paid $1,000 for each modification and will get an additional $1,000 payout each year for as many as three years, as long as the borrower continues making payments. Borrowers, meanwhile, can get up to $1,000 knocked off the principal of their loan each year for as many as five years if they make their payments on time. Neither party can receive the cash incentives until the modified loan payments have been made for at least three months.

4. Financial hardship: The Obama administration is pitching its plan as an effort to help responsible homeowners ensnared in the historic housing slump and painful recession—not speculators. As such, only owner-occupied, primary residences with outstanding principal balances of up to $729,750 are eligible. Occupancy status will be verified through documents, such as the borrower's credit report. In addition, the program is designed to target homeowners who are undergoing "serious hardships"—such as a loss of income—which have put them at risk of default. To participate, borrowers will have to sign an affidavit of financial hardship and verify their income with documents. "If we would have had such stringent verification over the last four or five years, we probably wouldn't be in as bad a position as we are in," says Richard Moody, the chief economist at Mission Residential. But while Moody has no objection to such verification, obtaining documents from so many homeowners could be an onerous effort. "It's going to be a very time-consuming process," he says. Only loans originated on or before Jan. 1, 2009, are eligible, and modified payments will remain in place for five years. Now that the administration's plan is out, lenders are free to begin modifying loans.

5. Net present value: To determine if a particular mortgage will be modified, the servicer will perform a so-called net present value test. The test compares the expected cash flow that the loan would generate if it is modified with the expected cash flow it would generate if it isn't. If the modified loan is expected to produce more cash flow for the mortgage holder, the servicer is to restructure the loan. Howard Glaser, a mortgage industry consultant and a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development official during the Clinton administration, called this component of the plan "clever," arguing that it would work to ensure broad participation. "When you apply the formula, the loans that are modified are the ones that are in the best economic interest of the investors to modify," Glaser says. "The federal subsidy for the payment on the modification…tips the scale toward modification as a better deal for the investor."

6. Second liens: The Obama plan also addresses the issue of second liens—such as home equity loans or home equity lines of credit—by offering incentives to extinguish them. But key details on this component of the plan remained unclear. "Distinguishing the second lien is really important," Green says. "[But] exactly how they are going to convince the second lien holder to do this is not clear to me at all."

7. Will it work? Moody argues that while the plan may reduce foreclosures for primary residences, it could lead to a spike in defaults for another group of homeowners. Although he supports the administration's efforts to focus the initiative on primary residences, Moody notes that "it could be the case that a lot of [real estate speculators] have been just hanging on waiting to see exactly what the details are of this [plan]," Moody says. Now that it's clear the Obama plan leaves speculators out, "we could actually see a spike in foreclosures or at least mortgage defaults among this group."
Glaser, meanwhile, worries that lenders may soon be overwhelmed by inquiries from homeowners looking to participate. "Starting today, millions of borrowers are going to start to call their lenders to see whether or not they are eligible," he said. "And I'm not sure that the financial services industry has the capacity to handle these inquiries."

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(702) 521-3939 or (888) 949-2890 and duclos24@aol.com

Law Gives Tenants of Foreclosed Properties an Additional 60 Days to Vacate

BROUGHT TO YOU BY KIM DUCLOS OF COLDWELL BANKER WARDLEY
Real Estate Agents that represent buyers who are purchasing homes through foreclosure auctions should be aware that effective July 1, 2009, Assembly Bill 452 has taken affect. It will change NRS 40.255. Attached is the bill: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/75th2009/Bills/AB/AB452.pdf#xml=http://search.leg.state.nv.us/isysquery/irleb65/1/hilite
This gives tenants of foreclosed properties an additional 60-days or more to vacate the property from the date of the "notice of the change of ownership" is received by the tenant. If you represent buyers who plan to move into these properties, you should make sure the property that was foreclosed on has already been vacated by tenants and the current owner has served the proper notices to the appropriate parties.

Please call me with all of your real estate questions or concerns. (888) 949-2890
Kim Duclos Coldwell Banker Wardley - http://www.callkim.net/

How do you cool down a hot interior? Tips on escaping the heat.

How do you cool down a hot interior? Expert tips on escaping the heat
by By Tom Torbjornsen

Have you ever walked across a hot asphalt parking lot, and, with each step, dreaded the moment you have to open the car door and climb into an oven? That hot summer sun: we love it, we hate it. But who enjoys burning their hammies, their hands, and every other body part that makes contact with a car's interior on a hot summer day? The good news is that I am the "Sultan of Cool," bearing tips to help you keep your car cool during the summer.
Keep these tips in mind to beat the summer heat inside your car:
1. Parking Tips
The most obvious thing we can do to keep the car cool is park in the shade. If there is no shade, try to park so that the sun comes in the back window. At least that way the front dash, steering wheel, and seats don't get as hot.
2. Vent the Windows
Another technique I've used is to crack the windows about a half-inch to allow some airflow. My daughter uses side vent shades on the backseat windows. They look a little tacky, but they keep the sun off the backseat; and when her kids are riding in their car seats, it keeps the sun off them, protecting them from UV rays as well as the heat.
3. Don't Be Afraid to Blast the A/C
Once you enter that hot car, turn on the air conditioner and open your windows a couple of inches. Some people think they have to run the car for a while (to warm up the engine) before turning on the air conditioning (increasing the load). There is no truth to this. Start the car, open the windows, and turn the air conditioning on high. This will efficiently lower the interior temperatures because the cool air produced will displace the hot air, pushing it out the windows. As soon as it's cooled off, close the windows.
4. Shield Your Windows
A car sitting in a parking lot all day can reach temperatures well over 100 degrees F. There are several companies that make windshield shields that block out the sun's rays. Not only do they lower interior temperatures, but they also stop the UV rays from damaging dashboards and fading fabrics. A cheaper alternative is to use a common household item. A friend of mine keeps a white towel in her car and throws it over the dash/steering wheel. The white reflects the light and helps reduce the heat somewhat.
If you want to spend the bucks and really lower interior temperatures, PPG has just released its Sungate EP automotive glass windshield which they claim significantly reduces the transmission of solar energy, keeping the interior cool and improving fuel economy. The new technology employs a glazing process built into the glass of the Sungate windshields, which reduces front seat temperatures 27 degrees F and air-breath temperatures 16 degrees F. Since air-conditioner workload decreases, so does fuel consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions, according to PPG. Many new cars feature UV blocking of some sort, so the chances are that you've likely already seen or driven a car with a UV-blocking window.
5. Tint Your Windows
Window tinting is very effective in lowering interior temperatures. However, there are different rules regulating window tinting for every state. Some states prohibit tinting of the front windows so police officers can see into a vehicle during a traffic stop. Other states allow tinting, but the degree of tinting is defined, which varies from state to state. So before having your vehicle's windows tinted, check with your state DMV to make sure you don't break any laws.
6. Car Shoppers, Keep This in Mind
For those of you in the market for a car, there are two important things you can keep in mind as you purchase your next vehicle. We recommend drivers in southern states choose cloth interiors rather than leather. Leather tends to absorb heat and thus it gets much hotter in the summertime (it also gets colder in winter). A second (but more expensive) option is to opt for air-conditioned seats if you're buying a luxury car. In these cars and trucks, small refrigerant units are built into the seats. When activated, they circulate cooled air up through the seat, keeping your underside quite cool, dehumidified, and downright comfortable.

5 First Time Buyer Mistakes to Avoid

5 first-time buyer mistakes to avoid
Experienced homeowners share their secrets so you won't make a rookie move
By Sarah Max, Cyberhomes Senior Writer
July 10, 2009

If you're a first-time home buyer in this market, how could you go wrong? Nationally, sales prices of existing single-family homes are down nearly 24 percent since their July 2006 peak. Interest rates, recently 4.9 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, are hovering near historic lows.
And if that isn't incentive enough, Uncle Sam is offering first-time buyers an $8,000 tax credit to further sweeten the deal.
But as any homeowner will tell you, the decision to buy a home is only half the battle. The real challenge is in the details of what, where and how much. Here are five first-time home buyer mistakes you don't want to make.

First Time Buyer Guide 2009
This is an exciting year for first time buyers, with a once in a lifetime opportunity to get the home of your dream.Gallery: Advice for First Timers+ Understanding the First Time Buyer Credit
1. Don't think that "long term" is a couple of years.
Buying a home, especially now, requires long-term planning, not just with finances, but with your career and your personal life. "The old rule was to plan on owning the house for three to four years," says Ben Hoefer, an agent with John L. Scott in Seattle. "I'm recommending that people think in terms of five to seven years."
If you don't know where you'll be a year from now, let alone seven years from now, you might want to rethink your plans to buy. A house isn't a bargain if you can't recoup your investment. The more time you can spend in the home -- comfortably -- the better the deal.
For many first-time home buyers, that means finding a house that suits their needs and their budget now but also offers room to grow -- or the option to rent. Location is another sticking point. "A lot of people will go for the better house farther out and realize, after it's too late, it's not the location they want," says Hoefer. Would the commute be manageable if you change jobs? What about school quality? These factors influence not only your sanity but also home values.
2. Don't settle for something with more wrongs than rights.
Before you get lured into an open house, spend some time figuring out how much home you can afford and browse online listings to familiarize yourself with the market. "Most first-time buyers are going to be hard pressed to get everything they want, even now," says David Krieger, general manager of Coldwell Banker Preferred in Philadelphia. But if you prioritize your needs and wants and give yourself time to look around, you have a better shot.
For More: Cyberhomes First Time Buyer Guide
That tactic worked well for Litsy Witkowski, who bought her first home last summer. "I didn't necessarily want to find a place very quickly," says Witkowski, 27, who spent more than six months looking around New Haven, Conn. During that time she saw dozens of houses and condominiums and "quickly learned what neighborhoods and styles I liked and didn't like," she says. Her home, a three-bedroom colonial with two and a half bathrooms, a finished attic and basement, and a four-season porch, was listed for $299,000; Witkowski managed to negotiate the price down to $285,000. "Taking my time was definitely the right call," says Witkowski, who shares her home with three housemates. "I think there is something to be said for walking into a place and knowing that you either love it or you don't."
3. Don't make finding an agent an afterthought. With so much information at your fingertips, it might seem old fashioned to enlist the help of a real estate agent. But, a good buyer's agent brings a lot more to the table than listings; he can walk you through everything from the loan preapproval to the home inspection and, most importantly, is obligated to put your interests first.
In hindsight, this is one thing first-time home buyer Kelcey Nichols, 34, would have done differently when she started house hunting in Santa Fe, N.M., a couple of years ago. Although she's very happy with her three-bedroom adobe-style home, she wasn't always on the same page as her agent. "We had different negotiation styles," she says. If she were buying again she would interview several agents before starting the search. "I think working with someone who really knows what you want could save you a lot of time and money," she says.
Yet, most buyers don't spend enough time looking for an agent who will represent their interests in the transaction, says Krieger. Instead, they find the home and call the listing agent, not realizing that that agent represents the seller. It's better to find your own advocate from day one. What's it going to cost you? Technically, nothing. Sellers' and buyers' agents split commissions paid by the seller. Although you could go it alone and ask the seller's agent to cut her commission and pass that savings on to you, as a first-time buyer it's likely you would do better working with a pro and looking for savings elsewhere.
4. Don't assume that every home is in foreclosure.
No doubt there are deals to be had. But just because national headlines show double-digit drops in home prices and a record level of foreclosures doesn't mean that's the case for every home in every market. Nationally, fewer than 1 percent of all housing units on the market are in foreclosure, according to first-quarter data from RealtyTrac. While you don't want to rule out foreclosed property, you don't want to limit your search to the bargain bin.
Krieger notes that the average Philadelphia seller is receiving about 97 percent of asking price. This figure will vary from month to month and even from neighborhood to neighborhood, so do your homework before putting in an offer. Now that home prices have fallen so much, many of the best deals are starting to fetch multiple offers.
5. Don't forget about all the other costs of owning a home.
After searching Salt Lake City for six months, Julia Lyon, 35, knew she'd found a winner when she walked through the front door of a circa-1901 Victorian in the Liberty Park neighborhood. The house needed a little work. But at $260,500 the price seemed fair, especially by 2006 standards.
Still, the home has gobbled up more time and money than she'd ever anticipated. "As my brother recently told me, I didn't buy a house -- I bought a project," says Lyon, who's spent about $15,000 on everything from gutting the first-floor bathroom to fencing in the backyard. "I don't want to keep ignoring problems that should have been dealt with 10 years ago," says Lyon, who got married in 2008. "But I worry that we're putting more money into some of the fixes than we may get back."
Most first-time home buyers find themselves in a similar situation: They focus so much on the sticker price that they fail to account for the other costs that come with owning a home. Some of these costs aren't optional -- closing costs, maintenance and utilities. Others -- new furniture and gardening tools, to name a few -- can add thousands of dollars to the price tag if you're not careful.
At the same time Lyon is conscious of "over improving" her home, she has no regrets about buying it. "I love my house as much today as I did the first time I saw it," she says. Unfortunately, many buyers from the boom can't say the same. "Some of the saddest homeowner stories I've heard are from people who bought too quickly -- without really understanding what was out there."

Made in the USA!

This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you. The whole world is afraid of China-made "black hearted goods". Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA. 471 is Made in Taiwan . This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves. Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ", so they don't show from which country it is made. However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are:690-692 . then it is MADE IN CHINA ..00 - 09 . USA & CANADA30 - 37 . FRANCE40 - 44 . GERMANY47 ... Taiwan49 . JAPAN50 . UKBUY USA by watching for "0" at the beginning of the number. We need every boost we can get!
In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else and perhaps even their job. My grandson likes Hershey's candy. It is marked made in Mexico . I do not buy it any more My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything. This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled,"Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio. So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here. So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets....yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!So my challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from China ...........(We should have awakened to this a decade ago......)Let's get with the program.... help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U.S.A. !!!

HOW DOES A YIELD SPREAD HELP BUYERS BUY?

Opportunity is knocking fairly loudly for many considering homeownership. Home prices have declined in many markets around the country and tax incentives and other inducements have first-time home buyers and others weighing the possibilities.
Home affordability, as defined by the National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index, stands near all-time highs, thanks to declining prices and historically low mortgage rates. Yet, while some consumers hold off on purchases as they attempt to catch the home-price bottom, they could miss the mortgage-financing opportunity of a lifetime.
Consider the weekly average yield spread between Fannie Mae’s 6.5-year bond to the “benchmark” 10-year Treasury note, a classic relationship that involves the cost of making mortgage loans to consumers. Before disarray in the financial markets, the spread ran about 1% above Treasury bonds, reflecting investors’ confidence that owning debt of bonds backed by Fannie and Freddie is nearly as safe as owning government bonds.
The spread began widening in July 2007 as the global financial crisis unfolded, then spiked to above 2% during the next year as the U.S. economy seized and credit grew scarce. It grew to a startling 2.5% late last year as bond investors’ skittishness about continued delinquencies and defaults-and that the risk of these mortgages had not been properly assessed-resulted in higher risk premiums and higher costs to borrowers.
Late last year, however, the Federal Reserve Bank stepped in with a promise to purchase $500 billion in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, and raised that figure to $1.25 trillion in March. The move, combined with loan-modification initiatives and other federal intervention, restored investor confidence in the secondary market and mortgage rates declined rapidly. The yield spread in March dropped to 1% and zero and then fell to an unprecedented minus 0.5% by early May.
This condition is certainly unique and, likely, short-lived. Statistically, when the yield spread deviates from historical norms, the chances are great it will return to those levels. That could quickly drive mortgage rates higher. How much is anyone’s guess, but if the cost of making a mortgage goes up by 1.5% so, too, might mortgage interest rates.
Yet, factor in some additional variables. The marketplace for bonds relies heavily on purchases by offshore buyers who remain skeptical as the global economy continues in flux. Then there’s the inflation-deflation conundrum. Many fear a deflationary spiral-with falling prices for goods and services that lead to falling wages-can still drag down a stabilizing U.S. economy.
Conversely, others believe inflation will kick in, ushering in higher consumer prices, including higher mortgage rates. How this issue shakes out will have important implications for interest rates.
One thing is crystal clear: the odds that mortgage interest rates will rise are much greater than any continued mortgage-rate decline. And for most home buyers, the cost of mortgage financing can be as important as the price of the home itself.
Real estate sales professionals can help their customers make the best long-term decisions by demonstrating the degree to which housing prices and mortgage interest rates could move from this point forward. Customers waiting for the absolute lowest price on a house could miss a golden financing opportunity and the lowest overall cost of homeownership.

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