Real Estate News & Updates from the Monadnock Region
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What is New Hampshire’s Current Use Law?

May 14th, 2012 | Posted by Dick Thackston in News | Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

On July 1, 1973 the Current Use Law became effective in New Hampshire.  The Current Use law was designed to keep New Hampshire’s rural character in tact while allowing owner’s to use the land quoting from the preamble to the law itself: “It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to encourage preservation of open space, thus providing a healthful and attractive outdoor environment for work and recreation of the state’s citizen’s, maintaining the character of the state’s landscape, and conserving the land, water, forest, agricultural and wildlife resources.”

The effect of the Current Use law has been to provide a lower tax rate on larger tracts of land so that property owners would not be forced to subdivide and sell off their property in order to cope with large property tax bills. By keeping land in an undeveloped condition family farms have been preserved as well as woodlands, wet lands and other tracts that might well have been lost over the last thirty-nine years.

Over half on the land in New Hampshireis enrolled in the Current Use program and it has been the foundation of the State of New Hampshireprivate property based land conservation program.

The following are characteristics of the State of New Hampshire’s Current Use Program:

Generally speaking a parcel must be of at least ten acres, exceptions to this are wetlands of any size, tree farms of any size and parcels of less than ten acres that produce more than $2,500 in agricultural products. Open undeveloped land that is less than ten acres as well as any area covered by buildings does not qualify for Current Use.

If an owner acquires abutting parcels of less than ten acres the additional parcels can be added and would qualify for Current Use or if an owner has a number of abutting parcels of less than ten acres each but the entire contiguous amount owned is ten or more acres then the property is eligible for Current Use.

What is a contiguous parcel? Contiguous parcels under the Current Use Law are defined by the NHSPACE.org website as “more than one parcel of land, which is connected, even if a highway, rail bed, river or water body divides it. This means land that touches any of your property boundaries, or is across the road or on the other side of a pond, stream or river, on both sides of railroad tracks, or across a political boundary.”

If a property owner enrolls his property in Current Use it does not mean his land is now “Open to the Public”. When a property owner enrolls his property in Current Use it is still private property – remember the focus of this law has been keeping New Hampshirelarge undeveloped tracts in private hands – the property owner still has the right to determine how his property will be used just as he would if it were not in Current Use.

For more details on New Hampshire’s Current Use Law visit NHSPACE.org

 

By Dick Thackston CRB, ABR, ABRM

Broker NH, MA & VT

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Strange, but True: Your House Price Drops but REO Properties go up in Price!

May 10th, 2012 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Mortgage News | News | Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

According to several industry sources the average value of bank owned, REO Properties, has actually increased in the last years while the value of non-bank owned real estate has dropped on average! There are several reasons in the realm of conventional wisdom as to why this is happening; the most common reason given is that REO properties are being bought up by investment groups and turned into rentals thus driving up the price of REO’s on average. While this certainly is a factor there are other factors that are probably more important to the change in real estate values that I see happening as a “boots on the ground REALTOR”.

Here’s how I see it. The initial wave of foreclosures was for the most part badly maintained and marginal properties: no real surprise that the most marginal home owners were the least able to maintain and upgrade their homes and least able to hang on through tough, tougher and tougher economic times. These homes languished off the market as so called “shadow inventory” for months and in many cases years due to a hostile regulatory and legal environment in which mortgage holders found themselves, thus slowing up the process of foreclosure, resale and return of these residential assets to productive use. No news there really. What the facts recently made public noted about rising REO prices and declining price on non-bank owned real estate indicates is not that we are “moving toward the middle” but in-fact indicate that we are continuing to crater the housing market in slow motion.

This pattern of rising REO value reflects exactly what many experienced REO REALTORS have noted over the last six to nine months: we are getting better quality inventory. The better quality inventory is the result of the economic damage moving up the food chain from the economic bottom into the middle and above. The middle class buyer that bought his house at a fair market price in 2009 is likely to find that when he goes to sell his home today it’s worth the same or a little less and that any improvements he made have added little or no value. So, if they can’t hang on and they can’t sell they let it go. Thus leading to a better class REO property and putting further and continuing pressure on the middle of the market.

What does it all mean? It means that there is no foreseeable improvement coming for non-REO properties and that REO properties will continue to dominate the residential real estate market. Warren Buffet is right: single family homes are likely to continue to be an excellent investment for those who can“buy and hold” but only for those who can buy and hold either as owner occupants or as investors looking at increasingly higher and higher rents over the foreseeable future.

 

By Dick Thackston CRB, ABR, ABRM

Broker NH, MA & VT

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Up to Four Million Foreclosures to be Reviewed by Government!

November 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Mortgage News | News | Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

By Dick Thackston CRB, ABRM, ABR

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has begun sending out letters to borrowers who have faced foreclosure since 2009. It is estimated that approximately four million borrowers foreclosures may have been mishandled between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Federal regulators and most of the nation’s largest home mortgage servicers announced earlier this week.

Cases will be reviewed by Federal Regulators as a result of an agreement established in April of this year in which the nation’s fourteen top mortgage servicers agreed with regulators to hire independent consultants to evaluate foreclosure processes and determine if borrowers had experienced financial injury as a result of errors or abuses by servicers. It will be up to the independent consultants to evaluate cases and determine compensation if any due to borrowers.

The Comptroller of the Currency as well as the Federal Reserve will be sending mails between now and the end of the year to notify potential victims of their rights. A mass media campaign is planned as well to direct borrowers to the website www.IndependentForeclosureReview.com or the toll free number 888.952.9105. All requests for review must be submitted by April 30, 2012.

The mortgage servicers and the government agreed that the servicers would pay all the expenses associated of setting up the program. Under government supervision they have hired eight independent consultants that have designed the program to be at no cost to the borrowers. The consultants have set up the website and call center noted above. The program is designed to encourage borrowers from all lenders to use one portal and there is uniform branding and product design to be clearer in the public mind than a number of different sites would be to the public.

There are several basic patterns that the consultants will be looking at to determine wrongdoing and these include miscalculation of fees, a foreclosure that happened while a borrower was under bankruptcy court protection and the most common one in my experience a foreclosure that was done while a borrower was waiting for a response on a loan modification.

This program is a direct result of last year’s robo signing scandal and the investigations that followed. About a year ago it came to public light that many mortgage servicers were cutting corners on due process when foreclosing on properties and either not properly executing documents or simply faking documents to expedite the large number of foreclosures they had on their hands.

This program is a good solution to an unfortunate situation. Objectively, most of these borrowers were in fact behind and many if not most were ready and willingly left their properties to begin over, however that does justify short cutting the legal protection of property rights built into our system of property ownership over the last thousand years from Common Law to Current Law.

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How I got Started Doing Short Sales.

October 17th, 2011 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Buying Tips | Real Estate News | Selling Tips - (0 Comments)

By Dick Thackston CRB, ABRM, ABR

Short Sale Success Story:

Short sales have become a major part of my companys business.

In 2007 I realized that more and more of the owners I interviewed during listing appointments were helplessly under water on the loan on their home.

During the Savings & Loan crisis of the late 80s and early 90s I first experienced short sales. Back then, it was mostly small business owners who had second business loans against their home and as the economy slowed, their businesses slowed or failed, and the bank came after their houses. This is where I learned to do short sales. Up until then, personally, I had never even imagined not being able to sell a house and not clear the loan balances and I had been in the business over ten years at that point.

So I learned to negotiate with lenders to help them understand Fair Market Value and accept the reality of the situation – not the ideal for anyone, but half a loaf is better than none.

So when I started to see homeowners under water again four years ago I felt it would be important to start trying to negotiate short sales – again. Unfortunately both home owners and lenders were still stubbornly unrealistic about the situation at that time. Many of the homeowners I initially advised to consider a short sale ultimately lost the property singing the “I need, I own, I won’t” chorus regardless of market realities, or they spent valuable months and years following the market down. Needlessly doing needless damage to their credit by loosing their home to foreclosure, most had they followed my initial advice would have in fact walked away from a sales with some money, less than they had expected but some money – far better than a short sale or total loss through foreclosure.

Some of the short sales I initially proposed to banks wound up going to foreclosure as well. Costing the lender $50,000 to $100,000 in equity that could have preserved for their company, however banks had a problem too because many had just done refinances or made new loans they would say something like “we have an appraisal that is only six months old” not recognizing how quickly the market was changing in those days. What a tragedy! What a tragedy for all parties!

So now Short Sales are commonly accepted as better than foreclosure and few, if any, lenders are waiting for the market to recover. The biggest issue with Short Sales remains sellers that are too slow to take action. I got a call today from a seller that is schedule for foreclosure sale in ten days. He turned down a short sale about a year and a half ago and now he wants to try and find a buyer and complete a short sale negotiation in ten days? Not going to happen. I suggested that he simply needs to plan on the foreclosure and arrange to move out of the house. Banks at this point are far more realistic than sellers and far more prone to look realistically upon a short sale and work on it realistically. Bank of America and Citibank have made tremendous improvements in their systems for handling short sales. In both cases they have gotten to be the best in the business to deal with, when a few years ago I really don’t think they allocated any serious resources to the Short Sale process.

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What about all the distressed properties?

September 12th, 2011 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Mortgage News | Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

By Dick Thackston

Distressed properties are the biggest part of the real estate business today. Of the distressed properties that are on the market and selling now the majority are not bank owned REO properties rather the majority of distressed properties on the market and selling today are “Short Sales”. Short sales are properties where the home owner owes more than the current market value of the home and is attempting to sell the property and have the bank write down the loan balance on the home.

Generally, Short Sales properties are in better condition and are still financeable with normal condition than properties that have gone to foreclosure because the home owner still lives in the home and maintains it as their own. These seller’s generally are looking to maintain their credit and are just people caught in the trap created by a declining real estate market over the last five years and have to move on for one reason or another.

National data services show that 12% of all homes that closed nationwide in the second quarter of 2011 were short sales; that’s up from 10% from 10% for the same period in 2010! Effectively a 20% increase.

The reason for the increase appear to be multifold: it appears that more home owners have come to accept that their home will not increase in value without improvements in the property or the economy that are outside their ability or control and their reason’s for needing to move generally revolve around job and/or family changes as well as just a plan old need to move on.

Another major factor in this phenomenon has been banks & lenders that hold mortgages. Banks & lenders have come around 180 degrees from where they were five years ago. Five years ago very few banks & lenders would even consider a short sale, they like most home owners expected prices to maintain or recoup in a few months, but today they have come to realize increasingly that it is in their best interest to work with troubled home owners to resolve mortgages where the homeowner is upside down on the loan. To be sure this has resulted from pressure from the government in Washington as much as from market forces but overall it is good news and likely to pave the way to a more stable and prosperous housing market in the future but getting the dead weight of over mortgaged homes through the system. As an example Bank of America has announced that it expects to complete around 100,000 short sales in 2011!

The key to a successful short sale experience is consistently an agent who has the background and experience to complete a short sale it is not an easy process even now. It generates many times the paperwork and problems of any other sale. The team at R.H. Thackston & Company has been completing short sales since the Savings & Loan crisis of the early 1990’s and has the experience and knowledge to serve you in managing a distressed property sale. Since the beginning of 2011 we have completed on average 3.5 distressed property sales every month.

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Bernanke speaks, the world listens

October 25th, 2010 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Mortgage News | Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

So we all waited over the weekend and until this morning to hear about what’s happening in the currency markets to the dollar and what Fed Chairman Bernanke would have to say at the FDIC; Fed sponsored conference on dealing with foreclosures. Here’s what we got, confirmation of no surprises.

The Fed has been talking about QE2, more quantitative easing – that is to say expanding the money supply, for several weeks. The traditional argument against QE2 is it devalues the dollar and transfers wealth from creditors to borrowers. The old saying “inflation is the debtors friend” remains as true today as it was at anytime in our past. Not surprisingly QE2 is not a popular concept with our trading partners and creditors specifically the Chinese. Mainly because it will make their products more expensive in the country and our products cheaper in their country as well as make their investments in mortgage backed securities less valuable. More importantly it would probably lead to higher oil prices and higher real estate prices.

Without higher real estate prices and the expectation of higher real estate prices the real estate market is likely to remain stagnant. Inflation, late 1970′s Jimmy Carter style, would change this leading to a reflation of real estate prices which would solve much of the problem with the current housing situation. Bernanke stated this morning that approximately 23% of Americans owe more on their homes they are worth: a true statement which does not lead to a stronger housing market.

So how does this tie into this morning’s comments? This morning’s comments were principally focused on curbing fraud and abuse in lending practices. Few people familiar with underwriting and lending practices between 2004 and 2007 with any depth of experience in the Housing Industry would not confirm that lending practices became increasingly irresponsible in that time period. Bernanke noted that home ownership peaked in 2004 at 69% however it is of no benefit to put people in homes that they cannot afford or that are over mortgaged. Literally trying to correct fraud and poor underwriting practices now would appear to be closing the barn door after the cows are out so why this speech now?

Because its part of the balance against the inflationary pressures that the Fed more than likely is about to release. In the inflation of prices that may well occur over the next several quarters the Fed and FDIC are saying effectively, “we will let prices rise but we will not allow irresponsible lending”. This move is designed to ensure the security of investor and attempt to restore confidence in the Mortgage Backed Securities which are critical to any housing recovery and positive future for American housing.

Bernanke is as much as saying trust us we won’t do this again, lend us some more money.

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Bank of America Plans to Resume Some Foreclosures

October 21st, 2010 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Mortgage News | Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

Bank of America Plans to Resume Some Foreclosures
Published: Monday, 18 Oct 2010 | 3:44 PM ET
By: AP
Bank of America says it plans to resume foreclosures in 23 states next week and will refile paperwork for 102,000 cases.

Nell Redmond / AP
Bank of America is the only lender to halt foreclosures in all 50 states.
________________________________________
The company says it will begin refiling documents next Monday in states that require a judge’s approval to restart the foreclosure process. The company says it will continuing delaying about 30,000 foreclosures in 27 states that don’t require a judge’s approval.
Bank of America is the only lender to halt foreclosures in all states after evidence emerged that the bank filed documents that employees did not read.

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Foreclosure Update

July 12th, 2010 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

Foreclosure Information
From NHHFA news letter, dated Friday, July 9, 2010

Foreclosure deeds

There were 323 foreclosure deeds recorded in May 2010. While still a record high for that month, this is the second monthly decline in a row and an increase of less than 10% over foreclosure deeds recorded in May 2009. This trend suggests that banks are working through the surplus inventory of foreclosures in process in early 2010. Nonetheless, we are on track to experience another record year of foreclosures in New Hampshire.  Any significant decline in the number of foreclosures will likely result from steady improvement in the underlying economic conditions including real growth in jobs and a resurgence of residential property values accompanied by an increase in demand.  To read New Hampshire Housing’s complete Foreclosure Update for June go to www.nhhfa.org/rl_docs/housingdata/ForeclosureUpdate_06-29-10.htm

Resources for Home Owners

Home owners who find themselves facing difficulty paying their mortgage or who may have already received a notice of foreclosure may still have resources available to them to assist in saving their home. One of those resources is the state’s foreclosure prevention website, HomeHelpNH.org. That site offers a large amount of information in an easy to understand format, along with links to websites offering programs that may help them and contact information for free housing counselors to assist them in their efforts to save their home.

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News From NAR: International Interest in U.S. Homeownership Increases, Realtors Report

July 9th, 2010 | Posted by Dick Thackston in Real Estate News - (0 Comments)

Saul Klein, e-PRO Real Estate Educator San Diego, CA

Jul 08, 2010

International Interest in U.S. Homeownership Increases, Realtors Report

WASHINGTON (July 7, 2010) – International home buyers are increasingly
attracted to property in the U.S., according to the National Association
of Realtors’ 2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity.
Several factors, including the strength of the dollar, the value and
desirability of U.S. real estate, and the emerging economic recovery,
continue to drive international interest in owning a home in this
country.

“While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for
property owners,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L.
Cox Real Estate in Tucson, Ariz. “The U.S. continues to be a top
destination for international buyers from all over the world. Foreign
buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country and can
rely on Realtors® to help guide them through the complex process of
buying property in the U.S. With expertise, knowledge and experience,
Realtors® have a global perspective.”

The survey, released today, covers the period between April 1, 2009, and
March 31, 2010. During that time foreign buyers, including those with
residency outside the U.S. as well as recent immigrants and temporary
visa holders, are estimated to have purchased $66 billion of U.S.
residential property, or 7 percent of the residential market.

Slightly more than a quarter of Realtors®, 28 percent, reported working
with at least one international client in the past year. This is a
significant increase from the 2009 report, when 23 percent of Realtors®
worked with foreign clients. Eighteen percent of all Realtors® were
estimated to have completed at least one sale, compared to 12 percent
last year.

“Several factors have contributed to an increase in international buyer
interest in the U.S.,” said Golder. “A large majority of Realtors®
report the changes in value to the U.S. dollar have had a strong impact
on the international real estate business. In addition, perceptions
abroad about trends in the U.S. real estate market have led many
international clients to believe purchasing a home in the U.S. is more
affordable than in their country and holds more value.”

International buyers came from 53 different countries around the world.
The top four countries were Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and China/Hong
Kong. With 23 percent of international buyers coming from Canada, the
country has remained the largest buying group in the past three years.
Foreign buyers from Mexico have been steadily increasing. In 2010 Mexico
replaced the U.K. as the second largest buying group with 10 percent of
buyers. Buyers from the U.K. decreased from 10.5 percent in 2009 to nine
percent in 2010. Eight percent of recent buyers came from China/Hong
Kong.

Two factors important to international clients when purchasing property
in the U.S. are proximity to their home country and the convenience of
air transportation. Florida typically attracts European, Canadian and
South American buyers while the East Coast draws Europeans. The West
Coast brings Asian buyers and the Southwest attracts Mexicans.

International buyers were reported in 39 states in 2010, but a slight
majority of the total buyers are concentrated in Florida, California,
Arizona and Texas. These four states account for 53 percent of purchases
and have remained the top destinations for the past three years, with
Florida and California remaining the top two destinations.

The median price paid by international buyers for a home in the U.S. was
$219,400, a decrease from 2009′s median price of $247,100. However, the
median price paid by foreign buyers was significantly higher than the
overall median market price, which was $172,500 in 2009. On average,
foreign buyers tend to purchase closer to the upper end of the market;
16 percent of the total international purchases were for homes priced at
more than $500,000. According to Realtors®, this was because
international buyers are typically looking for a second home.

A majority of international buyers, 66 percent, purchased single-family
detached homes. However, more international buyers purchased a condo
than did their U.S. counterparts, at 23 percent and 7 percent,
respectively. Only 44 percent of international buyers used a mortgage to
pay for their home, compared to 92 percent of domestic buyers.
Fifty-five percent of foreign buyers paid all cash. Realtors® reported
that a majority of international buyers use all cash because of the
difficulty in establishing international credit in the U.S. Over
one-third, 34 percent, of potential foreign buyers was unable to
complete transactions because of financing problems in the U.S.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is
America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members
involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate
industries.

….
Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. News releases are
posted in the Web site’s “News Media” section in the NAR Media
Center.

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From DSNews.com: Freddie Mac Sees Stabilization in Home Prices

March 3rd, 2010 | Posted by Dick Thackston in 1 - (0 Comments)

Freddie Mac said Tuesday that its home price index for conventional mortgages it purchased last year registered a 0.4 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter of 2009.

 The GSE was quick to point out that this was a much smaller decline than the 9.5 percent drop in home prices recorded in 2008, perhaps signaling much needed stabilization in the marketplace. In the final quarter of 2009, the index was down 1.4 percent relative to the third quarter, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

 “We normally see a seasonal effect in the fourth quarter price index that reduces its value. A year-over-year comparison largely controls for this,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist and VP. “Over 2009, the national index dipped slightly – -0.4 percent – and four-of-nine regions posted price gains.”

 The Pacific region of the country recorded its third consecutive quarterly gain as well as an annual increase in prices. There, home prices rose 0.5 percent from the third to fourth quarter of 2009. Over the last 12 months, home values increased 1.6 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s report.

 The West South Central (1.5 percent), West North Central (1.1 percent) and the East South Central (0.8 percent) regions also saw year-over-year price increases.

 The Mountain region, which includes Arizona and Nevada, posted the largest annual decline, with prices dropping 7 percent. Other regions in negative territory included the South Atlantic (-1.8 percent), East North Central (-0.9%), and New England and Middle Atlantic, which both saw prices drop 0.1 percent.

 Freddie Mac also produces a separate home price index series that includes data from both home purchase transactions and mortgage refinancings, with the values of refinanced loans based on appraisals. This index indicated that average U.S. home prices fell 0.7 percent from the third to fourth quarter and depreciated 4.3 percent over 2009.

 Freddie Mac explained that because appraisals are backwards looking through the use of recent comparable property transactions, the index that includes refinancing will typically lag changes in the purchase-only series.

 “Mortgage rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans hit an all-time low in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey in December and averaged 4.9 percent over the fourth quarter,” Nothaft said. “Low rates coupled with the first-time homebuyer tax credit helped boost home sales to their highest level in two-and-a-half years, seasonally adjusted.”

To read the original article, go to: http://www.dsnews.com/articles/freddie-mac-sees-stabilization-in-home-prices-2010-03-02

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