Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac Takeover Survey

So I am working on a new post to discuss the feds takeover of Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac. In the meantime I thought I would put together a survey to get some opinion on how this will effect the mortgage and real estate market. So take a couple of seconds to express your opinion. I will be back later to discuss this issue in greater detail.


Survey Results - GlowDay.com

NAR Report: Home Sales up in July

NAR (National Association of Realtors) is reporting that existing home sales were up 3.1% in July. The report states that home sales reached five month high. Even though sales have remained narrow for the past 11 months the increase in sales could be a sign of postivity in the real estate market. Part of the reason or the increased sales is that prices have dropped and more potential home buyers are willing and able to afford buying a home. The same NAR report stated that the national median home price has dropped by 7.1% since last July. This correction in the market may mean that the real estate market could be turning around. I still believe there will be additional price drops and it may be a while before the market fully rebounds but this is at least a little bit of good news.

Buyers are getting smarter

This also shows that potential home buyers are becoming more educated about the home buying process. Many home buyers were turned off by the soaring prices and this coupled with the mortgage meltdown lead them to wait until homes were more affordable. Now that prices are beginning to fall these potential buyers are ready to buy. Hopefully these same buyers will take the time to shop for the best mortgage deal and title insurance so they can save on every aspect of their new purchase.

Where are consumers shopping for title insurance?

Google recently launched Insights for Search which provides a wealth of information about search behavior across keywords, categories, geographic regions, and time frames. Besides being fun to play with there is a ton of useful information that can be pulled from the tool. In the short time I have explored the features I did a little testing on title insurance searches to see which states' residents searched for title insurance the most.

Not too surprising

What I found was not too surprising. The top ten states are generally states in which the housing prices are fairly high and consumers tend to be a bit more aware of title insurance, probably because they are looking to save money any place they can. So here is a screen shot of the top 10 states for title insurance searches according to Google Insights.



Since Blogger is terrible with images and you can't actually see the states here are the states that search for title insurance the most.

1. Florida
2. Illinois
3. Utah
4. Pennsylvania
5. New Jersey
6. District of Columbia
7. New York
8. Virginia
9. Texas
10. Minnesota
    

Now if we can get everyone to shop for title insurance like the residents of these 10 states (and even reach more people in these states) we may be able to force real reform in the title insurance industry.

Buffalo residents can also save on closing costs

The Buffalo News has an article on closing costs which discusses the fact that Buffalo has the third highest closing costs among 55 cities and Washington DC. Closing costs in Buffalo are higher than some of the largest and most expensive cities in the nation. Most of that cost is the result of high mortgage closing taxes and title insurance fees. While some fees may be mandatory there are ways that Buffalo residents, and anyone else, can save on closing costs.

Shop for title insurance

One of the reasons that closing costs are so high in Buffalo is due to the traditional reliance on closing attorneys. Just to add to that many closing attorneys charge higher rates than most title agents. They generally don't allow you to shop around for title insurance. Instead you go with whoever they normally use for title insurance. Most home buyers would do well to shop for title insurance. Even if you use an attorney you can choose your own title insurance provider and save a significant amount on closing costs. myClosingSPACE encourages home buyers in Buffalo, and anywhere else, to shop for title insurance and make an educated decision to save money on closing costs.

myClosingSPACE.com & The HOPE for Homeowners Act of 2008"

President Bush has signed H.R. 3221, otherwise known as The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. This bill will provide much needed relief for homeowners who are facing foreclosure due the problems caused by the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. This is good news for homeowners facing the loss of their homes as well as the myriad of employees in the real estate and mortgage industries. The ultimate goal of H.R. 3221 is to bring stability to the mortgage industry and provide support to homeowners who are facing possible foreclosure.

This is not a bail out

One of the most important aspects of H.R. 3221 is the HOPE for Homeowners Act of 2008, which creates a new, temporary, voluntary program within FHA to back FHA-insured mortgages to distressed borrowers. This program will help homeowners refinance distressed loans at a significant discount for homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. In exchange, homeowners will share future appreciation with FHA. The five principles of the new program as as follows, you can learn more about it here.

1. Long-term affordability
2. No investor or lender bailout
3. No windfall for borrowers
4. Voluntary participation
5. Restore confidence, liquidity, and transparency

myClosingSPACE.com is here to help

In reality not all lenders are going to sign on to this, since it is essentially asking them to take the hit for the drop in value. At myClosingSPACE.com we believe we add value to this bill because we do not charge as much as others, thus keeping the closing costs low. This will be very important to the application of this bill. Should the closing costs exceed a certain amount there is a chance the lender will not be able to do the loan. Further we provide what the industry needs, transparency and a place for the borrower to shop around to lower their costs.

State Specific Title Insurance Resources

In our ongoing commitment to providing title insurance information and choices to consumers myClosingSPACE.com has embarked on a new initiative to provide state specific title insurance information for all of the states in which we provide service. We have always provided information for our core states of New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Since we have expanded to provide service nationwide we felt the need to begin working on content for every state. This is a long term goal and we will be rolling out state information slowly but surely. We are also providing a state title insurance directory that will provide information about title insurance and links to all of the states in which we provide service.

Massachusetts & Delaware are the newest additions

We want to develop comprehensive content so the information we provide will be added at a slow but steady pace. Generally we will add 2-3 new states at a time and the first new states we have content for are Massachusetts and Delaware. So if you are in the market in either of these states visit our resource pages to learn more about Massachusetts Title Insurance and Delaware Title Insurance. And check back often to find more states that have been added. If your state is not listed yet, don't worry, chances are we provide title services for your state and if you continue to check back we will probably be adding content soon.

A note from a satisfied customer

At myClosingSPACE.com we have always been advocates for consumers. Our goal has been to focus on bringing title insurance to consumers and helping them control the closing process and save money on closing costs. In the past we have received phone calls, letters, and emails from satisfied customers and they always reinforce our belief that we are doing the right thing. We just received another letter from a happy customer and decided to ask them if they would allow us to reprint it on our blog.

It all began smoothly

This customer, April, worked with our transaction coordinator Janilyn on a fairly difficult transaction that required some additional effort and induced a lot of stress for all involved. April had done her homework and found myClosingSPACE.com by shopping for title insurance online. She contacted us at the same time she was applying for her mortgage so we were involved at the beginning of the process. The sellers of the house she was buying were offering 1% of the selling price towards closing costs and this information was provided to the mortgage loan officer and myClosingSPACE.com. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and the closing date was set for June 30th.

A few days before the scheduled closing problems arose

The week before closing April received the commitment letter from her mortgage company and found that they had not applied the sellers incentive to the closing costs. April and Janilyn attempted to contact the loan officer but she did not answer the calls or return any emails. On June 27th myClosingSPACE.com was finally able to get in touch with someone at the mortgage company and were informed that the loan was not clear to close and that the loan officer April was working with was no longer with the company. Needless to say April was not happy.

A rather difficult closing

For the next week April and Janilyn worked closely to find out what was going on with the loan and push the process forward. Janilyn worked with the seller's attorney and the new loan officer to get the seller's incentive included in the loan. Once everything was set up correctly Janilyn stayed in contact with the mortgage company to get the loan through underwriting and cleared to close. Finally on July 10th the loan came out of underwriting and was cleared to close. Janilyn, got the loan fast tracked so the Hud was approved and April was able to close that night. Even though it took longer than was planned on the loan closed and while April was not happy that it took that long she was glad that it was finally over.

April was so happy with our service she wrote the following email this morning

Hello Janilyn,

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for all that you did to help us close on our new house. As you know we did not use an attorney and all of your assistance helped us understand how everything worked. When the problems started cropping up we were close to giving up. Our lender was slow to answer our calls and emails and without your assistance we would not have known what was going on. It was very reassuring to us that you were there to help guide us through all of the issues. Your extra effort helped get the deal done and we are now the happy owners of a new home. In fact I truly believe that without your effort we would not have been able to close since the closing date had already been extended twice. Thank you very much for your help and we will recommend you to anyone who is buying a new home.

Thanks again
April