S.& P. Downgrades Debt Rating of U.S. for the First Time

Well, what can you say?!  This won't work well for new mortgage seekers!

see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/06/business/us-debt-downgraded-by-sp.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

One Newsletter's Take on Housing Affordability

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/5wxxd4j

U.S. Homes: Now the Best Deal in Recorded History

By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 

Now is literally the best time in recorded history to buy a house in America...

Right now – today – U.S. real estate is the most affordable it's ever been. Ever. 

When I say "affordable," I'm looking at three things: house prices, mortgage rates, and incomes.

With the Affordability Index near 200, the median family has 200% of the income necessary to buy the median home (or more specifically, to qualify for a conventional loan on the median home).

It's easy to see where we are now...

 

Right now, as you know, house prices are sitting near new lows for this cycle, down by roughly one-third (depending on who's counting). And right now, mortgage rates – after ticking above 5% earlier this year – are all the way down to 4.5% again, near all-time lows.

So it's simple: With the worst house-price crash in American history, combined with the lowest mortgage rates in history, you can now afford more home than ever.

Meanwhile, hope is gone. Everyone thinks housing is hopeless. That is when a bear market ends and a new bull market begins.

Interesting analysis of the financial meltdown from the Post's Alan Sloan

It was a low-down, no-good godawful bailout. But it paid.

"...The revisionist idea that the bailout is the problem — rather than excesses in the financial system — is simply stunning to those of us who watched the financial crisis surface in 2007, when two Bear Stearns hedge funds speculating in mortgage securities collapsed..."

Read more at: http://wapo.st/p0io8W

NY Times Discussion on Troubled Homowners

Check it out at: http://nyti.ms/n70j2r

Hanging On to Houses

Reed Saxon/Associated PressA home listed in foreclosure in Los Angeles in June.

In his column on Monday,Paul Krugman said that the Obama administration has done almost nothing to help troubled homeowners. Of $46 billion set aside for mortgage relief, less than $2 billion has been spent.

It has been more than six months since a bipartisan Congressional report called the government's effort -- the Home Affordable Modification Program -- "a failure."

While new foreclosure filings have slowed significantly since then, because of a large backlog in cases, greater caution by lenders and more aggressive defenses by homeowners, housing experts expect the pace of foreclosures to pick up again. The Timesreported today that Bank of America, the nation's biggest mortgage servicer, had reached a deal with its investors that will speed the eviction of the most distressed homeowners, while helping those in better financial shape.

What changes can be made in the program to make it work more efficiently -- for homeowners, mortgage holders and taxpayers?

Successful Class: "Stepping Up to Twitter, etc."

OK -- so, despite the horrendous hotel bandwidth issues, a good time was had by all.  Funny virtual tour videos, how to do and how not to do videos for agents and brokers.  And, eventually, some how to guides for launching your own blog, twitter site, and, if you'll email us (nalexander@mediarealpartners.com and mjpowell@mediarealpartners.com), we'll send you the YouTube cheat sheet!
We'll keep you posted on future workshops!

RealtorFest 2011 Has Begun!!

500 + agents, realtors, and hangers on have assembled at the Marriott North Bethesda to hear the latest information relevant to selling and buying homes, legal matters, etc. in the DC region.  This includes learning the latest about SOCIAL MEDIA and how they're being used to better the real estate situation in our area.

Meet the New Social Networks, Same as the Old Ones

available at http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/

January 24, 2011 by Todd Carpenter · 1 Comment
Filed under: Social Media 

There was a time when you had to have a harvard.edu e-mail address to join Facebook. Then, Facebook opened membership up to other Ivy League schools, then any school with a .edu e-mail address, and finally, to everyone. Facebook’s early success was based on their exclusivity. It’s what made them special, but it’s also the thing that had to be sacrificed for them to gain a critical mass.

Lately, there’s been a considerable buzz around two new social networks: Quora andNamesake. Both networks have promise as platforms for engaging in discussions. But both networks are really only getting the buzz they are because they’re exclusive. They’re filled with people who are in search of a place to have conversations that are free of the noise that they unknowingly created by getting caught up in friending and following everyone they could in the first place.