August 18, 2010
Commentary
Tax that fellow under the tree, Huey Long reportedly said.
What brings this up is the Oregon Association of Realtor’s hyperventilating screech opposing a statewide real estate transfer tax. A recent email to all Realtors says, “A new tax on the sale of real estate would be extremely damaging — not just to our industry, but to [...]
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August 16, 2010
Neighborhood Happenings
After working Snday morning, we decided to just head off downtown to do…whatever, and headed for the Alberta Arts District. It’s one of our many up and coming neighborhoods–young, vibrant, arty, laid back with none of the introspection you sense in, say, the Pearl.
We ended up at the Amnesia Bewery, where we had a grilled [...]
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FHA Re-fi Opportunity for Underwater Home Owners
by William Metzker on September 1, 2010
Certain non-FHA-borrowers who are underwater but current on their loans may be eligible for new FHA loans written at current interest rates. The catch: The current mortgage holder must agree to write off ten percent of the loan balance.
Read the details here from a post by my colleague, Fred Stewart.
This is potentially huge–much more effective than the attempts at loan modifications. The only possible flaw I see if that second trust deeds (HELOCs, etc.) are not in the discussion. Unless holders of seconds can be dealt with in a meaningful way, I doubt they will participate and may indeed be sand in the Vaseline.
Still, it’s something underwater home owners in Portland Metro need to be aware of.
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