Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Certified Distressed Property Expert!!!

Press Release!!!  Leslie Jones has completed the designation to become a CDPE - Certified Distressed Property Expert. Since distressed homes are still accounting for more than a third of all home sales across the country, Leslie felt the importance to excel at managaing these transactions.  Even thou it may still be the "wild, wild west" in dealing with distressed properties, with rules and procedures changing often, Leslie has prepared herself to help her customers in finding the best solution for them to avoid foreclosure, whether it be a short sale, a loan modification, or a re-finance.  Leslie has joined a small percentage of realtors who have felt the importance to be well educated in the arena!!!

Friday, March 5, 2010

The Time is Right!!

We are on the verge of Spring and it is going to be a season of opportunities.  There has never been a better time to buy of home.  There are several reasons for this:

Historically Low Interest Rates - you can lock into a rate that will remain at this low for the life of your loan.

Affordable Homes - It is a buyers market because of the number of homes that are available.  Prices are down and sellers are willing to make concessions.

Homebuyer Tax Incentive - There is still time to take advantage of the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer tax credit and the $6500 Qualified Repeat Homebuyer tax credit.  The deadline is April 30, 2010 - so you need to hurry!!

Check out home prices on my website: JacksonvilleHomeConnection.com.  Call me with any questions and get ready to take advantage of the opportunity knocking.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Jacksonville Downtown Art Walk

Last night was another fabulous art walk in Downtown Jacksonville. The air was brisk, but the streets were bustling with people. I really noticed a larger college crowd than usual. Florida State College was showing at the Old Library and since MOCA has partnered with UNF ..... more college students were vested in the evening. I may be imagining it, but it seemed there were more music venues than usual....I stumbled on one I had not been to in a gallery at The Landing. We can always count on good music outside of Chew and a great art exhibit at Hemming Plaza Jewelry. This month Gordon Megisson was showing and his work at Hemming Plaza Jewelry and it will continue to be exhibited through the month, so you still have a chance to see it. The next art walk will be the first Wed. in April. The weather should be gorgeous by that time so mark your calendars now! I hope to see you there. Look for me. I never miss!!!!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Jacksonville Can Help!!!!

This is from a good friend of mine - Lauren Hall Davis - she had 2 premies who made it ...

On Thursday, March 4, open to close, 15% of Chick Fil A's proceeds will go to saving babies if you eat in or go through the drive thru AND say you are supporting the March of Dimes! One day we hope all babies can be born healthy. Please share with your FB friends, email friends, schools, work, etc. Thank you for your support! Thank you Chick Fil A for your generosity! This is an all day event at any Chick Fil A in Duval, Clay, Nassau Counties, Ponte Vedra and Kingsland, GA.
One day I hope I wont have to fund raise for cures for our babies and that you wont have to receive these emails. We hope a day will come when all babies are born healthy!
Thank you to my sweet friends....

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Google News reports on Fannie and Freddie

Fannie, Freddie losses underscore dire US housing sector

NEW YORK — The US home mortgage sector remains under siege -- as recent huge losses reported by government-run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac show -- from high unemployment and troubled loans.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being hit by continuous problems. That pressure is going to continue through the rest of the year -- I think there's no question," Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, told AFP.

Fannie Mae announced Friday a net loss of 16.3 billion dollars for the fourth quarter, the full-year 2009 red ink to 74.7 billion dollars.

That was even worse than in 2008, when the mortgage finance giant posted a loss of 59.8 billion dollars. This time Fannie Mae said it would tap an additional 15.3 billion taxpayer dollars from the US Treasury by March 31.

Dan Teclaw, of Standard & Poor's credit rating agency, pointed out that Fannie's "fourth-quarter losses are smaller than in the third quarter" and that "a lot" of the debt pile was amassed in the first two quarters, an improving trend that could be a harbinger of stabilization.

Freddie Mac last week reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 6.47 billion dollars, and a loss of 21.55 billion dollars for 2009, but did not see any additional government aid.

"With a slow-growth economy and high unemployment we're likely not to see any great improvement" until at least 2011, Celia Chen, an economist at Moody's Economy.com, told AFP.

"The quality of new mortgages is better but we are still working on a large inventory of troubled loans," she added.

The 30-day delinquency rate for mortgage loans fell in the fourth quarter but remain at a worrisome high, while the percentage of loans 90 days or more past due and loans in foreclosure set new record highs, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report last month.

More than one in 10 mortgage holders is behind on payments and, adding those in the process of foreclosure, 15.02 percent of borrowers are delinquent, the MBA said, the highest level ever recorded since its survey began more than 40 years ago.

"Despite the drop in short-term delinquencies, foreclosure rates could continue to climb, however, based on the ability of borrowers 90 days or more delinquent to solve their problems," the MBA said.

For S&P's Teclaw, the recovery in the housing sector, the epicenter of the global crisis, will be slow.

"The problem will probably last two to three years," he said, explaining that foreclosures in some states can take only a few months but can take "up to two years" in others, such as Florida.

Mortgage finance firms also face an increase in "strategic defaults," in which homeowners who have the financial means to make mortgage payments purposely default on the loan rather than continue to pay on a home that is "underwater" -- when the size of the mortgage exceeds the home's market value.

Chen pointed out that credit conditions remain strained, although they were better than two years ago when the global financial crisis was dragging the world economy into the worst recession since World War II>

More than 700 banks are in trouble, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that guarantees up bank deposits.

Failures of federally insured US banks reached 140 in 2009, the highest level since 1992, and the FDIC projects the 2010 number will be higher.

"The financial system is in the process of healing but it's going to be a long process," said Chen.