Ivan and Delores Eichers are among thousands of people who fall each year for offers that promise to help them avoid foreclosure but that leave them with none of the equity they had built up in their property. Their situation matches one of the three common models of foreclosure fraud the National Consumer Law Center described in a report on the problem. The number of foreclosures nationwide soared 42 percent in 2006 to 1.26 million, said RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures. That creates opportunities for more foreclosure fraud, although the exact number of cases is hard to determine.

The Eichers thought they were taking out a $1,700 loan to help them pay the roughly $4,700 in back payments they owed on their mortgage. They learned too late they had signed their house over to Mid-America Financial Investment Corp. and agreed to lease their home from Mid-America when they accepted that loan. Although the couple no longer owned their home, the mortgage remained in their names, so they made their $554 payments on the loan through Mid-America, along with monthly fees of at least $100. A second scheme described in the report involves consultants charging high fees to help homeowners out of trouble but never delivering the promised services. A third involves an agreement where a homeowner knowingly signs over his or her home and agrees to buy it back over time, but the terms of the agreement make it nearly impossible for the homeowner to succeed. (more…)

search for : foreclosure fraud, National Consumer Law Center

Lenoir is one of many North Carolina areas that have been devastated by the exportation of the furniture industry. Hope is on the horizon, however, now that Google, Inc., has decided to build its next “server farm” in the city. A server farm is a warehouse of sorts, housing thousands of computers running applications for the company (such as sorting and storing information). With Google joining Dell and several other large companies in the Tar Heel State, it is hoped that other corporations will see the benefits of expanding into the High Country.

Most leaders in the city believe the employment of these utilities and the increased value of real estate will be a major boost for the Lenoir economy. Google’s decision, however, has not been without controversy. The state of North Carolina waived 100 percent of Google’s business property taxes and 80 percent of its real estate taxes for the next three decades. “We have given away the farm and have gotten almost nothing in return,” T.J. Rohr, a Lenoir City Council member, said of the tax breaks. Many Lenoir residents are livid that their small businesses are not receiving the breaks that Google will enjoy. (more…)

search for : Google, Inc., Tar Heel State

NC Real estate may be getting cheaper. But homes are always expensive. Like any good knee-jerk contrarian, my enthusiasm for the property market grows as the bad news piles up. Only last week, the Federal Reserve’s “beige book” report on regional economic conditions noted that housing markets continue to soften, with sluggish home sales and falling prices in some areas. So is it time to buy the NC lakefront, NC riverfront or NC vacationhome you’ve always wanted?

According to home-finance corporation Freddie Mac, U.S. house prices climbed 6.2 percent a year over the past 30 years, versus 4.3 percent for inflation. Beating inflation by 1.9 percentage points a year is (pun intended) nothing to write home about. To make matters worse, after the current decade’s blistering performance, even slimmer returns may lie ahead. Instead, as you toy with whether to trade up to a larger place or purchase a second home, your real focus should be the dividend. This dividend is the rent you receive or, if you live in the house yourself, the “imputed rent” - the rent you would have paid if you didn’t own the place. This rent might be worth 7 percent or 8 percent of a home’s value each year, though the figure will vary depending on the location. (more…)

search for : NC Real estate, NC lakefront, NC riverfront, NC vacationhome

For the American mortgage market, it could be the hottest buzzword of the year: suitability. That’s because Congress has a new top legislator for mortgage matters, Rep. Barney Frank, who believes that “you shouldn’t lend (home buyers or refinancers) more than they can afford to pay back, and you don’t lend them more than their house is worth.” Frank, a 14-term Massachusetts Democrat, is the new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee — the primary originator of banking and mortgage-related federal legislation. In an interview, he made it clear that a top priority this year will be enactment of a nationwide lending-standards law designed to protect consumers from deceptive, unfair and predatory mortgage practices.

With foreclosures rising and many credit-stressed homeowners facing imminent rate resets on controversial “payment-option” and other adjustable-rate loans, pressure is building on Capitol Hill for tougher rules for mortgage brokers and lenders. A recent study by the Center for Responsible Lending predicted that as many as 1 of every 5 subprime borrowers who took out reduced-payment, low-documentation mortgages between 1998 and mid-2006 could ultimately lose their homes because of steep payment increases and penalties they can’t handle. Proponents of a suitability standard would require loan officers — whether mortgage brokers or retail lenders — to make certain that applicants are financially capable of handling a particular loan before and after payment increases, and that they fully understand the cons as well as the pros of the mortgage type they select. (more…)

search for : Barney Frank, refinancers, House Financial Services Committee, nationwide lending-standards law, mortgage brokers

Do you have any ideas on how to clean my Cadet baseboard heaters? When I first turn them on for the winter, I get a black film on the wall above the heater. What should I do?

What’s probably happening is that during the time the heater is off, dust or other material is accumulating inside the unit. When the heater is turned on in winter, this material burns off and streaks the wall.

First of all, try to minimize the dust buildup. This might be done by rearranging furniture, increasing fresh air in the room, or increasing air flow in front of the heaters. Then, prior to starting the heater in the winter, make sure it’s clean. For their baseboard heaters, Cadet recommends that you remove the front cover, and use a vacuum to clean out the inside of the heater before starting it for the season. Be sure the power is off before removing the front cover, and be careful not to damage the aluminum fins inside the heater. (more…)

Research from Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston shows the real estate market in North Carolina continues to perform well and is expected to stay strong. According to industry estimates, 2006 will be the third-best year on record for home sales, with an all-time high inventory of homes for sale on the market and interest rates comparable to 40-year lows, offering buyers a broad range of affordable choices at present. For those already owning homes, the national median price of houses purchased 10 years ago has increased 88 percent.

The number of U.S. households is expected to increase 15 percent during the next decade, creating a continued high demand for housing. In terms of its own business, Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston found that of all the visitors in October to its Web site (http://www.hpw.com), 30 percent were out-of-state buyers. Included among those visitors were international as well as national customers, indicating worldwide interest from people to purchase a home in North Carolina. Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston has the state’s number one real estate Web site. (more…)

search for : real estate market in North Carolina

According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, Americans spent $168.7 billion on home improvements and repairs in 2006, 1.5 percent more than in 2005. From the comments of Joint Center officials last week, the increase was disappointing but understandable. The slumping for-sale market in many areas of the country has led many homeowners to delay or pass on major home-improvements, ending the double digit, quarter-to-quarter increases that the remodeling industry experienced over much of the last five years.

The bulk of the demand for remodeling jobs continued to come from the baby boom generation, according to the NAHB research, which was conducted in conjunction with the quarterly surveying used to produce the NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index. However, work requests from 30- to 40-year-old members of Generation X are on the rise, and they are turning out to be bigger spenders than the generation preceding them, the NAHB data show. Rising energy prices last year appeared to have little impact on the demand for jobs related to improving residential energy efficiency, and a majority of remodelers were involved in making modifications for aging-in-place, although they said that most consumers aren’t familiar with the concept. My feeling is that the NAHB should hold a contest to come up with a better description than aging in place, which better describes how I feel when a late train makes me miss the start of an important meeting. (more…)

search for : home improvements, remodeling