Welcome Back Readers! Thanks for stopping by again, I just wanted to take a minute and let you know about a new website from Fannie Mae. The site, www.KnowYourOptions.com is full of great information regarding forclosure and as the title would suggest, what your options are. Check it out and if you are thinking of selling your home to avoid foreclosure, call me, I will be happy to help you through!
Welcome Back Readers! Or should I say viewers? This is the first of many video blog posts on www.TheLancasterConnection.com . I’m excited about being able to bring you this content in a way that is relevant and timely but don’t worry, there will be more than just video posts to keep you up to date on what’s happening in real estate and the rest of Lancaster County, as we’ll still have all of your favorite guest authors as well!
This week, I wanted to talk to you about snow and ice. Not just any snow, but huge amounts of snow and ice we had that according to NAR is bringing the national housing market to a halt. Or is it?
Watch the video after the jump to see what I am talking about and why the thought that snow is stopping home sales anywhere in the nation is just WRONG! Oh, and that italian ice there in the picture? You’ll see why that’s there in the video too.
Welcome Back Readers! This post wraps up the two part series on energy efficiency from Matt Steger with WIN Home Inspection ! As we began discussing last time. electricity costs in Lancaster PA have skyrocketed due to the deregulation of electric companies here in PA. One of the ways to combat this is to take steps to make sure your home is as energy efficient as possible, so this week Matt has some specific steps you can take, so read on after the jump to find out what they are!
Welcome Back Readers! I put up a post the yesterday about how FHA has recently changed their policies to allow loan modifications for qualifying borrowers before they miss a payment . This is a great policy and I sincerely hope it will help more people stay in their homes. The problem though is that in many cases it won’t. Loan modifications nationwide are failing to help avoid foreclosures. Why is that? What does it have to do with Tribbles again? Read on after the jump to find out!
Welcome Back Readers! It was a busy week last week in the real estate world, the Lancaster County PA Real Estate Market is moving quickly. I apologize for the shortage of posts recently due to this but you can expect a little more consistency in the coming weeks. I wanted to start of this week with a nice change announced by HUD last Friday.
Until HUD made this change to the rules for FHA loans, in order to qualify for a loan modification, struggling homeowners had to actually MISS payments. So, if you knew you were going to be in torouble, you had to let it happen before you were eligible for loss mitigation. Check out the release from HUD on the details of the program.
The complete press release from HUD is after the jump
Welcome Back Readers!
I apologize in advance for the negative tone of this post, but it is information that people who plan on buying this year need to have. Let me start with this: There are many solutions available to FHA’s problems, and there are other programs that allow cash poor buyers to still purchase homes. It is not the end of the world, FHA is still a fine program, but I have an issue with their changes not offering a solution to their problem.
Call me if you want to find out how low money down programs can still benefit you, in the meantime please be aware of the following info.
FHA has announced policy changes today that will potentially have a negative impact on the housing market. Read on after the jump to see excerpts from a release by NAR:
Happy Friday Readers! Welcome back to our Friday Inspector’s Corner, where we are continuing Matt Steger’s discussion on Chimney and Fireplace inspections. Matt is a Home Inspector with WIN Home Inspection and he is the one I call for all of my Lancaster County Pa Home Inspection needs, you should call him too! Check out his info after the jump!
Waiting. Sometimes a wise strategy, sometimes a foolish one. When it comes to home buying, waiting will surely cost you. There are a number of reasons why, but before I go into that, let’s get one thing clear…. if you aren’t in a positions to buy, if you truly can’t afford it, don’t do it. But if you are unsure, if you are “thinking about it”, if you are planning to “start looking” in a few months, you need to hop off the fence and start now. Waiting is a mistake. Here’s why:
… and he plans to use it to take out the US Housing Market!
I know, very dramatic. Maybe even a little uncalled for. On the other hand, there is really no other way to describe how potentially dangerous the policy changes that HUD Secretary Donovan is proposing this week. What are those changes?
Happy Friday Readers! Here we go, this is the last in a Series of 6 Fall Maintenance Tips from Matt Steger at WIN Home Inspection. Don’t worry though, Matt will be back next week with more helpful tips and advice. This week’s tip deals with the not so glamorous, but ever so important, issue of proper insulation. The easiest way to lower your heating (and cooling) costs is to have the right amount of properly installed insulation. Don’t know what that is or how to figure it out?
