This is great news for eveyone in the Metro area.

 From The Denver Business Journal:

Colorado to get $34M for blighted properties

The cities of Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora as well as metro Denver’s Adams County have separately applied for a total of $19 million in HUD foreclosure-relief funds, and should hear soon whether or not they have been approved, according to Colorado’s regional HUD office. Those fund requests break down as follows: Denver ($6 million), Adams County ($4.6 million), Aurora ($4.5 million) and Colorado Springs ($3.9 million).

These funds are use to buy up and rehabilitate Foreclosued homes. Some of the things this money will be used for:

• Buying and upgrading distressed multifamily properties such as apartments, duplexes, condos, etc.;

• Purchasing and fixing up abandoned and/or foreclosed single-family homes;

• Demolishing blighted properties;

• Providing counseling to new homebuyers;

• Covering administrative costs;

• Establishing and coordinating a funding mechanism to help buyers rehab their homes.

Read the entire article.

 This is why you ALWAYS need an agent when you go to a builder. We have another client that is fighting for the earnest money with another builder. She went to th ebuilder before she saw us and now she's out $1,000's.

 From MyFoxColorado.com:

Village Homes' Bankruptcy Impacting Home Buyers

Watch the video Here

A warning for anyone thinking about buying a new home in Colorado. Some families are finding out the hard way that they can't close on their property after a major homebuilder, Village Homes, filed for bankruptcy last month. FOX 31's Heidi Hemmat has the story.

Keep in mind that Denver was ahead of the country going into the foreclosure slump and by all accounts is ahead of the county coming out of it.

From Newsweek:

A Buyer’s Market at Last

Sunday Open Houses are starting to look a lot more attractive, and it’s not just because the sellers baked brownies and slapped on another coat of paint. Since 2006, the peak of the housing boom, prices have dropped nationally by 18 percent and the rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have fallen from 6.8 percent to 5.5 percent. That means the average monthly mortgage payment has dropped from more than $1,000 to $894. The bottom line? Says Rich Arzaga, an independent financial adviser who teaches real estate investing at University of California, Berkeley, “Money is cheap, the homes are affordable, and sellers are really very desperate.”

That doesn’t mean you should run out and buy a house today; you can take your time to find the perfect home. The market is likely to bump along the bottom for a while, say analysts, and some markets may not hit their absolute rock-bottom prices for weeks or months—or even, in some vulnerable markets, years. But if you’re a first-time home buyer or a preretiree looking to line up your place in the sun (and you’re lucky enough to be able to afford one in this economy), start shopping now. Here’s why. 

Read it all.

It's easy to risk huge piles of money when it's not yours and you're paid based on the amount of money you risk. 

From CNNMoney.com:

Fannie, Freddie ignored warning signs:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A House committee trying to uncover the roots of the credit crisis on Tuesday grilled several former CEOs of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Members of the House Oversight Committee called into question documents from both firms that suggested executives took the companies down the risky and potentially disastrous road of buying huge amounts of subprime and other risky home loans.

"The companies made irresponsible investments that are now costing federal taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., committee chairman. "Their own risk managers raised warning after warning about the dangers of investing heavily in the subprime and alternative mortgage market. But these warnings were ignored."

From The Denver Business Journal:

Feds give $1.7M to fight foreclosures

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) has received $1.7 million from the federal government to continue its foreclosure-prevention efforts in 2009, the authority said Monday.

The grant came from the NeighborWorks America program, and the funds will be used by CHFA and its 12 nonprofit housing counseling partners in Colorado. NeighborWorks America previously awarded CHFA $1.5 million for the same effort in March 2008.

The federal housing program is an independent, congressionally chartered nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., created to help Americans be homeowners and have safe, affordable rental housing. It receives funding through the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Through September, Denver-based CHFA has provided 1,900 Colorado households with free home-counseling services, according to the authority....

This seems inline with all of the other reports we've been seeing. the housing market should pick up in 2009.

From the Denver Business Journal:

Colorado foreclosures down 14 percent this year

Colorado foreclosure activity likely will be lower in 2008 than last year, according to a report published Thursday by state housing officials.

Completed foreclosures fell 14 percent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period of 2007, according to a report by the Colorado Division of Housing. A total of 16,246 foreclosures were completed.

Officials are forecasting a 13 percent decline in foreclosures for all of 2008.

“2006 and 2007 saw big increases in foreclosure filings of 30 and 40 percent, so a 14 percent decrease so far this year makes us cautiously optimistic about the future,” said Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing, in a statement. “There are still many reasons for concern, but this is good news.”

 

How not to do business... 

From the Denver Busines Journal:

Real estate agent gets 7-year sentence

Prosecutors alleged that Weiss acquired Denver-area homes at a low price and, often after some improvements, sold them at substantially higher prices, usually for two or three times what was paid.

Weiss allegedly targeted Latinos who knew little or no English, many of whom were living in the United States illegally, according to the indictment.

Knowing that the buyers couldn’t afford to buy houses or legitimately qualify for home loans, Weiss allegedly arranged for false information to be provided to mortgage companies and HUD, prosecutors said.

From the Denver Business Journal:

Colorado mortgage rates decline

Mortgage rates in Colorado declined during the past week, echoing a national trend sparked by the federal government’s decision to buy mortgage-backed securities.

Zillow Inc. reported the decline Tuesday. The Seattle-based real estate website in April launched the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace feature, which allows borrowers to anonymously request mortgage quotes.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for Colorado fell to 5.53 percent for the week ended Nov. 30 from 5.85 percent the previous week. That’s a decline of 5.47 percentage points.

Nationally, according to Zillow, rates dipped to 5.53 percent from 5.92 percent. Mortgage rates posted the biggest decline in New York, dropping to 5.48 percent from 5.96 percent.

It truly is a buyer's market...

From WSJ.com:

U.S. Rethinks Roles of Fannie, Freddie

The consensus among both Republicans and Democrats is that the current structure of Fannie and Freddie doesn't work. Though they are owned mainly by private shareholders, they have a public mission to support the housing market. That has led to conflicts between shareholders' desire for maximum profits and congressional demands for more support to the housing industry.

A series of policy options compiled from various sources by Andrew Davidson, a mortgage-industry consultant, calls for turning Fannie and Freddie into cooperatives owned by the lenders that sell mortgages to them. These cooperatives would package mortgages into securities for sale to investors. Unlike Fannie and Freddie, the cooperatives wouldn't own large amounts of loans and related securities on their books. To make the securities more attractive to investors, Treasury would receive fees for agreeing to cover any losses on the securities above a certain level.

This explicit backing from Treasury would replace the current system under which investors merely assumed that the government would stand behind Fannie and Freddie. Many investors, especially those overseas, have lost confidence in that "implied" guarantee and want something definite.

This approach would take away from Fannie and Freddie their traditional duties of ensuring liquidity in the market by buying mortgage securities when other investors back away and of making special efforts to finance housing for poor people. If Congress sees a need for such functions, Mr. Davidson says, it should set up government programs to achieve them and allocate funds for those purposes.

We'll see...

From WSJ.com:

The Federal Reserve's attempt to stabilize the housing market set off a chain reaction across the U.S. on Tuesday, dropping interest rates and quickly spurring a burst of refinancing activity by borrowers eager to lower their mortgage costs.

Some brokers said it was the most activity they've seen in at least one year, although there was no way to determine the volume of refinancing.

At Bank of America Corp., call volume was roughly twice what was expected at call centers and via the Internet, said Matt Vernon, national sales executive. "It's the folks who have been sitting on the sideline. They're jumping in with this news."

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped by roughly half a percentage point to about 5.5%, for borrowers with good credit scores and substantial equity in their homes, say mortgage brokers and lenders.

This is good news:

Program Targets Consumer Spending, Mortgage Rates

The Federal Reserve and Treasury moved today to boost consumer spending and lower home mortgage rates, committing up to $800 billion to make it easier for households to borrow money for cars, tuition bills and new homes as part of a broad effort to rekindle economic growth.

The new program puts the balance sheet of the country's central bank behind two critical but troubled parts of the economy -- consumer spending and housing. It is largely separate from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, administered by the Treasury Department and focused on shoring up the country's financial system.

Read it all

From WSJ.com:

Fannie, Freddie to Suspend Foreclosures During Holidays

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will suspend foreclosure sales and evictions on certain properties until after the holiday season, as they prepare to implement a previously announced loan-modification program.

The temporary foreclosure suspension announced Thursday applies to 10,000 borrowers with Fannie-owned mortgages and 6,000 with Freddie-owned mortgages in occupied single-family and two- to four-unit properties with foreclosure sales scheduled between Nov. 26 and Jan. 9. Fannie and Freddie, which are under government control, last week said they would begin to modify the loan terms on potentially hundreds of thousands of mortgages that are at least 90 days past due.

 

From the Denver Business Journal:

Denver unveils foreclosure plan

The City and County of Denver initially would target three Denver neighborhoods — Green Valley Ranch, Montbello and Westwood. The city also would consider opportunities to invest the West Colfax, Villa Park, Barnum, Mar Lee and Athmar Park areas of southwest Denver, the draft said.

Strangely, no mention of using some of the funds to buy our office an automatic espresso maker. Imagine how many homes we could sell in Denver if we were highly caffeinated all day.

What a great article from Popular Mechanics:

Thinking of Springing for a Foreclosed Home? Check for these 5 Problems First

But, he said, as more home buyers become interested in purchasing a foreclosure, they need to be more mindful of the potential hazards. In the recent study, ASHI also asked homeowners whether they'd forego a home inspection in exchange for a discount, and when the discount got up to half-off, he said, about half of respondents said they'd consider waiving the inspection. Grant said that kind of situation was hypothetical—banks aren't offering those kinds of deals now. But all of our experts said that foregoing an inspection would be a bad move anytime, and would be especially risky when dealing with foreclosures—many are great homes in need of a little bit of help, Grant said, but a few are utter disasters. Here are some of the problems that home inspectors and realtors have found in foreclosed homes. Buyer beware.

Read the whole thing

My experience is Thai there is nothing harder and more confusing for a borrower than a HUD form. If a crooked lender want to take advantage of a borrower, they can usually explain a convoluted HUD form to mean whatever they want.

Nothing beats 1.) A good referral for a reputable lender, 2.) Common sense

If you count on HUD to save you, you're already lost.

From WSJ.com:

HUD Unveils New Rules for Mortgages :

The rules require a three-page "good-faith estimate" for borrowers explaining rates, fees, any prepayment penalties and the possibility of later increases in monthly payments. HUD said it shrank that form from four pages to three in response to industry complaints.

The rules also limit to 10% the maximum amount certain fees can increase from the initial estimate. A new HUD-1 form, provided to consumers before they sign loan documents, is designed to help consumers more easily compare what they were promised with what they are actually being charged. One problem is that consumers may see that HUD-1 form only shortly before the closing, when they are pressed for time and may feel it is too late to resume their mortgage shopping.

HUD said the rules will help consumers understand how much a broker is being paid in fees, often called "yield spread premiums." But Rebecca Borne, a lawyer at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group pushing for changes in mortgage regulation, said the new HUD forms fail to make those fees clear and won't prevent abuses of them.