In case you are an investor or realtor specializing in short sales here are some useful hints to preparing the BPO (Broker Price Opinion).  All Sold Comps should be less than 6 months old, of similar size and in similar condition and located within 1-mile radius of subject.  According to the instructions found with the Fannie Mae BPO form all line item adjustments should not exceed 10% of the sold or list price of the comp.  Total Net Adjustments should not exceep 15% of the sold or list price of the comp; and the Total Adjusted Sales Price should not exceed 25% of the sold or list price of the comp.  I don't do adjustments because I am not a licensed appraiser (just trying to lower liability issues).  Repairs should be estimated and itemized to bring the subject property from its prese... 04/13/2009

I am one of those nerdy types who tries to stay educated with what is happening in our economy.  I try to follow the market to keep my business growing.  Although there are times I probably should stay away from the news because it doesn't always keep me in the best frame of mind.  This morning I turned on Bloomberg news and the CEO of Goldman Sachs was speaking to a group of investors.  Following his speech, during the question and answer period he was interrupted by a protestor.  Couldn't really hear what her complaint was because security moved her out before she said much.  However, by the response by the CEO, I get she wasn't very happy about the bail out of the financial industry.  the CEO (Blankfein) did acknowledge the anger expressed and said that he gets how angry tax payers a... 04/07/2009

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to the lowest level on record for the second consecutive week after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to assist the staggering U.S. housing market. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 4.78 percent this week, from 4.85 percent last week. It was the lowest in the history of Freddie Mac's survey, which dates back to 1971. Rates are down by more than a full percentage point from a year ago. People are refinancing their homes at a record rate but lenders are still being pretty picky about who they loan money to, consumers need good credit scores, 620 and above to qualify for the best rates.  Despite these great rates, I am still having a hard time getting buyers off the fence.  I may ha... 04/06/2009

Yesterday I had a third appointment with a prospective short seller.  The first appointment was more than a month ago.  I gave them a packet of documents (samples of hardship letters, a financial statement etc) and told them time was of the essence.  They were already five months behind in payments but the bank had not notified them of a foreclosure YET.  After several unanswered calls and a week or so later, they gave me a couple of the documents and promised to get the rest to me within the next day or so.  Again several calls later to set up another appointment to get the remainder of the documents, another week or so goes by and a few more documents are delivered.  Finally yesterday and I got all of the documents needed (they filled out the financial statement while we were meeting)... 04/03/2009

Housing prices fallThe S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, measuring housing prices in 20 representative cities across America, fell for the 30th straight month in January, bringing house prices down to 2003 levels. And this time it actually set a record, falling 19% from January 2008. "There are very few bright spots that one can see in the data," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard and Poor's. "Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path, with...nine of the MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) falling more than 20% in the last year." According to Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research, home prices won't start advancing until the overall economy picks up.Home bargains galoreIn total, prices have plunged 29.1% nationally since they... 04/01/2009

Its a great day here in Albuquerque.  The sun is shinning and the wind is not blowing.  The stock market was up over 500 points yesterday and today's paper said that sales of homes was up more than 5% over last month.  It's a great day!      03/24/2009

Interest rates are historically low as are home prices so why aren't buyers buying?  Is everyone so afraid of this economy that they are fearful of a total bust.  In the Albuquerque, NM, area unemployment is running still below 6%.  I guess there is still too much fear out there.  How do we overcome it and get this industry moving again? 03/23/2009