America's Dirtiest Hotels

-Yahoo!

Dirt-caked bathtubs, molding refrigerators and mystery stains are just a few of the horrors travelers say they’ve found at the Grand Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. In the past year, disgruntled and disturbed guests have called the hotel everything from “cockroach heaven” to a “filthy, disgusting dump” and have plastered the Internet with sordid photographic evidence to prove it. That’s bad news for the Grand Resort Hotel since generally the number one reason guests don’t return to a hotel is because of cleanliness issues, says Howard Adler, director of Purdue University’s Center for the Study of Lodging Operations.

From a dilapidated California inn to a mold-infested Myrtle Beach flophouse, these are America’s 10 filthiest hotels, according to a survey of reviews from 2010 on the travel website TripAdvisor.

America's Dirtiest Hotels

#1 Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center, Pigeon Forge, TN

#2 Jack London Inn, Oakland, CA

#3 Desert Inn Resort, Daytona Beach, FL

#4 Hotel Carter, New York City, NY

#5 Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC

#6 Atlantic Beach Hotel, Miami Beach, FL

#7 Rodeway Inn, Williamsville, NY

#8 Super 8 Estes Park, near Denver, CO

#9 Palm Grove Hotel and Suites, Virginia Beach, VA

#10 Econo Lodge Newark International Airport, Elizabeth, NJ

The Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, TN, ranked the dirtiest hotel by TripAdvisor members in their 2010 reviews.

Photo: Courtesy of TripAdvisor

Karen Drake, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor, said that overall, traveler ratings for cleanliness are climbing, but “some properties still need to clean up their act. All told, 85 percent of TripAdvisor travelers who reviewed these 10 properties recommend against staying there.”

All hotels on the list were contacted and offered the chance to comment.

The grand champion: the aforementioned Grand Resort Hotel, cited by reviewers for “chewing tobacco spit oozing down the halls and corridors; spiders actively making webs in every corner of your room,” and “carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn’t want to sit your luggage down, let alone walk around barefoot.” Photos uploaded to TripAdvisor by guests of the hotel show an unsettling tableau of bed stains, peeling paint and blackened refrigerators.

Toilet and shower in the Jack London Inn, Oakland, CA

Photo: Courtesy of TripAdvisor

No. 2 on the list: the Jack London Inn in Oakland, Calif. Reviewers complained the parking lot “resembled a post-apocalyptic junk yard,” and noted hallways “reeked of cigarette smoke, body odor and failure.” Another recent guest deemed the hotel’s bed uninhabitable and opted instead to buy an air mattress.

Peeling ceilings, cracked walls and cigarette burns, plus a dirty Jacuzzi, “a few small bugs” on the bed’s box spring, and a balcony littered with old cigarette butts made the Desert Inn Resort in Dayton Beach, Fla., the third dirtiest U.S. hotel, according to reviewers.

A bathroom in a room at the Hotel Carter, New York City, NY

Photo: Courtesy of TripAdvisor

The Hotel Carter in New York, No. 4 on the list, has appeared in TripAdvisor’s annual ranking five of the six times it has been published. A Hotel Carter representative wrote in an e-mail that improvements are currently being made on “bed[s], windows, ac, tv, carpets, fixtures” in a gradual, floor-by-floor approach. The Times Square establishment insists that its rooms have been fully booked since April.

The 10 hotels’ appearance on TripAdvisor’s list, published in January, does not appear to have galvanized any of them to clean up their act: Members’ reviews from April until last week continue to give the hotels the lowest possible cleanliness rating.

Garbage piling up at Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC

Photo: Courtesy of TripAdvisor

On July 12, one member said the room at the Grand Resort Hotel and Convention Center “smelled, the beds looked like someone had rolled all in them,” while “the chairs had stains.”

A guest at the Hotel Carter wrote on June 24 that the room phone “was dirty, there was no ironing board…I remove the top sheet to get in the bed and there were blood stains on the sheets underneath.” The hotel’s policy “is after ten minutes in the room they won’t give you a refund. We left fast!” the member said.

If America’s dirtiest hotels think lower prices can lure customers in spite of peeling paint and roach infestations, they’re wrong. “Long term a hotel cannot weather a bad reputation especially for cleanliness–even if it continues to offer discounts or money off when a guest has a problem–word of mouth–either directly or through the internet by blogs or reviews–can be devastating,” says Purdue University’s Adler.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Lacker Says More Fed Stimulus Would Increase Inflation Rather Than Growth

-Bloomberg

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said additional monetary stimulus would likely raise inflation further while not providing a substantial lift to economic growth.

“Given current inflation trends, additional monetary stimulus at this juncture seems likely to raise inflation to undesirably high levels and do little to spur real growth,” Lacker said in a speech before the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce in Chantilly, Virginia.

Federal Reserve policy makers meet Aug. 9 to assess the economy and monetary policy. U.S. central bankers have kept their benchmark lending rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008 and expanded the central bank’s balance sheet to $2.8 trillion in total assets in an effort to support growth.

The Fed’s Beige Book, a survey of regional economies released yesterday, said economic activity slowed in eight of 12 Fed districts. The recovery, which began in June 2009, has failed to pull the unemployment rate below 9 percent in all but two of the past 24 months of expansion. Lacker called the rebound in gross domestic product “disappointing” and said it remains to be seen if the economy rises to previous trend rates of around 3 percent annual growth or settles at a lower trend rate.

“When coming out of a recession, real GDP has typically grown several percentage points faster than the 3 percent long- run trend rate,” Lacker said. “This time, real GDP has risen at a 2.75 percent annual rate since the end of the recession.”      

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Yeeeehaw! Buy This Wild West Town for $799,000

-CNBC

There are a lot of great real estate bargains on the market right now but this one takes the cake — You can buy an entire town for $799,000.

That would buy you a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan but here in Scenic, South Dakota (that’s the real name) it buys you 46 acres, according to the official listing, including a post office, convenience store, saloon, dance hall, museum, a historic train depot, two homes (one stick built, one modular) and two jails (one working, one not). It comes with stunning views of “prairie” and “meadow” according to the listing.

Scenic used to be a booming Wild West town and it’s owned by a real, live cowgirl and former rodeo star, Twila Merrill. If you don’t believe that last part, check the official listing — www.buyscenicsd.com — which includes a link to her being honored by the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2006.

Alas, every cowgirl knows when to hang up her hat and let the next rodeo star mount the horse. Merrill isn’t in the best of health so she and her daughter have put the town up for sale, hoping someone will come and breath new life into it.

Maybe someone in Hollywood will buy it and turn it into a set for western films or a reality series. Maybe someone could turn it into a Wild West museum town to rival Colonial Williamsburg.

Of course, it would make a perfect gift for that lady who has everything. Imagine the day-after anniversary conversation: He bought me a whole town!

Whoever buys it, let’s hope they heed the advice Merrill relayed in a recent interview:

“There’s not a horse that can’t be rode but there ain't a cowgirl that can’t be throwed.”

Well said, Miss Twila. Well said.

Yeeeeeeeeeehaw!

Pony Treats:

The Quotable Cowboy. For more cowboy wisdom, check out CoolnSmart’s cowboy quotes, including some oldies but goodies like “Don’t squat with your spurs on” and “Never slap a man who’s chewing tobacco.”

The Naked Cowboy. And, who could forget New York’s own Naked Cowboy, who is quite quotable himself. You can quote him or get married by him in Times Square – he’s now a licensed reverend. But wait, don’t answer yet, you also get Naked Cowboy Oysters. Cowboys are a little different in these here parts.

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

Lack of financing may derail growing housing investments

-Housingwire

Investors are a driving force in the housing market, but their enthusiasm is constrained by limited financing options with more investors forced to pay cash for their homes as debt-driven financing remains restricted. And with housing supply only set to increase, the ability of these investors to absorb the overhang may substantially decrease.

Primary activity in the nation's key housing markets is made up of a significant portion of hard cash buyers operating in the distressed property space. Of this number, only 40% or so are estimated to have access to excess capital.

Seventy-five percent of investor transactions last month were financed with cash, according to researchers who compiled the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. While investors are welcomed into the market for keeping sales flowing, an earlier report from HousingPulse warned investor cash levels would eventually be depleted, leaving the market in the hands of first-time homebuyers — many of whom no longer qualify for credit because of tightened underwriting guidelines.

Looking forward, researchers who compiled the report expect home prices to dip further in 2011 due to limited financing options for investors and a growing gap between the supply of distressed properties and sagging demand from first-time buyers. One market source interviewed by the firm expects price declines of at least another 10%.

"The fact that the recent rebound in existing home sales has been predominantly driven by cash buyers and investors places a question mark over the sustainability of that rebound," said Paul Dales, U.S. housing analyst for Capital Economics, back in March. "The concern is that there may be a limited pool of such buyers and that first-time buyers will not be able to fill any void."

The survey showed the proportion of first-time homebuyers in the housing market dropped to 35.4% in June, compared to 37.3% in May. At the same time, the HousingPulse Distressed Property Index dropped to 44.7% in June from 46.7% in May. Even with distressed properties clearing the market,  HousingPulse noted "the gap between first-time homebuyers and distressed property supply was 9.3 percentage points in June," suggesting that housing supply far exceeds demand.

Not to mention, the market remains fearful of the eventual unleashing of the growing shadow inventory of foreclosed and short sale properties.

In the report, Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance quotes an anonymous California real estate agent as saying "there are tens of thousands of homes that have not even received a notice of default that have not made a mortgage payment in months or years."

The same agent said there will not be a bottom until the "economy turns in earnest and or the default inventory is exhausted."

The study concluded that investors have played a significant role since the end of the homebuyer tax credit by accounting for more than 20% of home purchases on average.

Middle-class Americans seem to believe the dire forecast about home prices and future sales, and remain unlikely to meaningfully get into moving up the property ladder, much less buying second homes.

Sixty-three percent of citizens surveyed for the First Command Financial Behaviors Index believe America is already in a double-dip recession, About 55% of those Americans who see the nation in the grips of a double-dip recession consider the weak housing market to be one of the key causes.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

FHA May Be Next in Line for Huge Bailout: Delisle and Papagianis

-Bloomberg

The nationwide decline in house prices has created a vacuum in the U.S. mortgage market. Private financing for home loans has all but dried up and the U.S. government is now guaranteeing almost every new mortgage. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received most of the media’s attention, but policy makers need to focus on the third leg of the housing- support stool: the Federal Housing Administration.

The FHA has some major accounting problems. Left unaddressed, they could spook the markets, lead the FHA to seek a federal cash infusion and further enrage taxpayers. These outcomes can be avoided -- but only if policy makers are more transparent about the risks involved in guaranteeing mortgages.

The FHA provides private lenders with a 100 percent guarantee against defaults on home mortgages that meet certain underwriting criteria, such as a minimum down payment and credit score. Traditionally, the FHA has served first-time homebuyers and low- to moderate-income families who pay an insurance premium for this loan guarantee.

As private-financing options have disappeared, the role of the FHA has grown. Its market share has increased to about 30 percent today from 3-4 percent in 2007. That’s because the agency is now practically the only game in town, accepting borrowers with down payments of as low as 3.5 percent. As the last few years have made clear, sizable down payments -- or “skin in the game” -- are the key to avoiding defaults in the near term and to achieving a stable housing market in the long term.

FHA’s Bottom Line

So how has the FHA fared financially in serving borrowers with low down payments? As the housing bubble burst in 2007, and the number of mortgage-related defaults started to climb, the FHA’s capital reserves declined to $3.5 billion from $22 billion.

This means that the FHA is on the verge of requiring a bailout to support its outstanding mortgage guarantees, which are projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2011.

The credit quality of FHA lending can be improved with better underwriting standards, such as requiring higher down payments and premiums. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to sound the alarm because flawed accounting measures show that new FHA loans will be profitable for the government. As a general rule, each year the government sets insurance premiums high enough to give the appearance that they will more than cover any losses from homeowners who default.

Budgetary Illusion

But no one should take comfort in the FHA’s projected profit. It’s purely a budgetary illusion.

According to the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, federal-budget analysts must strip out any costs that the government incurs when it bears market risk in guaranteeing loans, including mortgages. Market risk is the likelihood that loan defaults will be higher during times of economic stress and that those defaults will be more costly. Excluding costs for market risk is particularly irresponsible at a time when foreclosure rates are elevated and doubts remain over whether home prices will fall further.

If the rate of loss on the FHA’s new guarantees ends up higher than expected, that will probably be because the overall economic recovery has stalled. In such a scenario, any entity guaranteeing mortgages -- be it the taxpayer-backed FHA or a private company -- will suffer bigger-than-expected losses.

Taxpayer Risks

Skeptics might dismiss warnings about the FHA’s ballooning market share. They would defend the government’s current accounting rules and argue that the growth in FHA loans (at the expense of private-sector lending) is a perfectly logical policy goal. In their view, the government is a more efficient provider of mortgages because it can borrow at lower interest rates than any private financial institution.

What’s missing from this analysis is that the government enjoys low borrowing costs only because it can shift market risk onto taxpayers.

Put another way, there is only one reason why investors lend to the government at lower rates than they charge private mortgage insurers, even if they all insure identical mortgages: The government can call on taxpayers to repay bondholders if FHA loans result in higher-than-expected defaults. Few taxpayers would choose to bear that risk free of charge.

Rewriting the Rules

Some lawmakers understand this and are working to change the government’s accounting rules to include market risk. At the request of Representative Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, the Congressional Budget Office recently took the official budget estimate for new FHA loans and added in the cost of market risk that taxpayers bear in guaranteeing the mortgages.

Under this more comprehensive methodology, the CBO determined that FHA loans would swing to a loss of $3.5 billion from a projected profit of $4.4 billion next year. In a 10-year budget window, this could mean a difference of $50 billion to $70 billion, depending on market conditions.

Accounting issues often seem arcane or even trivial. But the growth in FHA lending has turned a seemingly small problem into a large taxpayer vulnerability. The current accounting rules will also make it harder politically to shift some of the housing market back to the private sector. Congress should own up to the full costs and risks that taxpayers bear to guarantee mortgages.

The last time Congress delayed action in this area, taxpayers got stuck bailing out Fannie and Freddie -- at a cost of more than $160 billion and rising.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Mortgage Bankers Reverse Course on Loan Limits

-CNBC

It was barely a few months ago, albeit a few thousand degrees ago, that I moderated a panel of mortgage types from the major banks, including the Mortgage Bankers Association's new president David Stevens, formerly FHA commissioner.

Stevens and I have been talking housing for many years now, so I'm well aware that he is not exactly the ambivalent type.

When I suggested to the panel that the risk of a double-dip in housing was great and that winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now could be detrimental to the housing market, Stevens was adamant that housing was well into recovery, and all those home price and mortgage delinquency reports I was citing were backward looking and not indicative of the current state of the market.

Now Stevens is reversing course.

This morning he put out a statement advocating a continuation of the higher loan limits at the GSE's (Fannie and Freddie) and the FHA for one more year. “The temporary loan limits authorized by Congress have benefited consumers and the housing market during what has been a turbulent period for our nation’s economy,” Stevens said in the statement. “That decline is not over yet.”

The statement was a little dry for me, knowing the source, so I called Stevens for a little elaboration. He stated right from the get-go that he is still bullish about the future of the housing market, which is not exactly saying he feels great about it right now.

"It looked very clear at the beginning of the year that we were heading toward a flattening of the market, but we've seen clearly an impact to the housing market which is not solely a result of the U.S. economy. It's brought on by general uncertainties: Oil prices spiked for a while, which hit confidence, there were a lot of impacts both domestically and internationally," he continued. "I think the view right now that I have is that this is a relatively inexpensive initiative that could support the housing market at a time when pulling back makes no sense."

When I suggested that this was in direct opposition to the MBA's stand on GSE reform, which includes reducing loan limits in order to bring private capital back to the market, he said there was always a "caveat in the white paper for market conditions." He also says private capital is still too nervous about the state of housing to come back in force now. As for the FHA, which he has maintained consistently has far too large a market share right now, "If FHA is still too big, it is the sign of an unhealthy system, but it doesn't mean pulling back is the right answer. We must continue providing support."

Lowering the current loan limits (a maximum of $729,750 in the most expensive markets) would really affect just 5 percent of the housing market, although that percentage is far higher in certain local markets. Stevens says that's enough to hurt the overall market right now, and that we still need another year of recovery before we take such a risk. He notes over an over that it really costs the government nothing and doesn't "score" in the budget.

I'm wondering when the banking industry starts putting its money where its mouth is, now that it's making money again. There has been all this talk about getting government out of the housing/mortgage market, but no real movement in that direction. There have been some hikes in fees, but nothing really dramatic. The change in the loan limits was supposed to be the first step, something everyone agreed on. Now, not so much. There is certainly risk in lowering the limits, given that we are operating in a housing market that was beaten to a pulp and is still limping. But rehab takes some pain; if we really want a private sector mortgage market, and I'm not advocating one way or the other, but that has been the party line in both parties, then we need to start somewhere.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Freddie Mac ready to launch Servicing Success Program

-Housingwire

Freddie Mac posted details about its new Servicing Success Program Monday as the government-sponsored enterprise prepares for the Aug. 1 launch of the initiative.

Through the program, Freddie hopes to offer servicers a more "robust and balanced approach" to setting standards for what the GSE expects from its servicing clients in the field.

The program will not only set performance bars, but will provide a stream of feedback on servicer strengths and weaknesses. It also will allow for open dialogue to give servicers the information they need to improve the performance of their portfolios.

Freddie's Servicing Success Program directly evaluates each servicer's performance when it comes to investor reporting, remitting and default management.

Through the program, Freddie will rank servicers monthly based on points they earned when servicing loans the previous month. The August rankings will be available on each servicer's performance profile Web page starting Oct. 7. This ranking system will replace Freddie's traditional performance-tiered rankings.

"Today's announcement marks the beginning of a significant advance in the scope and sophistication of servicer performance management," said Tracy Mooney, senior vice president of single-family servicing and REO at Freddie Mac. "The robust, balanced approach we are launching in 2011 underscores Freddie Mac's commitment to invest in the future of U.S. homeownership by strengthening servicing practices and enabling servicers to more effectively preserve homeownership."

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

Reverse-mortgage market carries on

-Nems360

No need to panic, financial advisers are saying in the wake of Wells Fargo and Bank of America leaving the reverse mortgage business. Homeowners who have reverse mortgages with those banks have no reason to worry, as the banks will continue to service those loans.
What's more, homeowners who might be seeking a reverse mortgage will still have at least one large provider — MetLife Bank — and plenty of small independent firms from which to choose.
But though there's no reason to panic, there are still plenty of questions to be answered. What does Wells Fargo and Bank of America leaving the business mean for the reverse mortgage product and the industry? What does their departure say about the future direction of housing prices in the U.S.? Do Wells Fargo and Bank of America have a crystal ball that others don't? And what should folks who might need or want reverse mortgage do now or in the future?
By way of background, reverse mortgages are — in the big scheme of things — a relatively new product in the world of retirement income, and there's much confusion over how they work.

Reverse mortgages
Here's what the national trade group, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, says about them: "Reverse mortgages are available to seniors 62 years old and older with significant home equity. They are designed to enable elderly homeowners to borrow against the equity in their homes without having to make monthly payments as is required with a traditional 'forward' mortgage or home equity loan. Under a reverse mortgage, funds are advanced to the borrower and interest accrues, but the outstanding balance is not due until the last borrower leaves the home, sells or passes away. Borrowers may draw down funds as a lump sum at loan origination, establish a line of credit or request fixed monthly payments for as long as they continue to live in the home."
Those who have a reverse mortgage originated by Wells Fargo or Bank of America have no need to worry, said Peter Bell, president and CEO of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. "All current Wells Fargo reverse mortgage borrowers will continue to be serviced and funds made available," Bell said in a statement. Ditto those who had one with Bank of America.
In a statement, Wells Fargo said it was leaving the reverse mortgage business in part because of "unpredictable home values." And Bank of America said in February that the staff and resources used by the operation were needed in other parts of the company.
Experts, however, said Wells Fargo's departure was less about falling house prices and had more to do reputational risk and the business line's contribution to company's revenues and profits. "To really understand what caused Wells Fargo to leave the industry, you also need to understand how small their reverse mortgage division really is," said Colette A. Gray, a senior loan officer and reverse mortgage specialist at Home Safe Reverse Mortgage. "With a 26 percent share of the market and a No. 1 position in the industry, their reverse mortgage division represents only a tiny 1.2 percent of their overall retail volume. The potential damage to their reputation in foreclosing on the comparative few in technical default is overwhelming. It simply isn't worth the risk to them."

One major bank
With Wells Fargo and Bank of America gone from the business, there will be just one major bank — MetLife Bank, a part of MetLife Inc. — and lots of smaller independent players in the business. "Homeowners interested in a reverse mortgage will still have plenty of providers from which to choose," said Bell. "Wells Fargo's departure means that a significant portion of market share will be re-distributed among other participants in the reverse mortgage business."
And that redistribution could be good news for providers and customers alike. As one member of a group focused on reverse mortgages on LinkedIn said: "It is a shame that most of 'the big guys' are abandoning the reverse product but at least for those who still have outlets to place their loans, perhaps the playing field will become more level again."
And the fact that the providers are small should be of no concern to homeowners seeking a reverse mortgage, said Jeff Lewis, the chairman of Generation Mortgage Company. "The product is government-insured, so consumers should not be concerned about whether their provider is a large institution or not," he said. "Actually, they can continue to expect to get more personalized service from smaller organizations, as they have in the past."

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

America's Most Expensive Home is for Cowboys

-Yahoo!

This $175 million luxury cutting horse and cattle ranch is in a valley next to the town of Jackson, WY.
Photo: Forbes Images

Even as so many Americans struggle under the weight of their underwater mortgage loans, in the high-rolling world of billionaire real estate, 2011 has been a year of record-breaking uber expensive properties. In March billionaire investor Yuri Milner plunked down $100 million for a Silicon Valley estate, breaking previous purchase price records in the U.S. Just last week, billionaire heiress Petra Ecclestone became the new owner of the Spelling Manor — an estate whose $150 million asking price had garnered it the title of America’s most expensive home for sale. Just days later, a new property is taking over that “most expensive” title: the $175 million Jackson Land & Cattle ranch.

Jackson Land & Cattle hit the sale block this week, listed with John C. Pierce of Hall & Hall, a ranch real estate firm. The property’s owner is Richard Fields, chief executive of Coastal Development, LLC, a gaming and resort development company. Fields’ $175 million compound encompasses more than 1,750 acres of rolling, green land just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in Teton County. The expansive ranch hosts cattle and horses. Aspen, evergreen and timber trees stud the hills interspersed with large hay meadows. There are three fishing ponds, a spring creek and over 800 acres of irrigated meadows. The Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains rise up in the distance.

The ranch’s biggest draw is certainly not the residence. The home itself is an old barn that’s been converted into a quaint three bedroom residence. There’s also a four bedroom guest house and two employee apartments. No, the real draw is the world -class 52-stall equestrian center.

View of the Tetons from the stable grounds.
Photo: Forbes Images

The equestrian center started life as an English-style riding center. Fields had it retrofitted for cutting horse training, a Western style of riding in which a rider and his horse separate an animal out from a herd (think of the horseback maneuvers ranchers in western movies do). The center is designed by renowned western architect Jonathan Foote, perhaps most famous for his use of distressed woods, glass and Montana moss rock. Fields convinced the architect to come out of retirement and re-skin the center with rough-cut stone and barn wood. There’s an outdoor riding rink and an indoor one from which you can gaze out windows onto the mountains.

The 52-stall equestrian center was designed by Jonathan Foote.
Photo: Forbes Images

“You can fish and ride and hunt and you’re still only three minutes from downtown Jackson Hole,” says Jonathan Pierce, the property’s listing agent. And for billionaires — the prospective buyers of this pricey piece of nature — the locale comes with benefits. Most notably on taxes. Wyoming doesn’t have a state income tax or an estate tax; even property taxes are low. Jackson and its neighboring areas host a plethora of secondary homes since taxes also don’t have to be paid on out-of-state retirement income. In response, the area draws a substantial number of ultra wealthy residents like Walmart billionaire Christy Walton, the world’s richest woman. Indeed Teton County is one of America’s wealthiest counties per capita.

A notable factor contributing to Jackson Land & Cattle’s price is the fact that it carries entitlements for up to 35 home sites. In other words, if a buyer doesn’t want all that land for himself, he can subdivide and sell parcels of it. Even so, there are hopes that the estate’s buyer won’t find it necessary to do that. “We are dealing with a very capable seller who is hoping for a conservation outcome on the property, although certainly not dictating that,” explains Pierce. “It’s a signature property that the entire community would love to see someone come along that shares Mr. Fields’ appreciation for the open space.”

More than 800 acres of irrigated meadows add to the unrivaled views.
Photo: Forbes Images

That aspiration aside, Pierce acknowledges that that subdivision opportunity definitely contributes to the hefty price tag. Though he chooses not to compare the two properties, neighboring 1,840-acre Walton Ranch is asking a mere $100 million. Despite the two ranches’ comparable sizes, the Walton Ranch’s land is much more heavily protected and only two or three additional home sites would ever be allowed on its acreage.

As for who exactly will want to cough over $175 million to buy this huge western compound? “People wanting the absolute finest property in the absolute finest resort community in the country can give me a call!” chuckles Pierce. Go get him, billionaires.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Beware US real estate scammers

-Globes

Many Israelis are now buying and selling American real estate, trying to take advantage of a strong shekel and a weak United States real estate market.

However, real estate scams are probably as old as real estate itself, and savvy investors can make mistakes, especially if they are deceived by their attorneys and real estate advisors.

With investors pooling their money into real estate trust funds, there are multiple opportunities for con artists to conceal theft from the trust fund. As the trust fund managers collect monies from an ever-increasing circle of clients, they pay out “dividends” based not on returns, but on new investments.

In one real estate ponzi scheme, investors purchased deeds (interests in land) that were marketed as being secured by California real estate. In fact, the deeds were either unsecured or far more risky than promised. Many of the “investment counselors” were not licensed as required, and the appraisals were inflated. The ponzi scheme promised rates of return of 18% to 22%, with loans not exceeding 80% of the value of the property. It was all a multi-million dollar fraud.

In another case, a Harvard Law graduate, who was a former US Attorney, teamed up with a tax shelter specialist to defraud property owners. The owners provided a limited power of attorney over two residential properties to a relative of the tax shelter specialist. The attorney promised that the relative with the power of attorney was as honest “as the day is long.” A short time later, while the owners were in Israel, the “honest” relative and various acquaintances obtained outside loans on the properties and moved another relative into one of the homes. When the property owners demanded to be made whole, the scam artists threatened to “grind the owner into the ground.” And, when the owners took legal action, the attorney had another tenant manufacture a claim of sexual harassment against the owners.

Sometimes, an enterprising buyer will pay a small deposit to tie up a property in escrow, perhaps for ninety days, while looking for another purchaser. When the transaction closes, the original seller is paid by the ultimate purchaser through the escrow. This kind of transaction is sometimes referred to as a “double escrow,” and often the original seller has no idea about the additional premium collected by the middleman.

This arrangement can become fraudulent where the attorney represents multiple parties in the transaction and conceals the facts from the seller. Generally speaking, attorneys only represent one side in a transaction, especially in a real estate transaction, to avoid conflicts of interest. The attorney should disclose all the facts about the transaction and obtain written consent.

A real estate scam artist often has a certain flair. The scammer gains the confidence of the victim with brash self-assurance and by displaying badges of success: money, cars, and an impressive home. Then, the scammer confuses the investor with a get-rich-quick scheme that is incomprehensible, yet delivered with such bravado that otherwise prudent, successful people write enormous checks to buy something they do not understand.

As a young attorney, I remember sitting in a meeting with a brilliant transactional and tax lawyer who was being sued for fraud in Los Angeles. He was dazzling. He had the entire defense team in the palm of his hand. We thought he was a genius, we admired his character, and we could not believe that he had done anything wrong. As the case proceeded closer to trial and after the defense team considered the evidence, it became clear that like the investors we had also been fooled.

Some simple rules apply: Understand how the transaction works: what is being bought, what is being sold and how the investment makes money. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Be careful about trusting strangers. A power of attorney is a potentially dangerous instrument. Finally, always have qualified third parties, who are not interested in the transaction, review the deal.

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

Fannie Mae sees light at the end of housing tunnel

-Housingwire

Home sales in the second quarter of 2011 were bad, according to Fannie Mae. Home prices also remain volatile, moving with gains and losses, over the past two years.

However, according to a housing forecast report card released on Friday from the government-sponsored enterprise, 2012 is likely to be a different story.

Next year will likely see meaningful gains in both categories, especially in the multifamily space. Both home sales and house prices should begin to improve from the third quarter 2011, with faster growth in the final two quarters of 2012.

Meanwhile, the GSE said full-year growth is projected to slow to 2.4%, down from 2.8% in 2010.

There are many economic uncertainties dragging the recovery, the research states. Disruptions in Europe may impact the U.S. banking system to the downside, for example. Furthermore, consecutive poor employment reports are directly impacting home purchases.

"Clearly, the renewed slowdown in hiring underscores the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook," said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. "The lack of sustained, robust job growth continues to push out into the future the time for the housing market to heal, which is crucial to a meaningful economic expansion."

Fannie Mae also predicts mortgage rates on 30-year fixed to hit 5% in the second quarter of 2012 and keep rising from there. Liquidations, on the other hand will remain at low levels for the long term.

Demands for rentals should remain robust, according to Kim Betancourt, Fannie Mae director of multifamily economics and market research, in a separate research report.

"There is some concern that multifamily fundamentals may stagnate if job growth remains anemic, however, new rental supply will be limited, likely resulting in keeping current rent levels stable," Betancourt wrote.

"The outlook for the second half of 2011 remains the same for the multifamily sector, with an annualized increase of 3% expected for average asking rents and the vacancy rate expected to stay fairly stable, declining to 6.5% from 6.75% by the end of the year," the text states.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Mortgage bankers push for conforming loan limit extension

-Housingwire

Mortgage Bankers Association CEO David Stevens sent a letter to House leaders Thursday urging lawmakers to extend the elevated conforming loan limits for government-backed mortgages.

In 2008, Congress allowed Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee or buy mortgages worth as much as $729,750 in most neighborhoods. The limits will expire Oct. 1 and drop to $625,500, varying by county.

Stevens, the former director of the FHA, said he would like to see the limits extended through the end of 2012.

"While we had hoped improved economic conditions could warrant a return to the loan limits established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the reality is that the temporarily higher loan levels are still needed. A number of bills have been introduced that would extend these limits and we urge Congress to address this important issue," Stevens said in the letter to Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) introduced just such a bill last week, which would extend the limits for another two years.

Extending the limits would run contrary to what the Obama administration proposed when it released its white paper on the future of housing finance in February. Officials suggested to Congress that the first step toward winding down Fannie and Freddie would be to allow the loan limits to expire in October.

But mortgage originations are set to fall to around $1 trillion in 2011 with new home sales falling 23% and existing home sales slipping 13% from last year, according to the MBA.

"The temporary loan limits authorized by Congress have benefited consumers and the housing market during what has been a turbulent period for our nation’s economy," Stevens said. "That decline is not over yet.".

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

The Strangest and Most Unusual Homes You Can Buy

-Yahoo!

Mushroom House, as it is known, features connected 'pods'.
Photo: Rich Testa of RE/MAX Advance

When Robert and Marguerite Antell told architect James Johnson they wanted to build a fun, artistic home, he handed the couple a coke bottle with a flowering sprig of Queen Anne’s lace. “This is your new home,” he explained. Forty years later the cream-colored pod that they built from his plans hit the market for $1.1 million in Pittsford, N.Y.

The “Mushroom House,” as locals call it, is comprised of five connected “pods,” or housing structures, including two living areas, a patio, a master suite with office, and a guest pod with two bedrooms. More than 10,000 tiles bedazzle the walls, floors and counters throughout. Completed in 1971, the distinctive building has undergone an extensive update and garnered landmark status.

It is just one of 12 unique, unusual and in some cases, downright strange, homes for sale right now in the U.S. With the help of Trulia.com, Realtor.com, Sotheby’s International Realty, Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Stribling & Associates, we culled through listings nationwide to find our favorite nontraditional abodes that make McMansions look mundane. Prices for the homes we highlight vary from as little as $225,000 to as much as $13 million.

One of the interior rooms in the Mushroom house.
Photo: Rich Testa of RE/MAX Advance

Our list includes a regal church converted into posh condos, including a stained glass-bedecked $1.5 million, three-bedroom unit in western Pennsylvania; a haute houseboat docked in Seattle for $3.45 million; and a $8.5 million Mountain Village, Colo. estate constructed of recycled mining materials and equipped with an enclosed steel and timber bridge.

Such properties don’t always snag buyers (at least not right away). They’re not for everyone. Yet the Mushroom House’s listing agent says the property is enjoying a high interest level. “It’s like you’re living in a sculpture,” explains Rich Testa of RE/MAX Advance, noting that construction of a home like this today would cost upwards of $4 million. “We are marketing it to higher-end buyers and we have done and continue to do email blasts and direct mailings to patrons of the arts.”

Pittsford’s flower power pad isn’t the only home striving to be a work of art. Los Angeles’ Schnabel House is a $13 million “village of sculptural forms” erected by renowned architect Frank Gehry (whose work includes Dr. Seuss-esque structures as the MIT Stata Center and New York by Gehry). The geometric Schnabel House is built of stucco, glass, copper, steel and lead, flanked on one side by a giant reflecting pool. The 1989 estate just underwent an extensive renovation overseen by Gehry himself, hitting the sale block once complete.

For those looking for something more historical, America has a fair share of nouveau castle keeps, like Tennessee’s hulking Crantzdorf Castle that has been asking $19.5 million. New York City’s northern-most borough, The Bronx, has one on the market for just under $3 million. Located in the tony Riverdale neighborhood that the Kennedy family once called home, the medieval-style manse is fashioned after a 16th Century outpost in Croatia. The 1925 stone structure touts a private courtyard and a two-story turret, and sits on one of the highest points in the city.

“It’s not Walt Disney-ish, it’s more a solidly built home with all the castle features,” says Peter Browne, the property’s co-listing agent. His real estate brokerage, Stribling & Associates, shares the listing with Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “I think whoever buys this will have a lot of people who want to come visit ‘the castle.’”

Here are some of the strangest and most unusual homes you can buy:

Converted Church
459 40th Street 2
Lawrenceville, PA.
List Price: $1.5 million

This church was converted to condos, including this 3-bedroom unit
with 38-foot vaulted ceilings, and stained glass windows.
Photo: Realtor.com

Frank Gehry's Schnabel House
526 N. Carmelina Ave
Los Angeles, CA.
List Price: $13 million

The “village of sculptural forms” is built of copper, stucco, wood, glass and lead
- featuring a reflecting pond off of the master bedroom.
Photo: realtor.com

Floating Home
2369 Fairview Avenue E6
Seattle, WA.
List Price: $3.45 million

This docked, custom home sits atop the water in a gated
“floating waterfront community”.
Photo: Trulia

Desert Nomad House
6353 West Sweetwater Drive
Tucson, AZ.
List Price: $975,000

Comprised of three steel and glass cubes, these Sonoran Desert modules
are meant to be as much an artistic statement as a residence.
Photo: Forbes Images

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

See Washington’s past and present simultaneously

-Yahoo!

A fascinating photo project called "Looking Into the Past" is taking place over on Flickr. Jason Powell, who calls himself a cameraist rather than a photographer, takes pictures of present day scenes while holding up a photo of that exact spot from a moment in the location's history.

One of Powell's favorites, this image of Thomas Circle show how "just about everything except for the statue and the church spire has changed."

It takes your eyes a few seconds to process the two different scenes taking place. Most of the photos come from the Library of Congress, and the ones chosen for the project tend to highlight buildings around the D.C. area (with some reaches into Virginia and Maryland). The biggest difference is how few cars are in the foreground of the black-and-white pictures.

The composite above shows the old Leader Theater on Ninth Street in Washington. "It makes me very sad," Powell writes. "I want to step into this photograph and go join those folks in line. I want to eat at the Acropolis Cafe. I want to visit the Gayety. And yet, the only thing left from this scene is the red brick building on the left."

Above, two images of Pennsylvania Avenue. "Other than the Willard (the imposing structure on the left - one of the most beautiful buildings in Washington), everything here is gone," Powell writes. "The building that is on the far right in the original photo is the original Washington Post building."

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Spooky homes for sale

-MSN Real Estate

What if every day was Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) at your house? Some homes have creepy pasts, and a few owners think it’s really cool to live among ghosts. (Homes with sordid pasts: Creepy, but great bargains.) With the help of MSN Real Estate’s listings partner, Realtor.com, we tracked down homes where Halloween happens throughout the year.

Kimball Castle

Railroad baron Benjamin Ames Kimball spent two years (1897-1899) and the princely sum of $50,000 constructing this tormented-looking castle. The five-bedroom, three-bath, 3,980-square-foot pile of stone overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee in Gilford, N.H. In its glory, the 23.5-acre property was ringed with stone walls and English gardens. Today, it’s filled with ghosts, the owners say. Mary Jodoin told The Laconia (N.H.) Citizen, "There was doors opening and closing as well as seeing a figure in the living room." Her husband, David, tells of hearing sounds of horses near the old stables. That was enough for "Ghost Hunters," a Syfy Channel show, to film an episode on Kimball Castle. Townspeople are hoping a developer will rescue the $995,000 property and make it a five-star resort and restaurant.

The House of Dark Shadows

This old home in Byron Center, Mich., south of Grand Rapids, was the "House of Dark Shadows" 40 years ago. The 154-year-old home — 4,416-square feet, with seven bedrooms and three bathrooms on 5.3 acres — was perfect for the role. But haunted-house impresario Jim Westra tangled repeatedly with authorities over permits and zoning. He eventually moved on, starting a new attraction, "The Haunted Mill," in nearby Greenville. Westra died in prison earlier this year at age 80, convicted of burning down the mill after trying unsuccessfully for years to sell it. His brother told The Grand Rapids Press that haunted houses were Westra’s way of supporting his real passion: nature and wild-life preservation. When the house, at 9320 South Division Ave., sold recently, the asking price was $365,000.

Bring on the Headless Horseman

The original American ghost story, set in 1790 in the village of North Tarrytown, N.Y., stars a skinny schoolmaster who is chased through the midnight countryside by a crazy, headless creep on horseback. The village changed its name to Sleepy Hollow in 1996. Buy this big five-bedroom, 3½-bath colonial house for $1.2 million and rise at midnight to hear ghostly galloping. A few blocks away are the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where the story’s author,Washington Irving, is buried, and the Old Dutch Church, where the Headless Horseman still resides.

House on Haunted Hill

It's not likely famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright had horror films in mind when he designed the Ennis house in 1923. Back then, the few scary movies — all silent, of course  —  included "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919) and the first vampire movie, "Nosferatu" (1922). Instead, this imposing 6,000-square-foot edifice (four bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms on 0.85 acre) was notable as one of the first homes made of interlocking, precast concrete blocks. The intricate designs look a lot like Mayan architecture. But fate had other plans for this amazing home. It starred in movies (including "Blade Runner," "Rush Hour," "Black Rain," "The Glimmer Man," "The Karate Kid, Part III" and the 1975 classic, "The Day of the Locust"), and the exterior appeared in the horror classic "The House on Haunted Hill." No, not the 1999 remake with Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen and Taye Diggs. We're talking about the 1959 original. Vincent Price was a rich man who throws a party and offers his guests a small fortune to spend the night locked up in his haunted house. But you — you can spend every night in this place: $7.5 million gets you in. See more photos at the Ennis House Foundation website.

Ghosts of vigilante justice

Squint and you’ll see victims of vigilante justice swinging from spectral ropes in Virginia City, Mont., "the most haunted place on Earth," as one believer puts it. The boardwalk, saloons and historic buildings all seem frozen in the 1870s. But the gold miners, gunslingers, tribes and Indian scouts (Calamity Jane lived in town for a while) are mostly gone. It’s primarily ghosts and tourists today. In the 2000 census, only 72 households remained. In the 1940s, Sue and Charles Bovey started buying and restoring dozens of old buildings, including this, one of the first "stick-built" homes in Montana Territory. The nicely restored two-bedroom, two-bath house ($249,000) was built in 1864. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places along with much of the rest of town.

‘Get out!’

One of the creepiest streets in America is Ocean Avenue in Amityville, N.Y. In 1974, at 112 Ocean Ave., Ronald "Butch" DeFeo Jr. shot six members of his family to death in their beds. What came next made Amityville a legend: A year later, George and Kathleen Lutz bought the house. They stayed just 28 days and fled, saying they’d been forced out by a demon. The Lutzes’ story was told in "The Amityville Horror." "Get owwwwwt!"  the demon famously commands a priest attempting an exorcism. It’s supposedly all a giant hoax, but spend $890,000 and decide for yourself, down the street from where all the madness ensued. This stately six-bedroom, 3½-bath Victorian at 34 Ocean Ave. was built in 1905. The big lot (260 by 60 feet) has a kidney-shaped swimming pool, 260 feet of waterfront, two boat slips and a separate two-bedroom cottage. The murder house itself sold in August for $1.15 million.

Retire among spirits

Plunk down $1.2 million for a quiet life in this elegant, haunted bed-and-breakfast in Jerome, Ariz., which bills itself as "the largest ghost town in America." In the Roaring '20s, Jerome was a booming copper-mining town with 15,000 residents. Today, it’s a National Historic District with 50 to 100 live souls, mostly writers, artists, hermits and gift-shop proprietors. Unearthly residents go uncounted, but they’re here, too. The B&B is known as the old Surgeon’s House. It was a nurses’ residence for an adjacent hospital, then home to the chief surgeon. Ghosts of Jerome’s storied past haunt the home, according to this article on examiner.com. There’s a maid called Alice, a spectral couple who dance by moonlight and a dignified spirit who enters wearing a suit and carrying a doctor’s bag, then changes into pajamas before fading into thin air.

Sanctuary amid the paranormal

Find sanctuary from the ghosts of Bisbee, Ariz., in this 1915 home in the hills. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a built-in buffet, wood floors, decks, skylights, a hot tub and fine views. It will set you back $225,000. Once the most cultured city between San Francisco and St. Louis, Bisbee today is a genuine Old West ghost town. You’ll believe it after taking the Old Bisbee Ghost Tour, spending a night in the haunted Copper Queen Hotel (more than 16 spiritual entities) or reading about Bisbee in The New York Times. The Southwest Ghost Hunters Association investigated nine haunted sites in Bisbee. Among them: the Queen Mine, where three miners were murdered in a labor dispute in the 1890s; the Bisbee Grand Hotel, with its two resident ghosts; and the legendary Cochise County Courthouse, haunted by a headless apparition wearing a judge's robe.

Spooky town

Haunted houses not creepy enough? How about a haunted town? The town is Cuchillo, N.M. Artist Josh Bond — owner of several properties here, including the 180-year-old adobe Old Cuchillo Bar & Hotel — asked the West Coast Ghost and Paranormal Society to investigate mysterious whispers he’d heard. They collected 120 hours of video and audio recordings, which picked up unexplained growling, voices, clanking bottles and footsteps. They also smelled rose perfume and watched a shadowy black figure float from room to room. You're close to all this creepy action in a sweet adobe-style house in Truth or Consequences, N.M., 15 miles from Cuchillo. The house, built in 1932, is in the Hot Springs historic district. It has three bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms, refinished hardwood floors and mosaic tile in the kitchen, bathrooms and fireplace. The cost: $159,000.

Haunted barn

This ordinary-looking ranch home in Olympia, Wash., isn't haunted. But the big barn on the four-acre property is — occasionally, anyway. Haunted-house producer Kevin Noah, an electrician, has used the barn for a public "haunt" for several years. Not this year, though; Noah is taking a break and planning an even better show in 2011. Past spooky features included a bloody bathroom, flying vampires (on pneumatic lifts), a creepy clown that drops from the ceiling and bursts of air shooting suddenly from the darkness. One room was tilted, making it hard to walk in; another had moving walls that collapsed. The ranch house, built in 1984, has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and is listed for $320,000.

Bodies in the garden

This two-story Sacramento, Calif., Victorian has a truly ghastly history. It’s the former board-and-care home where landlady Dorthea Puente reportedly killed tenants and stole their Social Security checks. After seven bodies were unearthed in the yard in 1988, the home changed hands several times. After a foreclosure in June 2009, it sold at auction in late August for $215,000. New owners Barbara Holmes and Tom Williams fell in love with the home and were undaunted when they heard its history. "My husband is an unpublished mystery writer. He was totally intrigued," Holmes told The Sacramento Bee. Built in 1930, the 1,834-square-foot duplex has three bedrooms and a bath upstairs and two bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

As housing prices drop, closing costs are rising

-MSNBC

Nationwide, the average origination and title fees on a $200,000 purchase mortgage totaled $4,070, according to Bankrate's annual survey of closing costs. That's an 8.8 percent jump compared to 2010 when the average closing costs totaled $3,741.

For the second year in a row, the states with the highest closing costs are New York, where costs average $6,183; Texas at $4,944; followed by Utah with $4,906. Next was California, where average closing costs in San Francisco totaled $4,832. New York and Texas have dominated the top spots for five years.

The cheapest places to get a mortgage are Arkansas, North Carolina and Indiana. In each of these states, the average closing costs are close to $3,400.

What exactly has gone up?
Most of the jump in closing costs is tied to fees charged directly by lenders.

On average, lenders charged about $1,614 in origination fees this year, up 10.3 percent from last year. Origination fees include lender charges for services such as underwriting and processing.

Fees imposed by third parties, including title, appraisal, postage/courier and survey charges, averaged $2,456, up 7.9 percent from 2010.

While some third-party fees rose, title insurance premiums changed little compared to last year. The survey excludes property taxes, homeowners insurance and recording fees.

Why are fees rising?
Many lenders and mortgage professionals claim that origination fees have increased because of stricter mortgage regulations that the government has implemented in the last two years.

"New regulations require more staffing and cost more money," says Jason Auerbach, division manager of First Choice Loan Services in New York City.

Auerbach says some of the "new" regulations — which vary from having to take extra steps to verify a borrower's income and employment to disclosure forms and licensing-related matters — have been in place for a couple of years already, but the mortgage industry takes them more seriously now. New forms and regulations that are still in discussion are influencing lenders already.

"Banks are self-regulating," Auerbach says. "They want to make sure there is nothing in that loan that is going to make Fannie and Freddie uncomfortable."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy most mortgages and have almost no tolerance for missing documents or errors in paperwork.

Neil Garfinkel, a New York real estate attorney with AGMB Law, says he has noticed firsthand the increased caution, as he has been retained to help several smaller banks seeking counseling related to mortgage compliance issues.

"It does cost them more, and I'm sure the costs have to be passed on to the consumer," Garfinkel says.

Paying more for fair loans?
The argument that increased regulation makes loans more expensive has long been used by the lending industry against new, more stringent rules.

While new rules may cost the lenders more money, it's difficult to determine how much of the added costs are really a result of regulatory changes, says Barry Zigas, director of housing policy for the Consumer Federation of America.

"It's ironic to hear that the consumer has to pay more to get a fair product," Zigas says. "But if it means the mortgage they are getting is more likely to be tailored to their needs, they should be happy to pay."

Compare and negotiate lender's fees
That doesn't mean you have to pay whatever your mortgage lender feels like charging you.

Some of the fees included in your closing costs, such as appraisals and credit reports, aren't really negotiable. But you can shop around and negotiate lender fees. In some states you can negotiate title insurance costs.

Origination fees vary substantially from lender to lender, says Diane Saatchi, senior vice president of Saunders & Associates, a real estate brokerage in Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Bankrate's survey shows that if you are getting a $200,000 mortgage in New York, for example, you may be charged anywhere from the $700s to more than $4,000 in origination fees depending on which lender you choose.

That's why it's important to compare good faith estimates, or GFEs, from at least three banks and three mortgage brokers, Saatchi says. Borrowers are entitled to get a GFE form, which includes a breakdown of estimated closing costs, within three business days after submitting a mortgage application.

Shopping for title insurance
The GFE form includes an estimate for title insurance, but you can shop around. Will the savings be worth your time? It depends on where you live. Some states set or regulate title insurance premiums. In other states the charges vary.

In Bankrate's survey, the average title insurance premium nationwide is $1,653. North Carolina is one of the cheapest places to buy title insurance with an average cost of $993. In comparison, the average title insurance premium in the New York, for the same home value and mortgage amount, is $2,811.

Joseph Eaton, co-author of the 2007 book "The American Title Insurance Industry: How a Cartel Fleeces the American Consumer," has studied the title industry for more than a decade. He says that if consumers were able to shop for title insurance outside of their states and the rates weren't fixed in some states, borrowers wouldn't have to pay as much.

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

Only 49% of homeowners surveyed say home worth more than mortgage

-Housingwire

For the second month in a row, less than half of the nation's homeowners think their home is worth more than the amount they still owe on their mortgage.

While that’s up from June’s all-time low of 45%, it is just the third time this finding has fallen below 50% since late 2008, according to pollster Rasmussen Reports, which conducted a national telephone survey of homeowners.

Upper-income homeowners are more confident in their home value than those who earn less, and investors are much more confident than non-investors about their home’s value.

In December 2008, 61% believed their home was worth more than their mortgage. While the numbers have declined since then, this is the first time that the number believing they had equity in their home stayed below 50% for two months in a row.

The survey of 676 homeowners was conducted July 17-18. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

One in three homeowners said his or her home is not worth more than the amount left on the mortgage with another 18% unsure.

According to the survey, 7% of homeowners say they’ve missed or been late on a mortgage payment in the last six months, in line with previous months.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

FHFA house prices down 6.3% from one year ago

-Housingwire

House prices on the Federal Housing Finance Agency index dropped 6.3% in May from one year ago.

The FHFA calculates its monthly index from the purchase prices of homes backing mortgages sold or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Prices did rise 0.4% from the month before. Both the yearly drop and the monthly increase nearly mirrored the Radar Logic index released Thursday as well. The FHFA reported house prices remained 19.6% below the peak in April 2007.

The steepest monthly drop in prices was 1% in the West South Central Division as mapped by the Census Bureau. This area includes Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Prices did increase 2% in the Mountain Division, which includes Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada.

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

One year on, many mortgage bankers leery of Dodd-Frank

-Housingwire

According to the Grant Thornton bank executive survey released Thursday, nearly half of bankers believe financial reform under the Dodd-Frank Act will not effectively prevent another taxpayer-led bailout. They do, however, report a growing confidence in the current economic recovery.

The results are published in association with Bank Director magazine. In the survey 48% of bankers polled said Dodd-Frank will not effectively detect broad risks capable of driving the economy back into a recession. Only 4% believe the sweeping reforms of the new law will be totally effective while 34% expect Dodd-Frank will only partially protect against economic risks.

As a way to bolster the effectiveness of Dodd-Frank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will call for banks to raise more capital.

FDIC acting chairman Martin Gruenberg, presented the argument for this hedging as he spoke before a Senate committee on banking, housing and urban affairs on the anniversary of Dodd-Frank.

"In this sense, stronger bank capital requirements complement the Dodd-Frank Act resolution tools designed to prevent future bailouts of financial companies," said Martin Guenberg of the FDIC. "Insufficient capital, in contrast, heightens a banking system's exposure to periodic crises. The knowledge that capital cushions are thin compared to the magnitude of risks that abruptly and unexpectedly loom large can contribute to a panic atmosphere and feed a crisis."

Bankers serving local communities are seeing improvements in there pockets of the nation, the survey also found. About 44% of respondents expect things to improve going into 2012.

"The survey reveals increased optimism, albeit cautious at times," said Nichole Jordan, national banking and securities industry leader at Grant Thornton.

"And as the economy recovers, one of the greatest assets of any bank is confidence — confidence from consumers and regulators, and confidence within banks themselves to jump start hiring.," she added.

Nearly one-third of bankers report plans to increase hiring in the next six months, while 16% expect to decrease hiring. The majority expect hiring levels to remain around the same.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

Mystery Mansion Rises in the Ozarks

-Yahoo!

You’ve probably heard of the 56,000-square foot Spelling Manor that just sold to billionaire heiress Petra Ecclestone or the 43,000 square-foot Fair Field estate belonging to billionaire industrialist Ira Rennert. You may even be familiar with the palatial pads that some real estate developers have built in the hopes of finding wealthy buyers like Alpine, N.J.’s $68 million Stone Mansion or England’s Updown Court (which now faces foreclosure).

Here’s another huge home to put on your real estate radar: Pensmore. Pensmore, the Ozarks mountain estate being erected in rural Christian County, Missouri, will garner bragging rights as one of America’s largest homes upon its projected 2013 completion. The chateau-style mansion will encompass an estimated 72,000-square feet on its secluded plot of more than 500 acres. It will include 13 bedrooms, 14 baths and an assortment of outrageous amenities.

The New York Times and others have reported that Pensmore has been fueling a flurry of rumors, leading some locals to speculate it would be used as a military bunker and still others to imagine Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie might claim it as a residence. The impetus behind the construction project, however, is perhaps a little less titillating.

“We are in the process of building both a home for my family and, more importantly, a living laboratory for energy-efficiency and disaster resistant technology for years to come,” states Steven Huff, chairman of TF Concrete Forming Systems and Pensmore’s owner, via email. Huff, who plans to use the mansion as a secondary home, wants Pensmore to be the first major energy efficient, environmentally sustainable single-family residence of this caliber. It will also be earthquake and tornado resistant — a huge boon given the devastation tornadoes have been wreaking in areas like Joplin, MO. earlier this year.

How does Huff plan to accomplish this vision? For starters, the mega mansion is composed entirely of concrete. Green Bay, Wis.-based TF Forming Systems is a manufacturer and distributor of insulated concrete forming systems, a building medium used in construction projects throughout the country. The company is also “the chosen forming system and builder of Pensmore,” according to TF Concrete Forming System’s website. This estate is not only an opportunity to experiment with new technologies, it’s an opportunity for Huff to showcase the concrete company’s products.

Started nearly two years ago, the huge home’s concrete shell is reinforced with “Helix” steel fibers produced by PolyTorx, and Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company that focuses exclusively on developing the Helix products. The twist-shaped fibers, first developed at the University of Michigan, act as an added guard within the building’s structure against natural disasters like major earthquakes and F5 tornadoes, promising to keep occupants safe and the building standing.

Huff is also incorporating alternative energy sources into Pensmore’s construction, most notably solar power, rainwater collection, and geothermal energy. The home’s heating system will rely primarily on stored solar heat energy, as well as geo-thermal heating and wood-burning using trees grown on the property. Whom Huff hires to employ these technologies has yet to be announced.

Huff has yet to disclose the purchase price of the land, tucked away between Branson and Springfield, or the cost of construction. Right now he wants curious citizens to be more interested in his vision for the estate, recently creating a website to ensure curious citizens know what that is.

“Once the rumors die down, we are confident that the ultimate takeaway will be a scalable model for everything from private homes to the schools, hospitals, libraries and office buildings of the future, here in the U.S. and around the world,” asserts Huff. Stay tuned for updates, including a private tour when Pensmore is further along in its building process.

appraisal services, appraisal management company, coester appraisal, fha minimum property standards, best appraisal management company, reverse mortgage appraisal companies, property tax appeal

The Shameful Murder Of Dodd-Frank

-Huffington Post

Happy Birthday Dodd Frank,
Happy Birthday to you,
You've lost all your muscle,
And your teeth are gone, too.

One full year after the financial reform bill spearheaded through Congress by Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank was signed into law, Wall Street looks and acts much the way it did before. That's because the Street has effectively neutered the law, which is the best argument I know for applying the nation's antitrust laws to the biggest banks and limiting their size.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the financial system is "on more solid ground" than prior to the 2008 crisis, but I don't know what ground he's looking at.
Much of Dodd-Frank is still on the drawing boards, courtesy of the Street. The law as written included loopholes big enough to drive bankers' Lamborghini's through -- which they're now doing.

What kind of derivatives must be traded on open exchanges? What are the capital requirements for financial companies that insure borrowers against default, such as AIG? How should credit rating agencies be funded? What about the much-vaunted Volcker Rule requiring that banks trade their own money if they're going to gamble in the stock market -- how should their own money be defined? What "stress tests" must the big banks pass to maintain their privileged status with the Fed?
The short answer: whatever it takes to maintain the Street's profits and perquisites.
The law included a one-year delay, ostensibly to give regulators time to iron out these sorts of details. But the real purpose of the delay, it's now obvious, was to give the Street time to expand the loopholes and fill the details with pablum -- when the public stopped looking.
Since Dodd-Frank was enacted a year ago, Wall Street has spent as much -- if not more -- on lobbyists and political payoffs designed to stop the law's implementation than it did trying to kill off the law in the first place. The six largest banks spent $29.4 million on lobbying last year, according to firm disclosures -- record spending for the group. This year they're on track to break last year's record.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, the Street and other financial institutions engaged about 3,000 lobbyists to fight Dodd-Frank -- more than five lobbyists for every member of Congress. They've hired almost the same number to delay, weaken, or otherwise prevent its implementation.
Meanwhile, the portion of the law that's now supposed to be in effect is barely being enforced. That's because the agencies charged with enforcing it, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, don't have enough money or staff to do the job. Congress hasn't seen fit to appropriate these necessities.

Several of these agencies are still lacking directors or commissioners. Senate Republicans have refused to confirm anyone. They wouldn't even consider Elizabeth Warren to run the new consumer bureau.
Many of same business leaders who blame the sluggish economy on regulatory uncertainty are complicit in all this. A senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce told the New York Times that "uncertainty among companies about the rules of the road is keeping a lot of capital on the sidelines." The Chamber has been among the groups responsible for keeping Dodd-Frank at bay.
But it's the biggest Wall Street banks -- the ones that got us into this mess in the first place, and got bailed out by the public -- that have taken the lead in killing off Dodd-Frank. They can afford the hit job.

At the same time, their executives -- enjoying pay and bonuses as large as in the boom days of the housing bubble -- are busily bankrolling both political parties, although Republicans are favored in this election cycle. A significant portion of Mitt Romney's sizable war chest has come from the Street. President Obama is no slouch when it comes to pulling at the Street's purse strings.
Bankers try to justify their shameful murder of Dodd-Frank by saying tightened regulatory standards will put them at a disadvantage relative to their overseas competitors. JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon had the nerve to publicly accost Ben Bernanke recently, complaining that the law's implementation would harm the Street's competitiveness.
The argument is pure claptrap. In the wake of global finance's near meltdown, Europe has been more aggressive than the United States in clamping down on banks headquartered there. Britain is requiring its banks to have higher capital reserves than are so far contemplated in the United States. In fact, senior Wall Street executives have warned European leaders their tighter bank regulations will cause Wall Street to move more of its business out of Europe.
Wall Street is global because capital is global. JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley are doing business in every corner of the world. Goldman even advised Greece on how to hide its growing indebtedness, before the rest of the world got wind, through a derivatives deal that circumvented Europe's deficit rules.
The real reason Wall Street has spent the last year bludgeoning Dodd-Frank into meaninglessness is the vast sums of money it can make if Dodd-Frank is out of the way. If you took the greed out of Wall Street all you'd have left is pavement.
Wall Street is the richest and most powerful industry in America with the closest ties to the federal government -- routinely supplying Treasury secretaries and economic advisors who share its world view and its financial interests, and routinely bankrolling congressional kingpins.

How else can you explain why the Street was bailed out with no strings attached? Or why no criminal charges from being brought against any major Wall Street figure -- despite the effluvium of frauds, deceptions, malfeasance and nonfeasance in the years leading up to the crash and subsequent bailout? Or why Dodd-Frank has been eviscerated?
As a result of consolidations brought on by the bailout, the biggest banks are bigger and have more clout than ever. They and their clients know with certainty they will be bailed out if they get into trouble, which gives them a financial advantage over smaller competitors whose capital doesn't come with such a guarantee. So they're becoming even more powerful.
Face it: The only answer is to break up the giant banks. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was designed not only to improve economic efficiency by reducing the market power of economic giants like the railroads and oil companies but also to prevent companies from becoming so large that their political power would undermine democracy.
The sad lesson of Dodd-Frank is Wall Street is too powerful to allow effective regulation of it. We should have learned that lesson in 2008 as the Street brought the rest of the economy - and much of the world - to its knees. Now we're still on our knees but the Street is back on top. Its leviathans do not generate benefits to society proportional to their size and influence. To the contrary, they represent a clear and present danger to our economy and our democracy.
They should be broken up, and their size must be capped. Congress won't do it, obviously. So we'll need to rely on the nation's two antitrust agencies -- the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. The trust-busters are now investigating Google. They should be turning their sights onto JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs instead.

appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals