Fannie, Freddie, FHA under fire

It has been a quiet week in the markets, shortened by Good Friday. Oh, Standard & Poor's created a tempest with its threat to the AAA rating of Treasurys, but as the week wore on, more and more people asked, "How would they know?"

Stocks regained all losses, but Treasury bond yields stayed low, the 10-year at 3.39 percent and mortgages under 5 percent.

Bill Gross, famously dumping all of PIMCO's Treasurys last month, has lost money on the trade. A federal budget deal is now likely; Europe is in trouble (again, Greek 2-year bonds paying 22 percent), and domestic data is weakening.

Sales of new and existing homes are flat, but distressed inventory is rising. The Federal Housing Finance Agency found that home prices fell 1 percent in January and another 1.6 percent in February.

The fascinating thing about housing, now: it's no longer news. It's so yesterday, boring. For seven months, media attention has focused on "Foreclosure Gate," the so-called robo-signing scandal in which some loan servicers allegedly foreclosed on some innocent homeowners.

The reality is clear now, as then: Some servicers have mistreated borrowers by inattention, finding a work-around for the antiquated local-level foreclosure procedures. Servicers will be fined and newly regulated.

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Fit for a (Future) King! See U.S. Homes Ideal for Royal Couple Will and Kate

Source: London Evening Standard

It’s one of the biggest events of the year and it’s not even happening in the U.S. Britain’s royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married Friday, April 29 at 11 a.m. United Kingdom time. (For Americans, live coverage begins at 4 a.m. ET).

The couple will continue to live on the Welsh island of Anglesey where William is a search and rescue pilot and they will eventually move to a six-bedroom home at Harewood Park in Herefordshire, commissioned to be built by Prince Charles, according to the UK paper The Daily Mail. While in London, they have access to an apartment at the Clarence House, the official London residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, and Princes William and Harry.

To get in the spirit, we found some U.S. homes that are fit for royalty. While we couldn’t find any manors built in the 1600s, we did find a few English-style estates with amenities that would remind the couple of their home across the pond, if they ever chose to move here.

190 North St. Greenwich, CT
For Sale: $14,750,000

Our first stop for British-style estates is Greenwich, CT where wealth and history abound in mansions situated among sprawling English gardens. The median Greenwich home price is $1,097,600 — which is far more affordable in British pounds, considering that the current exchange rate (as of this writing) is $1 to £0.60.

This 11,800-sq ft Tudor-style estate was built in 1929 and sits on 3.5 acres complete with a walled garden and carriage house. The 19-room manor has antique parquet, marble and limestone floors, and includes an English oak library, breakfast room, and butler’s pantry. The master wing has a sitting room, fireplace, his and her dressing rooms and marble baths.

(undisclosed address) Greenwich, CT
For Sale: $9,850,000

This 1932 English manor is at an undisclosed address and sits in the private Belle Haven neighborhood — perfect for the media-mobbed royal couple. The 5-bedroom, 5.5-bath home on the Greenwich real estate market underwent recent expansion and updates while retaining its classic look. Included on the 1.5-acre property is a tennis court, pool house, “romantic gardens” and patios. Inside, an English conservatory and library, gourmet kitchen, butler’s pantry, and breakfast room round out the estate.

2 Old Mill Lane Media, PA
For Sale: $4,250,000

Built in 1862, this English-style manor has only been on the Rose Valley real estate market for a month. The 3.5-acre estate includes four restored buildings: grand manor house, water tower, bank barn and cottage home. The central manor house was expanded in 1904 and was completely updated and restored in 2008; it is now billed as “finest English Arts and Crafts house in America.” William would feel right at home in the property’s cottage, built to resemble a British hunting lodge. Both should feel comfortable here as the home is located in the small historic borough of Rose Valley, population 984.

1 Troutbeck Lane Amenia, NY
For Sale: $9,950,000

This piece of Amenia real estate was a historic family manor converted into a country inn. Most likely the royal couple won’t be renting rooms out to strangers, but could use the 18 bedrooms to house the large extended Royal family. Built in 1890, the stone home retains much of its original turn-of-the-century character and includes 45 “park-like” acres complete with a stream.

605 Elm Street Walpole, MA
For Sale: $3,900,000

This 1920s estate is billed as a “classic English manor” filled with “timeless elegance.” There’s enough room for the new Royal couple as well as the Queen Mother and her pack of Welsh Corgis on the nine acres of gardens and woods. The piece of Walpole real estate was built for entertaining with a large formal dining room, multiple sitting rooms and mahogany library. The grounds include a 3-bedroom carriage guest house as well as a putting green.

2625 Monument Ave Richmond, VA
For Sale: $1,995,00

This brick home is reminiscent of London than the other stately properties but still holds enough period details to make any royal feel at home. The 6,050-sq ft piece of Richmond real estate has 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and includes a small carriage house that contains 1,271 sq ft and has two bedrooms. The main house has four fireplaces, French doors leading to several porches and a private, walled English garden, perfect for afternoon tea.

230 Conanicus Ave Jamestown, RI
For Sale: $1,199,000

How do you make a Colonial mansion stand out on the Jamestown real estate market? Add a full British pub into the home, of course. This property not only includes six bedrooms, six bathrooms, but a full British pub in its guest cottage, complete with bar, bar stools and plenty of pints and chips. Other amenities on the one-acre+ property include a gourmet kitchen, and outdoor gazebo and pond, putting the home well above the median Jamestown home value of $433,000.

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3 reasons sellers should hire own inspector

DEAR BARRY: In one of your columns, you recommended that sellers hire a home inspector, even though the buyers would probably hire an inspector of their own. As a seller, this concerns me. If my home inspector finds a major defect (something that has given me no trouble for the past 30 years), then I'll have to spend thousands of dollars to repair it, or I'll have to disclose it to the buyers. Frankly, I fail to see the advantage in this. Can you please explain again the advantages when sellers hire a home inspector? --Ken

DEAR KEN: There are three main reasons for sellers to hire their own home inspector:

1) Avoiding liability: If an undisclosed defect (one that you were unaware of for the past 30 years) is discovered after the close of escrow, you could be sued for nondisclosure. The fact that you were unaware of the problem would be for you to prove in court.

2) Avoiding repair costs: Disclosing defects at the outset of a purchase transaction enables you to do an as-is sale. When defects are discovered by the buyers' home inspector, the buyers are more likely to insist on repairs.

3) Building trust: Providing a home inspection report to buyers is a good way to build trust in a transaction by demonstrating that you, the seller, have nothing to hide.

As a seller, it's better to provide disclosure than waiting for disclosure to happen to you.

DEAR BARRY: The home I'm buying has electric ignition, rather than pilot lights, on most of the gas-burning appliances -- the furnace, the cooktop, and the oven -- but not the water heater. I thought that all gas fixtures would be equipped with electric ignition to conserve gas. Why is this not the case with water heaters? --Jesse

DEAR JESSE: Electric igniters are standard features on gas furnaces and cooking appliances because continuous pilot lights in those fixtures consume gas needlessly. With gas water heaters, the heat produced by a pilot light helps to maintain the temperature of the water in the tank. Therefore, the gas that fuels a water heater pilot light is not truly wasted.

Still, there are ways to minimize gas consumption in your water heater. For example, wrap the fixture with thermal insulation to minimize heat loss, and do not turn the thermostat to the high setting.

DEAR BARRY: My house was built in the 1960s. The ceramic tile in the bathrooms is outdated and needs replacement. I've heard that asbestos was sometimes added to the mortar used for ceramic tile during that period. Is it possible that the mortar in my house contains asbestos? --George

DEAR GEORGE: Tile contractors sometimes added asbestos to mortar because it made the material easier to apply. The only way to know if the mortar in your home has asbestos is to send a sample to a lab for analysis. The lab fee is only about $10 to $15. If the mortar contains asbestos, removal should be done by a contractor who is licensed to do asbestos abatement.

To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the Web at www.housedetective.com.

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Keller Williams top real estate franchisor in annual list

Keller Williams top real estate franchisor in annual list | Inman News@import "/files/css/b991d32ba87b8ea15796948ae043e143.css"; Join Inman News! Sign InShopping CartHomeNewsVideoConnect VideosInman TVAgent RebootPodcastsWebinarsFOREMCommunityMainMembersGroupsJob SearchOpinionColumnistsMainCategoriesBiographiesQ & ADirectoryConferencesAgent RebootReal Estate ConnectStoreReportsMediaMembershipColumnist ReportsAbout UsMainAdvertisingAd SpecsAudienceContent channelsProductsTestimonialsAdvertising InquirySyndicationExamples of Content SyndicationMeet Inman News ColumnistsPublish Our Content in PrintToolbox ReviewSyndication InquiryMembershipCareersContactNewsFree Daily HeadlinesRSS Feeds Syndication HomeKeller Williams top real estate franchisor in annual listFranchise 500 report: Coldwell Banker ranks as industry's 'fastest-growing'By Inman News, Monday, April 25, 2011.Inman News™

Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams Realty led among real estate brokerage franchises in an annual survey by Entrepreneur Magazine, and ranked 78th overall out of 500 franchises.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC ranked second among real estate franchises, and was also ranked as the fastest-growing real estate franchise, placing 14th overall out of 100 franchises on that list.

Keller Williams ranked 66th overall in a list of 200 top global franchises -- higher than any other real estate franchise. Keller Williams had 672 franchises in the U.S. and 15 in Canada in 2010, according to the magazine.

Overall, eight real estate franchises were chosen among the Franchise 500. Financial strength and stability, growth rate, size of the system, number of years in operation and total time franchising, startup cost, litigation, percentage of terminations, and other statistics factor into the franchiser rankings, according to Entrepreneur.com.

The rankings are based on data from July 2008 through July 2010.

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RealtyTrac teams up with SmartZip

Foreclosure data site RealtyTrac has integrated property ratings from investment analytics company SmartZip in its property detail pages.

A SmartZip HomeScore allows potential buyers to gauge a home's potential for above-average price appreciation and below-average costs.

"This enables shoppers to get an independent assessment of the long-term value of foreclosures, from the perspective of a homeowner. Shoppers can also easily compare properties against each other, since HomeScore is a relative rating on a scale of 1 to 100," said Avi Gupta, SmartZip's vice president of research and marketing.

Screenshot from RealtyTrac listing detail page. 

Scores of 35 or above are considered good-to-excellent investments. Scores automatically appear in listing search results. Through RealtyTrac's advanced search options, users also have the option of narrowing their results by HomeScore range.

For details such as the home's historical appreciation rates, estimated expenses, and other key ratings, users have the option of purchasing either a single Home Ownership Report or a subscription to unlimited reports from SmartZip.

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A minefield of mortgage charges: What's 'nonshopable'?

Last week I discussed the various mortgage charges for which borrowers could shop. It is also important for mortgage borrowers to know the charges they can't shop, if only to avoid wasting time trying to shop or negotiate them.

Private mortgage insurance (PMI): On a conventional (not a Federal Housing Administration-insured or Department of Veteran's Affairs-insured) mortgage, you are required to purchase PMI if you put less than 20 percent down on a purchase, or have less than 20 percent equity on a refinance. Because the insurer is selected by the lender, PMI has never been "shopable" by the borrower, who pays the premium quoted by the lender.

This will change in a few months when a major mortgage insurer will be quoting premium rates on my website. The quotes will cover both monthly premiums and single premiums financed in the mortgage, offering borrowers a choice they do not now have. Until then, however, PMI will remain "unshopable."

Appraisal: On most mortgage loans, lenders require that the property be appraised in order to make sure that the purchaser is not overpaying, or that a refinancing borrower has the equity (value less loan balance) that is required. The appraisal company is selected by the lender and paid by the borrower. The fee generally ranges from $300 to $600.

Recording fee: This is a fee paid to a local governmental entity to record the mortgage or deed of trust, and title documents, in an official registry. The fee is whatever the entity charges. While it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it is never negotiable.

State and local transaction taxes: These taxes may cover the mortgage transaction, the property transaction or both. They vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but are never negotiable. They are what they are.

Escrows: Lenders generally require that an escrow account be established with funds the borrower provides at closing, from which the lender makes payments for property taxes and homeowners insurance as they come due. Lenders usually get to keep the interest on escrow accounts. Borrowers can usually opt out of this requirement if they pay a special fee, called "waiver of escrow."

Since lenders have an incentive to make the escrows as large as possible -- they keep the interest on the account -- the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has imposed a ceiling on the size of escrow accounts, which in turn limits the amount the lender can ask the borrower to deposit at closing.

If you know your property taxes and insurance premium, you can calculate the required escrow at closing by following the procedure at "How Do I Figure Escrows?" on my website.

Keep in mind that the escrow deposit continues to be your money, can be used only to pay your debts, and any unused portion will be returned to you when you pay off the mortgage.

Daily interest: Because mortgage payments are due on the first day of a month, regardless of when the loan is closed and funded, borrowers must pay interest for the period between the funding date and the first day of the following month.

The amount of daily interest due at closing is calculated by dividing the annual rate by 360 to get a daily rate, multiplying this by the loan amount to get the daily interest, and multiplying that by the number of days for which interest is due.

For example, the loan is for $200,000 at 5 percent and it is funded on April 16, which requires an interest payment for the 15 days until May 1. The daily interest is thus 0.05 divided by 360, then multiplied by 200,000. That equals $27.78. Multiply that total by 15, and you get: $416.70.

Why 360 days rather than 365? No justifiable reason. It is a self-serving convention of the industry that has never been challenged by regulators. It is of no interest to class-action lawyers because the amounts involved have been so small. Using a 365-day year in the example, the amount comes to $410.96, for a difference of $5.74.

The writer is professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Comments and questions can be left at www.mtgprofessor.com.

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Realtor braves frigid bay waters ... more than 80 times

Realtor braves frigid bay waters ... more than 80 times | Inman News@import "/files/css/b991d32ba87b8ea15796948ae043e143.css"; Join Inman News! Sign InShopping CartHomeNewsVideoConnect VideosInman TVAgent RebootPodcastsWebinarsFOREMCommunityMainMembersGroupsJob SearchOpinionColumnistsMainCategoriesBiographiesQ & ADirectoryConferencesAgent RebootReal Estate ConnectStoreReportsMediaMembershipColumnist ReportsAbout UsMainAdvertisingAd SpecsAudienceContent channelsProductsTestimonialsAdvertising InquirySyndicationExamples of Content SyndicationMeet Inman News ColumnistsPublish Our Content in PrintToolbox ReviewSyndication InquiryMembershipCareersContactNewsFree Daily HeadlinesRSS Feeds Syndication HomeRealtor braves frigid bay waters ... more than 80 timesPeople in Real Estate: Kathie HewkoBy Mary Umberger, Monday, April 25, 2011.Inman News™

Kathie Hewko. Photos courtesy of Mike Mooney, Inman News.

When someone suggested to Kathie Hewko in 1976 that she should try swimming across San Francisco Bay, she wasn't buying it.

"I said, 'Are you crazy? There are sharks out there and the water is freezing!' " she recalled.

Apparently, she got over it. On April 17 she completed her 80th swim across the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge, reaching the tip of Marin County in about 30 minutes.

She hasn't encountered any sharks in the bay, she said. And as for the water temperature -- well, it is what it is. Fifty-one degrees Fahrenheit -- which was the temperature when she swam on April 17 -- is no big deal, she insists. She's seen colder.

"The first time I swam to Alcatraz Island, it was 45 (degrees), and that's about as cold as I've done," said Hewko, a Petaluma, Calif., real estate agent.

In sickness and in health, Hewko has been participating in organized, open-water swims for 35 years. In addition to the many 1.2-mile San Francisco Bay crossings -- that she refers to merely as "the Golden Gate" -- she has traversed the depths in many parts of the U.S., as well as in Canada and Europe.

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