Aaron Gallagher

I thought these were really good and might make some people laugh today!!

CNBC produced a special called "House Of Cards" which has been airing quite a bit lately. It is a great 2 hour education on how the housing crisis was created and the WORLD WIDE impact it is having. If you want to better understand this monumental challenge we face please record it and wait until you have some quite time to watch. I would like to see some replies about how you feel regarding this issue. We are going to be feeling the impact of this global crisis for a long time. How are you going to prepare or change your life based on what's happening today? I look forward to your feed back.........................

Housing Crisis, Champaign Foreclosures, Champaign Foreclosed Homes, house of cards

President Obama’s plan to reduce the flood of home foreclosures will include a mix of government inducements and new pressure on lenders to reduce monthly payments for borrowers at risk of losing their houses, according to people knowledgeable about the administration’s thinking.

The plan, to be announced Wednesday, is expected to include government subsidies for reducing a borrower’s interest rate, which a lender would have to match with its own money.

But officials cautioned that subsidies for lower interest rates would not in themselves help many troubled homeowners, because lenders were still likely to view many of those borrowers as bad risks and refuse to restructure their loans. As a result, they have been casting about for sticks as well as carrots to persuade the lenders to take part.

Follow this link to read the rest of the article on the CNBC website, please post any comments you might have about the proposal...... Click Here For The Article

There's still a fair amount of confusion regarding the new home buyer tax credit, as the legislation isn't final and the draft is still pending a final vote in Congress. As you know, I'm not happy about Congress's wimpy $8,000 credit versus the $15,000 proposed, but something is better than nothing.

According to today's Wall Street Journal, the tax credit is for first time home buyers only that are buying between April 2008 and June 2009. The credit is now nonrefundable. That means that the existing $7,500 credit is increased by $500 and no longer needs to be paid back as an interest free loan over 15 years, as was previously the case.

The National Association of Realtors provided a different window on effective dates, however. They indicate that the pending legislation is $8,000, but that it is for purchases made between January 1, 2009 to December 1, 2009. And if the home is resold within 3 years the credit must be recaptured on the sale of the property, but if it is held for more than 3 years it is nonrefundable.

In addition, the existing credit was ineligible for homeowners utilizing revenue bond financing. That provision, according to NAR, has been eliminated.

Stay tuned: once the legislation passes both the House and Senate we'll have the final facts to you ASAP!

Has a bottom in real estate been reached? Well at least some buyers think so. The National Association of Realtors reported that The Pending Home Sales Index rose 6.3% to 87.7 in December from a revised reading of 82.5 in November. What happened? Homes are simply becoming more affordable. NAR's House Affordability index rose 10.9% in December to 158.8, the highest since NAR began tracking affordability in 1970.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the pending home index shows a modest rebound. "The monthly gain in pending home sales, spurred by buyers responding to lower home prices and mortgage interest rates, more than offset an index decline in the previous month," he said. "The biggest gains were in areas with the biggest improvements in affordability."