It appears that Obama really wants to put a stop to the mortgage interest tax deduction. Why? I have no idea as it does help every homeowner with their taxes. The National Association of Home Builders wants to help protect this deduction. There are other entities that want to protect this as well and they are working to do this too. We all need to come together to help put a stop to this. We all need tax deductions and this is a major one.

This has been a major concern for the government to cut for a while now. But there is less interest being written off now as values are down and prices are down. There are even tougher guidelines to get a mortgage and more of them are smaller. Interest rates are low. With interest rates being low that means less interest is being paid as well. So, with that said the people are writing off less mortgage interest than the federal government thought. They thought it would be a huge amount to try to cut when now it is not. They are just looking at ways to get more money to keep but this is not one of them....at least not at this point and I think we need to do what we can to protect ourselves so it can be a tax write off. If I find some website to vote NO, I will provide that to you all. I feel we need tax write offs and our home is one of the largest ones we have. If the government keeps cutting our write offs, we all will be in trouble. Make it a great day!

The prediction is that 2011 is going to be the worst year yet for foreclosures. There are so many homeowners right now that are behind on their payments. I read an article from Realytrac that the numbers are close to 5 million homeowners who are behind in their payments.

Realtytrac predicts 1.2 million more homes will be taken back. This number is up from 2010 which was 1 million homes. People are losing their jobs and are having a hard time refinancing due to the more stringent guidelines that the lenders are imposing. California leads in the numbers of foreclosures to other states.

We are in a mess America. We need to get jobs back here so OUR people can work so OUR people can support their families.

I just read an interesting article as to why many short sales fail. I always like to try to deal with an agent who is representing the seller that I know. Typically, if I know an agent and have worked with them in the past, I know how they operate. This means whether or not they actually do their job etc. It has been noted that most banks can tell if the agents submitting packages to them for short sales really know or don't know what they are doing by the presentations of their packages. And...guess what? If the package is not complete or is sloppy, it goes to the bottom of the stack. And, their stacks can be large and take a very long time to get through. If the package is complete, it typically gets reviewed within a few days and the process starts. Sometimes, I know this is not the case because of other various reasons, however, the conclusion is that the banks will tend to work with a complete file from an agent who shows them they do know what they are doing.

When will the market make a come back in The Inland Empire?

No one really knows this answer! No one! Right now, it seems dim for most homeowners in the Inland Empire.

I don't mean to be a doom and gloom type of person, but it is pretty bad out there for most people. With all of the people losing their homes in the Inland Empire and having no where to go, no where to turn, and the holidays are soon approaching. It really makes me sad for these folks that are losing their homes.

If unemployment were not so bad in the Inland Empire people may be able to make their mortgage payments. I have not seen unemployment this high ever. But, interest rates are low which is a good thing for those who can afford homes in the Inland Empire. But, if you cannot, then it does not even seem to matter if the interest rates are low. Nothing matters at that point if you cannot buy or stay in your current home. What we need to do is create jobs and keep jobs here in California and make sure with the new election that we do get people in that really do care and will not run off the companies. We need to keep the companies here so we can have jobs so families can stay in their homes in the Inland Empire.

If I can help you with any of your real estate needs, including short sales, pointing you to a good reputable loan modification company, please email me or call me.

Kind regards,

Joan Patterson, B.A., G.R.I., A.S.P., Realtor, License #01431647

Keller Williams Realty

www.calljoan4homes.com