Bryan Crabtree

We spoke in depth about what the AIG bailout means this week on our show:

http://housedog.com/wtma-radio-show-by-bryan-crabtree-c12907.html

MORE FROM CNBC:

At least two dozen American and European banks benefited from the bailout of American International Group, with approximately $50 billion paid out to them since the Federal Reserve first gave aid to the insurance giant, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Goldman Sachs [GS 75.65 -6.07 (-7.43%) ] and Deutsche Bank received about $6 billion between September and December last year, the paper said, quoting a confidential document and people familiar with the matter.

Other banks that received large payouts from AIG late last year include Merill Lynch, which was bought by Bank of America [BAC 3.14 -0.03 (-0.95%) ] , and France's Societe Generale, according to the report.

Morgan Stanley [MS 17.18 -0.80 (-4.45%) ] , Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Calyon, Barclays, Rabobank, Danske Bank, Santander, Wachovia and Bank of America are also among the counterparties who benefited from the AIG bailout, the paper said.

342 Total Closings in February - 379 in January, 2009 (Charleston Tri-County area)

PRICE CLASS/TYPE    Bedrm     Bedrm     Bedrm     Family    Co-Op     Units
 ------------------  -----     -----     -----     ------    -----     -----
 $19,999 OR UNDER       0         0         0         0         0         0
 $20,000 -  $29,999     0         0         0         0         0         0
 $30,000 -  $39,999     1         3         1         0         1         6
 $40,000 -  $49,999     0         0         1         0         2         3
 $50,000 -  $59,999     1         8         1         0         1        11
 $60,000 -  $69,999     0         0         0         0         1         1
 $70,000 -  $79,999     0         1         1         0         2         4
 $80,000 -  $89,999     0         2         0         0         2         4
 $90,000 -  $99,999     1         5         0         0         1         7
$100,000 - $119,999     0        14         2         0         7        23
$120,000 - $139,999     3        14         4         1         9        31
$140,000 - $159,999     2        15         7         0         6        30
$160,000 - $179,999     0        20        12         0        10        42
$180,000 - $199,999     1        15        15         0         3        34
$200,000 - $249,999     1        17        19         0         9        46
$250,000 - $299,999     1         9        11         0         2        23
$300,000 - $399,999     1        12        15         0         2        30
$400,000 - $499,999     0         4        10         0         0        14
$500,000 - $749,999     0         1         9         0         2        12
$750,000 - $999,999     0         1         8         0         1        10
$1,000,000 OR OVER      1         1         6         0         3        11
Total Types:           13       142       122         1        64       342

Median Price:    $182,500  $342,700  $590,000  $135,000  $200,000  $184,430

Average Price:   $247,147  $199,438  $355,805  $135,000  $266,065  $269,015

More on our market?  Housedog.com

For infomration about Mount Pleasant SC Real Estate, Charleston SC Real Estate, our area and the entire Nation, be sure to listen to our program on WTMA, AM Radio 1250am, Saturday mornings at 8am. You can also listen live on WTMA.com or visit our website at Housedog.com on the About Us tab to download the show. You may also subscribe via Itunes, under the News/Business section; just search for "Bryan Crabtree." This week's show will feature more on the Obama Mortgage Plan, commentary on our current housing policies (or lack thereof) and more predictions related to our markets.

Listen to a previous show: click here.

Refinancing Option

If your current on your mortgage but your bank won't let you refinance because your mortgage is "under water," here's how you qualify for the government refinancing program:

• Your home must be the primary residence
• Your loan must be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
• You must have sufficient income to support the new mortgage debt
• You can't take cash out of the new loan to pay other debt

There's another big restriction, however, that will make many homeowners ineligible for the program: the value of your house can't have fallen much below the amount of the mortgage.

"The ceiling of eligibility is 105 percent of current market value of the property—so that’s not going to help homeowners who have suffered home price declines," says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "Say you bought a house for $320,000. Your mortgage balance is now $300,000 But the house is now worth only $225,000. You are stuck, you can't refinance, even if you made your payments on time."

McBride says the loan to value ceiling should be raised. "It should be something in the neighborhood of 150 percent," says McBride. It's too low to help people in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona. Those markets are at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis."

Still, if you do qualify, here's what you get:

• Your mortgage will be refinanced to 30 or 15 years with a fixed interest rate.
• The rate will be based on market rates in effect at the time of the refinance and any associated points and fees quoted by the lender
• Interest payments but be reduced but not principal

Plenty of Critics

The Obama plan says it will help as many as 4 million struggling borrowers modify their loans and some 5 million refinance their current loans. But industry experts remain skeptical.

"One in five homes have come down in value across the country," says Summers. I'm not sure this plan is going to help in refinancing. I think they really need to reduce the balance on the loans to make this work."

And as for the modifications, McBride says there will be those getting help when they made bad decisions.

"I don’t have much hope for it," says McBride. "In reviewing the guidelines, I see nothing to prevent a homeowner that cashed out equity when prices were on the way up, from getting a modification. Are they going to give back the big screen TV and BMW? Probably not."