Peter H Lazier

I was at a party a few weeks ago and met a friend who is in the new home and renovation business. He mentioned that he had just completed his certification regarding the New Lead Paint Law which took effect in April of this year. This law affects homes that were built prior to 1978 and have lead based paint.

My friend was furious about this new law. He stated that "this new law is going to push many contractors out of business because of the costs involved in the new requirements".

Today I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal that more or less broke down some of these requirements and costs.

Every 5 years a contractor must be certified at a cost of $300. If a contractor works on a renovation project and don't comply with the law can be fined up to $37,500 per DAY ! Contractors will have to invest in testing kits, respirators, plastic sheeting, and protective clothing to name a few.

The EPA estimates that 87% of homes built before 1940 and 24% of homes built between 1960 and 1978 have lead based paint. Contractor companies are saying that it will add substantial costs of new equipment and labor costs and they are concerned with the ability to pass these costs on to the consumer.

In my local market, which has a high percentage of older homes, a renovation could cost $16,000 to $60,000 more due to this new law. Homeowners are cash strapped now and I don't think they are going to be willing to lay out the extra money for a renovation, especially since $60,000 equates to 25% of the value of their home.

One plus....home owners who do their own renovations are exempt from the law, but again, the small business owner takes a huge hit.

It looks like its going to be a beautiful day here in New York ! Who the heck wants to sit in the office on a day like this ? Not me !

But, to stay alive and prosper in this market how can I give up these precious hours and potentially miss out on meeting a new client and making it a successful day ?

Since it's such a nice day, I am going to make sure I get into the office early and inform everyone that I am available by my "Black Berry". I am going to forget about the "online" social networking stuff today and I am going to go to a barbecue with a lot of old friends. I am going to bring a pocket full of cards, because I know a lot of people are going to be asking me about the real estate market. I'm gong to work on building some relationships with old friends.

So get out of the office today and get out from under that computer. Do some networking the old way ! As my dad used to say "Belly to belly and eye ball to eye ball". Now enjoy this beautiful day and most of all make it a successful day !

Big news in the Wall Street Journal and on Fox news was that FNMA needs another bailout of $8.4 Billion after a 1st quarter loss of $11.5 Billion ! The Wall Street Journal notes that FNMA has accumulated about $145 Billion in loss's "which is nearly double its profits for its 35 year history"

This new infusion of US taxpayer money will increase our stake in FNMA to $84 Billion. FreddieMac is currently indebted to taxpayers at $64 Billion.

The governments story is that even though Fannie and Freddie are loosing huge sums of tax payer money, they are helping stabilize the market. FHA, Fannie, and Freddie insured 96.5% of the housing loans in the 1st quarter of this year. The companies are also helping with loan modification programs. The loan modification program doesn't seem to be working either with a large percentage of these loans back in foreclosure status within 6 months.

Steve Forbes appeared on Fox News this morning and was discussing the FNMA situation. He has an excellent idea of breaking up FNMA and Freddie into 5 or 6 smaller companies and selling them on the open market in direct competition with other lending sources. They either sink or swim in the open free market and we the taxpayers aren't left with another bailout of a government takeover company that has no interest in being profitable.

Most Democrats and some Republicans are against this idea. What a surprise !! This is why the American people must take back our country from the people who are supposed to be serving us but are instead serving themselves.

Everyone needs a little stress release from this crazy real estate business. My chosen stress reliever is racing in Triathlon's.

This year marks my 50th birthday. I have always wanted to run the New York City Triathlon. For my 50th I wanted to do it. Unfortunatly the race registration was closed out within 2 hours.

My only option was to connect with one of the philanthropic groups and help them raise money for their cause. In return I would be able to race.

I was picked up by the MDA-ALS group. My goal is to raise $2,000 for research for the Lou Gehrig's disease foundation.

The race takes place on July 18th 2010. I have to swim 1 mile in the Hudson, then bike 25 miles, then jump off the bike and run 6.2 miles. Its an Olympic distance race.

I have been training hard. It doesn't feel good, and sometimes when I am finished for the day I feel rather sick, but then I think to myself that I would rather suffer through this for the good of the cause so maybe someday people wont' have to die from this dreadful disease.

So, if your inclined to help me out ( I'm only looking for $5 to $10 ) please click my link and make a donation to MDA.

Thanks !

https://www.joinmda.org/nyctri2010/peterlazier

Ok, so April 30th has come and gone. Word on the street is that FHA guidlines are going to change including a possible increase in mortgage insurance premiums.

Realtors and clients I have talked to during the past few months have asked me how are things and what do I think will happen the the real estate market after April 30th.

I got out my little crystal ball to find out, and wouldn't you know, the darn batteries were dead !

So, I called a few local mortgage professionals to talk to them about our local market and how we can help each other move forward and have a successful second half of 2010.

Time for some creative financing idea's. You remember, if you have been in this business as long as I have, back in the 70's when we used creating financing when Jimmy Carter rates were in the double digets.

One lender I talked to has a program that is using rate buydowns to entice buyers. Although the buyer can no longer qualify at the lower rate anymore, the lower rate is attractive for some big savings in the first few years. Another program is funding the home loan with additional funding for repairs to the home and the value being the appraised value after repairs are completed. And if you use one lender and the home seller has an existing loan with that lender the buyer and seller can have substantial savings on mortgage and transfer taxes.

We have made it this far through the real estate slump, lets get creative and keep things moving !