John & Sarah Payson

Did the CRA (community Reinvestment Act) of 1977 combined with the Fannie & Freddie act of 1992 have something to do with the housing crisis? These combined ACT's required banks to lend to low & mod income borrowers, aimed to reduce discriminatory credit practices... Was this the fuse and the fuel for the housing bubble? I find it interesting that within 3 years of the second act passing low down payment lending from private lenders went from 8% to 25% and then just kept going up from there... This seems to have set the standard of providing loans to high risk buyers, I would venture to say that poor underwriting or “flexible” underwriting was also a large contributor. Did you know that CRA commitments from 1992-2009 are $6 trillion dollars?? WOW Something to think about, I'm sure these Act's had good intentions but again when Government is in charge there is always a larger risk factor involved for the tax payers.

Did you know 1 & 4 FHA loans are either delinquent or in foreclosure that is 25% of the all FHA loans are in trouble, now you have Barney Frank trying make the FHA limit of 800,000 permanent Are we making the same mistakes again with a new name? Folks this is a HUGE warning. Regulators are horrible at regulating when times are good… but they seem to over regulate when times are tough.

Top foreclosure states are Florida (12.7%), Nevada (9.4%) and Arizona (6.2%) per the WSJ.

Something I was pondering over a cup of coffee this morning

~John

If you are late on your mortgage and don't know where to turn you are not alone. One in eight people are in a difficult position and are behind on their mortgage. If you don't know where to turn you are not alone. 47% of homeowners do nothing. They don't try to get a modification on their mortgage, they don't open their mail, they don't look into their options of a short sale and the bank forecloses. This does not have to be you.

If you happen to be a homeowner who is struggling with your mortgage as a result of losing your job or other life changing event you should know that you have options! We're here to explain your options and what each of them mean to you in the long run.

Those steps and more information can be found here http://www.myshortsaleagents.com/Home.aspx

Are you curious to know what the local market's doing in your neighborhood? You want to see statistical data? See what the inventory is like and what's happening with the prices over the last 30, 60, 90 days? Maybe you'd like to go back a full 6 months or a few years? Thought so. The Payson Group is excited to be unveiling our "Stats on Steroids" in the next few days! You'll want to make sure you watch for our release! It's going to blow your socks off!

For many of us the thought of an underground oil tank is a distant memory...or is it? There are many neighborhoods around King County that still use Oil as their heating source. What if you were going to sell your home and you still have an active oil tank? What if you bought your home and know there used to be an oil tank but you don't believe it was ever decommissioned?

First as a protection for homeowners, you should register for the PLIA Heating Oil Pollution Liability Insurance Program. This Insurance Program will cover up to $60,000 to cleanup contamination, not covered by other insurance, on your property and/or a neighboring property. The contamination must come from a leak that has started after you registered the oil tank with PLIA. The tank can be underground, aboveground or in a basement. The tank must be registered in the current owner's name. They will reimburse up to $1,500 to repair damages on neighboring property (third party coverage) such as landscaping, flooring, painting, etc. If you decide to sell your home you can have the new homeowner register once the property has transferred to the new owner's name.

What if you're a buyer for a home that has an oil tank and you want to make sure that you're not getting into a situation where there could be contamination to the property. First I would ask the Seller if they are registered with PLIA. If they are GREAT. If they are not, I would ask them to do one of two things. 1. Get registered. 2. Order a soil sample from SeattleTank.com. Seattle Tank will take 3 samples of soil, each costing $250.00 +tax to verify that you're not getting into a bad situation. If the Seller was registered with PLIA and there is contamination found you do not have to pay for the soil samples and PLIA will need to be notified of a claim to clean up the soil and tank. If there is no evidence of soil contamination you can feel secure that you've had it properly inspected and that you can register the tank once you buy the home.

What if there happens to be an inactive oil tank on a property you're looking to buy? Continue to the blog "Concerned about Oil Tanks in King County? Should be." by The Payson Group

For many of us the thought of an underground oil tank is a distant memory...or is it? There are many neighborhoods around King County that still use Oil as their heating source. What if you were going to sell your home and you still have an active oil tank? What if you bought your home and know there used to be an oil tank but you don't believe it was ever decommissioned?

First as a protection for homeowners, you should register for the PLIA Heating Oil Pollution Liability Insurance Program. This Insurance Program will cover up to $60,000 to cleanup contamination, not covered by other insurance, on your property and/or a neighboring property. The contamination must come from a leak that has started after you registered the oil tank with PLIA. The tank can be underground, aboveground or in a basement. The tank must be registered in the current owner's name. They will reimburse up to $1,500 to repair damages on neighboring property (third party coverage) such as landscaping, flooring, painting, etc. If you decide to sell your home you can have the new homeowner register once the property has transferred to the new owner's name.

What if you're a buyer for a home that has an oil tank and you want to make sure that you're not getting into a situation where there could be contamination to the property. First I would ask the Seller if they are registered with PLIA. If they are GREAT. If they are not, I would ask them to do one of two things. 1. Get registered. 2. Order a soil sample from SeattleTank.com. Seattle Tank will take 3 samples of soil, each costing $250.00 +tax to verify that you're not getting into a bad situation. If the Seller was registered with PLIA and there is contamination found you do not have to pay for the soil samples and PLIA will need to be notified of a claim to clean up the soil and tank. If there is no evidence of soil contamination you can feel secure that you've had it properly inspected and that you can register the tank once you buy the home.

What if there happens to be an inactive oil tank on a property you're looking to buy? Continue to the blog "Concerned about Oil Tanks in King County? Should be." by The Payson Group