Spencer Cole

These folks at HMBI just don't care. Apparently they consider themselves a government office or a bank as they were closed yesterday for Veteran's Day. I have a great respect for our Vets, but c'mon, the lenders were working. So now another day has gone by with no response from those yahoos. they sent me the wrong contract and now it will cause a delay and cost my client time and money. HMBI should be investigated for incompetence.

I am currently dealing with HMBI, our Virginia sub-contractor for HUD concerning a property which I bid on and was awarded the sale on behalf of a client. This is interesting to me: One simple exchange that took place at exactly 4:55 pm EST via telephone a couple of days after overnighting the ratified contract to their office, over 3 weeks before our expected settlement date. I had just popped back into my office after a busy day out and about. I only expected to check a couple things and have the rest of the evening off. I happened to be at my desk when my cel phone rang.. It was the HMBI employee assigned to our case. She immediately informd me of a simple mistake on the contract which needed to be changed- no problem. Then she informed me that the EMD guidelines in their instructions are wrong and an addition $300 was need for the deposit. This in itself was an issue as my client has scraped together all she thought she could and was having to come up with far more cash than we originally expected. But still I was not overly concerned at this point, should not be a big deal, we'll work it out. Here's the shocker: This was on a Tuesday. I told said employee that I would speak with the buyer the next day (she was unavailable Tuesday) and get everything taken care of by Thursday. This was unacceptable according to their guidlines. i had to have it done by end of business the next day. I was in shock. In the end I managed to get it done but quite a personal sacrifice was required by my client. I will do everything to not allow this to happen again, but wow! No flexibility from HUD at all. they would not give me one extra hour much less a whole day.

Buyers are calling me to get more info about the tax credit extension! This is great news. The credit extension should help the market significantly. I am especially excited about the new $6500 credit for existing homeowners who buy another primary residence. Many of my clients were upset to find out that they did not qualify for the credit thefirst time around. Existing homeowners make up about 80% of our market so I expect this new credit will be taken advantage of on a much larger scale.

Here is an interesting article I found today:

Daily Real Estate News | November 6, 2009 | Share Declining Inventory Sign of Stabilizing Market
An important reason that the housing market is stabilizing is the reduction in inventory. Current sales and inventories suggest that supply will decline below the pre-2006 levels by the end of 2009.

But analysts say that the stabilization of the market doesn’t mean that prices will rise anytime soon. They point to what they call “shadow inventory,” foreclosed homes that banks are holding off the markets. They predict that these homes will hit the market in spring 2010.

But overall, they are optimistic that the housing recovery is built on an improving economy and say that the market will continue to stabilize.

Source: BusinessWeek.com, James C. Cooper (11/09/2009)

I do believe that the market is improving. I expect steady sales through the winter especially with the new extension of the tax credit. Do NOT expect the credit to be extended again when it expires on April 30, 2010 though- there will most likely be no more extensions.

Here are a few more pictures from our Halloween event. Thanks again to Linda, Jeff, Sal, Nate, Maddi, Deena, Phillip, Brian, Cody, Carole, Devin, Brandon and everyone who helped pull it off. And no, we are not satanic! We are Christians who know the real history of All Hallows Eve, look it up if you don't know: It has a religious background! We love Halloween and look forward to next year when we will have a few changes to keep everyone scared!