“Its not the strongest of species that survives,
nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to
change”

Finally, there are positive signs of housing recovery.  1) government stopped buying mortgage backed securities in March 2010, which analysts predicted increase in interest rates.  Actually, the complete opposite happened and mortgage rates have dropped 5 consecutive weeks, meaning investor confidence is up.  2) Supply of available homes has decreased over the last 12 months and despite the $8000 tax credit expiring buyers are still motivated to purchase and take advantage of the lowest interest rates since December 2009.

Investing @ the bottom

Investing in real estate isn’t for the faint of heart and if educated, you can invest wisely. Buying multifamily properties at the bottom of the real estate market has two major advantages: 1) low interest rates & low prices give you more cash flow 2) as properties begin to appreciate in value, your resale value will be greater.  Learn more @ www.CheapNJhomes.com

Bergen County Foreclosure Update

Currently On The Market 70 homes listed in the NJMLS

Rivervale          NJ Split Level 3br 2bth $399K

New Milford      NJ Ranch 4br 2bth $272,500

Franklin Lakes NJ Colonial 6br 7bth theater, indoor pool, billiard room his/her spa $4,295,000                               (Any NJ Housewives for this one?)

Demarest         NJ  Colonial 6br 2bth $779,675

Carmelo “Mel” Oliveri
Broker/Associate
www.OurNJhouse.com
www.Facebook.com/OurNJhouse
www.Twitter.com/OurNJhouse
www.YouTube.com/OurNJhouse

www.therisetothetop.com

The Fed will gradually slow the pace of the purchasing mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in anticipation of a full execution of the program to keep the mortgage interest rate low by the end of March, 2010.

It marks an extension of the MBS-purchasing program past the previously anticipated year-end date of December 2009. The slowing of purchases is intended to “promote a smooth transition in markets” as the government ends its participation in the agency MBS market. Basically, the government is going to stop buying mortgage securities in March, 2010.

To implement the gradual slowing of agency MBS purchases, agents acting on behalf of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s open market trading desk plan to reduce the average weekly purchase amounts beginning with the reporting week that starts September 24, according to a NY Fed statement.

Will the real estate market be strong enough to withstand this slowdown? Are banks and their investors, willing to invest money into such an unsteady market area, such as the current real estate market? This is the big question…is the party [of low interest rates] coming to an end?

With the largest purchaser of MBS, not buying up these assets (helping turn money over quickly for banks and their investors), will banks be apt to continue writing mortgages at 5%?

The answer is no.

So rates will go up after March, 2010.

Question is, how high and will buyers continue coming out to buy? I would say the answer to buyers still buying is a big fat YES [they just can’t pass up the fact that prices are down 35% from peak]. Additionally, as mortgage interest rates go up, prices must drop.

By Cynthia Burton

Inquirer Staff Writer

New Jersey’s residential-mortgage foreclosure rate shot up 29 percent from 2008 to 2009, with a South Jersey county among the hardest hit, according to statistics released yesterday.The number of commercial foreclosures, meanwhile, was up 68 percent, from 875 to 1,471.

The counties with the biggest increases in residential foreclosures were Atlantic, Bergen, and Sussex.

Nationally, about 2.8 million properties are in some stage of foreclosure, an increase of 21 percent over 2008, according to a report by Realty/Trac Inc., which tracks foreclosures.

Pennsylvania had 44,732 foreclosure filings last year, a 20 percent increase over 2008, according to the report.

The foreclosure crisis will not get better any time soon, said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

The crisis started when lenders sold exotic mortgages to people who neither understood nor could afford them. Now the crisis is rapidly moving through the middle class.

“There were a lot of sharks in the cities getting people to buy existing housing at inflated prices, and people were in over their heads. You had all those scandalous mortgage products,” Hughes said.

And he said there is a “shadow inventory” of foreclosures. At President Obama’s request, many banks have held back on publicly filing foreclosure actions, but that won’t last.

In New Jersey, most of the properties in foreclosure, about 63,000, were residential, according to figures compiled by the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court. In 2006, there were about 25,000.

Many residents find their mortgages are higher than their home values, putting them under water.

“Joining into the aftereffects of predatory lending, you now have middle-class households who have lost their jobs and stretched themselves too thin,” Hughes said.

New Jersey’s unemployment rate hit a 33-year high, going to 10.1 percent in December, according to figures released yesterday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, which counsels distressed homeowners, said a group of failing mortgages “won’t be kicking in until the end of 2010 and 2011. It’s really a serious issue.”

The courts have been feeling the bump since at least 2007, when filings went up from 24,857 to 36,360.

Kevin Wolfe, chief of civil practice in the Administrative Office of the Courts, said there was a five- to six-month backlog in reviewing cases.

Another factor delaying foreclosures is that since last January, the state has required lenders to try to mediate alternatives with delinquent property owners. They are not obligated to make deals.

Salowe-Kaye said she had mediations scheduled through April, a four-month backlog between the time a foreclosure is filed and her organization can get a mediation meeting with a lender.

Advocates and the state are still struggling with ways to slow the mounting number of foreclosures.

A $40 million fund aimed at reducing mortgages for troubled homeowners went largely unspent due to technical problems.

Former Gov. Jon Corzine took about $29 million of it to patch the budget hole, and the Legislature recently reallocated the money for other uses.

The problem was that the program came too late in the process, Salowe-Kaye said.

The “defunded” state program offered $25,000 loans to qualified homeowners who could persuade their lenders to cut their mortgage principles by $25,000, thus making the loans more affordable.

Money left in the program has been allocated to counseling people who have missed a monthly payment or two and to helping them get back on track with their lenders when they fall a month or two behind in their payments. And other money – about $8 million – would go into a revolving loan fund that community developers would use to buy and fix up foreclosed homes, said Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D., Essex), who sponsored the bill reallocating the money.

“It’s really important to get that money out right now,” she said. “We have speculators who are buying up property with no intent to return those properties to the people in the neighborhoods.”

http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&blobcol=urldocumentfile&blobtable=SPComSecureDocument&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3Ddownload.pdf&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobheadername1=content-type&blobwhere=1245200590760&blobheadervalue3=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobnocache=true

 TIME TO BUY!! As of Dec 1st 2009 Paramus NJ has 100 Active homes for sale, 23 Under contract and 53 Solds in the past 3mos. River Edge NJ has 37 active homes for sale, 11 Under Contract and 35 Solds, and finally Oradell NJ has 38 Active Homes for sale, 11 Under contract and 20 recent sales in the past 3mos also. This numbers are looking alot better then a year ago and looks as if things are beginning to turn around a bit.
      For assistance is selling your home in Bergen County, River Edge NJ, Oradell NJ, Paramus NJ, Emerson NJ, Fairlawn NJ. Contact Carmelo Oliveri, Coldwell Banker Realtor at (201) 618-2854. Visit our web site at www.OurNJhouse.com, www.OurBergenCountyHouse.com or www.SellWithMelNJ.com

Its inevitable this recession isnt going to have a quick recovery,
unemployment isn’t going to be at 2-4% anytime soon, banks are still strict
with lending,  but the most successful CEO’s, entrepreneurs adapt to change
and as home buyers, home sellers and real estate investors so do you, life
is one big business transaction.  Homebuyers what is the biggest challenge?
Living pay check to pay check right?  Well there are numerous things to free
up hundreds if not even thousands of dollars a month

1) Call your bank on refinancing your current mortgage or doing a loan
modification to lower rate.  You owe more then your home is worth, well
Obama implemented the HARP program and most large lenders participate in
this program but they wont tell you that.
2) Put homeowners insurance and car insurance with one company for discounts
and increase deductibles from $500 to $1000
3) Negotiate with your credit card companies to lower interest rates or
consolidate onto one credit card AND SHREAD the others, if you cant afford
to buy cash this month you wont be able to pay it next month you have the
same expenses.

Homesellers

If you need to sell this is the time, the real estate market has yet to
depreciate approx 10-15% before hitting bottom and then its going to be
stagnant for years before the next upswing.

Do you own your home free and clear (mortgage free) but dont want to sell
because the market is weak?  Do you want to get $600k for your home that is
only worth $300K?  Well with todays strict banking guidelines, it is
attactive to buyers if the owner provides OWNER FINANCING when selling.
This will allow you to get a steady stream of monthly income, net more money
for your home because your collecting principal and interest, worst case
scenario if the buyer defaults you keep a 10-20% deposit that they made,
payments that they made and you get your house back.  THIS IS ALSO GREAT FOR
RETIREES WITH SHRINKING RETIREMENT PLANS LOOKING FOR STEADY INCOME AND
AVOIDING PAYING TAXES AT CLOSING IF THEY TOOK ONE LUMP SUM.  ITS LIKE THE
LOTTERY ANNUITY OR CASH =)

Real Estate Investors

WOW this is the time to make money, lowest interest rates in history, ample
inventory to choose from and contractors looking for work, perfect formula
to make money.

You have money in the bank collecting 1-2% interest, well how about
investing it into rental properties and netting a greater return.  Why not
purchase a fixer upper multifamily home renovate it, rent it out and resale
for profit.  If it sells you make money and worst case scenario it doest
sell you have a positive cash flow every month with a property with equity
either way your making money.  Not into being a landlord, why not purchase a
property .40-.50 cents on the dollar from the banks REO inventory for
resale, cash is KING for amazing opportunities.  Word to the wise, just like
the stock market know the real estate market your investing in, study market
trends, number of sales past 3mos, number of inventory currently on the
market, demand etc.

Business Owners looking into the ARC Program (Wachovia and Chase have
special phonelines dedicated to this property) interest free loan up to $35K
to help business owners keep there doors open

I wish you all happy savings and if you ever have any questions please feel
free to contact me anytime

Cresskill 3br 1.5 bth $420K
Park Ridge 2br bth 100×150 Lot $374k Bring your builder
River Edge 4br 3.5bth Move in condition colonial $534k
Saddle River 6br 9.5bth Estate $7.5mil

Also please visit my other sites

www.YouTube.com/OurNJhouse
www.OurNJhouse.com
www.SellwithMelNJ.com
www.MyNJblog.com