As the year end holidays fast approach, the Federal Government Reserve has endorsed new rules to give
people taking out home mortgages new protections against shady lending
practices.
These proposed rules, approved in a 5-0 vote by the
board, are aimed towards providing safeguards against the riskiest "subprime"
borrowers, already in significant trouble from this year's housing and credit debacles.
The proposal is expected to apply to new loans made by all types of
lenders, including banks and brokers.
This plan should be finalized next
year, and according to media reports will restrict lenders from penalizing certain subprime borrowers, those with tarnished credit or low incomes who pay off their loans
early.
The restriction would apply to loans that meet specific conditions, including that the penalty expire at least 60 days before any possible payment increase (Comcast news)
Lenders would be forced to make sure that subprime borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance and would also be barred from making loans when they don't have proof of a borrower's income.
Lenders would also be prohibited from lending without considering a borrower's ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home's value.
In the meantime, however, anyone at risk of imminent foreclosure should check out the following resource link to help avoid losing their home:http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/foreclosure/default.htm
According to a new PG&E forecast for winter 2008, we'll be holding on to some relatively steady heating bills here in the Sonoma County Region.
Conservation efforts and mild weather are expected to contribute to keeping natural gas bills affordable during the chilliest months of the end of this year and the first quarter of the coming year.
In fact, according to news reports, PG&E heating bills have actually dropped around 9% from the costly winter of 2005/2006.
Natural gas prices have dropped as record levels remain in stock for firing up the nation's furnaces. PG&E is offering a Winter Gas Savings Program for customers looking for further credit on their January and February 2008 bills. See http://www.pge.com/res/rebates/energy_tools_resources/ for more information on how to save the big bucks this winter.
Don't start leaving your front door unlocked this Holiday season just because we're living in one of the safest cities in the country.
And don't start sipping the emergency brandy this December, thinking that the big one will never hit the freshly paved streets of Petaluma!
For despite the fact that P'Town and neighboring Santa Rosa have just been named as the 17th safest places to live in a nationwide list of some 127 similarly mid-sized communities, we wouldn't want to be caught out resting on our laurels (or grapevines, for that matter).
Yet, isn't it nice to know that our community infrastructure and environment is relatively well versed in keeping us protected from the perils of extreme weather, natural disasters, terrorism, air quality, environmental nasties, extreme job losses and poor life expectancy?
Findings were released this week with the announcement of the fourth annual 'secure places to live' study by Farmers Insurance Group http://www.bestplaces.net.
Not that it comes as any surprise to those of us who were drawn to the region for its fresh air, robust neighbors and reasonable abundance of work opportunities!
Shame about the region's elevated crime statistics, which still need some serious addressing by the powers that be. Curb that and we'd certainly be ranking as one of the top ten most secure regions in the country.
A Bird in the 'Bush' is worth two in the hand, and our country's fearless leader has just offered up a brightly colored canary in the form of a newly announced plan to help cash-strapped sub-prime mortgage victims out of the crazy cage.
For the Bush administration has been busy putting together an emergency plan to freeze rising sub-prime mortgage interest rates from escalating into further financial disaster in coming winter months.
No easy solution to this nationwide issue, yet the government's plan is to respond to up to 1.2 million people who are currently in crisis over their sub-prime mortgage payments and in jeopardy of losing their homes.
Responsible homeowners who could avoid foreclosure with some governmental assistance are the key focus of Bush's administrative plan. Not everyone who applies for a rate freeze would qualify. Others may be more suitably routed into new loans secured with the Federal Housing Association.
An avalanche of foreclosures are expected in the next couple of years as an estimated couple million dodgy US loans reset from enticing introductory rates up to as high as 11%.
A government-mandated freeze could prevent sub-prime mortgage rates from soaring for the next five years. If you, or anyone you know is facing an uphill struggle to make payments on a sub-prime loan issued since 2005 and have not missed a payment at the current introductory rate, there is a Government hot-line to call for more information on today's announcement: 1-888-995-HOPE.
Ever given a thought to the fact that your enduring marriage might be the greenest gesture you have made in your adult life?
And we're not talking about the amount of trees you have planted in your environmentally sound backyard! In fact, you don't have to fertilize a single succulent except for the rather nurturing concept of staying planted together in one relatively blissful spot!
For according to a new analysis by the National Academy of Sciences on domestic relations and resources in the US and a selection of other countries worldwide, divorce creates millions of additional households which subsequently suck up critical resources of space, water, energy and manufactured goods.
In short, divorce puts an enormous strain on the environment, not to mention the bank balance and the kids! Global warming isn't going to get any better when another couple split their electricity consumption.
With increasing awareness of how society's present and past actions have grossly affected the fragility of our world, the concept of continuing to live together longterm may not be as hard to accept for those thinking of going it alone!
Fears of a nationwide recession have forced the Bush administration to look into extreme methods of combating an economic crisis worsening within the U.S. housing industry.
Associated Press reports this weekend claim that the mortgage industry and the Bush administration have joined forces to prepare a complex proposal for freezing escalating interest rates on troubled sub-prime mortgages.
Specifics of such a proposal are highly likely to be announced early next week. If lenders agree to extend the low rates originally responsible for enticing buyers to purchase expensive mortgages, the housing crisis could well be prevented from worsening any further over the next year or so.
This would give homeowners time to see the value of their over-inflated properties gradually creep back to a realistic level by the time the mortgage payment increases by any dramatic amount.
No one wishes to witness any additional homes dumped onto an already overflowing market at this particular point in time, so it would seem to be a sensible plan for today's government to pursue.
Approximately 2 million homes fit this bill for 2008, so it is key for all concerned to avoid the calamity anticipated. Investors may not be as thrilled as the struggling home owners, if the government does embrace this solution. However, stabilization of home values and improved mortgage conditions can only be of benefit to real estate investors of today.
Concern over inflated home values during this turbulent current housing market has led to the creation of a new law SB 223 to protect against unrealistic real estate appraisals.
California's leading real estate regulators are encouraging mortgage brokers to carefully monitor any over-inflated appraisals which cross their desks, filing complaints on appraisals which could lead to the violation of state licensing laws.
Extreme violations could ultimately result in the loss of a State Department of Real Estate license or that of a State Departments of Corporations and Financial Institutions license of mortgage brokers and lenders.
Appraisals by state licensed appraisers are mandated on every home purchase over a quarter of a million dollars through a federally regulated lender. Likewise, an appraisal is necessary in divorce and estate settlements in the state of California.
Reports generally cover a detailed description of the property and a market analysis comparison of similar sales in the same area.
Despite the fact that real estate agents and brokers take their percentage fees from the transaction amount, an appraiser generally works for the lender for a fixed sum.
Problems started arising in California when home sales prices were pushing through the roof at far higher levels than the actual value of the house.
If sellers are not already being forced to be realistic about the value of their property, then this new protective law will guarantee that true market values must be maintained to insure integrity within the real estate transactions of the future.
Rates on 30-year mortgages have this week fallen to their lowest level in two years. According to reports from Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, 30-year fixed rate mortgage are now averaging at 6.10%, down .10% from last week's low of 6.20%
rates on 30-year mortgages have not been this low since October of 2005, when rates hovered in the region of 6.03%. Similarly, rates on 15-year fixed rate mortgages, the most popular option for many homeowners, have slid down to 5.73% from last week's 5.83%, making home loan purchases a whole lot more attractive once again.
Freddie Mac's five-year adjustable mortgages nudged down a tad to 5.86% from last week's 5.88 low. Analysts have been quick to connect these declines to the current housing slump and credit worries.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced yesterday that an additional interest rate cut from the house may be needed to kick start the country's flagging economy.
Fed policy makers, according to Bernanke's statements in today's media, must be flexible and alert in maintaining a recovering economy and preventing the country from declining into recession mode.
It is possible that the Feds may drop the interest rate at their December 11th meeting, an act which is sure to make new mortgage seekers very happy this Holiday season.
Called London this lunchtime to wish my heavily pregnant youngest sister a happy birthday. It's been seventeen years since I was on British soil for her birthday, so that's a lot of November 19th telephone calls. Each one leading inevitably to the brief discussion on the fascinating subject of Thanksgiving.
The Brits are typically bemused by the concept of an entire nation giving thanks for those plucky pilgrims surviving a year as far away as possible from the white cliffs of the United Kingdom!
And if that sounds hard to swallow, it's worthy of a mention that it seems to come as a big surprise to many Americans that the Brits are clueless when it comes to Thanksgiving. I can't tell you how many times over the past seventeen years that this has baffled otherwise well-educated, world traveled U.S natives.
"What, no Thanksgiving," they ask? Incredulous. Well, hello, isn't it sensible to think about the reason for the season before making such an outraged statement?
And so my sister's casual announcement that she'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in London this Thursday was somewhat of a surprise in itself.
Turns out her Yorkshire husband (a finance chief in the international world of sports management) works with a whole rowdy bunch of affable ex-pat Americans. And Thanksgiving is officially un-officially on the heavily U.S. populated UK office agenda.
First it was Halloween. Costumes appearing in upscale supermarkets in London, gradually nudging urban Mums and Dads to deck out little Lucy and Harry for American-style trick-or-treating. It's taking off. Slowly but surely. This great Americanization of the globe!
But Thanksgiving. Well, that's going to take a bit longer for the Brits to absorb, don't you think? According to statistics, 224,000 of the 4 millions Americans living abroad are currently residing in the UK. That's a whole load of turkeys to sell a month before the traditional British Big Bird Day!
Some enterprising up-scale baker in Chelsea or Richmond must be churning out the pumpkin pies this week at some exorbitant cost! Cranberry sauce is a staple of the British Christmas dinner, but cornbread and sweet potatoes might be somewhat of a stretch. Think I might suggest to my various catering friends that they camp out in a commercial kitchen Thames-side each November, selling ready to go, pricey, pre-prepared, luxury Thanksgiving dinners for all the overseas Americans hankering after the real deal with homemade gravy just like Gramma used to make.
"The plan was to invite us over for lunch," said my sister of her Thanksgiving hosts."But no-one could take the day off work."
And so Thanksgiving dinner for the quarter million Americans living in
the UK is most likely to be a candlelit affair. Nothing wrong with
that. Europeans eat much later than Americans, anyway.
Handing her a couple of good Thanksgiving guest tips, I advised a trip to the local gourmet grocery store for a nice, big apple pie and a bottle of California Pinot Noir. "Pinot goes well with turkey," I said. "They ought to be pleased with the gesture."
People don't typically bring a bunch of stuff along to formal dinner invitations in the UK. It's just not done."Check in with the hostess, first," I added. "In case she's expecting you to bring the mashed potatoes!"
For years I have frequently pined for the quirky cultural holidays of my heritage. But hearing of a London Thanksgiving has somehow put my personal holiday-feelings into a whole new perspective.
"You're going to love it," I told my sis. "Like Christmas without the baggage!" And so, here's to a very happy Thanksgiving to all Americans living around the globe this November, 2007.
One of the finest olive farms in California is positioned on a scenic bend on the border of West Marin and Sonoma Counties, along the D Street extension of Petaluma.
McEvoy Ranch is a wonderland for grown-ups. From the very first welcome by a large bronze rabbit perched atop majestic cast iron gates, down along a windy one-track road and into the heartland of this sprawling farm, one could easily be driving through peaceful hills of Tuscany.
And it is the Tuscan varietals which reside on hundreds of acres of olive farm land at Nan McEvoy's secluded slice of heaven-on-earth.
Today was the first ever community day at the ranch, where locals and olive lovers from further afield were invited to visit the mill during harvest season.
None of the usual reservations were necessary and the crowds came flooding in to view this olive haven in full seasonal milling action.
Resident realtor, Timo supervised a Saturday morning pick in our backyard olive grove, amidst the vines. We were pleasantly surprised with our first 50 pound haul which went straight into the community mill down at McEvoy's this morning.
With several clients having planted olive groves in their Petaluma area properties these past few years, Timo is the ideal realtor to advise potential clients as to the growability of a particular piece of land on the market.
And now that we are getting accustomed to having enough fruit on our six year old trees, a drop of Rivetti estate olive oil will be even more exclusive than those limited edition cases of Que Syra Syrah!
For more info on olive farm properties in the area, call Timo at 707 769 4272.
