Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Housing Bubble Vs. FEMAVille: Death Match Friday

There's a lot of interesting news about FEMA today, including the agency turning its aid disbursements into the equivalent of a loan application. Seriously...look at how they're making the decisions:

Under the new plan, evacuees will have to apply for FEMA's individual assistance program. FEMA will examine each applicant's income, expenses, damages and debt load.

Fabulous idea--let's have a bunch of people who've lost most or all of their identifying documentation try to apply for grants from an understaffed, overburdened, and horrifically mismanaged government agency that's relying on inexperienced call-center staffers and volunteers to process expansive (and expensive) claims. Hell, FEMA can't even draw maps right, and you want to trust them to handle loan assistance applications? Would you like fries with that?

Montana is suffering the twin terrors of sky-high heating prices and playing politics with the attempts to get more funding. Expect to see a lot of stories like this as the winter wears on.

Oh, hell--I just saw this: The bottom drops out of new home sales. Despite the attempts of the major media and the industry to minimize this, flippers, speculators, and adjustable-mortgage owners are going to be in for a very rough few years. Ben Jones speaks upon it.

Many borrowers have embraced creative mortgage products, such as interest-only loans, mortgages with teaser rates of as low as 1% and "piggyback" loans aimed at buyers who don't have the money for a down payment. In the third quarter, borrowers could boost their purchasing power by 26% by taking out an interest-only mortgage, which allows a home buyer to put off repaying principal for several years, instead of a standard mortgage, according to Moody's Economy.com...But rising short-term interest rates have made many affordability mortgage products more expensive and the flow of new, creative mortgage products has begun to lose steam. On Tuesday, bank regulators proposed controls that would limit the mass marketing of some creative mortgage products.

It's about to become a buyer's market, if it hasn't already. Be prepared to negotiate with brokers, realtors, and agents from a greater position of strength than at any time in the past six or seven years. Start saving, refinance to a 30-year-fixed, and do all you can to get your monies in order. Come late 2006 or early 2007, you may find a much flatter market, and much better bargains if you have your ducks in a row.

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There's a lot of interesting news about FEMA today, including the agency turning its aid disbursements into the equivalent of a loan application. Seriously...look at how they're making the decisions: Under the new plan, evacuees will have to apply for FEMA's individual assistance program. FEMA will examine each applicant's income, expenses, damages and debt load. Fabulous idea--let's have a bunch of people who've lost most or all of their identifying documentation try to apply for grants from an understaffed, overburdened, and horrifically mismanaged government agency that's relying on inexperienced call-center staffers and volunteers to process expansive (and expensive) claims. Hell, FEMA can't even draw maps right, and you want to trust them to handle loan assistance applications? Would you like fries with that? Montana is suffering the twin terrors of sky-high heating prices and playing politics with the attempts to get more funding. Expect to see a lot of stories like this as the winter wears on. Oh, hell--I just saw this: The bottom drops out of new home sales. Despite the attempts of the major media and the industry to minimize this, flippers, speculators, and adjustable-mortgage owners are going to be in for a very rough few years. Ben Jones speaks upon it. The Real Estate Journal has a thorough overview of what high housing prices have brought us to. Money quote: Many borrowers have embraced creative mortgage products, such as interest-only loans, mortgages with teaser rates of as low as 1% and "piggyback" loans aimed at buyers who don't have the money for a down payment. In the third quarter, borrowers could boost their purchasing power by 26% by taking out an interest-only mortgage, which allows a home buyer to put off repaying principal for several years, instead of a standard mortgage, according to Moody's Economy.com...But rising short-term interest rates have made many affordability mortgage products more expensive and the flow of new, creative mortgage products has begun to lose steam. On Tuesday, bank regulators proposed controls that would limit the mass marketing of some creative mortgage products. It's about to become a buyer's market, if it hasn't already. Be prepared to negotiate with brokers, realtors, and agents from a greater position of strength than at any time in the past six or seven years. Start saving, refinance to a 30-year-fixed, and do all you can to get your monies in order. Come late 2006 or early 2007, you may find a much flatter market, and much better bargains if you have your ducks in a row. Good luck, and Merry ChrismaHanaKwanzaYule to you all! :)